I'm dying a lot

Level 82 was very rough, I probably had 15 deaths in it. Level 83 is starting out worse - I've got 6 and am back to 0% exp.

I'm dying about every other map. It doesn't seem to matter if the maps are 67s or 70s, or if they drop percentage is 10% or 40%.

I think I have good dps (18,000+), good armor (12,000+), good resists (75/70/70), and good life (3950).

The build is a pretty typical blender that uses life and mana leech.

This is my first PoE character, so my gear is not great.

I'm just curious, what are your rough stats and how often do you die? I'm about to give up on the game - going backwards so much is wearing me down.

I have not played a melee in maps but I will just put in that 4k hp is not a lot. I am guessing that your sustain is fine, but you die to bursts of damage?

Posting your gear and skilltree would be helpful in identifying what is causng this issue.

Can you post more? How are you dying? Can you explain a bit? Post your gear and passives?

I know how you feel. I am 85, 18.5k dps, 61% phys mitigation, 75/70/75/-29, 4.5k health.

I died a lot in 82 and 83. 84 I had only two deaths because I was doing a new map that had a boss that farted chaos and it took me two deaths to figure out what was happening. For some reason I must have figured something out because the game got easy again. I think for me what happened is I ran up against a limit, so I learned to play around it. There are a couple map bosses I just skip - cells is one. I don't even bother. I am spending more chaos on maps to not have TC or added projectile+increased damage etc etc. Also I am playing differently. Stuff I can steamroll I push harder, but I am also very very aware of when I need to whirley blade the fuck outta there. This last, when to run away, has basically stopped my deaths. I changed from cyclone to heavy strike so it is much easier to control when I run away. Kiting big packs to thin them out is important. I'm also probably using flasks more than I used to, and I'm changing out my auras and curses more to suit the map rolls. Not very much, but a little. I also changed to warlords as a default curse just because not dying is more important than enfeeble, tc, or vulning. This is also my first character so the learning curve part is there for every stage of the game. For the most part, other than my attack, every gem is aimed at damage mitigation.

Attack: BOR -> BM, heavy strike, multistike, splash
Auras: Det and Hatred (changing to Grace readily)
BM: Whirley Blade (so I can runaway) and Warlord Mark (life, endurance charges)
CODT: Decoy, Molten Shell, Skellies
LeapSlap: Added Dam, Stun, Endurance Charge on Stun

So I basically just curse a group and leap slam into them then needle the shit out of them with heavy strike.

I think we think of the game as hack and slash pick up yellows. But really the game is first about not dying, so that should always be the priority.

I've been through that same rough patch at about the same time, and would give you an answer close to alanlee222's above. By the early 80s your build is about complete and you have good dps, which can lead to reckless, one-dimensional gameplay. Also, blender builds require very strong gear and can expose you to the risk of random death for lack of control (especially if you use cyclone + multistrike) and desync. In my opinion they're more suited to characters that no longer care to level, are over-geared, and want to right click through content with that satisfying feeling that nothing can stop them. If you can make it work, more power to you, but I have my doubts because of desync alone. I know it didn't work for me.

Blender or not, you want to pace yourself and not pull more than you can chew. Yes, often a little more DPS is all it takes to clear a room without dying, but that won't solve all cases. Find out which situations end up leading to your deaths and learn from them. Second, you want to define your character with not just its *passive* defense stats but also *active* utility that's available when you need it. Take a step away from the numbers, and consider your positioning, movement, flask use, curse use, your judgment as to when it's time to increase offensive pressure or fold back... This might be the issue because you shouldn't die to lvl 67 maps unless you roll crazy yellow ones. There's a guy who finished Merciless in blues to make the point that gear should not be a substitute for sensible gameplay. What should you facetank to regen life, what should you avoid.

See my 13-charge build for tips on using converting trap - which might be all you need - and how to maximize charges/Molten Shell/Immortal Call/Devouring Totem uptime, this might give you ideas. The build starts from the fact it's not hard to have good dps as melee once you have decent gear, and looks at adding up and always renewing several layers of diversion and mitigation. There are various ways to limit how many mobs are beating up on you at any given time. Each of these defenses alone won't suffice in the toughest fights: how do keep putting as many obstacles as possible between incoming damage and you to prevent death?

If you're dying mostly to boss fights, there's a great thread on managing maps you'll want to read. Just taking the right flasks for the right boss will make a big difference. Amethyst Flask + Temporal Chains can turn twin Museum from hellish to loot piñata.

Finally, I put the hardest maps I intend to use to level up upfront, and go back to easier maps for the rest of the level to consolidate experience gains. So if I can clear, say 5 Villa maps in a row (a boss I used to struggle with), that's less risk exposure later into the level in terms of experience gains. But it sounds like you die to pretty much anything, so you really need to find the root causes. Your gear/stats look fine to me.

"

TigerSpook wrote:

Level 82 was very rough, I probably had 15 deaths in it. Level 83 is starting out worse - I've got 6 and am back to 0% exp.

I'm dying about every other map. It doesn't seem to matter if the maps are 67s or 70s, or if they drop percentage is 10% or 40%.

I think I have good dps (18,000+), good armor (12,000+), good resists (75/70/70), and good life (3950).

The build is a pretty typical blender that uses life and mana leech.

This is my first PoE character, so my gear is not great.

I'm just curious, what are your rough stats and how often do you die? I'm about to give up on the game - going backwards so much is wearing me down.

85 blender here. 3.5k hp, 9.5k armor. Max resists except chaos. Imho get a carnage heart unless you already have close to 10% life leech and pick up vaal pact. Made worlds of difference. Pretty much immortal. Still skip bosses like Dom though cause why risk it.

Imo higher end maps are more about being aware of your surrounding. Lots of fire dogs w multiple projectiles, ext. Just be wary of what is a threat

Thanks for the advice.

Here's my gear. I tried the BoR thing, and the loss of resists on the chest (and the head) forced me to equip pure resist gear, reducing IIR and critical strike %age. The current gear set is focused on resists and life. I have increased my life by about 1,000 lately.

The 245-ish phys DPS cleaver (with additional elemental damage) is a slow weapon, but it seems to perform better than the 270-ish DPS faster ax that's in my stash. The faster weapon runs me out of mana and doesn't seem to get the job done. It's as if the gems in my chest aren't multiplying only physical damage. Leap Strike loves that hard-hitting ax too.

I'm running CWDT in two places, each with Enfeeble and Decoy. I use the Determination aura and Molten Shell for defensive goodness. I have Temporal Chains to slow the game down.




----------

Here's my skill tree


----------
When playing maps, what sorts of attributes do you all avoid? I really dislike having my resists lowered.

What is your offense / defense in that setup?

Here is my gear and lvl 74 maps (chaosing attributes I dont like) are not terrible. I haven't done any 75s, am waiting for my group to get back in town.


Gear


As you can see, I could do with some upgrades for sure, basically all the way around. I spend a lot of time on poe.exy and have trouble finding stuff that is a perfect upgrade cause I don't want to drop 25c+ on items unless they are finishing that piece.


And passives.



BoR does create difficulty for the rest of your gear, but imo it is totes worth it.
See if my gear and passives seem any different than yours in ways which can be useful for you, because I'm certainly not the most top end character template or gear, but I'm not dying.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAAAYB3AHnBS0R1RIgE0wUIBX2Fx0XPhv6IWAl3ymlME8xnjIJNZI26DiWOuFAoEZpR35KfUrITeNOKlBHU99Xl1ivWNtbr16LYEFgS2J5ZFJlTWWnZ6Bqk2xGbqpybHTteA1674TZhO-HKYd2iPGVm5krmy2bg565n8ukGaZXpzCpbqxZtfK2QbcXvYG-ir6nwA_Bo8_40O7STdXt3Q3iYedj8kX3o_e-_MX-Cv6Pq8Un7fPdrKpyqXzZWfNZ_hfh9zL460GqFHHxiidP

Is what you should try for your tree you get more life 1% more life regen +2 max rt for more tool tip dmg I advise that you get some lifeleech/mana leech on your rings and ammys. Also if you can afford it I would get BoR

"

Bleric wrote:

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAAAYB3AHnBS0R1RIgE0wUIBX2Fx0XPhv6IWAl3ymlME8xnjIJNZI26DiWOuFAoEZpR35KfUrITeNOKlBHU99Xl1ivWNtbr16LYEFgS2J5ZFJlTWWnZ6Bqk2xGbqpybHTteA1674TZhO-HKYd2iPGVm5krmy2bg565n8ukGaZXpzCpbqxZtfK2QbcXvYG-ir6nwA_Bo8_40O7STdXt3Q3iYedj8kX3o_e-_MX-Cv6Pq8Un7fPdrKpyqXzZWfNZ_hfh9zL460GqFHHxiidP

Is what you should try for your tree you get more life 1% more life regen +2 max rt for more tool tip dmg I advise that you get some lifeleech/mana leech on your rings and ammys. Also if you can afford it I would get BoR

Why do you have RT and the Twin Terrors nodes? RT cancels them out. The beauty of RT is it eliminates the need to stack both accuracy and crit.

Another typical death. I'm playing a 66 map that I'd alch'ed. It had extra damage for the mobs and elemental weakness on me.

3 Blue Rhoas come from off the screen and ram me at the same time. And that was that. I got one-rounded, no chance to react.

Back down to 8%

Do other Duelists not play maps like this? Hard to believe. It'll take two level 70's to get these exp back. Assuming I don't die.