Path of Exile is a MAJESTIC incline

[DakaSha]

Everybody should play how they want but the exclusion of HC would be retarded. And not everybody that plays it is doing so to prove something. Its just a different type of game. One that i personally prefer

Edit: also you dont lose your char for dying in hc

 

[Mystary!]

One thing I like about hardcore is the camaraderie, but when someone dies people offer their condolences.

 

[Metro]

These Diablo-clones aren't that analogous to roguelikes so some of the appeal of permadeath breaks down. Especially when you're reliant on the stability of a remote server and internet connection. I've played both styles and invariably hardcore just leads me to be excessively cautious and makes the experience that much more tedious.

 

[empi]

Eh people just keep saying things that aren't true about hardcore here, but owell

and pvp is implemented

and you can only really get killed entering an instance if you're in a party that doesn't wait for you

 

[Angthoron]

So do uniques that aren't only useful to low-level chars exist? So far all I found can be considered useful for only the first act or so.

 

[Gregz]

Some uniques are end-game build keystones, others are junk, lots in between.

 

[empi]

Yeah there are some very good uniques, but of course they're higher itemlevel so you're more likely to find lower level ones until late in the game. You can look up a list of them, there's things like a plate that gives +1k base life but no sockets, and a very good bow that never misses etc. Then there are a quite a lot with weird special effects that weird special builds can be built around (like using uniques that increase your max resists, end up with ~95% fire resist and do a righteous fire build)

 

[DakaSha]

These Diablo-clones aren't that analogous to roguelikes so some of the appeal of permadeath breaks down. Especially when you're reliant on the stability of a remote server and internet connection. I've played both styles and invariably hardcore just leads me to be excessively cautious and makes the experience that much more tedious.

I guess its that tedium that draws me in tbh. There are other things though like not being able to just rely on drops and save up endless amounts of currency. Your char could die at any time (with dire consequences) so keeping him as strong as reasonably possible at all times is a must. I am constantly thinking of ways to use the currency items and the vendors to get as much out of his current level as possible.

There is no denying the suckage of relying server stability or my own connection though. It would be better if I could play offline no doubt.

Having said all that this game is really sucking me in for now

 

[dibens]

60 levels in and I find my first unique- a hilariously shitty and low level chest plate that cuts your mana in half in return giving a frenzy charge on critical hit. I love the idea of uniques acting as those game-play changing nodes, but at least give them more than three base prefixes.

 

[abija]

The problem with hardcore (non race) is that it rewards defensive/tedious gameplay. Skip hard areas, farm the no challenge ones, build overly tanky characters and play in groups to trivialize dangerous content etc.
That issue is fixed in races though because then pushing the limit is rewarded instead of being just a dumb move.

 

[xemous]

i finished the game on normal. theres no real story just atmosphere. the game feels empty. i dont have any interest in playing thru again on harder difficulty.

 

[Minttunator]

The problem with hardcore (non race) is that it rewards defensive/tedious gameplay. Skip hard areas, farm the no challenge ones, build overly tanky characters and play in groups to trivialize dangerous content etc.

This is all true, although it's offset somewhat by having a significant death penalty so when you're in a dangerous situation it's much more exciting. One can definitely be more adventurous in SC, though, no doubt.

Also, according to the latest dev post, races are starting again soon!

 

[dibens]

So I'm about to get to the Oak dude and can't decide whether to pick endurance charge or skill point, which have become quite scarce now. I guess endurance charges are a must for an endgame marauder, no?

 

[Castanova]

i finished the game on normal. theres no real story just atmosphere. the game feels empty. i dont have any interest in playing through again on harder difficulty.

I think you've wandered into the wrong genre. Glad you found your way to the exit, though.

So I'm about to get to the Oak dude and can't decide whether to pick endurance charge or skill point, which have become quite scarce now. I guess endurance charges are a must for an endgame marauder, no?

But you can use one skill point to buy an extra endurance charge on the skill tree. So, unless you've already taken all those passive nodes, I don't see how the endurance charge is more valuable. Unless, of course, you're running a build entirely focused on endurance charges... also, take my advice with a grain of salt as I've never played a Marauder in maps.

 

[dibens]

I took the extra charge. The problem with the skill tree is that all the stuff you want to get is separated by rows of stat nodes, so it seems that taking buffs from the quest actually saves you 2-4 skillpoints.

Merciless Vaal Oversoul was the first encounter so far I had to cheese my way through by basically zerging him death after death. Avoiding laz0r and falling rubble from the ceiling with such crappy latency is impossible. Act 3 is rather unplayable- I deal no damage and am ridiculously squishy. Chaos damage spitting snakes are fucking impossible, just as I suspected. The biggest downer is that leveling has stopped to a crawl, losing 15% xp on death sure as hell doesn't help either. Tried to roll a new, better maul, spend all my rare item orbs and came out with nothing.

But I'm fine with this, considering that I've gotten so far without grinding at all. Will have to do act 2 crypt runs- skeletons and zombies are easily my favorite monsters in this game- squishy and numerous.

 

[Castanova]

What level are you?

My level 57 Summoner Witch is now about half way through act 2 Merciless. I've got like -16% Chaos Resist, around 0% for Cold/Elec, and like 30% for Fire. Progress is fairly easy so far even in the zones where I'm underleveled, but I still manage to die about once per play session. Mostly due to my army disintegrating too quickly and me getting shot by like 10 Poison spit/arrows all at once.

 

[DakaSha]

Well i made the mistake of tackling that second boss to early apparently. I just barely manage to kill her and feel like i need a break and then the bitch morphs into another form. I died when she literally needed one more hit


Whatever ill get some kind of fire resistance next time for those horrible exploding pieces of shit which are essentially what killed me (due to being summoned unexpectedly and taking off a good chunk of health)

 

[dibens]

I'm level 62. I've got 60ish resistances, not a single point in chaos resistance, which explains the pain with snakes. I prolly need 1k more armor an dps to tackle act 3 properly.

 

[Gregz]

I'm level 62. I've got 60ish resistances, not a single point in chaos resistance, which explains the pain with snakes. I prolly need 1k more armor an dps to tackle act 3 properly.

At that point grinding gives less return, it's all about finding that miracle spec for your build synergized with gear, linked skill gems, support gems, etc. etc. etc. It's amazing how many numerations and variables there are.

 

[DakaSha]

What do i need to know about hardcore pvp? Is it also permadeath? What about this cutthroat shit ive stumbled upon?

 

[Castanova]

Fuck yeah, just got my first map drop! Dropped in the Church dungeon, act 2 Merciless. Level 66 "Dungeon" map. Looking at the wiki, this appears to be one of the lowest level maps but whatever. I'm still pumped. It's white, though, so I guess I'll need to transmute it and crap when I get to that point.

 

[made]

So my templer got ambushed by 2 rare mobs in cruel graveyard and lost half a level of progress. I shelved him and made a marauder and blitzed through normal in record speed. Sweep + Life leech on hit = no chance of ever dying. Guess that uber lvl 20 axe with crazy dps also helped; I haven't seen any upgrades since.

I went for Resolute Technique since my accuracy and crit chance were both abyssmal, but I'm not sure where to go from here. Towards the Templar line for more hp buffer and ele resists or down the Duelist tree for more damage and the survival talents that are down there? Or spread points all over, trying to snag all the juicy capstones along the way... Mace stun looks handy but I'm trying to avoid specializing in a weapon type, my luck with drops being what it is.

 

[abija]

Unwavering stance is good for melee and also close to blood magic if needed. Specializing in maces is not bad because they are a LOT better than other alternatives and at some point sweep becomes very hard to use compared to ground slam (unless you plan to overgear massively all leveling content).

 

[empi]

What do i need to know about hardcore pvp? Is it also permadeath? What about this cutthroat shit ive stumbled upon?

Harcore pvp is just like softcore pvp atm, not permadeath.

Cutthroat is a hardcore fully pvp league, where you can enter other people instances, kill them, get their loots and a proportion of their exp. Afaik it will only be used for events, but maybe in the future will be a permanent league, idk

 

[Hoaxmetal]

They died from corpse exploding a boss :D