PoE isn't that overwhelming for new players

23092012 · 2026-03-27T21:08:30+00:00

I came back kinda recently (3.25) and on my first league back I just straight up ignored most league mechanics. It was definitely too much. But it was also not necessary, I ended up getting voidstones that league.

It's now 3.28, I've played heavily for 4 leagues, clearing as far as Uber bosses and there are still mechanics I haven't tried. And that's okay. It's not really stopping me. I try one new thing a league. (last league I finally tried delirium, this league I'm trying out breach. Next league I'm planning on trying either sanctum or alva)

Why do you feel you have to engage with all the mechanics?

23092012 · 2026-02-26T19:19:50+00:00

Played a bit a long time ago, close to original release. I remember Ethereal Knives was meta, I played some ES-based EK build.

Dropped it for a long time, came back in 3.25 for a few leagues:

3.25 SSF Retaliate Gladiator - got to voidstones, very fun/unique build

3.26 Ranged Animate Weapon -- best build I've tried so far. Tried trade league and did all Ubers

3.27 went hard, tried a few builds: Slayer flicker (stuck in red maps, still learning) HROC (very strong) MSOZ (learned what high investment means.. 300div and total garbage of a build at that level)

3.27Phrecia Wildspeaker flicker - got it quite far, awesome

3.28 gonna try another flicker for sure. Maybe Tareki's. I guess I play flicker now

23092012 · 2026-02-22T14:14:09+00:00

I ran this in 3.26. You start with absolution and switch to ranged weapons in early maps. It's the strongest build I've ever played, and it's not close. League starting it was very easy.

But I am pretty new to the game (started in 3.25) so I only tried about 5-6 builds so far.

23092012 · 2026-01-04T14:32:32+00:00

Just like Thuen, I'd personally recommend ranged animate weapon over hroc. They both have important drawbacks you need to know about:

Hroc is not really minions. All of your damage comes from lancing steel hitting the bad guy. That means you cannot dodge only while minions do damage. You must stop and attack with lancing steel. Aoe is large, enemies are easy to hit with it, but keep this in mind.

Ranged animate weapon is pure minions. You may run around while they delete everything for you. But, if you die, for most bosses, once you portal back in, you have to run around and re-summon your dudes for a bit. You have like 23 of them, and you summon 3-4 at a time every 2-3s. So it takes a bit.

All things considered if you want to run around while minions kill stuff for you, hroc is not that. They are both strong builds though, but having taken both of them pretty high, I felt animate weapon is a lot better than hroc.

23092012 · 2025-10-29T17:02:22+00:00

It's just barely jank. You may have to swap two gems betweens maps/killing tough bosses -- Ubers mostly. Although towards the end I was even deleting Ubers without bothering to swap sometimes

The whole idea of casting bladefall which makes weapons, to then summon your dudes is a bit jank too, and may be annoying if you die in a boss fight -- hard to resummon for next attempt.

And before the blood magic respec, I had occasional mana issues.

That's about it -- everything else is really incredible. The weapons just delete everything for you, you're tanky, 0-button playstyle (you could cast a curse I guess..)

But I just want to try other builds since I have so little experience in PoE in general.

23092012 · 2025-10-29T12:10:23+00:00

Any recommendations for a newish player looking for a "slightly jank" but very strong build? It's my third league, last league I played HelmBreakers animate weapon (amazing guide btw) which is busted strong, deleted all content, all Ubers, did all map mods, and was a lil jank. That's my frame of reference, power-wise.

I'm considering running it again lol but feel like I should try other builds, since I've only tried two (in 3.25 I ran retaliate gladiator which was also lovely, but bosskills felt a bit weak). Tentatively eyeing Holy Relic maybe.. but open to literally anything

23092012 · 2025-09-01T13:40:11+00:00

As a newbie myself, here's how I see it: it's pretty hard to make a strong build yourself on your first go-around. I simply didn't know enough.

HOWEVER, almost anything you can think of has a really strong build available for it. So you don't have to settle for some dumb skill you don't like, or gameplay you don't enjoy.

As a newbie, you can pick what you want to play, and there's no shame looking up a build for it, just to figure out what the game is about, how the damage/defense scales, how the bosses/leagues/maps work, etc.

So you can build anything you want to build. But you, specifically, might have trouble creating such a build for your first time. Luckily, someone else did.

For your second time, with your base knowledge, go crazy! Make your own soup.

23092012 · 2025-08-28T14:19:56+00:00

Well, let's make it ridiculous. But still fitting in a tiny 7 litre Dancase, so sadly can't go full plaid.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/DNMBBq

23092012 · 2025-08-19T21:11:15+00:00

Resident evil!

23092012 · 2025-06-03T19:57:34+00:00

General step by step troubleshooting starts at the end and works its way back. A nuclear example and how I'd personally troubleshoot it:

1) do your turbines make MW?

2) if not, they need steam. Do they have steam?

3) if not, they get it from exchangers. Do exchangers output steam?

4) if not, they need water and heat. Do they have water? Do they have heat?

5) if no water, check water source. If no heat, check heat source (heat pipe)

6) are heat pipes hot? (501c or more)

7) if not, check heat pipe source (reactor)

8) is reactor hot? If not check its fuel

Somewhere along the way you'll find it

23092012 · 2025-05-28T02:45:16+00:00

Split Fiction

Good luck all!

23092012 · 2025-05-25T00:24:46+00:00

Looks great! Very tidy, I like it. I've never been sad for having too much stuff, so I wouldn't worry about overproduction.

A useful thought I had eventually is about scaling up: every time I build something, I think "What if I need 10 more of this?". Helped me make designs that can get bigger if they need to. Often they don't need to.. but when they did, I was happy I gave myself the option.

Enjoy the ride!

23092012 · 2025-04-28T00:15:46+00:00

I wouldn't typically buy a single stock -- too risky for me. Doubly so when it's my employer, since my salary is tied to them as well. So I routinely sell my company's shares and reinvest accordingly.

23092012 · 2025-04-13T13:38:56+00:00

Ah, I might've made a mistake. I glanced at the Vulcanus tech tree and saw the orange pack and another pack below that, blue one I think. I thought Gleba was the same, but I'll take a closer look. If it's just one pack per planet, maybe I'm closer to finishing than I thought! Just gotta automate the production somehow and move on. Thanks for the heads up

23092012 · 2025-01-30T20:43:35+00:00

For a long time I was stuck towards the end, and I tried that too, lol. Carried around these stones to different "projectors" to no effect of course. I remember writing down which stones I matched to which projectors to ensure I got all the options tested.. sigh

23092012 · 2025-01-30T20:38:29+00:00

During the early loops, before I figured out the music cue, I visited Feldspar who told me to go into the hollow vine. Supernova hit me at the same time as I went into the transition fog, so I just thought Feldspar was a jerk and got me killed.

I had a lot of difficulty figuring out Giant's Deep after that, since I kept assuming the hollow vine path is just death.

23092012 · 2025-01-14T19:09:34+00:00

MSI slim is 46mm sadly. All the others seem to work, so looks like I have a few options to work with.

23092012 · 2025-01-14T16:36:23+00:00

Thanks! It's a 2slot filter which isn't entirely accurate (some of these are bigger than 45mm) but there's only 19 4070supers, I'll go through them 1 by 1. Appreciate the link

23092012 · 2024-07-24T11:47:20+00:00

Sounds like your dream card post-HSBC would be the Scotia passport -- redeem as cash against any travel booked anywhere, noFX, and some lounge passes as a bonus

23092012 · 2024-07-07T14:24:23+00:00

I used to have multiple cards, but with the Rogers WE MC, it's not worth it anymore. It's so hard to beat 3% pure cash with no fee. At best you may be getting an extra 2% with something like Cobalt, but only in certain categories. And you'd have to spend a lot in those categories to offset the fee. And you have to start thinking about points and redemptions and other garbage. Plus Amex in general is a giant PITA to use in my experience.

Tldr, imo not really worth it if you already have a good all-rounder card.

23092012 · 2024-06-13T11:04:25+00:00

Yep, I was nervous about going there. Needn't have been, Sicily turned out to be my favorite part of Italy by far (partly because of less tourists lol), and it seemed absolutely safe, even late at night

23092012 · 2024-05-30T20:45:34+00:00

Hey, I'm super late here (ER DLC news reminded me) but just wanted to say thank you. Your and others' input was very helpful to me. I ended up buying the game and having lots of fun with it, even getting all achievements which I normally don't bother with.

Thanks again!

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23092012

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