THE BORE

General => Video Game Bored => Topic started by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 01:54:28 AM

Title: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 01:54:28 AM
Sup bitches, this is Triumph and I'm your host for arpg corner.  Today we're gonna talk about Path of Exile, a charming little f2p indie venture from some wankers in New Zealand.

Watch this vid for a basic overview

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T-5O-hDXnZY

Seems pretty good.  For the most part, it is.  DAT SKILL TREE.  Oh, dat skill tree.

Because it's functionally impossible to talk about an arpg without comparing it to D3, HERE.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSV2BjGZVtE

Some quick points for people too lazy to actually watch videos:

-PoE has no ingame currency, fucking everything is barter based, even with merchants.  This means there's no AH, for all of you ZOMG I'M A HARDCORE WANKER types.
-PoE's combat is a floatier experience that is less viscerally satisfying.  Move speed has improved a bit- you can get it on your boots as well as on the passive skill tree, and the phase run skill is being replaced by a potion that you get as a reward for a very early quest.  Still, it takes up a potion slot now and I still view this as retrograde, shitty game design. 
-Because selling all of your shit off is ALWAYS useful, you will pretty much always be picking shit up to sell off to merchants.  This leads to a lot of annoying trips to town and then back out into the world to kill monsters.
-There are a very, very limited number of skill respec points available as quest rewards, which means either plan your character's progression out right or have fun levelling a new one.  Again, I find this to be fucking awful, retrograde game design.

Having said all of that, the game is still definitely worth playing; personally I find it better than Torchlight 2 but not as good as Diablo 3.  It is DEFINITELY worth free.  Frag and I will be talking about it in a future (not next, but next next) ep of the cruncheons.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 02:02:24 AM
SHIT.  Obviously meant to post this on the gaming side.  Uh, could a mod move it?  Thanks.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 23, 2013, 02:07:36 AM
Got into the closed beta today because I couldn't wait for tomorrow lol

Combat feels much better than it did the last time I played, back in August 2012. Movement can still be clunky but overall it definitely feels smoother; I'm playing a melee class though (Marauder), haven't tried ranged although I've generally heard they control better. I've been watching Kripp play the game a bit over the last week or two just to get back into the world of the game, and I gotta say I'm super hyped. I really can't wait for the weekend, when I'll have a shit ton of time to sink into this.

I look forward to seeing what changes the open beta patch makes, and I definitely like what I've seen thus far. I'm currently in the first big dungeon of Act I (Axiom Prison, Brutus' lair basically) and I gotta say it's pretty awesome. The fog of war that blinds your view ensures you run into shit tons of mobs, and the game is actually tough. Fucking Necromancers, man...
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 02:16:37 AM
You're playing a melee class?  I DON'T BELIEVE IT.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 23, 2013, 03:12:50 AM
Oh yes, I'm going for a leech life tank  :lol

BUT I'll also make a ranged Templar!
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 08:52:36 AM
ranged duelist :rock

Don't care if it sucks, I'll end up with a witch eventually anyway
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: hampster on January 23, 2013, 09:08:35 AM
You should give some impressions on the cruncheons of American McGee's Akaneiro if you're talking (free) arpgs. I have no idea if its good but I like the okami meets mcgee artstyle.

I'll give this a shot but I'll miss sending my pet into town to sell stuff :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Fragamemnon on January 23, 2013, 09:09:39 AM
Limited respec is barbaric.  Bartering just makes everything a PITA but I fully agree with the developer's position that making a useful currency in a game is a huge undertaking and forces all sorts of design considerations and constraints that might endanger the rest of the product.

I'll play it because I like ARPGs, but being the progressive-minded gamer that I am and not some nostalgia-riddled shithead, I expect I'll like it less than D3.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: ToxicAdam on January 23, 2013, 10:27:09 AM
I haven't really got sucked into an ARPG since TQ. I will give this one a shot.


I kind of like the idea of limited respec and having to pull your trawl back to town to clear out inventory. Forces the user to make hard decisions that have ramifications. Maybe I am just brainwashed to old-school ways.


Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Brehvolution on January 23, 2013, 10:45:21 AM
 :o
A Frag sighting :bow
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: MrAngryFace on January 23, 2013, 11:04:25 AM
Didn't like this much during closed beta- just felt very uninteresting and the environments were a big pain in the ass during fights against ranged. Its different though- i'll give it that.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 23, 2013, 11:13:44 AM
Limited respec is barbaric.  Bartering just makes everything a PITA but I fully agree with the developer's position that making a useful currency in a game is a huge undertaking and forces all sorts of design considerations and constraints that might endanger the rest of the product.

I'll play it because I like ARPGs, but being the progressive-minded gamer that I am and not some nostalgia-riddled shithead, I expect I'll like it less than D3.

Did you like D3?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Fragamemnon on January 23, 2013, 11:58:44 AM
Limited respec is barbaric.  Bartering just makes everything a PITA but I fully agree with the developer's position that making a useful currency in a game is a huge undertaking and forces all sorts of design considerations and constraints that might endanger the rest of the product.

I'll play it because I like ARPGs, but being the progressive-minded gamer that I am and not some nostalgia-riddled shithead, I expect I'll like it less than D3.

Did you like D3?

Liked it-and still like it-a lot. And I like it most for some of the reasons that the vocal critics hate it. D3's design is full of controversial genre decisions that really make sense when you go and look how awkward things can get in other loot-driven games.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: MrAngryFace on January 23, 2013, 01:22:29 PM
NO U ARE WRONG IT IS WORST DISAPPOITNMENT EVER GLSFKJGLKFJGLKJFG!!!!! *spittle*

I love D3 and liked ME3
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 23, 2013, 01:37:32 PM
D3 is fun, I spent a lot of time with it. But I definitely am way more interested in PoE's level of customization than D3's, which is sort of non-existent. I remember Jay Wilson saying trillions of builds were possible in the game lol, but in reality you have a handful that work at the highest levels.

I love the passive tree in PoE and while I wouldn't mind being able to re-spec at will, I like how it instead is built into the item/barter economy. Right now I have about 4 Orbs of Regret, or whatever they're called, that you use to unlearn skills; a bit of haggling in trade chat can get you more in no time. That's cool, imo

IMO one of the best ways to judge controls is during hectic combat gameplay, regardless of the game's genre. Back in August I found myself fumbling around, barely able to survive fights due to weird bugs or fucked up hit detection. Last night I almost felt like I was playing a slower version of my D3 Barb. As my attack speed gets higher the combat will feel even better. Hell just watching streams of high level players shows how smooth shit is later. That's a questionable game design decision - it seems like it makes more sense to hook people early with fast, tight gameplay - but since I plan on long term investment in the game it's not a big concern to me.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Steve Contra on January 23, 2013, 01:44:10 PM
Limited respec is barbaric.
This is all that needs to be said.  Limited respec is ok when you have nothing to do but jerk off and play games, but for people with real lives, it sucks.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 03:26:45 PM
F'realz about limited respec.  It's like, "hey buddy you know those previous 20 hours you sank into crafting this character?  haha, it's all fucking worthless for the next part of the game and you have to start over."  It's literally regressive game design and should be roundly mocked whenever possible.

Having said that, I expect that I'll play until I hit that wall, then probably just roll a completely different class and fuck around some more.  The skill tree is really fun to fuck around with, too bad they make you walk a tightrope.

Some other things I didn't mention about PoE-

-there is pvp, for people who like that sort of thing (you know, assholes) however it's on a separate pvp server
-they run ladders and limited time pvp ladders
-they have a hardcore mode- if your hardcore character dies though, you don't lose it- instead it gets shifted over to softcore, which is one of the design choices I like
-the items and orbs give you a lot of chances to fuck around with your items- you can upgrade regular items to magical items, reroll magic items, add a new affix, change the color of slots and all sorts of other fun shit

It seems like they're catering to competitive nostalgia-tards who like shit like pvp, ladders and other forms of competition with this game.  Frankly, that's not me- I like a robust pve system, but there's still enough here that I will fuck around with it, mainly because HEY IT'S FREE!  The next arpg I've really got a boner for is Grim Dawn and the D3 expansion.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 23, 2013, 04:04:39 PM
Where is the download link?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 04:10:02 PM
http://www.pathofexile.com/

Click on "download now"

If you've already dl'd the client from the closed beta, all you have to do is launch it though and it will auto-update with the open beta patch.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 23, 2013, 04:34:05 PM
I was just there and didnt see anything :s
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 04:54:11 PM
"Our patching servers and website are both under extreme load. We are working on adding capacity. Thanks for your patience."

I'm sure this is ok though, because they're not Blizzard
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 23, 2013, 04:56:57 PM
 :lol

Youre right though blizz would get killed over this.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Great Rumbler on January 23, 2013, 04:57:26 PM
I figured something was wrong because I gotta download 2.5 gigs of patches and it's taking forever and a day.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 04:57:33 PM
:lol

Youre right though blizz would get killed over this.

Blizzard DID get killed over this at D3's launch :P
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 04:58:46 PM
I figured something was wrong because I gotta download 2.5 gigs of patches and it's taking forever and a day.

I don't know what you're talking about, my 12 mbs connection is dl'ing shit at a brisk 129k/second  :fbm
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Great Rumbler on January 23, 2013, 04:59:16 PM
To be fair, Blizzard is a massive and wealthy company, and people shelled out $60+ for D3. Path of Exile is basically an indie game and it's completely free to play. I'm willing to give Grinding Gears a little bit of slack on this one.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 05:03:10 PM
To be fair, Blizzard is a massive and wealthy company, and people shelled out $60+ for D3. Path of Exile is basically an indie game and it's completely free to play. I'm willing to give Grinding Gears a little bit of slack on this one.

Me too.  What I'm not willing to do is give people any quarter when they start in on "zomg so much better than D3" and then offering up stupid examples such as limited respecing as a reason it's better.  I fully expect to hear shit along the lines of "yeah yeah yeah the core combat is better in D3 but FUCKING LADDERS N PVP ON DAY ONE BITCHES!" which is basically admitting "yes, the core gameplay in D3 is better, but I want to flaunt my epeen and see my name on a leaderboard, that's more important to me"
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Great Rumbler on January 23, 2013, 05:04:46 PM
Internet gonna internet, as far as that goes. I like Paths of Exile, don't love it, and I'll probably never play it as much as I did D3. But I paid $60 for D3, so there ya go.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 23, 2013, 06:03:27 PM
"Our patching servers and website are both under extreme load. We are working on adding capacity. Thanks for your patience."

I'm sure this is ok though, because they're not Blizzard
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=46818171&postcount=1682

I swear these fanboys are fucking disgusting.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 06:40:04 PM
Haters gonna hate.

I'm in and playing open beta now.  Forgot some other pro-tips (mostly applicable if you haven't played before)

-your first purchases from Nessa the vendor should be a coral ring, coral amulet and a belt that has + energy shield.  The ring increases your max health, the amulet gives you regen, and energy shield gives you a buffer that has damage taken from it BEFORE your hp.  I was lucky and just got a nice coral amulet to drop.  I'm also happy to see that they now compute regen per second like every other fucking game, instead of per minute just to be different.
-you have two weapon sets and can switch between them by using x.  Don't try to be all "hurr hurr ranged is fer newbs", this game isn't like D3 and you CAN die early which is annoying, so don't be that guy.  Snipe some bitches before you start melee'ing them.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 23, 2013, 07:04:45 PM
post yer in game names bros

Goinio
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 23, 2013, 07:54:17 PM
fuxschistchum

Yes, it's just a bunch of nonsense.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 23, 2013, 08:33:47 PM
servers down

THANKS ALOT, BLIZZARD
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Smooth Groove on January 23, 2013, 08:48:48 PM
How are the graphics compared to D3?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 23, 2013, 08:57:51 PM
See for yourself
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDFO4E5OKSE

It's a very dark style that fits the genre perfectly to me. Obviously D3 looks better overall, a 20 man group can't really compete with Blizzard in that regard. But the engine is great and I prefer the overall art/look. Water looks great, and the lighting is pretty good especially in dungeons.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Smooth Groove on January 23, 2013, 09:00:24 PM
I care more about the variety.  D3 environments got boring real fast.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 24, 2013, 03:12:09 AM
Sunk a lot of time into Act I today, had a blast. Everything feels better. I've died a few times due to getting swarmed, shit is pretty crazy at times. The Ground Slam build seems pretty potent so far dps wise but I feel like my health/armor are too low
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 05:22:56 AM
Can't wait to try this out :drool

The launch trailer looked kind of cool and dark
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: ToxicAdam on January 24, 2013, 09:57:43 AM
I put this on download last night before bed and woke up to an error of some sort. Sucks.

Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on January 24, 2013, 10:57:04 AM
I'm liking this. Playing witch and thinking I might go full-on necro. Maybe. Limited respec is so scary. :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: MrAngryFace on January 24, 2013, 12:38:16 PM
Err you guys DO see the difference in scale between an indie open beta and the launch of Diablo 3 right? If not you're fuckin idiots.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 01:50:49 PM
Yeah I think everyone knows something on the scale of D3 almost can't go right.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 24, 2013, 01:55:25 PM
Here are some builds
http://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/16xe76/open_beta_is_almost_here_list_the_best_builds_you/

Those are from closed beta era but still rather recent. Also the game's forum has builds for every class
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum

You don't have to 100% stick to any build but it's good to have a decent blueprint of what your plans are. I'm going for the Ground Slam Marauder in the first link, but I'm spending more points on life than the build calls for.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 02:02:53 PM
Whats all this freedom for if I'm gonna go with a cookie cutter build from the get go?

I plan on playing with my build till I hit a wall or get bored.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 24, 2013, 02:07:12 PM
Whats all this freedom for if I'm gonna go with a cookie cutter build from the get go?

I plan on playing with my build till I hit a wall or get bored.

Fortunately, you can always just respec when you hit a wa- OH SHIT WAIT

And THAT'S why you plan out a build beforehand.  Because when you do hit that wall, you'll be all "oh fuck, should have planned, now I have to completely redo all of this content because of this dumb, regressive game design"

Of course, I'm sure your loot drops will be better and you'll get all the pussy because you were a rebel and went with some shitty, suboptimal homebrew build.  You are a beautiful and unique snowflake!
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Great Rumbler on January 24, 2013, 02:08:32 PM
Luscinda [crazy witch gonna mess you UP]

Let'd do this, nerbos!
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 02:10:46 PM
Ima come online and fuck you up with my homebrew build brah!

Because there's pvp in this game.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 24, 2013, 02:12:36 PM
Oh I certainly agree, just saying a general blueprint can be helpful.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 02:14:55 PM
I love spending 30 minutes deciding where to put points in.

Blueprints are great once you HIT THAT STAGE where it really matters.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 24, 2013, 02:28:49 PM
I'm also playing Vagisil the witch
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 02:31:55 PM
Is there one ww server or is it us/eu?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 24, 2013, 02:34:03 PM
Is there one ww server or is it us/eu?

Pretty sure there's us/eu/asian
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 02:34:33 PM
 :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 24, 2013, 04:46:06 PM
20kb/s

 :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Great Rumbler on January 24, 2013, 04:50:49 PM
Looks like the server's down. :(
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 24, 2013, 04:54:38 PM
Looks like the server's down. :(

Yeah I was just playing and the server went down.

I played to like level 10. I really like it. I like the system. It seems smart and flexible. It's buggy and such. Me and a friend had to do a couple of quests twice because one of us died in both situations and the boss monster didn't drop 2 of the items we needed but as far as the actual gameplay I enjoy it. I'll leave out the Diablo Comparisons. It obviously can't compete on production values and things like that but ultimately I liked it and will continue to play.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: OptimoPeach on January 24, 2013, 05:01:34 PM
Huh, not sure why but I never thought of these games as ARPGs.

Can anyone say how the PvP is? Fun? High skill cap? Relatively balanced?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 24, 2013, 09:40:43 PM
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAEdUUUhcdNJNXl2BBmy2-p-_j

I'm only level 10 but here's my tree. I'm trying to do a dual wielding sword class. I haven't looked up any builds or anything as I think its more fun to try to build it out myself the first time.

I do like the idea of planning out builds and sort of passively buffing my guy in a direction. You didn't really get that feel from Diablo as it felt more like just unlocking a bunch of different options when you did the early leveling in diablo 3 rather than trying to focus on something.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 24, 2013, 10:38:47 PM
That sounds about like the build I'm planning Stoney, except that I'm focusing on bow skills first and then will start dumping passive points into dual wielding later on.  Ranged is too good early on.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 24, 2013, 10:50:06 PM
Yeah the bow class seems pretty fun and powerful early on. I normally play an archer in these kind of games but I decided to try something different although eventually I will also spec out the bow side. I'm the tank right now and my nephew is a shadow class bow person at the moment. He seems to be enjoying the bow side of things.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 24, 2013, 11:03:29 PM
Holy shit @ the Act 1 boss. Spoilers
spoiler (click to show/hide)
I was about to start celebrating...then she goes into phase two and I'm like ffuuu. cant believe i didnt die, feels good man. Melee is tough
[close]
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 25, 2013, 06:53:20 PM
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQABLER1RRSFx00k0d-TGBXl2BBY3BlTZkrmy2nn76nypDM2-_j

Finished Act 1 at level 17.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 25, 2013, 09:33:46 PM
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQABLER1RRSFx00k0d-TGBXl2BBY3BlTZkrmy2nn76nypDM2-_j

Finished Act 1 at level 17.

How did the boss go? That was fun as hell imo

btw what's your character name so we can add you. (I'm Goinio)
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 25, 2013, 10:59:26 PM
I beat the act I boss a bit ago too with my witch.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 25, 2013, 11:54:26 PM
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQABLER1RRSFx00k0d-TGBXl2BBY3BlTZkrmy2nn76nypDM2-_j

Finished Act 1 at level 17.

How did the boss go? That was fun as hell imo

btw what's your character name so we can add you. (I'm Goinio)

StoneyMason
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 25, 2013, 11:58:59 PM
I wish you could set the personalized loot timer for longer. The length they currently have it is too short. I would be scared to play with strangers.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 26, 2013, 12:32:12 AM
Created a Templar, shit is crazy. Right now my build is based around zombie minions, decoy totem, and spark. Basically I sit back and let my zombies destroy mobs while I blindly shoot aoe sparks everywhere. I love it  :lol

Overall I'm very impressed with how far the game has come since the beta from early 2012. There are still some kinks and the UI is certainly fugly, but I'm having a shit ton of fun. To me, one of the biggest signs that a game is awesome is when I find myself thinking about it at random times throughout the day/night, while in bed, etc. I find myself constantly thinking about the passive tree, or wondering what my next character will be, or when I'll create a hardcore character, etc. I'm 100% on board.

Controls no longer concern me, everything feels slick so far; btw holding down shift will let you shoot ranged attacks while standing still. I really wish the friend function was as streamlined as D3's. If I could randomly jump into friend's games at will...oh lawd
(http://imageshack.us/a/img137/6848/lawd.png)
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 12:38:30 AM
I'm definitely having more fun with it than I thought I would.  The real test is once 1.0.7 goes live on D3... will this be able to hold my interest?  Not sure yet.

I definitely think ranged characters are OP in the early going.  Shit hits hard and if you get a couple of nasty modifiers thrown on you mobs can one shot you; there's also a lot greater trash mob density than in D3, and you can get gangbanged to death pretty easily if you're not careful.  At first I thought Ice Nova was a trash spell on my witch, but it's soooooo useful when she's getting surrounded- just toss out a couple of AOE attacks centered on her, then dash your way out to safety.

Also- if you don't choose the quicksilver flask as a reward in the medicine chest quest, YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG.  Also, I've found myself hanging onto a pair of boots with 10% move speed longer than I should have just because it's so fucking useful.  Sigh.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 12:40:15 AM
One thing I will say- if I didn't have a really well tested template for a cold crit witch to use, I would be a loooooooot more concerned with the limited respec thing.  As it is it still really bothers me- I feel like I'm really pigeonholed into one build and it's really dumb game design. 
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 26, 2013, 12:58:13 AM
Ranged mobs are definitely very hard hitting, especially as you get farther in Act I and early Act II. Pretty much I kill them first whenever I'm in a big fight or else I get fucked. It really adds a nice dynamic of strategy into engagements. Basically my priority kill strat is typically: Necromancer>ranged mob>elite>melee mob.

You can get Orbs of Regret to respec in Act II, through the vendor. I do think they should at least offer them as quest rewards in Act I as well, and perhaps give you one respect point for every 5 levels/spec points you gain.

For instance I have a shit ton of arrow/bow skill gems due to them constantly dropping for me. I'd love to play around a bit with my Marauder and create a bow build, just for temporary fun, but it would be too much of a hassle to get a bunch of Orbs of Regret to do it.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 03:08:12 AM
Haha, Jesus Christ.  I was actually thinking about emailing evilore about making an alt account for gaf, but then I read some of the PoE thread over there and there are people actually fucking saying that FFA loot is good game design and that they like it.  I would last not even five minutes without having to go nuclear on someone.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: etiolate on January 26, 2013, 03:23:57 AM
At this point, I figure every irrational bit of love and support for archaic game design is a sign of autism.

Going to update my patch this weekend and give the game another go.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on January 26, 2013, 04:28:16 AM
People love their regressive game design for some reason. I asked a question about the respec system in global chat, vaguely implying that I thought it was awful, and I got swarmed by hate.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on January 26, 2013, 04:37:50 AM
Now that I think about it, the respec system is likely deliberately awful so they can implement a "give us 5 bucks to fully respec" thing later on.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Damian79 on January 26, 2013, 06:13:51 AM
Now that I think about it, the respec system is likely deliberately awful so they can implement a "give us 5 bucks to fully respec" thing later on.

So instead on thinking about what you choose you need a better respec system?  Its good enough imo.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on January 26, 2013, 06:25:31 AM
It's awful. Bottom line. No room for experimentation and no safety from spending hours and hours on a build that eventually gets nerfed = :poop

But, hey, at least it's SUPER HARDCORE.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on January 26, 2013, 06:25:47 AM
Game's still super rad though.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 08:43:37 AM
Now that I think about it, the respec system is likely deliberately awful so they can implement a "give us 5 bucks to fully respec" thing later on.

So instead on thinking about what you choose you need a better respec system?  Its good enough imo.

Your opinion is demonstrably incorrect.

Like bob said though, game is still really, really good.  Frustratingly so in some respects.  So close!
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 26, 2013, 10:01:19 AM
I love how this game looks so far, the long shadows in the beach area set an amazing atmosphere.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 26, 2013, 12:10:52 PM
Graphically it starts out looking a bit like Titan Quest but quickly morphs into something else. The atmosphere and lighting are amazing, perfect for this type of game. Wait until you see the caves, dungeons, etc

This game is awesome. Finally found the life on hit gems I need to make my Maraduer a beast; now I just need to get more mana, although I dunno if I should get it with gear or a quick skill point. Decisions
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 02:10:46 PM
.....and the server's down.  Fuck, I had just gotten a Jeweler's orb too :fbm
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 26, 2013, 04:42:59 PM
DDOS attack according to their twitter. It's probably Jay Wilson
(http://imageshack.us/a/img507/3374/skip1n.png)
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 04:51:01 PM
I guess Anonymous got them confused with some US govt site or something
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 05:10:30 PM
haha, they're queueing people, currently have about 13k in line ahead of me
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 26, 2013, 05:54:35 PM
Same. Meh I'll try later tonight. Currently looking at the passive tree, gaming out my next move lol
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 26, 2013, 10:02:17 PM
Played a little multi with PD just a bit ago.  Pretty fun, except that he was farther along than me in one quest and I couldn't use his waypoints :P

Some of the social stuff definitely needs some work, and FFA loot sucks, but multi is definitely fun.  My witch is to the point now where I can easily spam spells thanks to all of the mana regen I have, so freezing dudes while a melee character whacks and shatters them is pretty awesome.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Great Rumbler on January 26, 2013, 10:02:29 PM
Got up to level 8 today with my witch, now I just need to get to the last part of Act 1 and fight dat boss.

My character name is Luscinda, by the way, so add me so we can multi some loots.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 27, 2013, 01:01:37 AM
Just leveled a Shadow to 8, and JESUS CHRIST MELEE IS AWFUL COMPARED TO RANGED.  Seriously, you people who've been playing melee only, do yourself a favor and roll a ranged class.  Melee is so much more unsatisfying and clunky compared to ranged.  FUCK.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 27, 2013, 01:43:14 AM
Actually melee gets much better after you get to lv8-10 or so. It's still not perfect, but definitely an improvement over how clunky it was earlier last year. For instance my Marauder feels pretty damn good now, and the only time the controls feel truly off is when I'm targeting the smallest mobs (like the monkeys in Act II). Shadows are crazy good with Double Strike and fast weapons, they play very smoothly from what I've heard. I'm pretty much a melee guy in games like this, and so far I have no major qualms.

I'm kind of contemplating re-spec'ing my Templar. I had decided to go with a lightning based build, with minions. The minions were pretty boss in the early levels, but once I got to the prison they were dying super fast. Meanwhile my Lightning Strike does crazy damage, and I'm using Double Strike with a 1H axe...shit is OP as hell lol. So with all the damage I'm putting out, the minions seem like a waste of points.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 27, 2013, 02:04:45 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPhnR_-K4Cw

sheeeiiit so close. A lot of the best HC players died this week lol
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on January 27, 2013, 02:22:00 AM
Yeah minions are ass. That's where my respec frustration stems from. I invested in them pretty heavily with my witch but they don't scale well. Had to waste all my respec points bailing on them, and I'm still not out of the woods yet. >:(
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Great Rumbler on January 27, 2013, 02:57:33 AM
Yeah minions are ass. That's where my respec frustration stems from. I invested in them pretty heavily with my witch but they don't scale well. Had to waste all my respec points bailing on them, and I'm still not out of the woods yet. >:(

Thanks for the heads-up on that, I'll avoid focusing on them with my witch.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 27, 2013, 03:09:38 AM
I've seen videos of people looking quite badass with minions but yea...not working for me. Going for a Lightning Strike Templar now. I pretty much 5 shot Brutus with it, and since then have been breezing through everything. I'll need to address my low armor/life very soon though
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 27, 2013, 05:12:14 AM
I already spent 3 points in minions, but their ai is so bad :(
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Damian79 on January 27, 2013, 07:30:28 AM
They are there to be meat shields while you cast frost nova lol, or firestorm or whatever else spell you guys use.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 27, 2013, 10:49:49 AM
I'll just kite :P  I forgot that I'm a world champion kiter back from before I switched my wizard to the CM/WW spec in D3.  Been fun being a cowardly little bitch again.

Bob, if you're on the US server add me.  I have 2 or 3 orbs of regret and I could part with them I guess.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 27, 2013, 12:28:46 PM
You can get a minion support gem pretty early as a Templar; it increases their life. I almost chose it but went with an elemental dmg gem. If I see it again I can pick it up for anyone who wants it

Reading the forums last night convinced me minions are a good build, you just need to level them enough with gems. Also I'm pretty sure they attack where your mouse is pointing.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 27, 2013, 12:59:28 PM
If you use 2 zombie gems, will you get double zombies?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 27, 2013, 06:26:37 PM
You might be able to get an extra zombie if the two gems are connected by a support gem, but otherwise no. That was fixed in the open beta

the build can be pretty badass
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJBNlenBhto
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: archie4208 on January 27, 2013, 07:10:52 PM
Servers sure don't stay up long.  :fbm

Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: MrAngryFace on January 27, 2013, 08:21:58 PM
Its a beta- their priority is fixin shit
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: BobFromPikeCreek on January 27, 2013, 10:17:00 PM
Is the siren the final boss of act 1? She absolutely stomps me.  :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 27, 2013, 10:37:42 PM
Is the siren the final boss of act 1? She absolutely stomps me.  :-\

Yup.  Try equipping some cold resist rings.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 27, 2013, 10:56:04 PM
the only time the controls feel truly off is when I'm targeting the smallest mobs (like the monkeys in Act II).

I'd probably agree. The melee combat isn't as tight as Diablo 3 but honestly very few action RPG's get that part right perfectly. But yeah fighting creatures like the monkeys is annoying melee wise. Fighting bigger slower moving creatures feels much better by comparison.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 27, 2013, 11:11:57 PM
I managed to kill the Act I boss with my Templar on my first try, despite low armor/resists. Decoy Totem rocks lol: I kept throwing it down, then dicing the boss when she was distracted. Resist gear also helps.

Act II has some tough dungeons. I've only died twice with my Maraduer but that's due to me being a master kiter like Creepy Old Guy lol; there's so much elemental damage that I can't really tank yet
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 27, 2013, 11:42:12 PM
I was having a rough time in one of the Act II dungeons where you fight a lot of dudes with lightning attacks, so I equipped a lightning resist ring and it became MUCH more manageable.  I'm coming from D3 where resists didn't really start to matter until the very end of Hell/beginning of Inferno.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 28, 2013, 12:31:25 AM
Yea it's insane how quickly you can get owned. I try to dodge in and out of combat, using doors to my advantage as much as possible. Last night I was in a dungeon with rooms full of invulnerable mobs; they can only die once you kill a totem in the middle of the room. And of course if you just run towards the totem you get blasted by every elemental damage imaginable lol. Love it.

I've heard the later difficulties are quite unforgiving, so I'm definitely stacking my armor, resists, and life skills right now. Also I heard Act III is very hard on normal
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 28, 2013, 12:43:32 AM
I'm gradually moving towards a Chaos Inoculation build (a passive that gives you immunity to chaos damage but sets your life permanently at 1) but before I do that I want to make sure I have EVERY POSSIBLE energy shield node I can get.  One thing that's not helping is that gloves/boots with decent energy shield modifiers are hard to find... and getting boots that don't have move speed on them is a big no-no.

I'm just about to finish act II up I think... I'm about to start climbing the pyramid.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 28, 2013, 01:45:36 AM
Good lord the Act II boss, wow.

I feel like I sort of cheated though lol. I opened a portal at the beginning of the fight, and would up getting the boss to around 10% before I died. Once I respawned in town I saw my portal was up, jumped into it, and boom I'm right back fighting the boss. Yea...I feel like it wasn't a clean kill so I'm going to re-do the entire pyramid tomorrow lol. CRAZY dungeon. Very tedious as melee due to all the kiting and stuff, but fun. Clearly I need to work on my resists.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Steve Contra on January 28, 2013, 11:30:09 AM
Did I read correctly that loot in multiplayer isn't instanced?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 28, 2013, 12:19:18 PM
Dammit I can't connect  :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 28, 2013, 12:44:32 PM
Did I read correctly that loot in multiplayer isn't instanced?

Correct. There is like a 2 second window where blue or better items are assigned to somebody and you can only get them but it's way too short a timer.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Steve Contra on January 28, 2013, 12:52:34 PM
Did I read correctly that loot in multiplayer isn't instanced?

Correct. There is like a 2 second window where blue or better items are assigned to somebody and you can only get them but it's way too short a timer.
This is fucking terrible.  The whole thing sounds like purposeful anachronisms to suit nostalgia fetishists.  I'll eventually get around to trying this, but the whole thing sounds bad right now.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 28, 2013, 01:46:59 PM
Did I read correctly that loot in multiplayer isn't instanced?

Correct. There is like a 2 second window where blue or better items are assigned to somebody and you can only get them but it's way too short a timer.
This is fucking terrible.  The whole thing sounds like purposeful anachronisms to suit nostalgia fetishists.  I'll eventually get around to trying this, but the whole thing sounds bad right now.

Yeah I don't like it either. If they just upped the time to like 10 seconds or better yet let the party host determine the timer that would be a lot better. Borderlands 2 had the same issue. The limited respec stuff doesn't really bother me because I feel that is on me but non instanced loot in this day and age is very annoying to me.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 28, 2013, 01:59:18 PM
Here's my build so far
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAEtkZLho-IQIhNCFVJ-0pLir2OQ49_FBQVbVYY2DEe4x8uIwGjM-ezaSspzC53cEExtjUj9w97w7xrPIv8932SPe-

Basically I'm going for a 2H mace Ground Slam build with heavy emphasis on life+life on hit and armor. I have some resist, and more resist armor; my biggest problem with damage so far has been from fire, I do well against ice and lightning isn't horrible. I'll be getting Blood Magic soon as well
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 28, 2013, 03:51:42 PM
Did I read correctly that loot in multiplayer isn't instanced?

Correct. There is like a 2 second window where blue or better items are assigned to somebody and you can only get them but it's way too short a timer.

This is fucking terrible.  The whole thing sounds like purposeful anachronisms to suit nostalgia fetishists.  I'll eventually get around to trying this, but the whole thing sounds bad right now.

The game gets in it's own way a whole lot for no damn good reason, that's for sure.  I think you would have fun planning out a build and playing it, and fucking around with items is incredibly fun- they got that part right.  But there are a whole lot of regressive, stupid game design choices made for no discernible reason other than "Diablo 2 did it" which is distinguished mentally-challenged.  Limited respec and ffa loot are the most glaring examples.

The real hilarity are the people defending that sort of shit as something they like.  I've been reading the gaf thread and it's a good thing I can't post in it or I'd be banned again immediately.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 28, 2013, 04:11:33 PM
I respect the developers for givings fans an avenue to have their voices heard, contribute to the game, etc...but that also can breed a rather ugly fanboy scene. Criticisms of the game, even when obviously fair, become seen as direct insults on the developer and by proxy the fans who have given them money/input. There are people in the GAF thread who foam at the mouth whenever a new player makes the inevitable "I'm having fun with PoE but the controls aren't as good as D3" comment.

This game is gonna have to rely on attracting a consistent, large fanbase that buys shit and plays the game; if that doesn't happen, GGG will run out of money. Having regressive barriers on respecs and multiplayer games is not a way to attract new players. Just about everything else about the game is good to awesome IMO, so I'll keep playing. But they need to ensure new players can jump in and feel like they've accomplished something. Your design strategy can't be "oh you fucked up your build? Create a new character LOL."
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: FatalT on January 28, 2013, 05:18:16 PM
Dammit, died at level 24 on Hardcore. What league are you guys doing?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Cerveza mas fina on January 28, 2013, 05:40:22 PM
The shop is pretty shit, i hope they arent banking on only making money on some respecs.

Pd:i dont think respecs are a must in game design, good controls are. Its not overly hardcore not to have every aspect of the game be play tested to death to appeal to everyone, makes the game lose sense of discovery etc. te controls i poe are the real issue imho, combat doesnt feel right really and clicking is pretty hit n miss.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 28, 2013, 06:10:55 PM
The shop is pretty shit, i hope they arent banking on only making money on some respecs.

Pd:i dont think respecs are a must in game design, good controls are. Its not overly hardcore not to have every aspect of the game be play tested to death to appeal to everyone, makes the game lose sense of discovery etc. te controls i poe are the real issue imho, combat doesnt feel right really and clicking is pretty hit n miss.

You are demonstrably incorrect.  So much so that there are no respec options on the shop :P

Holy shit, once again you have no idea wtf you're talking about.  It's like this is a thing with you or something.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 28, 2013, 06:14:53 PM
Controls are fine. What level are you? Once you get past the lv6 or so it's fine. Not great, not D3, but good enough not to distract from the game.

On respecs: personally it doesn't impact me, I was speaking moreso about attracting new players and coddled D3 players. It could scare them off. I remember Kripp being somewhat dismissive of PoE at the beginning too due to stuff like this
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: archie4208 on January 28, 2013, 06:27:16 PM
Well the game is free and runs on a toaster so there is zero barrier of entry. 

It's also trying to carve out a niche appealing to the h@rdc0r3 players, and that's great.  It's never going to be as popular as Diablo, but that's fine.  As long as it has a healthy player base and people buy silly cosmetics, everything will be hunky dory.

And just for the record, I'm not too keen on limited respecs and wonky animations, but everything else is pretty good.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on January 28, 2013, 11:54:10 PM
Just got done doing some 3 player multi with PD and FatalT.  Multi in this game is some fun, fun shit.

Also, DAT ACT 2 BOSS.  Pretty awesome. 
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 29, 2013, 12:12:30 AM
Yup tonight changed my perspective on the multiplayer. I didn't know you could simply throw down portals to warp players to your location, even if they don't have the quest. I still prefer D3's "drop in whenever the hell you want" style but I really like the portal option.

and yea, dat Act II boss. Both the first two act bosses gave me a real old school 2D vibe, pretty cool. And both fights are more challenging/interesting than 90% of D3 bosses imo. Can't wait to try them out on high difficulties
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Stoney Mason on January 29, 2013, 12:12:48 AM
I respect the developers for givings fans an avenue to have their voices heard, contribute to the game, etc...but that also can breed a rather ugly fanboy scene. Criticisms of the game, even when obviously fair, become seen as direct insults on the developer and by proxy the fans who have given them money/input. There are people in the GAF thread who foam at the mouth whenever a new player makes the inevitable "I'm having fun with PoE but the controls aren't as good as D3" comment.

This game is gonna have to rely on attracting a consistent, large fanbase that buys shit and plays the game; if that doesn't happen, GGG will run out of money. Having regressive barriers on respecs and multiplayer games is not a way to attract new players. Just about everything else about the game is good to awesome IMO, so I'll keep playing. But they need to ensure new players can jump in and feel like they've accomplished something. Your design strategy can't be "oh you fucked up your build? Create a new character LOL."

I honestly don't think the respec thing will be what sinks or swims this game. I think this game will adopt a niche hardcore of people who continually play it and most people will move on after they've completed what level of the content they want too. I don't believe most people are hardcore guys who will grind out the deepest difficulty levels or roll hardcore characters.

What's more interesting is whether their payment model will work. I respect what they've done greatly by not making the stuff you can buy real world in game meaningful content (I never liked that principal in Diablo 3 even though I logically understood why it was there and how it didn't necessarily effect me) but the cosmetic items are so superfluous that I wonder if it will fund the continual development of the game. Some good ios games financially bombed just because they didn't have a strong enough monetary incentive to create those whales who buy all that extra stupid shit that kind of funds the game.

As far as the hardcore stuff its honestly why I aggressively and purposely try to be middle of the road guy. Me and my nephew were playing and he was reading the global chat and he was confused by why there was so much hatred in it for Diablo 3 which he beat and liked. I tried to explain to him that for a lot of people if something disappoints them and doesn't match the hype level they've created in their heads, they go to the utter extreme and suddenly that thing represents everything that is wrong in the world for them.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on January 29, 2013, 01:46:02 AM
Cosmetic stuff works for LoL because you can basically buy a shit ton of different stuff, whereas your options are pretty limited in PoE. There's stuff they can do though, such as introduce mounts or even exclusive cities. I think the game is clearly good enough to sustain a very solid base of support, I just dunno whether it will sustain enough momentum to keep the f2p model working for them. I think the launch has been pretty successful but eventually they'll need to hire more people, more servers, etc.

I'm most likely going to buy more stash space; mainly because I need it, but also because the product is good enough to warrant giving them some money. Obviously a lot of people feel that way right now, they just need to sustain that. Allegedly they've planning 7 more acts so they have a long term business plan. I hope it works. The game has made some huge improvements, and in many ways is already better than the current competition. I look forward to the future
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: archie4208 on January 29, 2013, 09:41:32 AM
Jesus Christ the Lunaris Temple in act 3 is both gorgeous and disturbing.  :omg
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: FatalT on January 29, 2013, 03:42:23 PM
Jesus Christ the Lunaris Temple in act 3 is both gorgeous and disturbing.  :omg

That whole area is just gross. Level 2 is oh god and Level 3 is WHAT THE SHIT BLOOD OCEAN.

Also Archie is a dick that ignores me on Steam.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: archie4208 on January 29, 2013, 04:25:18 PM
My bad, I've been AFK most of the day.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 02, 2013, 11:41:42 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYUm0qM_R0g

oh shit
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 09, 2013, 09:40:55 PM
After a week of work and drama, I'm back. Feels good man

Act III:
spoiler (click to show/hide)
Good lord the Crematorium is rough. I got owned by Piety rather quickly, then realized I barely had any lightning resist; I had been using fire resist gear due to the mobs in the dungeon. It was much easier to defeat her once I made the switch
[close]

I'm noticing a shit ton of people selling minion gear and gems, makes me want to create a witch. Plus I still have some of the gear/gems my Templar was using during its brief minion build experiment.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 09, 2013, 11:05:36 PM
I should be on a bunch tomorrow
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 12, 2013, 12:04:11 AM
One of my favorite things about this game is how even "shitty" gear drops can turn into something amazing for you. I'm constantly finding non-magic gear with 3-4 sockets; a few orb changes and it's easy to turn them into potent gear. I just found some gloves with four red sockets: hooked it up with Heavy Strike supported by Reduced Mana and Life on Hit, and I'm looking for another support gem to add on.

Now all my Marauder's major attacks (Heavy Strike, Ground Slam, Sweep) have life on hit support. Feels good man
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 12, 2013, 12:10:31 AM
Not sure if you knew this or not, but make sure to check vendors every time you're in town.  If you find an item with one of each color socket, you can vendor that shit for a chaos orb, which is more valuable than what you'll spend buying it.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 12, 2013, 12:16:48 AM
Not sure if you knew this or not, but make sure to check vendors every time you're in town.  If you find an item with one of each color socket, you can vendor that shit for a chaos orb, which is more valuable than what you'll spend buying it.
(http://imageshack.us/a/img862/3834/whooz.png)

oh hell yes. I almost never use vendors unless I'm looking for a ring
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 13, 2013, 02:48:06 AM
Got Blood Magic (on passive tree) finally with my Marauder, wow. It's pretty amazing when paired with life-on-hit for your attacks (in my case Heavy Strike, Ground Slam, and Sweep). I just stomped through the Solaris Temple. I love the design of that area, it reminded me of a grittier, more gothic Titan Quest. Also the music is very good/epic.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 13, 2013, 02:56:49 AM
I've been really impressed with Act 3 so far, which I think bodes well for future content.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 13, 2013, 04:15:23 AM
Agreed. At first I didn't like it due to the ruined city, but it has quickly changed my mind; I got a bit burned out by the pyramid dungeon in Act II and wanted a big change of scenery, and initially the ruined city vibe struck me as boring. But that Solaris Temple is amazing plus the sewer quests were nice.

I want a snow zone tho :(
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 13, 2013, 11:53:02 AM
I'm still around level 34 and the beginning of act 3 on normal... having a bitch of a time finding free time to game between school, work, and trying to have a social life.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 13, 2013, 02:08:29 PM
My Marauder is at 39 and in Act III, I think I'm in the middle (about to go after the General)
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 13, 2013, 02:45:46 PM
I'm also having a difficult time figuring out when to take Chaos Innoculation.  I mean, it turns your max health to 1... not really confident that the 300ish energy shield I have right now is enough to get it done.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 13, 2013, 07:47:59 PM
The problem I'm having at this point of the game is that since I've skipped out on life/regen nodes in anticipation of taking CI in the late game, I'm pretty f'n squishy.  Now, it's not such a big deal because I hit pretty hard for the level of the game I'm at, so as long as I don't get gang fucked I'm usually pretty good.  I couldn't see trying to do this in hardcore, because I *have* died several times, which is a bummer.

Thanks for your input, though.  It's hard to find specific answers to shit like that, or so I've found.  I'd generally just decided I was going to wait until my ES was big enough that I wasn't getting it depleted regularly, which is not the case so far.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 13, 2013, 10:18:55 PM
JayDubya your main is a Marauder right? What do you think of my build, brohan
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAEtkUIBiRGS4aPiECITQhVSftKS4q9jboOQ46Ujs7PfxQR1BQVbVYY18_YMR7jHy4jAaMz57NpKynMLndwQTG2MmY1I_cPd-_7w7xrPIv8932SPe-

2H mace, Ground Slam build basically. Skill gem-wise I'm heavily focusing on life on hit

main: Heavy Strike
secondary: Ground Slam
other aoe: Sweep
shouts: Fire Shield or whatever it's called (the one that increases your armor and explodes after you take a certain amount of dmg), Enduring Cry

Just found a Rejuvenating totem gem so I'll play around with it tonight, see how it works out
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 15, 2013, 12:56:10 AM
Sweep is more for quick health when I'm completely surrounded my enemies, moreso than for dmg. Ground Slam is my dmg aoe

I'm definitely looking for faster attack speed. Right now though I'm aiming for more life nodes on the tree.

edit: tried to add you but it says there is no JayDubya
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 15, 2013, 10:35:57 AM
Yeah, you need a char name not the acct name.  It's kind of counter-intuitive.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 16, 2013, 11:33:57 PM
Beat normal today; the last couple days have been great in terms of progress, I also found two legendary items. The last parts of Act III are pretty impressive, especially that last temple; very creepy, and surprisingly challenging. The last boss (I'm sure you can guess who it is)...hmm. I had to use a lot of potions and almost died multiple times (still got a one shot tho, woot). Honestly the truly hardest thing was the frame rate, which exploded once I entered the room; lots of effects, shadows, etc...they'll need to address that.

It's quite clear this is going to be a truly great game once it's finished (I can't wait for Act IV). The level of customization is engrossing, I constantly find myself staring at the passive tree gaming out what I'll get when. And even the introductory difficulty level is challenging. I rarely died in the early stages of the game but had multiple close calls, and all the major bosses keep you on your toes. And despite being such a long ass game, I can't really say I got bored with the visuals or gameplay; Act II's pyramid is the only part I got a bit tired of, mainly due to farming it (and the grueling elemental mobs).

I'm gonna be spending a lot of time with this game
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 19, 2013, 02:05:32 PM
The game does seem like it favors ranged characters, hopefully that's something the devs will look into improving, but in such a way that the game doesn't lose it's difficulty.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 20, 2013, 08:53:05 AM
non-instanced loot is one of this game's design failures.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 20, 2013, 12:43:44 PM
Finally got Leap Slam, it's awesome. I have it supported by increase melee dmg and leech life gems. Activating Molten Shell and then leaping into combat feels so good, and is quite a potent aoe strat

I'm in Act II cruel. So far so good; I've only died a few times, many of which were while experimenting/moving gems around.

Melee difficulty is interesting. I've killed the Warden a few times in cruel, mainly as a gear/stat check, and his normal attacks were decking me even though my armor is high, endurance charges, etc. I like the general idea of bosses having huge attacks that will kill you if you fuck up, but at the same time I'd like to be able to deal with regular attacks without having to constantly pop potions. Vaal's crazy slam attack (it's on normal too) is welcome to me; if you get caught slipping, you get fucked.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_cGGh0m1JTE
sheeeiiit
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Damian79 on February 20, 2013, 02:40:10 PM
Dont die to corpse explosion :p
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 20, 2013, 09:34:27 PM
http://www.pathofexile.com/seasons

Races are about to be underway, and there will be alternate art rewards given as prizes if you accumulate a certain amount of points. 
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: etiolate on February 21, 2013, 12:09:54 AM
Okay I'm updating my client finally. It seems my Templar, according to the website, got reset in one of the patches back to level 1. I think I'm going to start a Shadow character tonight.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 21, 2013, 12:17:54 AM
PD, FatalT, JDubya... anyone interested in trying to get a Boresquad team going for any team races?  I'm not sure we have enough players honestly, but it could be fun
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 21, 2013, 12:18:00 AM
Okay I'm updating my client finally. It seems my Templar, according to the website, got reset in one of the patches back to level 1. I think I'm going to start a Shadow character tonight.

All characters were reset for the open beta. GGG has said they will not reset characters again - what you create now will exist until you personally delete it.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: etiolate on February 21, 2013, 12:19:33 AM
That makes sense. I'm looking at the skills and the passive tree, trying to figure out what I want to do with my shadow character.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 21, 2013, 12:22:29 AM
Apparently Ethereal Knives is one of the more OP dex based melee skills.  I leveled a shadow to 9 but lost interest pretty quickly.  I have pretty much exclusively played ranged characters and plan on playing rangers in the races
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 21, 2013, 12:23:07 AM
etiolet: here's the Shadow forum. The passive tree is so huge it definitely helps to get a sense of various pathways you can take things from, or a specific build if you want
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-forum/303

PD, FatalT, JDubya... anyone interested in trying to get a Boresquad team going for any team races?  I'm not sure we have enough players honestly, but it could be fun

I'd be down for that depending on the times. Hardcore? I've been thinking about making a bow Marauder lol
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 21, 2013, 12:31:44 AM
I'm pretty sure all of the races are hardcore and require a new character each time, and if you survive your character gets dumped to SC afterwards.  I'd pretty much just be playing to race and wouldn't want to keep any of my race characters- I've leveled a Ranger to 21 or so already and want to keep at it with that character if I can find the time. 

I got the "it's complicated" conversation from the girl I thought something was building with today anyway, so I'm pretty much ready to throw myself into the loving arms of vidya hardcore over the coming weeks to shake those cobwebs from my head and get over it.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: FatalT on February 21, 2013, 12:45:49 AM
PD, FatalT, JDubya... anyone interested in trying to get a Boresquad team going for any team races?  I'm not sure we have enough players honestly, but it could be fun

I'm up for that. I'll probably just do the two-handed marauder again and try not to die in Hardcore this time.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 22, 2013, 12:15:10 PM
:lol

Well, I lasted 12 minutes in the first race before getting frozen and then gang-banged to death by some scrubs way early in the game.  Fun but I don't think it's for me... I like to take my time and plan shit out, seemed way too hectic for my tastes.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 22, 2013, 01:45:33 PM
What it's pvp? Oh shit lol

I'm at work :(
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 22, 2013, 01:50:10 PM
Nah, not pvp.  You know the guy that drops the medicine chest?  I was running away from a bunch of mobs and ran into him, and he froze me, which let the mobs surround me and kill me while frozen  :-\

There are going to be pvp races though, but not this season from what I can tell.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 22, 2013, 02:06:52 PM
Ohhh that guy. He almost decked me in cruel; it seems like I always forget at least one of my resists is low at any given time due to finding/replacing gear
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 22, 2013, 02:09:28 PM
Well, apparently the thing to do in races is just run through all the early BS as quickly as possible until you get to the ledge, then grind some levels there.  So, I was barely level 2 since I hadn't really killed anything yet :P

I think I'll try to see how high I can level a character in an hour... if I can't get to a level where I get a decent number of points in a race, I probably won't fuck with it.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: etiolate on February 23, 2013, 12:38:33 AM
okay etioshadow is made

Still not sure what I want to do, but going with traps for now. If I end up disliking it and remaking then no big deal.

Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 23, 2013, 02:48:05 PM
Did an hour long practice run... this time I didn't die, but I only managed to hit level 10.  There were several things that fucked with me, though... I had a couple of truly hideous map spawns that probably took a good five minutes of farming out of my run, and I should have upgraded some items way earlier to make farming more efficient.  In particular I just didn't think to get a quiver until about 10 minutes before the end of my run... doh.

I'm gonna keep fucking around with this, but I still don't think racing is for me.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 23, 2013, 03:19:19 PM
I'll give it a shot in a bit, I'm on my way home
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 23, 2013, 03:26:21 PM
There's a 3 hour race that starts at 4... I'm kind of tempted, but I have to start work right at 7, so I don't think I'll try that one.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 23, 2013, 06:29:45 PM
I started it late so I have no chance of winning, but it's pretty fun knowing if you die it's all over; I'm definitely going to make a hardcore character once the race is over. Created a ranger and haven't even come close to dying. The Warden was easy as hell; I found a zombie gem and used them to tank while I destroyed him. I definitely agree ranged makes like easier in this game lol

But I still prefer melee, being able to tank damage, etc. Goinio :bow
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 23, 2013, 07:31:52 PM
How did you end up doing?

I think the biggest difference (to me at least) is that no matter what your defensive stats are in this game, all it takes is a couple of status modifiers and 3-4 trash zombies or whatever and then you're dead.  Not like that in D3.  So, in my opinion tanking is less of an option... you have to be quick with your potions in this game if you want to play melee.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 23, 2013, 09:19:34 PM
Got to lv12 before deciding to go get some food. I wound up almost dying after killing the Warden, in the area that comes after the prison. There's this fire dog elite that is fast as hell, making it hard to kite. I kept using fire traps and lightning arrows which finally killed him, but it was close as fuck.

Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 24, 2013, 02:28:56 AM
damn, lost my HC character on Act I final boss. Dunno why I didn't grind before trying her

oh well, I did find 3 chaos orbs with the character, which I can now give to my Marauder. Gonna salvage all the ranger's gems and delete her, then start a new HC character
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 24, 2013, 02:30:42 AM
I'm about to hop on, let's HC together!


...that sounded weird
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 24, 2013, 02:48:01 AM
omw
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 24, 2013, 01:52:24 PM
It should only have to do that on your initial download.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 24, 2013, 01:55:48 PM
It'll be fine

The game starts a bit slow, as most arpg games do, since you'll have no gear and then find some shitty gear first. But as you get better armor and faster weapons the game will open up. Also make sure to check the game's site for the forums. The passive tree is huge, so having an early view and idea of what you want to do is important.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: etiolate on February 24, 2013, 04:04:36 PM
Still don't like the combat in the game. I'll try sticking with it to see if it improves over time and stat increase.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 25, 2013, 07:56:26 PM
There's a 2 hour party race at 10 pm eastern, anybody wanna give it a try?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 25, 2013, 09:11:49 PM
I'll try to get on at that time.

I lost a lv10 Maraduer on HC today after work, felt horrible; Clappers (skeleton mini boss in the prison) froze me. Luckily I had the gems I planned on using at lv12 - lightning arrow with split support - in my stash. Quickly got another Maraduer to lv10, so later tonight I'll whip out a bow and try the lighting arrow build which is apparently super OP rigt now.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 25, 2013, 09:25:31 PM
:wag  Gotta start new characters for each race :P

You wanna go ranged or melee? 
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 25, 2013, 09:51:36 PM
Ranged. Wand Templar perhaps lol
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: FatalT on February 25, 2013, 11:06:01 PM
Nope. I suck tonight...lol.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 26, 2013, 12:01:54 AM
fuck if we survived I'm sure we would have beaten Act I. I re-rolled and we continued and almost got to her
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 26, 2013, 12:04:13 AM
Krip won the race :P
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 26, 2013, 12:04:59 AM
How do we check the leader board lol
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 26, 2013, 12:06:24 AM
dunno, link is gone on the race page but i clicked it and he was in first at level 29

i thought you got 3 points if you made lv 13 in a 2 hour but apparently it's lv 16, so i got nuthin  :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 26, 2013, 12:07:35 AM
here it is

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/171655
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 26, 2013, 12:09:02 AM
apparently your race characters get dumped into hardcore

hmm... thinkin about continuing on and trying to kill merveil
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 26, 2013, 12:12:04 AM
I came in 1292th place :lol :bow (on page 65)

That was fun, definitely gonna do the next if I have time

edit: Triumph you're 1241th on page 63
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 26, 2013, 12:15:13 AM
Manly results :rock

There's a 4 hour party race Weds at 10.  No more witches in races, FatalT!  :wag

Just kidding, the only thing that kept me alive there was the fact that I had way more life than you guys and a lot of life regen too
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 26, 2013, 12:17:20 AM
Haha someone on stream is butthurt about Kripp race strat, sounds legit pissed lol. I'm looking to see what build Kripp used
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Momo on February 26, 2013, 12:18:57 AM
shit, how do i get in this again? I remember a beta app of some sort
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 26, 2013, 12:23:45 AM
shit, how do i get in this again? I remember a beta app of some sort

http://www.pathofexile.com/

This thread has a nice introductory video to the game, might want to watch just to get a feel for things (as it downloads)
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: FatalT on February 26, 2013, 04:12:50 PM
Manly results :rock

There's a 4 hour party race Weds at 10.  No more witches in races, FatalT!  :wag

Just kidding, the only thing that kept me alive there was the fact that I had way more life than you guys and a lot of life regen too

:lol I don't think my strategy of running into the middle of groups of monsters and spamming my AoE fire rain spell was very effective. I didn't pick up like any armor either because I was rushing to catch up to you guys in the first place. :X
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 27, 2013, 05:25:11 PM
I've been taking a break from my main character to focus on HC mode. So far I got my Lightning Arrow bow Marauder to Act II. Really only had one close call against some heavy lightning damage enemies (in the shipyard); I didn't have any problems against the Act I boss.

Barring getting blasted heavy by RNG elemental dmg, I don't see this character dying on anything before Vaal; obviously I could be very wrong but so far it's a pretty fucking good build.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAGS4n7SkuPfxE51BQVElYY18_cql8uIzPrKq53cbY1I_nUu8O8i_z3fZI

Lots of health and dps is largely dependent on your weapon; so far I haven't found a truly great bow/quiver. Definitely need more mana at this point but I'll probably go with a blood magic support gem asap. I've got life gain supported Rain Of Arrows and it works beautifully
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 27, 2013, 06:27:35 PM
You played ahead in HC mode??? JERK.

You want to try the 4 hr race tonight or no?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 27, 2013, 08:08:25 PM
...aaaaaand my HC Marauder is no more   

 :dead

I keep fucking forgetting that I need cold resist rings once I get to Merveil, man.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 27, 2013, 09:54:13 PM
Yea, I struggled with cold resist. It's easier to find fire and lightning resist imo
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 27, 2013, 11:55:05 PM
FUCKING SHIT

So, I was taking the opportunity of the 4 hr race to try and level another marauder up in HC, and SAME FUCKING PLACE I get killed again, even though this time I have a cold resist ring AND a flask that dispels chilled/frozen. 

Fuck it.  I'm done with HC melee characters.  What's a good link to a wand templar build?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Momo on February 28, 2013, 12:15:32 AM
shit, how do i get in this again? I remember a beta app of some sort

http://www.pathofexile.com/

This thread has a nice introductory video to the game, might want to watch just to get a feel for things (as it downloads)
I went in and mashed random email addresses I have .. didnt realise I was in already and since 2011 :lol

(http://i.imgur.com/OW06weN.png)
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: etiolate on February 28, 2013, 12:22:02 AM
When would you all say the average character starts to take off?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 28, 2013, 12:24:02 AM
When would you all say the average character starts to take off?

It's completely dependent on your build and how well you've optimized everything.  From what I've played so far (every class except the Templar) I'd say that the best class is Ranger... just take poison arrow for early game, build to lightning arrow for late game. 

The best thing you can do in this game is have an idea of where you want to go... the worst thing is to just level and dump points into passive slots without a plan.  Even if your plan doesn't work out, at least you learned how NOT to do something.  Levelling and spending passive points without a plan, you're never going to figure anything out.  Waste of time.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Momo on February 28, 2013, 01:39:24 AM
Do you guys co-op?

I would like nothing more than a borean holding m hand :heart
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on February 28, 2013, 01:50:48 AM
PD and I play a bit, and we've played a couple times with FatalT.  Adding people is weird, you have to add a character name and that will friend request their main account... the social aspects in the game could use some work, but HEY IT'S FREE so there's that.

You can add me- Excretia is my ranger's character name.  PD's main character's name is Goinio I think.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Momo on February 28, 2013, 01:52:27 AM
I will later, at work now :)
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on February 28, 2013, 02:15:40 AM
Started the race two hours late, went with a GS Maurader and finished Act I at lv15 (#636); multiple close calls on last boss but I got a life on hit support gem with Leap Slam, shit was awesome. Holy shit, I bet I could have gotten to Act III if I could have started the race on time.

 :rejoice :rejoice :rejoice Melee is for closers  :rejoice :rejoice :rejoice

When would you all say the average character starts to take off?

IMO it's less about level and more about weapon. Once you get a weapon with decent speed, and some nice gems to spice things up, the game really takes off. Given how sluggish the game can be, I wish the developers would eliminate most slow weapons from the game. People start out with a 1.1 attack-per-second weapon, get turned off, and quit shortly after. Once you get around lv12 you should have a couple decent items and gems. At its best it can look like this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CHGLWhMunM
The early game can be slow, but I'd say watch some videos, read the forums, and get to lv12 or so
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Momo on February 28, 2013, 02:54:46 AM
That build :bow
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 01, 2013, 11:47:33 PM
Ok, so I've had my greatest HC success so far with a Lightning Strike Templar build... I'm at level 20 or so in early Act 2. 
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 02, 2013, 12:30:30 AM
Missed the race, had to babysit my cousin. Oh well, got to watch Little Nemo Adventures In Slumberland with him. It has aged well  :rejoice
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 02, 2013, 12:38:36 AM
You busy tomorrow at 4 eastern?  2 hour party race :rock
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 02, 2013, 12:41:34 AM
I'll try to make it :rock

My highest HC character is my lv20 Lightning Arrow Marauder
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 02, 2013, 12:42:18 AM
Did your ranger die

 :deadmanny
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 02, 2013, 02:19:10 AM
No she's still alive! I think she's like lv14 or something, haven't been leveling much so I don't  get too far ahead
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 02, 2013, 06:12:05 PM
#1356th place in the 2 hour race  :rock

EB excellence representin yo

I almost most hit level 16, which would have netted me 2 more points, but since I was soloing and not in a party I didn't get any bonus xp.   :-\
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 02, 2013, 06:31:11 PM
jesus fuck I hate when Saturdays move from "day I can do whatever I want" to "day I have to do shit"  :'(
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: FatalT on March 03, 2013, 12:43:34 AM
Quote from: E-mail
Your Path of Exile account has been locked because someone logged in from a location that you don't typically play from - "Shaoxing, Zhejiang, China".

To play again, you'll need to type or paste the following access code into the game client after logging in:

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

If you didn't just log in from a new location, then someone else has your account password! You should change it immediately which can be done on our website.

If you have any problems with this process, please contact customer support by replying to this email.

Are you shitting me? Some Chinese dude is trying to steal my free to play account?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 03, 2013, 12:51:47 AM
Ha, same thing happened to PD earlier
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 03, 2013, 01:04:28 AM
Yup it happened while I was in game. I was stuck in a loading screen and decided to exit the game; when I tried to re-enter it told me someone from China was trying to log in. They send the lock code to whatever email you used to sign up so it's very easy to unlock.

I'm going to change my password soon. I like how quick/easy it is to deal with tbh. You don't have to buy an authenticator or deal with customer service. That being said Blizzard has great customer service, not knocking them; my WoW character got stolen once and they handled it very quickly without me losing gear

------

Anyway me and Creepy Old Guy did some heavy lifting in HC. Knocked out a lot of Act II very quickly, pretty fun; I really like how the portal system works. I do hope they make in-game maps more helpful/decent looking in the future. A cursor should tell you the general direction someone is at if they aren't in range...like most modern games with maps
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 03, 2013, 02:15:30 AM
You can just hit tab to bring up the overlay map and look for the green x indicator; that's where your other party member is :P
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 03, 2013, 02:32:22 AM
Well yea but sometimes the person isn't on that map!
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 03, 2013, 04:09:33 AM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc_0YMs_Jww
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/210703

oh my fucking god. I'm doing this ASAP
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 03, 2013, 09:08:38 PM
Act 3 HC with my LS Templar, like a baws  :rock

...I did have to port back to town like a little bitch once during the Act 2 boss fight to refill my flasks, but whatevs.  In SC I wouldn't have bothered, but in HC you can't die once :P
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 04, 2013, 03:45:34 PM
Kripp and Curse have a new website with good, tested builds on it

http://www.exilepro.com/builds

Some good shit
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 06, 2013, 09:42:14 PM
JD- are you in HC or SC?  I got bored with SC and am levelling a couple of HC characters with the intention of doing maps.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 06, 2013, 09:48:17 PM
I haven't played my main SC character lately. Not bored per se - I've been using Leap Slam and holy shit it's amazing. But moreso because I accidentally overprepared for Merciless. I'm lv48 in lv43 content right now, and so my xp gain is low and I'm just owning shit left and right.

All my HC characters are still alive. I want to get them all around the same level so that if I lose one, I have another to replace it. What lv are you, Triumph?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 06, 2013, 09:51:42 PM
I have 3 HC characters I'm working on... a lv 34 Templar at the end of Act 3 normal, a lv 26 Ranger close to the end of Act 2, and a lv 12 Shadow that I just beat Brutus with.  The LS templar is so OP right now... tank shit like it's nothing.  Probably another 10 skill points or so before I spec into Blood Magic.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 06, 2013, 10:49:25 PM
Got my HC lightning bow Maurader to lv29 right before reaching the top of the Act II pyramid...immediately signed off lol. I don't even want to tempt myself. Sure I could probably beat Vaal, my resists are super high and I've taken all the armor/life nodes I could find...but don't want to take a chance. I'll get a couple more levels down before trying lol
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 06, 2013, 11:01:36 PM
I could carry with my Templar.  He doesn't fuck around.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 09, 2013, 03:56:17 PM
Got my Shadow to lv 19 and then he got his ass pwned by a bunch of flicker strike spiders  :-\

I've gone about leveling my Ranger instead, and I almost lost her at the beginning of act 3 when I ran into a unique monster that tossed traps... I got snared and was getting gang banged by a bunch of trash mobs, still not sure how I didn't die... I popped all my potions and I swear at one point I didn't see ANY life left in my globe.  That's some shit.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 09, 2013, 04:38:30 PM
Been so busy, I'll try to play tonight. Definitely want to fuck up Vaal, I think I can solo him lol
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 09, 2013, 07:29:21 PM
double post but fuck it

New patch including a skill added to the game: Incinerate.
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/227309

They should give players a couple respec points every time a patch is released
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on March 09, 2013, 08:43:25 PM
Supposedly they're gonna try to release a new skill every week or so, which is awesome.  Plus I think there's like 50 uniques left from the Diamond supporter packs where players get to create their own unique.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on March 11, 2013, 11:56:43 PM
Being a dumbass I didn't get Resolute Technique for my GS Marauder until today (lv49). It greatly improved my dps. Now I'm going to move up to the Templar side of the tree and take more armor/life

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAEtkUIBiRGS4aPiECITQhVSftKLUpLir2Nug5DjpSOzs8LT38UEdQUFWpVbVWBFhjXz9giGDEYVJyqXuMfLh82YZgjAaMz5e0ns2krKcwrKqsurndwQTE9sauxtjJmNSP3D3fv-dj7w7xrPIv8kXz3fZI977-Cg==

1307 health so far
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on April 01, 2013, 01:11:04 AM
Finally beat the game on HC... never bothered to beat it with any of my SC characters.  I've been fucking around with a LS sword-duelist build that has some good potential I think.  I housed Piety at the end there, pretty dope.

The game definitely has potential, and it scratches my "min/max and fuck around with different things" itch way better than D3 at this point. 

...too bad it has shitty limited respec.  :P
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on April 01, 2013, 02:47:38 AM
I've been on my SC main a lot, need to go back to HC lol. All my characters are still alive, just gotta pick them up again.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on September 23, 2013, 11:48:19 PM
Rest of Act III will be released in about a month
Quote
We've just deployed the 0.11.5c patch to fix some issues found in Friday's 0.11.5 patch. Work on 0.11.6 started today, which is a patch being produced mostly by Rory. He has spearheaded some new trap skills (which are looking pretty awesome). We're still six weeks out from deploying 1.0.0, but here's the smallest possible teaser I can get away with posting.

(http://webcdn.pathofexile.com/public/chris/Teaser1.jpg)
 
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/518709/page/1#p4628218

Haven't played much in ages but I'm definitely returning for that. Sounds like a new class is coming soon too.

Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on October 04, 2013, 10:01:35 PM
Full PoE release on October 23rd
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmjied_ZLV8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxxSuuPnESM


Some summary:
- New class: Scion, starts at the center of the tree and must be in game to unlocked first
- Two new 4 months Leagues:
Nemesis: Hardcore League - rare monsters has additional unique abilities [explode on death, bounce back Your projectiles etc]
Domination: non HC leagues - introduces Shrines, Shrines have big pack of very hard monsters around them and Shrines benefits monsters, but You can capture a Shrine and get its effect by clicking on it - examples: Freezing ground, Always Crit
- Full Guilds support
- Steam integration
- Two new PVP modes:
Tournament mode: Hour long PvP tournaments will be on in which players will have to rack up wins through a set system or mode. The more wins you get in the hour, the better your chance of coming out on top with prizes.
Capture the flag: Players will have to force their way into the enemy’s base as teams of five or six (final testing pending). Based around Act 2 bandits camps.

- Act 3 Extension
- New skills [3 confirmed by now]:
Spectral Throw - throw a copy of Your weapon
Animate Guardian - reanimate equipment from the ground to create a minion (all items stats apply to minion!)
Animate Weapons - animate weapons from the ground, for example You can get 4-5 spectres that follows You and fight for You

- Trigger Gems - new type of support gems that triggers other skills on kill/hit/stun etc.
For example You have Have Cleave and every time You kill enemy with it, You have % chance to proc skill that is linked to Cleave, for example Fireball, of course all skills are affected by normal Support gems. Or You have on stun trigger gem linked to Enduring Cry, every time You're stunned You get % to cast Enduring Cry!
- New Keystone Passive: Mana Shield - 30% damage taken is taken first from Mana pool
- Tons of new enemies and their skills, for example one monster has Shield Bubble and You can damage it only within Bubble or from spawned on the ground circles

Later patch: Complete overhaul of trading (watch the Gamespot video for more info)

(http://replygif.net/i/1049.gif)
Holy shit @ everything. I've been waiting for Steam, it'll definitely make the social aspect better. PVP actually sounds amazing, and really fixes the issue of dealing with overpowered characters destroying everyone. You get a mode for 1v1 annihilation, and a team mode with more diverse gameplay (I'll be tanking!).
:rejoice


Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: etiolate on October 05, 2013, 02:43:44 AM
I might jump back in with this update. PRETTY NICE.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on October 05, 2013, 05:08:14 AM
:gladbron

It's an embarrassment of arpg riches these days, brehs

:rejoice

We gonna get a queer ass 'bore guild running?
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Rufus on October 05, 2013, 05:38:13 AM
The trigger gems are huge. And Spectral throw at least looks cool with LMP.

Time to buy some more stash tabs I guess. I'm running out of space anyway.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on October 05, 2013, 12:53:29 PM
I'm imaging a Trigger Build with Molten Shell. Sweep/Leap Jump for fast kills and the aoe from the trigger would make you a god damn nuclear bomb
:bow
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on October 06, 2013, 03:10:22 AM
Figured I'd come back a bit earlier, so I created a character on the Onslaught league. Basically it's a hardcore league where all enemies movement, attack and cast speed are 20% faster. Was trying out a tank build with a 1H Marauder, did pretty damn well...until I was just about to reach the final boss of Act I. Those red octopus things that explode...they came out of nowhere and destroyed me.  :lol

 :'(
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: archie4208 on October 06, 2013, 07:52:52 AM
If only melee feedback still didn't suck dick.  :fbm
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Phoenix Dark on October 06, 2013, 12:53:51 PM
If only melee feedback still didn't suck dick.  :fbm

It definitely sucks in the beginning when you have a slow ass weapon, but gets better as you progress. When I died I was using a Cleave/Internal Blow build. Internal Blow has an appropriate thump feel, especially when you see the enemies explode.

BTW I like that they've nerfed ranged without decreasing ranged damage. Forcing players to get up close to certain enemies is a great idea
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Rufus on October 24, 2013, 03:55:07 PM
A bunch of useful links, including starter guides:
http://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/1p1oou/can_we_please_put_together_a_list_of_the_latest/
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Human Snorenado on October 24, 2013, 04:12:39 PM
Pretty much anything will work during the first act.  Midway through the 2nd, you want to have a good idea of what you're doing.

I always encourage people to just fuck around and do what you want with your first character, then when you realize that it won't work, give in and go use one of the basic templates/guidelines for a build that you think looks interesting.  Yes, the skill tree is massive, but no, not everything is viable, and you're not a beautiful and unique snowflake, so your totally awesome idea likely isn't viable, and yes you're going to have to give in and use something someone else thought up in order to progress through the content, no there is no justice, nor is there an Easter Bunny, Santa Claus, or pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.
Title: Re: Path of Exile- f2p arpg goes open beta 1/23
Post by: Rufus on October 25, 2013, 01:12:27 AM
The biggest thing to get your head around is how things synergize between passives, skills and item mods. Once you now how to improve your skills this way the passive tree (aka skilldrasil) is going to look a lot less daunting and you'll know what kind of gear is best for your character. Planning out a build is going to be much much easier.

For instance, I've started a Scion on the Nemesis league because she's new. I'm going to use Spectral Throw throughout, which is what she starts with.

Since it's an "attack" (as opposed to a spell or trap) and a "projectile" (as opposed to melee), these modifiers will scale it:

Quote
Damage Modifiers: Spectral Throw is classified as an Attack and will benefit from x% increased Attack Speed but not from x% increased Casting Speed. It benefits from x% increased Projectile Damage and x% increased Weapon Physical Damage but not x% increased Melee Damage.
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Spectral_Throw

Ideally you would want to pick up as many of these as you can on the passive tree. If you do that, you're going to end up in the Ranger's starting area on the passive tree and subsequently pick up a lot of DEX nodes. Which is just as well, because Spectral Throw is a dexterity skill and you will need more and more DEX level up the gem. Dexterity incidentally also opens up pure Amor-Evasion hybrid armour (STR-DEX), pure Evasion (DEX) armour and weapons like swords (STR-DEX). So an obvious path would be to specialize in that kind of gear and pick up additional nodes that synergize with those. I use two-handed weapons for my build, but I don't want to specialize until I find a really strong weapon. If it's a sword, I'll be picking up X% sword damage nodes. If it's an Axe, axe nodes and possibly one or two strength nodes so that I can use it. For now, I could be picking up X% two handed weapon damage nodes as well, but I'm forgoing those in favor of X% life nodes for now.

At this point it will become obvious that a Ranger might be a better start for a character using Spectral Throw. It's not necessary but something to keep in mind for future builds, since different classes can reach specific nodes much easier or earlier than others. Generally however, every class can do anything with the right build and gear, but the way there is going to look different. Often you'll level using different skills and gear and/or a passive build you more or less arduously spec out of.

There is more to it, but this is the basic approach. :>