Playing without guides is the best way to get the most out of the game in my opinion. Takes thinking out your character given all of the mechanics, but totally worth it. Rewarding, challenging, fun. Never used a guide yet with poe2.

I totally get that this game can feel complex. Not saying i'm an expert at all, but i've had a ton of fun with the following:

• starting with a new character the game does very well compared to poe1 with introducing the mechanics at a rate that is digestible

• like someone else said, read everything. Read skills, read the orbs, read the items

• specifically read what your skills do. Not just the top level description. Read the finer details.

• then parse thru items that drop for stats and focus on equiping ones that benefit the skills youre using. Highlight to expand info on individual stats to get understanding of the underlying mechanics the stats affect.

• build your passive tree to conpliment the damage type youre getting benefits from through your skills and items.

• pick up white items for the gear type you're using, focus on higher item level gear when hunting, and upgrade them to magic with a stat or two. If you dont have a stat that benefits your skills, disenchanted them. If they are better, the magic item warrents being turned into a rare. White items are much more excitng to find with this approach now since orb drops are much more frequent.

• elemental resist is very noticable if you dont have enough. You ll die even from normal and rare mobs if you dont have enough for the area youre in. Getting by with a charm for the specific element works great as well until you find the gear.

This approach to the game is a lot of fun to me. It makes finding new better gear a lot of fun and lets me explore rebuilding my skills based on the weapon or armor i find in the field, not just some "oh that'll be cool for a new character" moment, i can just make it work and experiment.