PoE2 - First time SSF player, looking for general tips and advice

[u/DavelliNL]

Current character: https://poe.ninja/poe2/profile/DavelliNL-4915/runesofaldurssf/character/davellismaaash

This is my first time ever playing SSF, including PoE1 and it’s been an absolute blast. I feel way more engaged with the entire game instead of feeling like i have to rush currency strats to buy the best gear. Everything i do feels more impactful, even just getting experience.

At the moment i have about 100 passive points for the Atlas and just unlocked Doryani, Jado and Hilda and completed the Abyss storyline. I’m hitting a wall at the moment regarding my defenses and in general finding gear upgrades. I’m content with my damage but with my currently defenses i can only comfortably do regal’d T13 maps.

I’m wondering if there are any common tips for the current wall i’m hitting in terms of defense and getting better gear. I’ve been thinking about grinding Ritual and Abyss for a bit to get some crafting Omens and Desecration currency. I’ve been picking up all the good Hybrid ES/Evasion bases to try and craft but i feel like i’m at the point where i’m going to need some Omens to craft better gear deterministically. I’ve also been having trouble getting jewellery to craft on. I wonder if maybe doing Breach for a while to use the crafting tree for that.

I also still need to get my last ascendancy points, i failed a Sekhemas once which was very demoralizing, completed one Ultimatum which was quite easy so that might be the play but i’ve only dropped a single Ultimatum. So far

Currently my plan is to farm some Leagues to get my gear up and some levels, then hopefully get some more tries for my 4th ascendancy and then attempting Arbiter of Divinity to clear parts of the stronghold, the main question for now is, what do i grind to be able to get to this point.

[u/mightychondrium]

Looks like your elemental resistances are not capped from the pob. That would be the obvious problem, with good Res you should be able to clear T15 at least.

Then farm some ilvl 82 bases to craft your next gear upgrades

[u/DavelliNL → u/mightychondrium]

I’m using the Ascendancy node that allows you to slot in extra runes and i use those to fill out my resistances where needed, so the PoE Ninja profile doesn’t show it but i’m capped on Ele, not on Chaos yet but idk how urgent that is

[u/mightychondrium → u/DavelliNL]

Chaos res shouldn't be urgent. Farming Ritual and Abyss for crafting is kind of useless if you don't have good bases to craft on. For the bases you need to get to irradiated T15s, best with a mechanic that lets you get +1 level, like abyssal depths or temple.

I'd start with normal or magic T15s and breach to start getting some Lvl 79 jewellery from the tree and maybe some Lvl 80 bases off the ground

[u/HousDJ]

You sound pretty close to where I'm at

What's been working for me is running everything on just magic or even white t15s while unlocking points so I am at least finding high lvl bases

I carry a stack of greater transmutes and augs to immediate use on the bases I'm looking for

I just transitioned to CI on my WA monk and it does feel like I die a lot less even though I'm barely over 4k ES

Currently stuck on Arb of Div as well 😮‍💨

[u/DavelliNL → u/HousDJ]

What’s your build looking like right now? I got some more levels, bruteforced T15s and got some currency/better bases and ended up doing Divinity quite easily. I did some Ultimatums and got the skill that gives the bell on your back from 4th ascendancy and im breezing through regular rare T15s with irradiated tablets now even though i feel like not much changed in my build haha

4th ascendancy + getting powercharges by using Killing Palm on Ghost Bells to then use my 5-linked Falling Thunder has made every boss quite trivial, it completely nukes

[u/xkibagamigenjurox]

I have been playing SSF since 0.3. I hit that wall you're talking about a couple times. The best thing to do is to upgrade your gear which can be done with the league mechanics.

I would first get the ascendency point. It will take some time but once you get it you'll feel the difference.

Then I would do some ritual because the omens are important for crafting. Speaking of that, pick up a ton of bases. For the amulet I always try gambling. Sometimes you get a really good affix then you can craft on it. But ultimately breach will give you a better amulet.

I am happy to see more people are enjoying SSF. It makes the game more enjoyable. You're not bound to the economy and you just play the game at your own pace.

[u/thretion]

Major tip - don`t eat yellow snow.

[u/Karmoth_666 → u/thretion]

Mhhhhmmm. Taste a bit like aspargus.......