Back for first time since 1.1, I rolled a new char to see the game.

If you don't like stories, this probably isn't the thread for you. I just wanted to share my thoughts. So, like the title says, I stopped playing ~1.1 - 1.2 and hadn't thought much about PoE for a couple of years.

Well, I got bored playing console games, and decided to hop back in with my spiffy new computer and test out the game. I kicked around on my old lvl83 2H Spectral Throw Scion, but there was so much of the game that I wasn't sure about, so I decided to Roll up a new char, and take a spin around the new content.

This morning, I defeated Kitava (act 10), and I'm pretty pleased with how it all came together.

Now, the biggest thing is: I didn't follow a guide. I didn't check much out in the build department. I dropped Kitava at level 71, and I feel like I'm progressing nicely.

So, my character.

DW Frost Blades, with Whirling Blades, Ice Golem, Herald of Ice, Blasphemy / Frostbite. Pretty basic setup.


Passive Tree

Not sure if it's a good build or not, but I'm around 3800 HP, way overcapped on resists, and ~15,500 Tooltip DPS on Frost Blades. Hoping to finish Merciless Labs next, where I'll be snagging stuff starting in the Shadow Area.

The Gear


No, I didn't go self found, or restrict myself from using what I had in the Stash. Chest, Belt, and Gloves are definitely from the stash. Ammy might be as well. Other than that, the weapons, rings, and boots are all Self Found.


So, a few questions:

1.) Can I keep using Frost Blades as my Attack for everything?
I've seen a few videos where people do ridiculous things with it, but I'm not sure that's going to be me. I was beginning to think I'm going to need another more Single Target Focused attack.

2.) What is the difficulty ramp up from Cruel Lab to Merc Lab?
I've been trying to take on challenges as they are level appropriate (as much as possible), and I know people talk about uber lab all the time, but I wasn't sure if Merc Lab would be a challenge?

3.) I have NEVER played a melee char without RT. My MH Accuracy is 90%. Is that "OK?"

4.) My only source of frustration while leveling was Innocence. Man, that fight just seemed... out place difficulty wise. Did I miss something massive on an easy way to kill him (Yes, I used the pillars as LOS, and all that, but he still WRECKED ME 3x.)

1)
Nowadays you can use most stuff for all Content, but Frostblades Singletarget certainly falls off significantly later on. It's pretty shit, comparatively, in that regard.
With the right Investment it certainly still works, just worse than other Stuff given the same Investment. I would stick with FB until you feel you hit a wall, and only then switch. At least if you really enjoy FB.

2)
No idea, if you know Izaro and the Traps it won't be too hard I think. Merc Lab is pretty trivial I feel. But I don't remember how it went on my first Char.

3)
Look at it this way: it is fine as long as you feel it's fine. That said, 90% is a good Number.

4)
It's just about being Res Capped and Dodging Stuff. Nothing to trivialize it afaik, but it gets better once you've done it a few times.

Some Sidenotes:
Your Gear could obviously be a looooot better, but that will happen with time.

Your Tree could be way better. There is no need to go with Bleed Nodes, Bleed is in a bad spot atm and requires big physical Hits to work. As FB Converts some Damage to Cold already, your Bleeds will be very weak. Also, if you're going Frostblades it makes Sense to go to the right side of the tree and pick Winter's Spirit for 100% Conversion to Cold. Ele Conversion is busted atm. You also have Access to Claw Nodes, if you wanna stick with Claws (and they're great), and ele Penetration over there, which is all pretty great for FB.
Generally the right Side of the Tree is great for Crit based Ele Conversion Builds, which is what a FB Build ideally would be.
Also, you should pick up a second Fight for Survival.

I really recommend going Raider/Slayer as a Scion and taking the Raider Start for a FB Build. Slayer keeps you incredibly Safe, and Raider gives tons of Damage everywhere, and lots of Speed for mapping. Assassin+Shadow Start instead of Ranger works too, will feel less smooth and offer less DPS tho. But if you enjoy that Node, just stick with it. Just give Slayer a shot.

For your Gems:
You don't wanna Scale Proj Damage as FB, they have enough Damage from general Phys/Cold/Penetration scaling etc. What you will struggle on is Singletarget, so take an Elemental Damage with Atttacks for example.
Faster Attacks is a pretty weak Gem. Multistrike will offer significantly more Damage, as well as making Clearing smoother due to it's autotargetting in all Directions.
Added Fire is similarily weak, Hypothermia or Cold Pen would be better.

Hatred is a pretty significant DPS boost, and you can comfortably run it with HoI. Would need to drop your Blasphemy tho, but you can Curse Bosses with a Curse on Hit Orb of Storms if you want. Btw, Curse on Hit works with Herald of Ice, so you could put an Assassins Mark there if you decide to drop Assassin, to still get Powercharges while clearing.

---

Lastly, and most importantly, i don't know if you know of this tool:
Path of Building is the best thing ever developed for this game. It's not perfect in every regard, but it's god damn close and an invaluable help for Theorycrafting Build or finding Tree/Gear upgrades for your current one.
I strongly recommend picking this insanely powerful tool up here and checking out this video guide or its written form.

Thank you, for all of the feedback.

"

Guffinn wrote:

1)Nowadays you can use most stuff for all Content, but Frostblades Singletarget certainly falls off significantly later on. It's pretty shit, comparatively, in that regard.
With the right Investment it certainly still works, just worse than other Stuff given the same Investment. I would stick with FB until you feel you hit a wall, and only then switch. At least if you really enjoy FB.

I'm now firmly into mapping, and so far haven't run across anything (in a map) that gives me trouble.

"

Guffinn wrote:

2)No idea, if you know Izaro and the Traps it won't be too hard I think. Merc Lab is pretty trivial I feel. But I don't remember how it went on my first Char.

Ran into Argus for the first time. He cratered me pretty quick. I Am going to have to adjust my flasks for that I think.

"

Guffinn wrote:

3)Look at it this way: it is fine as long as you feel it's fine. That said, 90% is a good Number.

I feel pretty good right now. In some gear upgrades, I picked up a little more accuracy, unintentionally

"

Guffinn wrote:

4)
It's just about being Res Capped and Dodging Stuff. Nothing to trivialize it afaik, but it gets better once you've done it a few times.

Maintaining Res Cap is always Point #1.

"

Guffinn wrote:

Some Sidenotes:
Your Gear could obviously be a looooot better, but that will happen with time.

It has already!


Let's see. 6L was cheap. I know, it's not mind blowing, but it was better than the Belly, and will work, for now.

The Scaeva was cheap, and a decent DPS Upgrade. My Master is almost level 8, and I have the Vaal Orbs to get it to 3L. Then I'll worry about getting it gemmed.

The Claw was something that dropped when I was tooling around on my other char, before I decided to start over. I completely forgot about it for a while. It turned out to be a pretty significant DPS upgrade.

I'm going to get it set up with the Orb of Storms / Curse on Hit / Frostbite Setup next time I play.

"

Guffinn wrote:

Your Tree could be way better. There is no need to go with Bleed Nodes, Bleed is in a bad spot atm and requires big physical Hits to work. As FB Converts some Damage to Cold already, your Bleeds will be very weak. Also, if you're going Frostblades it makes Sense to go to the right side of the tree and pick Winter's Spirit for 100% Conversion to Cold. Ele Conversion is busted atm. You also have Access to Claw Nodes, if you wanna stick with Claws (and they're great), and ele Penetration over there, which is all pretty great for FB.
Generally the right Side of the Tree is great for Crit based Ele Conversion Builds, which is what a FB Build ideally would be.
Also, you should pick up a second Fight for Survival.

Bleed is gone. Adjusted some other things, and I'm now at 3700 HP, and 28k DPS standing in the Hideout. I'm pretty pleased with the build so far.

I changed a few things

"

Guffinn wrote:

I really recommend going Raider/Slayer as a Scion and taking the Raider Start for a FB Build. Slayer keeps you incredibly Safe, and Raider gives tons of Damage everywhere, and lots of Speed for mapping. Assassin+Shadow Start instead of Ranger works too, will feel less smooth and offer less DPS tho. But if you enjoy that Node, just stick with it. Just give Slayer a shot.

Will be trying this out in the future.

"

Guffinn wrote:

For your Gems:
You don't wanna Scale Proj Damage as FB, they have enough Damage from general Phys/Cold/Penetration scaling etc. What you will struggle on is Singletarget, so take an Elemental Damage with Atttacks for example.
Faster Attacks is a pretty weak Gem. Multistrike will offer significantly more Damage, as well as making Clearing smoother due to it's autotargetting in all Directions.
Added Fire is similarily weak, Hypothermia or Cold Pen would be better.

I adjusted based on some of your recommendations. I tried multi, but I just hate the way it feels. I recognize that's a personal dislike.

"

Guffinn wrote:

Hatred is a pretty significant DPS boost, and you can comfortably run it with HoI. Would need to drop your Blasphemy tho, but you can Curse Bosses with a Curse on Hit Orb of Storms if you want. Btw, Curse on Hit works with Herald of Ice, so you could put an Assassins Mark there if you decide to drop Assassin, to still get Powercharges while clearing.

I mistakenly thought that the heralds were "self buff" versions of the auras. I was really wrong. Running both, and getting ready to get the Frostbite nonsense going as mentioned above.

"

Guffinn wrote:

Lastly, and most importantly, i don't know if you know of this tool:
Path of Building is the best thing ever developed for this game. It's not perfect in every regard, but it's god damn close and an invaluable help for Theorycrafting Build or finding Tree/Gear upgrades for your current one.
I strongly recommend picking this insanely powerful tool up here and checking out this video guide or its written form.

Thank you for this. I will be checking it out this weekend.

Figured I would pop back in, and update where I'm at.

Dinged 82 yesterday. Taking my time on maps, mainly just making sure that I clear things, get the Shapers that I can when they are up, and clearing things out. I consistently, without trouble, clear T4 maps. I haven't pushed further than that, mainly hoping to build up more of a stash of maps prior to hitting it.

My tree has changed (I think) dramatically, based on feedback from forum users.

Trees are here


My gear, has similarly improved.

Things I've realized about the "new" (to me) PoE so far:

* I miss Vaal Side Areas. Since I started mapping hard, I've seen.... 3?
* Breeches are weird, and I'm not a fan. Mainly because it seems like a less fun version of:
* Abyss are a blast, though I have yet to have one give me the portal to the instance.
* Labrynth is... decidedly "meh". I haven't tried Uber Lab yet, but so far it's been pretty binary.
You can either get through the traps, and avoid Izaro's big moves, or you can't. The only mildly fun part is that you can't die and continue. But then, if I wanted that experience, I would just play Hardcore. (I don't want that)
* The game is still very punishing to try and play without trading.
* Hideouts are my favorite thing in the world. I'm super pleased with my choice of Catarina's now that I hit lvl7 with her.

Hello, Looking at your tree, there are still some things that you could improve. Personally I have never played frost blades because I don't like melee skills in general. But I would make more changes to your skill. But you should decide whether you want to stick to claws or swords, as it seems to be your kind of doing both, its much better if you stick to one of the types and then your tree can be changed better suited to you.

Primeval Force is a node on the right hand corner of the tree which i would take considering frost blades is an elemental skill.
Also the jewel your using underneath the scion class on the tree is pretty useless considering you should have enough dex (Survival Instinct).
You have a intelligence node as well in your tree, try to pick up (within your budget) an amulet with some high intell, life and phys added that will help save a point for more life and so on.
Considering your using blood rage, I would recommend you pick up the frenzy charges as they are a boost of speed and damage. Also get some MoveSpeed on your boots as that helps a lot. I assuming as your over capped on res that getting some better equipment shouldn't be too hard.

The game is not punishing to try and play without trading as there is an SSF mode for a reason and some people prefer that play style.

If you play standard, I wouldn't mind helping you out with gear, I may not be an expert at the game but I have had few years experience so I'm sure I could be of use.

1 question. What flasks are you using?

Good Luck!

Right now, there is no way to replace my weapons at a DPS increase without spending 20 ex for a new weapon, which would break me. (I have 19 ex)

Im currently working on gems. I dont have much that works well for my build, and Ive yet to find a great way to search gems for sale that doesnt leave me staring at 10 ex for gems, or sorting through wands, and bows, and staves gems. The int node is the next to get removed once I have the Int covered. Im probably not using the sites right. There has to be a way to have mods you want, AND list mods you dont.

Frost blades is the least melee "melee" skill Ive ever played.

Ill probably pick up some frenzy nodes if I keep using blood rage. I only have it now because I have the free sockets while getting voricii high enough to craft on Corrupted.

I have a SSF character, and I stopped. The game just doesnt lend itself to playing to completion without trading, without luck, or a TON of grinding.

Right now, for flasks im running 3 divine life. All surgeons, one to remove bleeding, one to remove shock, and one to remove poison.

The other 2 flasks vary based on what Im running. Mainly surgeon granite, but if need be, I'll run resistance flasks. I dont have any unique flasks.

In the two weeks since I last posted an update, my gear has mightily improved.



The biggest boost to my passive tree, has been getting better jewels. I still have the one INT passive, and since I haven't been able to find a piece of jewelry to take up the slack, I'm thinking I may look at comparing the DPS tradeoff between scrubbing and crafting INT onto a neck or Ring, and allocating that point in a DPS passive, to see what works.

With Golems out, in my hideout, I'm sitting at 74K DPS. Blood Rage gets me closer to 80K, and charges get me up around 100K.

I still haven't found any unique flasks that I care about, so I'm probably going to begin looking for unique flasks to trade for.

I have been clearing T6 maps, when I have them, and I've got a good Elder influence area started, but it's in the T4-6 area of my atlas. Should I get it big enough to spawn guardians, and kill the elder now? Or, should I burn it out, and push Elder to later? I've read up on the Elder stuff, but I'm not certain how people handle that. Surely, you can build more than 1 Elder Area over time, right?

"

shoju wrote:

In the two weeks since I last posted an update, my gear has mightily improved.

Spoiler

EDIT: And when I can get it to show more than just my ring, I'll get that updated.

The biggest boost to my passive tree, has been getting better jewels. I still have the one INT passive, and since I haven't been able to find a piece of jewelry to take up the slack, I'm thinking I may look at comparing the DPS tradeoff between scrubbing and crafting INT onto a neck or Ring, and allocating that point in a DPS passive, to see what works.

With Golems out, in my hideout, I'm sitting at 74K DPS. Blood Rage gets me closer to 80K, and charges get me up around 100K.

I still haven't found any unique flasks that I care about, so I'm probably going to begin looking for unique flasks to trade for.

I have been clearing T6 maps, when I have them, and I've got a good Elder influence area started, but it's in the T4-6 area of my atlas. Should I get it big enough to spawn guardians, and kill the elder now? Or, should I burn it out, and push Elder to later? I've read up on the Elder stuff, but I'm not certain how people handle that. Surely, you can build more than 1 Elder Area over time, right?

Just get the Elder to spawn and do him, yes you can spawn him as often as you want.
Should be a fun fight, altho I see you struggling with ~100k DPS even tho it's one of the easiest Elders you can get.

As for Flasks: fuck Unique flasks for now. You are playing a Crit Build, where is your Diamond Flask? :D That's a mandatory one, and a huge DPS Boost.
After that: Atziris Promise, Lions Roar, Wise Oak and Taste of Hate are your big DPS boosting Flasks. Atziris Promise is suuuper cheap to get.

Other than that, get your Uber Lab done. It's a huge DPS and Life Boost, simply by giving you tons of Skillpoints.

As for your tree: no offense, but the biggest Boost would be completely reworking it. To something like this maybe: www.poeurl.com/b13n Same Life, more Damage. Next things to grab would be Twin Terrors and Thick Skin. After that maybe go down to Fangs of Frost, or whatever. Again, Uber Lab provides a shit ton of Skillpoints simply by skipping all the pathing from the Scion Start.

Look for WED (Elemental Damage with Attacks) on your Rings and Amulet, and Crit Multi on the Ammy as well. Ideally.
Go grab a one socket Tombfist with decent Rolls. These are the best Gloves for 90% of attack Builds. Socketing a Murderous Eye jewel provides Intimidate, which is a straight up 10% MORE multiplier for your Damage.

I know you dislike Multistrike, but I recommend giving it a shot. It's way stronger than Faster Attacks, and the auto targeting helps with map clear.

"

Guffinn wrote:

Just get the Elder to spawn and do him, yes you can spawn him as often as you want.
Should be a fun fight, altho I see you struggling with ~100k DPS even tho it's one of the easiest Elders you can get.

As for Flasks: fuck Unique flasks for now. You are playing a Crit Build, where is your Diamond Flask? :D That's a mandatory one, and a huge DPS Boost.
After that: Atziris Promise, Lions Roar, Wise Oak and Taste of Hate are your big DPS boosting Flasks. Atziris Promise is suuuper cheap to get.

I was running a X% more Fire Damage Hits always ignite map this morning, so I dropped the Diamond for another Life + Fire Flask.

"

Other than that, get your Uber Lab done. It's a huge DPS and Life Boost, simply by giving you tons of Skillpoints.

It's on the list of things to get done. I try and do things like that when my wife and kids aren't home, so that I know I don't have to be bothered. Hoping for this weekend.

"

As for your tree: no offense, but the biggest Boost would be completely reworking it. To something like this maybe: www.poeurl.com/b13n Same Life, more Damage. Next things to grab would be Twin Terrors and Thick Skin. After that maybe go down to Fangs of Frost, or whatever. Again, Uber Lab provides a shit ton of Skillpoints simply by skipping all the pathing from the Scion Start.

I'll be hoenst, There is no way I could move to that build. I just don't have the resources to drop 100+ regret right now. I am working on getting Twin Terrors. It's what I planned on using my ascendancy points from Uber to pick up.

"

Look for WED (Elemental Damage with Attacks) on your Rings and Amulet, and Crit Multi on the Ammy as well. Ideally.
Go grab a one socket Tombfist with decent Rolls. These are the best Gloves for 90% of attack Builds. Socketing a Murderous Eye jewel provides Intimidate, which is a straight up 10% MORE multiplier for your Damage.

I've been looking for them (jewelry), just trying to find them that cover the resists as well, and not cost 10+ ex each has been the kicker so far. Doubly so if I move to a Tombfist setup. At that point, I'll probably have to swap out the boots again, which may work.

"

I know you dislike Multistrike, but I recommend giving it a shot. It's way stronger than Faster Attacks, and the auto targeting helps with map clear.

I guess I'm not running the right maps. Most packs die from explosions on the projectiles before I even switch from my primary target. Multistrike felt like it was slowing me down as opposed to speeding me up. Even more so on bosses, where it felt like my reaction time was slower. I'll give it another go though, maybe I'll find better results in higher tier maps.

Figured I would continue to chronicle where I'm at.

Since my last update.

Level 90.

Easy Elder done
He did kill me once, but that was completely my fault. He was close to death, and I decided to hang in there longer than I should have. He killed me, and I had to go back in, and blow him over.

Atziri Dead.
For fun, I even killed the mirror clone. Because... Why not?

Uber Lab done.
And now I never have to go back there. I know, I know, everyone I've talked to says: But... But... it's Uber Lab! The enchants!

Yeah, I don't care. If I need / want better enchants, I'll buy them. I just do not find Lab to be fun, and I like the chaos that the offerings sell for more.

Mapping
I'm comfortably running T8 / T9 Rare maps without much fear of anything. I could probably try higher, but I don't have enough T10 / 11 maps to feel comfortable running those.

Passive Tree Re-worked
How I sit now

Since crit has not ended up being as much of the build as I thought it would be, I tried Resolute Technique. It was less DPS overall, and not as fluid feeling.

So, I've just maintained a high accuracy build, and focused on the rest of the tree. I did end up shying away from the Shadow ascendency, went Ranger. The Onlsaught at full Frenzy has been nice. Right now, with Blood Rage running, max Frenzy Charges, and both Golems up, I'm just over 180K DPS.

Gearing
I'm sure people are going to continue to debate about having matching weapons. Let me just say: unless I get a claw that is better than Doryani's in DPS, I'm not going back. Doryani's was a big DPS boost, and I don't have any Claw Nodes. I'm still using all 1H / Dual Wield nodes, and I feel fine.



For now, I'm looking to upgrade my

1.) Flasks - Right now, I still just utility my flasks based on the Map that I'm running. I'll probably just pick up the Atziri flask if she doesn't drop it in the next few kills. Right now, it seems like the only flask that I'm chomping at the bit to get into my lineup. Blood of the Karui would be cool to mess with, and The Writhing Jar could be cool if the Worms grant Frenzy Charges. (Not sure. Haven't messed with it.)

2.) Boots - They aren't amazing. But, they dropped, and they were an improvement over the bubonic Trail boots in DPS, and Life.

3.) Crit Ring - I'd love to turn it into another steel ring. The problem is, after the Delve patch, something changed (not the build), and I no longer met the Intelligence requirements for things. So, I had to find a way to meet those int requirements, because I'm addicted to Vaal Summon Skeletons.

4.) Chest - It's a 6L, and that's what I need, but It's not exactly the most glamourous 6L out there. Functional, not awful, but not amazing.

4.) Amulet - Again, it's a functional piece, but it's not jaw dropping.

What's Next
More End Game Content, and better gear. Keep going along. Hit 100. Pretty standard stuff, I guess.