You've been exiled! Here's a few tips to survive
Path of Exile is not your traditional MMORPG. Big news, eh? Well, let's pretend you're completely new to the game (even if you're not, do scroll through the list and you may find something of interest), and every new player may get a bit lost in it. Even if you've played Diablo 2, you will still be confused by some of these new systems, especially character building.
1. Class choice only somewhat matters
The Shadow's got some serious attitude
For all you MMORPG vets out there: you do not create a character. Sorry. Just choose one of the preset classes and go for it. They each have their own background, varied and different, so you should be able to find someone who appeals to you. A brutish marauder or an elegant duelist?
Seriously, pick whoever appeals to you most, because unlike Diablo 2 or any other RPG, all characters have access to all skills. Of course, some are better than others in certain areas, but I'm assuming you're not expecting miracles from illogical choices. Say you prefer a bow and arrow approach. You probably won't be choosing a Templar. Though he actually can do very well with a bow and arrow! That's the true beauty of their system, but it also means that...
2. You WILL screw up your character
Have you looked at the skill tree? Go ahead, take a look, I'll wait. I'll even be here when you wake up after passing out. That thing is insane! It's amazing...but it's insane! Okay, now that we've recovered from the shock, let's get to it.
So, this magnificent piece of class creation craftsmanship is designed to give your character access to any attributes he or she may desire. You won't find any abilities for combat here, but you will find passive bonuses that boost your stats. Plus, there's some real character changing options towards the far end of the grid (those big round gold things).
This is where there difference comes in - every class starts at a different point on the grid and you basically plot a path through it to access the attribute boosts you want. You know those "big round gold things" I mentioned? Besides me giving it the worst name I could, they are what makes certain kinds of builds happen. So it's a good idea to plan your skill tree progress around them.
Down side? You have no idea how the stats work yet, what matters, what doesn't, and even if those elite skills (much better) will give you what you really need or completely ruin the build. While there are some opportunities to go back a few points, there are no full resets. Since you don't even know what combat skills you're going to have on hand...you get the picture.
3. Be nice to your gems!
Care for them, feed them and let them grow. I'm serious here. Why? Well, they only make up the entirety of your character's combat abilities. Simply put, they are part two of your build. Also, they're subject to RNG, i.e. random drops. Fun no?
The gems go into gear sockets and you can give them to any character to put it in their equipment. So, any character can use any of the combat skills at the same level as any other character. Cool! The important thing to note is: it's a good idea to equip any gems you can and level them up on the go for any possible future builds you may want to consider, even if your current character will not be using them in the long run.
4. You'll want some crowd control
Click and watch them fall
Since any character can use any combat ability, make sure that every one of your characters has some crowd control in their back pocket. You'll be fighting swarms of monsters more often than any single big boss or even PvP battles. Trust me, it's going to get dull if your uber-powerful marauder can flatten each single small critter he meets, only to have another fifteen standing in line. Give him some crowd control and he'll be a happy camper. Or critter-smasher, whatever works.
It doesn't even have to be very impressive or powerful, just make sure it's there. You'll be doing yourself a huge favor.
5. Vendor recipes!
If you're looking at the screen thinking "say what?", then you're in for a real treat! Remember that Horadric Cube back in Diablo 2? The magical object where you could place some items and get others? Okay. Now have you noticed how there's no gold in Path of Exile? Instead the merchants give you certain items in exchange for what you give them. Like actual trading.
Vendor recipes are what you can offer vendors in order to get a certain item in return. Let me elaborate on a practical example. If you want an item that can enhance the quality of your gear, say your weapon, you'll need a blacksmith's whetstone. To get one, all you have to do is offer the merchant other weapons whose total quality reaches 40% or more. For example, a sword with 10%, a dagger with 18%, an axe with 14% will get you one blacksmith's whetstone.
It works like this.
For your convenience, here's an outside article with the top must-know vendor recipes in Path of Exile: http://pathofexilegems.com/9-poe-vendor-recipes-must-know/
6. Turn off trade chat and clean your screen
To the newbie, this is pure moonspeak
This is one thing I'm sure would take away from ANY immersion. That thing is nasty! It's an endless spam of people typing in code that even the FBI would have trouble cracking, attempting to buy or sell gear like some massive black market. Right, now the code makes sense.
On a serious note. Just switch it off. It takes up a huge portion of the screen, it's constantly changing, it's not just distracting and annoying, it's a complete hindrance to anyone who wants to enjoy the game or at least see what they're fighting. The day Grinding Gear Games gave us a chat filter should be declared a holiday!
7. Servers, aka leagues, are not like other MMOs
Have you noticed that when you create a new character in Path of Exile, you get a league selection screen, as opposed to a server selection. That's because there are no servers in the traditional sense. There's a standard league, which is like the standard game. Then there's a hardcore version of it (for bragging rights). Then you have a few other leagues depending on what's going on in terms of events.
With the first "expansion", there was a league that offered some unique gameplay features in the form of shrines to something called the Vaal (check the lore). I also remember there being a speed leveling league, where you create a character and then race to see who will reach max level the fastest. These happened rather often, but I'm not sure if it's still a thing with all the new updates. Yea, there's a lot of changes going on with a lot of updates, but we'll get into that in a second.
8. If you go hardcore, beware of lag
Well, maybe he can afford a little lag
I mentioned a hardcore league. This is actually not a higher difficulty or anything like that. It just means that when you die, it's game over. You're done. Sike! I know why Diablo veterans would think this true, but Grinding Gear Games are a bit more merciful. Instead of losing your character, you get knocked down to the standard league. As I said, bragging rights.
If you have a really high level character who's still in the hardcore league, then you're really hardcore! Even more so than you think, because of lag. This is a game where enemies can get really tough, some can chip away at your health in seconds if you're not careful. Lag is the number 1 killer of hardcore players in Path of Exile. Combat is really fast paced and if you freeze up for a second, chances are, the next image you see is yourself lying in a pool of your own blood, only to wake up in the standard league.
I guess lag is the reason they're merciful enough to let us keep our characters at least.
9. Updates, keep up!
A long time ago, in a game far, far away...
Updates, right? All those balance changes. Well, that's only part of what makes them complicated here. In Path of Exile, they really enjoy changing things around. They'll add new leagues, or bosses, or unique challenges, items or even systems etc. Sometimes they make so many balance changes that they offer you a full reset for your character. If you ever screwed up, watch out for this - you may get a second chance!
It's honestly surprising how often they do update the game. You can see the patch notes and there's a lot of 'em! Not just the bug fixes, but everything else they add it. If you've been away for, say, 2 months, you can expect quite some literature to go through upon your next login. That's impressive for a free-to-play game.
10. It's truly free-to-play
Unless you want to look like this
I know that many are skeptical about entering into free-to-play games. Understandable. More often they end up being pay-to-win or leave the player feeling left out. Well, not in this case. All you get is cosmetic stuff. That's all. Well, they do offer some beta keys for their expansions too and some extra stash or character slots, but that's it. Nothing that'll give them a real edge over non-paying players.
So what are you waiting for? Grab it and try it out! Then you can let me know if there's something important that I've missed - and post it in the comments!
