Feedback on Trial of Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos

If I build a tank, why is it losing my honour when I am not wavering?

I think Trials grew on me over time. I hated it in Act 2 and now after over 20 hrs in the endgame I consider this the most fun mechanic. However in order to really enjoy it I had to run a few of them and find a decent amount of relics which makes huge difference. Honor system doesnt bother you as much later on when you figure out a good combonation of relics (not only honor resist but also defences, speed, increased dps).
Its a really good and well thought roguelike implementation once you reach a certain level. I think the biggest flaw of this is that in Act 2 its a very much limited and frustrating experience which doesn't encourage you to try it again later on and I can tell you that the experience is so much different when you are at higher level maps. Didnt you guys find ascendacy trials in PoE1 quite boring and repetetive?

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c00rle0nne#4720 wrote:

I think Trials grew on me over time. I hated it in Act 2 and now after over 20 hrs in the endgame I consider this the most fun mechanic. However in order to really enjoy it I had to run a few of them and find a decent amount of relics which makes huge difference. Honor system doesnt bother you as much later on when you figure out a good combonation of relics (not only honor resist but also defences, speed, increased dps).
Its a really good and well thought roguelike implementation once you reach a certain level. I think the biggest flaw of this is that in Act 2 its a very much limited and frustrating experience which doesn't encourage you to try it again later on and I can tell you that the experience is so much different when you are at higher level maps. Didnt you guys find ascendacy trials in PoE1 quite boring and repetetive?

agree! and i don't remember that well poe1 sanctum but i think it was just a big gauntlet trial and gauntlet is the trial i like the less :D

I find sekhemas to be way easier then the chaos trials, I guess to each their own, It only took me like 3 or 4 low levels trial runs to get enough relics for max honour resist after that it was pretty smooth sailing.

I still fail chaos all the time I hate the rooms in that one they all seem so long or just slow.

After getting used to sekhemas there's only like 2 different gauntlet trials per floor and the fourth floor only has 1 and it's all the same every time. Sekhemas imo also drops way better more consistent loot but I could be wrong here haven't farmed chaos enough too know just my opinion.

There aren't as many bad afflictions as people make out imo list of ones that are pretty much meaningless go on and on especially after getting 75% honour resist

-traps are faster(traps tickle and 90% of them can be dodge rolled through)
-monsters deal 5% of everything on hit( besides fourth floor lightning which can be 100% avoided by standing in the corner,or those red vase mobs which are pretty easy to focus as they don't activate until your closer too them. Nothing else matters with this one)
-no Armour( I have my doubts this matters even on armor builds)
-cant see rewards
-can't see room types
-if you have scrying crystal see one less room ahead
-take damage on room completion
-gain a random boon when you venerate a shrine(you shouldnt need shrines after 75% honor resist)
-no evasion(again even on ev based builds I doubt this matters, although it helps it isn't necessary to auto dodge all the attacks nothing in the trials is so dangerous that you can't simply dodge roll away, i use a ev build myself)
-death toll(easily the best affliction)
-monsters gain life
-monsters gain damage
-monsters can't be slowed/gain action speed
-less max honour
-cursed with enfeeble ( I have 2 bosses take more damage relics)
-you cannot restore honour until after the next boss
-increased damage taken on low life
-reduced light radius/minimap is hidden
-reduced honour restored
-lose water on room completion ( amount you lose is negligible at best)
-losing sacred water on hit (this one is more dangerous but post 3rd boss sacred water doesn't matter and if you are half decent at dodging it's not a big deal)
-you and minions deal less damage isn't so bad if you get the one that makes you deal more.

I take every single on of these afflictions everytime, there's maybe 5 more afflictions total besides these that are the truly bad ones. Everything in the list above is manageable and I'd even venture to add all the merchant choices/increased price afflictions post third floor. So again even less.

Boons on the other hand silver tongue is king. If you get it you should be buying 3+ full merchant shops worth of boons, even without extra merchant choices this is gonna net you 10 boons or more. Even without it you can still get 5 extra boons just from the merchant alone at minimum. Just from ending rooms.

Sacred water should be focused early and reduced sacred water boons are more detrimental early however there's 3 guaranteed merchants at the end of the floors so I would suggest avoiding the merchant in the middle of the floors unless your overstocked on sacred water just save for the merchant after the boss.

At this point 9 out of 10 of my runs end with every single permanent minor boon, and maybe 5 or 6 afflictions. Every single time I run it no RNG Involved it's so consistent I have a hard time failing it on purpose(which I've had to do sometimes when a trade comes in and I just started a gauntlet floor and can't port out)

Currently, i tried three times on the 3rd trial and made it through twice with different characters. Here is what i've learned so far:
-Relics make a huge difference. If you don't have relics, just don't go for the 3 floor trial and farm 2 floor trials instead to get relics first. You should get as close to 75% honor resistance as you can. Maximum honor also helps a lot.
-You maximum honor is based on your life and es values, so get these numbers as high as you can prior to the trial.
-Use movement skills. It makes it a lot easier, especially when doing the 3rd sekhemas floor. Movement speed also is a big factor.
-It can help to get a shield to actively block every now and then, but it is not really needed.
-Watch out for the quicksand and stay out of it as good as you can as the slow can get you killed really quick. This mechanic ruined my first try, cuz i was simply not prepared for it to happen as quicksand is not part of the first two floors.
-There a some boons that can make the trial really easy, but it takes luck to get those. Increased damage and less monster life for example have been insanely useful.
-There is a bug in the last floor boss. During his jumping phase you can get him to jump into the door to the rewards room, by placing your char in front of the door. The boss can get stuck in there and is vulnerable without being able to attack you back. ;)
https://imgur.com/a/2mY9m84
If the boss jumped too far and you can no longer hit him, you can reset the fight by going to character selection and entering the trial again.
-I completed the trial on lvl 79 twice. So yeah... overleveling is key.

But even if i found my way to deal with this trial now, i still agree with the creator of this thread partially. The sekhemas trial does not really feel good and it is a huge time investment for 0 outcome, if you fail.

Totally agree trials have no place in this game whatsoever. Trying to talk your way out of it is like justifying a war-crime. I have tried multiple times to write something comprehensive on this topic - again, which I did before -, but people have already said what I am thinking here. So this is my +1. It sucks, please remove it. There is no saving it. I love PoE with all my heart, but this is a malignant piece of living tissue that does not seem to remove itself from the greatness of this living organism of a wonderful game.

Agree 100% with OP but also want to add that the trial invites dropping at your current level is also BS because it makes it difficult to overlevel yourself in order to survive it.

The ascension trials for each tier should always be at a specific level, not tied to your character's level.

+1

single handedly my most hated game mechanic from over 30 years of gaming. pure condensed BS.

The trials should be.

Hey you found me .. welcome to ascension.

They stop me from playing.
I have spent 200 hours afk right outside the door
I die, know im done for a bit cause im disgusted.
Alt tab and forget to go back ...

I activity hate the trials to the point where they stop me from playing the rest of the game.

Finally map it to maps after getting more time to play, tried to get my third ascendancy points, yeah. Trail of Sekhemas is not at all fun, needless to say, I did not get my Third Ascendancy.

One Death/One try on a boss that gates power required to progress is, uh, pretty silly to say the least. The honor system is moot and just punishes you for being hit at all, not to mention many layers of RNG determine how your trials will go.

Honor Resistance was used during this too, which is the crazy thing. Had 1200/2000 going into the 3rd boss fight and instantly lost it to a poison spray/slam that happened pretty quickly.

The poison spam felt an just like that one lady in act three, who is absurdly overtuned and over done by comparison of anything experience in the entire campaign, including the last boss which is hilarious.

Labyrinth felt fair, this does not feel fair. Loved Labyrinth, already hate this. Ran it 3 times and essentially wasted 2~ hours of my time, learning the mechanics and then being wiped as soon as i get to the boss.

You have a new boss each time, that you cant learn without being punished severely (you literally cant take hits or you run down honor and lose, i also have no clue how "honor taken" via a hit is determined). Its great having different bosses so you dont fight the same boss like you do in POE 1 with Izaro, but the additional honor system is entirely unnecessary and adds genuinely nothing to the game play in this instance.

Very disappointed with this aspect.