Path of Exile - upcoming F2P Daiablo clone

[Syt]

Been spending a fair amount on the new Necropolis league with a life leech cyclone build. They're rejiggled the end game - again. You still have the atlas skill trees, but you unlock up to three that you can switch between, so less having to respecc it all the time depending on what content you want.

Also, when did they go back to have maps in set levels instead of having to "level up maps"? Or is it a mix now? I'm still in yellow maps, keeping it to a few maps at night to wind down before bed, so not making super fast progress

Scarabs are a lot more important and give all kinds of additional modifiers to map (what kind of content, plus additional mods to that content).

The new league is ... eh? Enemies in maps have modifiers attached to them that you can switch between them, e.g. if a modifier is attached to a mob where you think it's modding it to be too tough for your build or where you think you get better drops from other mobs. Additionally, you can get special drops that let you replace some mobs to get different loot or to nerf a hard mob (e.g. replacing them with rats or frogs). One of the sillier mnodifiers is to have each pack of one type of mob be accompanied by a random (nerfed) map boss It's dumb, and creating even more of a loot pinyata

As reward you mostly get "corpses" that you can bury in a Necropolis graveyard. Each one has crafting modifiers (500% increased chance for a fire modifier, 300% decreased chance for mana modifier, + 1 linked gemslot for up to 5, boosting/randomizing adjacent "corpses" etc. where you can try to craft gear.

And ... that's about it? It feels more like an additional end game crafting mechanic than a full fledged league, but I mjst say I don't hate it. Just compared to other leagues a lot less "flashy" or taking over the game with its mechanic, compared to, say, Sentinel, or Delirium.

I missed Affliction, Crucible, Sanctum and Ancestor leagues - I guess only Sanctum made it into the game permanently?

[FunkMonk]

Game looks incredible. And on controller too   

[Syt]

Once I reached Map level 10-ish in the current league, I kinda stopped playing. I was enjoying it, but the lack of "breakthrough" and progress made me quit it. I turned to Drox Operative 2 for my ARPG fix. Yes, highly repetitive and tedious if you generate maps medium and larger, but it scratches the itch of "make many enemies explode and gamble on loot" for me.

[FunkMonk]

https://www.pathofexile.com/settlers

Town construction and management
Trade routes
Gold for respecs and gambling and trade
CURRENCY TRADE MARKET
COMPLETE MELEE REBALANCE TO MAKE IT FINALLY ON PAR WITH SPELLS   
BUILT-IN BOTTING FOR AUTOMATIC MAPPING      

I used to pray for times like this 

[frunk]

Yeah, damn them for sucking me back in.

[Iormlund]

The announcement was hilarious. It just kept going.

I really didn't plan to play before PoE 2 hit, but I'll definitely play this one.

[FunkMonk]

Yeah that was funny. It's crazy how much GGG puts into its seasons compared to Diablo 4.

I also wasn't really interested in playing until PoE 2 but this has pulled me back in.

[Iormlund]

It's pretty clear that they feel close enough to PoE 2 to start nudging players along the new Path (hehe).

Gold and the auction house are are perfect example. I was quite surprised at the new "garrison" league mechanic, but it makes total sense as a way of presenting these systems as a temporary trial.

[FunkMonk]

Yeah they've clearly thought through things and have a plan and this league is a great opportunity to test how to best implement their ideas for PoE 2.

[crazy canuck]

Looks like they have borrowed mechanics from lost ark and grim dawn.  Which is great to see

[Iormlund]

So, after looking at the patch notes (yay melee buffs!) I think I have my character: Viper Strike Pathfinder.

Nothing meta, since I like to create the builds myself. But it should be fast, have decent survivability and deal up to 5 million DPS with proliferation.

Only one (optional) unique as well, so it should be relatively straightforward to gear.

[frunk]

So the League mechanic isn't bad, but nothing spectacular.  I do like how different each mining node is and how they are tackled.

The thing that has kept me playing is the Warden (guaranteed 2 sec. freeze is wonderful) and all the quality of life improvements.  It just feels smoother to play, and has me even more excited about PoE 2.

[FunkMonk]

Yeah this league is great. I'm still enjoying it after a week which is more than I can say about last league.

I'm playing some cobbled up build I made on my own and the new gold respeccing is absolutely game changing for leveling.

[Iormlund]

I'm level 90 already. 

I'm really enjoying Viper Strike of the Mamba. You suffer a bit when there are no white mobs around, but it's hilarious when you get to delete the entire screen - including very tough Rares or Bosses - with a single application of poison.
The saving grace for bossing is the permanent sustain you get as Pathfinder.

I've decided to bench my best workers and use instead only level 1 and 2s. They are less effective, but far more efficient. I'm using all the gold on town upgrades for now.

[Iormlund]

My Viper Strike of the Mamba is almost finished. I'm still a bit squishy doing Tier 16s, so I'm going to go for a Lightning Coil to mitigate Phys damage. That, Vaal Grace and some more health from with jewels should do the trick.
Damage is passable when there's no trash around, utterly ridiculous otherwise.

I'm making most of my currency with Harvest. I wait a few seconds for the rares to spawn and obliterate the whole screen with one strike. Blight or Expedition work great as well. I'm going to spec Breach to see how it goes.

As someone who hates selling shit on PoE, I'm swimming in currency this league thanks to the Marketplace. Selling Scarabs, Lifeforce, Rogue's Markers and so on is painless for once. And I'm not even juicing my maps yet.