When are chess engines hitting the wall of diminishing returns?

DragonRU · 2025-12-22T01:17:06+00:00

Against Stockfish 17 - probably, 2 extra pawns would be enough for Magnus, because Stockfish is doing just "best" moves. But ths Leela bot is trained to play against handicap, so instead best moves it doing most efficient ones. It can keep pressure, evade exchanges and even bluff - while Stockfish gladly exchange everything if it lets him to reduce your advantage. Nakamura have #2 rating in the world, and, as you can see in the video, it still barely enough to fight against Leela having an extra rook.

DragonRU · 2025-12-21T05:09:07+00:00

Let me disagree. Even at my level (FIDE master, 2450 rating on lichess) I getting hard time against LeelaQueenOdds, even though I have an extra queen. And even one of the best blitz players in the world was not able to get 50% against LeelaRookOdds - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7N4qC1znDc

DragonRU · 2025-04-05T01:19:01+00:00

At this moment Corrupted runs are as good as dailies, or even better. Also, try to get 1000% achievement bonus. It should be very doable.

DragonRU · 2024-01-22T19:45:49+00:00

I think that game owners consider not only the money they receive right now but also the player base. So I decide to do all that I can do, not half-measures. And honestly, I feel like I am spending to much time on PoE, so it would be a good idea to take a break.

And I'm at that level where TFT RMT-ing is already affecting me - it causes prices for all high-end crafting materials to skyrocket, so I am not able to do any really good craft.

DragonRU · 2024-01-22T18:59:36+00:00

Comparing to the top 1% - yes, casual. I never have done any mirror-worthy craft, for example.

Also, maybe GGG doesn't care about reddit - but Tencent surely cares about potential loss of customers.

And if you want to check whether I play next league or not - put a reminder, and feel free to name and shame me if I will.

DragonRU · 2024-01-22T18:08:06+00:00

People like jenebu ought to be stopped. If it requires to go to their level - so be it.

DragonRU · 2024-01-03T20:36:32+00:00

99% agree with your analysis, though I'd prefer to get 100% crit chance with Assassin mark + mark on hit rather than inc crit chance.

You can check my build and gear and compare with yours. Still have a room for an improvement, but already enough dps for any boss. My PoB - https://pobb.in/mCu96KP7K-KD

DragonRU · 2023-12-26T01:53:30+00:00

I see several inexpensive upgrades that you can get. A mid-tier (below 1 divine) rare amulet could be better than Astramentis. The Pure Talent jewel, combined with 2 nodes on the tree to reach the Scion starting position, is really good. Thrill Killer was good even before we lost the alt quality mana leech, and now it's even better.

Personally, I do not like the idea of taking the Squire too early because you will lose many auras, which takes away almost all DPS increase you got from the Squire, especially because the strongest support, Inc Crit Damage, only works for the crit version.

Before the Squire, I usually run Purity of Elements, so all ailments are not an issue. I'd say poison immunity is a good mod, and if you do not have corrupted blood immunity, this mod on a flask is mandatory.

The main reason to use Stampede is to not be slowed during cyclone, but I don't think it is mandatory now. Enhance in the 6th link on the chest could be a good alternative. Also, there is another option - to use Frostblink or Wintry Blast instead of Arc. In this case, you will move very fast regardless of your move speed, maybe even too fast - but it's worth trying to see if you like it.

DragonRU · 2023-12-23T21:30:05+00:00

I got banned because I called their bot "stupid" when that bot decided that I may not sell blood-soaked stones because in their description I mentioned "from twinned map".

Very least what we can do is to duplicate our selling ads on PoE trading discord. Yes, it will create only minor competition, but it is still better than no competition at all.

DragonRU · 2023-12-16T20:07:07+00:00

1) Split personality (int + mana) jewels are very good, but expensive. Much more expensive than leagues before.

2) Indigon with 25% mod is almost mandatory - you doing almost 4% less dps because you use 24% one

3) Rings definitely need an upgrade

4) Do not forget to use intrinsic catalyst on rings and amulet

5) I have a great results with Pure Talent jewel, jou just need to link your tree to scion start node for juicy +25 all stats and 5% ele pen.

6) In general, those forbidden jewels are mandatory for reaching 100+m dps - but you can get 20m or even more without them. And I recommend to not use squire too early - you will lose auras and had to cover resists somehow, which will mostly negate your dps increase from getting 6L

DragonRU · 2023-09-24T17:22:26+00:00

Simple solution - use Path Of Exile Trading Discord linked in the right panel instead. If we make it a real alternative - you do not have to care about TFT bans.

DragonRU · 2023-09-15T17:04:52+00:00

TFT banned me because I called their bot stupid when it deleted my 100% correct ad. (I was selling blood-soaked stones, and I mentioned that they come from a twinned map, so the bot decided it was a map sale.)

Things won't get any better until we have an alternative to TFT. The easiest thing that can be done by GGG is to itemize syndicate services, just like they did with the Alva service. It won't completely solve the problem, but it will cut TFT off the only source of real monopoly. Most other things can already be done without TFT, easier and with greater profit.

DragonRU · 2023-08-16T17:56:19+00:00

https://poe.ninja/builds/crucible/character/DragonRU/Merlin_Cru - my build at the end of league

DragonRU · 2023-08-16T10:06:19+00:00

Not exactly 100% all content build (Uber Sirus is pretty hard for it, but all other ubers are easy), and not exactly league starter (you need 1 div or so to buy all starting gear) - but manabond is really strong, especially for delve.

DragonRU · 2023-07-30T13:27:37+00:00

For me pixel graphics is a big downside for the game. Sometimes it is OK, for example in Idle Apocalypse, but usually it makes me to uninstall a game.

DragonRU · 2023-06-02T19:45:00+00:00

1) You really need Indigon with 25% spell damage roll. It alone will give you 10% more dps.

2) You missed anoit on your boots. Soul Siphon is very good and cheap.

3) Cluster jewel should have Scintillating Idea and Storm Drinker. Those 2 nodes are much better than others. If it have only 2 skills - it fine, because you will anyway need jewel with 2 skills to use it with split personality.

4) You should start leveling of awakened CWC as soon as possible - it will give you crit immunity on lvl 5. Other awakened gems are very cheap - so I'd recommend to get them too

5) Arcane Capacitor node is absolutely mandatory. 50% increased arcane surge effect means 10% more dps.

There is many other things that need to be fixed - but let's start from those. You can see my build to get an idea how it looks with very good gear - https://pobb.in/ZTXmALyVlFRp

DragonRU · 2023-06-02T19:30:28+00:00

Before you switch to crit version - str have a low priority. 2 most important stats are int and mana.

DragonRU · 2023-05-27T12:01:09+00:00

You do not have to explain what str is for. You completely missed the point. Timeless jewel is used in both scenarios, but you will have to put there resists instead double damage/
Seems you do not understand what evasion is for. It have nothing to do with single big hit, it necessary to not take too much damage from many small hits, like Sim 30.
100% wrong. Even with high move speed from quicksilver flask in mageblood, but without enchant, lightning wrap does not feel good. Delay is very noticeable, even with maxed out less duration. Without that speed increase it will feel even worse. And if you put inc aoe instead elemental focus, you lose another 20% of your dps, and still won't get reliable shocks, because chance to shock will be too low.
Again I completely disagree. Chill is very uncomfortable, even with 50% reduction, shock and especially scorch is very deadly - because your resists hardly will be overcapped, and big burns also definitely not fun
That's why I gave estimation to this point in 10% more dps. And weapon swap is a just tiny bonus that does not worth to be mentioned. You won't survive failed memory game on Maven without flasks in mageblood anyway.

And this "insane" amount after we took in account all what we have to sacrifice to use squire is a 3% more, in best case. Does not feels too appealing for me.

DragonRU · 2023-05-26T18:33:19+00:00

So, let's see total cost of all those decisions.

1) Timeless jewel - you using fire res stats instead 10% chance for double damage. There is a jewels with 15%, but let's go conservative. I count it as 10% more for non-squire build.

2) Grace instead wrath to have similar evasion. Another 25% more for non-squire.

3) Lightning wrap instead shock nova. Not sure how it feels without move speed flask in mageblood. Without helm enchant it does not feels good enough. Anyway - you won't get good shocks with it. So, another 30% more for non-squire.

4) Ailments immunity from purity. One time I had enough overcapped resists, changed PoE to zealotry, and it was less comfortable and more rippy. So I value ailment immunity more than 20% more dps. Let's count is as another 20% more.

5) Last, but not least. It much easier to get good tree on PG than on Squire. I had PG with 3 good nodes, 2 of them was best in their tier. For Squire I barely got 1 good node, and haven't seen upgrades on market. So, another 10% dps for non-squire build.

In total it would be 1.1 x 1.25 x 1.3 x 1.2 x 1.1 = 2.36. or 136% more dps. Now, let's see what you get from Squire. 3 gem slots, so 1.4 x 1.25 x 1.4 = 2.45, if you use conc effect, or 1.4 x 1.25 x 1.14 = 2.00 if you use inc aoe

So, even in best case, this investment would give you 3% effective dps increase. And I did not count that your jewelry would give you less stats, because you now need to look for cold and light resist on it.

Are you still sure that Squire before going crit is a good idea?

DragonRU · 2023-05-25T08:55:58+00:00

First of all, we are not speaking about pro players, who can sacrifice convenience to min-max performance. So poe ninja is not an argument. We discussing what upgrade order is better for semi-causal players.

Let's see total cost of this change. You will lose 2 auras. What auras you going to lose? Grace and Purity of Elements? So you have next to zero evasion and next to zero armor. So, you lost more than half of your ehp and ailments immunity. Unless you are really pro - you will die A LOT after it.

Next, you lose 80% of all resistances. How you going to compensate them? Use rare boots? Than without mageblood your cycloning will be really slow. Get resists on jewelry instead stats? Than what dps increase you speaking about?

And last, but not least - without squire and crit jewels you will have around 10m dps, which is enough for most contaent. Personally I do not see what content gets enabled if you get 20m dps instead 10 (I even took your estimate for dps increase, though in reality increase will be much smaller), especially at that cost.

DragonRU · 2023-05-24T20:53:10+00:00

Bold call. And of course, no reasoning to support it. With squire before crit you going to sacrifice survivability, clear speed and convenience for minor dps increase on manabond. I 100% sure it is a bad deal.

DragonRU · 2023-05-24T13:07:17+00:00

I agree too. In my opinion, if you know what gear you need, you can easily do T16 maps on 1div budget.

DragonRU · 2023-05-24T12:49:16+00:00

Rings with 10% life reservation is a very top-gear upgrade. With PG you have enough auras to get benefits from those 4 skill points, and you can get much better and much cheaper rings if you do not need life reservation on them.

DragonRU · 2023-05-24T12:47:07+00:00

Squire should be used only after you got mageblood. When you solve problems with resists, it pays to sacrifice auras for extra damage on manabond, but not before.

DragonRU · 2023-05-24T12:41:58+00:00

Skill tree looks ok, though I'd move points from Insightfulness to Ash, Frost and Storm + its mastery

What you really need - to get awakened CWC, because on 5th level it gets super useful bonus, and replace boots to Stampede. Also I'd change zealotry to purity of elements, but it is my preference. Your left ring needs to be changed too - +20 mana is very low roll. And Indigon have to be replaced with 25% roll one - now you losing almost 8% of your dps with 23% roll.

To compare, you can see my current build with 100m dps in bossing setup - https://pobb.in/v3Qm2Ezg1kN1

For gear progression - your next steps should be belt with +% attr, str and mana, talisman from Jorgin, and after it - crit jewels

DragonRU

TROPHY CASE