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How do!

Didn’t see an existing thread, so starting this one.

Nabbed this for my PS5, so I’ve something to do over the Christmas break, other than annoy the Nephloof.

I’m around level 6, and enjoying it pretty well. It’s like Diablo 2 with brass knobs on. Still trying to get my head around the skills tree and socket gems and that. But I’m sure that will come with experience.

Anyone else playing?

Waiting till it is out of early access and free to play.

Starting to find my feet with it now. Still not entirely sure what I’m doing upgrades wise, but I can now re-spec my upgrades, so that’ll come in handy.

I do need a proper sit down and think about the skills and powers I’ve got, and where I’ve keyed them to for use.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Still not entirely sure what I’m doing upgrades wise

Oh that one is easy. You're taking a number and making it into a slightly bigger number.

I've spent some time on it, currently finished Normal difficulty and onto cruel, with a Ranger using Gas Arrow + Flame Wall combo. In parallel, I've also become very frustrated trying to get past the second Ascendancy trial (even at level 51, the boss one-shots me with some of its attacks, and it's difficult to learn the pattern when retrying means restarting the trial from scratch). Apart from that, the first 8 hours or so have been the hardest (basically until I could start my proper build).

I like the skills tree, the Support gems system, and love that getting the skills you need is easier than in PoE1 (where you needed items with the correct amount of sockets, linked, with the good colors). The flow of combat is also pretty good, for example the Ranger can move while shooting, which makes it a lot more dynamic than most ARPGs where you need to stop shooting to kite.

I hate the one-shot attacks of most bosses and the Dark Souls-like gameplay it entails, and this is a trend that is sadly becoming prevalent in ARPGs (although Diablo4 keeps it mostly to optional bosses).
I also think the early hours could go a little easier on players, and that loot is a bit too rare (this may be because the devs want the crafting system to be the prevalent source of good items).

There’s definitely a knack to it, such as remembering sometimes it’s best to leg it, and let your health and shield regenerate.

But my god it sometimes just utterly ganks you!

My top tips?

At the outset, review your character’s build options, and pick a couple to spec into. I didn’t do that, and whilst I’m not crippled, I’m not quite the lean, mean, killing machine I could be.

Bosses respawn, so for levelling up and item farming you do have some decent options available. Plus it’s really, really, really satisfying to revisit one that gave you trouble and give them Six Nowt.

Now up to the Act One Boss, I think.

He’s a tough cookie, so I may do another top to bottom run, level up a bit, try and get a snackier weapon.

I played the first one a bit, and never could wrap my head around exactly which upgrades to pick, and when. Ditto with weapons, but at least there I could just take what seemed to make sense for my class. It's a cool game, but I'm just not sure I'm willing to commit the time it would take to actually get good at it.

What I’m enjoying about it is I can drop in and out, doing 15 minutes or so, or settle in for a much longer run.

The Skills and Weapons do take getting used to. My friend has been playing it since it was possible to play it, and explained that pretty much all skills are open to all characters. And generally it’s best to spec into one skill set.

I’ve ended up with a Monk that uses predominantly Warrior powers, with some Ice magic. And it’s working out fairly well.

Completed Act One this evening, with more than a little help from a friend (he went through the big boss like a hot knife through butter!).

Finally getting Lvl 5 Skill Gems, which is helping my Monk punch his weight.

The Desert is fun to muck around in, but can I figure out how to start the next quest?

No, no I can’t!

Actually, mild grip now I think of it. Playing through, area by area, boss by boss you level up pretty organically.

But…when trying to over level? The grind takes forever. Now some amount of grind is of course inevitable and not undesirable. But when I can do the whole first act and still not level up? It’s a bit much.

Though as I think I said before, going back and just absolutely buttering the earlier bosses is massively satisfying!

Just had an evening of Guild play, and it’s loads more fun. Even with scaling, we were going through the bad guys like a hot knife through butter, and bagging loads of loot.

The game is playable solo, but I think most will find the difficulty of bosses a turn off. Well. I say most. If you enjoyed Dark Souls and that, you’ll probably be fine.

Currently at Level 50, and I have criticism.

Whilst there’s little wrong with a tough boss fight, some are just impossible for melee.

The Forgemaster for instance. I don’t have a great deal of bother hurting him, but this fight is against the clock, as a tide of molten melt pushes the fight down a gulley with no exit.

Whilst his attacks are heavily telegraphed, he periodically runs into the molten metal. He doesn’t heal in there, but I can’t hit him, the molten metal keeps flowing, and he sends out little waves for you to dodge. And he’s so, so slow to walk out of it,

I’m now considerably over levelled against him, but with so much of time just….standing around waiting for him to come out and play, I always run out of time.

It’s also a bit crap that the Mace skills rely on Stun Buildup. Which takes ages on bosses, and in some cases, just doesn’t last at all, or the continue to attack through.

And there’s a fair few bosses who like to attack from the air, where once again melee can do nothing.

Add in recharging energy shields, and some which heal, and you rapidly get to a distinctly not fun experience.

My guild mates are the same level, and have much, much better skills and attacks. And it’s not just down to decent weapons. My mace hits plenty hard - but that’s sod all use when I can’t hit you.

And having run into yet another boss a melee fighter has no chance against, let alone one where, in a fast paced combat game, has to stand entirely stationary for three second to wind up a powerful shot*, I’ve deleted it.

Will I come back once it’s out of beta? I honestly doubt it, as I’ve zero confidence in the devs ability or interest in being able to balance the character classes.

What’s that? Just grind your way to victory? Well….you could. If you’ve bugger all else in your life. But once you’re five levels above an area, you gain so little XP, you entirely plateau.

So. Yeah. £23 down the swanny. It’s not even that much fun in the higher levels playing in a Guild. You see, the game scales the enemies so you don’t just steamroller them. Except, the gulf between melee and ranged (whether spell or bow/crossbow) is so vast? They’re clearing screen before I’ve swung my weapon more than three times. When the enemies are also far more resistant to my one trick, which is mass stunning. So unless you love being a 23rd wheel? Stay away from melee classes. You’re useless to the point of absurdity.

*which, by the way, doesn’t seem to actually do anything, and by the time you can unleash it, all the enemies have rather handily gotten out the way.

Reinstalled to put all my ming in the guild chest. And had a run with a Sorceress. And it’s like playing an entirely different game.

I can move, and attack! I can move and stack attacks! It’s remarkable.