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Jun 15 2017 06:41pm
Hey guys I made this quick guide for someone new to PoE and figured I would post it here if anyone sees it and has anything to add, that would be cool, thanks :)

I know lots of other details need included such as leveling methods and all that but to include that all in one guide without separating sections will be a long task.
I haven't played or watched anything about the beta so if things will change a lot after 3.0 is released then oh well this will be helpful to him for the next month.




A useful Copy & Paste from this website that has a slightly outdated guide with many points that still apply --> http://guidescroll.com/2014/10/path-of-exile-endgame-in-12-hours-guide/

Be as efficient as you can with your time. That means:

Skipping enemies and entire areas
Don’t waste any time doing things that are inefficient
Maximizing your actions per minute
If you watch speedruns of games, you’ll see the player do the bare minimum of what is required to complete tasks. If the quest is to kill X, you are not required to kill any enemies along the way. The time you spend killing random enemies could be spent doing more efficient things.

My philosophy when playing is:

Always keep moving forward and skip enemies to get to more efficient xp areas
Level at the efficient xp area ie. Docks
Once the XP becomes inefficient at that area, repeat step 1
To explain this further, say you’ve just started the game and skipped everything unnecessary to get to The Ledge. Because of this, you should be underleveled, say lv 6. The Ledge is Lv 7 so you will be getting 100% experience. You can now level until lv 11, where the xp penalty kicks in and you only get about 91% experience. Because of the xp penalty, it is now not efficient to be leveling at The Ledge when you are lv 11.

Now that we’ve covered experience penalties, I will say that you shouldn’t level all the way to level 11 at The Ledge. This is because how the experience system of Path of Exile works. To get to level 11 from level 10, you will need 31,516 xp. To get to level 10 from 9 is only 24,297 xp, a difference of 7219 xp. Because enemies always give the same amount of xp each time you kill them, it would take 23% longer to get to level 11 from 10 then 10 from 9. Therefore you should only overlevel if you feel you are too weak to progress to the next area, in this example the Climb.
To focus on efficiency, you should always be the same or underleveled when moving through an area. If you are overleveled, it will take more time to get to the next level. If you can do an area and you are underleveled, you have done a good job progressing. If you take your time to clear every mob, you will not only be slowing yourself down, you are slowing your leveling progression down.

Remember:

Always keep moving
Skip enemies
Don’t waste any time doing things that are inefficient
Maximize your actions per minute
Must know tips/techniques

These are the things that will make your leveling process either easy as cake or a nightmare. They say old habits die hard, and learning to do these things won’t come easily. However, when you do get used to doing them, you’ll start doing these techniques naturally like muscle memory. Here we go:

Moving through an area
The most efficient way to progress is going straight to the objective. What I mean by this is you will be slowed down if you take your time to kill every mob and check every corner. Complete the quest, get to the higher level area, and stay focused.
Kill large packs, not individual stragglers
The best way to level is to kill as many mobs in the smallest amount of time. Run by the 1 or 2 skeletons and kill the huge pack for the best results.
To get a large pack, run to the edge of the pack and past them. They will start to follow you, and you will find another pack. Once the pack gets large enough, or a little bigger than your AOE can hit, kill them.
Always keep moving
When leveling, you should be performing an action every second. Whether it is kiting, clearing large packs of mobs, managing items, or choosing skill points, you should always be moving forward.
There are only a few things you need to do to progress. You don’t “need” to kill every boss or do every quest. For example, I skip The Fetid Pool every playthrough, and only do the quest when I need the respec points.
What should I _____?
Kill
Focus on killing only large packs of white mobs, not individuals.
All blue mobs. Why? They give much more XP per kill compared to white mobs and are only a little harder to kill
Rare mobs are usually not worth killing if you have low dps. They should be skipped if it takes too long to kill.
Rogue Exiles are always worth killing. They give you good experience and great loot.
Pick up
Always pick up currency items when starting a new league. Once you get to the point where it’s a waste to pick up all portal scrolls, ID scrolls and transmutes, skip them. (Keep moving) Other currency are always worth picking up to be traded for chaos.
All rares. If your inventory becomes full of rares, drop the ones that take up most space (8 inventory slots). ID them and sell them for alteration shards. They can be traded for chaos later.
Three linked sockets with the three different colors (red, blue, green, all linked). They can be sold to vendors for 1 chrome, which can be traded for chaos. I prioritize these items over rares because they will always be 1 chrome, compared to the few alt shards they give you.
Example http://i.imgur.com/xtOxWOQ.png
Uniques (obviously)
6 socketed items. They can be sold for either 7 jeweler orbs if unlinked or 1 divine orb if all the sockets are linked.
6 link = http://i.imgur.com/qsyVnc3.png
6 Socket = http://i.imgur.com/9TSUScT.png
Any item that is better then the gear you are currently using.
Quality Gems – If you sell gems with a total combined quality of 40%, your result will be 1 Gemcutter’s Prism
For example, if you sell 1 fireball gem with 12% quality, 1 clarity with 8 % quality, 1 vaal reave gem with 11 quality, and 1 increased area of effect gem with 9 quality, your result will be 1 GCP
Skip everything else.
Why did I include this on a leveling guide? The reason is inventory management can lead to a large amount of time wasted. The reality is you will make a lot more money in the endgame and the sooner you get there, the sooner you will start making real money.
The repeating theme I’m trying to emphasize is efficiency, or (progress/time). Cut out all the time wasted, and you will be at endgame before you know it.











Normal Difficulty Completion Guide [Patch 2.6]

**Tips/Notes**
Press “u” to bring up the Quest Log and Act Map. Quests with a gold border are required and quests with a blue border are optional.

Press Esc and Exit to Character Selection if you need to go back to town and have a WP that can serve as checkpoint. It saves a portal scroll and is just as fast if not faster.

Always kite while progressing through a map by running ahead of the monsters. Grouping the monsters into a large pack while moving forward and then killing the whole group with a few aoe spells is the more efficient.

To spare a lot of unnecessary detail I will not include the quest rewards and who to talk to in order to get them. Press “u” to bring up the quest log, or simply returning to town and talking to people with an ! over their head.

Try to be the same or lower level than the area you are in.

Act 1 Normal

Game Start:

Click the man on the ground, kill the zombie. Pick up gem and equip. Follow the shore to find Hillock, kill, and enter town.

Exit town on the east side. Travel through The Coast, get the WP then exit the area to The Tidal Island. Kill the boss, Hailrake, log out to character select and log back in to get to town free and fast. Get your Quicksilver Flask as a quest reward.

Travel via WP to The Coast and continue on to The Mud Flats. Go to the three Rhoa Nests, which are connected by paths of water on the minimap, and get the three Glyphs from them. Find the Glyph Wall and unlock the cave entrance.

Enter the Submerged Passage and get WP --> The Ledge and get WP (not The Flooded Depths) --> The Climb --> The Lower Prison and get WP (area contains a Trial of Ascendancy that can be skipped) --> The Upper Prison (should probably get level 8 in this area) --> The Warden’s Quarters --> The Warden’s Chambers (Kill Brutus) -->Prisoner’s Gate and get WP ( go to town then return)--> Ship Graveyard and get WP) --> The Cavern of Wrath --> The Cavern of Anger --> Merveil’s Lair (Kill Merveil, having cold resist is very helpful, recommended to buy 1 or 2 Sapphire Rings in town from Nessa) --> exit to The Southern Forest

Act 2 Normal

The following route is assuming that you want to help Oak for the Deal with the Bandits Quest (most typical case in normal for most builds). Though, whichever Bandit you decide to help should be the last one you go to, if you’re killing them all the order doesn’t matter.

The Southern Forest --> The Forest Encampment (exit town to the east) --> The Old Fields (follow the road east) --> The Crossroads (follow road east and get the WP at the 4 way intersection, follow road north) --> The Chamber of Sins Level 1 --> The Chamber of Sins Level 2, get the WP, and Kill Fidelitas (having lightning resist is helpful for this fight, can buy Topaz Rings in town from Yeena) then get the Baleful Gem from the Strange Device in the room with Fidelitas (area contains a Trial of Ascendancy that can be skipped) --> go back to town/log out and back in

Travel via WP to The Crossroads (follow the road east) --> The Broken Bridge, follow the road east and kill Kraityn and take his Amulet (he is found by crossing a bridge over water that takes you to his gang’s hideout) --> go back to town/log out and back in

Exit town to the west side --> The Riverways and get WP --> The Western Forest get the WP and Kill Alira and take her Amulet (she is found on either the north or south side of the road that intersects the instance) --> The Weaver’s Chambers (found on the opposite side of the road that Alira was found, you’re getting warmer when you see the ground and trees covered in spider web) --> The Weaver’s Nest, Kill the Weaver and take Maligaro’s Spike --> go back to town/log out and back in

Travel via WP or exit town to Riverways --> The Wetlands, find and help Oak (he is in a fortress surrounded by a wall of standing, sharpened tip logs) then get the WP and near the WP will always be the Tree Roots --> The Vaal Ruins and cross walkway blocked by the Ancient Seal --> The Northern Forest -->The Caverns and get the WP then go to town --> The Ancient Pyramid keep going up stairs) --> Pyramid Apex (use The Apex quest item with the Dark Altar, then kill Vaal) --> The City of Sarn (kill the group of guards and talk to Clarissa) --> The Sarn Encampment

Act 3 Normal

Leave town to The Slums --> The Crematorium get the WP then find and fight Piety and get Tolman’s bracelet (area contains a Trial of Ascendancy that can be skipped) --> go to town/log out and in

Talk to Clarissa in town and get the key --> exit town to The Slums then find and open the Sewer Grating --> Slum Sewers (optional quest to get 1st Platinum Bust in this area but can be skipped also) --> Warehouse Sewers get the WP (optional quest to get 2nd Platinum Bust) --> The Marketplace get the WP (optional quest travel to Marketplace Sewers to find the 3rd Platinum Bust) --> from The Marketplace travel to The Battlefront get the WP and the Ribbon Spool (always a little west of the WP) --> The Docks get the WP and find the Thaumetic Sulphate (always at the end of a dock) --> return to town/log out and in

Travel to The Battlefront via WP --> The Solaris Temple Level 1 --> The Solaris Temple Level 2 get the WP and talk to Dialla (located in same room as WP) to get the Infernal Talc --> go back to town via WP --> travel via WP to The Warehouse District and head west of the WP then North to open the Undying Passage --> The Ebony Barracks and get WP then Kill Gravicius (north of waypoint) --> Lunaris Temple Level 1 --> Lunaris Temple Level 2 kill Piety and take the Tower Key --> go to town/log out and in

Travel via WP to The Ebony Barracks (head east of the WP, near the walls covered by green plants) --> Imperial Gardens get the WP then go south of the WP and follow the road on the ground which will turn east and lead you to the Locked Door --> The Sceptre of God --> The Upper Sceptre of God and kill Dominus -->The Aqueduct --> Highgate

Act 4 Normal

Highgate --> The Dried Lake (kill Voll and take Deshret’s Banner) --> go to town/log out and in

Open the Door on the north side of town --> The Mines Level 1 --> The Mines Level 2 --> The Crystal Veins and get WP --> enter the Kaom’s Dream portal north of the Crystal Veins WP then kill Kaom, and take The Eye of Fury --> go back to town/log out and in

Travel to The Crystal Veins via WP and give The Eye of Fury to Dialla --> enter the Daresso’s Dream portal north of the Crystal Veins WP then kill Daresso and take The Eye of Desire --> go back to town/log out and in

Travel to The Crystal Veins via WP and give The Eye of Desire to Dialla --> enter the Belly of the Beast Level 1 --> Belly of the Beast Level 2 and fight Piety --> The Harvest get the WP and Kill the 3 minibosses located in their own rooms and take their 3 quest items back to Piety (located at The Harvest WP) --> enter The Black Core and kill Malachai --> go to town via portal and talk to Dialla/Oyun on the east side of town to enter Act 1 Cruel Difficulty


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