Build guide for newcomers

[scary_atheist]

Thought I'd just put this up here for newcomers looking for a build guide.

 

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1147951

 

Unlike many build guides, this doesn't assume much knowledge of the game and has it's own section on what to do while leveling the build. Don't worry if you can't get the gear & socket colors for all of it exactly, the most important is to 4 and 5-link your Arc as soon as you can.

I've played versions of this build on several chars through most of the game's content, so feel free to pop me questions in this thread.

[kidson2004]

Thanks so much for this. I’ll be playing this sometime this week. Would love some tips about this. 

[SadisticSymphony]

Thanks, the skill tree etc was pretty overwhelming when I opened it lol

[Maddawgmax]

Is this a good build for soloing the game?

[scary_atheist]

8 hours ago, Maddawgmax said:

Is this a good build for soloing the game?

Yes, you should be able to solo all the content with this (and sufficient gear of course). 

The only exception would be a bad Hall of Grandmasters unique map, but it's possible to buy boosts with in-game currency for such hurdles. 

[TechnicalPixel]

Thank you!!

[Kaiwan]

Thanks bro will try this build

[VanDeaM]

The guide mentions crafting and gem rewards that aren't showing up during act 1.  I'm not sure how much the guide is relevant for the ps4 version.

[Arielferrari19]

13 hours ago, VanDeaM said:

The guide mentions crafting and gem rewards that aren't showing up during act 1.  I'm not sure how much the guide is relevant for the ps4 version.

crafting is available after you have unlocked your first Hideout and regarding gems... well feels like there's RNG sometimes with the rewards.

[OnlyCass]

19 hours ago, VanDeaM said:

The guide mentions crafting and gem rewards that aren't showing up during act 1.  I'm not sure how much the guide is relevant for the ps4 version.

Im sure you have but make sure you are checking in with nessa in act 1, when you pick a gem reward, you can buy all the other ones available from her. Im following this guide currently and im lvl 34 in act 3 and its working great so far. This game is tough as heck though, i need to go back to college just to learn how to play lol

[VanDeaM]

10 hours ago, Arielferrari19 said:

crafting is available after you have unlocked your first Hideout and regarding gems... well feels like there's RNG sometimes with the rewards.

 

4 hours ago, OnlyCass said:

Im sure you have but make sure you are checking in with nessa in act 1, when you pick a gem reward, you can buy all the other ones available from her. Im following this guide currently and im lvl 34 in act 3 and its working great so far. This game is tough as heck though, i need to go back to college just to learn how to play lol

Thanks guys

[Ironshell_thor]

On 31/03/2019 at 9:25 AM, VanDeaM said:

The guide mentions crafting and gem rewards that aren't showing up during act 1.  I'm not sure how much the guide is relevant for the ps4 version.

Each class receives different gem rewards for the quests.

You can find how to get the certain gem by checking the official wiki: https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Skill_gem

Also during act6 you will complete a mandatory quest that will grant you the ability to purchase any skill gem in the game.

[GrimClover]

On 3/30/2019 at 11:25 PM, VanDeaM said:

The guide mentions crafting and gem rewards that aren't showing up during act 1.  I'm not sure how much the guide is relevant for the ps4 version.

This confused me too. As a new player I wasn't aware of the "crafting" from selling items. In the guide, he mentions you need a Magic Wand/Sceptre + Topaz Ring + Orb of Alteration. You actually SELL this combination and in return, the vendor will give you the +1 Lightning Wand. I had no idea crafting was like this until I looked in the help menu on the game. I'd recommend giving it a quick look, it helped me a lot. 

 

Do you benefit from putting multiples of the same spell in your items? It recommends getting six more Arc spells to slot, or is that just to level them? 

Edited April 2, 2019 by Assassin_Two

[XileLerinril]

28 minutes ago, Assassin_Two said:

This confused me too. As a new player I wasn't aware of the "crafting" from selling items. In the guide, he mentions you need a Magic Wand/Sceptre + Topaz Ring + Orb of Alteration. You actually SELL this combination and in return, the vendor will give you the +1 Lightning Wand. I had no idea crafting was like this until I looked in the help menu on the game. I'd recommend giving it a quick look, it helped me a lot. 

 

Do you benefit from putting multiples of the same spell in your items? It recommends getting six more Arc spells to slot, or is that just to level them? 

Yes, it is just to level them. You do not do 6 times the damage by having 6 arc gems. 

[scary_atheist]

6 hours ago, Assassin_Two said:

This confused me too. As a new player I wasn't aware of the "crafting" from selling items. In the guide, he mentions you need a Magic Wand/Sceptre + Topaz Ring + Orb of Alteration. You actually SELL this combination and in return, the vendor will give you the +1 Lightning Wand. I had no idea crafting was like this until I looked in the help menu on the game. I'd recommend giving it a quick look, it helped me a lot. 

 

Do you benefit from putting multiples of the same spell in your items? It recommends getting six more Arc spells to slot, or is that just to level them? 

 

Yeah there's a ton of vendor recipes like that, for granting items with guaranteed modifiers or swapping one type of currency for another:

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vendor_recipe_system

 

At higher levels you want to be able to corrupt your Arc skill gem into a level 21 one (max level ordinarily is 20). This will normally take a few gems to do, so you should level additional Arc gems all the way to 20 in order to corrupt them and hope for a 21. 

 

You'll typically always be low on spare gem sockets on your main gear, but you can equip two wands/daggers with all blue sockets on your weapon swap (see the "II" tab on the character sheet), and fill them up with 6 arc gems that gain experience along with the arc gem you actually use. Once they hit 20 level & quality, corrupt them with a vaal orb and hope for a 21. 

[Arielferrari19]

is this Build better than the famous Winter orb Elementalist?

Edited April 9, 2019 by Arielferrari19

[andreofgyn]

22 hours ago, Arielferrari19 said:

is this Build better than the famous Winter orb Elementalist?

 

Well, let me try to help you and maybe others giving a comprehensive answer:

 

TLDR: No.

 

I never ever played POE before and searching for a way to start I found the build linked here as the number 1 most popular guide on poebuilds.cc (still is), so, I decided to start following this guide and while I still feel that the guide is really TOP TIER for a new player (hence the popularity), I came to a conclusion that ANY ARC base build is TRASH TIER at least on the current console league, let me explain.

 

Using the build linked here, following all of the bits, I couldn't level above 83, because I kept dying on TIER 8 maps and on POE, if you die on the end game content, you lose 10% of XP. Eternal Labyrinth was impossible, couldn't kill Atziri either, even betrayal on maps was a struggle... yeah, my thought was, probably I suck at the game, but maybe, just maybe is the build.

 

Yes, I didn't invested much on good gear, but I had 3600 hp and 1500 es using MOM (like the guide) at the time. Even the author's videos have like 5000 hp and 2000 es and I didn't felt that this would changed much for me to justify the investment of my hard earned chaos orbs. 
 
The major problem with this build is that it needs a LOT of mobility to survive and so you do use whirling blades and flame lash all the time for movement, but on console you have DESYNC issues with this skills and that's not about lag or packet loss (I have a 20 ping), you are simply teleported back to your last position before using the skill and since you are very squishy (build inherent), you'll die from one shots that you didn't see coming all the time and that's not fun at ALL!

 

So, what I did was create a new char, I didn't follow any specific build guides, but I went to:

 

https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds?sort=depth-solo

 

And saw what builds were thriving on delve depth, let's see, we have Molten Strike, Herald of Agony and Winter Orb... Since I didn't want to go melee (Molten) or channel (Winter Orb), I did go with the Herald of Agony build, heavily inspired by the current number 2 profile on the link above.

 

Of course you don't need to use one of this 3 powers to succeed, but at least look at the most used skills on the left, ARC is no way around, that's maybe makes me half right. I'm not saying that NOBODY will succeed with an ARC build, I'm just saying that is not likely if you are not a GOD at the game.

 

Using the HA build, I completed the all the yellow maps with deaths I can count on half of my hand, the build is so much strong than an ARC build that even hurts and while I have better gear than my ARC build (because now is worth), I'm with only 7400 ES running CI (1hp), no way near the 15000 ES that a top gear could provide me, still I feel I'm able to do all the content now without any stupid deaths, since blink arrow doesn't desync that bad and I can take some hits, Eternal Labyrinth for example feels now like a walk on the park. 

 

So, think about it, if anyone is struggling like I was, maybe a better solution is start a new char, since you keep your atlas completion, stash and your hideout.

 

For leveling with any build, I recommend:

 

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2150196

[Arielferrari19]

7 hours ago, andreofgyn said:

 

Well, let me try to help you and maybe others giving a comprehensive answer:

 

TLDR: No.

 

I never ever played POE before and searching for a way to start I found the build linked here as the number 1 most popular guide on poebuilds.cc (still is), so, I decided to start following this guide and while I still feel that the guide is really TOP TIER for a new player (hence the popularity), I came to a conclusion that ANY ARC base build is TRASH TIER at least on the current console league, let me explain.

 

Using the build linked here, following all of the bits, I couldn't level above 83, because I kept dying on TIER 8 maps and on POE, if you die on the end game content, you lose 10% of XP. Eternal Labyrinth was impossible, couldn't kill Atziri either, even betrayal on maps was a struggle... yeah, my thought was, probably I suck at the game, but maybe, just maybe is the build.

 

Yes, I didn't invested much on good gear, but I had 3600 hp and 1500 es using MOM (like the guide) at the time. Even the author's videos have like 5000 hp and 2000 es and I didn't felt that this would changed much for me to justify the investment of my hard earned chaos orbs. 
 
The major problem with this build is that it needs a LOT of mobility to survive and so you do use whirling blades and flame lash all the time for movement, but on console you have DESYNC issues with this skills and that's not about lag or packet loss (I have a 20 ping), you are simply teleported back to your last position before using the skill and since you are very squishy (build inherent), you'll die from one shots that you didn't see coming all the time and that's not fun at ALL!

 

So, what I did was create a new char, I didn't follow any specific build guides, but I went to:

 

https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds?sort=depth-solo

 

And saw what builds were thriving on delve depth, let's see, we have Molten Strike, Herald of Agony and Winter Orb... Since I didn't want to go melee (Molten) or channel (Winter Orb), I did go with the Herald of Agony build, heavily inspired by the current number 2 profile on the link above.

 

Of course you don't need to use one of this 3 powers to succeed, but at least look at the most used skills on the left, ARC is no way around, that's maybe makes me half right. I'm not saying that NOBODY will succeed with an ARC build, I'm just saying that is not likely if you are not a GOD at the game.

 

Using the HA build, I completed the all the yellow maps with deaths I can count on half of my hand, the build is so much strong than an ARC build that even hurts and while I have better gear than my ARC build (because now is worth), I'm with only 7400 ES running CI (1hp), no way near the 15000 ES that a top gear could provide me, still I feel I'm able to do all the content now without any stupid deaths, since blink arrow doesn't desync that bad and I can take some hits, Eternal Labyrinth for example feels now like a walk on the park. 

 

So, think about it, if anyone is struggling like I was, maybe a better solution is start a new char, since you keep your atlas completion, stash and your hideout.

 

For leveling with any build, I recommend:

 

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2150196

Thanks for taking the time to answer, Right now i'm running' two Builds based most on how powerful they are for the end game content and why not: they look so fun to play with too.

The Builds are these two: Tectonic Slam Juggernaut (Melee) and Storm Brand Elementalist (Witch) From the website of poe builds.

yeah and there's those extra problems you have on consoles.

 

Edited April 11, 2019 by Arielferrari19

[st-o-ck]

I'm running this Build and following the guide since the beginning. I'm now in Act 4 at lvl 41, finished the first Labyrinth and got Elementalist.

But now i'm running low on space for my Skills.

 

It says in Act 4:

‣ Get Passive Skillpoint and Summon Lightning Golem in town

 

But all of my Skills are full at the moment ? So to use the Lightning Golem, i have to replace another Skill, cast the Golem and replace it with my previous Skill to use it. But when i die, logg off, etc. I have to do it all again to get the Golem. May i have missed to throw away another Skill? ?

 

I'm currently using these 8 Skills, which is the Cap on PS4 Controlls:

Arc, Lightning Spire Trap, Decoy Totem, Storm Brand, Flame Dash

Auras: Herald of Thunder, Enfeeble, Discipline

 

edit: I wish there were a way to use the Auras without needing them to be in the Skillbar. Wrath is still not enabled and only mentioned in the guide to get and level, not to use in Act 1 - 10 

Edited May 3, 2019 by st-o-ck

[Zjinn]

You can do the same thing with Aura's I do it with my necromancer cast my Aura's then swap them to one of my other skills in my bar, but of course when you die gotta put them back onto  your bar to recast. I started this build as well, but they don't really warn you prices of some of gear is crazy for newbies especially on PS4 where stuff thats cheap on PC is outrageous on console.

 

Edit": Also if you watch video of this guide its entirely different setup then whats written in the guide which is odd.

Edited May 3, 2019 by Zjinn
added more info

[st-o-ck]

1 hour ago, Zjinn said:

You can do the same thing with Aura's I do it with my necromancer cast my Aura's then swap them to one of my other skills in my bar, but of course when you die gotta put them back onto  your bar to recast.

I really hoped there is a better way than switching Skills via the Menu or R3. It takes time and is verry frustrating to do it every time  

[st-o-ck]

Another question to this build: How can you get up the 3 Auras used in the Guide? 

Wrath: 50 % Mana

Discipline: 35 % Mana

Enfeeble with Blasphemy: 35 % Mana

in Total = 120 % Mana 

 

I can't get up them all at once. I'm still low level with 49 and got Eldritch Battery long time ago. What am i missing?

Edited May 5, 2019 by st-o-ck

[Delameko]

23 hours ago, st-o-ck said:

Another question to this build: How can you get up the 3 Auras used in the Guide? 

Wrath: 50 % Mana

Discipline: 35 % Mana

Enfeeble with Blasphemy: 35 % Mana

in Total = 120 % Mana 

 

I can't get up them all at once. I'm still low level with 49 and got Eldritch Battery long time ago. What am i missing?

 

There are three passives on the tree that you need, each gives a 4% reduction in mana reservation.  Two are in the top left, and one top right.

[Delameko]

As for skills, I ended up dropping Decoy Totem.  I had Arc, Lightning Trap, Storm Brand and Flame Dash on page 1, and Enfeeble, Wrath, Discipline and Lightning Golem on second.

 

However, I had the same issue as @andreofgyn, I couldn't get Arc past level 84.  So I ended up changing to a Storm Brand Elementalist build, as they share a lot of the same skills/passives, and it's working much better now.

[scary_atheist]

Getting the correct sockets & links to fulfill all of the guide can be difficult while leveling. Don't worry about it if you're missing 1 support on lightning spire trap or you can't fit a decoy totem for now. Prioritize 4/5/6 linking the arc and getting the golem & wrath aura, you'll be fine until maps. 

 

For what it's worth I dropped the blasphemy entirely this league. It's not necessary, wrath & discipline is. This is my current endgame setup for this build (PC, but PS4 will be identical):

 

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/ScaryAtheist/characters

 

I do use decoy totem at least on many red map bosses still. It's a useful skill to have, don't ditch it if you don't really have to. 

Edited May 13, 2019 by scary_atheist