Is Path Of Exile 2 Now Standalone? - My Personal Opinion
Last week was the long-awaited ExileCon 2023. While many of us were eager to hear all of the new details on Path of Exile 2 and the new Challenge League, GGG started the show off with a shocking announcement:
Path of Exile 2 would no longer be an expansion to Path of Exile 1, and would now be a standalone game. Both games will receive updates and staggered challenge leagues, so players can play one or both games going forwards.
This is a huge change, and the community has had very mixed reactions to it. Here, I want to talk a bit about why I think this is happening, what this means for POE going forwards, some concerns, and how I feel about it.
GGG didn’t spend a lot of time explaining the reasons behind the change. Only that it became clear to them that POE 2 needed to be a separate game as they continued development.
However, to me, the reasons seem very clear. Since the original announcement of POE 2, there’s been unease and discontent in the POE community. There was a feeling, partially due to developer statements, that POE 2 was going to have to slow the game down somewhat when it launched. That the insane screen-clearing speed of the modern Path of Exile was just too much to be the baseline of this new game, and that GGG would have to slow things down.
There was also the feeling that GGG would need to slow things down gradually in POE 1 as we got closer and closer to the launch of POE 2, in order to ease players into it.
Players who have been playing POE 1 for the last few years, or god forbid, visited the subreddit, will know the extreme outrage that happened when GGG did, in fact, try to slow the game down. Patches 3.15 and 3.19 were received extremely negatively by the community.
To the point, GGG had to effectively roll back many of the changes they had made, publicly go in front of the community to explain where things had gone wrong, and even permanently withdraw from engaging with the community on the subreddit, in order to protect themselves from the extreme, disproportionate toxicity.
It’s clear that part of why Path of Exile is so beloved is because of the extreme, absurd map-clearing speed you can achieve. And that large portions of the community will absolutely hate any attempts to curtail that.
But that isn’t the sort of game the devs want to make. And, if we’re being honest, perhaps isn’t the sort of game the general gaming public wants to play, either. After all, one of the major goals of POE 2 is to bring in new players who previously didn’t enjoy POE.
When looked at through that lens, the original plan to make POE 2 into an expansion for PoE is really the root cause of these problems. If GGG went with their original plan of having POE 2 effectively replace POE 1, they would run the risk of alienating their entire current player base of POE 1 players. But if they instead compromised on their vision for POE 2, they’d run the risk of having the game not be different enough to bring in new players, and stifle their ability to create an experience that was wildly different from PoE 1.
Having them be two separate games solves these problems. They can keep the fast gameplay of POE 1, while also providing a slower, different, and more combat-focused experience in POE 2. So, what does this mean going forwards?
It means we’re going to have two different flavors of Path of Exile. We’ll be getting twice as many challenge leagues per year as both POE 1 and POE 2 will be receiving their own, different, challenge leagues, and players will be able to play whichever seems more appealing to them or both.
This also means that they can have POE 2 diverge in some pretty wild ways from POE 1. They’ve already previewed that many currency items have been overhauled, and some have been removed, presumably with the goal of making currency more useful for actually crafting your own POE Items. Not to mention all the crazy new weapon-swap features, which will completely change how players create builds!
However, there are a number of major concerns that remain mostly unaddressed. The biggest one is what the impact of split development resources will have on POE 1. Will it still continue to get major development support? Will the challenge leagues end up being small and lackluster? Will POE 1 development end suddenly after a few years? I think that as far as challenge leagues go, I’m not really concerned.
There was a comment during ExileCon stating that for the last few years, the development team of POE 1 has been mostly just 8 people. If that’s true, it shows that they can still create some incredible leagues on a shoestring budget. And I’d expect support for POE 1 to continue indefinitely as long as there remains even a small, dedicated community.
The bigger concern, I think, is the issues in POE 1 that we’ve been hearing POE 2 would fix for years now. Melee builds, large swathes of useless underpowered skills, balance issues with ascendancies and archetypes…... Will they just end up remaining bad forever now? Will we ever see major balance changes again? Or, will POE 1 just keep chugging along, with players feeling more and more pigeonholed into specific archetypes and skills?
I think this is something GGG needs to directly address. It’s not just enough to know that they intend to continue updating and creating challenge leagues for POE 1. We need to hear that they’re committed to having it be its own game with its own distinct playstyle, and not just a glorified POE 1 classic server.
Also Read: Path Of Exile 1 And Path Of Exile 2 Are Two Different Games! - Differences Between POE 1 & POE 2
However, my biggest concern is the economic impacts of splitting the player base across two games. POE relies on having players to trade with, and the trade system requires players to be online currently in order to trade. If you’ve ever tried to play a regular challenge league after something like a Flashback league has started, you know it can be nearly impossible to do any trades. Everyone has switched over to playing the new Flashback league, and the league feels basically over, whether or not you personally want to keep playing.
Chris pitched the idea that POE 1 leagues may launch something like 4 weeks before a new POE 2 league, giving them about the lifespan of a Flashback event.
If you want to be a dedicated POE 1 player, you may find that you can only realistically play the game within these short 4 week windows. Similarly, playing POE 2 late in the league after the POE 1 league has already launched may have similar issues.
I think if GGG is going to go down this path, they need to seriously consider changing their stance on offline trading in POE. There needs to be some way of still getting the items you need, even when the majority of players have switched to playing the other game. Otherwise, both games will end up suffering.
I know GGG is dead-set against anything with instant buyout, but if they implemented something that let you buy offline items and then you received them some amount of time later (even days later, perhaps), it would really fix this issue and allow players to buy previously listed items even after that player has moved onto the other game’s challenge league. And maybe even give these players a reason to switch back, once they’re bored with the new league, to a pile of POE Currency they can use to dive back in!
Having said all of that, despite these concerns, I would say that I am feeling very positive about this decision. I think that had they continued down the path of having POE 2 be an expansion, it would have been disastrous. Either the game would have been too slow, or not different enough. Now, not only do we get to keep playing the game we know and love, but we get to play two different takes on Path of Exile.
I’ve said before that I find the idea of Ruthless extremely exciting. I’ve been playing POE since Closed Beta, and I will play and enjoy other ARPGs that are a fair bit slower than POE. As much as I love the insane clear speed you can reach in POE, I also feel like I’d enjoy a much slower experience, with a bigger emphasis on combat and moment-to-moment gameplay. And I feel that POE 2 is going to be exactly that. And I get to have both! And I get to have twice as many challenge leagues per year!
To me, this just means more Path of Exile, and I absolutely love it. I hope GGG can nail this and have two different versions of POE that appeal to both of these playstyles. I’m really excited to see what they have cooking for POE 2, and explore a game that’s going to be both new and familiar!
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Although Path of Exile 2 is complex and difficult to master, one of the main reasons it retains a loyal fanbase is its unique mechanics, unlike mainstream ARPGs, such as its detailed currency system.
Most ARPGs tend to have an economic system based on a specific currency or gold, serving as the basic means of exchange. However, Path of Exile 2 has many types of currency, each with different uses and acquisition methods.
While this increases the difficulty of currency farming, it also means your gaming experience will be clearer and more organized, rather than having a pile of coins without knowing what to do with them.
The economic system in PoE 2 resets with each new league. Therefore, now, a week after the start of Fate of the Vaal league, the popular Divine Orbs should be your farming priority.
Below, we will introduce the information you need to know to improve your Divine Orbs farming efficiency in this league.
Overview Of Divine Orb Farming Methods
Although PoE 2 has many types of currency, only a few are commonly used, and Divine Orbs are one of them. Their purpose is to increase the power of rare or unique items by changing their modifier values.
The effectiveness of these orbs is not obvious in the early stages of the league, so you can sell them for other currencies you need more. But as you progress further in the game, you will need to start farming them intensively.
Mapping
After entering the endgame stage, you can start earning various loot, including Divine Orbs, through mapping. The essence of the mapping mechanism is to constantly run new maps and fight in them to obtain rewards.
On this basis, Waystones and Precursor Tablets are two essential items. The former opens portals to random areas, and the latter increases the loot you ultimately receive by modifying the number and rarity of enemies.
Therefore, when farming Divine Orbs using this method, the key to improving efficiency is to obtain high-level Waystones while stacking Tablets, and also focusing on nodes that increase rewards when unlocking Atlas passive skills.
Trials And Events
Although the core function of Trial of Chaos and Trial of Sekhema is to help you unlock Ascendancy classes and talent points, they are also a mainstream way to obtain high-level currency, and you can farm them repeatedly.
Besides mapping and trials, when you play other endgame events, such as Ritual, Breach & Delirium, you can also encounter the sources of loot drops. Alternatively, if you urgently need currency, you can buy PoE 2 Divine Orbs through trading markets and websites.
Changes Introduced In Patch 0.4.0
In addition to adding new gameplay, each major update to Path of Exile 2 modifies or optimizes existing mechanics to ensure a smoother experience and better performance of the current patch content.
Based on the introduction to Divine Orb farming methods, you should already have a preliminary speculation of which changes will affect this. We will now explain them in detail.
Map Enemies And Bosses
When clearing maps, you will constantly encounter various towers. After the changes in Patch 0.3.1, their function is to clear the map fog after construction, revealing surrounding nodes and biomes, and guaranteeing a Precursor Tablet reward.
Building on this, if you are mapping during Fate of the Vaal league, the sources of increased enemy numbers on maps and Tablets have been removed, replaced by efficiency bonuses.
This means you will primarily obtain more loot by killing enemies with increased health, rather than by clearing a larger number of enemies. Regular monsters will no longer swarm the player in high density, while rare monsters will drop more loot.
In addition, each map now has a boss, some of which are more powerful - these bosses are marked separately and are more durable and deal higher damage.
If you are confident in your abilities, you can use an Overseer Precursor Tablet to transform the current map into one with a powerful map boss.
More importantly, after the release of Patch 0.4.0, killing the map boss will reveal all remaining unexplored content on the map, such as Breach hands, Abyss, and more.
Therefore, if you prioritize farming the boss when clearing maps, you can then more efficiently find all the content you want to complete, improving efficiency by filtering out mechanics with a lower probability of dropping Divine Orbs, avoiding wasted time.
However, if you die while fighting the map boss, all remaining content on the map will be removed.
Map Rolling
The map rolling mechanism has been significantly simplified, and no new mechanics that increase map setup time will be added in future updates.
Based on this, by combining it with an Orb of Alchemy that can roll Waystone modifiers, you can immediately give your map more affixes, thus obtaining more Divine Orbs or other loot upon completion.
Tablet Rolling
After optimization, by default, you can only have a maximum of two affixes on your map, but once you defeat the boss Arbiter of Ash in normal difficulty, you can reroll the map affixes to a maximum of four, including two prefixes and two suffixes.
Regarding Tablets, one affix you need to focus on is rarity. The rarity bonus of items dropped in the map stacks very well with the rarity bonus on your gear, thus improving the quality of all items you find in the map.
Optimal Farming Strategy
After understanding the above, to farm Divine Orbs faster in the new league, you first need to unlock the appropriate Atlas passive skills based on your class and build, and then focus on stacking map and gear rarity and killing rare monsters.
We hope our suggestions will help you earn more currency to upgrade your character in the later stages of Fate of the Vaal league. Have fun!
Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 features incredibly cool skill combinations, but if you frequently cast skills while farming, you'll quickly run out of mana. Furthermore, leveling up skills further increases mana consumption.
Mana management isn't just a problem for spellcaster classes; almost all classes face this issue during the campaign. Without suitable items, some builds will still be plagued by mana shortages even in the endgame. So how can this be solved?
Mana Regeneration During Mapping
While farming, using skills to kill mobs is incredibly satisfying, and with the right affixes, these monsters can become a source of mana regeneration, and the more enemies, the more effective it is.
Sapphire Suffix
One of the suffixes for sapphires is that it restores 1% to 2% of maximum mana upon killing an enemy. Sapphires are relatively common items, with a high probability of appearing early in the game. Additionally, the kill to mana affix can appear on Martial Weapons, rings, and gloves. Combining this with a sapphire bearing this affix essentially solves the mana regeneration problem during mapping.
Leech Mana
Another method involves using items with leech mana modifiers, which is also a powerful source of mana regeneration, but it's only suitable for physical damage attack-based builds. For example, Mark of Siphoning Support gem allows you to leech mana when attacking marked enemies, but the leech amount is only 5% of the damage dealt; it might be more useful against bosses.
Mana Flasks
Mana Flasks are a commonly used mana regeneration method and are crucial during campaigns. Not only do you need to upgrade flasks, but you can also add affixes to Mana Flasks using PoE 2 Currency:
- Increased mana recovery
- Increased number of charges
- Gain charges per second
Lavianga's Spirits is a unique Mana Flask that cannot and does not need to be manually used. Its effect is continuous, providing a fixed amount of mana regeneration periodically, the amount of which depends on its quality and affixes.
Besides Mana Flasks themselves, there are other ways to increase their mana regeneration. For example, in Act 4 Abandoned Prison quest, you can choose a permanent buff from Flasks that increases mana regeneration. Belts can also roll mana regeneration affixes from Flasks, significantly enhancing potion effects.
Some talent points can also improve the effects of Mana Flasks. For example, Lavianga's Brew talent point in Druid area grants skills 30% increased mana cost efficiency while mana Flasks are active and increases mana regeneration from Flasks by 10%.
Reducing Mana Cost
Reducing Skill Mana Cost
You can type Mana Cost in Passive skill interface to find many related nodes, some of which reduce skill mana costs.
If the talent point is too far away, you can use Distilled Emotions to anoint or infuse it into your amulet to reduce mana costs.
Converting to Life Costs
Price of Freedom key passive node not only increases the mana cost efficiency of attack skills but also converts a portion of mana costs into life costs. You can restore mana by using items with life-restoring affixes or life flasks, thus alleviating mana pressure. Blood Magic key passive node is a more extreme solution; it completely removes mana, making all skills consume life instead.
Support Gems
- Efficiency II Support gem: Reduces the mana cost of the supported skill.
- Lifetap Support gem: Converts the mana cost of the supported skill into life cost, similar to Blood Magic for single-skill characters.
- Clarity Support gem: When actively activated, it reserves a portion of spirit, providing a mana regeneration rate bonus.
Mana Regeneration And Maximum Mana
Each character has a default base regeneration rate of 4% of maximum mana per second, but this can actually be increased. You need to increase your mana regeneration rate. This can be achieved through Clarity aura, equipment, talent points, and Jungle Ruins quest reward, which increases mana regeneration rate by 25%.
Additionally, since the base regeneration rate is a percentage of maximum mana, increasing maximum mana through rings, amulets, and other equipment will also directly increase the regeneration rate per second.
Non-Universal Solutions
- Mana Remnants buff: Killing or critically striking enemies affected by Elemental Ailments generates lootable Remnants. Picking them up restores mana and temporarily increases maximum mana.
- Font of Mana Support gem: Enables supported Totem abilities to create an area that restores mana.
- Defy II: Allows the use of abilities even when surrounded and lacking mana. It can be used with Constricting Command helmet to reduce the number of monsters required to trigger this effect.
- Eldritch Battery node: Converts Energy Shield into mana, but consumes double the mana cost for abilities.
- Mana Recoup affix: Restores a portion of consumed mana over a period of time after taking damage.
- Gain mana while blocking: This effect appears in passives or equipment affixes, such as Defensive Reflexes passive node, and it is more suitable for high block rate builds.
- Thief's Torment Emerald Ring: You gain 15 mana for each enemy you hit. It's not powerful, but it takes up a ring slot.
The mana shortage problem mainly occurs in the early game. Later in the game, as your level increases, you'll have more equipment and currency, allowing you to tailor a solution based on your build. If you're still struggling with this issue later, it might be that your equipment isn't up to par, or your skill points are allocated to damage-focused parts. Review these aspects and make some adjustments.
In Path of Exile 2, Mystery Boxes are paid loot boxes containing a set of random cosmetic microtransaction items. These items are purely cosmetic and do not affect your character's abilities or game progression in any way.
Each box has a specific theme, and during Patch 0.4.0, it's The Last of the Druids Mystery Box, offering unique themed armor sets, effects, pets, and hideout decorations.
Price
Currently, The Last of the Druids Mystery Box can only be obtained from MTX store for 50 points, a microtransaction currency linked to real money.
In addition to the single box option, they also offer a bundle of 5 Mystery Boxes for 250 points. You can choose according to your needs.
It's worth noting that each Mystery Box opened will yield a different item variant, but some variants may be rarer than others. Therefore, the more boxes you open, the higher the probability of getting the rare item you want!
What's In Mystery Box?
The Last of the Druids Mystery Box contains 63 microtransaction items, many of which have varying numbers of themed variants.
- Stormborne Huntress Helmet - Chance to appear: 3.8462%
- Frigid Stormborne Huntress Body Armour - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Infernal Stormborne Huntress Body Armour - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Thunderous Stormborne Huntress Body Armour - Chance to appear: 0.7692%
- Chaotic Stormborne Huntress Body Armour - Chance to appear: 0.3846%
- Stormborne Huntress Gloves - Chance to appear: 3.8462%
- Stormborne Huntress Boots - Chance to appear: 3.8462%
- Frigid Stormborne Back Attachment - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Infernal Stormborne Back Attachment - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Thunderous Stormborne Back Attachment - Chance to appear: 0.7692%
- Chaotic Stormborne Back Attachment - Chance to appear: 0.3846%
- Stormborne Weapon Skin - Chance to appear: 3.8462%
- Fleshveil Marionette Helmet - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Porcelain Marionette Helmet - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Fleshveil Marionette Body Armour - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Porcelain Marionette Body Armour - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Fleshveil Marionette Gloves - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Porcelain Marionette Gloves - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Fleshveil Marionette Boots - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Porcelain Marionette Boots - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Bronze Marionette Back Attachment - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Silver Marionette Back Attachment - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Bronze Marionette Weapon Skin - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Silver Marionette Weapon Skin - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Bronze Marionette Character Skin - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Silver Marionette Character Skin - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Desert Sands Portal Effect - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Wasteland Sands Portal Effect - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Crimson Sands Portal Effect - Chance to appear: 0.3846%
- Desert Hourglass Map Device - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Wasteland Hourglass Map Device - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Crimson Hourglass Map Device - Chance to appear: 0.3846%
- Soulslash Portal - Chance to appear: 3.07692%
- Marble Soulslash Portal - Chance to appear: 0.7692%
- Prison Waygate Map Device - Chance to appear: 3.8462%
- Toad Idol of Corruption Hideout Decoration - Chance to appear: 1.9231%
- Toad Idol of Chaos Hideout Decoration - Chance to appear: 1.3462%
- Toad Idol of Alchemy Hideout Decoration - Chance to appear: 0.5769%
- Afflicted Altar Stash Decoration - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Vaal Cache Stash Decoration - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Precursor Receptacle Stash Decoration - Chance to appear: 0.7692%
- Shattered Mirror Stash Skin - Chance to appear: 0.3846%
- Civic Square Hideout - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Alpine Plateau Hideout - Chance to appear: 0.9615%
- Vastiri Plains Hideout - Chance to appear: 0.7692%
- Mausoleum Hideout - Chance to appear: 0.5769%
- Phoenix Pet - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Abyssal Phoenix Pet - Chance to appear: 1.3462%
- Blueflame Phoenix Pet - Chance to appear: 0.1923%
- Magus Quillbook Pet - Chance to appear: 1.9231%
- Vaal Quillbook Pet - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Abyssal Quillbook Pet - Chance to appear: 0.7692%
- Tracking Scroll of Crafting - Chance to appear: 3.8462%
- Ghostlance Level-up Extra Effect - Chance to appear: 1.9231%
- Rat Fountain Level-up Extra Effect - Chance to appear: 1.3462%
- Wings of the Phoenix Level-up Extra Effect - Chance to appear: 0.5769%
- Shattered Dodge Roll Effect - Chance to appear: 1.5385%
- Phoenix Dodge Roll Effect - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Rat Swarm Dodge Roll Effect - Chance to appear: 0.7692%
- Abyssal Dodge Roll Effect - Chance to appear: 0.3846%
- Giant Centipede Rare Finisher Effect - Chance to appear: 2.3077%
- Plummeting Chandelier Rare Finisher Effect - Chance to appear: 1.1538%
- Phoenix Nosedive Rare Finisher Effect - Chance to appear: 0.3846%
The above shows all the item variants included in The Last of the Druids Mystery Box and their drop rates. However, please note that this data only applies to the first box you open, as subsequent items will not be duplicates, so the probability of obtaining other microtransaction items will increase accordingly with each subsequent box opened.
How To Open The Box?
- Open your Stash: Open your inventory, click the Cosmetics button, then select Microtransaction Stash, or press the "N" key to open the microtransaction panel.
- Find the Box: Find the unopened Mystery Box in the Consumables tab.
- Right-click: Click on the box to open it and receive a random item.
Is Mystery Box Worth Getting?
Is this paid microtransaction box really suitable for every Exile? It really depends on your needs. If you enjoy taking chances, appreciate the thrill of randomly acquiring cool cosmetic items, and aren't looking for anything specific, then The Last of the Druids Mystery Box is a good investment; however, if you want a particular microtransaction item, it's not worth it, as the results are entirely dependent on RNG (random number generation). Moreover, you can usually obtain the items you want directly later in the game.
Therefore, it's best to consider Mystery Box as a way to support the game and enjoy some random fun, rather than a reliable method for acquiring specific gear. After all, this kind of loot box mechanism, similar to gambling, can easily lead to overspending without ultimately getting the items you want.
In short, at the start of the league, acquiring The Last of the Druids Mystery Box can indeed bring you unexpected surprises and make you the most dazzling presence in the game with its cool cosmetics. If you're interested, why not try your luck?
With the official release of Patch 0.4.0, the latest class, Druid in Path of Exile 2 has attracted more attention and use from players. Regardless of which of the three transformable forms you prefer, the one that will initially catch your attention is undoubtedly the wyvern!
As the last revealed Druid form, the wyvern allows you to use exclusive skills to deal effective fire, lightning, and physical damage to single or multiple enemies, and can further enhance skills by generating and consuming power charges.
More importantly, since all skills are essentially universal, other PoE 2 classes can also use wyvern skills to craft new builds suitable for themselves, greatly expanding the game's replayability.
Based on this, we will still focus on the most suitable Druid class to introduce the crafting ideas and actual combat effects of Wyvern Druid Build.
How To Match The Skills?
When you transform into the wyvern form, there are six exclusive skill gems, with the main skill effects as follows:
- Rolling Magma: Throws a ball of magma that lands on the ground, dealing AoE damage to enemies. It can also utilize human form skills, such as Volcanos, to make the magma ball bounce forward multiple times, causing chain attacks.
- Rend: Performs a wide-area slash with wings or claws; consuming energy orbs can generate additional lightning damage.
- Wing Blast: Flies backward to release a shockwave that stuns enemies, with a chance to gain energy charges during the process.
- Oil Barrage: Sprays oil to create an oil slick on the ground, or consumes energy charges to continuously spray electrified oil, hitting and damaging enemies.
- Flame Breath: As a dragon, breathes fire at enemies from the air, and the duration can be extended by consuming Rage.
- Devour: Restores health and gains an energy orb by devouring corpses or enemies. If the target is far away, you can leap towards them and deal damage upon landing.
Based on this, if you want to level up or clear bosses with Wyvern Druid Build, you should first focus on gaining lightning damage bonuses when using basic skills like Rend to increase the damage range.
The specific strategy involves first using Pounce skill in wolf form to leap forward, quickly clearing weaker groups of enemies with Oil Barrage to allow for more corpses to be devoured with Devour, and then repeating this process.
When encountering a boss, the cycle needs a slight adjustment: after Pounce, auto-attack until the boss is stunned, then use Oil Barrage or Flame Breath to kill the boss.
If a comparison is necessary, Oil Barrage is better because it can be used at range and is less susceptible to attacks than using Flame Breath while airborne.
Another key to ensuring smooth skill rotation is maintaining the energy shield's charge, thanks to Devour. When combined with the passive skill Zealot's Oath, its life regeneration effect is applied to the energy shield.
Additionally, you can unlock Thickened Arteries talent node, which restores 0.5% of your maximum life per second and further increases your life regeneration rate by 40% while stationary.
Because you are always stationary when devouring corpses, this allows you to recover more energy shield points per second.
Which Support Gems Should Be Added?
As items that further enhance the effects of skill gems, the choice of support gems is crucial for any PoE 2 build. Based on the main skills mentioned in the previous section, we recommend Holy Descent first.
This gem creates an area that heals you after you land from using Pounce, and this healing effect also works in conjunction with Devour skill to affect the energy shield.
More support gem options include:
- Fist of War: Increases attack range, deals more damage, and ensures enemy kills.
- Momentum: Allows you to deal an additional 40% damage when leaping forward.
- Cooldown Recovery: Allows you to use Pounce skill more frequently.
- Elemental Armament: Makes all your attacks deal significant elemental damage, and sweeping attacks also inflict lightning damage.
How To Use Spirit Skills?
Spirit skills actually refer to special buffs or usable minions that help you in combat by consuming spirit, and they are upgraded based on the boss rewards or skill tree nodes you acquire.
For Wyvern Druid Build, the help provided by Spirit skills should include life regeneration, curse removal, and elemental ailment removal.
For this build, Cannibalism and Compressed Duration are worth adding. Combined with other existing support gems, you will be able to maintain maximum Rage at all times.
How To Improve Survivability?
First, you need to ensure your gear has enough defensive affixes. If not, farm for new gear or buy POE 2 currency and then roll new affixes onto your gear. Don't forget to unlock nodes in your passive skill tree that provide armor for damage reduction.
If you chose Shaman when unlocking your Ascendancy class, you can also gain additional elemental damage and damage to all surrounding enemies through Ascendancy skills.
After unlocking Wisdom of the Maji Ascendancy node, you can gain additional rune bonuses. It's recommended to also unlock Druidic Champion and Furious Wellspring to maintain full Rage at all times.
How To Further Improve This Build?
To improve Wyvern Druid Build, the main area for improvement in terms of damage output is your gear. You can farm bosses or trade on the market to obtain better talismans, or try to get more base damage bonuses on your rings and gloves.
It's worth noting that Oil Barrage skill has the "projectile" attribute, so you should try adding projectile skill level bonuses to your talismans instead of melee skill level bonuses, as Oil Barrage won't benefit from the latter.
That's all for this guide. If you happen to be a Druid player who likes the wyvern form, our guide should be helpful to you!
