SSF | Questions and how to improve

Hi everyone!

I have been playing SSF for several leagues now, using Zizran's yt and twitch channels to learn, as well as poe.ninja, craft of exile, wiki, etc.
I don't think this is the kind of game to play as a team, even though, I know, drops improve with more people in party. For me, the enjoyment in this game, comes from th fact that I can play alone and achieve what ever possible alone (and I also know, that this game is very very complex and, therefore, I know nearly nothing about it).

Seems like I came to a state where I don't know more where to look at in order to improve my toons and/or play style.
For that reason, I came here to ask, if someone could look at my toons and tell me what should I do to improve them. I'd be much appreciated for that.
This topic is also tied to a couple other questions, which I will list in order, so it's easier for you to answer:

1. Looking at the toons I've built in 3.25, what do you consider I need in ordert o improve the builds. What should I pursue next?

2. What atlas tree strategies and scarab combinations should I be using to farm tuff like div cards, for instance?
I've been googling around and I can't seem to find a clear answer for this one. I have came across a couple reddit threads on this topic, and I have tried the strategies explained in there, but with no success

3. One of the things I struggle the most with this game (and I believe a lot more people too), is the fact that I do not realize where fatal damage is cumming from. And I'm not referring to those huge AoE circles in the ground, as those are obvious and are avoided at all times.
What strategies/tactics tricks are used for this? Seems like, sometimes, it comes from nowhere...

Well... I guess that's it for now.

Looking forward for your (constructive) feedback
I genuinely appreciate any sort of constructive feedback.
Cheers folks!

Ad1. It really depends on build You follow. Good guide shoul have all the tweaks and improvements suggestions. If You dont know what to do maby try different build? I personally can recommend RF from Pohx - it was - at least for me - a game changer when it comes to learning about PoE mechanics and char building. Tried last league, playing this also, going farther that ever.

Ad2. It depends. For start it is good to take Kirack nodes and Betrayal for gearing up and hoarding reports. Second is about maximising some mechanics - my second atlas tree was about maps and scarabs. Thord one was profiled for special mechanic - Harvest in that case because i neede purple thing for shield craft. The i changed it for different things - riht now i run abyss/beyond setup, previous it was Beyond/Harbi. Atlas is for You and You need to know what You want from it and setup for it. There is no "one universal atlas tree for all".

Ad3. Two things. Build and PoE mechanics. One thing is good build that provides good defence layers. And there will always be some situation whene many things aligns in that one way it will kill You. Better build less such situations.

I hope that will provide some help. I consider myself filthy casual but i play ssf since it was introduced. And never migrated.

"

de99ial wrote:

Ad1. It really depends on build You follow. Good guide shoul have all the tweaks and improvements suggestions. If You dont know what to do maby try different build? I personally can recommend RF from Pohx - it was - at least for me - a game changer when it comes to learning about PoE mechanics and char building. Tried last league, playing this also, going farther that ever.

Ad2. It depends. For start it is good to take Kirack nodes and Betrayal for gearing up and hoarding reports. Second is about maximising some mechanics - my second atlas tree was about maps and scarabs. Thord one was profiled for special mechanic - Harvest in that case because i neede purple thing for shield craft. The i changed it for different things - riht now i run abyss/beyond setup, previous it was Beyond/Harbi. Atlas is for You and You need to know what You want from it and setup for it. There is no "one universal atlas tree for all".

Ad3. Two things. Build and PoE mechanics. One thing is good build that provides good defence layers. And there will always be some situation whene many things aligns in that one way it will kill You. Better build less such situations.

I hope that will provide some help. I consider myself filthy casual but i play ssf since it was introduced. And never migrated.

Thanks for the input mate!
I tried RF a couple leagues back, following Phox (excellent) build guides and yt/twitch channel, but it really does not match my play style.

"

iBullStrike wrote:

For that reason, I came here to ask, if someone could look at my toons and tell me what should I do to improve them. I'd be much appreciated for that.

Dont want to give specific advice but a quick look at your gear shows that it seems alot like "hit or miss". Meaning some pieces could be improved alot. In Settlers league rare gear pieces are relatively easy to target craft with Recombinator as long as they dont have "special" mods. See here for how-to:
https://old.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/1exyavx/325_updated_guide_to_recombinators/
https://www.poewiki.net/wiki/Recombinator

Examples:

"

iBullStrike wrote:

2. What atlas tree strategies and scarab combinations should I be using to farm tuff like div cards, for instance?
I've been googling around and I can't seem to find a clear answer for this one. I have came across a couple reddit threads on this topic, and I have tried the strategies explained in there, but with no success

Div card farming seems to be massively nerfed in 3.25. Mixed experiences myself. Like zero success trying to farm 'The Professor' but was really easy to farm 'The Porcupine'. My personal take for current state is to not rely on Div card farming unless I know for sure that the target card is realistically farmable.
Gold and base item farming for recombinator however works.

"

iBullStrike wrote:

3. One of the things I struggle the most with this game (and I believe a lot more people too), is the fact that I do not realize where fatal damage is cumming from. And I'm not referring to those huge AoE circles in the ground, as those are obvious and are avoided at all times.
What strategies/tactics tricks are used for this? Seems like, sometimes, it comes from nowhere...

There are no easy tricks Im aware of. If you want to get better at understanding you should analyze every such instance individually. If you get the "Resurrect" popup look at the screen and analyze everything including map mods and altar mods. Optimally record your gameplay. If you have recorded gameplay (screenshot/s work sometimes too) and still cant figure it out you can post them here or on reddit and ask others.

A partial alternative is to build a more survivable char.

Thanks for the input @Zrevnur!

Yea, recombinators... I tried them early in the league, didn't had success with them so I never tried them again. Perhaps it's time to give them another shot using the material you shared about it.

I resonate a lot with your comment regarding div card farming.
In my case, I have tried to farm 'The Offspring' using tyty strat he posted over reddit without any success.
What I find intriguing though, is that very early in the league I somehow managed to get 2 'The Offspring' cards, just by playing a couple of semi-juiced Infested Valley maps, which got me really motivated, but then, for some reason, and no matter what atlas tree or character I use, I had not droped one of those card ever since, which, honestly, does not make any sense at all.

Again, thanks for the input