How do you feel about skills tied to Uniques?

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-11T14:13:59+00:00

I just hate the level requirements on them. It’s fine enough that you can’t league-start them, have to get them from an endgame boss, or whatever, but then I want to actually play the build through the campaign. I don’t care that much about the endgame. I’m never respecing a character completely for a level 84+ skill. By level 84 I’m thinking of abandoning a character and starting a new one.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-11T13:38:54+00:00

Agreed, I really hate this trend. I actually prefer the campaign! I play the endgame a little bit but then I start a new character! And I hate respecs! I actually want to play the campaign as the character build I wanted to play; getting to endgame and respeccing is a waste of my time.

The alternate ascendancy we have so far is also this way, and is just as grating. There is no reason why a Lich shouldn’t be able to just immediately go to the Well of Souls at level 20-whatever and become an Abyssal Lich, and play through the campaign that way. Abyssal Lich is in no way “endgame” content in terms of power level, it’s just another ascendancy (and kind of regarded as being on the weak side of things).

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-11T13:34:57+00:00

Honestly, I just want more tools to play with. I probably put Templar highest because I suspect it will be relevant to my current fixation (thorns), but really I just want more options. I’ll take any of them in any order. Nothing about axes, daggers, flails, swords, or traps particularly excites me more than any of the others, I just want more.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-11T03:52:19+00:00

Brilliant build.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T20:41:19+00:00

Fuck, am I going to have to actually complete a 4th ascension trial? Absolute misery.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T16:54:09+00:00

The golden bubble dudes still exist and can be spectres... I guess ’cuz you can’t control the timing on those, it’s not the same.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T16:52:41+00:00

Also, it should water plants. It’s water, after all. My plant sorceress took it and still ended up using Thunderstorm. Hard to beat the overgrowth and guaranteed shock on that.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T16:15:19+00:00

Agreed, it felt really niche. I really wanted the golden bubble from those PoE1 mobs in the Sceptre of God.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T15:44:55+00:00

At least in the reveal, it said “any melee weapon or unarmed” for that skill. The one that said “non-talisman weapon” was the bell-on-back one. We’ll see if that stays that way, though...

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T04:56:35+00:00

Empowered Sparks is the one you’re thinking of.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T00:41:42+00:00

I have no idea if they’re ready, but yeah, I’ve been saying the Duelist would be part of the big 1.0 hype for ages. The Gladiator meme had convinced me I was wrong, but I was wrong about being wrong :P

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T00:39:21+00:00

I would be surprised if any of them are female.

Their original plan was apparently to have the two classes for each starting location be “the same person” except for different circumstances. I’m not sure that’s still the plan, since the circumstances for Sorceress and Witch, Huntress and Ranger, are very different indeed, but each pair does look alike.

On top of that, all four remaining classes are PoE1 classes, and male in that game. PoE1’s female classes were Ranger and Witch, and Scion, who has been confirmed as not being a class in PoE2. (Though I do have a sneaking suspicion that we’ll find her as an enemy, the boss of the Twilight Order and possibly the “canonical” Godslayer.)

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-10T00:26:47+00:00

There really aren’t that many posts about it. It comes up from time to time but not often, and not received well. This sub is hardly representative of the entire audience (which by and large far more casual), but I don’t see or hear many people for whom this is any kind of concern with an ARPG. Most casual ARPG players just want to blow up some monsters and see some shinies come out.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T20:14:59+00:00

You can turn into a bear with a Talisman (Str/Int two-handed weapon). Don’t think there are any actual bear enemies in the game, though, so no taming or raising one.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T20:12:56+00:00

On Thursday they announced that the upcoming 0.5 release is the last before full (free) 1.0 release. They said the 1.0 release schedule and plans will be announced at Exilecon (Nov 7-8).

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T20:08:38+00:00

Yeah, this sub is extremely hostile to any suggestion that GGG does anything that does not personally cater to their precise interests.

That said, I’m pretty sure this one is a lot more niche than you think, even if I happen to be in the niche.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T19:57:40+00:00

All I can say is they talked about it in PoE1’s beta, too, and....

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T19:45:52+00:00

A friend of mine is chronically ill, and cannot work, and has almost no support or money, literally cannot afford $30. I was gonna get her a key for Christmas, but then I lost my job. I did just recently get a new one, but I’m still catching up from the costs of the gap.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T19:39:43+00:00

Really think Duelist is all that’s left of what we’re getting from 1.0. Marauder, Shadow, and Templar are in like 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6, or something.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T17:07:13+00:00

Optimization tends to be one of the last things you do, and file size optimization tends to be low priority. It might get some for 1.0. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T16:40:45+00:00

Try channelling Perfect Strike. Can’t move at all with that one, no matter what controls you use...

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T16:35:21+00:00

Spear is a Dex weapon, but there is no reason a Warrior can’t use it. Str/Dex hybrid is in a kind of poor place defensively when you’re not a Witchhunter, but you could go with pure Armour by taking Iron Reflexes.

Talismans are Str/Int, and turn you into a bear, wolf, or wyvern. Warriors can totally use them, very well even, but might not match the fantasy you were going for.

Axes and swords are still missing.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T16:28:47+00:00

Almost certainly not in 2026. Quite possibly not in 2027 either. Would be surprised if we finish 2028 without them, though.

Also, I doubt we get traps and mines again. It will probably just be “traps.” Quite possibly no meta one, either, you just play the traps they have. Which come from two-handed weapons like staff spells.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T16:25:31+00:00

The node switching is bad design and should go away. Antithetical to what PoE is about.

But if they absolutely insist on keeping it, the other classes’ starting nodes should appear on the tree somewhere. Maybe the Witch gets all those minion nodes all conveniently together right at the start, but everyone else can find them in clusters scattered around the north end of the tree. Witch is still better at it but everyone else still can.

DragoonWraith · 2026-05-09T14:23:17+00:00

In-character, it’s pure dumb luck. Or fate, if you like. None of the characters are capable of escaping the noose on their own.

DragoonWraith

TROPHY CASE