I am going to be very honest; I despise this game's lack of respect for self-determination.
" You have to understand that PoE as anything in life has it's determinants that make it for what it is. You can use them or go against them, it's up to you. But you have to be aware what the nature of things are in the first place. Either you like it or you don't. If you don't, there's not much point going against yourself. Last edited by TorsteinTheFallen#1295 on Jan 7, 2024, 12:02:34 PM
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" I leveled with Arc, and that ORIGINAL style you mentioned from pre-Enki. It carried me through to early red maps perfectly fine. No crit, just took every lightning damage / elemental node and life node. Grabbed some incredibly simple flat lightning / % lightning wands before transitioning to a shield when I needed it. You learn as early as Act 3 that Arc is NOT a single target skill so you pick up something else to help (orb of storms, maybe a brand, etc). I suspect they didn't abandon their guides because it no longer works, but rather because there are OTHER strategies that work better nowadays. I still level most of my characters with the exact same strategies I used and learned back in 2016-era PoE. People have unreasonable expectations of what they should immediately be able to do with ANY build, and that's a problem. Too quickly we forget that maps are the "post-game" here. EVERYTHING from white maps forward is challenge content that requires knowledge, tweaking, and time. Nearly EVERY skill in the game and every strategy you might think up as basic as basic can be...will get you through the story perfectly fine. There are VERY few actual full out traps when it comes to skills. That is why we really need a full free respec after Act 10 Kitava: so newer players who suddenly realize their build can't push can respec into something completely different and at least get TWO full characters in a single run of the game. Also regarding the OP: i mean....can't the answer be that you just aren't very GOOD at the game? Since when was that not allowed? You can play for 5+ years and STILL be dog poo at the game and character building. Last edited by jsuslak313#7615 on Jan 7, 2024, 12:38:38 PM
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" I don't think this is necessary at this point. Damage is, frankly, piss easy through White maps. You say that Arc isn't a single-target skill, but honestly it's not *that* bad through story content and early maps. I think what the game really needs right now is a better explanation of defense and defensive layering. Every start point of the tree has a significant vulnerability that needs to be overcome -- usually with Flasks -- and that's honestly a really difficult thing to convey to players, even with tutorials. Last edited by XCodesLIVE#7013 on Jan 7, 2024, 3:37:16 PM
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" Its REALLY bad....even with twinked gear, quality gems, and early 6L, arc against bosses make the fights last a LONG time. Not that bad...compared to what? Because its basically in the bottom 10% of all skills when it comes to single target. Don't forget that most new players will be operating on a 4L throughout the majority of the story and...arc just does nothing against bosses like that. |
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" Yes, I used a 4L and did story content with Arc Unleash and random brands, and honestly the brands felt worse for single-target than the Arc (especially since the cool Spark of the Nova I found in the Lab was completely useless against Arakaali and Kitava). The thing about Arc is that even though it's hit damage isn't great, it's efficiency with added damage modifiers is incredibly high, even for single-target. Don't stop with Added Lightning Damage, also get Herald of Thunder, flat damage on your weapon(s), and Smite. It scales fantastically with that shit at least through White Maps. Now, I also leveled a build with SRS, so I do know how goofy some skills are compared to others, even from a very low level, but Arc is not offensively bad even when used mostly on it's own through White maps. Certainly not significantly worse than Frost Blades, and that is a skill that is both very popular for leveling and very much wanting for single-target output. Last edited by XCodesLIVE#7013 on Jan 8, 2024, 3:46:04 AM
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I 100% agree with you mate. This game is 100% figured out and theres a guide for everything. If you want to kill end game bosses you HAVE to follow a guide because the different skill tree interactions are so complicated and badly worded that trying to figure out your own build will never work.
thats why I struggle to find the motivation to play sometimes...like..what am i trying to accomplish? i cant make my own build, they've made respec costs the worst ive ever seen in any game ever and everything so complicated that its near impossible to even know where to begin to start making a build. Thats why i cant wait for poe 2. A fresh start with new things is very much needed. |
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exactly! great points! I run into same problems again & again. I don't want to play someone elses perfect build; i want to make my own; for me, that's the only purpose to playing e.g. if i take someone elses build then what's the point? Honestly, it's frustrating to end up with builds that can't scratch the endgame. Sometimes i made builds & did all endgame. most other times; ended at red maps & given up cuz build doesn't work the way it's meant to. This is why i play ruthless now. if it doesn't work atleast you know earlier.
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" Isn't that more of a testament to your ability to make builds that are viable in endgame? What is stopping you from making your own builds, seeing what works and further iterating, honing a) your skill in creating builds and b) improving your character step by step? A lot of people are lazy and don't want to do this, and so they just copy builds other people make. Sure, it takes effort, but I find nothing more gratifying than doing my own stuff The opposite of knowledge is not illiteracy, but the illusion of knowledge. Last edited by ArtCrusade#4438 on Jan 8, 2024, 9:36:03 AM
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" Making good builds in PoE is insanely hard because of the extreme amount of game knowledge required. I think everyone here who has already played many leagues has no idea just how impossible it is for a new player (or new build maker) to come up with something remotely decent. If you simply allocate some passive points in damage and some in HP and defenses, and pick rare items that seem decent, you have basically nothing. I have never played another game besides PoE where a player making choices to the best of their ability can fail so hard at building a usable character. Last edited by Miathan51#5605 on Jan 8, 2024, 3:38:17 PM
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Like I said.. time & effort, and the willingness to learn and understand the game. There are many games that are as complex as PoE, but ARPGs invite all kinds of audiences. There are people who like to theorycraft and there are people who just want to blast maps making screens explode.
It isn't the fault of either to exist for the 'other' side to exist. Merely, the game allows players to do as much or as little as they like. But you have to skewer your expectations if you want to run the hardest content with janky, unoptimized builds. If there's one thing I agree with then the fact that the new player experience is bad. You pretty much have to have friends who play already to get into it The opposite of knowledge is not illiteracy, but the illusion of knowledge.
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