POE 1 and 2 experience sofar as a below average gamer... 1000hrs in still feel like a failure..

As i below average gamer theres bare minimum guidance for us it feels like.
 
as ive mentioned in the past im in a friendly Discord guild for POE1 and 2, but whil they are very friendly and helpful there is only "so much" one can give for a helping hand untill i gotta do things on me own.
 
almost 9/10 times they say "follow this POB as the game is very very very unfriendly to beginners to understand the game! but even if i follow a pob sooner or later i hit a wall not knowing where the hell i gotta go or how to get to a boss????
 
but following a pob makes me feel like a brainless zombie that just follows directions without 0thinking.
however.. ive tried building my own builds overtime and i just completely hit walls..
 
the most commen things i notice:

* trading site is SUPER unfriendly and hard to find anything (aside from so so many bots or unreplying people)

* when my friends say "upgrade ur gear" while im looking at my gear "seeminlgy fine" to which they respond, "nah u gotta improve this and this and this" my response being: how can i see what needs improvement? how do u know? huh?

* the "comparing" items sucks..., it doesnt show if there is any given improvement like diablo titles where a given %green text shows what u will "improve/gain" from this or (red text) decrease... etc..

* with the amount of different items in this game and so so many different stats/modifiers..., its super overwhelming and chaotic to tell...

* i keep hitting walls not knowing what to take on the skilltree after ive taken all nodes there were for my build.

 
everyone keeps telling "install path of building, use 10different sites, few differnt plugins and THEN ur ready?????????????????????

Yes exactly.

As say streamer of Elden Ring when someone ask him, what weapon is good to play.
He say "i can tell you, but after that, you dont play ur own game and that is sad, bcs you miss emotions from trying and learning.
Now look on PoE ... new league and everyone just copy streamers builds, bcs they say its broken/meta.
Most sad it is in PoE2, where peeps dont learn/try new game. They just copy again.
And what PoE chads say to new PoE players? Exactly what you say - "go here, copy build and strictly follow it, go here and install PoE trade bcs w/o it ur looser and cant have good items, download filters, antoflasks, logout macro and more and more. Rly sad.
Funny is, when u watch PoE trailer where says : "build ur own way, create your unique build with that huuuuge impressive skill tree, choose from hundrets of skills" XD It is rly joke to real game start today.

I remember old times, where HC guild with 50 players complete HO Masters quests together, exists publick parties for boss killing and farm/lvling.
Funny PvP into Sarn Arena with different skills/builds or 1v1 PvP.
That all PoE lost (on HC!) for game that we have today :(

Your biggest friend in this game is just.......reading things. And I do mean read things in-game. There is sooooo much information right there in front of you that goes completely unheeded because, as you describe, the game doesn't shine big green lights on things like Diablo and other series do.

1) Trade site is super unfriendly: three helpful tricks. a) only allow listings from an hour to 3 hours ago. b) be specific about what you want, set numerical limits if you know them. c) scroll down until the price has changed 1 or 2 times. This will all but guarantee that you will immediately get an answer on any and all trades.

2) Upgrade your gear: you need to READ it. What is the gear giving you? What does your character sheet tell you? Are your resistances capped? What tier is the roll of mods? All of these things are things you SHOULD know at a glance, if you read the item. No one needs to tell you that a 40 life roll is BETTER than a 20 life roll do they? If you have 1 resistance lower than all the rest, no one needs to tell you that you need better rolls of that resistnace, do they? Are you running armour? Evasion? Get more of those values.

3) Comparing Items: this is the big brain moment. But really....its not even big brain. It's basic understanding of what you are doing. The game isn't doing the thinking for you (the flashing green lights of diablo).

4) Walls and Mods: you WILL hit walls. There ARE a ton of mods. Read them. Digest them. Understand them. The game tells you what nearly every single mod does. Problem solve yourself. Regarding walls: what ARE the walls? Are you dying to one hit? Are you not dealing enough damage? How can you get more damage? How can you defend more?


From reading your post, it seems you are expecting others to do the thinking for you and have only put the bare minimum effort in yourself. Sadly....that isn't going to get you very far. You need to be active in your knowledge digestion.

I do not believe you are a "below average player": I believe you played too many games that have done the thinking for you and you need to adjust to a game that won't ever do that. Remember that ALL OF US here were brand new to this game at some point...even the ones that seem to know everything intuitively. That took active effort and learning. Trying new things. Observing what is happening while playing the game.



You don't "Need" any 3rd party software: anyone that tells you otherwise is not giving you good advice. At some point, PoB will become an exceedingly helpful tool for perfecting your build or making better decisions but it is NEVER mandatory. There were years of this game when PoB didn't exist: builds functioned just fine.

My crash course new guide tips for new or newish POE1 player in 2025.

- Ignore build guides
- Ignore build guide sites like maxroll and youtube and *insert random discord here*
- The most important keystroke on the trading site is the tilda (~) beside the number 1 on your keyboard. In the "add stat filter" drop down menu when searching you use tilda and a few keywords to find an important item mod, instead of having to type out the full mod. For example, I can type "~ frac supp" to see which items in a particular slot have a fractured (yellow colored) mod to suppress spell damage
- Ignore every wearable/equippable item you find on the ground in mapping and beyond
- The game is a currency simulator to funnel currency acquisition into trading good items from people who treat the game like a job, everything else is irrelevant (see previous point)
- There are many items and item combinations in the game and one can reasonably estimate that 99.9%+ of them are worthless and ignored in endgame, including the vast majority of unique items with higher level requirements
- To have a good item comparison you DO need Path of Building, in which you import your build (full import with jewels and passive tree and skills), and then hover over any item or skill of interest to see the numerical comparisons. Doing such things yourself is literally impossible in this game beyond a VERY early game point.

A few final notes

- The game has zero visual clarity in all situations
- You will never understand what killed you
- You will have horrible game performance in all environments regardless of your computer specs and/or internet connection
- To see the intended audience of POE1, go find some twitch clip compilation videos on youtube (e.g. "exiled again"). Did you have a reactionary cringe after watching those people? Good

"

mnieradko#6070 wrote:

- Ignore every wearable/equippable item you find on the ground in mapping and beyond
- The game is a currency simulator to funnel currency acquisition into trading good items from people who treat the game like a job, everything else is irrelevant (see previous point)

These two are absolutely AWFUL advice for new or newer, or struggling players. I can't stress how awful.

This is the advice given to more EXPERIENCED players to optimize their play: players that already are aware what mods they need on items, and how to trade and value items. However, it erases any ability for the new player to actually learn item mods and item capabilities. NEVER ignore drops as a newer player.



To the above player: you mean well (up until your last bit trashing every part of the game), but this is not how an inexperienced player can or should interact with the game. In all likelihood, their gear is AWFUL coming out of the story. In nearly every map, they will likely find an upgrade even if its just upgrading the base. They DO NOT KNOW how to trade for items, DO NOT KNOW how to search for items, DO NOT KNOW how to effectively use currency to buy or craft items, etc. And you tell them to ignore all items? lol. They have no interest in optimizing their TIME in the game....they only want to make their character stronger.

poe is a game that is playable at any skill level. There are basically multiple games made into one; there's trade/farming side. build making side. crafting side and probably others i can't think from the top of my head.
-Regarding ppl giving newcomers advice to just follow the pob of a streamer's build that you like, is probably the only good thing to suggest if you want the player to reach endgame and start earning currency, which is main dopamine hit of the game.
-Making your own build without knowing what scales certain archetypes is a recepie to hit a brick wall like you had
-Trade site yeah is a relic of the past but at least we have faustus for currency removes 80% of the hurdle of trading.
-comparing items can be better but that requires tooltip to be accurate an account everything on the build, that's why you use pob to compare items that aren't just higher tier of the same mod.
-knowing what upgrades you need requires knowing what your build needs and scales of of, comes with trying out different setups ppl alreay came up with.
-quantity of different items is a blessing and a curse.
-Being ready is probably meaning endgame where you can earn at least 10d/hr and set aspirational goals.

I do agree that the game is super new player unfriendly which i think poe2 is more newbie friendly in a way(idk why exactly tho)
Also my opinion is typically ppl follow builds an discect them for why they work what are the defensive setups and dmg scalers. then they try making their own itteration on the build or look at poe ninja at others who did simirar archetype. You learn about items and interactions you have nevert heard talk about.
THen knowing all that you get to understand how builds work and how to assemble them quickly with simple crafting like essences or harvest reforge.
Not everyone has to be a megabrain making their own armor stacker. ppl specialise in making builds like other do in making currency.
99% of builds bellow multimirror are a compromise on multiple things. The 1-2 builds that actually manage to break into the bellow mirror farm all content get nerfed next patch bc ppl will just keep playing them and game gets stale. The game is all about questioning and learning all that you observe. hitting walls is normal and part of the process. it's better to make 20 builds that didn't work out and 1 that did, than just giving up on making them at all.
Stay sane exile

Unfortunately all of the biggest suggestions are "learn x". The best way to do this is to search up some youtube videos, there are dozens of good ones for the various tools.

1. POB: to compare items, you can paste items from trade site/crafting site into POB before you buy/craft. (make sure your POB config is good first)


2. Craft of Exile: This site allows you to test out your craft ideas before spending currency. Also a easy way to check available mods on a base, etc.


3. POE official trade site:

a) Master the filters and custom filters.

b) Install Better Pathofexile Trading on chrome. This will let you save custom search's so you arent typing in a complex filter a bunch of times.

c) Download Awakened POE Trade. This will let you price check and store regex, along with lots of other useful tools.

"

TechnicallBrains#4648 wrote:

almost 9/10 times they say "follow this POB as the game is very very very unfriendly to beginners to understand the game! but even if i follow a pob sooner or later i hit a wall not knowing where the hell i gotta go or how to get to a boss????
but following a pob makes me feel like a brainless zombie that just follows directions without 0thinking.
however.. ive tried building my own builds overtime and i just completely hit walls..

You don't need guides / PoB or anything else to complete acts. People saying "acts bad, tedious...", but that's only for veteran players, for newcomers it's a playground where you can learn things. Acts in PoE is not harder than acts in Diablo2 or similar games.

When i start playing few years ago, i complete them without any guide. It took a few weeks, while veterans can complete it within a day :D. But i learned new things, read all lore and have fun.

And when i start any new game, i play on my own, without guides, because i don't want to be "brainless zombie that just follows directions without thinking". Ofc i use it later, to some extent, when i hit a wall. Because i want be better.

"

* trading site is SUPER unfriendly and hard to find anything

If you see how trading is done in some other games, you will thank God and Chris Wilson that we have such AMAZING, BLISSFUL trading site. Really everything is known in comparison.

"

* the "comparing" items sucks..., it doesnt show if there is any given improvement like diablo titles where a given %green text shows what u will "improve/gain" from this or (red text) decrease... etc..

For that detailed info we have a PoB. You anyway can't make such lvl of details in game. And it not needed before yellow maps.

"

* when my friends say "upgrade ur gear" ... my response being: how can i see what needs improvement? how do u know? huh?

Just play more, have fun, learn new things and eventually you become better. Noone hurry you. You don't need to become top 1 player within one month time span. Or earn 100 div/hour.

"

TechnicallBrains#4648 wrote:

As i below average gamer theres bare minimum guidance for us it feels like.
 
as ive mentioned in the past im in a friendly Discord guild for POE1 and 2, but whil they are very friendly and helpful there is only "so much" one can give for a helping hand untill i gotta do things on me own.
 
almost 9/10 times they say "follow this POB as the game is very very very unfriendly to beginners to understand the game! but even if i follow a pob sooner or later i hit a wall not knowing where the hell i gotta go or how to get to a boss????
 
but following a pob makes me feel like a brainless zombie that just follows directions without 0thinking.
however.. ive tried building my own builds overtime and i just completely hit walls..
 
the most commen things i notice:

* trading site is SUPER unfriendly and hard to find anything (aside from so so many bots or unreplying people)

* when my friends say "upgrade ur gear" while im looking at my gear "seeminlgy fine" to which they respond, "nah u gotta improve this and this and this" my response being: how can i see what needs improvement? how do u know? huh?

* the "comparing" items sucks..., it doesnt show if there is any given improvement like diablo titles where a given %green text shows what u will "improve/gain" from this or (red text) decrease... etc..

* with the amount of different items in this game and so so many different stats/modifiers..., its super overwhelming and chaotic to tell...

* i keep hitting walls not knowing what to take on the skilltree after ive taken all nodes there were for my build.

 
everyone keeps telling "install path of building, use 10different sites, few differnt plugins and THEN ur ready?????????????????????

Path of exile is a very very complex game. Your pals are right to recommend build guides. But it's not about zero-thinking and copying - or at least, it should not be.

You're learning skill and item interactions. Take note at the nodes being suggested, and carefully consider how each of them is impact the skills. Look at the recommended items, and work out how those things are changing the way your character or skill gems are handling.

Think of following build guides as an apprenticeship - don't just photo-copy them - work out how each piece contributes. In doing so, you will begin to understand PoE's mechanics, and, eventually, be able to create your own builds.

For gear, there are usually 2-4 key items that are very very impactful, and the rest are filling resist and stat holes.

It takes a LOT of reading and time investment to figure out Path of Exile's mechanics, but once you really get the hang of the system, the insane depth and number of builds you can create is really really gratifying.

As to path of building, I don't use it. I've always been leery of 3rd party software. Over the years, without PoB, I have slowly evolved my "unique" hipster builds into something that can handle most game content. I've done this by iteratively improving my equipment (slowly) and learning more about PoE's interdependent systems.

People have advised you to spend a lot of time reading about the game, and I can't argue with that advice at all. You will figure out a lot just by looking up the skills you like in the wiki, and at various items, support gems and ascendancies that interact with it.

I hope this helps some.

i appreciate the earlier messages and the tips/experiences.

although a big part is for me that im simply unable to get further into the game as well.

while others are talking already about magebloods and mirrors, im still in campaign. while taking longer to get towards somehting isn't a problem ofcourse we get 3/4months for a league so i got the time to take longer over things...

the reality for me anyway is and lots of other average players, im unable to do most of the "new content"

the "new bosses" they added, first of all i just didn't know how to get to them at all...., i got obliterated even trying to do yellow maps...,
once i get help from the discord people (basically they spend their divs/chaos whichever) to help me get better gear so i could stay alive and enjoy the gameplay.

i ended up on a i eblieve its called CWS? build, cast when stunned or something? someone gave me a gear piece said "worth 20div" i managed to sell it with his help for 16div, and was able to buy "defiance of destiny" and some jewel that recoupes dmg taken when stunned or something?

which basically made me unkillable for the things i was doing anyway..., while i was "happy" ish..., that i could atleast complete the content it didn't realy make me feel better as i still was forced to play a "simple" build to just stand still and get hit to let the screen die (which although looks super pleasing to my eyes) i only managed to do mapping content of red maps due to discord people helping me out, if these people weren't there i woudl simply die the first map i touched.

cuz i wasnt with those pple in afflication league and i couldnt get further then white maps.... :( it was just to hard not knowing where to go, what to improve, whats bad/good about my build (what would be considered an upgrade?).

no clear vieuw of the game in the "compar" button what would be an "improvement" or on the skilltree (poe2 does this "somewhat"....)

just feels like even though GGG mentioned in en intervieuw before POE2 was out that they wanted more people of all kinds to play their games it doesnt feel like its designed for "more people/average people" outside of the realy big grinders.

anyway.. i hope GGG reads some of this and perhaps in some way could help out with some QOLS or perhaps an "easy mode" for average players we seem to haev "hardcode/ruthless/private/seasonal/normal servers" im sure a lot mihgt disagree with mee saying easy mode might kill the game, but theres unfortunately no game out there like POE1/2 and i just wanna enjoy playing videogames and this game (is super amazing) but SUPER hard for as i am i feel like a failure in this game (below average player) i seriously do efel like this as i just fail at every corner...

just to clarify the mode i mentioned would be an option not effecting everyone.. i know there are pple who like the harsh parts of the game :3