Path of Exile - upcoming F2P Daiablo clone

[Iormlund]

Got a Soul Mantle for my Arc Totem dude while I was doing the first lab with my Vaal Double Strike Slayer. Of course I have nowhere near the amount of fusings and jeweller orbs needed to six-link it, nor the recipes ...

[frunk]

OK, so I am leveling up a Winters Orb Witch. Looks interesting, and I like new stuff.

Problem. I am at level 21sh right now, and have been leveling with Arc. Because, well, Arc is awesome.

I have this feeling when I switch over, I am going to be sad that it isn't as good as Arc.

Also, I want to do a ranger build. Something that actually shoots arrows in a satisfying manner, that DOES not involve some poison DOT crap. Is that even a thing at all anymore?

There are plenty of good Ranger builds that aren't poison based.  There's a lot of good Cold passives near the southeast of the tree, so you could go Ice Shot/Herald of Ice (or a straight Phys bow skill if you have enough Cold conversion).  There's plenty of Crit enhancement as well, so you can do just about any Bow skill with high Crit damage and/or Cast on Crit (Barrage or Tornado Shot are popular for this).  It also depends on what Ascendancy path you want to take.  Pathfinder focuses on Flasks and/or Poison.  Raider focuses on frenzy, onslaught and/or phasing.  Deadeye is primarily about maximizing projectile bonuses and AOE. 

Depending on uniques you have there are also more exotic and specialized builds.

[FunkMonk]

OK, so I am leveling up a Winters Orb Witch. Looks interesting, and I like new stuff.

Problem. I am at level 21sh right now, and have been leveling with Arc. Because, well, Arc is awesome.

I have this feeling when I switch over, I am going to be sad that it isn't as good as Arc.

Also, I want to do a ranger build. Something that actually shoots arrows in a satisfying manner, that DOES not involve some poison DOT crap. Is that even a thing at all anymore?

Deadeye Tailwind Ice Shot with a decent phys bow and 100 percent cold conversion utterly destroys maps in like 30 seconds.

[Iormlund]

Two days ago, after months of trying, I convinced a friend of mine to try the game, and showed him the basics. He's now level 37. 

[Syt]

Having lag issues for the past few days. Stupid holidays with too many people playing.

[frunk]

Having lag issues for the past few days. Stupid holidays with too many people playing.

Stupid holidays with traveling far away from my PC.

[Iormlund]

Having lag issues for the past few days. Stupid holidays with too many people playing.

I get disconnected 99% of the times on loading the town after login. Sometimes during gameplay as well. It's always worse at peak hours. I wish I could just load to my hideout. I rarely have issues there.

[frunk]

Since I've been back on Thursday night I haven't had any problems.  Maybe the European servers aren't handling the load?

My Winter Orb character is up to 85 and doing well.  I think this is my most successful character that is running without a unique.

[Iormlund]

I was thinking of doing one of those.

I got both a Double Strike Slayer and a DoT Occultist all the way to mapping, but predictably none is anywhere as good as Arc Totem. 

[frunk]

Well I'm no longer unique free.  I picked up a Rime Gaze from a Safehouse.  It about doubled the DOT of my Cold Snap.

It also pushed my Energy Shield over 5K.

[frunk]

Got to the mastermind safehouse fight, got trashed in the final fight.

[spoiler]Catarina is the big mastermind, which isn't a surprise considering who doesn't show up.  The fight is difficult, but as with most of these it's figuring out the mechanics.  It's damage her,
defeat adds, stand near totem, repeat.  There's an arrow for the totems that points out where you need to go.[/spoiler]

After dying the first couple of times I should have read up on what to do, but oh well.

[mongers]

Is this one of those free base games on Steam?

I ask as I've just recalled seeing on my list of games last night, but I'm pretty sure I'd not have bought it?

[frunk]

Is this one of those free base games on Steam?

I ask as I've just recalled seeing on my list of games last night, but I'm pretty sure I'd not have bought it?

The game itself is free and fully playable without spending a dime.  The limitation is that the storage for your character will be small and annoying to handle.  So money is spent mostly for quality of life rather than in game advantage.

I'd recommend at least a semi-decent computer to play though.

[mongers]

Is this one of those free base games on Steam?

I ask as I've just recalled seeing on my list of games last night, but I'm pretty sure I'd not have bought it?

The game itself is free and fully playable without spending a dime.  The limitation is that the storage for your character will be small and annoying to handle.  So money is spent mostly for quality of life rather than in game advantage.

I'd recommend at least a semi-decent computer to play though.

Frunk thanks for the info, I hadn't intended to give it a try,  but given you're recommendation I'll have a go.   

I think it's steam, if you once ever look at the store page of a game that is free, then it'll be added to your games library, whether you want it or not?

[crazy canuck]

Mongers, I played it for years without spending a dime.  But Frunk is right, paying for the tab to store currency improves things logistically.  But you can play for many many hours before you reach the point of considering whether it is worth your while.  One of those games that is truly free to play and fully playable.

Edit: I should mention I got some headphones for my computer with DTS X or whatever, and the sounds in the game are much better.  I can hear things I didn't notice over my ancient speakers.