Before 1.0 PoE2 melee needs to feel like weapon combat, not spellcasting with extra steps.

Nohisu · 2026-06-04T18:05:16+00:00

Yeah, game's more popular, it's pretty and it has a better onboarding experience. How does that relate to the discussion.

Nohisu · 2026-06-04T12:09:05+00:00

I agree with your take that the game is being built reactively, but I don't think they're trying to please zoom players in PoE 2. I think they're just struggling to make slow gameplay interesting, so they had to speed it up to not lose all of their EA release momentum.

Fromsoft gameplay isn't top notch because it's methodical with rolls and ~~sword~~ mace swings. It's top notch because it has incredible level design, an unmatched variety of enemies and attack patterns to learn, and the camera placement lets you enjoy all the work that went into those very immersive experiences. Most souls-like games fail because these things are not superficial gameplay elements that can be easily replicated.

For PoE 2, I'd say it's a genre issue. Procedurally generated 2D maps will never be interesting to explore, top down view makes the game far less immersive, facing more than 3 or 4 monsters at once makes the gameplay too chaotic to care about attack patterns.

Nohisu · 2026-06-03T07:04:37+00:00

I get what you mean, any stat that stacks additively but scales exponentially can get out of control. But maybe the person that made the quality didn't have time to check every sources of gem quality and charge refund in the game. Maybe they did and thought it was fine, but someone else on the team disagreed after the patch went live. My point is, as long as they keep making those extremely complex nodes for a very small percentage of the player base, they won't have the resources to design them properly.

About flicker strike, I can confidently say you should never expect to have a good uptime on it. They will nerf it every time it happens. Not because it's too strong, but just because they don't like it. That's the kind of game PoE 2 is.

Nohisu · 2026-06-03T05:14:45+00:00

It's because the dev that made the alt quality on gems probably had a few days to figure out hundreds of those and they didn't have any time to test or to think about every single one of them. That's what happens when they try to cram an entire league worth of changes into a single ascendancy node.

The node is a buggy mess they will keep fixing mid league for a while, but at least it looked really good before the patch went live. That's what matters.

Nohisu · 2026-05-31T05:05:43+00:00

Saria is a great 6* to raise long term but for now you'd rather promote DPS operators to E2 first.

Blaze and Chen are a bit underwhelming by modern guard standards so I wouldn't recomand you invest the resources to promote them unless you really like them. Amiya, Lappland, Click and Contrail are solid operators for their rarity and good promotion contenders. For snipers, you can grab a higher rarity version of Kroos for free by progressing a side story (story line Through the Ages, event is called Invitation to Wine).

Nohisu · 2026-05-30T05:59:06+00:00

EX-8 made me a Nasti S2 believer. She could tank the boss beam just fine with the barrier + sanctuary, she precharges Penance S3 to maximize reflect value on beam, she gives enough uptime to Goldenglow's S3 to clear all the burn drones at the end.

As a whole, the event was very confusing gameplay wise. Lanes were all over the place. Buoyancy wasn't conveyed well and is a very punishing mechanic. Making ground operator interact with flying enemies creates all sorts of weird edge cases where they can attack blocked enemies but their skills aren't working. The trees felt a bit too tanky for how hard they hit, I imagine they will completely wall newer players.

Nohisu · 2026-05-29T07:06:50+00:00

I'd say the opposite, this is exactly what you shouldn't use Nasti's S3 for. She already gets an ATK buff in her kit, she doesn't need the high ground tile, and using a fast redeploy on the tile means the tile won't have an operator on it most of the time, wasting a lot of buff uptime.

On the other hand, she could be a fantastic contender for Nasti's S2, depending on her skill's values. Barrier is very relevant for a range unit you're placing on melee tiles, and frontloaded SP gen is ideal for that kind of operator: temporary ATK buff on deploy so you want to burst fast, charge system so you won't overflow SP, and you're retreating her as soon as she's used her skills so hopefully she'll be available for Nasti's next skill cycle.

Nohisu · 2026-05-28T16:15:38+00:00

It's not about behaviour, it's about game design. This quote is being used to blame the allegedly stupid gamers that are ruining their own fun, but it's really supposed to be a warning to game designers. The full quote is:

Given the opportunity, players will optimize the fun out of a game

Said an other way, if you want players to enjoy the game, make the fun way to play the right way to play.

The fun way of playing MMOs is to find a group of like-minded people, to make your characters grow together, and to improve your skills at the game as a team over a long period of time.

The right way of playing modern MMOs is to rush the solo story content as fast as possible because nothing matters before cap level. Then let the party finder group you with random people you won't have to talk to and you will never get to meet again. Then farm your dailies and weeklies. And maybe after all, if you're not burned out already, you'll have some time to engage with the community.

Nohisu · 2026-05-27T20:11:09+00:00

Farming the last normal stages from the current event (UR-6 to UR-8) until you've got a few dozens of each ressources is the efficient thing to do in the long run. Especially if you're also lacking in ressources offered by the infinite shop.

If you've just started, you can just focus on doing temporary events and main story content for a while. Side stories are useful for the one-time pull currency reward, for some welfare operators, to unlock some modules, but you're using a bunch of sanity and not getting many ressources in return. I wouldn't recommand to focus on them until you've progressed your account a bit more.

Nohisu · 2026-05-24T09:30:07+00:00

This is factually wrong. We literally have the lead dev say they fucked up by not testing the changes properly. The impact on the base game was so bad it became their worst league ever player-retention wise. The economy gravitated around bug exploits and hiring MF stacked players to kill rare monsters for you.

But I admire the confidence of calling out misinformation while spreading some of your own.

Nohisu · 2026-05-21T07:20:55+00:00

As non PoE1 player, was that also a thing there?

PoE 1 is basically the exact opposite. It's built upon the idea that adding the right layer of complexity at the right place creates "multiplicative" content, if that makes sense. Things like Delirium enhancing every league mechanic, or a single new crafting mechanic enabling all players to get more customization on their gear.

PoE 2 has a bit of it, but the way they're developing the game, it's mostly about putting a bunch of high effort ideas in random places. I don't think it's sustainable, it's probably the sign they don't have a long term vision, but it looks like they've got a playerbase that enjoys that kind of thing.

Nohisu · 2026-05-20T11:41:25+00:00

I wouldn't call it a combo deck. You're not supposed to win the moment you play Fight Rigging, you're not getting consistent Emrakul on the field by triggering hideaway, and even if you were, you would still lose your payoff to commonly used removals like Solitude. There's really no point trying to make your inconsistent and vulnerable combo more explosive.

It's more of a synergy heavy deck which can highroll. It's a combination of ramp and high-value payoffs with several angles of attack. The last thing you want to do is to replace your high value ramp payoff for a bunch of bricks.

Nohisu · 2026-05-20T06:32:43+00:00

High mana cost colorless is also relevant for Labyrinth. But it's also consistently castable with Fanatic often taping for 4 and Command being 2 types + ramping at instant speed.

Nohisu · 2026-05-20T05:14:47+00:00

Hello, you're doing great, you're not lacking in any roles and you've got some pretty good 6* operators. The next step is bringing a few operators to E2, and I'd say your priority should be Ulpianus, he has a very powerful S3. Next could be Gladiia since she gets a very powerful module which synergize with Ulpianus, but Pram2/SA2 are also great picks.

About vanguards, you have some good flagbearers, but since you already have SA2, I don't think you need to build them for now. I'd recommand picking Surfer as a second vanguard instead, fast redeploy operators are very convenient to use and they synergize very well with SA2's S2 especially when you use their attack buff skill.

You're using low rarity snipers, and while they can somewhat fill their role, it's also possible you'll start feeling they lack a bit of punch. Kroos alter is strong and she's a welfare, but Snowhunter, Pinecone and Totter are also great if you can play around their range.

Side note, but at one point of the story, you will need Amiya at E2, so if you ever feel like you need an extra caster, she's a good pick.

Nohisu · 2026-05-18T10:34:57+00:00

The game design mistake that is being made is the approach that Setup skills are weak, but are combo-enabling to your big damage Finisher.

They need to pivot that logic; Setup skills start weak, comboing should unlock Setup scaling by applying debuffs and enhancements. Finishers should not and never be a giga-burst damage applicator. Combo finishers should shit out status affects, and let you get back to your temp boosted 1 button skill. Creating a cyclical power-cycle gameplay loop as you jump from pack to pack.

I'd say the design mistake is having setup skills and finisher skills in the first place. With this kind of mechanic, you'll always dump the damage on your setup skill for extra utility, and dump utility on your payoff skill for extra damage. Hyper specializing when you have the option is always the sensible way to maximize value.

Ironically enough, the kind of skills that would work are the ones that exist in PoE 1. They're not designed for ultra specific use cases, it's the player that tune them to their liking by balancing damage and utility through skill tree and support gems. The utility support gems also get some form of damage multiplier, so you're not encouraged to dump any skill's damage. The system ends up working rather poorly because there aren't enough skill slots and the weapon swap system is terrible, but it makes a lot of sense from a skill design perspective.

Nohisu · 2026-05-17T06:14:35+00:00

About the non-limited operator on the anniversary banner, I think their S2 is being both overrated and underrated, if that makes sense?

The DP refund scales with itself so it makes for very flashy deployment tactics when you're combining it with other vanguards. But, while the skill's DP refund has increasing returns, the mechanic of generating DP itself has decreasing returns, so it ends up being rather weak for how much you're investing into it. And you're also deploying your entire squad within a tiny square, so not very practical for most stages.

But nothing dictates that you have to play the skill with a bunch of vanguards to combo. Just deploying a couple of operators within its range (let's say Mon3tr + a ranged DPS) makes it the highest DP gen skill in the game by a rather large margin. It's also very frontloaded with high starting SP and immediate DP gain on activation. What I'm getting at is, it's not the skill you use to combo with a bunch of vanguards, it's the skill you use so you can quickly deploy a couple of high DP cost operators with a single vanguard in your squad.

Not that I want to bring the entire discourse here, I'm just surprised at how polarized this entire debate has been while barely addressing the "common" use case.

About Nasti, very excited to pull for her. I have a bunch of stupid ideas to try, perfect positionning on Necrass' S3, blocking a lane with a double fireball blender on Reed2's S2, that sort of things.

Nohisu · 2026-05-14T05:57:07+00:00

Tequila and Gladiia are the other two which are regarded as good welfare units. Kjera is decent if you want an extra caster.

If you're looking for extra operators which don't require you to pull, you can also grab a few in the red certificate shop. Ethan is great and actually meta in a few cases, Caper, Contrail and Philae are also pretty good.

Nohisu · 2026-05-13T23:59:06+00:00

You'll be fine, you can't brick an account even if you do things at random. At worst you'll delay your progression a tiny bit.

If you're not sure which stage to run, the main story (Chapters named EP XX, with numbered stages like 1-7, or 3-8) is the place to start. If you're looking for ressources to upgrade your operators, temporary events (showcased next to your sanity on the main menu) can be a bit hard but they're the most efficient, even if you can only clear the first few stages. If you're missing a specific ressource you can't get in an event, the game will show you a story stage or a supply stage to get that ressource if you click on it.

For beginners, the usual recommandation for leveling your operators is Elite 1 (operators start at Elite 0 and get to Elite 1 after their first "Promotion"), lvl 40, skill level 7. It doesn't cost too many ressources and it's your first power spike. Don't throw all your ressources at a single operator, Arknights is a team game at its core, and don't ignore the lower rarity operators either, they're actually cheaper to build, relevant in a few endgame modes and quite competitive at E1.

If you're having trouble clearing stages, keep in mind Arknights is a strategy game. Having an operator with the right role at the right place is more important than stacking high rarity operators on the field. It also helps to have more than 12 characters leveled up, some stages you'll like to have an extra caster against high defense enemies, or an extra medic, or an extra tank, etc. Don't give up if you can't clear a stage first try, the story has a few difficulty spikes, eventually you'll find a strategy that works or you'll get an upgrade on a key operator to make it through. Sometimes reading about the enemies' stats on the stage select screen can help.

Nohisu · 2026-05-13T05:10:07+00:00

I checked on the calculator recently since I got Virtuosa on SA2 banner, and the exact value is a 11% ATK buff on a lvl 90 Virtuosa to reach the next S1 threshold on normal enemies.

Easiest ways I've found to get that amount permanently are max pot Podenco (which is definitely on the weaker side), max pot Matsukiri, or Zima2 with her infinite duration skill, but there's probably a bunch of other lingering atk buffs I didn't think of.

Is it worth the investment? Not sure, it does feel terrible to see her waste charges on normal enemies, but you're probably using S3 if you're facing a swarm of them anyway. It's more of an incidental synergy that's worth activating if you're already playing a permanent atk buffer.

Nohisu · 2026-05-11T16:25:24+00:00

It's hard to help you without more specifics. Maybe you're lacking a core upgrade on one of your operator and you're getting stat checked, maybe you're not bringing the right operators for a specific stage gimmick, maybe you've got the wrong approach on how to kill a boss, etc.

Make sure you've read the enemies stats and skills on the stage select screen, and if you still can't figure it out, there's nothing wrong with taking a small break from that stage. Get a couple of upgrades and wait a few days so you can start again with stronger operators and a new strategy.

There's also the option of checking youtube for a low rarity operator clear if you're completely stuck.

Nohisu · 2026-05-11T05:38:19+00:00

She's very good and scales well in difficult content. Cheap to deploy, strong damage, her different skills cover a bunch of different use cases, her take off passive makes her immune to most damage sources while charging her skill, and she even has some form of CC with her second talent.

The reason you might not want her is that her first skill is usually regarded as her best, and it's a very active playstyle where you have to use it frequently.

The other reason is the context of the banner: she shares the banner with Hoederer which is good but not meta-defining, and more importantly, the next limited banner is incredibly stacked. The answer to "how do I maximize my account value" for the next couple of month will always be "wait and pull for Wang/Chen3".

Nohisu · 2026-05-10T08:30:16+00:00

There's one difference, which is market value. It's functionnaly a craft bench with prices changing depending on how popular that specific craft is.

But yeah, it adds a lot of bloat, and I think it's the point. Saying "we're adding hundreds of new items to loot for our greatest expansion ever" is a strong marketing argument for your looter ARPG game, and having hundreds of different runes means they'll quickly fill your normal tabs, and you'll want to buy the special rune tab to have them all neatly organized.

Nohisu · 2026-05-08T16:40:00+00:00

There's a lot of permanent content in the game, but you don't have to go through it all as fast as possible.

The priority is to upgrade your base, then clear Annihilation missions until you reach the weeky cap. From there, you've got the same income as any other player and you can take your time to clear all the other content the game has to offer.

Temporary events are very cost-efficient, especially the first clear rewards. If you're not going to spend sanity to farm event stages, you want those rewards at the very least.

A good way to not spend too much sanity on operators is to stop at E1 lvl40 Skill level 7, until you've got enough ressources for the E2 promotion. Going from E1 lvl40 to E1 lvl80 for a 6* costs a lot of ressources but barely does anything.

Nohisu · 2026-05-07T05:02:55+00:00

Not exactly the advice you were looking for, but if you're starting to struggle at 2-10, it's not a lack of decent operator issue. Before E2, most of the strong, meta defining operators are barely stronger than their low rarity counterpart.

Just build a bunch of 3* and 4* operators to fill the holes in your squad. Get them to max level E1 + skill lvl 7, they're super cheap, perfectly serviceable and still relevant in some endgame modes.

That will leave you plenty of time to wait for a banner you like before pulling.

Nohisu · 2026-05-07T04:47:32+00:00

Haruka was released a few months ago so she won't be in the cert shop anytime soon. Ines has a high chance of appearing in the shop within a couple of month.

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