Path of Exile Help

[Bombiz]

So I recently started to get back into Path of Exile. I'm building a Crit Glacial Cascade witch when I realize why I stopped playing. As soon as you hit Merciless the difficulty just spikes up incredibly and if you don't have high defense gear you just end up dying a lot. To the point that the only way you can level is by farming. So i am here to ask you guys who do play

How do you do it? How do you get past merciless and into maps. how do you get such high defensive gear. How do you have such high HP and resists. How do you play this game properly?

I am currently standing at 1301 HP with 424 ES.

 

[Hagi]

There's a few things you need to know about PoE.

1. The passive tree isn't a web of endless possibilities. It's a puzzle. And chances are that whatever you've put in isn't the right solution to said puzzle. Linking your passive tree could help in this regard although PoE's respec system essentially means that if you've got it wrong you need to start over. Judging by your HP values and ES you don't have it right, a long shot from it.

2. PoE is balanced around a virtual economy, which means that if you want to keep on progressing past mid-merciless you basically have to trade at least some. I'd recommend using http://poe.xyz.is to find items you need at a price you can afford. If trading isn't your thing then reroll, by the time you get about a dozen characters to mid-merciless chances are you may have found enough gear for a single one to progress past.

3. You'll end up farming anyway. Maps tend to not be sustainable at the highest levels anyway so at one point or another you will end up farming endless amounts of rather trivial content to keep on progressing. That's part of the game as well, you're going to need to farm.

Now I realize all of this sounds somewhat negative, that said I do think PoE is a brilliant game. It's just that for me at least Cruel is by far the best part of it and Merciless is, for the reasons outlined above, simply not as fun. You should be able to get there easily enough if you really want to though with the right build and some currency spend trading for a decent weapon and possibly a decent 5-link.

 

[Bombiz]

There's a few things you need to know about PoE.

1. The passive tree isn't a web of endless possibilities. It's a puzzle. And chances are that whatever you've put in isn't the right solution to said puzzle. Linking your passive tree could help in this regard although PoE's respec system essentially means that if you've got it wrong you need to start over. Judging by your HP values and ES you don't have it right, a long shot from it.

2. PoE is balanced around a virtual economy, which means that if you want to keep on progressing past mid-merciless you basically have to trade at least some. I'd recommend using http://poe.xyz.is to find items you need at a price you can afford. If trading isn't your thing then reroll, by the time you get about a dozen characters to mid-merciless chances are you may have found enough gear for a single one to progress past.

3. You'll end up farming anyway. Maps tend to not be sustainable at the highest levels anyway so at one point or another you will end up farming endless amounts of rather trivial content to keep on progressing. That's part of the game as well, you're going to need to farm.

Now I realize all of this sounds somewhat negative, that said I do think PoE is a brilliant game. It's just that for me at least Cruel is by far the best part of it and Merciless is, for the reasons outlined above, simply not as fun. You should be able to get there easily enough if you really want to though with the right build and some currency spend trading for a decent weapon and possibly a decent 5-link.

well here's my passive tree : http://poeurl.com/yN2CgBl
and here is the build i'm trying to follow http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/909650

 

[Hagi]

well here's my passive tree : http://poeurl.com/yN2CgBl
and here is the build i'm trying to follow http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/909650

Overall tree seems solid enough but you're prioritizing it wrong I'd say.

Crit is mostly an end-game attribute, it'll only really start working once you've got a good bit from your tree, enough multiplier to make it hurt and enough links to use Power Charge on Crit reliably. Until then it's not doing so much.

You'd probably have a much easier time if you prioritized life over crit at this stage.

If you have the respec points for it I'd respec to something like this this [http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBAuMEBwdjB6UI9A5ID8QRlhZvGYUabB8CJDwkqiaVJ6ksnC0fMYg2xTbpO3w9X0GWRKtJUUmyUEJSU1VLVa5VxlcrWm1d8mKsZk9tGXBScNVzU3kDfll_xoFJghCMNo5kj0aPppeVl_Sdo52qna6eoaIuoqOnCKdcr5uyOLb6uMrAVMHzz2XQ0Nad2CTa3d-w42rkIvem_Ks=] first, then probably head for all the life near the Templar start first.

That'd probably give you a much easier time.

 

[Bombiz]

well here's my passive tree : http://poeurl.com/yN2CgBl
and here is the build i'm trying to follow http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/909650

Overall tree seems solid enough but you're prioritizing it wrong I'd say.

Crit is mostly an end-game attribute, it'll only really start working once you've got a good bit from your tree, enough multiplier to make it hurt and enough links to use Power Charge on Crit reliably. Until then it's not doing so much.

You'd probably have a much easier time if you prioritized life over crit at this stage.

If you have the respec points for it I'd respec to something like this this [http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBAuMEBwdjB6UI9A5ID8QRlhZvGYUabB8CJDwkqiaVJ6ksnC0fMYg2xTbpO3w9X0GWRKtJUUmyUEJSU1VLVa5VxlcrWm1d8mKsZk9tGXBScNVzU3kDfll_xoFJghCMNo5kj0aPppeVl_Sdo52qna6eoaIuoqOnCKdcr5uyOLb6uMrAVMHzz2XQ0Nad2CTa3d-w42rkIvem_Ks=] first, then probably head for all the life near the Templar start first.

That'd probably give you a much easier time.

hmm that seems like something I will need to do. But a question for crit damage do you need power charges for it to be good? cause right now i don't use them and i'm doing fine.

for a better refrence here's my current build [http://poebuilder.com/#builds/bombiz-current-gc-crit] contains my tree, stats and all of my items.

 

[Hagi]

hmm that seems like something I will need to do. But a question for crit damage do you need power charges for it to be good? cause right now i don't use them and i'm doing fine.

You don't need Power Charges but the thing about crit is that the higher it is the better it becomes due to the many mechanics that interact with it.

The effectiveness of your crits is essentially your crit chance times your crit multiplier, meaning that increasing one also makes the other better and on the reverse that having one or the other lower makes the other worse. Due to this crit is downright horrible at lower chances and multipliers, the reason many people choose Resolute Technique without any regrets, but starts scaling insanely well at higher chances and multipliers. And to reach those higher chances you need power charges.

On top of that you've got things like Surgeon's flasks (recharges on crits) and Freeze which also scale with crit chance.

So it's not that crit is bad at medium chances, it's okay there. It's just so much better at higher chances and you'll only be able to reach those higher chances at end-game so it's generally better to prioritize other things first and then ramp up your crit later on.

for a better refrence here's my current build [http://poebuilder.com/#builds/bombiz-current-gc-crit] contains my tree, stats and all of my items.

I would replace those gloves immediately, get something with life and at least some resistances. I'd also recommend either buying a cold res ring (to replace your lightning one) or collecting white cold res rings as they drop and using Orbs of Alchemy on a few.

I'd also look at replacing your amulet unless you absolutely need the reduced attribute requirements.

Basic rule of thumb, if it doesn't have life and two resistances it's crap.

On top of that, and I'm well aware that this is far from easily done. But you NEED to cap your resistances, that's not optional in Merciless. Trade for items that have enough resistances or farm Merciless Ledge, lacking that Cruel Docks, until you do. You can't progress without capped resistances.

 

[BraveSirRobin]

hmm that seems like something I will need to do. But a question for crit damage do you need power charges for it to be good? cause right now i don't use them and i'm doing fine.

for a better refrence here's my current build [http://poebuilder.com/#builds/bombiz-current-gc-crit] contains my tree, stats and all of my items.

Your cold resist is really low and even 51% for fire isn't going to be enough for how much health you have. Above all I'd try to max your resists. Throw some alchs onto some two stone rings, and honestly I'd probably replace your offhand dagger with a shield at least temporarily. That dagger really isn't giving you much, and shields can SIGNIFICANTLY increase your survivability against physical. Given you only have 7% phys reduction even a 26% block shield will heavily decrease damage you take. This would also let you pick up some of the Phalanx circle (that you are only 1 point away from) which can give you a quick much needed 20% boost to all resists while using a shield. Doing that should bump your survivability pretty heavily for low cost and make it easy to switch out as you get better gear.

 

[Bombiz]

I would replace those gloves immediately, get something with life and at least some resistances. I'd also recommend either buying a cold res ring (to replace your lightning one) or collecting white cold res rings as they drop and using Orbs of Alchemy on a few.

I'd also look at replacing your amulet unless you absolutely need the reduced attribute requirements.

Basic rule of thumb, if it doesn't have life and two resistances it's crap.

On top of that, and I'm well aware that this is far from easily done. But you NEED to cap your resistances, that's not optional in Merciless. Trade for items that have enough resistances or farm Merciless Ledge, lacking that Cruel Docks, until you do. You can't progress without capped resistances.

I was thinkling that I should replace my gloves but they gave me such a high damage boost that I felt it wouldn't be worth it to replace.

As for the resists thing this is actually the first character that I am having trouble with capping my resists. most of my other 2 high lvl characters always have capped resists when I got to merciless.

I kept the amulet cause I like the increased mana regeneration.

Your cold resist is really low and even 51% for fire isn't going to be enough for how much health you have. Above all I'd try to max your resists. Throw some alchs onto some two stone rings, and honestly I'd probably replace your offhand dagger with a shield at least temporarily. That dagger really isn't giving you much, and shields can SIGNIFICANTLY increase your survivability against physical. Given you only have 7% phys reduction even a 26% block shield will heavily decrease damage you take. This would also let you pick up some of the Phalanx circle (that you are only 1 point away from) which can give you a quick much needed 20% boost to all resists while using a shield. Doing that should bump your survivability pretty heavily for low cost and make it easy to switch out as you get better gear.

I've also been thinking about this. I just got a pretty decent shield(you have to open it in a new tabe to see it full sized)

 

[BraveSirRobin]

I've also been thinking about this. I just got a pretty decent shield(you have to open it in a new tabe to see it full sized)

Definitely go with that shield over the dagger, and if you're having trouble with maxing resists spec the 5 points to get the +all resist when using a shield in the phalanx circle. That should really bump your survivability.

 

[asdfen]

cant help you with your build but I just wanted to say PoE is a great point clicker and you always need to grind on highest difficulties unless you are already a pro at the game and/or have end game gear.

 

[KoudelkaMorgan]

I love playing my glacial cascade/arc witch. I hate playing merciless, and ES gear is just not good unless you get ridiculous rolls compared to even bad armor or evasion gear.

The highest character I've ever had was a Iceshot/poison arrow ranger that used pure evasion + acrobatics. I may have died in a few hits but those were rare.

What isn't rare is getting one shot by practically everything, especially instantly killed by desynch as I get pulled back to every strongbox I've already quicksilvered one screen away from upon opening.

Playing without armor or evasion is just not feasible reliably when, like me, you don't go for summons or totems and you can rarely be certain of where you or the enemies REALLY are as you all just desynch around like everything is using flicker strike.

Melee is too damn boring and slow for my liking though. I do like glacial hammer and molten strike, sweep/leapstrike, as well as staves in general but I would just get wrecked by packs of mobs once I hit merciless on my staff character so I ended up using storm call more than melee after a while.

The thing that most of my issues revolve around is how excessive you need to stack resists on every piece of gear to the exclusion of all else on merciless, and that there are more mobs thrown at you than the engine seems to be able to handle as it spazzes out and has to randomly assign new locations for all involved constantly.

I LIKE cruel difficulty. I despise merciless because it kills build diversity. You either have overcapped resists and one of a handful of proven successful builds or you will get destroyed by Rhoa charges from offscreen/anything with ANY kind of elemental attack.