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[V_Arnold]

Oh well, my problems with this are a bit more complex.

For example:
- Popular streamers amassing wealth by asking fans fusings (yeah, it happens ALL THE TIME), and yeah, they get to the top easily
- Flipping and scamming is abhorrent, but there will be nothing to be done against it.

If it were up to me, simply increasing exalted droprates and removing eternals would be part of a good solution. I do not know what the internal vision for PoE is in the heads of GGG devs, but I surely think it is not "lets replicate real life marketplace situations".

It is a bit surreal that when you move into the territory of earning multiple EXALTEDS per day via "services" and flips and trades, then you get more by clicking a few times as opposed to someone unable to move to higher level maps who tries to grind constantly. That is simply unfair.

And as long as the difference between highend gear and entry level mapping gear is worth in the hundreds of exalts, the profits a rich player make a DAY equals several weeks of grinding for a "poor" player.

I am not saying fuck the rich, but that difference has to shrink considerably, imho.

 

[Hellshingu]

Oh well, my problems with this are a bit more complex.

For example:
- Popular streamers amassing wealth by asking fans fusings (yeah, it happens ALL THE TIME), and yeah, they get to the top easily
- Flipping and scamming is abhorrent, but there will be nothing to be done against it.

If it were up to me, simply increasing exalted droprates and removing eternals would be part of a good solution. I do not know what the internal vision for PoE is in the heads of GGG devs, but I surely think it is not "lets replicate real life marketplace situations".

It is a bit surreal that when you move into the territory of earning multiple EXALTEDS per day via "services" and flips and trades, then you get more by clicking a few times as opposed to someone unable to move to higher level maps who tries to grind constantly. That is simply unfair.

And as long as the difference between highend gear and entry level mapping gear is worth in the hundreds of exalts, the profits a rich player make a DAY equals several weeks of grinding for a "poor" player.

I am not saying fuck the rich, but that difference has to shrink considerably, imho.

The difference will never shrink no matter what the changes are. The 1% will always be the 1% increasing the drop rates of exalted orbs will only devalue them in the economy. With eternals no longer dropping it could lower the costs of items overall since they essential nerfed people who try to craft top tier items or it will cause items to skyrocket because you can no longer us an imprint in case of a bad roll that will add nothing to the item.

Big name streamers will always have the upper hand and you shouldn't let their ease of progression in the game bother you or hinder your progression and fun with the game. In a game with trading there will always be people who circumvent gameplay to get rich. There have also been relatively cheap builds that have done uber before that don't require hundreds and hundreds of exalts. While I agree that drop rates should be tinkered with a little now that there are going to be currency changes someone else's wealth shouldn't bother anyone in the game.

 

[Kammie]

Oh well, my problems with this are a bit more complex.

For example:
- Popular streamers amassing wealth by asking fans fusings (yeah, it happens ALL THE TIME), and yeah, they get to the top easily
- Flipping and scamming is abhorrent, but there will be nothing to be done against it.

If it were up to me, simply increasing exalted droprates and removing eternals would be part of a good solution. I do not know what the internal vision for PoE is in the heads of GGG devs, but I surely think it is not "lets replicate real life marketplace situations".

It is a bit surreal that when you move into the territory of earning multiple EXALTEDS per day via "services" and flips and trades, then you get more by clicking a few times as opposed to someone unable to move to higher level maps who tries to grind constantly. That is simply unfair.

And as long as the difference between highend gear and entry level mapping gear is worth in the hundreds of exalts, the profits a rich player make a DAY equals several weeks of grinding for a "poor" player.

I am not saying fuck the rich, but that difference has to shrink considerably, imho.

It seems to me like you just don't know how to make currency or make efficient use of your time. Things are a bit dead now due to the beta and all, but back in February I was making 5+ exalts per day in standard just from trading. This was by trading drops and crafts from 75+ maps. And it's not hard at all to maintain maps in live now. You're going to have dry spells now and then, but with the currency you make you can buy maps to keep going. Dom runs, solo MFing low level maps, getting fuse from Vorici, farming sac sets from Docks--with just this you can make multiple exalts per day.

Here is what the rich go through when they craft:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dp4FvfLhaL8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dghwozhWaCA

Look at all the currency they blow!

If they have this much currency they deserve to have gotten there. Otherwise, how do you expect good items to ever be crafted in a game that is so spiteful to its players with its RNG?

People with money don't affect you, they are playing an entirely different game than you on an entirely different level. Any goal other than crafting is achievable if you just know what you're doing in this game.

 

[V_Arnold]

It is less about my "hatred" (no such thing) for the rich, it is more that I am an idealist who believes that a game system should exist that does not stretch the differences that much between "wealth" and "nobody".

I remember in Diablo III, people were exploiting frikking URNS and were glitchin through inferno act 4 via death chaining runs, and they got stuff that actually allowed them to be the "top" players. Horrendous. No such analogy exists for PoE (other than being lucky to find good items in the beginning of new leagues so you can start flipping and trading quicker than the others, and selling rare support items for which the demand is high early, like spell echo, multistrike, gmp, etc.)

The reason I would like to see exalteds drop more (Kammie, btw, since I picked up the habit of destroying barrels and opening tombs/chests ALWAYS, I have seen 8-10 more drop in the past month, compared to NONE in the previous 3 years ), because that would simply allow players to see them more, and they could just use it to craft a 6th mod on already good items they have, with 4-5 affixes.

Btw, this is my only "expensive" item. Crafted it myself. The 6l was made with 700~ fusings.

 

[TheFatOne]

Was going to level a flame totem to see how my build would do. Now since a nerf is coming to flame totem don't think I will play until friday. Hopefully the nerf isn't too bad. I really want to do a MF Flame Totem build. Right now though flame totem makes leveling super easy. Just recipe for +1 level of fire gems on a scepter and you are good to go. No reason not to level with FT at the moment, and I hope they don't nerf it into oblivion like they have done to some other skills.

 

[V_Arnold]

Atziri down! I killed Atziri on my own, first time

Did not watch any videos for her, learned it the hard way. Wasted like 3 full sets ,this time it went down quite easily :O

Dropped the boots.

Build: SRS+Zombies. Auras: haste, hatred. Micro+desynch still sucks, but expansion takes that away

Okay, now I feel like I actually "accomplished" something.

 

[TheFatOne]

Man wtf is GGG thinking with these new encounters. There is one right before the last Act IV boss that is straight up bullshit. Just so fucking poorly thought out. Small tight room with bullshit going on every where with a giant laser beam that chunks half you health. Not only that the laser beam rotates 360 degrees and it goes off about every three or four seconds. So it's hit boss use all pots to stay alive then tp out. Rinse and repeat. Just so damn terrible.

Edit: Holy shit the last boss is absolutely horrendous. I'm in normal Act IV and it's the first time I've quit because it's so fucking boring. Last boss has an insane amount of health. Not really all that hard, but it's the same bullshit. Hit for a bit run out of pots tp out. Rinse and repeat. Man this act is such a huge let down. Bosses suck balls and are over tuned. Last boss is mechanically sort of interesting, but with 5 million hp on normal what's the point. Not about to fight one boss for 30 minutes. That shit isn't fun and has never been fun. Have no idea wtf GGG was thinking with this entire act. Most of it is garbage.

I went from can't wait until Friday to being very worried. Act IV feels incredibly rushed, and poorly thought out. The last part in particular is so bad. Just everything looks the same and it's hard to see what you can and can't step into.

 

[Kammie]

I didn't like what I've seen on videos either. When they said 9 new bosses I expected 9 new areas, not everything shoved behind different doors.

Also this new thing they have going where they put everything inside a tiny-ass arena, it's just ridiculous. Can you imagine a group of six people inside there? It's gonna be a clusterfuck.

The act was rushed, this is in no way, shape or form ready for a release in two days. There are still so many balance problems and all these shitty design decisions like the Eldricht Battery change that they are still going through with.... I really don't think this is gonna be the game's saving grace. Even if they got rid of desync.

 

[TheFatOne]

If they launch the game and not significantly change the last boss in Act IV I won't be playing the game. On normal I died 6 times to unavoidable shit. The minions should have way way less health so that you can actually regain pots. The health for the boss is absurd. and he has two forms. The second form should be removed from the game completely or remove the first form. I wonder if GGG even plays their games or tests bosses before putting them in the beta test. Shit is unreal. They should have released the bosses at least two weeks ago to properly test them.

At no point in time should there ever be a boss as hard as that on normal. Just unbelievably bad design. The second form of the Act IV boss is a tour de force of horrible game design. Tiny ass area in his second form, and it's designed so there is simply no way you can avoid everything. In theory I can sort of see what they were going for. They wanted to force you to pay closer attention to using your pots. The enourmous issue is that it's impossible to avoid everything, and his damage is far to much. Just really poor game design.

 

[V_Arnold]

Weird how on Reddit, they hail it as the second coming of Jesus. I tend to agree with them on this particular issue (the direction of the new expansion), but then again: I am less of a pro and more of a semi-casual.

 

[Kammie]

Weird how on Reddit, they hail it as the second coming of Jesus. I tend to agree with them on this particular issue (the direction of the new expansion), but then again: I am less of a pro and more of a semi-casual.

The Reddit feedback on the bosses has been non-existent. There's a lot more feedback about them on the beta forum, and most of it is negative.

When I first started playing this game, and I got to Merciless, I was getting one-shot in places like Sarn. And I got very mad, to the point where I wanted to punch a hole through my monitor (note I don't have anger issues, I just didn't understand how the game went from playable to one-shots). If people start encountering this on the final boss in NORMAL, there's going to be a ton of them just straight up quitting.

A lot of people report the final boss taking 20 to 30 minutes. And dying 30+ times.

 

[TheFatOne]

Weird how on Reddit, they hail it as the second coming of Jesus. I tend to agree with them on this particular issue (the direction of the new expansion), but then again: I am less of a pro and more of a semi-casual.

If you are semi casual the last boss won't be fun at all. Will be taking you half an hour at least. Running dual flame totems right now which is over powered, and even then it has issues with this boss. Takes an eternity to beat him with two forms. On his second form you have to kill three hearts as well, and each of them has a good amount of health. On his second form you have zero space and there are attacks all over the place. Not a casual friendly boss at all. I would guess that it would be very off putting for casual/semi casual players. I play HC, and even I find this bullshit frustrating. I enjoy a challenge but the boss is cheap. I can go into much more detail on the individual phases if you would like. It's going to be nerf for sure though.

The Reddit feedback on the bosses has been non-existent. There's a lot more feedback about them on the beta forum, and most of it is negative.

When I first started playing this game, and I got to Merciless, I was getting one-shot in places like Sarn. And I got very mad, to the point where I wanted to punch a hole through my monitor (note I don't have anger issues, I just didn't understand how the game went from playable to one-shots). If people start encountering this on the final boss in NORMAL, there's going to be a ton of them just straight up quitting.

A lot of people report the final boss taking 20 to 30 minutes. And dying 30+ times.

Yea beta forums are much more negative about the boss. Although, I really enjoyed the three mini bosses before. Spoiler warning. If you don't want to be spoiled about PoE bosses/what happens in the game please do not read the following.

Spoiler

Piety fight in Act IV is pure fucking bullshit. Such a cheap fight. Laser beam that fires in 360 degrees that does either chaos damage or bleeding damage. Couldn't figure out which since I was noping the fuck out the moment my pots were low. Fuck that piety fight. Just bullshit cheap ass game design. Like if GGG forgot simple basic game design for that fight.

 

[V_Arnold]

Well, I usually make a habit of only running final bosses when I am geared enough. Until that? It was city of sarn/docks time till at least a moderate gear. I do not think it will change now. And yeah, the boss certainly will receieve some hp downsize. Or maybe they want to keep that in order to have some boss for which you are rewarded if you are INSANELY high dps. Which I would not like since it is the "you are good geared? here, farm this one even more faster.... "

Maybe I'll go back to some tried searing bond build, shield+reckoning skills, some golems, maybe a dominating blow or something in the mix.

Edit: with my SRS char, I can solo maps till 77-78. If that ability is retained post-patch, I will be happy

 

[MrPing1000]

I mean Malachai has a little too much hp and the fire trap damage in phase 2 should probably be cut a little.

But other than that I enjoyed it, died 4 times. It's going to be tough doing it in hardcore, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

I do agree that he really shouldn't be difficult in normal though, I'd imagine cruel is going to be a ripathon heh.

My biggest criticism is the expansion launches on Friday and it really could use another 2 weeks of testing. Theres still so much wonky stuff, not to mention not all the skill gems are in. We'll be beta testing the new leagues, but thats always the way. For the size of company they are, I do think they do the best they can. Having a beta in the first place was a very very wise decision.

 

[Kammie]

My biggest criticism is the expansion launches on Friday and it really could use another 2 weeks of testing. Theres still so much wonky stuff, not to mention not all the skill gems are in. We'll be beta testing the new leagues, but thats always the way. For the size of company they are, I do think they do the best they can. Having a beta in the first place was a very very wise decision.

The only reason we had a beta is because if they had not announced the expansion was coming, they would have lost even more players. The retention rate was at like a month and a half with new leagues for regulars, and four more months of waiting before announcing the expansion would have killed them.

It still very much was nowhere near ready, even for a beta. You could see them improvise mechanic changes as the days went by, and in fact nothing was even left working properly yet.

The one positive thing is that before, half the team was supposedly working on the expansion, and half on the live updates. So we can be assured that for some time, everybody's efforts will be focused on the live game, and we should see changes faster than we were for the last year.

 

[Kammie]

All the deaths, lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXjiveX8AYI

Note that this is the final boss, don't click the link if you don't want to see it.

 

[squadr0n]

So I havent really been paying much attention to any of the Beta coverage for the Awakening and Ive been considering making a new character once the patch releases. What are people thinking the more viable classes/builds will be with this new patch?
I was thinking about going with something that could use a 2handed sword or Falmeblast but not sure which route to go yet.

 

[TheFatOne]

All the deaths, lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXjiveX8AYI

Note that this is the final boss, don't click the link if you don't want to see it.

So broken right now.

So I havent really been paying much attention to any of the Beta coverage for the Awakening and Ive been considering making a new character once the patch releases. What are people thinking the more viable classes/builds will be with this new patch?
I was thinking about going with something that could use a 2handed sword or Falmeblast but not sure which route to go yet.

Ice crash is all the rage for melee right now.

 

[squadr0n]

Ice crash is all the rage for melee right now.

Ice Crash, which class would you recommend for a good one to start with that can use Ice Crash? Ive seen Marauders, Duelists, and Templars.

 

[Gromph]

If many people is coming back for Awakening, i can buy more guild slots.

 

[TheFatOne]

I have been playing the beta a bunch in preparation for the patch on friday. I couldn't shake this familiar feeling playing Act IV, and then suddenly it hit me. Act IV reminds me of Inferno in Diablo 3 when they first launched it. Shit tons of mobs with hard mods to make the game appear harder. It feels like Diablo 3 in a bad way. Act IV just is not fun to level through. I'm playing a really safe build, and yet my character feels squishy as fuck in normal, and now in crule Act IV. Constantly try and have my endurance charges up, and my chaos golem but it doesn't feel like it does much. I realized because it's the mob density. Just so many mobs in Act IV now. Finish one pack then another enoumous pack jumps on you. All in small enclosed spaces. Every single area going into the boss is like that. Just small tunnels with shit tons of mobs. It's lazy/poor design.

Have been feeling they are rushing Act IV hard, and the last two days have cemented that for me. Act IV is not done in the slightest, and there are some real balance issues. Almost every single boss right now could use some work. The boses are not balanced one bit. GGG pulled a blizzard on this act. Just threw out more and more stuff at the player. More bosses, more minions, more health, more damage, etc. It does not feel fun at all. First time through I hit Act IV and everything slows down. After what feels like an eternity in Act IV it ends, and I breeze through Acts 1-3 Cruel. Hit Act IV again and it just feels so slow.

Really bad game design all over the place. Just mind blowing. The only thing I wanted from GGG was to fix desync. They fixed it, but now I'm not so sure I want to beta test this stuff when it goes live on Friday. Feel like I'm going to be extremely frustrated again with the HC league especially with the small space in Act IV. Thought Tempest sounded really sweet until I played Act IV. Friday is going to be a very interesting day.

Ice Crash, which class would you recommend for a good one to start with that can use Ice Crash? Ive seen Marauders, Duelists, and Templars.

Marauder would be my personal preference, but Templar would be fine. Not a fan of the duelist start.

 

[squidyj]

I thought I'd get in on the next set of leagues after staying away for a while, I guess The Awakening is happening too, that's cool.

I have no idea how to build my character, I just want something quick and cheap to build that I can farm up for a more expensive/interesting build later on.

 

[KKRT00]

About GAF Guild invites, there is high possibility that i wont be available till the Sunday evening, so someone will have to take over invites for me.
I'll review today who has ability to invite and list them here.

Ps. I will be playing HC league probably.

 

[Gromph]

About GAF Guild invites, there is high possibility that i wont be available till the Sunday evening, so someone will have to take over invites for me.
I'll review today who has ability to invite and list them here.

Ps. I will be playing HC probably.

I'm officer so let me know if anyone needs invite.

 

[V_Arnold]

"GGG pulled a blizzard on this act."

If only GGG had the ability to do that Then we would finally have a fun act. Even Diablo 3's Act IV is leagues ahead visually, thematically, pacing-wise compared to anything in PoE. So that's that, imho. What you mean is rushed, but even rushed Blizz is >>>>> GGG when it comes to level design. Game design is a different argument altogether, i'd give the crown to GGG on that matter.

 

[KKRT00]

"GGG pulled a blizzard on this act."

If only GGG had the ability to do that Then we would finally have a fun act. Even Diablo 3's Act IV is leagues ahead visually, thematically, pacing-wise compared to anything in PoE. So that's that, imho. What you mean is rushed, but even rushed Blizz is >>>>> GGG when it comes to level design. Game design is a different argument altogether, i'd give the crown to GGG on that matter.

I dunno, except for most of act 1, i hated playing almost all D3 acts.
D2 ACT 1 is still the best act in any ARPG though.

 

[V_Arnold]

I dunno, except for most of act 1, i hated playing almost all D3 acts.
D2 ACT 1 is still the best act in any ARPG though.

And can you honestly say you love any PoE Acts? I mean first act is largely uninteresting, just landmass without any aesthetic element to it. The only memorable place is...maybe the reworked Butcher chamber. (Brutus, I know )

Act II? A few more spooky places at least (like the oh so inspired graveyard and the Vaal Ruins), but other than that, it is mostly just "stuff", without coherence. Vaal Pyramid is the first properly thought-out place in act2, and the act is littered with boring stuff like crossroads, dark forest, etc. Do not even get me started on the city levels of Marketplace, Warehouse and City of Sarn, because that is boredom defined - which is then replaced by 2-3 palace courtyard staff and not one, not two, but three palaces and some gardens.

I am cheating though: D3's areas being less randomized (and even non-random in story mode) mean they can have statues, good points and "landscapes" shown, where PoE can only have that in boss areas. And instead of landscapes or good monuments, we have semi-cutscenes of piety's mischievs and one-liners.

 

[Gothos]

The only reason we had a beta is because if they had not announced the expansion was coming, they would have lost even more players. The retention rate was at like a month and a half with new leagues for regulars, and four more months of waiting before announcing the expansion would have killed them.

It still very much was nowhere near ready, even for a beta. You could see them improvise mechanic changes as the days went by, and in fact nothing was even left working properly yet.

The one positive thing is that before, half the team was supposedly working on the expansion, and half on the live updates. So we can be assured that for some time, everybody's efforts will be focused on the live game, and we should see changes faster than we were for the last year.

Well then, guess I'll enjoy Skyforge for a week or two and then gonna come back to PoE

 

[KKRT00]

Is someone doing new OT for expansion release? It would be nice to appear in Gaming section to get some new players

----

And can you honestly say you love any PoE Acts? I mean first act is largely uninteresting, just landmass without any aesthetic element to it. The only memorable place is...maybe the reworked Butcher chamber. (Brutus, I know )

Act II? A few more spooky places at least (like the oh so inspired graveyard and the Vaal Ruins), but other than that, it is mostly just "stuff", without coherence. Vaal Pyramid is the first properly thought-out place in act2, and the act is littered with boring stuff like crossroads, dark forest, etc. Do not even get me started on the city levels of Marketplace, Warehouse and City of Sarn, because that is boredom defined - which is then replaced by 2-3 palace courtyard staff and not one, not two, but three palaces and some gardens.

I am cheating though: D3's areas being less randomized (and even non-random in story mode) mean they can have statues, good points and "landscapes" shown, where PoE can only have that in boss areas. And instead of landscapes or good monuments, we have semi-cutscenes of piety's mischievs and one-liners.

I wouldnt say i love them, because every act has some annoying elements to me, although with now reduced zones, its much better, but i dont feel bored or annoyed when i'm doing act runs as i am in D2 or D3.
Though the most annoyance i have with D2 is very narrow corridors in most acts and some enemies that are just bullshit, like those demons that leech Your mana in act 4.
D3 is sleep inducing to me, to the degree that i have no desire to even run through some bounties, because i hate those areas.

 

[Kammie]

I'm quite surprised also that we had a media blitz when the beta was announced, but there is absolutely no media coverage about this release now, 27 hours before release. Just very poorly planned and rushed.

 

[KKRT00]

So current officers in GAF guilds are:
Gromph
Perkel
sYkoDe4d
Zeth
Whoaness (dont remember Your GAF's name sorry )

So if anyone wants to join our guild, it would be the best to just write Your ingame nick in this thread and someone with right will just add You in free time.

 

[MrPing1000]

Think I'm bailing on the GAF guild, many months i was the only guy online 90% of the time. Don't wanna be all on my own again in a month.

 

[V_Arnold]

Think I'm bailing on the GAF guild, many months i was the only guy online 90% of the time. Don't wanna be all on my own again in a month.

I was online too quite a lot But I felt alone too You were in US time?

 

[MrPing1000]

Nah euro, I'm sure we bumped into eachother a few times though. I keep weird hours.

 

[TheFatOne]

Just wanted to confirm something today. That last boss is most definitely terrible regardless of the difficulty. The second phase of the boss should just be axed completely. In the middle of writing a long reply to put on the awakening beta forum feedback. I already did one, but I'm going to go into more detail since I played it in Cruel.

 

[Hellshingu]

So what is everyone going to be doing for launch? I want to get a jump on a character but with work it's going to be a little difficult. I've never been in a guild and mostly just pair up with randoms. Anyone planning on starting a character later in the day?

 

[KKRT00]

I completely do not know what will make. I think i just check some new skill, run with it and make a build around it on the fly.
I will be able to play today at night, so it should be fun.

 

[Skux]

Patch notes are up!

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1304441

13,000 words O_O

 

[Kammie]

Man, I'm hit so hard by some of the changes. And ele prolif was left in its broken beta state, too.

I'm just so unexcited for any of this. I don't believe the beta game rebalance was positive in the least. Guess we'll see tonight.

 

[Gromph]

I play in JP time so is quite difficult if is not weekend.

:-( I had been putting a lot of the standard league.

It will play standard. Don't know if I will try new leagues. Wanna try my 2.0 Thor build.

 

[Subpar Spatula]

And can you honestly say you love any PoE Acts? I mean first act is largely uninteresting, just landmass without any aesthetic element to it. The only memorable place is...maybe the reworked Butcher chamber. (Brutus, I know )

Act II? A few more spooky places at least (like the oh so inspired graveyard and the Vaal Ruins), but other than that, it is mostly just "stuff", without coherence. Vaal Pyramid is the first properly thought-out place in act2, and the act is littered with boring stuff like crossroads, dark forest, etc. Do not even get me started on the city levels of Marketplace, Warehouse and City of Sarn, because that is boredom defined - which is then replaced by 2-3 palace courtyard staff and not one, not two, but three palaces and some gardens.

I am cheating though: D3's areas being less randomized (and even non-random in story mode) mean they can have statues, good points and "landscapes" shown, where PoE can only have that in boss areas. And instead of landscapes or good monuments, we have semi-cutscenes of piety's mischievs and one-liners.

I would put PoE acts over Diablos because it's more consistent.

Beach hiking with some mountains? Check.
Plateau / forests? Check.
Worn torn city? Check.

They were consistent in what they were showing and on the map it made sense.

Diablo acts were less open and mechanically worse. Randomization was horrible because certain exists, actions, and markers had to be in a certain position thus making it so you had to find a way North to reach the Butcher's area.

The pastels made the game visually interesting but it never hit that Diablo vibe meaning it never made the lights bright or the darks dark. Danger expressed through the art is never there and takes on weird shapes such as giant steps to tiny handrails, inconsistent sizes, etc.

Path of Exile, for all it's graphical differences, is still more consistent than Diablo 3 visual wise.

 

[V_Arnold]

Consistently bland? Aye.

Visual feast and variety >>>> Consistency though, at least when it comes to the most visually demanding aspect of the game, in my book.

I do not want to derail the thread with D3 vs PoE talk again, but the game does not have to win over D3 in every category. Imho, it simply cant. Visuals is one of those.

(Also, some of the notes and journals in D3 and ROS rival PoE when it comes to cruelty. And PoE goes way over the top with the "lets just throw corpses everywhere" thing, where D3 keeps it more suble, like the cannibal luring people in from the middle of a desert under the guise of needing help, for example.)

 

[squidyj]

I can't decide between flame totem and ice crash. keep thinking ice crash is going to be more expensive and dangerous.

 

[Hellshingu]

Man, I'm hit so hard by some of the changes. And ele prolif was left in its broken beta state, too.

I'm just so unexcited for any of this. I don't believe the beta game rebalance was positive in the least. Guess we'll see tonight.

What are some changes that you don't agree with? I am reading through the notes now but it sure is a lot of information to process.

 

[TheFatOne]

Man I'm so hyped. If you didn't know this you can already download the awakening patch. Of course it's not live until 3PM EST but at least you can pre download it. Running dual flame totem magic find scion. Have the build all planed out. Going to be a piece of cake gearing for this build. Only tricky thing on my build is the lack of dex and int, but +50 all resists and 20 or each other type including chaos so shouldn't be too hard to get int/dex on my gear.

I can't decide between flame totem and ice crash. keep thinking ice crash is going to be more expensive and dangerous.

You can always use one totem to level with. Just vendor a magic 3 link 20% elemental scepter with a ruby ring and an alteration.That gives the scepter +1 level of fire gems. Then you are good to go as far as leveling is concerned. Will take away some of the danger leveling. Eventually though the jewels for flame totems are going to be expensive. It seems like flame totems will be popular in the awakening, but other than that it's so easy to gear with.

 

[Gaming Truth]

Man I'm so hyped. If you didn't know this you can already download the awakening patch. Of course it's not live until 3PM EST but at least you can pre download it. Running dual flame totem magic find scion. Have the build all planed out. Going to be a piece of cake gearing for this build. Only tricky thing on my build is the lack of dex and int, but +50 all resists and 20 or each other type including chaos so shouldn't be too hard to get int/dex on my gear.

You've mentioned this before, but I guess I haven't done the research yet on this. Why start on the Scion instead of the Templar? Is it just fire, fire, fire, maybe some life, for the tree? Dual totem through gear or through Ancestral?

 

[KKRT00]

Some nostalgia guys

 

[TheFatOne]

You've mentioned this before, but I guess I haven't done the research yet on this. Why start on the Scion instead of the Templar? Is it just fire, fire, fire, maybe some life, for the tree? Dual totem through gear or through Ancestral?

Scion would be the best possible place for late game due to the jewels by her tree. My build will have something like 6 sockets for jewels. For a magic find build it makes far more sense to start scion. If I'm magic find there is a good chance I'm going to have a good amount of currency or I find some beastly jewels. Also if we are talking about late game scion is the best possible build due to the jewels.

Sure the starting nodes are crappy but I get access to three jewels. Jewels in the beta were pretty freaking dope. For example there are two unique jewels I am going to run. Rain of Splinters which gives you two additional projectile at the cost of 30-50% spell damage. The downside to rain of splinters is trivial. Just two or three nodes on the tree to compensate or you can get the other unique jewel I'm going to run which is called Clear Mind. It can roll anywhere from 40-60% spell damage. The catch is that it's with no mana reserved, but I'm running blood magic so that doesn't matter to my build. Basically free40-60 increase in spell damage. which is better than any two points on the tree and better than any three if it rolls high enough. That will mitigate the drawback of rain of splinters while giving me more spell damage even if it's just 10%.The other 4 jewel slots I can fit in will most likely be damage if I'm tanky enough with gear or life/armour if I'm not. The jewels will be better than any two or three points on a tree. For late game it's the best possible start.

Templar is a perfectly good start as well. With templar you can rush Ancestral Bond really quickly, and flame totems are awesome leveling skills now. Dual flame totems in the beta were so damn good. They nerfed the damage a bit, but it's nothing too crazy. Still going to be an excellent leveling set up. Don't forget to craft a scepter to plus 1 level of fire gems. Just vendor a magic scepter preferably a 20% elemental three link, a ruby ring, and a alteration. Give you plus 1 to fire gems, and that's all you need. Just stack life/defenses until late game. Then use the refunds to fix your build how you want. Flame totems only need a four link so you can stack life, and don't need much damage. In beta I didn't have to grab a single damage node and made it to lvl 60 quite comfortably. Flame totem-fire pen-faster projectiles-faster casting-item rarity-culling strike is where I'm going.

Edit: I should mention this is a non crit Flame Totem build at the moment. If you are going crit witch or templar would be the best choices. Short answer to you question is that if you want to min max late game scion is the best start. Otherwise templar/marauder/witch is perfectly fine.

 

[PhoenixDark]

Can't wait to play tonight. Came close to reaching Act 4 in the beta before deciding I'd rather experience first on live.

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

who's playing hardcore?