From Zero to Hero - How?

I consider myself to be a somewhat above-average gamer, generally speaking. I've done the MMO thing. I've done the D2 thing from way back in the first days of its existence all the way until D3 came into play, grinding Uber Tristram and the "almighty challenges". For lack of better terms, I've gone around the block a few times in regards to gaming.

But in PoE, I've been finding myself hitting more and more roadblocks the longer I play. In the two, maybe three weeks since I've started playing, I've made close to twenty or twenty five characters. My first character was a softcore Witch; I got to the start of A3 after dying more times than I could count. "Hey, it's my first character...of course I'm not going to do too well." So I make a second character, with that new knowledge, and get past Piety with an Ele Cleave Templar. But again, I died more times than I could count.

The game's mechanics are based on building well-balanced or tank-like characters, I get that. Glass cannons are a no-no. But I seem to be at a roadblock that's extremely frustrating because I can't get past it - surviving to Cruel in Hardcore. I'm not even talking getting to the endgame maps here; I'm talking, "Hey, I want to feel like I actually completed Normal without getting dragged through it." And it's been close to impossible for me.

Leap Slam Aura Duelist? Dead.
Summoner Witch? Nope.
Elemental Cleave Templar? Hah.

The only successful characters I've managed to keep from dying are my two Bow-users - a Rain of Arrows Ranger and a LA Shadow. Neither of which I find particularly fun, and both of which are gear-dependent enough that I can't get past A3 and into Cruel without feeling like I'll die at every opportunity.

I just don't get it. People rage to "go on hardcore" because "scrubcore" is for scrubs. To be honest, I spent most of my time in D2 playing hardcore - it's the only way to truly feel accomplished, IMO. And when I see all the people linking their merciless gear that they got from endgame maps with their level 80+ toons, it's obviously possible to get to a point where you're swimming in exalteds and GCPs. But how is a new player supposed to GET to that point - especially in hardcore?

"If you suck so much go play scrubcore where you belong."

I would, except a) the economy is terrible in softcore, almost to the point of not even bothering with it (thanks, RMT sites / bots!) and b) anyone who's serious about playing the game plays hardcore. Let's be honest; it's where the cool kids hang out.

But how the hell are people even getting past that initial hump of being "new"? Is there something I'm not seeing here? Some build I apparently don't know about that doesn't die to champion mobs breathing fire on me in A3 Docks? Some character that just stands out as "Hey, start with me and you'll get there!"

How the hell are people getting from nothing to everything? The "Zero to Hero" hurdle...I just don't get how to get past it.

I don't play that much, but at least, my lvl 49 melee-ranger is progressing slowly.

Basic advice: get life and resistances!
(and don't risk to get surrounded ;))

My best advice for you is to re-map hot key to 5 to space bar. Then set the space bar skill to move only. You sacrifice an active skill but you are able to move in a more reliable way.

And like the other poster said don’t get surrounded because stun lock = death.

On topic : i have played only HC so far and like u never played PoE before that, unlike u, all of my chars are stil allive (my first char is lvl 42 alive but idle atm :o). My highest char is lvl 52 atm (not very high i know but i play at a snails pace and im happy doing so)

But how im playing atm, i got 9 chars, and i play them all frequently, i enjoy theorycrafting and i planned them all out. The upside of this is that ure playing multiple characters who all require different item types. Because of this u can "pool" loot between them, and something that would be useles if u played one char suddenly increases in value for u, because it becomes usable to another char. Also this helps me avoid the trade in this game, wich is a huge hurdle to take when ure newb o.O

I hope this helps u out, also the forums are filled with helping guide's and pre-made builds, u can always check those out( even if it is just to get a basic understanding and then rework it to ure own style)
On HC most builds are made around life nodes atm, because life is the best defense endgame, so when ure creating a build u should consider having hp nodes early game/mid game/endgame as u progress, u should be passing the next hp nodes in ure tree as to progress ure hp, so u can keep up with monsters damage.

Its more about skill,it seems you are not one of those "above-average gamers".

But still, the point remains that the majority of people who are more serious about the game, play hardcore. That's where I want to be.

"

"Get life! Lots of life!"

I do - believe me, I'm scouring the vendors for Coral Rings on every single character I create. I learned that lesson from my first character - all the life nodes in the world mean nothing if you don't have +life on your gear, and in hardcore that pretty much means every single piece of gear you have.

My elemental cleave templar had close to 1.2k health (mainly because the Templar seems like it has twice as many life nodes as any other class for some reason) and was ripped to shreds by A3 mobs as soon as I got him up. My Leap Slam duelist had just short of 1k going into the middle of A2. I stress life as much as I possibly can, but there's only so much a new player can do, y'know?

I've blown close to every Transmute and Alteration orb I can get my hands on, recycling whites with decent gem links so I can have gear with +life on it while also keeping access to my skills. I just feel like that kid in the back room of class, who's ten pages behind everyone else on what's going on.

The best way to survive (HC or SC) is to have a good (very good) grasp of the mechanics of PoE. From the skills to the passive tree, to the mobs (especially them lol) etc...

It takes a while to get them (some ppl never do). Once you have this understanding of the little nuances in this game, it makes it a lot easier to stay alive and thrive.

Best of luck :)

"

smallcreation wrote:

I've blown close to every Transmute and Alteration orb I can get my hands on, recycling whites with decent gem links so I can have gear with +life on it while also keeping access to my skills. I just feel like that kid in the back room of class, who's ten pages behind everyone else on what's going on.

After level 10 you should not be using magic level gear. You are sacrificing too many stats by using magic armor. You should hunt for rare items with + life.

The exception to the Rare only rule is if you are playing a physical damage melee build. It would be ok to give up the extra stats in exchange for a weapon with +100% physical damage.

If you have Alchemy orbs use them on max resistance rings to increase your survivability. If you use Alchemy on amour/weapons make sure that they have 20% quality so you can use the Alchemy orb recipe to get your orb back if you have a bad roll.