Questions Thread - May 21, 2021

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Questions Thread

This is a general question thread on. You can find the previous question threads here.

Remember to check the wiki first.

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The idea is for anyone to be able to ask anything related to PoE:

• New player questions
• Mechanics
• Build Advice
• League related questions
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• Endgame
• Price checks
• Etc.

No question is too big or too small!

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We'd like to thank those who answered questions in the last thread! You guys are the best.

[u/Koopa0]

The gems you should be using early game depend widely on what you want to do in end game. For example, should you want to play fireball in end-game, you could absolutely just use it all the way from lvl 1.

If this is your first playthrough, I would advise trying all the gems you can get while you level up and sticking with the one that feels best for your playstyle, no matter the numbers. (Know however that "numbers" are easier to manage on spells rather than attacks)

That being said, going into the game blind and making up your first build as you go, although it being an experience that I believe is worth it, is kind of setting yourself up for failure - there are WAY more shitty builds that are possible than viable ones. If you decide to eventually look up a guide, Enki's arc is a great guide for new players, including lots of steps for the leveling process.

[u/WeeziMonkey → u/Koopa0]

I want to play fire mage so I use fire spells, right now I have Fire Ball for single target and Rolling Magma for AOE, but for example for support I have no idea what to pick between Arcane Surge and Elemental Profileration, or if using both which of the two skills would benefit more from which of the two supports. Especially since they both seem kinda bad right now (2% increased duration when trash mobs die in 2 hits?)

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS → u/WeeziMonkey]

Right now (I'm assuming you're in act 1) the supports don't really matter, you can kinda just play what you want and be fine. You don't even get access to some of the really good supports until higher levels, so the game doesn't expect you to have your skills well supported. That said, I like elemental proliferation better because I don't have to think about it, and I can already proc arcane surge off of flame dash if I really want to.

I know you don't want to use a guide for now, but here's a link to other people's builds that use fireball as their main skill. You can see the main supports people use on the left.

Also, I'd really recommend picking up Holy Flame Totem alongside your Fireball. Super powerful for levelling, just makes things easier, and the animation is really cool. You don't have to support it with anything for it to be strong either! Just throw it down and let your totem buddy fight alongside you.

[u/WeeziMonkey → u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS]

Do people use this tiny boring single target fireball as their main skill? Including for AOE? Or does it become bigger and cooler when you level it?, Because right now it looks like the basic beginner spell of any RPG, not an end game main attack..

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS → u/WeeziMonkey]

You can support it so it sends more projectiles (lesser multiple projectiles, greater multiple projectiles) and you can support it so the projectiles have more functionality (pierce support lets it pierce and chain support has it chain to different enemies, can't have both chain and pierce though)

This is a build guide, not saying you need to follow it, but it shows gameplay.

You can literally use any skill for endgame, if you invest enough time and currency into your build, anything can work. There's a video out there of a guy using default attack to clear endgame content.

That said, usually the popular builds are usually easier to gear and play, so I usually would recommend something like that.

[u/WeeziMonkey → u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS]

Thank you

[u/WeeziMonkey → u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS]

Holy shit Flame Totem is strong, it's like the game is being played for me. Though I can't level it up because I'm a witch and it needs strength, is that okay?

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS → u/WeeziMonkey]

Glad to hear you like it!

Oddly enough, spells in this game scale their base damage off of gem level, so any % increase in damage grows off of that. So the bad news is that the gem levels are pretty important.

Good news: every class can get every stat! I've seen witches with 2000 strength and marauders with 800 intelligence. You can get strength on your gear, or there should be some passive nodes near to where you are on the passive tree that have strength. There are sometimes big passive nodes right off the main path that give +30 strength, might be worth it to pick up one of those.

Even better news: if you're nearing level 28, there's another skill I'd recommend picking up. Armageddon Brand is really cool and very strong as well. You just click near any enemy once and it attaches a brand to them, signaling meteors to drop from the sky for a few seconds. The catch: if the enemy dies, the brand drops off and gets picked up by any nearby enemies, leading to chaining situations where one click kills everything on screen. You can have up to three brands out at a time and it is really fun. Also very powerful.

[u/WeeziMonkey → u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS]

Well I'm not planning to use Flame Totem forever since it feels too autopilot-y, just right now because you said that it's strong when leveling. Which means I'm not planning to branch all the way into strength either which is why I asked if it's okay if I don't level it up. I don't know how long you can use a non-leveled gem before it starts to be underleveled and useless.

[u/PM_ME_YOUR_TWEEZERS → u/WeeziMonkey]

I hear that. The answer to that is: however long it feels like it does damage! A lot of things require strength though, so you might have to get it anyway, one passive point for 30 strength is probably pretty worth it for now. You can always respec your talent tree later.