Path of Exile is a notoriously challenging action RPG that has garnered a loyal following since its release in 2013. While the game can be incredibly rewarding for those who stick, many new players struggle to keep up with the game’s difficulty curve. In this guide, we’ll explore some tips and strategies that can help you make Path of Exile easier to manage.
Since you can not change the difficulty in Path of Exile to make it easier, you will have to rely on better builds, powerful and effective loot, gear yourself for more survivability, use trading to get better gear, and use every item in the game that boosts your defense and offense like Flasks.
If you find Path of Exile a little too hard for yourself, then you can try some of the methods mentioned below to make it easier.
1. Choosing the Right Build
Choosing your character’s build is one of the most important decisions when starting Path of Exile. There are countless builds to choose from, each with its own unique strengths and weaknesses.
If you’re finding the game too difficult, consider choosing a more straightforward build and easier to manage.
Some popular starter builds include the Marauder’s Ground Slam build, the Witch’s Fireball build, and the Ranger’s Rain of Arrows build. These builds focus on a few key skills and straightforward mechanics, making them easier to master than some of the more complex builds in the game.
Once you’ve chosen your class, you’ll need to pick a skill or ability to build around. There are hundreds of options to choose from.
Some builds are more gear-dependent than others, so if you’re having trouble surviving or dealing enough damage, consider switching to a more beginner-friendly build that doesn’t require as much gear.
Builds that rely on totem or minion summons can be easy to play as they don’t require much micromanagement.
Other builds like spellcasters or archers can also be effective without requiring too much gear investment. It’s important to do some research and find a build that suits your playstyle and skill level.
2. Use a Loot Filter
Path of Exile has a massive amount of loot, and it can be overwhelming to sift through it all. To make your life easier, use a loot filter. A loot filter is a tool that hides low-value items and highlights valuable ones, making it easier to quickly identify items that are worth picking up.
There are many loot filters available, including popular ones like Neversink’s Loot Filter and Filterblade. These filters can be customized to your preferences, so you can choose which items to highlight and which to hide. Using a loot filter can save you a lot of time and make the game much more manageable.
3. Focus on Survivability
In Path of Exile, survivability is key. The game is designed to be challenging, and if you’re not prepared, you can easily get overwhelmed by mobs of enemies. To make your journey through Wraeclast easier, focus on increasing your survivability. This means investing in defensive stats like life, armor, evasion, and resistance.
One of the best ways to improve your survivability is to make sure you have enough life. Aim to have at least a 200% increased maximum life on your passive skill tree, and look for gear with life bonuses. You can also use life flasks to quickly heal yourself in battle.
Resistances
Another important defensive stat is resistances. In Path of Exile, enemies deal elemental damage (fire, cold, and lightning) as well as physical damage. If your resistance to these types of damage is too low, you’ll take increased damage and have a harder time surviving. Aim to cap your resistances at 75% to reduce incoming damage as much as possible.
Elemental resistances are essential in Path of Exile as most enemies deal elemental damage. Each character has a base resistance of 0% for fire, cold, and lightning, but gear and passives can increase these values up to 75%.
It’s important to balance your resistances so they are close to each other to prevent getting one-shot by an enemy that deals a type of elemental damage you are weak to.
Additionally, certain zones may have elemental modifiers that can reduce or increase your resistance, so be sure to check the area’s modifiers before entering.
Physical Damage Mitigation
Physical damage mitigation is also important as some enemies deal physical damage. Armor is the primary method of physical damage mitigation, but it’s important to note that armor only mitigates physical damage, not elemental or chaos damage.
As such, it’s important to have other forms of mitigation, like endurance charges or a high life pool.
4. Take Advantage of Trading
Trading is a key part of Path of Exile’s economy. By trading with other players, you can acquire better gear and items that can help you progress more quickly. If you’re struggling to progress, consider spending some time trading to acquire gear upgrades.
There are many trading sites available, including Path of Exile’s official trading site and third-party sites. These sites allow you to search for specific items and filter by price, making it easy to find the gear you need.
Be sure to price-check items before buying them, as prices vary widely depending on the seller.
5. Upgrading Your Gear
In Path of Exile, your character’s equipment is crucial to your success. Making sure your gear is up to date is essential to staying competitive and surviving tough encounters. Here are a few tips to help you upgrade your gear more effectively:
- Identify Rare Items: Rare items are some of the most powerful items in Path of Exile, but they can be hard to come by. When identifying items, look for those with the highest item level (ilvl) possible. Higher level items have a higher chance of rolling better stats, making them more valuable.
- Check Vendors: Vendors sell a range of items that can be useful for upgrading your gear. Make sure to check vendors regularly and buy any items that offer significant upgrades over your current equipment.
- Use Currency Items: Currency items like Chaos Orbs and Exalted Orbs can be used to modify or reroll items, making them more powerful. Be careful when using currency items, as they can also destroy items if used incorrectly.
6. Using Defensive Skills
This game rewards aggression, but sometimes the best defense is a good offense. Here are a few defensive skills (amongst many) that can help you survive tough encounters:
- Fortify: Fortify is a buff that reduces incoming damage by 20% for a short duration. This buff can be applied by using certain skills or items, making it a powerful defensive tool.
- Enduring Cry: Enduring Cry is a skill that grants endurance charges, which increase your physical damage reduction and elemental resistance. Using Enduring Cry before a tough encounter can help you survive longer.
- Immortal Call: Immortal Call is a skill that grants temporary immunity to physical damage. Using Immortal Call can help you survive tough encounters where you’re taking heavy physical damage.
7. Using Flasks
Flasks are consumable items with various effects, including restoring health, granting temporary immunity, and boosting damage output. Keep your flasks up to date and use them strategically to get the most out of them. Here are a few tips for using flasks more effectively:
- Use Utility Flasks: Utility flasks like Quicksilver Flasks and Basalt Flasks can help you move faster and reduce incoming damage. These flasks can help you survive tough encounters and move quickly through the game.
- Upgrade Your Flasks: Flasks can be upgraded using currency items like Glassblower’s Baubles and Silver Coins. Upgrading your flasks can increase their effectiveness and give you more charges to work with.
8. Focus on Life and Defense
In Path of Exile, having a high life pool is essential for survival. Generally, you should aim for at least 3000 life by Act 5 and 5000 life by Act 10. However, having a high life pool isn’t the only thing you need for defense.
As mentioned before, elemental resistances and physical damage mitigation are also important. Certain mechanics like evasion and block chance can also help mitigate damage. Evasion is a chance to dodge incoming attacks, while block chance is a chance to block incoming attacks with your shield or dual-wielded weapons.
Path of Exile doesn’t have a difficulty slider that you can use to adjust the challenge according to your needs. You will have to raise your game and try to understand the many systems that could help you survive and fight like a badass. Hopefully, the tips we provided above will make your experience a bit easier.