To keep in contact my gamer gal pal, @supersoju, here's another post dedicated to her. So what have I been up to in the game?
As the subject says, I have completed the 10 Acts and now I'm in the Epilogue. People refer to this as the End Game Maps, but I don't get why Epilogue isn't just as good a name.
So, I've reached the Epilogue!!
I finally forced myself to ditch the Area of Affect spell (AoE), Contagion. Yes, I like to look at the purple smokey lights, but as part of my evolution to becoming a sensible gamer, I realized it wasn't suiting my game style. I took onboard that suggestion of another player to slow the mobs down and go with freezing spells. I use a combination of Freezing Pulse, Frost bomb supported by stun, spell echo and knockback. Who knows if it is the best combo, but I just threw at it anything that will keep the mobs away from me, and helped my hardworking minions! The image above is one of my new spectres, they are mean curtains with some serious firing power! lol I've been able to defeat the Syndicate every once in a while because they are tough range attackers. Previously, I had no chance. Love my curtain minions, even if they are a nuisance getting in my view when I try to do interior decorating in my hideout. They clear the path for me a lot when I run through an area.
The end result: my survivability has gone up! It helps that I am now actually paying attention to the stat, damage per sec (DPS), I wasn't really looking closely at that and just played by feel and what looked fun. And I also make a point to use my life flasks now. I wasn't making effective use of those previously. Since all the changes, I've been able to kill a few mid-level bosses without dying at all. But the big boss of Act 10, Kitava, was ridiculously hard for weakling witch me. I died about a dozen times before my minions finished her off.
With the acts done, I am resting and decorating my hideout some more. And that brings me to my latest happy find, the Skeleton Hideout. I love finding hideouts because they are just mega stashes of hideout décor for me to reuse in my preferred hideout. I thought the Skeleton hideout was quite lovely, but it was too rabbit warren-like for me to want to move to it. I find the undercity hideout the right size and space for me. I did learn that I need to have enough space to spawn portals and not have decorations in the way. So I have just enough space in my main work room for that now.
My hideout remains my happy game home. It was funny last night when I had an unexpected visitor while I was rearranging the furniture. Scared me to see a streak of red racing around on my screen. It turned out to be a player I met the other day on voice. So today I decided to be community-spirited and enter the Path of Exile Hideout competition. Here's the post if you're interested.
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2295165/page/112#p16208385
I'll directly link and update of my hideout anyway, if you want a walkthrough. I've made some updates with lighting, fixed up my bedroom, and also worked on my boring tunnel. :)
You'll see a little monkey carrying a green light. He was my surprise from the Fairgrave mystery box I bought. You can get anything from character cosmetics, pet to hideout items. I was happy to get him because he is mobile hideout décor to me, and that was what I really wanted, hideout stuff. He's a cute creature roaming around my hideout looking at things. I could take him with me in-game, but I've got enough company with my 14 minions, I don't need another tag along.
Finally, the last thing I'll touch on is my guild experience. I only joined a guild to see what it was about. I discovered the one I joined is a big Diablo guild that plays PoE as well. They pretty much have finished all their PoE play 3 weeks into the league. So I have a guild stash now, not that I have any use for it. I see it as an extra hideout decoration. Woohoo! But I caused some trouble there yesterday which resulted in a mod stepping in and warning another guild member to back off or be banned. The gist of it was that I refused to accept that I should play by a build or copy others on what they consider to be optimal. I get so tired of people insisting I must follow a build guide to have the best experience. It's my first run through the game, why must I spoil all my surprises? They came up with a bunch of silly reasons and I could tell these people who were responding just wanted to be right and have the last word. It seemed like a waste of my time to keep debating with them. So I ignored them and went back to my hideout decorating. I did leave with them with this comment:
I was seriously doubting this was the kind of guild I wanted to be part of, if they were a majority of people who didn't appreciate there will be a breed of players who like to do for themselves, and not look to others for a solution to every game problem. For me, as long as I am still having fun and learning things, that's all that matters. This morning, I woke up to an alert on my guild server from the mod who responded after reading last evening's dialogue:
I totally agreed with him, it was a pointless argument, but I didn't want this other player to get into trouble just because he couldn't help himself and wanting the last word. He wasn't a bad sort, just opinionated like the majority of players. This guild is quite interesting though. It's both quiet but responsive when people chatter. So for the most part, it's a relaxed atmosphere where I occasionally like to post my random thoughts about PoE. Anyway, the mod's response had me a little more at ease that there are reasonable people in that guild. I'm posting this because this echoes the opinion that I really appreciate from some players I chat to privately, which is essentially:
You do you.
To close things off, now that I've reached 'Maps', I'm considering how I should approach this part of the game. Do I play with others? Do I start looking at some builds? Do I keep doing what I am doing and playing solo? Do I play some Hardcore (most likely). There is so much still I need to figure out. The next thing is my character's movement speed. She still runs at the pace of a turtle, because I have stubbornly decided to stick with only using Phase run and not Flame dash. Someone got me to join up with them so they could demonstrate how quick Flame dash was, and it was indeed super zippy. It's just a case of gem socket limitations. But it's quite embarrassing how slow my witch is, so I need to fix this soon!
ǝɹǝɥ sɐʍ ɹoʇɐɹnƆ pɐW ǝɥ┴
(: ¡ʇısıʌ ǝɥʇ ɹoɟ noʎʞuɐɥʇ
Smashing it. I've only got to maps once, (softcore). Well done :)
I really like your approach, but why don't you post on your PoE games more, Matt? Anyway, as I told Kooky @supersoju, I tried to create a Hardcore Betrayal character a moment ago, but UglyOldHag is taken. Anyway, I did create an account finally, it's called DoNotDieLinny ;)
Oh, ye olde endgame predicament when you're so high level that you have to interact with others, not for everyone let me tell you lol! Congrats on finishing the Epilogue and I agree that name is way cooler! I love this game even when I never got too far with it, I feel like it's the spiritual successor of Diablo and it sequels and you show me how much more content is waiting, perhaps I'll give it a chance again!
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Elfranz, I have not finished the Epilogue, I have reached the Epilogue. hehehe. But I am now taking a chilled approach with Epilogue and plan to start my first Hardcore run. Please do give it another go. The PoE communities are great and everyone is so enthused by how much you can learn and do via the game. A lot of passionate folks who play it. It's definitely converted me from non-gamer to PoE-obsessed!
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Oh, Linny! This is amazing, but I do not understand one word you are talking about. Total High-IQ-Gaming-Science, which is too complicated for an old man!
Anyway I am happy you have so much fun playing this game! ❤️
Guess it would only be a problem if you needed to run away, otherwise nothing screams confidence than a witch sauntering in when the undead minions have obliterated everything that could possibly be considered a threat in the immediate area? XD
Thanks for the visit, Ryi. I'd like to think my witch 'saunters' onscreen after the minions do all the dirty work. Sadly, this is not how it goes in reality. Not only does she not saunter, but I often have her running/firing in the wrong direction as I lose track as to where I am when the screen is exploding before my eyes. And if I'm not misdirecting her, I am running her into a wall and wondering why she can't pass... LOL
The confidence is false bravado...
From some of the screenies I've seen it does look like it would be difficult to tell what's going on sometimes with all the explosions and whatnot XD
LoL! You sound like you'd be entertaining to watch playing XD
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Congratulations on completing Act 10!!
Where in the world did you find those spectres? lol
They are massive!! lol
I would hate to fight against you. You could really hide behind those curtains making it very difficult to get you.
I haven't been playing since the last time I replied to you. I've been playing Sims 4 hehehehe I just made the purchase and got a couple of packs. They have a special sale on now. Can't believe my luck. I get to relive Soju being a kitten again. I want to try out a challenge in the Sims once I test out the various features/game play.
Anyways; I went off track there.
Oh my; drama in a guild chat already. You are sure to stir up trouble everywhere you go. kekeke just kidding.
Good to see the guild mod step in to sort things out. It is also good to see you giving different aspects of the game a go as well.
Speaking of moving faster. I found myself boots with movement speed buffs and I am really reluctant to swap them for any replacements in fear of losing the speed. lol. I wonder if there is an enchantment (crafting) to add to boots to increase speed?
By the way; your hideout is really decorated. Love the bedroom in the corner too. I just might have to come and visit your hideout to check it out.
These are my boots that I found. I cannot under any circumstances change these ones. From memory I upped the quality and wasted some fusings on them to get them 4 linked. But nothing I can do on crafting with them being unique. They add to my spectre and zombie count. I basically focus on three different minions:
And all my minioned are supported by summon phantasm, so that adds more phantasm minions that can really add up.
To add to that, I have Holy Relic that supports me and my minions. I took this out, but that's one of my issue, I get too attached to my spells. It seems to be good for us and is just a one cast, so I brought it back in. Not enough slots for all we want. lol
The downside of my shoes is that I haven't picked up enough speed. 8% isn't good enough in my opinion. There is crafting for speed, but it depends on the item. Anyway, my build is very minion focused, as seen in all the red circles. I've just decided as I went along and respec-ed only when my resists, life or equipment forced me to do so.
Those spectres are in Act 9 I think. In the solaris temple? I cannot remember. The key thing is that they are always sniping ahead for me when I run through the mobs, so they provide cover. I don't lose them either because I use the desecrate spell in my hideout and that raises them as a corpse there if need be because they existed in that instance. I was so tempted to get some giant spiders or golden lions as spectres for fun, but unfortunately, my curtains are the best functional 'window dressing'.
Definitely come visit me if you see me online. In any case, it's open to friends. I don't need to be there for you to visit, I only need to be online, so drop by whenever you have a moment. I just snuck over the @ratticus's very dark hideout to see what I am allowed to do. You can't use the crafting table unfortunately. Shame. :(
I visited a few others too, very different vibe! It's kinda fun. I will make a point to go to people's hideout now when they are online. XD
If you visit, check out my monkey. hehehe I just find it a soothing place for me after I've been bashing too long, and feel tired of that aspect of the game.
It's so funny you mentioned Sims too. Being a life long Sims fan, I was actually thinking of getting it to test on this laptop! The reason I love PoE hideouts though is that it is Sims with a purpose for me. I really get tired of playing Sims after a couple of days. There's not enough strategy for me to enjoy it longer than it takes for me to get sick of the scenery. Unfortunately, there is no cat that looks like Soju in PoE, I'm sure you would get it right away if there was! lol
Re the guild mod, yeah, I was surprised he stepped in. I was quite frustrated by the attitude of some players sometimes. But there are some decent people there. I'll shoot you their link via email if you happen to be in the market for a guild too. :)
I can't remember what the other stats were for my shoe; but the total extra movement speed was 25%. I could feel the difference; but I scarified some fire power for them. I found I was able to kite the annoying syndicate that moves fast/ports a lot better.
I like the golems. I currently have 3; I want to have one of each element; but doesn't look like I can until I can find the gear that allows me to have another golem.
I got rid of my phantasm because they didn't seem to do much damage and I needed gem room for other skills. I still need to get my spectre gem leveled up though. With the spectres I have 11 minions. Previously only 9 minions. It is nice to have a little army.
Have you tried Sims 4? I ended up buying the parenthood, cats & dogs & get to work packs/expansions. I do like the get to work one; you get to go to work and try to get that promotion. I want to own and run a vet clinic and try out the parenthood options to discipline toddlers. Disciplining/raising kids sounds more fun in game than in real life.
Also the challenge I want to do is the 100 baby challenge. Maybe I will just jump into the challenge; that way it will be more spontaneous and fun with playing it for the first time with toddlers involved. But I need to go over the challenge rules again.
Also; I saw on Youtube this girl creating crazy home creations. She made Hogwarts castle from Harry Potter. It looks crazy cool. She did the outside and inside. Not that I will be trying to create it or anything; no way I can create that. It was just really cool to watch how she did it.
It was the first thing I did before downloading the game. I searched for one that looks remotely similar. Then I searched again and again just in case I missed it or they added one in.
No guild for me thanks; I don't really interact with anyone in game; plus I'm very casual.
I really don't know what my phantasms do, but they seem to be useful to me. So I've kept them there for the numbers. :)
I was also thinking the same thing re the golem, the idea of having one of each, but I just didn't have time to think harder on it. As far as I can tell that Golem never dies!! But too many things to try and I have been trying to find an AoE spell the worked best for my wimpy witch. I frost bomb them, but sometimes I think my minions can play without me. I'd be checking my inventory or reviewing my skill tree while my minions are killing the stragglers. lol I wonder if this minion build is making me extra lazy and I'll be in for a shock when I try a different build.
Btw, something to note from what you wrote above, Chaos is not an element. This is just in case you think any mod with elemental refers to them. Also, I've been told you don't need to cap your chaos resistance, only that it would be handy to have some. While I often ignore advice that tells me how to build something better, I definitely take on the advice where I don't need to do better. ;)
What someone told me and it's completely one of those things to take on or just ignore, but generally the key is to have no more than 3 types of minions. I do get this because I felt I was beginning to spread myself too thin. That's why I kept the phantasm, they were a 'support' minion in my mind. hehehehe.
But it just occurred to me to watch how it impacts on this new ring I plan to wear. I hope each of those phantasms aren't considered a minion as far as deaths! I'd be dead pretty quick with this ring's 350 damage penalty for every minion death...
I wanted it for the life regen and that it did other useful things appealed. Uniques can have weird mods sometimes. It's also the prettiest ring I've had so far, so I will wear it for that alone even if it's bad for my health. XD
And OMG....who would have thought you had a virtual parent fetish and want to breed 100 babies and discipline toddlers!! -cracking up here-
I can tell you, virtual parenting is MUCH more fun. You can switch off the laptop and stop the whining! I will pick up Sims 4 soon, I think I already have it somewhere tbh. I was just annoyed at the game when I last played. From memory, I had a wedding guest die during a wedding and none of the Sims cared, so I thought they messed up the game. I also noticed when I made everyone in the house have affairs, no one cared. In previous versions, it would cause drama. Basically, I have not loved the game so much since after the Magic expansion in the earlier Sims. That was my favourite expansion pack.
I'll let you know if a soju appears as a pet, but the chances will be slim. I am always tempted to buy stuff in the microtranscations (MTX). My husband just rolls his eyes at me now. lol
As far as PoE, I get it that you don't care to be in-game social. I take an interest because it's research for my book. I always felt a little fraudy writing the gamer character and not being a gamer myself. The last few weeks interacting with gamers have been very interesting. The PoE community to me is no different than the Steem community. It's just a platform for me to meet people. But I'm glad you play, it gives me a bridge to want to still post here. hahaha
Just do what Matt does and play each league as it comes, churn through the content and then play something else until the next league comes and new challenges are set. I honestly am shocked that some people only take 3-6 hours to race through the Acts, but that's softcore. As matt would tell you, Hardcore is another beast altogether. You need to run this and see how far you go having learnt what you learnt in Softcore.
My money is on you remember. XD
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