D3 Exile here with a few questions....

Practice now, don't get attached to Delve.
Next League announcement is on November 14th.

Welcome to our game! As others have said, you can start delve right now, because when the league ends, your delve character will be brought over to standard. Also, the people telling you not to go pure glass cannon are correct. A dead character deals no dps. When gearing, make sure to cap your elemental resistances, they are one of the most important defensive stats.

I'd recommend any new player check out Engineering Eternity's excellent videos, starting with his Beginner's guide series

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7GqFLebBU8inlrcqTZFXtIwP362XrdNe

welcome exile and good luck, especially as marauder.

i wouldd recommend ngamahu cyclone, it's cheap and you don't have to 6 link (just 6 socket) the axe (which is also cheap) which is a serious advantage if you start that late in a league.

Yeah, I do have an item filter, and I haven't yet checked out path of building, but it is on my to do list.

I understand about keeping my resistances up, learned that lesson in Diablo II. Unfortunately most drops are RNG and I may not have much to work with at the start. I will keep an eye out though :).

I am trying a slew of characters right now. To see which I like better. I had a level 13 Duelist a couple days ago, but deleted him. That is one of my own faults, and not a reflection on the game itself. I have always gone through multiple characters when starting fresh in an RPG, action or otherwise.

I am going for mostly life passives, and trying to keep my armor up at the same time, I figure it is a good start, but I worry that I may not have enough damage output in higher character levels. Seems to me that there is a balance somewhere in that massive tree. Hmm, I guess I will look into that as well :).

You can buy gear from other players using this site - https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Delve

Also, apart from certain stat-stacking builds (those are a more advanced thing, relying on certain uniques or rare modifiers), there's really no reason to keep taking any attribute nodes except to travel on the tree and meet gear and gem requirements. Definitely take life nodes - aim to have at least 170% or so increased life by around lvl 85, and look for as much flat life as you can get on gear (while maintaining max resists). I wouldn't go after any evasion or armour passives on the tree - you get diminishing returns the more you stack evasion or armor, and just increasing your total life pool is far better. You can build your evasion well enough from just the evasion on your gear, which is then modified by the Dex you have.

Ranger is fine for a starting class - actually, any of them are (classes aren't so restrictive in PoE). And playing in Delve is fine - it'll all migrate to Standard next month anyway (so no loss) and there'll still be loads more players to trade with in Delve than Standard (and at much lower prices than what Standard trading typically features).

When it comes to damage, just try to path to the major notables (those mid-size nodes on the passive tree) in the areas you go to that cater to the damage type you deal or weapon type you wield. If going for an attacking build i.e. using a weapon, not spell, make sure you don't neglect your accuracy. And either way make sure you work in sustain mechanics for both life and mana, whether that's building up their regen or leech (leech is more available on the Ranger side of the tree, albeit gear gives you these stats too).

Path of Building will help you plan out your character.

In addition, consider joining a newbie-friendly guild. It's usually easy to do so. There's a guild section on the forums, but the simplest way to do it is simply by asking in global chat or making a party in town with the name saying you're looking for one. Not only will that give you a community for advice, but they'll also be happy to share plenty of leveling and early endgame gear with you via their guild stash (if interested, just give me your in-game char name and I'll be happy to add you to ours).

In terms of builds for a newbie to actually make it to endgame to experience it, I'd highly recommend this one - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/105920 It's not a Ranger, however that build guide is probably the most comprehensive, step-by-step and flexible one you'll see anywhere. Very newbie-friendly, and with a wide variety of skills it can work with (essentially, almost any of the game's melee skills) and gear you can make it with. It's stood the test of time as well, having been consistently updated to every patch for the last 5 and a half years. Else you can easily google some other builds that suit your preferences, albeit I'd still say reading through that guide once would be worthwhile regardless.

Welcome to Wraeclast, exile. Stay out the shadows, they bite! ;)

That is a very thorough guide, Exile009. Thank you :).

And also thank you for the guild invite, but I think I want to get a bit more comfortable in the community here first. I have issues I won't discuss here, but suffice to say, I am terribly shy. So thanks again, the welcoming feeling it gives is great!

I have a Marauder going in Delve right now, put my Ranger on the back burner for now. I have always been partial to melee anyway, with a few bits of dabbling in range and magic users.

I do have my next 5 passive points planned thanks to Path of Building, I am going to see how that works out. I feel like my character is a prototype, with no experience in the game and a first run. The newness feels great and I am enjoying all the little complexities, trying to figure out some of the skill gems and stuff. What is good, and how support gems interact with skill gems and such. It is an enjoyable experience.

I am going to look over that guide again soon, see if I can pick up some more pointers. I can't sleep anyway :) hehe.

"

Ypsilanti wrote:

I feel like my character is a prototype, with no experience in the game and a first run. The newness feels great and I am enjoying all the little complexities, trying to figure out some of the skill gems and stuff. What is good, and how support gems interact with skill gems and such. It is an enjoyable experience.

*thumbs up*

Learning the game is a game in and of itself. You're doing it right by enjoying yourself.