Help! New player sunk too many points into Heavy & Deadly draw

New player, first character. I was trying to follow a beginner guide, only to realize it hadn't been updated since 3.0, that had me plough 9 points into the whole ring including Deadly draw and Heavy draw. Once I realized it may not be such a good idea to continue following it, I'm stuck finding a build with similar passives. The guide was NeverSink Tornado & Archer Guide:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1041989

Now the closest build I can find is Lioneye's Glare Ele Conversion Raider:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2007539

Can anyone recommend me a beginner-friendly build that will work for most of my sunk passives?:
https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAABAIAAAHRBiMIiSP2MHwylE2SUUddaGJaexR_Ao19lLiVBZrxm42hIqGkokCjiqbgp9Sv68SiyqnZxt-Y4dv0-Plj_sg=?accountName=Motriek&characterName=Metrocyl

I'd appreciate it in advance.

Hey!

From what I've seen in your build is that you haven't leveled up much, which is good! I didn't really check any alternative builds you could use with your current tree but I will tell you some options you can do to get rid of your current tree.

Options:

1. Continue with your current skill tree until a bit further in the game

- Since your tree looks like a generic bow-user tree you can look up any other bow builds and follow their tree while leaving yours as is.

- As you will level up you will gain respec points and hopefully some Regret Orbs will drop for you. Regret orbs each give you 1 passive respec point which will allow you to remove a point from the skill tree and use it else-where.

2. Even if your build was last updated in 3.0, your build could still be viable. Go through the comments on the last couple of pages and see what people are saying about the build's current stage.

3. Make a new character.

- This isn't ideal, yes, I know. But from what I am seeing, I'd guess you're either at the end of Act II or in Act III, which achievable pretty quickly with any ranger build. Better start fresh with a brand new working idea than a broken idea, right?

I hope this has helped you and if you have any questions please let me know :)

Thanks @BackdoorTrojanVirus, I appreciate you taking the time to put down such a detailed reply! I've just recently started act IV with 13 unallocated points and am at level 40. I know I'll be creating more characters once I learn the game, but am hoping to get all the mileage I can out of this one. I currently have 8 refund points, but I'm not sure how many more I'm likely to get, and if I should save them vs burn now.

I'm just now getting creamed by bosses (2-5 deaths per kill), and am at my left-right decision point.

I'm leaning towards the Lionseye build I linked, I helped Alira like him, and I've spent 18 points he didn't, mostly in general projectile & physical damage. 8 of his 'towards the end of the tree' points do the same thing, so that's a wash, so If I get 2 more, I can do it. If my math is off, I'll have to choose between one of his life decisions.

"

Motriek wrote:

Thanks @BackdoorTrojanVirus, I appreciate you taking the time to put down such a detailed reply! I've just recently started act IV with 13 unallocated points and am at level 40. I know I'll be creating more characters once I learn the game, but am hoping to get all the mileage I can out of this one. I currently have 8 refund points, but I'm not sure how many more I'm likely to get, and if I should save them vs burn now.

I'm just now getting creamed by bosses (2-5 deaths per kill), and am at my left-right decision point.

I'm leaning towards the Lionseye build I linked, I helped Alira like him, and I've spent 18 points he didn't, mostly in general projectile & physical damage. 8 of his 'towards the end of the tree' points do the same thing, so that's a wash, so If I get 2 more, I can do it. If my math is off, I'll have to choose between one of his life decisions.

I am glad to see you haven't given up on the character yet, 8 refund points in a step forward in getting your character to be what you want it to be.

As far as decision making when it comes to picking a build, it mostly differs depending on your play-style... For example, if you like a more chill style where you don't have to worry about most content then you go for more life, if you want to play a more risky but 'glass canon' like build where you deal tons of damage in exchange for life, you go that route.

The Elemental Hit build usually requires you to choose one element out of the three provided by elemental hit. For example, if you wanted to go for fire only ele hit, then you would choose the two jewels that would block the other elemental types. These usually cost a bunch, I am not sure how much they go for now but when I made the build when it first became famous it was extremely expensive but extremely rewarding at the end. They did however nerf the build in the recent couple of patches as it was extremely broken in terms of damage. Don't get me wrong, it is still really good to use and it feels pretty nice to play with.

As you progress through the game you will find a couple of side quests that will reward you with refund points, you can check the quest rewards here: https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Quest_Rewards

Don't forget the regret orbs are also a way to get refund points.

If you are getting absolutely destroyed by story bosses then it might be because you're not allocating points into the tree which usually translates to more life and damage, and game mechanics that make your build work. Also make sure you gear gives you a good amount of elemental resistances as well as life.

If you got any more concerns be sure to drop them here and I'll reply as soon as I see them. Sorry for the late reply!

Investing into bow/projectile attacks is never a bad idea for leveling. You get about 20 free respec points by the end of campaign, which should be enough to correct most mistakes.

@Motriek as BackdoorTrojanVirus said your current Skill Build is like any Generic Bow/Ranger build, you could just use 5 respec points and spec out of Heavy draw get the life from Heart of Oak and go a full Ele-Conversion Tornado Shot build. Most likely go down to the Primeval Force and go to the Duelist part of the Skill tree and get some more Life and maybe 1 or 2 Leech nodes. Or just wait you'll have like 15 respec points at the end of Act 10. Its not like you destroyed any kind of Character Build atm with the way your skill tree looks. The most Important thing about the Leveling Phase is that you allways try to have max Resistence on your Gear and some Life cuz damage isn't the most Important thing at that phase just need enough for the Act Bosses and Lab. I can kinda give you an Threshold of Life you should reach as a ranger, At level 33 you should have abt 1k life, at 55 2k-2.5k. at 68 3k-3.5k. And you get the most damage out of Nodes and your Weapons and Accesory like #% Increased Elemental Damage with Attack skills on Jewelery and Belt. Like you said you could follow https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2007539 or https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2134091. I myself have used both at some point of time in some past Leagues and both are pretty viable and can be made Budget for a League Starter. If you have any kind of Question ingame you can pm me and add me to your friendlist when i have time to play and you have any kind of Question just ask.

PS: I was pretty much like you, only that that i startet the Game the and tried to build the first 3 character Builds myself and got Frustrated and stopped playing for some time till i used some Begginer friendly builds and Started to really understand the game. I recommend using Path of Building as it shows some nice Information and helps you calculate your real DPS not just the paper dps.