PoE for casual players

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dW2005 wrote:

With whatever little time you have you can always play standard, it has no time limits whatsoever.

It has.

Every three months, your Atlas resets, and every three months, there are major shifts in balance. Sometimes there are major buffs to monster health or damage.

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Skibbi wrote:

Hi,
I've been following PoE development since the beginning but I've never had time to dive into the game. Recently I've got some free time so I decided to give it a spin. Unfortunately after few hours I realized that the mechanics are far more complicated than in Diablo or Titan Quest.

After reading some guides I've got some doubts if this is a game for casual player like me, who can play few hours per week. What I'm most worried is that I will not be able to finish the game as my character is built without any tutorials or guides and that I might not be lucky to get some rare gear that is needed in the end of the game. I just like to experiment and not follow some meticulously prepared builds that every second PoE player uses.

Are my doubts justified? I know that PoE is not focused on P2W, but I'm afraid that I will have to spend hours on grinding to get finally a good gear or currency. I'm not really interesed in trading - I just want to start the game, slain some monsters and get some nice gear :)

Lots of garbage responses in here.

You WILL be able to finish the game in a respectable amount of time. A few hours a week is enough to have fun. When people say "you won't be able to finish the game", they are including the end game, which may or may not be your cup of tea.

If we're talking about a few hours a week, I would just give it a go. It can't hurt. Play and have fun, and during the "main game/story", you'll find plenty of upgrades from plenty of killing.

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Char1983 wrote:

It has.

Every three months, your Atlas resets, and every three months, there are major shifts in balance. Sometimes there are major buffs to monster health or damage.

Atlas reset is a joke, just do one old t16 map and its almost the same as it was. As for the balance changes, other games do have them too, no?

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dW2005 wrote:

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Char1983 wrote:

As for the balance changes, other games do have them too, no?

In moderation yes. Nothing close to this nerf-festo in 3.14 . You see, most developers understand that nerfing systems have ripple effects that can't be accurately predicted. So they do their nerfs in chunks. See how it plays out before nerfing the next system. GGG just yolo'd a years worth of nerfs.

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Skibbi wrote:

Thanks for your input. So to finish main story I just need to keep playing on my own pace and at some point I will reach the end main story. But it seems if I would like to dive into post story features I will have to get into character building and trading. I guess I have 8 more acts to check if I like PoE that much :)

Still, I have enjoyed the game so far and I even consider buying some stash just to say "thanks" to creators. Definitely PoE is really fresh approach to H&S but has high entry threshold.

That's a good attitude. Ignore all the salty responses in the thread from jaded elites who are burned out and claimed you 'can't play end game' or whatever else.

It's true there will be difficulty spikes along the way. Bosses get harder, the game gets harder. Act 10 is quite hard. If you're already playing and having fun the best thing you can do is pretend like the forums and reddit don't exist.

If you need a question answered or some advice that's one thing, but you'll find no joy in trying to compare your progress to that of others, especially given the amount of play time you say you have.

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innervation wrote:

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Skibbi wrote:

Thanks for your input. So to finish main story I just need to keep playing on my own pace and at some point I will reach the end main story. But it seems if I would like to dive into post story features I will have to get into character building and trading. I guess I have 8 more acts to check if I like PoE that much :)

Still, I have enjoyed the game so far and I even consider buying some stash just to say "thanks" to creators. Definitely PoE is really fresh approach to H&S but has high entry threshold.

That's a good attitude. Ignore all the salty responses in the thread from jaded elites who are burned out and claimed you 'can't play end game' or whatever else.

It's true there will be difficulty spikes along the way. Bosses get harder, the game gets harder. Act 10 is quite hard. If you're already playing and having fun the best thing you can do is pretend like the forums and reddit don't exist.

If you need a question answered or some advice that's one thing, but you'll find no joy in trying to compare your progress to that of others, especially given the amount of play time you say you have.

Hahaha... very true... we all have vastly different experiences in the game, and not afraid to stand up and voice our opinions and stand by them, in the forums...

..., but you can be very sure, that all that is just passion for the game, and if you ask a question or need help here, you will get flooded with help from all perspectives.

Well, i've spoken about balance changes in general rather than this particular league. Speaking of ultimatum, the crappiest thing in my ssf-based opinion was not the nerfs (i don't have over9000 juiced delirium maps there anyway) but rather moving certain items into common pool while simultaneously reducing drop chance of their respective bosses. Doing say simulacrum without the related unique drop just doesn't feel right if you ask me.


Also, @OP - if you decide to play trade standard, i can part with whatever items you may like that are still equipped on my standard characters (except that first golem summoner of mine called apple something, wanna keep her for sentimental purposes, hehe) - they are quite old and not that great overall, so you can still find a space for upgrades i believe. Plus, if you want, i should have some assorted levelling items there as well as some generic pixel "currencies".

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dW2005 wrote:

Also, @OP - if you decide to play trade standard, i can part with whatever items you may like that are still equipped on my standard characters (except that first golem summoner of mine called apple something, wanna keep her for sentimental purposes, hehe) - they are quite old and not that great overall, so you can still find a space for upgrades i believe. Plus, if you want, i should have some assorted levelling items there as well as some generic pixel "currencies".

I would like to add a caveat to this very generous offer: "Twinking" your characters, especially early on in play, can irrevocably destroy some of the sense of "exile" which the game imposes in those first few forays into Wraeclast. It's part of what makes Solo self-found, or even races and leagues so appealing, because that sense of "resource poverty" drives a lot of the later sense of accomplishment for having achieved much with little.

On the other hand, blowing through content like a superhero has its own charms, as well. It merely helps to be aware of both perspectives. =^[.]^=

Thank guys for your comprehensive answers! Now I realize that I might not be able to finish all possible things is the game, but on the other hand my desire to slain monsters will be satisfied :)

So my plan is to continue playing the main story - so far I had no issues with bosses or packs of monsters. Perhaps if I'll have more time for the game I'll try more advanced stuff.

When I came from D3 to Wraeclast, I thought also who needs any guide, it is learning by doing and it could not be so difficult. I was wrong.
But I went my way. First character I played was a ranger. If only someone would have told me, that ranger in PoE is not like easy as playing a demon hunter in sanctuary. To make the story short, I could not evn reach maps with this robin hood.
Still I thought, who needs a guide, not me.
I started with doing nekromancers and I had fun. I made it through the story and it finally started the learning by doing. Now seeing how it could work, PoE became even more nice and league by league followed.
I started another build. Melee. As long I played any D. I loved the whirlwind barbarian. So I found the cycloner playstyle and by playing, more and more knowledge aout the game found its way to my brain.

To make it more perfect, I made another necro and another cycloner for next league, trying different aspects like weapon, cast on channeling and others.
By the time I started to not follow exactly some guides, but taking their basics into my builds, what learned me some things.

Okay, what I wanted to tel you, PoE is no diablo3 and even D2Lod was not as difficult than PoE, but it is a game. You will not beat everything at the start of the career, but you will have fun. And maybe some day I will even beat the last enemies, i have not yet managed to kill.
Have fun.