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NEWS GUIDE

  • Explosive Trap Trickster - Ideal Starting Choice For Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League

    Explosive Trap Trickster - Ideal Starting Choice For Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League

    Mar 28, 2024

    Hi, builders! This guide introduces the Explosive Trap Trickster, a bossing league starter for Path of Exile 3.24 that is both tanky and consistent. Known for its tanking abilities and boss-killing abilities, Trickster has won over novices and experienced players alike.

    It’s a perfect choice for those seeking an easy to play build that offers both durability and effectiveness, setting a firm foundation for economic progression early in the game. Utilize Assassin’s Mark and Bear Trap for added single-target damage, the build ensures smooth boss encounters with no constant recasting.

    Leveling Progress

    At the beginning, we utilize Stormblast Mine and Orb of Storms. To maximize effectiveness, stand within the Orb of Storms and detonate the Stormblast Mine, amplifying the Orb of Storms's damage output significantly. Then, at around Level 12, transitioning to Lightning Trap while retaining Orb of Storms remains a viable strategy. The progression of gem usage is straightforward across various stages of development.

    Upon reaching Level 38, we incorporate Lightning Trap and Lightning Spire Trap into our arsenal. As we progress to higher-tier maps, we transition to using Explosive Trap. Notably, this build does not require any transfigured gem.

    Early Game Gear Setup

    When it comes to early game items, simplicity is key, and this approach aligns perfectly for league starters. We prioritize straightforward gear selection, focusing on essentials like life and resistances.

    Not relying on unique items allows players with a small amount of POE Currency to build. This simple approach makes it a great choice for solo play and ensures players of any experience level can complete the mission with ease.

    In the mid-game phase, acquiring a Lightning Coil becomes a priority. Fortunately, this item is readily obtainable through farming. Lightning Coil divination cards can be found in various maps, particularly in cemeteries and lead lines. Essentially, any map with open areas suitable for Lightning Strikes should yield results.

    Players can also opt for Alternating Sceptre. While these are rare drops from Heist encounters, investing time in Heist content and running blueprints can greatly enhance your chances of obtaining one. Aim for a sceptre with at least a +1 to physical skill gem, and later, with persistence, achieving a +2 modifier becomes increasingly deterministic.

    • Weapons: Void Sceptre & Supreme Spiked Shield
    • Helmet: Deicide Mask
    • Body Armor: Sadist Garb
    • Gloves: Dragonscale Gauntlets
    • Boots: Dragonscale Boots
    • Amulet: Citrine Amulet
    • Rings: 2 Two-Stone Rings
    • Belt: Heavy Belt

    Leadership's Price

    Another beneficial option for this build is Leadership's Price. This is particularly advantageous because of the scarcity of alternative Alternating Sceptres, which can be challenging to obtain. However, Leadership's Price can be acquired from the unique Contract The Twins. With luck, this item has the potential to offer significant bonuses, including +3 max fire, cold and lightning resistance.

    It's essential to prioritize favorable rolls when considering this option. Avoid using items with undesirable rolls, as they are not worth utilizing. Leadership's Price essentially provides similar benefits to an Alternating Sceptre, allowing for the possibility of equipping another reliable sceptre like a Void Sceptre with favorable stats.

    Endgame Gear Setup

    As we transition from the mid-game to the endgame in the current patch, a pivotal upgrade involves acquiring Spellbreaker. This skill significantly enhances suppression capabilities, making it a potent addition to our arsenal. We'll aim to achieve action speed on our boots, reaching about 105. However, we'll implement this switch only after attaining freeze immunity from the Brine King Pantheon.

    • Weapons: Alternating Sceptre & Supreme Spiked Shield
    • Helmet: Hubris Circlet
    • Body Armor: Desert Brigandine
    • Gloves: Murder Mitts
    • Boots: Murder Boots
    • Amulet: Citrine Amulet
    • Rings: 2 Amethyst Rings
    • Belt: Crystal Belt

    Mana Sustain

    Early in this build, mana sustain is crucial, so obtaining Primal Manifestation is recommended. As we progress, we can aim for the gear with reduced mana costs on rings and amulets. To facilitate this, focusing on Betrayal encounters is advantageous. One effective strategy involves resetting the Foothills area while below Level 72.

    You can look for specific quest text on the right side of the screen. This process is repeated until a Betrayal encounter spawns, indicated by specific quest text. Once triggered, engage in the encounter to potentially acquire valuable gear early on, though it may require patience because of its occasional time-consuming nature.

  • An Underappreciated Non-Meta Build In POE 3.24 Necropolis League - Lightning Conduit Elementalist

    An Underappreciated Non-Meta Build In POE 3.24 Necropolis League - Lightning Conduit Elementalist

    Mar 28, 2024

    The Lightning Conduit Elementalist stands as an underappreciated non-meta build within the POE 3.24 Necropolis League. It offers an ideal option for both casual players and seasoned veterans as a league starter. 

    Pros & Cons

    This build focuses on shock stacking, enabling efficient clearing of Tier 16 maps and tackling bosses with a solid set of defenses tailored for endgame content.

    The likelihood of encountering setbacks with this build is minimal. Its resurgence occurred during the onset of the POE 3.23 league, where it underwent significant enhancement in quality. Opting for this build promises progress that consistently outpaces typical zone levels.

    However, there is a caveat to consider. Entities possessing immunity to shock or resistance against elemental ailments pose significant challenges for this build. Fortunately, encountering such adversaries is largely confined to specific map and monster modifications. Consequently, one can opt to avoid engaging with these obstacles. This stands as the primary drawback of the Lightning Conduit Elementalist.

    What Is Intended Use For This Build? 

    The scope of its application is extensive, as it excels in most content barring essences beyond tier 12 and situations demanding significant movement speed. 

    It efficiently dispatches packs of monsters while also swiftly eliminating resilient bosses.

    Also Read: 5 New Tier 17 Maps In Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League - Unique Boss Encounters & Exclusive Loot

    Mechanics Of Skills

    Additionally, there are a couple of crucial points to note.

    In order for Lightning Conduit to operate effectively, we need to induce shock using a secondary skill or buff effect. Even for inexperienced players, adapting to this playstyle is feasible. When utilizing a lightning skill on Orb of Storms, it triggers a series of electrical arcs that strike the target, applying shock to enemies assuming you've acquired the Shaper of Storms ascendancy point.

    Moreover, the target must be in close proximity to the circle. This aspect can prove troublesome with certain bosses like Hydra and others that frequently teleport. It's advisable to manually activate Steelskin based on your current situation. However, if managing multiple buttons becomes overwhelming, you can streamline the process by linking automation with the guard skill.

    The Effectiveness Of Shock Nova

    If there's a method to automate or activate Shock Nova without compromising its effectiveness, it could be revolutionary! 

    This skill has the potential to augment the maximum shock effect by up to 20%. With every 5% increase in shock effect, we gain an additional 20% damage, resulting in a total of up to 100% more damage! 

    Gear & Setup

    Regarding gear setup, Singularity scepters are readily available and affordable in trade leagues, providing a significant damage boost to the build.

    While Voice of the Storm isn't essential, it's a rare item, particularly on the first day of the league. However, it's not widely used by other builds. If unavailable, aim for any rare amulet with life, +1 lightning, and cast speed, as the difference is minimal.

    Valako's Sign offers several beneficial uses in the endgame. Alternatively, Berek's Grip can be used if Valako's Sign isn't obtainable.

    Inpulsa's Broken Heart greatly enhances clear speed for this build, albeit without adding extra damage. Its shock effect aids in smooth mapping. 

    The Unnerve debuff, obtained from the Eater of Worlds Implicit on gloves, is another valuable damage source. The decision to forego the shock spread modifier is due to its redundancy with our mastery. 

    If lightning exposure from gloves is obtained, Wave of Conviction can be removed from the gem setup. 

    Thunderfist unique gloves can accommodate the Lightning Conduit setup, which proves more potent than the 6-link setup. 

    Other crucial Eldritch Implicits include lightning exposure on gloves, cast speed, physical damage taken as elemental damage on the helmet, and action speed on boots.

    The remaining POE Items and modifications are straightforward. If spell suppression is capped through gear, this entire section becomes unnecessary, saving seven passive points. 

    A life flask with immunity to Bleed and Corrupted Blood is essential. Utility Mana flasks (Examiner's Silver Flask of the Ibex, Transgressor's Granite Flask of Abalone, Abecedarian's Quicksilver Flask of the Lynx) are optional, as flask sustainability depends on monster kills. For pinnacle bosses, using 4 life flasks is viable.

    Explanation Of Configuration Values

    Are you regenerating Energy Shield through leeching?

    Indeed! We’re utilizing the Energy Leech support, which remains consistently active since we’re expending Energy Shield for our skills rather than mana. As for the 65% shock effect, it’s attributed to Lightning Mastery and our scaling of shock effect from various sources, which also enhances damage output.

    However, when facing Guardian and pinnacle bosses, the efficacy of this regeneration can fluctuate between each hit due to their elevated elemental resistances.

    About Leveling

    When leveling this build, begin with Lightning Tendrils, an often underestimated skill due to its unique playstyle. This skill experiences substantial damage amplification with each increment of flat elemental damage added to it. This is primarily due to the scaling of Critical Strike multiplier and the effectiveness of added damage within the gem itself.

    Ensure to adhere to the leveling gem setup outlined in the notes section. It is imperative not to commence with Lightning Conduit without acquiring Shaper of Storms! Once Lab 1 is completed and you’ve obtained this, transition to Lightning Conduit, also acquiring the Elemental Overload keystone.

    For the secondary skill to apply shocks, I highly recommend employing Storm Brand with the same setup, as it necessitates a greater area of effect for Orb of Storms to reliably function.

    You can obtain Lightning Penetration Support from the Siosa quest in Act 3 or from Lilly in Act 5. Subsequently, focus on scaling shock effect as much as possible from the passive tree. Adjust your attributes using these nodes or through amulets. Additionally, ensure to acquire either Grace or Determination after Act 3, as the difficulty spike in Act 4 can be considerable without these. Prioritize the auras that are most essential until you’ve effectively allocated all mana reservation within your passive tree.

  • A Solid Build For Minion Enthusiasts In Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League - Lightning Summon Skeletons

    A Solid Build For Minion Enthusiasts In Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis League - Lightning Summon Skeletons

    Mar 27, 2024

    If you have an affinity for minion-based builds and seek a reliable option in Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis, consider opting for the Lightning Summon Skeletons build.

    This particular build is viable on both the Necromancer class in Softcore or the Champion class in Hardcore. It promises to offer a sturdy minion-centric approach, particularly suited for players comfortable with a more engaged playstyle.

    If you're interested in pursuing and refining this build, ensure you have an ample supply of POE Currency at your disposal.

    Mechanics & Playstyle

    The Lightning Summon Skeletons build boasts formidable damage output, enhanced movement speed, impactful Vaal skills for burst damage, and the potential for solid resilience.

    At the heart of the Lightning Summon Skeletons build lies the unique one-handed sword known as The Iron Mass, obtainable from Grand Heists. Equipping The Iron Mass in your main hand grants all Warrior skeletons wielding it the ability to deal triple damage for 4 seconds after you've recently struck with your weapon.

    During mapping, maintaining the triple damage buff is typically achieved through the use of Whirling Blades or Leap Slam. While Leap Slam offers superior overall mobility, its triple damage uptime tends to be lower compared to Whirling Blades. The choice between them largely boils down to personal preference.

    For single-target encounters and boss fights, Smite becomes the primary skill. It not only triggers the triple damage buff for 4 seconds but also bestows a substantial lightning damage aura upon minions. Moreover, when paired with Avatar of Fire, Smite triggers Elemental Equilibrium's 25% lightning exposure. Admittedly, the playstyle of consistently maintaining the triple damage buff may not suit every player, but it proves rewarding with proficient execution.

    As is customary, most of the flat lightning damage originates from Wrath, Smite, and Generosity gems socketed within March of the Legion, all of which are then tripled by The Iron Mass. Ghastly Jewels serve as another excellent source of flat lightning damage.

    In Softcore, playing as a Necromancer allows for a crit-based approach. However, in Hardcore, especially when playing as a Champion, investing in crit can be challenging due to limited passive points, thus generally leading towards a non-crit setup.

    Skeleton Minions

    Skeletons present an intriguing mechanic: despite their aggressive nature, they exhibit a tendency to dash towards foes, aiding significantly in map traversal due to their moderate speed compared to other minions.

    Regrettably, the sole practical means of enhancing their aggression in this setup is through the Feeding Frenzy Support, which proves beneficial for mapping endeavors if damage isn't a concern. A Summon Skeleton gem at 20/20 grants a maximum of 8 minions and summons 3 with each cast, increasing to 4 at level 21.

    When utilizing Vaal Summon Skeletons, opting for level 5 Awakened Minion Damage typically serves as the most straightforward route to achieving gem level 21. Additionally, there are two sources of extra skeletons available on the passive tree, offering a considerable boost to damage output.

    Unlike the majority of minions, skeleton damage isn't affected by increases in gem level, as they directly utilize and inherit the stats of The Iron Mass sword. Nonetheless, higher gem levels do provide a slight improvement in accuracy.

    Offensive Vaal Skills

    The build boasts several impressive offensive Vaal skills.

    Vaal Summon Skeletons stands out by conjuring a vast array of diverse skeleton types, proving surprisingly effective for single-target burst damage. 

    Vaal Haste grants substantial boosts to attack speed, cast speed, and movement speed for both you and your minions. 

    Meanwhile, Vaal Smite bestows a notable portion of flat lightning damage upon your minions.

    There's considerable flexibility in selecting these skills. Typically, opting for any two out of these three Vaal skills is advisable, as relying on all three can strain Vaal Souls reserves. It's recommended to utilize them together when facing resilient rare enemies, Essences, or formidable map bosses.

    Tactical Approaches For Mapping

    When mapping, summon skeletons amidst a cluster of monsters, then either leap slam into the group or whirl through them with blades before continuing onward.

    Dealing with rare enemies involves casting skeletons twice and following up with a strike from Smite. It's essential to uphold the Wrath Aura granted by Divine Blessing consistently.

    When facing map bosses or Essences, initiate by applying curses and your offering, then utilize Smite before activating all offensive Vaal skills to swiftly dispatch them.

    Boss Battle Strategies

    During boss encounters, frequently apply Smite to the boss while ensuring the maximum number of skeletons are engaged. If employing a crit-based strategy, maintain the Fresh Meat buff by summoning skeletons at least twice every 4 seconds.

    Continuously manage Divine Blessing, Wrath, and Arcanist Brand alongside any curses and offerings. Save your powerful skills for opportune moments to maximize damage output.

    Methods For Successful Leveling

    Regarding the leveling process, utilizing skeletons might not be optimal until you acquire the necessary unique items, but it remains achievable.

    For Necromancers, popular options for leveling include Detonate Dead or the Blink Arrow technique with Bombarding, commonly referred to as Bama, provided you obtain the gem. 

    As for Champions, transitioning from Slayer Bone Shatter to a Champion respec later is likely the most effective option. Additionally, Explosive Arrow or Toxic Rain Champion builds can serve as viable alternatives for leveling.

    Essential Items & Gems

    Essential items include The Iron Mass, March of the Legion, and Blessed Rebirth. Blessed Rebirth ensures a guaranteed 4 seconds of uptime per cast, allowing for the neglect of minion defenses if support minions aren't utilized.

    In Softcore Necromancer crit runs, consider employing the Ancient Skull Helmet for a significant damage boost. For Champions, The Devouring Diadem proves invaluable for addressing mana issues and enabling Divine Blessing.

    Due to the reliance on several unique items, managing suppression can be challenging in certain setups unless utilizing a rare chest. Ensure to invest in the Lucky Suppression Mastery if not already capped. Ailment immunity can typically be resolved by utilizing Stormshroud in conjunction with a high-roll shock avoidance abyss jewel housed within Darkness Enthroned.

    During mapping, utilize Melee Splash, swapping it out for Multistrike when facing bosses. Experiment with Feeding Frenzy Support for mapping to gauge the effectiveness of skeleton dash. For crit builds, always incorporate Fresh Meat Support and ensure a minimum of 40 seconds of Summon Skeleton duration.

    Ascendancy Flexibility: Necromancer VS Champion

    When it comes to ascendancy choices, this build is viable for both Necromancer and Champion.

    Necromancer presents an easier option for league starters with fewer gear requirements. Additionally, Necromancer allows for the inclusion of specters or animate Guardian, though socket availability may be limited.

    On the other hand, Champion offers increased durability and is better suited for hardcore play, although it poses greater challenges for league starters. It's advisable to refrain from using support minions with the Champion ascendancy. An alternative endgame setup, such as The Adorned, may be considered, albeit it often comes with a substantial cost. 

    Initially, I designed this build around chaos damage, utilizing Severed in Sleep in the offhand for enhanced reliability with wither and crit. However, upon transitioning to a lightning setup, I found it to be significantly more effective and never looked back.

  • The New Mechanical Belt Base Introduced In Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis Is Insane!

    The New Mechanical Belt Base Introduced In Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis Is Insane!

    Mar 27, 2024

    Recently, the update to Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis patch notes brought a series of new changes, the biggest of which is the replacement of Heist-exclusive base type Mechalarm Belt with a new Mechanical Belt base with a gem socket.

    Here we’ll talk about the major changes in this new patch and talk about our thoughts on this new Mechanical Belt. So let’s take a quick look at these.

    Boss Drop Changes

    First, the developers made changes to Stacked Deck, Diviner’s Strongboxes, and Divination Cards we got. These serve as rewards for various content, but now they no longer drop Divination Cards for boss-exclusive items. They’ve actually modified this to make sure it works with all items, not just Uniques.

    Scarab Rework

    Then they removed Harvest crafting, which allowed you to swap a stack of Scarabs into different types. But it was removed as part of Scarab rework in this patch.

    Skill Gem Changes

    Also, they have made changes to Convocation skill gem. This skill gem resummons your minions at your location. But now the skill gem has been changed to a gem with a maximum level of 1. This means it doesn’t gain experience and doesn’t scale in any way.

    But surprisingly, it now provides a fixed 2% life regen for minions. This is slightly better than the old level 20 version, and the gem’s level requirement is fixed to level 31.

    New Mechanical Belt

    Then we have a pretty big change in the item changes, which is Mechalarm Belt. This is an underutilized belt that casts spells in AOE and rips apart nearby enemies, but it doesn’t have great health. Therefore, we often need to invest a certain amount of POE Currency to improve its life regen.

    After the update, Mechalarm Belt is no longer available in Heist and has been replaced by the new Mechanical Belt. This belt features “Has 1 Socket” Implicit mod. This is also the first gem socket belt we see in Path of Exile.

    Mechanical Belt is the successor of Mechalarm Belt in Path of Exile. Their major difference is that Mechanical Belt has a socket that allows you to incorporate additional skills or utility gems, adding flexibility to your character.

    Overall, Mechanical Belt offers more customization options for your character build than Mechalarm Belt.

    I think adding this new Mechanical Belt is the developer’s response to what many in the community have said about gem socket pressure. In particular, the new league adds new Automation and Call to Arms Skill Gems, which will only increase the pressure on the socket.

    So this belt provides an extra gem socket in there so that you can put one of the standalone gems into it, like Convocation, or put something like Blood Rage in a melee build.

    I think this is a great addition to the game. But I’m not sure how much use it will get since the belt slot is really competitive, so we’ll have to see how many builds end up actually using it.

    Other Item Changes

    Another item change here is the addition of a new suffix modifier that rolls on Minion ones and Minion Shields, granting the level one Convocation skill.

    In addition, they also changed the way different characters get Convocation. It is no longer available to Witch who has completed Lost in Love Quest, and is now no longer available for purchase from Clarissa NPC in Templar or Scion. It is still available for purchase from Siosa Foaga.

    Outro

    These are some of the major changes brought about by this update. Let me know what you think of this new Mechanical Belt. Do you think it will be widely used? Is it possible to replace something like Stygian Vise with this belt? See you next time!

  • This POE 3.24 League Starter Build Will Destroy Pinnacle Bosses With Ease! - Fire Trap Ignite Elementalist

    This POE 3.24 League Starter Build Will Destroy Pinnacle Bosses With Ease! - Fire Trap Ignite Elementalist

    Mar 26, 2024

    Greetings Exiles! Welcome to my Path of Exile 3.24 league starter build guide, where I’m bringing my Fire Trap Ignite Elementalist.

    This build features multiple layers of defense and damage scaling to help you level up and farm Essences with ease, or even challenge difficult content like Pinnacle Bosses. You can cruise around the map with Shield Charge while throwing traps. If you’re looking for a powerful starter build, don’t miss this guide.

    Build Advantage

    Before we get into that, let’s first talk about the advantages of choosing this build.

    In POE 3.24 update, Frostblink received a huge buff, while Flame Dash was not so lucky. That’s why I added an offensive setup in PoB specifically for this.

    Once you reach the map, try to get the level 20 version of Fire Trap. This is a skill whose massive damage scales with gem level and damage over time multiplier mods.

    But why not choose Explosive Trap? Because there are three sources of damage for a single Fire Trap skill: one is the flat fire damage caused by the hit, the second is the ignite caused by the hit, and the third is Burning Ground caused by the hit. These scale to fire damage from all modifiers.

    Leveling Tips

    Leveling is so smooth for this build.

    You start with Rolling Magma while dual-wielding Goat’s Horns. Projectiles passing through Flame Wall add additional fire damage.

    Consecrated Ground from Holy Flame Totem is a great way to restore life during boss fights. Don’t forget to use a Dexterity Amulet to switch to Fire Trap before dealing with Merveil. Once you grab Shaper of Flames and upgrade your Fire Trap, your damage will start to increase exponentially.

    If you have a Mastermind of Discord but not Eldritch Implicit from Gloves for Fire Exposure, you can tie Wave of Conviction with Arcanist Brand along with Flammability and Elemental Weakness.

    When leveling up, you’ll need some extra Strength and Dexterity. You can temporarily gain these Strength and Dexterity from these passive points or Amulet. Since you get Eldritch Battery early on, mana maintenance won’t be an issue as long as you look for Hybrid Energy Shield gear.

    Gear

    The first thing I want to mention about gear is Stormshroud, which is tier 1 unique but completely optional. If you get it somehow, it will help you fix Freeze, Shock, and Ignite without having to rely on Pantheon. You can easily avoid shock from Abyss Jewel and Boots if you use it.

    I don’t like builds that rely on tier 2+ Uniques at the start of a league. So this build is also completely affordable for players with low POE Currency budget.

    Alternatively, you can fix Freeze from Soul of the Brine King while getting Ignite and Burning Ground from Abberath.

    Also, you will need a Life Flask that is immune to Bleed and Corrupted Blood. These Utility Flasks are optional, as your flask’s maintenance depends entirely on killing monsters. You can even use 4 Life Flasks when you fight Pinnacle Bosses.

    Pyre and Eye of Malice are powerful and cheap unique items for this build. But Polaric Devastation is a huge damage buff. There is a vast difference between having this ring or not. However, this is an exclusive drop from Black Star and will only get cheaper a few days into the league.

    As for the weapon, I am most interested in this league-specific unique, Dawnbreaker. This is the most powerful defensive unique shield currently in the game. It converts up to 20% of physical damage from hits into fire damage and has a huge chance to block attacks.

    However, this is not cheap in the early stages of the league. Therefore, you can choose any other defensive shield until you can afford this one.

    If your build isn’t too squishy and you can afford it, I recommend using Cloak of Flame, otherwise go with the rare Hybrid Evasion Energy Shield base. These items should have Evasion ability to gain a 15% chance of Suppressed Spell Damage Mastery.

    The glove should have Implicit for Fire Exposure from Eldritch Ichor to stimulate Mastermind of Discord. Ignite spread is better than Fire DoT Multi with Searing Ember, as it helps with clearing speed.

    Until you can afford the 6-link items, you can use Essence of Delirium to put this mod into your gauntlet, where you can master Fire Trap skill. This is much better than 5-link as it does 30% more damage without any drawbacks.

    How To Reserve Mana Efficiency?

    The next part is mana reservation and how we get 4 Auras through Divine Blessing. Suffice it to say, we’ve expanded the passive tree to cover the 3 powerful parts of this modifier. To do this, our gear doesn’t need another source to retain mana. If you run into problems ahead of time, you can use Mana Mastery or Rare Jewels to reserve efficiency.

    Golems vs Bastion Of Elements

    But why did we choose Golems instead of Bastion of Elements? The main reason is that there are very few benefits to be gained from Bastion of Elements.

    With these 3 Golems, besides distracting enemies, you get 9% additional physical damage reduction, 294% life regen, and 38% overall damage increase. Plus, even if your Golems die, they will automatically respawn quickly.

    So make sure to grab your last lab point, Liege of the Primordial, and then the passive point, Golem Commander.

    Gameplay

    The boss play style of this build can be explained from the fight against Minotaur.

    The first thing is to apply Scorched Ground from the boots to the boss position, if possible. Then you throw a bunch of traps in the area where you expect your target to be. Once it consumes the damage over time effect, you can use Arcanist Brand linked to Flammability and Elemental Weakness.

    The boss will most likely hunt your Golems instead of you. So throw the trap first, then Shield Charge while moving, and throw again. Then rinse and repeat using Flame Dash or Frostblink.

    Originally, this build used Righteous Fire, but the downside was the need to deal with life regen when upgrading. But with the nerfs in POE 3.23 patch, this isn’t even worth the extra damage unless you can get max fire resistance and 1000+ life regen.

    Anyway, that’s it for this Fire Trap Ignite Elementalist build guide. Hopefully, this build will help you get off to a better start when POE 3.24 league begins. Looking forward to seeing you in the game.

  • Toxic Rain Pathfinder Is Definitely A Good Helper For You To Run Lab & Heist In POE 3.24 Necropolis League!

    Toxic Rain Pathfinder Is Definitely A Good Helper For You To Run Lab & Heist In POE 3.24 Necropolis League!

    Mar 25, 2024

    The Toxic Rain Pathfinder build proved to be exceptionally swift and effective as my initial choice for the POE 3.23 Affliction League.

    How Does This Build Work Well?

    With a significant boost of 350% movement speed achieved through thorough upgrades, I found myself making rapid progress through the game’s challenges despite my modest gaming abilities. This build enabled me to swiftly evade any threats and engage enemies from a safe distance.

    However, as this was my inaugural build for POE 3.23, I neglected to incorporate any charms into its design. Despite these oversights, the Toxic Rain Pathfinder build proved to be one of the most efficient and enjoyable builds I’ve experienced. As for its farming capabilities, they were notably effective. As POE 3.24 Necropolis League draws near, I believe Toxic Rain Pathfinder build serves as a commendable choice for starting the league.

    The Details Of The Flask (Mageblood Effect)

    As highlighted in my previous guide, I smoothly traversed through Labs and Heist, maintaining nearly full uptime of my utility flasks. It was akin to having Mageblood the moment I acquired the Instilling Orb for use when charges reach full.

    But how do we sustain this uptime? Every minor notable from the passive tree and ascendancy points contributes to this endeavor.

    In terms of gear, all that’s necessary is a 20% flask effect duration alongside the cluster jewel featuring Spiked Concoction. Acquiring these is as simple as repeatedly using alterations on any of these jewels or utilizing harvest rerolls of attack modifiers.

    By the time you attain the ascendancy point - Master Alchemist, you should be capable of sustaining your utility flasks most of the time without needing to corrupt them for more than 20% quality.

    Regarding flask selection, the primary focus for the build is speed. However, if prioritizing defense, opt for Ruby, Sapphire, and Topaz flasks.

    As for modifiers, securing elemental resistances is crucial, especially considering the build’s vulnerability with unique gear. Aim for the 25% increased effect once you’ve ensured ample flask sustain.

    For life flasks, all my league starters are equipped with immunity to bleeding and corrupted blood. The faster the recovery, the better! And with infinite flask sustain at our disposal, there’s no reason to hold back!

    An Explanation Of Gearing And POB Configuration

    The preferred weapon choice for this build is the short bow series.

    Flat damage does not significantly enhance the effectiveness of this build. Instead, prioritize attributes like attack speed, gem levels, increased chaos damage, and damage over time multiplier mods when selecting your weapon. The same principles apply to the Quiver, although gem levels are not applicable in that slot.

    While unique items are entirely optional, they are easily obtainable at a low cost. Personally, I favor Carcass Jack due to its ability to enhance Toxic Rain’s damage through the stacking of overlapping pods. A 35% increased area of effect is sufficient to achieve this stacking effect. Thus, I’ve set a minimum requirement of 4 overlapping pods in the configuration settings, as this serves as a significant damage multiplier for Toxic Rain. If someone suggests a different value without accounting for adequate area of effect, skill effect duration, and attack speed, it’s crucial to reassess their reasoning.

    Managing the mana cost of skills is another important consideration. Access to non-channeling mods is limited until you acquire several veiled rings from the Syndicate or the Ritual. Therefore, ensure you have sufficient mana reservation efficiency from the passive tree to accommodate a level 10 Clarity alongside Grace and Determination. Since leeching isn’t viable with this build initially, consider using an Enduring Mana Flask or sacrificing Determination for a higher level Clarity gem until you’ve obtained enough mana through leveling. Additionally, reservation efficiency and reduced mana cost of skills can be obtained from rare crimson jewels.

    As you progress your character to endgame, these issues can be resolved entirely. Now, let’s address the question of how to obtain 15 stacks of withered debuff.

    With this build, acquiring 15 stacks of withered debuff is relatively straightforward, thanks to multiple available sources. Withering Step provides a quick method to accumulate 15 stacks, although its effect dissipates rapidly. However, the primary sources are from our ascendancy point, supplemented by 5 Ballista Totems with Withering Touch support. If you’re utilizing Toxic Rain or Withering Totems, additional sources are unnecessary.

    Temporary buffs like Elusive from Withering Step, Onslaught from our silver flask, and Alchemist’s Genius from Spiked Concoction in our medium cluster jewel further enhance our capabilities.

    About Leveling

    Leveling this build is remarkably straightforward and effortless.

    Caustic Arrow proves to be incredibly potent during the early acts. Once obtained, be sure to integrate Toxic Rain with Ballista Totem Support into your skill repertoire. During these initial stages, you can compensate for any lack of a bow with gem levels or damage over time mods by incorporating some additional flat damage.

    As your single-target damage begins to diminish, consider transitioning Caustic Arrow to Toxic Rain as your primary skill while retaining Toxic Rain with Ballista Totem Support. If you manage to acquire Toxic Rain of Withering, it synergies exceptionally well with Ballista Totem Support.

    For those not playing in hardcore mode, prioritize acquiring damage nodes initially. While Toxic Rain benefits significantly from skill effect duration, excessive investment in this attribute can hinder the build’s performance.

    It’s crucial to strike a balance, ensuring there’s enough skill effect duration to overlap multiple pods simultaneously without excessively delaying your attacks.

  • Follow These Strategies To Create The Best League Starter Build In Path Of Exile 3.24!

    Follow These Strategies To Create The Best League Starter Build In Path Of Exile 3.24!

    Mar 23, 2024

    If Affliction League is difficult, Necropolis will be even harder, and if you can’t choose not to play in it, finding the right build before completing a challenge is crucial. In this guide, we’ll give you some tips that can help you find the best league starter build in Path of Exile 3.24.

    What Does A Good Build Require?

    In my opinion, a good League starter build requires no Transfigured Gems, no mandatory Uniques. The core rare items are easy to craft, and the build perfectly serves the purpose of a new start, especially if the goal is to unlock all Voidstones.

    For Transfigured Gems, there are many options, namely Explosive Trap of Shrapnel, Blade Blast of Dagger Detonation, Volcanic Fissure of Snaking and Fire Trap of Blasting. The problem is, however, that these are well known to most people, and as more gems dilute the gem pool, these gems will become very expensive.

    However, if any of them is limited to 1 Transfigured variant, it can be farmed on its own without going through several Merciless Labs.

    So, we did a survey here. I selected a few of the most played league starting builds in December in POE 3.23 and let players choose the worst one. They are Boneshatter Juggernaut, Detonate Dead Elementalist, SRS Guardian and Lightning Arrow Deadeye.

    Among them, Boneshatter Juggernaut was voted the worst starting build with a high vote. In fact, Boneshatter is great for cleaning up maps on a budget. But this can have considerable drawbacks for a single target. If you don’t invest appropriately in the build, it will perform worse than HC SSF build.

    Lightning Arrow, on the other hand, is great at clear speed, but poor at basic defense and single target. Additionally, most players who play Lightning Arrow still choose to switch to Tornado Shot once they obtain 60 or more Divine Orbs.

    Detonate Dead is a better option and is popular among hardcore players. The reason it’s so popular is that you don’t need to invest too much in damage scaling since most of its damage comes from the corpse’s life.

    Another example similar to Vaal Detonate Dead is my Lightning Conduit Elementalist. Unlike DD, this is a build that scales to God-tier. It has everything you need for a league start. It has great clear speed, top boss damage and is cheap. If you like it, you can even upgrade to the crit version of it later, which is one of my favorite builds.

    Plan Your Atlas Before Starting A Build

    None of them mean anything if you haven’t planned your Atlas before deciding on your league starter build.

    Most skills in POE excel in some areas and fail irrefutably in others. If it’s built to farm Uber, it might not necessarily be good at mapping. It’s also possible that your build can clear the entire map in less than a minute, but takes more time to take down the map boss.

    So ideally, before you plan your league starter build, you need to plan your Atlas first.

    If your goal is to buy Mageblood during the first week of the league, then you should prioritize the most profitable ones. If your goal is just to unlock all 4 Voidstones and switch to another build, then you should look for a Boss build with decent mapping and defences.

    I earned most of the early POE Currency running Labs and Heist in POE 3.23 using the same build. Since there are almost no other Labs to farm on day one, it’s easy for me to sell these Transfigured Gems. We just run basic Labs repeatedly.

    When I mine Chaos and Divine Orbs from this strategy, I’m not even on the map. Because the build I’m using has a pretty fast clear speed, and it has decent physical damage mitigation and spell suppression.

    If you’re running Labs, you can even use the same build to run Heist, as both benefit from speed and delivery time.

    While the rewards are huge, the downside is that it gets really boring since you have to do the same tasks repeatedly. That’s why if you plan on doing this, you should switch between Labs and Heist every few hours.

    Long story short, plan your goals, then plan your build.

    Check POB

    Finally, if you choose to follow a build guide, be sure to check for outdated, invalid, and misleading configurations when importing a POB.

    There are several important factors in checking a POB. To compare a POB to similar POBs, the first thing to set up are Guardian or Pinnacle Bosses. If you entered any configuration into custom modifiers, be sure to check the guide to understand why.

    For the skill part, there are many ways you can gain massive damage and Effective HP. These include checkmarks for Auras, Totems, temporary Buffs, and even the count value. If you specify multiple options that support gems as skills, make sure the checkmarks are appropriate for the item they are inserted into.

    For items, always check if they are Uniques. I would avoid anything tier 2+ rarity at the start of the league. For rare items I prefer up to 4 mods. But I wouldn’t care too much about the flask unless the build relies too heavily on it.

    Finally, damage and Effective HP in POB may vary from build to build, so this is not a legitimate way to compare builds. For example, Scourge Arrow of Menace shows significantly lower value, while in practice it performs much better than many builds with higher DPS.

    Therefore, besides DPS and Effective HP, there are many other important things that should be considered. For example, mana cost, evasion, chaos resistance, area of effect, block or spell suppression.

    If the build relies on life or energy shield instead of mana, you will need to check how to fix these issues. Anyway, I hope this information helps you take the next step in POE 3.24!

  • What Are Your Top Choices For Starting Builds In POE 3.24 Necropolis League? - Desecrate & Raise Spectre Limit

    What Are Your Top Choices For Starting Builds In POE 3.24 Necropolis League? - Desecrate & Raise Spectre Limit

    Mar 22, 2024

    Here's a concise overview of how Desecrate interacts with the maximum limit on Raise Specter. I find this strategy particularly valuable in Path of Exile 3.23, especially with the addition of new Transfigure Gems like Detonate Dead of Chain Reaction.

    As of now, it's uncertain if player corpse skills will undergo nerfs in POE 3.24. Nevertheless, even if adjustments are made, I anticipate that they will likely retain their effectiveness and remain favored options for starting builds in prominent leagues.

    Understanding The Interaction Between Desecrate And Raise Spectre in Patch 3.17

    Players familiar with corpse skills like Detonate Dead likely already understand how this operates.

    In patch 3.17, GGG eliminated the need for Raise Spectre to transport Spectre Corpses into zones for Desecrate or Corpse Walk. Previously, players had to summon Raise Spectre minions with high life multipliers. When entering a new zone, these Spectre Corpses were added to the zone's corpse pool, allowing Desecrate to summon them. This setup allowed skills like Detonate Dead to inflict significantly more damage due to the higher life of these corpses compared to regular monsters in the zone.

    In version 3.17, GGG altered the behavior of Desecrate and Corpse Walk. They introduced a memory function that stores the player's most recently summoned specters in a list of corpses, limited by the maximum Raise Spectre limit. Now, each time Desecrate or Corpse Walk summons a corpse, there's a 15% chance it will be replaced by a randomly selected corpse from this list. Consequently, once players raise specters with high life multipliers, they can safely remove the Raise Spectre gem. Desecrate and Corpse Walk will retain these spectre corpses in the list and transport them into new zones, mimicking the previous functionality when entering a zone with actual Raise Spectre minions.

    This update relieves players from concerns about losing Raise Spectre minions or managing secondary spectre banks, providing an additional gem slot.

    An Explanation Of Interaction

    However, the key aspect here lies in the functionality: the Raise Spectre corpse list essentially mirrors the effect of bringing the entire list of actual Raise Spectre minions into the new zone, as seen in older patches.

    Each Spectre Corpse saved on the list gets added to the existing corpse pool upon entering any new zone. You might wonder why this matters, given Desecrate and Corpse Walk's fixed chance to spawn corpses.

    Yet, the crucial interaction isn't about the 15% chance that Desecrate mandates a corpse from that list. Rather, it's about the remaining 85% of the time.

    When Desecrate or Corpse Walk spawns a corpse that isn't a forced Spectre Corpse from the list, it randomly selects one from all available corpses in the zone. Now, since the zone incorporates every Spectre Corpse from your Raise Spectre corpse list upon entry, these skills can potentially spawn a Spectre Corpse from the pool of available corpses, even without a forced Spectre Corpse roll.

    Therefore, by raising your maximum Raise Spectre limit and summoning numerous high-life unique spectre minions, you're expanding the list of saved Spectre Corpses for Desecrate or Corpse Walk. Consequently, all these corpses accompany you into every new zone you enter. The greater the number of Spectre Corpses on the list, the higher the likelihood of spawning a Spectre Corpse whenever these skills roll the 85% chance to select a random corpse from the zone pool.

    Usefulness Of Interaction 

    The efficacy of this interaction hinges entirely on the number of corpses present in a given zone compared to the character’s maximum Raise Spectre limit corpse list.

    In zones with few corpses, this interaction can significantly amplify damage. Conversely, in zones inundated with corpses, the damage increase will be relatively minimal.

    Raising The Spectre Limit

    Increasing your maximum Raise Spectre limit is a straightforward and typically affordable endeavor, primarily because the unique items that offer this attribute are quite common.

    For instance, a Raise Spectre Gem at level 13 allows for a maximum of two spectres, while reaching level 25 expands this limit to three. Additionally, the Death Attunement notable passive skill situated at the top of the skill tree provides a bonus of +1 to the maximum number of Raise Spectres. If your character is distant from this area of the passive tree, you can use anointment for 1 Clear, 1 Crimson, and 1 Silver Oil to acquire this benefit.

    The Queen’s Decree, a unique two-handed sword, bestows an extra maximum spectre. However, if you possess two Midnight Bargain unique wands, it’s advisable to dual-wield them to gain +1 maximum spectre from each wand.

    Moreover, the Wraithlord unique helmet offers an increase of +2 maximum spectres and also enhances socketed minion gems by two levels, aiding in reaching the coveted level 25 Raise Spectre gem. Furthermore, you can secure an additional +1 maximum spectre by equipping body armor with the Delve Drop-only prefix modifier that grants this statistic.

    Which Spectres?

    It’s important to note that this process only needs to be done once. After you’ve raised your maximum Raise Spectre limit to your desired level, ensure to summon unique spectre minion types up to the maximum limit.

    Most, if not all, of the necessary spectres can be found in campaign areas. Seek out spectres with life multipliers of 360% or higher. Even if their life multiplier exceeds 360%, they’ll operate similarly to a 360% life multiplier Spectre Corpse. This is because spectre life totals were standardized in patch 3.17 to match that of a Kitava’s Herald spectre, which boasts a 360 life multiplier.

    Once this is completed, you can safely remove the Raise Spectre gem, remove the associated gear, and reallocate any nodes dedicated to increasing maximum spectres. This summarizes the essence of the interaction between the maximum spectre limit and summoning corpses with Desecrate or Corpse Walk. It’s a valuable technique for players utilizing these types of builds.

  • Explosive Trap Of Shrapnel Is The Best Bossing Trap In Path Of Exile 3.24

    Explosive Trap Of Shrapnel Is The Best Bossing Trap In Path Of Exile 3.24

    Mar 21, 2024

    Currently, we are just a few days away from the release of the POE 3.24 patch notes, and there has been considerable interest in Explosive Trap and traps in general, particularly on platforms like Reddit and within the creator community. There appears to be a notable lack of accurate information or perhaps simply insufficient information regarding Explosive Trap and its variant, Shrapnel. Having extensively engaged with this skill across various builds in Affliction League for numerous hours, I have developed a deep understanding of its mechanics. 

    The Truth

    Shrapnel proves to be a superior and more potent bossing skill, offering higher DPS performance across most boss encounters in Path of Exile. Contrary to widely held beliefs on platforms like Reddit, which suggest that Shrapnel is primarily suited for clearing with mediocre single-target damage, this notion is simply incorrect.

    However, it's understandable why these misconceptions exist, particularly given the recent introduction of Transfigure Gems and the inherent challenge of accurately quantifying trap damage within tools like Path of Building (PoB) for comparison purposes.

    The Uber Boss Showcase

    Now, I'll delve into the mechanics of the gem and elucidate why Shrapnel yields greater damage. However, the most effective way to illustrate Shrapnel's superiority in boss encounters is through empirical evidence. Here's a direct comparison of the two gems battling an Uber boss.

    To ensure a fair comparison, I've significantly weakened this character, reducing its power to about 4% of my league build although this process may waste some of my POE Currency. This was achieved by deactivating auras and removing several support gems and curses to prevent instant defeat. Apart from the chosen skill gem, these characters are identical in every aspect. 

    Now, let's begin by examining three distinct boss scenarios, each with its explanation. The commonality among these scenarios is their stationary nature. Uber Shaper occupies the center of an open space, while Uber Maven emerges against the back wall, and the Uber Brain roams in an open area with a larger hitbox than Shaper. 

    I've selected these scenarios because stationary encounters are more favorable for the standard gem, whereas in mobile boss scenarios, Shrapnel significantly outperforms it.

    Overview Of Mechanics

    It's essential to understand the key changes in the gems. 

    Firstly, Shrapnel receives an additional 20% effectiveness of added damage. Secondly, it gains a 30% increase in damage per hit multiplier through a higher base physical hit. Thirdly, Shrapnel benefits from an AOE multiplier on its two secondary radii. While the increase in damage is straightforward, the aspect of AOE is often misunderstood by many, including content creators.

    At a basic level, Explosive Trap produces a primary hit of a certain size for a level 21 gem. The secondary radius, where smaller explosions occur, matches this size. Visualizing it, this is represented by our blue circle, typically 1.9 meters for a level 21 gem. The smaller explosions can spawn anywhere within this radius, leading to a gradient decrease in effective damage from the center to the edge of the green circle. This effective damage reduction occurs within a 1-meter circle at the center for a level 21 normal gem, as illustrated by the orange circle.

    Shrapnel Overview

    In functionality, Shrapnel operates similarly to the standard version. 

    However, its secondary explosion radius is doubled, and the secondary explosions themselves are approximately 40% larger. This expanded spawning radius decreases the degree of overlap by roughly 45%, leading to a common misconception that it's solely effective for clearing purposes. 

    Reason 1: Mobility of Bosses

    When facing mobile bosses where Explosive Trap's damage reaches 0%, Shrapnel still maintains half or more of its expected damage output. 

    However, in our initial boss encounter assessment, these bosses lacked mobility, thus not benefiting from Shrapnel's enhanced damage uptime.

    Reason 2: Enhanced Ailment Effect

    This constitutes the second point supporting Shrapnel's superiority as a bossing gem, attributed to its access to ailments. 

    By considering the straightforward calculations involving the increased effectiveness and base physical damage, adjusted for expected overlaps, Shrapnel demonstrates approximately 85% of the damage of the standard gem. 

    Moreover, many Explosive Trap builds utilize Conflux or Secrets of Suffering to induce potent alternative ailments. The 30% higher base physical hit of Shrapnel translates to a flat 30% increase in ailment effectiveness. If one opts against using alternative ailments, it prompts the question of why not, as effects like Scorch, reducing all Elemental Resistances by up to 30%, and Brittle, providing a flat 6% base crit, remain unutilized. 

    Thus, the second reason for its superiority as a bossing skill lies in the expanded access to ailments.

    Reason 3: Hitboxes & Overlaps

    However, what about the Maven? 

    The explanation doesn't solely rely on an 8% increase in Scorch. Ironically, many believed this was the reason the skill was inferior, but in reality, its superiority stems from its significantly higher potential. At the baseline, it's been established that both skills do roughly equal damage. 

    However, increasing overlaps from 80% to 100% with the normal gem results in a 25% damage boost, while going from 40% to 80% effectively doubles your damage. These boss hitboxes can reach up to 1.1 million.

    Reason 4: Overlaps Again

    The penultimate topic I want to discuss is leveraging reduced overlaps to yield significant additional damage. 

    Let's revisit Uber Maven. Notice how she, like all invitation boss encounters, spawns near a wall. Understanding the mechanical dynamics enables you to exploit this for effortless damage gains. Allow me to elaborate.

    In open scenarios, where smaller explosions occur randomly, overlaps typically hover around 40%. By intentionally confining the secondary radius against a wall or obstacle, you limit the space available for secondary explosions while maintaining their radius. This reduction in available space can easily result in a 30% to 40% damage increase, simplifying encounters like invitations, which I intend to focus on early in the league. However, this strategy isn't as effective with the normal gem due to its already high overlap rate and smaller explosion radius.

    Moreover, in battles such as Uber Elder, Uber Cortex, and Uber Shaper, approximately half of the arena can yield damage increases ranging from 10% to 40%, depending on the boss's teleportation patterns.

    Reason 5: AoE & Random Throws

    The final aspect I wish to address, and the ultimate reason why Shrapnel excels as a bossing skill, pertains to its area of effect (AOE). 

    This time, there's a critical mechanical issue with the normal gem involving random throws around the target location. Most non-cooldown traps typically utilize supports like Swift Assembly, Sunblast, or Cluster Traps to increase trap quantity.

    Numerically, Swift Assembly stands out as one of the most effective supports for traps. I'll employ Swift Assembly until acquiring a Sunblast, and subsequently, switch to Sunblast until obtaining a Mageblood. However, it's essential to note that Explosive Trap incurs a damage penalty when traps are randomly thrown, unlike Shrapnel.

    Recall my initial explanation of how the skill gem functions. When traps are randomly thrown at a target location, they may spawn outside this window, resulting in a slight reduction in damage. While this doesn't justify skipping Swift Assembly, it underscores a difference that Shrapnel doesn't face, as its area of expected maximal overlaps is significantly larger.

  • Analyzing The Impact Of New Skill Gems And A Significant Nerf In Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis

    Analyzing The Impact Of New Skill Gems And A Significant Nerf In Path Of Exile 3.24 Necropolis

    Mar 20, 2024

    The latest teaser from GGG for Path of Exile 3.24 Necropolis introduces intriguing new skill gems that automate skill usage, alongside a notable nerf. This article examines the potential implications of these new gems and explores the ramifications of losing left-click instant skills for certain builds.

    Automation

    Automation is an intelligence-dexterity hybrid blue gem that serves both as a skill and a support. 

    When paired with instant spells, Automation bestows the Automation skill, which can be activated similarly to a reservation skill. When activated, Automation automatically triggers all supported instance skills as they come off cooldown, rendering manual use of linked skills impossible.

    Call To Arms

    On the other hand, Call to Arms is a pure strength red gem that operates similarly but for Warcries. 

    It functions as both a skill and support gem. When combined with Warcries, Call to Arms grants the Call to Arms skill, which can be toggled on. 

    Once activated, it triggers all supported Warcries upon cooldown, preventing manual use of the linked Warcries. Additionally, this setup causes all Warcries to share cooldowns.

    Initial Thoughts

    Upon initially viewing these two gems featured at the start of the teaser, I took a moment to carefully review them. I found the concept quite appealing as it provides players with additional options, which I consider advantageous. 

    However, the teaser concluded with a notable statement: "We've removed the capacity to bind any instant skill to left-click as a result." Indeed, this implies the removal of the ability to utilize instant skills via left-click.

    Community Reaction

    Approximately an hour after the teaser's publication, the Reddit post became untraceable as it had been heavily downvoted. 

    Consequently, moderators were compelled to pin the thread to ensure its prominence on the Path of Exile subreddit. 

    Similarly, the cross-post for this teaser elicited a predominantly negative response, with almost every comment expressing discontent over the alteration to left-click instant skills.

    Potential For Comprehensive Changes

    In all honesty, I've found myself undecided when faced with similar community uproars in the past. This time around, I've invested considerable thought into the matter.

    I've pondered the potential rationale behind this change in the context of POE 3.24, contemplating the possibility of a comprehensive overhaul to a specific system or perhaps viewing it as a smaller adjustment within a larger framework. 

    However, I've yet to find a satisfactory explanation. Unless significant developments are in progress, I remain uncertain about the implications of this alteration.

    The Implications Of This Shift

    Currently, our best course of action is to analyze this change within the context of the game's current state.

    Here's how the change impacts most builds: If you previously employed an instant spell or Warcry on left-click, under the new system, when linked to Automation or Call to Arms, Warcries will trigger automatically upon cooldown without any manual input. However, this change comes with drawbacks: increased cost, slower cooldown recovery, and the need for an additional gem slot due to the link with Automation or Call to Arms. This means you have to spend more POE Currency.

    Let's consider the pros and cons realistically. While the automatic triggering of skills upon cooldown may seem beneficial, it's crucial to note that this isn't always the case, especially if you weren't continuously holding down left-click. The increased cost and longer cooldown are definite drawbacks, although they raise questions about the potential benefits of the automatic triggering. Additionally, sacrificing an extra gem slot is a significant disadvantage.

    However, these implications primarily apply to builds utilizing left-click instant skills. What about builds employing damage abilities on left-click, such as General's Cry, Corrupting Cry, and those utilizing Detonate Mines

    In the absence of macros or similar solutions, these builds face reduced damage potential, as they now require Automation gems in their primary link, or they must adjust to using an additional keybind, impacting their playstyle comfort.

    Macros

    However, in the realm of gaming, macros exist as a reality.

    Over time, GGG has progressively reduced the necessity for macros within various aspects of Path of Exile gameplay. They've generally shifted away from design choices that encourage players to rely on macros. However, this specific change is poised to significantly increase the adoption of macros or similar tactics to address this issue and revert to previous gameplay dynamics.

    There are already numerous posts on the subreddit outlining methods like the NumLock trick to effectively replicate the functionality of the old left-click instant skill. These posts are receiving widespread positive feedback and upvotes.

    Positive Response To The Gems

    However, if we set aside the widespread discontent, it becomes evident that many players actually responded positively to the introduction of these two new skill gems. 

    Nevertheless, their strong aversion to the elimination of left-click instant skills has overshadowed this positivity.

    Unresolved Skills?

    Additionally, there are unresolved edge cases to consider, such as the Focus skill or the Necromancer's Bone Armor, which cannot currently be supported by Automation.

    Effectiveness Of Call To Arms

    I find the concept of Call to Arms supporting quite appealing, so let's briefly delve into it.

    An interesting aspect that may have escaped notice in the teaser is that this gem simultaneously triggers all Warcries, rather than sequentially. For instance, in a slam build, you could allocate a four-link setup with Call to Arms connected to three Warcries. With some investment in Warcry Cooldown Reduction (CDR), you could eliminate the need for manual activation of Warcries in these builds, which would be truly beneficial.

    However, it's worth noting that the mana cost and reservation multiplier associated with this gem are excessive. At level 20, Warcries already incur a substantial mana cost of 19 without any additional links. 

    Therefore, adjusting these parameters is imperative for this quality of life enhancement to be viable.

    The Cost Of QoL

    The fundamental problem lies in the implementation of both these new gems. 

    Their excessively high cost in the pursuit of quality of life renders them counterproductive. Attempting to integrate them into your build would ultimately detract from, rather than enhance, your gaming experience.

    Brand Recall

    Indeed, Brand Recall is also a factor to consider.

    It's conceivable that they might introduce a slight casting delay to mitigate potential exploits in this regard. Since the Automation gem triggers linked instant skills, it has the capacity to activate Brand Recall. Consequently, this scenario resembles builds that slot Brand Recall into a trigger weapon or rely on triggering it with Spellslinger

    However, with Automation, there's no need to initiate the trigger or reserve Spellslinger. It consistently triggers without any player input, which could lead to absurdity with Saboteur triggerbots.

    Conclusion

    On the whole, I must express my appreciation for the conceptualization of these new skills, which I find to be quite commendable. 

    However, their execution leaves much to be desired. If the intention was always to eliminate left-click instant skills, then the solution should have been more refined, especially considering the reliance of entire build archetypes on this mechanic.

    In my view, sacrificing a bit for the sake of improved quality of life is often justified and tends to benefit the majority of players. However, in this instance, the sacrifice is far from minor, and true quality of life would only be achieved if left-click instant skills had never been part of the game.

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