Path of Exile 3.0 (the other Diablo clone)

[N810]

I was wondering if anyone else was excited by the new The Fall of Oriath expansion.
It bring the number of acts (stages) from 4 to 10!
as well as bring a port to XBOX1. (from PC).




Also if anyone else is playing this.

[Starwulf]

Don't forget it's also eliminating Cruel and Merciless difficulty, which is great news, and the reason many people think they went ahead and brought out acts 6-10 instead of just act 5. Better to make the jump to just one difficulty now, rather then wait till they release another act or two and cause them all sorts of issues then.

I like the direction they took with the acts as well, the true gods(or old gods) being released after we killed Malachai and having to go back into previous areas and seeing the changes wrought by our actions is pretty cool.

Best thing of all, is they specifically said that this won't be the end of the game/content, it's just the end of this particular story arc :)

[Corlindale]

I am also very excited! 10 acts!

I know 6-10 are probably going to be mainly reskins of existing stuff, but honestly just getting new missions and challenges within the areas will make a tremendeous difference. Considering how perfectly happy I have until now been just playing the exact same acts umpteen gajillion times, any remix can only mean a drastic improvement.

It's going to be a long wait, but the new League announced today sounds fun as well (basically a Greatest Hits of previous leagues). Also, they are finally making an actual mode that caters to self-found players like myself!

[GeorgeTheBard]

Pretty crazy with all the new acts. I took a break from the game cus i got sick of running the "same" content over and over with a leauge here and there but gonna come back for sure when this is out. I remember when POE first came out. Who knew it was going to be this popular. I cant even imagine what addition to the tree and all the extra loot is going to be like :) :) :).

[Morty]

Well, this is big. My concern is how the game's balance will withstand the power creep that's inevitable when doubling its length. Even if the six new acts are much shorter than the existing ones, it's going to be a lot. Seems the answer might lie in yet another new advancement subsystem, the "pantheon". Hopefully it's easier to access than the class specializations.

[N810]

I was watching another video on the pantheon,
apparently they are going to be defensive bonuses,
and you will be able to swap them in town or your hideout.
Also there will be major gods with basic bonuses.
and minor gods with more niche bonuses.
and you can have ... I think it was...
One major god and several one minor one active at once.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

So very excited for this! Leveling in PoE has often been a chore but this'll make it fresh again. Even if(when) it does get old, the fact that it's not all repeating the same acts will make it much less obnoxious to level a new character.

The Legacy League looks like to be insanely fun as well - Double Triple Beyond Breach Rampage, anyone? I'm also excited for the balance changes for 2.6 - buffs to 1H melee, reworked item implicits, some sweet-ass looking threshold jewels, tweaks to AoE... No word on the HP vs ES debate but the meta will hopefully get a good shake up with that.

Well, this is big. My concern is how the game's balance will withstand the power creep that's inevitable when doubling its length. Even if the six new acts are much shorter than the existing ones, it's going to be a lot. Seems the answer might lie in yet another new advancement subsystem, the "pantheon". Hopefully it's easier to access than the class specializations.

There won't be much power creep from the new acts, I think. The game currently has 4 acts and 3 difficulties for 12 acts total. 11.5 since most folks don't do A4M past The Mines anyway. The new system will be 10 acts total and according to an interview the plan is that you hit Atlas content at the same level you hit it now. So the leveling-to-endgame part of the game will be about the same length, just not repeating everything 3 times. Except the Labyrinth, sadly. We will still be running the Lab 4 times total for Ascendancies.

Pantheon powers can be swapped free of charge in town or HO. So much easier to play around with. The Pantheon powers will all focus on situational defensive bonuses and the idea is that you'll tailor the ones you have active to whatever content you're doing. Grab some cold and freeze resistance before fighting Hydra, Phys damage reduction while standing to facetank Argus a little more safely, that sort of thing. I'm quite excited about it, I think it'll help encourage build diversity a fair bit.

[boomwolf]

Where is the 2.6 info coming from? I haven't seen anything about new jewels, 1h balance or anything except the league itself.
Care to link to the source?



In any case, I doubt acts 5-10 will be anything like mere redskins. Just in the short footage we got we saw multiple new base enemy types, and TBH mobs are hardly relevant, bosses is where the real difference is noticed, and 6 new acts is plenty of new bosses.
And with bosses, even a small mixup can change a lot. The shevrone+brutos fight that was shown by ziggyd is going to feel very different than each of them apart.

[Morty]

There won't be much power creep from the new acts, I think. The game currently has 4 acts and 3 difficulties for 12 acts total. 11.5 since most folks don't do A4M past The Mines anyway. The new system will be 10 acts total and according to an interview the plan is that you hit Atlas content at the same level you hit it now. So the leveling-to-endgame part of the game will be about the same length, just not repeating everything 3 times. Except the Labyrinth, sadly. We will still be running the Lab 4 times total for Ascendancies.

Pantheon powers can be swapped free of charge in town or HO. So much easier to play around with. The Pantheon powers will all focus on situational defensive bonuses and the idea is that you'll tailor the ones you have active to whatever content you're doing. Grab some cold and freeze resistance before fighting Hydra, Phys damage reduction while standing to facetank Argus a little more safely, that sort of thing. I'm quite excited about it, I think it'll help encourage build diversity a fair bit.

That does sound much better. PoE does have a lot of build diversity at the ground level, but it narrows down significantly as you advance, like it always does. I tried getting through the Ascendancy Labyrinth with two of my characters, but I just couldn't do it. It's long, it's tedious, and the boss fights are murder.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Where is the 2.6 info coming from? I haven't seen anything about new jewels, 1h balance or anything except the league itself.
Care to link to the source?

Board the hype train here.

In any case, I doubt acts 5-10 will be anything like mere redskins. Just in the short footage we got we saw multiple new base enemy types, and TBH mobs are hardly relevant, bosses is where the real difference is noticed, and 6 new acts is plenty of new bosses.

Definitely not reskinned acts, no. The routes are different and at least some of the environments have changed. For example the Fetid Pool side area is lush with vegetation after cleaning out the corruption and rather than being a side area, it is now on the main route. Also packed with angry Karui.

I'm pretty interested in seeing the new bosses. Boss fight design was one area I felt PoE was pretty bad at up until recently, but they've improved dramatically over the last few content patches.

[Morty]

Come to think of it, it might be useful to clear the labirynth at least once on any characters I use for the new content. Any tips on how to actually do it? Does it just come down to a lot of time and patience?

[boomwolf]

What do you mean " it might be useful to clear the labirynth at least once on any characters I use for the new content."?

You want to clear the lab on each version of it, to nab all them sweet ascendancy points. they are freaking powerful.


As for the "way" to clear it, having practice, skill and/or a powerful build is nice, but down to earth how I usually get it done is by brute force of being overleveled for said lab. (never finished the atlas lab though. I'm building char on the fly with no guides and most self-find items, so I'm not really all that powerful even at high levels.)

[Morty]

Trying to clear it once was incredibly tedious and ended in failure. I can't really imagine doing it for every difficulty level. Being unable to portal away is a huge restriction, as is losing all progress upon dying. It was difficult enough when I tried to do it on Normal with a character who'd already reached a higher difficulty level. When I tried running a level-appropriate character through it, she got massacred in the first boss fight.

[Corlindale]

I detest the Labyrinth. It's not even remotely fun or fair, it's just a tedious grind that you're forced to get through (I know it's technically optional, but since Ascendancy classes are as amazing as the labyrinth is horrible I usually feel compelled to slog through it).

My "strategy" is usually to overlevel at least 10 levels before doing any given Labyrinth to minimize the risk of randomly dying to Izaro and then wait for a day with a relatively straightforward layout without the most annoying Izaro mods. Even then I end up dying at Izaro more often than not, because of lag or because of an attack I didn't react to quickly enough, or a trap I wander into.

I know it sounds like whining and that I'm probably not great at the game, but I like to play Diablo-style games when I just want to chill out and murder monsters with interesting builds, popping back at the checkpoint if I happen to die, instead of having to progress through a multitude of samey areas each time I fail. Don't even get me started on the trap gauntlets either...

[boomwolf]

Oh yes. The trap zones are an absolute chore. And Izaro is so completely absurd compared to the lab monsters that it's silly. Bigger jump in difficulty between zone and boss than dominus is (and dominus can one-shot guys who breeze through half of act 4)

Well, good news is that the early game labs are getting shorter in 3.0

You can't avoid the lab though. The late game is simply impossible without the huge power spike the ascendancy provides.
Some ascendancy powers outright melt bosses (bane of legends being the most obvious), makes you far harder to kill or simply grant massive utility not found elsewhere.

[Morty]

If you can't play the endgame without using ascendancy abilities, then I guess I won't be able to play the new content. Unless they bring the Labyrinth down to a level that's actually consistent with the rest of the game on a given difficulty.

[Dire Ferret]

If you can't play the endgame without using ascendancy abilities, then I guess I won't be able to play the new content. Unless they bring the Labyrinth down to a level that's actually consistent with the rest of the game on a given difficulty.

The end game is high tier maps, the new content is replacing Cruel and Merciless.

[boomwolf]

Well, by the time you reach the second act 1 end, who will probably compare to new act 5, the first lab, including izaro, should be cakewalk by sheer overleveling.
Similarly the second lab and third act 1 (sorta like new act 8)

The third lab... Never beaten before going into the endgame. And that's AFTER the third act 3, and into the atlas I get to like tier 8 before clearing the third lab.

Its not that it's impossible to end the game without the lab, but if you can take on the later acts, the lab is just underleveled and easy to clear, just slightly time consuming.
Totally worth it to clear each lab once though, the reward for the first clear is equivalent in power to about six skill points I'd recon.

[Anteros]

That does sound much better. PoE does have a lot of build diversity at the ground level, but it narrows down significantly as you advance, like it always does. I tried getting through the Ascendancy Labyrinth with two of my characters, but I just couldn't do it. It's long, it's tedious, and the boss fights are murder.

Basically what drove me away from the game. "Here are hundreds of possible class customizations! Now ignore all that and build defensively or eventually some lucky crit will end your character forever!" Blah.

It's a shame, because the game really appealed to me on the surface.

[N810]

The floor spikes usually end up killing me in the labyrinth more than anything else.

Ps. I got a dex build where I linked cast when damage taken to the 1 second on invincibility gem.
this has help save me from many lucky crits.

[sleepy hedgehog]

I'm super pumped for 3.0.
Though I'm equaly excited for rebalancing, as I am for the new content. I'm so sick of fire and poison double dipping being way better than everything else.

Also, 2.6 seems like it'll be really fun too.

Basically what drove me away from the game. "Here are hundreds of possible class customizations! Now ignore all that and build defensively or eventually some lucky crit will end your character forever!" Blah.

It's a shame, because the game really appealed to me on the surface.

Or you could play softcore. This league I've picked up around 1300 deaths this league. For the first week, I was averaging 100 deaths/day.

[RocksInMyDryer]

Nice, I'm glad to see this. I think Grinding Gear did a better job with this game as a sequel to Diablo II than Blizzard did with the official Diablo 3 game, to be honest. Looking forward to checking out the new content.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Come to think of it, it might be useful to clear the labirynth at least once on any characters I use for the new content. Any tips on how to actually do it? Does it just come down to a lot of time and patience?

You absolutely want to do labyrinth at least twice, on Normal and Cruel. Ascendancies are hugely powerful and 4 points is enough to get a key build-enabler or even two. The sixth ascendancy point usually becomes necessary around mid-tier maps, but it's usefulness varies a lot by build. Uber Lab and the 8th point are something of a luxury, and I don't bother with them unless I want to push towards level 90 on a character that's lots of fun to play.

I do it when I reach Dried Lake on the following difficulty. So normal lab at Cruel, Cruel at Merciless and Merciless around the time I'm able to enter Uber Lab. Being brutally overlevelled, overgeared and over-gem-support'd helps a lot. However. Traps deal damage proportional to your total HP. Traps don't care your butt is overpowered and they will kick it just as swiftly as they did ten levels ago. Take it slow. Figure how to get past each trap before committing to a move. Clear mobs around traps for flask charges and safety. There's not actually that many meaningfully different trap gauntlets, and almost all have zones you can stand in safely.

Bring one or even two movement skills. Lightning Warp and Blink Arrow allow very precise movement, and you can usually jump from safe zone to safe zone. Shield Charge, Flame Dash and Whirling Blades are all good for jumping over/through blade traps, the spiky spinny things, or poison darts. Leap Slam I find pretty bad but maybe you like it. Bring a bow on your weapon swap with Blink Arrow socketed. You can swap-blink-swap and still bash skulls with your big hammer. A Quicksilver Flask with Experimenter's lets you just sprint through many, many traps and is a must-have.

Izaro is a tough customer. Specific advice depends on the mechanics active on the fight. I hate having to say this, but a wiki visit is almost required reading, given the number of ways they can interact and the often not super-obvious ways of countering them. And countering them is really important. General tips for bosses apply though:

-Staying still for more than 2-3 seconds is inviting death. Always keep a finger on that movement skill.
-Melee range is not a friendly place.
-Pop flasks, dish out damage, kite and refill flasks on trash, repeat.
-Tweak your gems for maximum single target. Replacing Increased AoE for Concentrated Effect is a classic move for a reason.
-Overconfidence is a slow fast and insidious killer.

I'm super pumped for 3.0.
Though I'm equaly excited for rebalancing, as I am for the new content. I'm so sick of fire and poison double dipping being way better than everything else.

I'm quite ready to move on to a new meta as well.

Or you could play softcore. This league I've picked up around 1300 deaths this league. For the first week, I was averaging 100 deaths/day.

Breach League has been insanely deadly. My poor Templar has something north of 500 deaths

[N810]

Any tips for the floor spikes, they always seem to be the death of me.

Ps. Do the traps cause bleeding damage ?
perhaps defending against that might help me ?

[Siosilvar]

I don't think traps do bleed damage, it's just constant physical DPS. Sometimes you can bug out of the spikes and still take damage for a bit, but it's not a bleed, IIRC. Pop a health potion (or Sulphur Flask if you have Zealot's Oath) when you drop below half, you'll be fine.

I do it when I reach Dried Lake on the following difficulty. So normal lab at Cruel, Cruel at Merciless and Merciless around the time I'm able to enter Uber Lab. Being brutally overlevelled, overgeared and over-gem-support'd helps a lot.

Good advice, but dang you wait a long time. I usually have my points before Merveil.

Breach League has been insanely deadly. My poor Templar has something north of 500 deaths

Okay, but the sheer pack density is amazingly fun. It's denser even than hell cows was back in the day.

edit: YMMV with pack size, of course. I love my Lightning Javazon and Essence Drain builds.

[boomwolf]

Floor spikes never struck me as an issue-they are always jumping on a fixed interval and pattern, making it very, very easy to just watch them a moment before moving in, and evading them practically forever.


Unfortunately, I could not find the time to play breach properly. didn't even finish act 1 normal, as I simply got no time to play with the university tests eating my soul. and that's a shame as even the few breaches I HAVE encountered so far, were a blast. the madness of "what have I done" passing through your head, and the struggle to keep it open, find some clasped hands while not getting yourself killed with the absurd number of enemies who are usually stronger than expected for the area makes everything very intense.

fortunately, it appears I'll get to play breach on the legacy league :P


I wonder if leaguestones will remain a thing after legacy. I'd bet not...

[Morty]

You absolutely want to do labyrinth at least twice, on Normal and Cruel. Ascendancies are hugely powerful and 4 points is enough to get a key build-enabler or even two. The sixth ascendancy point usually becomes necessary around mid-tier maps, but it's usefulness varies a lot by build. Uber Lab and the 8th point are something of a luxury, and I don't bother with them unless I want to push towards level 90 on a character that's lots of fun to play.

I do it when I reach Dried Lake on the following difficulty. So normal lab at Cruel, Cruel at Merciless and Merciless around the time I'm able to enter Uber Lab. Being brutally overlevelled, overgeared and over-gem-support'd helps a lot. However. Traps deal damage proportional to your total HP. Traps don't care your butt is overpowered and they will kick it just as swiftly as they did ten levels ago. Take it slow. Figure how to get past each trap before committing to a move. Clear mobs around traps for flask charges and safety. There's not actually that many meaningfully different trap gauntlets, and almost all have zones you can stand in safely.

Bring one or even two movement skills. Lightning Warp and Blink Arrow allow very precise movement, and you can usually jump from safe zone to safe zone. Shield Charge, Flame Dash and Whirling Blades are all good for jumping over/through blade traps, the spiky spinny things, or poison darts. Leap Slam I find pretty bad but maybe you like it. Bring a bow on your weapon swap with Blink Arrow socketed. You can swap-blink-swap and still bash skulls with your big hammer. A Quicksilver Flask with Experimenter's lets you just sprint through many, many traps and is a must-have.

Izaro is a tough customer. Specific advice depends on the mechanics active on the fight. I hate having to say this, but a wiki visit is almost required reading, given the number of ways they can interact and the often not super-obvious ways of countering them. And countering them is really important. General tips for bosses apply though:

-Staying still for more than 2-3 seconds is inviting death. Always keep a finger on that movement skill.
-Melee range is not a friendly place.
-Pop flasks, dish out damage, kite and refill flasks on trash, repeat.
-Tweak your gems for maximum single target. Replacing Increased AoE for Concentrated Effect is a classic move for a reason.
-Overconfidence is a slow fast and insidious killer.

Traps scaling with max health would actually explain a lot. I think I managed to beat Izaro once with my duelist, but not my ranger. But the duelist then died to a trap, or I just gave up. I'll try to run the labyrinth before the new content shows up, but if I can't, I'll just forget about the whole game. Gating essential skills behind content with a difficulty curve far steeper than most of the game is just a terrible idea on several levels.

[N810]

I believe I read somewhere in the developers blog,
that they where keeping the Labyrinth the same.

I think they said the bandits rewards might change slightly though.

[SlyGuyMcFly]

Balance changes overview/explanation. Some skill tree changes, AoE scaling is being reworked slightly, daggers are nerfed and other 1H weapons buffed, elemental conversion is nerfed, tons of uniques are being rebalanced and threshold jewels will be more powerful.

Well that should certainly shake up the meta some.

I think they said the bandits rewards might change slightly though.

My guess is they remove the Cruel reward (it's boring anyways), and put the Merciless point in A7, since apparently it involves the consequences of our adventures in Act 2.

Good advice, but dang you wait a long time. I usually have my points before Merveil.

Yeah. The main reason I wait so long is my computer handles boss fights very poorly. Izaro in particular lags me for 1-2 seconds every time he launches his big attacks, which leads to many deaths and much salt. So I put it off for as long as I can. However, Act 4 is a big difficulty spike with a good many deadly bosses and mini-bosses, culminating in the Malachai fight which is basically a slide-show for me. So I find I need the power boost right about then on most builds.

Okay, but the sheer pack density is amazingly fun. It's denser even than hell cows was back in the day.

Oh, for sure! I really, really hope Breaches stay in the game in some capacity, I feel they're the best "activate the thingy for a hard bonus fight and cool loot" mechanic GGG has made so far.

[N810]

... Man just when I was thinking about making a dagger build,
Oh well at least my other characters get a buff.