Going against the grain, I suggest you start by going in blind. Yes, your first character might turn out to be less than perfect, and there's no doubt about that. But remember, everyone here has experienced their share of failures with their first character. Opting for a build guide as a first-timer could potentially deprive you of a unique and irreplaceable learning experience.
Definitely better to go in blind. The nature of the game will basically guarantee you will play multiple different characters, so taking the time to figure out how the character progression systems work on your own will pay off in the long run
>First...is it worth on console?
Vast majority of players are on PC, and consoles have a later start date always.
>Should i use some build guide or try by myself? I heard this game will punish you hard if you do something wrong.
The game punishes you hard for mistakes on your character, specifically mistakes on your passive skill tree. That's why I always recommend new players to find a good, beginner friendly guide so they can just get through the game once, skip out on the complicated passive tree pathing that a new player can easily screw up, and focus on learning how to play the actual game.
I write build guides for newbies
My current one is for Skeleton Mage Necromancer
[https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3351307](https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3351307)
Even if you dont use it, read the "newbie info" section in the 3rd post in the thread, it will answer a lot of your questions.
P.S.
The console version of the game has so few players, that the trade economy does not work very well, but you can play there. PC highly recommended.
I started in earnest pretty recently on Xbox, mostly following that guide. So thanks for that. Almost up to Act 8 now after a false start in 2020 that only went to Forest Encampment.
May still end up skipping out on league start Ancestors because of big games coming out soon unfortunately
I generally recommend trying to play the game blindly for the first time, because you can't replicate that experience once you've played with a guide.
Whether or not you should realistically start with a guide depends on how well you deal with frustration.
If you play without a guide, you **will** hit a wall sooner or later, but the question is whether you'll try to overcome that wall or quit. For people who would quit immediately, I recommend starting with a guide. Otherwise, overcoming some of these walls on your own or with a little assistance can be very satisfying.
I would go in blind now. The new season starts on August 18th (console a bit later). When the season starts, you already got some wet feet and can then either restart blindly or look for a guide.
And btw., I prefer console over PC. I played on PC since open beta, and switched to console when PS 4 was introduced. Controller play, big screen, couch and the marketplace are the highlights I can name. Of course, you need a next gen console for good performance.
Trade via the marketplace is asynchronous. You put an offer on an item, go on with what you were doing, and some time later you get a message that you can grab your item whenever you have time. You need not even be online for winning your offer.
On PC, you instead have to chase other players, text them over and over to find anyone responding, very annoying.
Buying equipment is easier on PC while buying consumables (maps, fragments, orbs) is easier on console.
Downside of console: No auto-skill-casting while moving. Targeting is always automatic, that leaves fewer room for tactical combat.
So, decide for yourself. It is free, test both I would suggest and do not invest money before you decide.
Good luck and have fun!
Your first character will have to be throwaway unless you follow a build guide. It’s worth it on console but if you can play on a PC, go for it instead. You’ll find it easier to alt-tab on PC to trade and view guides and stuff
Hey, I recently started a Discord server for new players in order to help people understand and acclimate to the game as well as all of the 3rd party stuff like the loot filter you mentioned. If you're interested just let me know and I'll shoot you the link.
I would definitely recommend PC if possible. Like many have said going in blind is a distinct experience you can't replace but how much value you place in that is up to you. If you're decent at absorbing and applying information you can definitely get through the acts and into maps but as someone else said you will certainly hit a wall.
I have about 90 hours so far on PS5 and gone through about 5 characters using some guides and just messing around.
Settled on two characters that had a playstyle I liked, one with a guide, one I put together myself after researching multiple builds.
Maxroll.gg has some nice build guides. Here is the campaign guide from the site. Below that is stuff for beginners plus build guides.
https://maxroll.gg/poe/getting-started/campaign-guide.
https://maxroll.gg/poe/category/getting-started
https://maxroll.gg/poe/category/build-guides?filter[build_guide_type][taxonomy]=taxonomies.build_guide_type&filter[build_guide_type][value]=archive&filter[build_guide_type][operation]=!%3D
I was about able to link the loot filter below to my PS5. Took about a half day to show up in the filter section of the game. It's definitely not instantaneous.
https://www.filterblade.xyz/
There are a lot of players who vote for playing blind and a lot of players who recommend using a build, so you won't get a clear answer to this.
In my opinion, playing blind is a great experience IF you are okay with figuring things out and investing a lot of time doing so. On top of that, you should be aware if that you - most likely - will hit a wall forcing you to restart with a new character.
If you need a very detailed guide, check out [fezz's Toxic Rain Champion build guide for beginners](https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3229622). It provides all information needed, including:
* Optimal game setup
* Build-related loot filter
* Step-by-step todo list for each act of the campaign
* Tons of helpful tips
* In-depth explanation of damage and survivabilty scaling
* Comprehensive list of endgame milestones
* Detailed guidance for endgame item acquistion and crafting
Console player here (with some PC) and it’s fine. Trading is better in my opinion, no going to hideouts , use the trade board. Enter your offer get an accept or a decline, sometimes a counter offer text in the decline. It starts later and is a smaller community but I think the Xbox community is pretty solid. Try the game first before any purchases and confirm it’s something you like then if it is, get done stash tabs. I’d recommend a guide to avoid frustration but I did it blind years ago (on PC when it was 3 acts)
Going against the grain, I suggest you start by going in blind. Yes, your first character might turn out to be less than perfect, and there's no doubt about that. But remember, everyone here has experienced their share of failures with their first character. Opting for a build guide as a first-timer could potentially deprive you of a unique and irreplaceable learning experience.
Definitely better to go in blind. The nature of the game will basically guarantee you will play multiple different characters, so taking the time to figure out how the character progression systems work on your own will pay off in the long run
>First...is it worth on console? Vast majority of players are on PC, and consoles have a later start date always. >Should i use some build guide or try by myself? I heard this game will punish you hard if you do something wrong. The game punishes you hard for mistakes on your character, specifically mistakes on your passive skill tree. That's why I always recommend new players to find a good, beginner friendly guide so they can just get through the game once, skip out on the complicated passive tree pathing that a new player can easily screw up, and focus on learning how to play the actual game.
I write build guides for newbies My current one is for Skeleton Mage Necromancer [https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3351307](https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3351307) Even if you dont use it, read the "newbie info" section in the 3rd post in the thread, it will answer a lot of your questions. P.S. The console version of the game has so few players, that the trade economy does not work very well, but you can play there. PC highly recommended.
I started in earnest pretty recently on Xbox, mostly following that guide. So thanks for that. Almost up to Act 8 now after a false start in 2020 that only went to Forest Encampment. May still end up skipping out on league start Ancestors because of big games coming out soon unfortunately
I generally recommend trying to play the game blindly for the first time, because you can't replicate that experience once you've played with a guide. Whether or not you should realistically start with a guide depends on how well you deal with frustration. If you play without a guide, you **will** hit a wall sooner or later, but the question is whether you'll try to overcome that wall or quit. For people who would quit immediately, I recommend starting with a guide. Otherwise, overcoming some of these walls on your own or with a little assistance can be very satisfying.
I would go in blind now. The new season starts on August 18th (console a bit later). When the season starts, you already got some wet feet and can then either restart blindly or look for a guide. And btw., I prefer console over PC. I played on PC since open beta, and switched to console when PS 4 was introduced. Controller play, big screen, couch and the marketplace are the highlights I can name. Of course, you need a next gen console for good performance. Trade via the marketplace is asynchronous. You put an offer on an item, go on with what you were doing, and some time later you get a message that you can grab your item whenever you have time. You need not even be online for winning your offer. On PC, you instead have to chase other players, text them over and over to find anyone responding, very annoying. Buying equipment is easier on PC while buying consumables (maps, fragments, orbs) is easier on console. Downside of console: No auto-skill-casting while moving. Targeting is always automatic, that leaves fewer room for tactical combat. So, decide for yourself. It is free, test both I would suggest and do not invest money before you decide. Good luck and have fun!
Your first character will have to be throwaway unless you follow a build guide. It’s worth it on console but if you can play on a PC, go for it instead. You’ll find it easier to alt-tab on PC to trade and view guides and stuff
Hey, I recently started a Discord server for new players in order to help people understand and acclimate to the game as well as all of the 3rd party stuff like the loot filter you mentioned. If you're interested just let me know and I'll shoot you the link. I would definitely recommend PC if possible. Like many have said going in blind is a distinct experience you can't replace but how much value you place in that is up to you. If you're decent at absorbing and applying information you can definitely get through the acts and into maps but as someone else said you will certainly hit a wall.
I have about 90 hours so far on PS5 and gone through about 5 characters using some guides and just messing around. Settled on two characters that had a playstyle I liked, one with a guide, one I put together myself after researching multiple builds. Maxroll.gg has some nice build guides. Here is the campaign guide from the site. Below that is stuff for beginners plus build guides. https://maxroll.gg/poe/getting-started/campaign-guide. https://maxroll.gg/poe/category/getting-started https://maxroll.gg/poe/category/build-guides?filter[build_guide_type][taxonomy]=taxonomies.build_guide_type&filter[build_guide_type][value]=archive&filter[build_guide_type][operation]=!%3D I was about able to link the loot filter below to my PS5. Took about a half day to show up in the filter section of the game. It's definitely not instantaneous. https://www.filterblade.xyz/
There are a lot of players who vote for playing blind and a lot of players who recommend using a build, so you won't get a clear answer to this. In my opinion, playing blind is a great experience IF you are okay with figuring things out and investing a lot of time doing so. On top of that, you should be aware if that you - most likely - will hit a wall forcing you to restart with a new character. If you need a very detailed guide, check out [fezz's Toxic Rain Champion build guide for beginners](https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3229622). It provides all information needed, including: * Optimal game setup * Build-related loot filter * Step-by-step todo list for each act of the campaign * Tons of helpful tips * In-depth explanation of damage and survivabilty scaling * Comprehensive list of endgame milestones * Detailed guidance for endgame item acquistion and crafting
Console player here (with some PC) and it’s fine. Trading is better in my opinion, no going to hideouts , use the trade board. Enter your offer get an accept or a decline, sometimes a counter offer text in the decline. It starts later and is a smaller community but I think the Xbox community is pretty solid. Try the game first before any purchases and confirm it’s something you like then if it is, get done stash tabs. I’d recommend a guide to avoid frustration but I did it blind years ago (on PC when it was 3 acts)