Trial of the Sekhemas Discussion and Feedback

Without relics, indeed, it's hard if you're not ranged/minions/totems. If you're melee, probably you're better with the Ultimatum option.

But if you stack a bunch of relics with Honour Resistance & Merchant has # additional choices, the run becomes a lot easier. You get a lot of relics during your runs, and also, good relics are really cheap right now.

After each floor you're guaranteed to find a vendor, and you can buy all boons you need/afford from there. After each floor difficulty increases, but you also get more boons.

For last boss, make sure you have Blink and Hare Foot (40% increased movement speed) boon, they help a lot. I tried Wanderlust and stacking 6 relics with "20% Reduced Slowing Potency of Debuffs on You", but they did not do a lot of difference for the Clock Phase. Your best bet is getting as much movement speed as possible, and blink. And practice, of course.

My only complaint about Sekhemas is that they removed the reward rooms where you can pick Chaos/Divines/Exalts at the end of floor/sanctum.

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6_din_49#4066 wrote:

After each floor you're guaranteed to find a vendor, and you can buy all boons you need/afford from there. After each floor difficulty increases, but you also get more boons.

Unless you're forced to take the "merchant only has one offer" affliction >:(

So many ways to brick your run. I've only found one 4 floor barya in 200 maps lol, ultimatums out the wazoo though, game trying to tell me to poke my eyes out with that one instead I guess

Trials seems really tedious, not at all as fun as the PoE "ascendancy" puzzles

1) 1 try on the final boss makes me not want to do trials at all
2) No way to deposit items during a floor without massive time investment

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Strangehill#1736 wrote:

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6_din_49#4066 wrote:

After each floor you're guaranteed to find a vendor, and you can buy all boons you need/afford from there. After each floor difficulty increases, but you also get more boons.

Unless you're forced to take the "merchant only has one offer" affliction >:(

So many ways to brick your run. I've only found one 4 floor barya in 200 maps lol, ultimatums out the wazoo though, game trying to tell me to poke my eyes out with that one instead I guess

Probably you just reached T10 maps, they drop like candy in higher tier maps.

Anyway, if you're careful, you cannot be forced to take a specified affliction. Just plan ahead, make sure you always have at least 2-3 choices after next room. Never take a room that has only one room option after it, unless you can see exactly what is in that room (which room type/affliction).

Also, never take "Random affliction".

I have the floors down pat but sometimes things are just unavoidable and you have to take the least worst option

I got beat by RNG pure and simple

And so far done about 30 T15 maps because that's where I'm at now. RNG again. 16 ultimatums for 4th ascendancy, 1 barya

And I'd do the ultimatums but noped the hell out of there after finding out I'd need to do it at least 4 times, dental pain is more fun than that place

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Strangehill#1736 wrote:

I have the floors down pat but sometimes things are just unavoidable and you have to take the least worst option

I got beat by RNG pure and simple

And so far done about 30 T15 maps because that's where I'm at now. RNG again. 16 ultimatums for 4th ascendancy, 1 barya

And I'd do the ultimatums but noped the hell out of there after finding out I'd need to do it at least 4 times, dental pain is more fun than that place

Then buy more Baryas, they are cheap. Whoever sells one, is likely to have a lot more, just ask if they have 10 or so.

Also, mix and match the relics you get in your failed runs. If "You and your minions deal 40% less damage" is a bad affliction (aka you have low dps), you can mitigate this by using relics with "Monsters take X% increased damage". Also the relics with "Monsters have X% reduced movement, attack and cast speed" are really good. For last boss, you can stack small relics with 5% increased movement speed.

Do a bunch of trials, see where you struggle, and based on that decide which relics can help you the most.

Sure I'll run a bunch of sekhemas until I find one that doesn't brick (this one because of seriously bad globe placement in final boss) but off there one thing I hate and never needed to do in poe1, it's buying instead of farming boss fragments

It's too RNG. One bad choice and you can brick your run. Sometimes your choice is between what can brick you the hardest.

This kind of gameplay doesn't merges well in a ARPG. In most roguelike, you are offered BUFF choices. In here, most of the time you a offered NERF choices, which I don't find fun at all.

Both trials, being what it is, its what keeping me from creating multiple chars. Cannot put out with this again and if nothing changes, I don't see myself playing leagues.

I don't usually post on the forums but seeing nearly everyone hating on the trials is baffling to me. It's the only fun content in the game for me. I have a level 93, a level 87 and two level 75+ characters, three of them fully ascended. I've done it on melee (mace), ranged and spells. I like the trials so much whenever I get an entry drop I portal out without finishing the map.

I like the concept of a real challenge that test skill rather than gear (relics aside). The challenge, trivialized it may be with relics and dodge rolling, makes me feel I truly earn my "ascension". If I fail, it means I lack skill and I should try harder to earn it. You shouldn't be entitled to your ascendancy when you choose your character.

You complain about the RNG afflictions and honor system but that's the entire point. The afflictions are there for artificial difficulty. What would be the point of ascension if you steamroll it with gear? Afflictions can be avoided anyway if you path carefully. And honor system is trivialized with relics.

I think devs need to double down on the trials and make it more interesting/challenging.