This game has too many buttons now and I'm too old to really enjoy playing it
It felt like I picked a relatively simple build but I still have to press BV every 3 seconds, right-click through some mobs every 5 seconds, turn on plague bearer every ~12 seconds, enduring cry every 10 seconds, turn on withering step every 5 seconds during rare/unique mob fight, press 3 flasks every 5.5 seconds, play loot tetris, and left-click 300 times every map because they still haven't implemented such game-ruining technologies as picking up every currency orb within X distance whenever you pick up one of 'em.
I just can't do this sort of thing anymore and enjoy it; controller support when? It makes me pretty sad.
I started developing an RSI during Heist and I think this is going to be my last league. I even bought a new mouse because I thought it might help but I can only manage like an hour or two of maps before my hand hurts too much and I have to stop for the day.
I made it to maps with skelly mages, and my review so far is that they are kind of filthy after the buffs.
Playstyle isn't exactly the same as melee skeletons for obvious reasons, but man they are just wrecking things with blah gear. I didn't start using vaal skeletons until level 55 or so, and they were tearing apart bosses even without that. Vaal skeletons is as much of a "erase everything on the screen" button as it's always been, which makes the single target DPS of the build (and performance in Rituals) pretty top tier (at cheap gear levels at least).
You use GMP with the skeletons, but most bosses are big enough that the skeletons will hit with multiple projectiles depending on positioning. Their range is great too -- it's definitely a build where you can drop the skeletons far away, and phase bosses while you're offscreen and can't even see them.
My gear is a bit of a mess, and it's really promising! I nabbed a 5L Femurs of the Saints for 3C, but ran out of chromatic orbs to get a not particularly hard to achieve color combination (*new league poor sad noises*), so I don't even have my skeletons on a proper 5L with +2 gem levels (they're in a Tabula, and I would just drop pierce -- so their single target DPS will be quite a bit better). I spent....all of my money on that, so I'm just rolling around with 0% lightning resist in maps and it doesn't even feel that bad with my skeletons doing all of the work.
They feel dramatically better than melee skeletons now -- that DPS nerf several leagues ago really did hit them hard, and it was painful for me to watch before I switched over to mages. There's a neat little added bonus to it as well -- skeleton mages work well with spell echo, which affects the skeletons but also the way you cast skeletons. With the From Dust jewel (the description specifically says it only works for Skeleton Warriors, but it is a lie) and spell echo, you summon a full pack of 12 in one cast and it makes the build feel a lot better. I've always liked the one slightly longer cast (a la minefield) over the two quick casts, and I was happy to see that the combo works.
If anyone wants a cheap and easy summoner build to get through maps, I definitely recommend it. The unique jewels are cheap, and it's off to the races after that.
This game has too many buttons now and I'm too old to really enjoy playing it
It felt like I picked a relatively simple build but I still have to press BV every 3 seconds, right-click through some mobs every 5 seconds, turn on plague bearer every ~12 seconds, enduring cry every 10 seconds, turn on withering step every 5 seconds during rare/unique mob fight, press 3 flasks every 5.5 seconds, play loot tetris, and left-click 300 times every map because they still haven't implemented such game-ruining technologies as picking up every currency orb within X distance whenever you pick up one of 'em.
I just can't do this sort of thing anymore and enjoy it; controller support when? It makes me pretty sad.
I started developing an RSI during Heist and I think this is going to be my last league. I even bought a new mouse because I thought it might help but I can only manage like an hour or two of maps before my hand hurts too much and I have to stop for the day.
I'm curious -- what part of the mouse interaction is causing you discomfort?
I ask, because I started to get a bit of discomfort this league playing DI (a channeling skill) bound to my right mouse button. Holding down the right mouse constantly, by the end of a10, was making my wrist feel pretty blah.
After 1800 hours played, I wound up moving flame dash to right click, and my primary skill to E. It helped me a lot! Obviously your mileage my vary. For whatever reason, I don't feel any discomfort from my left mouse button use (using the tried and true logitech G602). I have it held down 99% of the time I'm playing the game (outside of inventory screens and such), with quick slight movements to let it go and pick up loot and stuff. But not having to hold down or use right mouse as much at the same time seemed to have fixed my issue entirely.
Option 2 -- probably no one's favorite; the game does work with Steam Controllers if you're up to put in the effort to configuration. When I first started playing I really wanted to play in bed, and had it working well enough to do that on my newbie characters. It takes quite a bit of tweaking, and there are limitations because the interface is still the PC interface and not the console interface, but it's an option if you think a controller would help.
Fiatil on
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I moved my movement skill to the spacebar.
Honestly one of the best decisions I've done with regards to control.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I made it to maps with skelly mages, and my review so far is that they are kind of filthy after the buffs.
Playstyle isn't exactly the same as melee skeletons for obvious reasons, but man they are just wrecking things with blah gear. I didn't start using vaal skeletons until level 55 or so, and they were tearing apart bosses even without that. Vaal skeletons is as much of a "erase everything on the screen" button as it's always been, which makes the single target DPS of the build (and performance in Rituals) pretty top tier (at cheap gear levels at least).
You use GMP with the skeletons, but most bosses are big enough that the skeletons will hit with multiple projectiles depending on positioning. Their range is great too -- it's definitely a build where you can drop the skeletons far away, and phase bosses while you're offscreen and can't even see them.
My gear is a bit of a mess, and it's really promising! I nabbed a 5L Femurs of the Saints for 3C, but ran out of chromatic orbs to get a not particularly hard to achieve color combination (*new league poor sad noises*), so I don't even have my skeletons on a proper 5L with +2 gem levels (they're in a Tabula, and I would just drop pierce -- so their single target DPS will be quite a bit better). I spent....all of my money on that, so I'm just rolling around with 0% lightning resist in maps and it doesn't even feel that bad with my skeletons doing all of the work.
They feel dramatically better than melee skeletons now -- that DPS nerf several leagues ago really did hit them hard, and it was painful for me to watch before I switched over to mages. There's a neat little added bonus to it as well -- skeleton mages work well with spell echo, which affects the skeletons but also the way you cast skeletons. With the From Dust jewel (the description specifically says it only works for Skeleton Warriors, but it is a lie) and spell echo, you summon a full pack of 12 in one cast and it makes the build feel a lot better. I've always liked the one slightly longer cast (a la minefield) over the two quick casts, and I was happy to see that the combo works.
If anyone wants a cheap and easy summoner build to get through maps, I definitely recommend it. The unique jewels are cheap, and it's off to the races after that.
Got a link to the build you're using? I've been somewhat unimpressed with the performance of the popcorn skeletons I've been doing so hoping it's a pretty easy transition.
This game has too many buttons now and I'm too old to really enjoy playing it
It felt like I picked a relatively simple build but I still have to press BV every 3 seconds, right-click through some mobs every 5 seconds, turn on plague bearer every ~12 seconds, enduring cry every 10 seconds, turn on withering step every 5 seconds during rare/unique mob fight, press 3 flasks every 5.5 seconds, play loot tetris, and left-click 300 times every map because they still haven't implemented such game-ruining technologies as picking up every currency orb within X distance whenever you pick up one of 'em.
I just can't do this sort of thing anymore and enjoy it; controller support when? It makes me pretty sad.
I started developing an RSI during Heist and I think this is going to be my last league. I even bought a new mouse because I thought it might help but I can only manage like an hour or two of maps before my hand hurts too much and I have to stop for the day.
I would highly recommend you look at purchasing a game pad and a vertical mouse. I stopped playing PoE for years due to pain. I've got a Razer Tartarus now and love it to death, I'll post my layout once I get home.
I made it to maps with skelly mages, and my review so far is that they are kind of filthy after the buffs.
Playstyle isn't exactly the same as melee skeletons for obvious reasons, but man they are just wrecking things with blah gear. I didn't start using vaal skeletons until level 55 or so, and they were tearing apart bosses even without that. Vaal skeletons is as much of a "erase everything on the screen" button as it's always been, which makes the single target DPS of the build (and performance in Rituals) pretty top tier (at cheap gear levels at least).
You use GMP with the skeletons, but most bosses are big enough that the skeletons will hit with multiple projectiles depending on positioning. Their range is great too -- it's definitely a build where you can drop the skeletons far away, and phase bosses while you're offscreen and can't even see them.
My gear is a bit of a mess, and it's really promising! I nabbed a 5L Femurs of the Saints for 3C, but ran out of chromatic orbs to get a not particularly hard to achieve color combination (*new league poor sad noises*), so I don't even have my skeletons on a proper 5L with +2 gem levels (they're in a Tabula, and I would just drop pierce -- so their single target DPS will be quite a bit better). I spent....all of my money on that, so I'm just rolling around with 0% lightning resist in maps and it doesn't even feel that bad with my skeletons doing all of the work.
They feel dramatically better than melee skeletons now -- that DPS nerf several leagues ago really did hit them hard, and it was painful for me to watch before I switched over to mages. There's a neat little added bonus to it as well -- skeleton mages work well with spell echo, which affects the skeletons but also the way you cast skeletons. With the From Dust jewel (the description specifically says it only works for Skeleton Warriors, but it is a lie) and spell echo, you summon a full pack of 12 in one cast and it makes the build feel a lot better. I've always liked the one slightly longer cast (a la minefield) over the two quick casts, and I was happy to see that the combo works.
If anyone wants a cheap and easy summoner build to get through maps, I definitely recommend it. The unique jewels are cheap, and it's off to the races after that.
Got a link to the build you're using? I've been somewhat unimpressed with the performance of the popcorn skeletons I've been doing so hoping it's a pretty easy transition.
Haha so this guy kind of weirdly hates path of building, but the link is in there somewhere (a bit out of date). I'm using the skill trees and skill links, but my own preferred cheap starter items (Femurs is cheap and I want to see how far I can push the defense, since the DPS is sweet now).
Here's the build guide with the details -- it works for melee and mages, I would highly recommend using mages. If you care to see some of my super cheap alternatives for MEGA BUDGET (I do have a tabula, which is worth the rest of the build combined), then here's FIaHeartWantsWhatitWant. The sockets are a mess, as are some of the items, but I'll be working on it.
You 100% need Dead Reckoning for around 2C, and I highly recommend From Dust for 1C. Most of the stats and items aren't too different from other zombie/skeleton builds you may be more used to -- physical damage for minions becomes mostly worthless (you still use zombies but I wouldn't prioritize it, and it eventually uses triad grip), and I think minion speed is fairly worthless too, being the differences. Skeleton mages don't really walk being the reason -- they have stupidly long artillery range to make up for it, but you recast when you want them to find new targets. So yeah, it should be pretty simple to transition to.
I made it to maps with skelly mages, and my review so far is that they are kind of filthy after the buffs.
Playstyle isn't exactly the same as melee skeletons for obvious reasons, but man they are just wrecking things with blah gear. I didn't start using vaal skeletons until level 55 or so, and they were tearing apart bosses even without that. Vaal skeletons is as much of a "erase everything on the screen" button as it's always been, which makes the single target DPS of the build (and performance in Rituals) pretty top tier (at cheap gear levels at least).
You use GMP with the skeletons, but most bosses are big enough that the skeletons will hit with multiple projectiles depending on positioning. Their range is great too -- it's definitely a build where you can drop the skeletons far away, and phase bosses while you're offscreen and can't even see them.
My gear is a bit of a mess, and it's really promising! I nabbed a 5L Femurs of the Saints for 3C, but ran out of chromatic orbs to get a not particularly hard to achieve color combination (*new league poor sad noises*), so I don't even have my skeletons on a proper 5L with +2 gem levels (they're in a Tabula, and I would just drop pierce -- so their single target DPS will be quite a bit better). I spent....all of my money on that, so I'm just rolling around with 0% lightning resist in maps and it doesn't even feel that bad with my skeletons doing all of the work.
They feel dramatically better than melee skeletons now -- that DPS nerf several leagues ago really did hit them hard, and it was painful for me to watch before I switched over to mages. There's a neat little added bonus to it as well -- skeleton mages work well with spell echo, which affects the skeletons but also the way you cast skeletons. With the From Dust jewel (the description specifically says it only works for Skeleton Warriors, but it is a lie) and spell echo, you summon a full pack of 12 in one cast and it makes the build feel a lot better. I've always liked the one slightly longer cast (a la minefield) over the two quick casts, and I was happy to see that the combo works.
If anyone wants a cheap and easy summoner build to get through maps, I definitely recommend it. The unique jewels are cheap, and it's off to the races after that.
Got a link to the build you're using? I've been somewhat unimpressed with the performance of the popcorn skeletons I've been doing so hoping it's a pretty easy transition.
Haha so this guy kind of weirdly hates path of building, but the link is in there somewhere (a bit out of date). I'm using the skill trees and skill links, but my own preferred cheap starter items (Femurs is cheap and I want to see how far I can push the defense, since the DPS is sweet now).
Here's the build guide with the details -- it works for melee and mages, I would highly recommend using mages. If you care to see some of my super cheap alternatives for MEGA BUDGET (I do have a tabula, which is worth the rest of the build combined), then here's FIaHeartWantsWhatitWant. The sockets are a mess, as are some of the items, but I'll be working on it.
You 100% need Dead Reckoning for around 2C, and I highly recommend From Dust for 1C. Most of the stats and items aren't too different from other zombie/skeleton builds you may be more used to -- physical damage for minions becomes mostly worthless (you still use zombies but I wouldn't prioritize it, and it eventually uses triad grip), and I think minion speed is fairly worthless too, being the differences. Skeleton mages don't really walk being the reason -- they have stupidly long artillery range to make up for it, but you recast when you want them to find new targets. So yeah, it should be pretty simple to transition to.
Whooops, I meant to edit the last post but accidentally double posted, so:
It looks like the build author actually overhauled the entire damn thing last night. I feel kind of cool, because a lot of it was stuff that I thought would be better too! He's doubled down on skeleton mages (really they're just muuuuch better than warriors right now) and is using the zombies more for shielding than DPS. I've been using them as DPS, buuut it probably fits the build better not to have to get so close to bosses with your zombies -- take advantage of the crazy range of skeleton mages; no reason to get in close unless you really want to. It definitely never felt necessary to have them DPSing either.
I'm pretty sure that when I last played PoE years ago, map drops were limited to the maps on the atlas that you had previously completed or connected to a map you had previously comleted.
So how come I can get a map drop that's in a part of the atlas I can't even see yet?
surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
if u wanna make ordinary skellies good just do the standard smite/wrath abuse
victarios charity chest, level 21 smite w/ empower (and probs ancestral call) + 21 wrath in it, frenzy + power charges, 4l blue triad grip, avatar of fire and ele equilibrium to make ur smite debuff, aura effect and minion nodes and ur off to the races
skellies still have 50% more added damage so this is highly effective
u can then use a 2-hander or, in a pinch, use sign of the sin-eater to get a level 30 smite without using victarios chest. this build is highly effective going skellies phantasms as they scale oddly similarly due to both benefiting from smite + wrath, both getting full conversion to lightning and both scaling off added phys stuff. its been literally millions of dps in 2c of gear for years and it remains that way
if u wanna make ordinary skellies good just do the standard smite/wrath abuse
victarios charity chest, level 21 smite w/ empower (and probs ancestral call) + 21 wrath in it, frenzy + power charges, 4l blue triad grip, avatar of fire and ele equilibrium to make ur smite debuff, aura effect and minion nodes and ur off to the races
skellies still have 50% more added damage so this is highly effective
u can then use a 2-hander or, in a pinch, use sign of the sin-eater to get a level 30 smite without using victarios chest. this build is highly effective going skellies phantasms as they scale oddly similarly due to both benefiting from smite + wrath, both getting full conversion to lightning and both scaling off added phys stuff. its been literally millions of dps in 2c of gear for years and it remains that way
Oh, that sounds great! It does look pretty damn cheap too.
Ultimately, it plays super differently from how I play skellies. Smite alone == me doing damage (not a lot, but it pretends to be an attack at least) and clicking buttons, not my skeletons doing damage. I want a build that has the skellies doing basically all of the "doing effort" stuff, with me just debuffing and running around like crazy trying not to die. In most fights pressing anything other than skeletons is just to keep me entertained!
Definitely just my personal preference! I've been excited by this build because it gives me a viable way to skellies as a pure lazy main event thing. And it does it in a really strong "oh god GGG please don't nerf this" way too, which I'll take.
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surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
edited January 2021
because smite is a duration skill and ur doing skellies/phantasms smite will last 10-12 seconds - and its also ur debuffing move (cos the bonk of smite + the aoe shreds 50% lightning res)
so u press smite about once every 10seconds and ur gucci
plus u can get things like fortify on hit corruptions and go even more afk aww yeahhhhhhhhh
if u really felt the need (the NEED for FEED) the necro duration nodes + both duration circles on tree + inc duration support plus a worm flask and u just pressing 2 buttons once every 15 seconds and otherwise scurring around being a wizard
o ye also lightning golem for extra lightning for the bosi thank u golem
surrealitycheck on
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SummaryJudgmentGrab the hottest iron you can find, stride in the Tower’s front doorRegistered Userregular
edited January 2021
Uh
Did I get kicked from Guild? I was just playing this morning with you guys.
What a weird bug. Came and went in the time it took me to post here.
SummaryJudgment on
Some days Blue wonders why anyone ever bothered making numbers so small; other days she supposes even infinity needs to start somewhere.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I'm pretty sure that when I last played PoE years ago, map drops were limited to the maps on the atlas that you had previously completed or connected to a map you had previously comleted.
So how come I can get a map drop that's in a part of the atlas I can't even see yet?
I'm fairly certain anything can drop, but you're more likely to get drops close to where you're at in the atlas now.
This game has too many buttons now and I'm too old to really enjoy playing it
It felt like I picked a relatively simple build but I still have to press BV every 3 seconds, right-click through some mobs every 5 seconds, turn on plague bearer every ~12 seconds, enduring cry every 10 seconds, turn on withering step every 5 seconds during rare/unique mob fight, press 3 flasks every 5.5 seconds, play loot tetris, and left-click 300 times every map because they still haven't implemented such game-ruining technologies as picking up every currency orb within X distance whenever you pick up one of 'em.
I just can't do this sort of thing anymore and enjoy it; controller support when? It makes me pretty sad.
I started developing an RSI during Heist and I think this is going to be my last league. I even bought a new mouse because I thought it might help but I can only manage like an hour or two of maps before my hand hurts too much and I have to stop for the day.
I would highly recommend you look at purchasing a game pad and a vertical mouse. I stopped playing PoE for years due to pain. I've got a Razer Tartarus now and love it to death, I'll post my layout once I get home.
Top row is 1-5, with 1 being a macro that pianos my flasks once (mashes 1,2,3,4 and 5). Second row is QWERT, third row is CTRL, Shift, Alt, Tab and Z, fourth row is Inventory, character, passives, and quest log. The round button is Left Mouse Click, which I have set to movement, and the fat thumb button is Escape. I'm currently using a la-z-boy with the mouse and game pad on the arm rests.
I use the thumb button for movement, right click for travel skills, and middle click for guard skills. Didn't use to be able to make it out of acts before my RSI started acting up, now I'm pain free for multi-hour sessions.
I'm curious -- what part of the mouse interaction is causing you discomfort?
I ask, because I started to get a bit of discomfort this league playing DI (a channeling skill) bound to my right mouse button. Holding down the right mouse constantly, by the end of a10, was making my wrist feel pretty blah.
After 1800 hours played, I wound up moving flame dash to right click, and my primary skill to E. It helped me a lot! Obviously your mileage my vary. For whatever reason, I don't feel any discomfort from my left mouse button use (using the tried and true logitech G602). I have it held down 99% of the time I'm playing the game (outside of inventory screens and such), with quick slight movements to let it go and pick up loot and stuff. But not having to hold down or use right mouse as much at the same time seemed to have fixed my issue entirely.
Option 2 -- probably no one's favorite; the game does work with Steam Controllers if you're up to put in the effort to configuration. When I first started playing I really wanted to play in bed, and had it working well enough to do that on my newbie characters. It takes quite a bit of tweaking, and there are limitations because the interface is still the PC interface and not the console interface, but it's an option if you think a controller would help.
The fingerpads from my 2nd knuckle to the tips on the index through ring fingers started getting raw and bruised. I started bandaging my fingers to play, which was manageable for other games, but PoE's a bit too intensive.
A controller hadn't occurred to me, I've never owned a console, but alternate control schemes would probably help.
I would highly recommend you look at purchasing a game pad and a vertical mouse. I stopped playing PoE for years due to pain. I've got a Razer Tartarus now and love it to death, I'll post my layout once I get home.
I looked into vertical mice but a friend talked me into a Viper Ultimate instead. That Tartarus looks interesting, I'll give it a shot.
38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
edited January 2021
I took a chance on a non summoner build and went toxic rain shadow and its pretty fun.
Damage over time seems like a very odd thing in a game where you have to kill everything asap or you die but the over time segment seems to occur quickly enough where I can just kind of spray the mouse around and things die. Bosses take a bit longer. All in all much better than lacerate ugh what a mess.
Also I was very scared of going evasion instead of armor or ES but it actually seems pretty sturdy.
GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Do Golem auras stack? If I have two Stone golems summoned, am I getting life regen from both? I know different golem auras work together, just not sure of two golems of the same type.
Do Golem auras stack? If I have two Stone golems summoned, am I getting life regen from both? I know different golem auras work together, just not sure of two golems of the same type.
Golems don't stack with like types.
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jungleroomxIt's never too many graves, it's always not enough shovelsRegistered Userregular
I took a chance on a non summoner build and went toxic rain shadow and its pretty fun.
Damage over time seems like a very odd thing in a game where you have to kill everything asap or you die but the over time segment seems to occur quickly enough where I can just kind of spray the mouse around and things die. Bosses take a bit longer. All in all much better than lacerate ugh what a mess.
Also I was very scared of going evasion instead of armor or ES but it actually seems pretty sturdy.
Evasion is awesome.
Armor is only really good for small hits, reduced damage taken is the real deal.
I take it you're using the Wind Dancer node? Because if you're not you absolutely should.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Do Golem auras stack? If I have two Stone golems summoned, am I getting life regen from both? I know different golem auras work together, just not sure of two golems of the same type.
Golems don't stack with like types.
Okay. Good thing I picked up the other golems then. Running a Stone, Ice, Chaos and Fire one now for the different buffs.
Do Golem auras stack? If I have two Stone golems summoned, am I getting life regen from both? I know different golem auras work together, just not sure of two golems of the same type.
Golems don't stack with like types.
Okay. Good thing I picked up the other golems then. Running a Stone, Ice, Chaos and Fire one now for the different buffs.
Golemancer build?
Good stuff if so.
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GnomeTankWhat the what?Portland, OregonRegistered Userregular
Yeah, Elemancer + Liege of the Primordial + Golem Commander. Four golems out at once, with a huge buff to their auras.
It's nice that Golem Commander sits right next to Heart of Thunder. Golems + Arc seems to work very well so far.
I'm pretty sure that when I last played PoE years ago, map drops were limited to the maps on the atlas that you had previously completed or connected to a map you had previously comleted.
So how come I can get a map drop that's in a part of the atlas I can't even see yet?
I'm fairly certain anything can drop, but you're more likely to get drops close to where you're at in the atlas now.
iirc league mechanics and bosses don't follow the rules for map drops
Ratsult2 on
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surrealitychecklonely, but not unloveddreaming of faulty keys and latchesRegistered Userregular
ok so that new hat maw of mischief
i used it and it immediately killed every minion including my stacked animated guardian permanently
bex how could u
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38thDoelets never be stupid againwait lets always be stupid foreverRegistered Userregular
I took a chance on a non summoner build and went toxic rain shadow and its pretty fun.
Damage over time seems like a very odd thing in a game where you have to kill everything asap or you die but the over time segment seems to occur quickly enough where I can just kind of spray the mouse around and things die. Bosses take a bit longer. All in all much better than lacerate ugh what a mess.
Also I was very scared of going evasion instead of armor or ES but it actually seems pretty sturdy.
Evasion is awesome.
Armor is only really good for small hits, reduced damage taken is the real deal.
I take it you're using the Wind Dancer node? Because if you're not you absolutely should.
See I thought evasion was chance to not get hit and if you get hit you take full damage and splat because everything hits way too hard. So that scared me away from it.
I'm working towards Wind Dancer but I had to embarrassingly remove progress to grab some dex nodes to run a bow I dropped all my money on. 6 links and +3 to all bow skills though.
In my crafting bench I have ranks 1, 2 and 4 of +life, but no rank 3. What's up with that? When I look through the crafting recipes I haven't unlocked I only see rank 5.
I took a chance on a non summoner build and went toxic rain shadow and its pretty fun.
Damage over time seems like a very odd thing in a game where you have to kill everything asap or you die but the over time segment seems to occur quickly enough where I can just kind of spray the mouse around and things die. Bosses take a bit longer. All in all much better than lacerate ugh what a mess.
Also I was very scared of going evasion instead of armor or ES but it actually seems pretty sturdy.
Evasion is awesome.
Armor is only really good for small hits, reduced damage taken is the real deal.
I take it you're using the Wind Dancer node? Because if you're not you absolutely should.
See I thought evasion was chance to not get hit and if you get hit you take full damage and splat because everything hits way too hard. So that scared me away from it.
I'm working towards Wind Dancer but I had to embarrassingly remove progress to grab some dex nodes to run a bow I dropped all my money on. 6 links and +3 to all bow skills though.
Evasion IS a chance to not get hit and yeah you do take full damage, and it works on diminishing returns ("entropy") where as time goes on you're more likely to be hit.
Which is why you pair it with dodge (Acrobatics and Phase Acrobatics, lab roll for boots which is x% chance to dodge if you haven't been hit for x, and Soul of Lunaris and Gruthkul) something like Wind Dancer and Immortal Call to prevent going splat, because that reduced damage taken is always 20%. Which is always better than armor's damage reduction, which reduces the bigger the hit.
Posts
If it makes you feel better, I've seen people do this plenty of times. Pretty sure I've done it myself.
I started developing an RSI during Heist and I think this is going to be my last league. I even bought a new mouse because I thought it might help but I can only manage like an hour or two of maps before my hand hurts too much and I have to stop for the day.
Playstyle isn't exactly the same as melee skeletons for obvious reasons, but man they are just wrecking things with blah gear. I didn't start using vaal skeletons until level 55 or so, and they were tearing apart bosses even without that. Vaal skeletons is as much of a "erase everything on the screen" button as it's always been, which makes the single target DPS of the build (and performance in Rituals) pretty top tier (at cheap gear levels at least).
You use GMP with the skeletons, but most bosses are big enough that the skeletons will hit with multiple projectiles depending on positioning. Their range is great too -- it's definitely a build where you can drop the skeletons far away, and phase bosses while you're offscreen and can't even see them.
My gear is a bit of a mess, and it's really promising! I nabbed a 5L Femurs of the Saints for 3C, but ran out of chromatic orbs to get a not particularly hard to achieve color combination (*new league poor sad noises*), so I don't even have my skeletons on a proper 5L with +2 gem levels (they're in a Tabula, and I would just drop pierce -- so their single target DPS will be quite a bit better). I spent....all of my money on that, so I'm just rolling around with 0% lightning resist in maps and it doesn't even feel that bad with my skeletons doing all of the work.
They feel dramatically better than melee skeletons now -- that DPS nerf several leagues ago really did hit them hard, and it was painful for me to watch before I switched over to mages. There's a neat little added bonus to it as well -- skeleton mages work well with spell echo, which affects the skeletons but also the way you cast skeletons. With the From Dust jewel (the description specifically says it only works for Skeleton Warriors, but it is a lie) and spell echo, you summon a full pack of 12 in one cast and it makes the build feel a lot better. I've always liked the one slightly longer cast (a la minefield) over the two quick casts, and I was happy to see that the combo works.
If anyone wants a cheap and easy summoner build to get through maps, I definitely recommend it. The unique jewels are cheap, and it's off to the races after that.
I'm curious -- what part of the mouse interaction is causing you discomfort?
I ask, because I started to get a bit of discomfort this league playing DI (a channeling skill) bound to my right mouse button. Holding down the right mouse constantly, by the end of a10, was making my wrist feel pretty blah.
After 1800 hours played, I wound up moving flame dash to right click, and my primary skill to E. It helped me a lot! Obviously your mileage my vary. For whatever reason, I don't feel any discomfort from my left mouse button use (using the tried and true logitech G602). I have it held down 99% of the time I'm playing the game (outside of inventory screens and such), with quick slight movements to let it go and pick up loot and stuff. But not having to hold down or use right mouse as much at the same time seemed to have fixed my issue entirely.
Option 2 -- probably no one's favorite; the game does work with Steam Controllers if you're up to put in the effort to configuration. When I first started playing I really wanted to play in bed, and had it working well enough to do that on my newbie characters. It takes quite a bit of tweaking, and there are limitations because the interface is still the PC interface and not the console interface, but it's an option if you think a controller would help.
Honestly one of the best decisions I've done with regards to control.
I can't wait for PoE2's skill gem system. It just seems more intuitive.
Got a link to the build you're using? I've been somewhat unimpressed with the performance of the popcorn skeletons I've been doing so hoping it's a pretty easy transition.
Switch: SW-1493-0062-4053
I would highly recommend you look at purchasing a game pad and a vertical mouse. I stopped playing PoE for years due to pain. I've got a Razer Tartarus now and love it to death, I'll post my layout once I get home.
Haha so this guy kind of weirdly hates path of building, but the link is in there somewhere (a bit out of date). I'm using the skill trees and skill links, but my own preferred cheap starter items (Femurs is cheap and I want to see how far I can push the defense, since the DPS is sweet now).
Here's the build guide with the details -- it works for melee and mages, I would highly recommend using mages. If you care to see some of my super cheap alternatives for MEGA BUDGET (I do have a tabula, which is worth the rest of the build combined), then here's FIaHeartWantsWhatitWant. The sockets are a mess, as are some of the items, but I'll be working on it.
You 100% need Dead Reckoning for around 2C, and I highly recommend From Dust for 1C. Most of the stats and items aren't too different from other zombie/skeleton builds you may be more used to -- physical damage for minions becomes mostly worthless (you still use zombies but I wouldn't prioritize it, and it eventually uses triad grip), and I think minion speed is fairly worthless too, being the differences. Skeleton mages don't really walk being the reason -- they have stupidly long artillery range to make up for it, but you recast when you want them to find new targets. So yeah, it should be pretty simple to transition to.
Whooops, I meant to edit the last post but accidentally double posted, so:
It looks like the build author actually overhauled the entire damn thing last night. I feel kind of cool, because a lot of it was stuff that I thought would be better too! He's doubled down on skeleton mages (really they're just muuuuch better than warriors right now) and is using the zombies more for shielding than DPS. I've been using them as DPS, buuut it probably fits the build better not to have to get so close to bosses with your zombies -- take advantage of the crazy range of skeleton mages; no reason to get in close unless you really want to. It definitely never felt necessary to have them DPSing either.
So how come I can get a map drop that's in a part of the atlas I can't even see yet?
Currently DMing: None
Characters
[5e] Dural Melairkyn - AC 18 | HP 40 | Melee +5/1d8+3 | Spell +4/DC 12
victarios charity chest, level 21 smite w/ empower (and probs ancestral call) + 21 wrath in it, frenzy + power charges, 4l blue triad grip, avatar of fire and ele equilibrium to make ur smite debuff, aura effect and minion nodes and ur off to the races
skellies still have 50% more added damage so this is highly effective
u can then use a 2-hander or, in a pinch, use sign of the sin-eater to get a level 30 smite without using victarios chest. this build is highly effective going skellies phantasms as they scale oddly similarly due to both benefiting from smite + wrath, both getting full conversion to lightning and both scaling off added phys stuff. its been literally millions of dps in 2c of gear for years and it remains that way
Oh, that sounds great! It does look pretty damn cheap too.
Ultimately, it plays super differently from how I play skellies. Smite alone == me doing damage (not a lot, but it pretends to be an attack at least) and clicking buttons, not my skeletons doing damage. I want a build that has the skellies doing basically all of the "doing effort" stuff, with me just debuffing and running around like crazy trying not to die. In most fights pressing anything other than skeletons is just to keep me entertained!
Definitely just my personal preference! I've been excited by this build because it gives me a viable way to skellies as a pure lazy main event thing. And it does it in a really strong "oh god GGG please don't nerf this" way too, which I'll take.
so u press smite about once every 10seconds and ur gucci
plus u can get things like fortify on hit corruptions and go even more afk aww yeahhhhhhhhh
if u really felt the need (the NEED for FEED) the necro duration nodes + both duration circles on tree + inc duration support plus a worm flask and u just pressing 2 buttons once every 15 seconds and otherwise scurring around being a wizard
o ye also lightning golem for extra lightning for the bosi thank u golem
Did I get kicked from Guild? I was just playing this morning with you guys.
What a weird bug. Came and went in the time it took me to post here.
I'm fairly certain anything can drop, but you're more likely to get drops close to where you're at in the atlas now.
https://www.amazon.com/Anker-Ergonomic-Optical-Vertical-Buttons/dp/B00FPAVUHC
https://www.amazon.com/Razer-Tartarus-Progammable-Detachable-Mecha-Membrane/dp/B07754PYFK
Top row is 1-5, with 1 being a macro that pianos my flasks once (mashes 1,2,3,4 and 5). Second row is QWERT, third row is CTRL, Shift, Alt, Tab and Z, fourth row is Inventory, character, passives, and quest log. The round button is Left Mouse Click, which I have set to movement, and the fat thumb button is Escape. I'm currently using a la-z-boy with the mouse and game pad on the arm rests.
I use the thumb button for movement, right click for travel skills, and middle click for guard skills. Didn't use to be able to make it out of acts before my RSI started acting up, now I'm pain free for multi-hour sessions.
The fingerpads from my 2nd knuckle to the tips on the index through ring fingers started getting raw and bruised. I started bandaging my fingers to play, which was manageable for other games, but PoE's a bit too intensive.
A controller hadn't occurred to me, I've never owned a console, but alternate control schemes would probably help.
I looked into vertical mice but a friend talked me into a Viper Ultimate instead. That Tartarus looks interesting, I'll give it a shot.
Damage over time seems like a very odd thing in a game where you have to kill everything asap or you die but the over time segment seems to occur quickly enough where I can just kind of spray the mouse around and things die. Bosses take a bit longer. All in all much better than lacerate ugh what a mess.
Also I was very scared of going evasion instead of armor or ES but it actually seems pretty sturdy.
Golems don't stack with like types.
Evasion is awesome.
Armor is only really good for small hits, reduced damage taken is the real deal.
I take it you're using the Wind Dancer node? Because if you're not you absolutely should.
Okay. Good thing I picked up the other golems then. Running a Stone, Ice, Chaos and Fire one now for the different buffs.
Golemancer build?
Good stuff if so.
It's nice that Golem Commander sits right next to Heart of Thunder. Golems + Arc seems to work very well so far.
iirc league mechanics and bosses don't follow the rules for map drops
i used it and it immediately killed every minion including my stacked animated guardian permanently
bex how could u
See I thought evasion was chance to not get hit and if you get hit you take full damage and splat because everything hits way too hard. So that scared me away from it.
I'm working towards Wind Dancer but I had to embarrassingly remove progress to grab some dex nodes to run a bow I dropped all my money on. 6 links and +3 to all bow skills though.
Yes, you can remove the gem anytime. The skill point just controls if the socket is available.
Evasion IS a chance to not get hit and yeah you do take full damage, and it works on diminishing returns ("entropy") where as time goes on you're more likely to be hit.
Which is why you pair it with dodge (Acrobatics and Phase Acrobatics, lab roll for boots which is x% chance to dodge if you haven't been hit for x, and Soul of Lunaris and Gruthkul) something like Wind Dancer and Immortal Call to prevent going splat, because that reduced damage taken is always 20%. Which is always better than armor's damage reduction, which reduces the bigger the hit.
But sometimes you gon splat, it happens, nbd.
They do not