How About This Ultimate Lightning Strike Rider Build In Path Of Exile 3.23?
I am going to show you the latest Lightning Strike Rider build in Path of Exile 3.23 Afflication League. We are using Nimis and Mageblood. The build will not be good without Nimis. In this league, MageBlood allows us to run very dangerous Tier 16 maps in a late game. We can do all contents without Mageblood except Tier 16 and Tier 17 maps in this league.
This build has very comprehensive defense, good recovery, insane performance in map clearing, and single-target. The DPS is 80 million while Focus and Berserk, 35 million while not Focus and Berserk. But we still die sometimes. If you really want to be very tanky, we can use Progenesis but 6 portals gone (die×6) is so rare in this build. We will always finish our juicy maps in most cases.
Damage Type
We’ll start with base damage. 3 Elemental Damage is our base damage type. Claw is our weapon. Gemini is a bit weaker than Imperial in DPS, but it gains mana and gains lesser life. Just make sure you are using life gain on hit implicit Claw and get mana leech in the passive skill tree. Just keep in mind that physical and chaos damage will not improve the DPS.
Fast Attack speed base with high Critical Strike Chance in Claw is necessary. We are a Raider and stacking Frenzy Charges, which give us numerous attack speed and damage. 40% Spell suppression and 50% Elemental Ailment Avoid gives us a lot of space for our gear. 20% Exposure is very good to this build because we are dealing 3 Elemental damage types.
How It Works
So let’s talk about how the Lightning Strike works. Lightning Strike is a melee skill and also a Projectile skill. We mainly focus on scaling Projectile damage, so we don’t want any melee tags in this build, like increased melee damage or melee Critical Strike Chance and multiplier.
Everything about the melee is not improving the build so much. It will still improve melee hit damage, but we are actually scaling Projectile damage. We gain Far Shot from the Fledgling. We will gain Far Shot benefit very easily with Nimis. Lightning Strike can hit the ground without targeting enemies, so we need non-Vaal strike skills to target additional nearby enemies to achieve it.
When we stand in the right positions, we can hit on the ground and the target in 1 attack. It makes the target take 2 extra Projectile impacts: 1 out going from the ground and 1 return. Lightning Strike returned Projectiles will only hit once on the same target. All other Projectiles from the same attack will not hit the same target multiple times. These Projectiles keep chaining between the wall and the Black Star. However, these Projectiles actually do not dealing damage.
From the same attack, pierce Projectile can hit once, return can hit once, and chain can hit once. No matter how many Projectiles we have, every Projectile behavior will only hit once to the same target from the same attack.
Unique Gear
In our gear, we are using some specific unique. The Fleding provides Far Shot, Projectile speed and damage. York of Suffering lets us apply stronger shock effect and increased damage taken to enemies. Without York of Suffering, we cannot apply a high shock effect on enemies.
Each type of Element is included: Chill, Ignite, Shock, Poison, Bleeding, Brittle, Sap, and Scorch. We have Brittle from boots implicit. Claw has a chance to poison. You don’t have to get this. It’s not necessary. The Taming is very good in this build. I tried to find another ring to replace The Taming, but I didn’t find one. You can use +1 maximum Frenzy Charges if you want. Nimis Ring, Projectile return and random directions. Random directions are actually good in mapping. We don’t have to aim in specific directions when we have no nearby enemies.
Rare Gear
For rare gear, we do need some specific modifiers on specific gears. Another is just for capped our resistances, spell suppress and maximum life, +1 maximum Frenzy Charges and an extra skill target 2 additional nearby enemies on gloves.
Brittle ground searing exarch implicit and Aliments Avoid The Eater of Worlds implicit on boots. Stun Avoid and Ailments Avoid on body armour. It doesn’t need to be veil -prefix. Crafted prefix is fine in most case. Double damage on Shield is not necessary. You can get it if you want.
Flasks
For the Mageblood, we use Life Flask (no effect by Mageblood) that immune bleed and corrupted blood. We use Silver Flask and the additional Elemental resistances outslaught effect will also inceased by Prefix and Enchantment. Elemental resist for me to pick blue altar randomly. You can get Stun Avoid or anything else that you like.
Sulphur Flask with reduced curse effect. We need at least 52% reduced the curse effect to achieve the curse immune. Diamond Flask with attack speed, and a Gold Flask with crafted increased rarity. We can craft reduced reflected damage taken in another Gold Flask and swap if needed. We’ll swap to Granite Flask with tier 1 increased armour sometimes. I only swap when I fight the league boss.
To craft this flask, we don’t craft a specific suffix on a specific flask, like Silver should be attack speed. If when we craft Diamond Flask, and get tier 1 attack speed, you should keep it and you’re going to craft another flask.
We still have crafted increased rarity as our suffix. So if you get what I say, crafting flasks will be easier. But we better have crafted POE Items rarity in Gold Flask, because sometimes we will swap with Granite Flask. We don’t want to lose something when we swap our flasks.
Passive Tree
For the passive skill tree, you can get Lethal Pride with 5 double damage. If you cannot find this, you can buy 4 double damage. But you need to adjust passive skill a little. Because some double damage applies on resourcefulness. The number is matter, under ‘who’ is doesn’t matter. So you don’t want to find under Rakiata only. You can find a same number under Kaom or Akoya.
A little tip for you: Thread of Hope with a very large ring to allocate Piercing Shots, Multishot, and Stun immune. In this setup, we need this cluster to help us capped our Stun immune. But actually, just 1 more point. So you can get Mark the Pray with impossible Eascape if you want. Primeval Force is an unnecessary.
Jewels
Large Cluster Jewel is mainly for Fan of Blades and jewel slots. We don’t use Wind-up this time, just Fan of Blades and anything else. Alterations and regal crafting are not going to be easy. So you have to be patient or use your POE Currency to buy it from the market. Medium Cluster Jewel is also unnecessary.
Charms
For the charms:
- Melee hits have 20% chance to Fortify.
- Warcries grant 3 Rage per 5 power if you have less than 25 Rage.
- Critical Strikes have Culling Strikes.
- 25% chance to gain a power charge on Critical Strike.
- You take no extra damage from Critical Strikes while Elusive.
Gain Rage
We’re also using Redblade Banner to gain Rage from the charm. Swap to second weapon slot and Warcry. This is not very smooth but very powerful. When I use this method to gain Rage, I will move to cancel the attack actions. If we are attacking with Multistrike and the swap weapon 'X', it’s not going to be swapped. So we have to move and make sure we are moving, and it will swap. Just move and swap, and move and swap back.
We also need our main hand weapon to have enough attributes to keep our gears available on the second weapon slot. We don’t want to die when we swap weapon slots. Take no extra critical damage while Elusive is perfect to against Primal Whips buff. We always have Elusive when we are mapping.
Skill Gems
The skill gem is very basic. Steelskin with CWDT as our guard skill. Sniper’s marks with mark on Hit as our mark skill. Berserk and Ancestral Protector, make sure on top of this, all supported by Lifetap.
We’ll talk about Mobility skill and Aura skill in more detail. Our Whirling Blades is supported by Rage. It helps us sustain our Rage easier. But when we’re running a map that has tons of monsters, we will always get hit and our Rage basically sustained.
So sometimes when we roll a map with Elemental Reflect, we can swap Rage to Brutality so we won’t kill ourselves by Whirling Blade. Flame Dash for teleport terrain that Whirling Blades cannot do and debuff Grasping Wires and Poison. Overall, just use Flame Dash if you feel you are getting slow.
Our Aura pick depends on resonance gaining from Trinity Support. If we’re not gaining resonance, we have to swap another Aura. The options are between Wrath and Anger. Of course, we are using Grace and Enlighten level 3. Our main skill is supported by Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks, Awakened Multistrike, Awakened Added Lightning, Nightblade and Trinity.
Make sure you have enough Mana to use the skills twice. This is a pretty much completed build, so I think the gem setup is already the best.
Pantheon And Bandit
For the Pantheon, Soul of Lunaris is very good for this league. Physical and Elemental damage reductions is very good for mapping. 10% chance to Avoid Projectiles also increased the chance of survive. Soul of Abberath is necessary. Elemental Ailment Avoid is not include ’burning‘.
For Bandit, kill all and get 2 passive skill points.
Hope you like and try this build in Path of Exile 3.23 Afflication League.
Recommended Article
View More
PoE 2 Patch 0.5 introduced Concussive Runes, bringing new possibilities to melee gameplay. This Concussive Ancestral Cry Titan build is a powerful build specifically designed around this mechanic.
It chains together Heavy Stun, Ancestral Cry, Armor Explosion, and Herald effect, turning a single normal attack into the starting point of a series of explosions.
The biggest feature of this build is its incredibly smooth pacing.
The character doesn't need to stop and wait for skill rotations; by constantly approaching enemies with high-speed movement, the first hit inflicts Heavy Stun, after which Concussive Runes and various explosions automatically take over the battlefield. Clearing maps is essentially a matter of charging straight in, with monsters falling one after another behind you.
Core Mechanics
In PoE 2, this build revolves around a simple loop: Attack enemy - Cause Heavy Stun - Trigger Concussive Runes Shockwaves - Destroy armor and trigger explosions - Herald effect continues to spread damage.
Return of the Ancients's Concussive Runes unleashes Shockwaves on Heavy Stun enemies, and this build has numerous Stun buffs. Through the area-of-effect buffs of Hulking Form, Sine Aequo Grand Manchettes, and Overwhelming Presence, most monsters will enter a Heavy Stun state after the first attack.
This is crucial because much of the build's damage only applies to Heavy Stun enemies.
Effects like Crushing Impacts and Smash provide additional damage after enemies are controlled. Against bosses, these damage spikes activate simultaneously as Stun gauge begins to build, resulting in a very rapid decrease in health.
Concussive Runes themselves also contribute to clearing mobs. Their impact range can grow, and with Runes' shield and area-of-effect buffs, a single heavy attack can cover a large area in front.
Armor Explosion provides an additional layer of damage. Equipped with Wolf Charm, the character continuously damages enemy armor, triggering an explosion upon armor breakage.
Combined with Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice, multiple explosion effects can be chained together. In actual gameplay, it's common for a single enemy to be stunned, wiping out surrounding enemies as well.
Ancestral Cry
Another unique feature of this build is the triggering method for Ancestral Cry.
In Patch 0.5, normally Glory needs to be accumulated to unleash Ancestral Cry. Here, Animus Exchange is used to quickly acquire Glory.
Animus Exchange itself consumes Mana, so when paired with Lifetap, it becomes a life cost. Combined with Second Wind III, this allows for continuous skill activation. Since Zerphi's Infamy also consumes life, this combination quickly replenishes Glory.
In PoE 2, casting Animus Exchange twice consecutively will activate Ancestral Cry. It's recommended to use instant health potions to avoid health stress affecting gameplay.
Weapon Set 2 is crucial here. It needs to have a skill effect duration bonus and also requires a hammer that provides +5 melee skill level.
Note that Ancestral Cry must be configured in two weapon slots simultaneously. Switching to Weapon Set 2 when casting grants the skill level and duration bonuses from that set; then switching back to Weapon Set 1 raises the skill level to 38.
After casting, using skills like Earthshatter set to Weapon Set 1 and switching back will restore the damage boost from Weapon Set 1.
If your Animus Exchange is only level 20, two casts might not fully fill Glory slot. In this case, you can replace Second Wind III with Uhtred's Constellation to allow the skill to be cast three times consecutively.
This build requires moderate investment to reach its full potential. Core upgrades include a high-level hammer, skill level bonuses, key unique items, and optimized Concussive Runes. While the build can function on a lower budget, additional PoE 2 Currency greatly improves damage, clear speed, and consistency.
Skill Combinations
This build's main damage output revolves around Ancestral Cry.
Ancestral Cry is paired with Voran's Siege, Zerphi's Infamy, Rakiata's Flow, and Concussive Runes.
Since a large portion of the damage in this build in Return of the Ancients comes from elemental bonus damage, Rakiata's Flow effectively supplements the overall output.
Earthshatter primarily serves to switch weapon sets. After casting Ancestral Cry, use Earthshatter to switch back to Weapon Set 1, regaining damage and passive effects.
Of course, it can also be used as a single-target PoE 2 skill, but in actual combat, the enhanced Ancestral Cry is sufficient to handle most targets.
The two Heralds are Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice. Herald of Thunder provides Lightning damage and status effects, while Herald of Ice helps supplement control.
Since Cold damage itself doesn't easily cause a stun, Concussive Runes are included here, allowing armor penetration and bonus damage to help trigger control chains.
Wind Dancer is used as a defensive skill, incorporating Concussive Runes. When enemies attack the character, Runes are triggered, and the character recovers status through Armour Explosion, Life Leech III, and other methods.
Passive Skill Tree
In Patch 0.5, the passive skill choices for this build primarily revolve around Stun, area-of-effect, and Elemental Armament.
Heavy Stun-related nodes are core, as a significant amount of additional damage is applied simultaneously when the boss enters Stun. Area-of-effect effects increase the coverage of Concussive Runes and Herald Explosion, while Elemental Armament further enhances Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice.
If your PoE 2 gear allows, you can choose a hammer with Stun accumulation affix for more consistent first-hit control. However, this build does not rely on attack speed; skill level and base damage are always higher priority attributes.
The greatest appeal of this Concussive Ancestral Cry Titan set lies in its combination of the impactful melee combat of PoE 2 Return of the Ancients with explosive map clearing. After a powerful punch lands, the enemy's armor, health, and formation all crumble together.
Just yesterday, marking the critical one-week milestone since the official launch of Path of Exile 3.29, the studio released Patch 3.29.1, the first major update for Curse of the Allflame league.
To be honest, the arrival of 3.29.1 was expected to be a pivotal turning point for the current expansion, delivering the comprehensive adjustments players had long awaited regarding rewards, combat density, and the overall gameplay experience.
In reality, however, while the patch introduced useful quality-of-life (QoL) features and targeted enhancements for specific systems, it left a significant portion of the player base deeply dissatisfied. By seemingly overlooking core feedback and failing to resolve issues stemming from newly introduced mechanics, the update ultimately proved underwhelming and even disappointing.
Notable QoL Optimizations and Mercenary Improvements
Fair is fair: Patch 3.29.1 was not without its highlights. Ducat, a brand-new currency type first introduced in patch 3.29, has been well-received by many players. This update also introduces a new Ducat: UKatoa's Ducat.
Ukatoa's Ducat allows players to convert the implicit modifier on a non-unique amulet into any other Eldritch implicit modifier. This offers an exciting and highly valuable option for players dedicated to build theorycrafting and Allflame crafting.
Beyond the new Ducat enhancement, Patch 3.29.1 included various minor fixes and refinements designed to smooth out the day-to-day gameplay experience.
Most notably, the developers implemented substantial improvements to Mercenary system; Mercenaries below level 83 received significant boosts to both damage output and overall survivability. For Luminary players who previously struggled with Mercenary support, this means a much smoother progression through the early and mid-game stages.
Furthermore, to reduce the tedious grind involved in min-maxing builds, the developers added a base utility skill slot for mercenaries in Patch 3.29.1 and increased the spawn rate of Infamous Mercenaries in Tier 16 maps by 50%. For players tackling endgame content, acquiring a top-tier mercenary companion is now significantly easier than before.
The core issue remains: the disappointing drop rate of Abyss mechanic
Despite the welcome quality-of-life improvements mentioned above, the player base's overall reception of Patch 3.29.1 remains overwhelmingly negative due to how Abyss mechanic was handled.
As is well known, Abyss mechanic was originally introduced from Path of Exile 2 and was once a fan-favorite feature; however, the version implemented in PoE 1 suffers from a severe lack of rewards.
Prior to the release of Patch 3.29.1, the developers explicitly acknowledged that Abyss content was underperforming in terms of combat density, gameplay experience, and rewards, promising major adjustments within a few days.
Unfortunately, the actual adjustments fell far short of expectations. They attempted to address the reward issue merely by tweaking Abyssal chests: reducing the frequency and quantity of low-tier item drops, improving the quality and quantity of rewards from specific chests, and buffing Greater Abyssal Chests to yield small amounts of Chaos Orbs and Scarabs.
While the experience of opening chests has improved slightly, this stopgap measure completely ignores the most critical problem: Abyss monsters themselves drop almost nothing.
Abyss monsters in PoE 3.29 appear to be affected by an extreme negative loot multiplier. Even in a heavily enhanced T16.5 map (with over 200% item quantity bonus, nearly 200% item rarity bonus, high pack size, and additional currency drop multiplier), the drops on the ground are minimal after activating Abyss Scarab of Crystals and spawning hundreds of magic monsters.
When a high-investment map spawns hordes of monsters yet fails to yield even a basic crafting currency item like an Orb of Alteration, it indicates that the issue isn't merely about low drop rates or poor quality; rather, there is a fundamental flaw in the drop mechanics, one that simple adjustments to chest rewards cannot fix.
A Regression in Loot Drop Patterns
This phenomenon has reignited strong community dissatisfaction regarding the balance between rewards from specific locations or chests versus rewards from killing monsters.
In fact, back in PoE 3.28, many players had already expressed strong discontent with the status quo where the vast majority of valuable loot was locked inside static chests rather than dropping dynamically from slain monsters. If everyone is simply farming POE currency through treasure hunting, what is the point of putting in the effort to level up characters, optimize builds, and conquer endgame bosses?
Fortunately, the developers recognized this flaw at the time and took proactive measures in Patch 3.28 to restore the base drop rates of orbs from ordinary monsters.
However, they have failed to carry this approach over to Curse of the Allflame league; while Patch 3.29.1 buffs Abyssal chests, it keeps the monster drop multiplier at zero, a worrying regression.
This forces players back into a rigid spot-based farming style: slaughtering waves of monsters yields no substantial rewards, while all valuable loot is strictly gated behind the moment one clicks a chest at the end of an encounter. This disconnect undermines the core satisfaction of boss-like challenges, as defeating large numbers of dangerous enemies ought to be the primary means of obtaining rewards.
Conclusion
Ultimately, while Path of Exile Patch 3.29.1 introduces some quality-of-life improvements and enhancements to the mercenary mechanics, it fails to deliver a satisfactory experience regarding Abyss gameplay loop.
Clearly, the developers have ignored the core issue of Abyss monster drop rates, opting instead to fall back on a reliance on chest rewards in an attempt to mask the problem, thereby rendering a potentially compelling mechanic fundamentally flawed and unrewarding, much to the disappointment of players who enjoyed the original, fluid gameplay experience of Abyss.
Unless the developers open up channels of communication and directly address the issue of base monster drop rates, Abyss content will remain a missed opportunity, leaving players with little incentive to engage with a feature that was intended to be a highlight of the expansion.
Have you noticed that a new in-game jewel called Reclaimed Malignance was released alongside Path of Exile 3.29? This amazing jewel doesn't affect your Passive Skill Tree; instead, it directly alters your Ascendancy passives, preventing you from running out of mana during high-damage output.
Acquisition and Crafting
To obtain Reclaimed Malignance in PoE 3.29, players can't rely on in-game drops. You must first collect four smaller Abyss jewels: Baleful Dominion, Destructive Aspiration, Festering Vengeance, and Extinguishing Grasp.
Sacrifice these four jewels on an altar to craft Reclaimed Malignance.
Many players are already using this jewel, but its high price reflects its effectiveness.
Below, we'll explain how to use Reclaimed Malignance and why it's so useful.
Ascendancy Notable Replacement Mechanism
The biggest difference between Reclaimed Malignance and regular Timeless Jewel is that while regular Timeless Jewels affect core Keystones within a certain range on Passive Skill Tree, this one is different.
After inserting a Reclaimed Malignance into a jewel slot, the core Keystones on Passive Skill Tree remain unchanged.
For example, if you already have Eternal Youth keystone passive skill selected, it won't change at all.
However, if you open Ascendancy panel, you'll find that one of Ascendancy Notables has been replaced. Reclaimed Malignance directly affects your Ascendancy Notable, not Passive Skill Tree.
Available Replacement Options
In Patch 3.29, depending on the jewel's seed number and your class, Reclaimed Malignance will replace one of four Ascendancy Notables with one of the following: Sanguine Bargain, Spiteful Allies, Ephemeral Bolts, or From Below.
Ephemeral Bolts are quite interesting; they limit the maximum flight distance of your projectiles to five meters, stopping once it reaches that distance.
Skills like Fireball or Kinetic Blast, which explode upon stopping, essentially create a wall in front of your character, unleashing a burst of shotgun damage with considerable burst potential.
However, the skill most worthy of our attention is From Below, as it holds immense potential in Path of Exile.
From Below Mechanism and Application
This Ascendancy passive skill allows you to cast spells even when you don't have enough Mana, without getting stuck, but at the cost of completely preventing Mana Regeneration.
Your first reaction might be that this is awkward: without Mana, your character is doomed. But the brilliance of From Below lies in the fact that since you can cast spells even with insufficient Mana, you can simply use all your Mana to activate auras, allowing you to spam spells without saving Mana, maximizing the use of this mechanic.
Another advantage is that all map affixes related to Reduced Recovery are completely irrelevant to you, since there's no Mana Regeneration to begin with. Therefore, any affix won't affect your map selection, making it very easy.
Additionally, From Below can be used in conjunction with Righteous Fire of Arcane Devotion to replace Righteous Fire.
The regular Righteous Fire adds 39% more Spell Damage, but this version adds 25% More Cast Speed, which can reach 27% with higher quality.
Previously, Righteous Fire of Arcane Devotion would continuously consume Mana, but now even Mana is empty, so whether it consumes Mana or not makes no difference - it's like getting a huge amount of free Cast Speed.
Higher Cast Speed not only increases damage output but also significantly speeds up teleportation skills like Frost Blink, greatly improving your map movement in PoE 3.29.
Furthermore, players no longer need to agonize over whether to choose Eldritch Battery + Mind Over Matter strategy, saving many points and eliminating concerns about Energy Shield-related affixes.
Even more practically, if you're using Headhunter, with a large amount of Soul Eater buffs boosting Cast Speed, your character's Mana would inevitably be insufficient.
But now that Reclaimed Malignance has replaced From Below for you, you don't need to worry about it at all. You can keep casting skills no matter how many Soul Eater characters you stack.
Limitations of Reclaimed Malignance
However, besides the advantages mentioned above, this Reclaimed Malignance also has its inconveniences.
Only Effective for Spells
Firstly, it only works for spells; attack skills will still be blocked because of insufficient Mana. Therefore, players can basically no longer use Shield Charge and will mostly have to switch to Frostblink of Wintry Blast for movement.
Loss of Ascendancy Notable
Second, it occupies your only Timeless Jewel slot, preventing you from using other Timeless Jewels and sacrificing an Ascendancy Notable. While you retain small Passives, you lose class-specific traits, a significant cost.
Randomness of Replacement
Another frustrating aspect of this jewel is that its effect depends not only on the seed number but also on your class.
You might get From Below on a Chieftain, but a completely different Ascendancy Notable on a Hierophant.
In other words, the same seed number might not produce the desired effect on a new character. Many players spend considerable PoE currency trying to reroll for their desired From Below and free Cast Speed, only to find it wasted when switching characters.
Practical Advice
To reclaim Reclaimed Malignance while simultaneously satisfying the correct Ascendancy Notable and the correct slot (without overwriting a crucial Ascendancy Notable you don't want to lose), you may need to spend more currency on rerolls early on.
Therefore, before a new character is fully developed in PoE, we can test the configuration with an older character to ensure everything works correctly before officially creating a new character, saving some trouble.
In short, this Reclaimed Malignance has a lot of room for development in Patch 3.29, especially in casting builds based on From Below. We should see many interesting builds emerge in the future.
Players, when you're meticulously planning your map and adjusting affixes in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, have you noticed that this time is far longer than the actual time you spend on the map and fighting? The optimal gameplay everyone's chasing in endgames - finding suitable cities, stacking Deliriousness, and combining four tablets - seems to have gradually become repetitive labor.
Frankly, can we really derive enjoyment from PoE 2 endgames now?
The Preparation Phase is Tedious
Compared to the map's inherent appeal, the problems with Path of Exile 2 endgame gameplay seem to lie more in the pre-game preparation phase.
The tablet system, in particular, is incredibly tiring. Players constantly need to spend a significant amount of time managing tablet affixes and searching for suitable tablets to trade with, while also repeatedly searching for suitable city locations and modifiers in Atlas.
Furthermore, the search tools are limited, only allowing searches of visible areas and restricting bookmarks to 20, which falls far short of players' needs.
This results in players spending more time on tablets, trading, searching the map, and planning than actually fighting on it, leading to a significant imbalance in time allocation across PoE 2 content.
Profit Gap
The huge profit gap in endgames further exacerbates the players' predicament.
Based on player experiences, a single currency reward on a normal map is approximately 1 Divine, while a 200% Delirious map can yield a staggering 38 PoE 2 Divine Orbs!
This vast profit disparity forces many players, even those who find the preparation process tedious, to persevere for higher profits or to keep up with the game's economic pace.
While other gameplay options like Expedition exist, their efficiency is significantly lower than Delirious strategy, effectively limiting players' strategic choices.
Poor Map Design
Furthermore, many players have been tolerating the visual effects of PoE 2 endgame maps. Because the maps are so large, players have to spend a significant amount of time aimlessly running around in open areas, leaving very little time for meaningful combat.
Not only is the endgame map layout terrible, but the colors of the monsters and background terrain are also highly similar, making it feel like they are wearing natural camouflage during combat, which greatly affects the player experience, not to mention if Delirious effect is turned on.
Whether it's the clarity of combat or the ease of player control, the visually chaotic map design can, to put it bluntly, lead to player failure, wasting all their hard work and preparation.
Moreover, the core endgame mechanic, Towers, is actually quite disconnected from the overall game flow. If this isn't addressed, it will probably further damage the endgame experience.
Improvement Directions and Suggestions
To address the current issue of gameplay fatigue in PoE 2 endgames, the focus should definitely be on simplifying unnecessary and complex steps.
Many players believe that removing the mandatory requirement of four tablets is crucial for improving endgame gameplay. They argue that city terrain can be improved through other bonuses in Atlas Skill Tree, rather than relying solely on the benefits of four tablets.
Another important suggestion is to include key items like Grand Mirror in the currency exchange market, making them easily tradable like Breachstones or Ritual materials, thus reducing the time players spend trading and searching.
Based on the issues we mentioned earlier, another direction for game improvement is to optimize and modify the search tools and the maximum number of bookmarks, allowing players to truly devote more energy to endgame combat and character building.
Different Player Preferences
We need to recognize that everyone's gaming experience is highly subjective, so naturally, everyone will have different preferences.
Therefore, some players choose to ignore this strategy, continuing to farm at their own pace, or even enjoying the process of meticulous planning and pursuing maximum efficiency, viewing the complex preparation as part of the fun in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0.
However, the third type of player - those forced to follow - deserves our most attention, because being forced to execute strategies is the biggest source of fatigue in endgame gameplay.
Game design can certainly require players to put in effort for substantial rewards, but this effort itself should be attractive - it could be researching builds, challenging powerful bosses, but not repeatedly searching maps, mechanically placing tablets, or wasting excessive time on trading.
When players find themselves spending far more time planning how to play PoE 2 than actually playing the game, and this planning process is tedious, lacking interaction and a sense of accomplishment, the game essentially becomes just repetitive labor.
Therefore, the core goal of optimizing PoE 2 endgame gameplay should not be to reduce the rewards of high-end farming, but rather to make the preparation and execution of strategies more engaging and enjoyable.
Unnecessary and tedious actions in the endgame should be prioritized for reduction, allowing players more freedom to choose their playstyle based on personal preference. Every step in a high-yield strategy should be enjoyable, not a heavy burden.
Are you the kind of player who would go to great lengths to achieve the optimal economic strategy in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 endgame?
