up to date stat, ability and mechanics guides

[Zmperion]

Hi all,

 

I just started playing POE again after leaving it on the shelf soon after release (the character stat bug screwed my game up). I bought the expansions and oh my a lot has changed mechanic's wise. I stil like it a lot but i'm having trouble finding guides on game-mechanics and stuff that are up to date. So my question is: where can i find them?

 

For information on builds this forum seems to be reasonably up to date but since most people have played this game for a long time, guides tend to be rather compact and are missing some of the basics. And because i like to use the guides more to understand te game rather then blindly follow them that doesn't really work for me.

 

Some basic guides on the internet are obviously out of date (for example they explain perception in the old way) and some i just don't know if the are up date to patch 3.04.... So my question:

 

1) where can i find up to date (basic) guides for the latest patch?

2) and if i find a guide for the white march (II) is that up to dat enough or are there lots of changes?

 

Thanks!

[Ben No.3]

What are your specific questions?

[Adragan]

Unfortunately it's not possible to express specific questions on something you know too little about.

 

I have the same issue and agree with Zmperion's assessment on available forum material. To give my particular case as an illustration of how overwhelming our questions could get, I'm interested in Wizard spells in general and also the optimal way to handle attack speed vs raw power tradeoffs with regards to spells, weapon types, weapon styles and stats. Also about what kind of DR to expect from enemies and bosses at higher levels. So basically anything that will allow me to make a badass wizard on my first playthrough, since there won't be another one for years perhaps. I'd like to evaluate the kind of spell power tradeoff that a dual wielding wizard has to make vs a traditional offense-oriented wizard. I'd like to know which talents to give him and how to spread Lore/Mechanics/etc. (e.g. Which scrolls levels are useful, how many points are required in Mechanics to open the hardest chests, are there items that increase Mechanics but are good enough otherwise to not be "wasting an equipment spot" at higher levels, ...)

 

See, I have a huge amount of questions, and I think that is OP's point. You guys can't be expected to answer a hundred questions in a week... Aside from me reading the code directly from the game and sharing knowledge with OP and other "beginners", the only credible solution seems to be that detailed and up to date resources are already available *somewhere* you or other veterans would know.

 

And in case there are no such resources, could you please check this spreadsheet out and tell us if it's up to date in terms of what it tries to do ?

I see that sabres aren't updated to 3.04 and no one added WM2 monsters. But Google says that the last update was a week ago, so maybe crucial formulas are up to date and weapon rankings and monster data are still correct.

 

PS: Do you know if the wiki is reliable and up to date ? All I know is that it wasn't back then because it was made during the beta and a ton of game changes weren't reflected in the wiki.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Adragan

[Ben No.3]

The wiki is horribly outdated. Use game banshee....

 

About your wizard question...

What do you mean by a classical offence wizard? Really don't know what you mean by that... ranged? spell weapons? help me out, and maybe I can help you.

 

There are some items that give a bonus on mechanics, gloves of manipulation give +2 and the resourcefulness belt gives +15 trap accuracy. There are also scrolls for that. Remember that items boni are added to the end stat. So. if you have 10 mechanics and get the gloves, you will have 10+2=12 mechanics. On the other hand, the class and background boni add to your base value. I explained that on my guide I believe... basically means that they are giving you "free" points.

 

For lore... It is difficult. I personally would say scrolls of moonwell are very useful to have on every caster, and scrolls of revival on the toughest tank. So my party is always fairly educated. But ultimately, it is a matter of taste really. In the crafting menu, you can take a look at all the scrolls, and then you should just evaluate for yourself.

Edited November 14, 2016 by Ben No.3

[Boeroer]

Since you can always retrain in an inn, the answers for those questions don't seem to be crucial for a successful and enjoyable playthrough.

 

A wizard can learn any spell not only from level-ups, but also from enemies' grimoires - which are plenty. You can even fill some grimoires with your current spells, retrain and pick different spells during level-up and then relearn from said grimoires. So, spell choice is not an issue.

 

The only thing that will be fixed is race and background. And those don't have that much impact on your performance.

 

If you have a certain idea for your wizard, try it and it will most likely work well. At the end of the day, a wizard is all about spells and spell choice - and those can easily be adjusted.

 

A dual wielding wizard or a ranged implement wizard don't differ in spell power. If you want to play a melee wizard, focus a bit on self buffing your defenses via spells so that you don't get killed too quickly and that should be it.

 

I honestly think you guys should just go and play the game and don't do too much theory crafting before. You are trying to plan a perfect play through and that won't happen, even if you read a ton of info. It will just prevent you from playing. Most of us here (the so called experts) read a bit about the basic mechanics and then just dove into the game. Don't torture yourself with too much planning.

[Zmperion]

I honestly think you guys should just go and play the game and don't do too much theory crafting before. You are trying to plan a perfect play through and that won't happen, even if you read a ton of info. It will just prevent you from playing. Most of us here (the so called experts) read a bit about the basic mechanics and then just dove into the game. Don't torture yourself with too much planning.

 

Thanks for the replies, and what!? no theory-crafting!? that’s half the fun . I like theory crafting on my break at work or something. Sure I would rather play but that’s not an option at work .

 

 

But you are right; I am playing on hard and its pretty easy so far (I have played crpg’s before). But still some questions I have don’t get solved just by just trying.

 

 

for example:

 

 

It seems like there's no real downside to going sword and board style for casters (e.g Durance). Maybe that’s just the early game because he isn’t casting all the time and the other abilities i can choose on early lvl up seem lackluster.

 

 

Testing all those abilities would take a lot of time and just by reading the description they seem not that good compared to the defense buff a sword and board style gives. Am I right here? Or do I misunderstand some abilities. This is something where maybe general knowledge of stats and skills would come in handy. I find it hard to find the useful abilities which maybe makes me overrate static bonuses and status-effects.

 

 

Also: Giving Durance (e.g) armor seems like a good idea to me he doesn’t cast as much (yet?) and he’s melee attacks aren’t superb so no real downside right? Is it a good idea to give everyone armor?

 

 

Accuracy (e.g) seems like a real important stat. But I find it hard to find out how a big of difference a buff makes because the math depends so much on the enemy’s defenses. I think this depends a lot on how good spells/stats/buffs scale in general but since POE works a lot with numbers instead of percentages it’s hard to see. .

 

 

 

[Adragan]

@Boeroer

I agree with you on not sweating details if it's a chore. But understanding mechanics is a pleasure to me, and there will be no point in doing this if it's not in the beginning of my playthrough, since there won't be a second one anytime soon

I shouldn't derive the topic on my own specific questions or that would be thread hijacking. I take the couple answers you guys gave me gladly.

I will install Unity and see if that makes me able to read code from .unity3d files. Code from the core game DLLs doesn't seem to contain everything I need. Do you guys know if there are good guides on how to get started making mods and pushing them into the game ? A mod would ease and fasten in-game testing quite a lot.

 

@Ben No. 3

"Classical offense wizard" is basically a glass canon, ridiculously weak defensively but throwing spell apocalypse all over the place. (i.e. chain casting and killing everyone from the rear lines)

The dual wielding wizard is akin to Baldur's Gate 2's Kensai mage, which can essentially bring apocalypse through spells AND sword; and is harder to kill. In BG2 the tradeoff is that Kensai mages can only shine at very high levels, i.e. there is no real tradeoff in spell power once the build is ready for prime time, making it both an invincible warrior and a mage on steroids. (Tons of HP, better saving throws, ...)

Edited November 15, 2016 by Adragan

[Boeroer]

Yeah fair enough. I also like to theorycraft - else I wouldn't have put that many builds into this forum.

Let's emphasize on "too much" theory crafting. By too much I mean the point where you get frustrated because you can't figure out the optimal build for you and don't start to play at all.

 

Caster + Sword & Board: if you don't plan to use ranged weapons on a regular basis (implements with Blast can be VERY strong) then yes: it's a good setup without drawbacks IF you choose small shields and don't mind the talent point you normally put into weapon & shield style. Small shields have no ACC malus. So they won't lower you hit chance of your spells. All other shields will cut your ACC by 4 (medium) or 8 points (large). You can use Quickswitch and use a large shield for max defense and switch to a small shield when casting - thus getting the best of two setups. But it's a ton of micro and usually not worth the hassle.

 

About implements with Blast: note that certain things that normally only work on single targets work in an AoE if you use Blast. Those are spell chances on hit/crit like from the soulbound sceptre or The Golden Gaze, on-crit effects like stun on crit like The Rod of Pale Shades has, the Glittering Gauntlets daze in an AoE, Kalakoth's Minor Blights has a cascading effect with Blast and even Envenomed Strike turns into a very powerful AoE poisoning attack. That is one of the main reasons why most people choose an implement+blast setup with a wizard. It's powerful even if you don't use spells.

 

Those things also work with Citzal's Spirit Lance by the way - it has the same AoE mechanic like Blast.

 

But melee wizards (be it with a dual wielding or shield setup) can be a lot of fun because you have awesome self buffs and also some great spells that work best in melee or reach weapon range. After some levels they can also be very good tanks (as longas the buffa work), too.

[Zmperion]

Caster + Sword & Board: if you don't plan to use ranged weapons on a regular basis (implements with Blast can be VERY strong) then yes: it's a good setup without drawbacks IF you choose small shields and don't mind the talent point you normally put into weapon & shield style. Small shields have no ACC malus. So they won't lower you hit chance of your spells. 

 

About implements with Blast: note that certain things that normally only work on single targets work in an AoE if you use Blast. Those are spell chances on hit/crit like from the soulbound sceptre or The Golden Gaze, on-crit effects like stun on crit like The Rod of Pale Shades has, the Glittering Gauntlets daze in an AoE, Kalakoth's Minor Blights has a cascading effect with Blast and even Envenomed Strike turns into a very powerful AoE poisoning attack. That is one of the main reasons why most people choose an implement+blast setup with a wizard. It's powerful even if you don't use spells.

 

 

 

Great, good information, then sword and board is a no-no for my mage but fine for my priest. Which is nice since de priest has a lot of "aura" spells. Hell he's almost a paladin in the Baldurs Gate sence .  So does Blast work with single target spells as well or just with on hit procs from weapons?

 

some other questions:

 

Do i have to save up crafting materials for later on or are there different materials for late game? In other words can I just slam +accuracy on a random sword I’m using or is better to wait for a decent item?  

 

Does amplified thrust make a attack roll when it hits or does it always hit (since you cast it on an aly) 

 

Does the athletics skill still boost your health (long term).

[Boeroer]

A melee wizard is viable and powerful, too. But if you want lower maintenance, then a ranged wizard is the better choice.

 

Most of the time you will use different stuff for late game crafting - and you will also have plenty of it. So craft all you want.

 

Amplified Thrust hits your ally without any check and bounces off to the nearest enemy - then the usual hit roll will occur. I don't consider it to be a very useful spell. Whisper of Treason for example is a lot better.

 

Athletic only gives you a 1/encounter self heal which is kind of lame - esp. in the late game the healing is not noticeable. I ALWAYS skip it.

[Ben No.3]

I usually give my main 4 athletics if he is DD melee... Both to make it a bit easier early on and to pick up Fulvano's gloves as early as possible. Does not apply for melee chanters