User:Bloonpauper/New Player Guide

This is a guide on the subject of introducing new players to Path of Exile.

Last updated on WIP‎.

This is a guide for new players to Path of Exile. This guide is intended to be read alongside with playing the game - its contents are listed in chronological order of appearance. However, it is not a walkthrough. For those seeking an exact guide, finding a reliable content creators on youtube and following their guides is recommended. Any questions not answered by this guide are best asked on the official Discord server.

Introduction

If you are a new player to Path of Exile and play with no assistance whatsoever, likelihoods are that you are going to have a bad time. Please be aware that this is not directly due to the game's complexity or difficulty - while it does have both, the real problem is that the base game does a poor job of communicating its many mechanics.

When confronted with this informational barrier, many new players turn to a guide. Specifically, guides that tell you exactly what to do in every aspect of the game - what items to equip, what passive skills to allocate, what skills to use, etc. This approach is not necessarily bad - it may work very well for some. However, such guides rarely give new players the space and autonomy to figure things out for themselves and make their own choices.

The purpose of this guide is to bridge that gap - it will provide you will with all the information needed to play, enjoy, and most importantly understand the game, but it will not tell you what to do.

League selection

Main page: League

The league selection screen for Path of Exile: Crucible. The middle banner is recommended.

The first choice for any new player is to choose their league. A league is effectively the world within the character operates - it is impossible to interact with players or items inbetween leagues, unless it is the character itself that is changing leagues.

It is recommended for first-time players to choose the current challenge league (Trial of the Ancestors at time of writing) and to not select the Solo Self-Found, Hardcore, or Ruthless optional gamemodes.

• Solo Self-Found (known as "SSF"): Players in an SSF league cannot join parties with other players or trade with them. Due to the presence of trading in the game's balance, SSF is significantly harder than trade leagues, especially for inexperienced players.

• Hardcore (known as "HC"): Players in an HC challenge league will be migrated to SC (Softcore) Standard on death, while HC Standard league players will be migrated to the SC Standard league.

• Ruthless: All item drops are far scarcer, many items and passive skills are significantly weaker, and many mechanics are not available. Significantly harder than non-Ruthless. For those overwhelmed by the complexity of the base game, playing in Ruthless may be advisable. Choose at your own discretion.

A visualization of how challenge leagues interact with permanent leagues.

Class selection

Unless you are following a specific guide, there is no wrong class to choose. Path of Exile offers an unrivalled level of character customization. As a result, there are very few class-specific skills, no class-specific items, and no class-specific playstyles. Any class can do whatever they want. It is recommended to choose whatever class you want - there is no wrong choice.

Weapon base type

The Marauder receives the Driftwood ClubDriftwood ClubOne Handed Mace
Physical Damage: 6-8
Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
Attacks per Second: 1.45
Weapon Range: 1.1 metres10% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold. It is being used here as an example to explain the individual stats of weapon base types.

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• Item name box: the colour of this box signifies the rarity of the item. White = Normal, Blue = Magic, Yellow = Rare, Orange = Unique. Rarities are discussed later.

• Base type: “Driftwood ClubDriftwood ClubOne Handed Mace
  Physical Damage: 6-8
  Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.45
  Weapon Range: 1.1 metres10% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold”. An item’s base type determines its weapon type, base damage, base critical strike chance, base attack speed, base weapon range, and implicit(s).

• Weapon type: One-Handed Mace. An item’s weapon type determines it compatibility with certain skill gems and support gems, as long with its modifier pool.

• Base damage: 6-8 physical damage. Attacks with this weapon will use this as their base damage. Generally, this is the most important stat for attack weapons.

• Base critical strike chance: 5.00%. Attacks with this weapon will use this as their base critical strike chance.

• Base attack speed: 1.45 attacks per second. Attacks with this weapon will use this as their base attack speed.

• Implicit modifier: 10% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold. Some base types have implicit modifiers inherent to them. Driftwood ClubDriftwood ClubOne Handed Mace
  Physical Damage: 6-8
  Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.45
  Weapon Range: 1.1 metres10% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold’s implicit modifier reduces the amount of damage needed to be taken by enemies for them to be stunned.

• Base type’s art: all normal, magic, and rare items of this base type will have the same art. Unique variants will have unique art.

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• The Duelist, Shadow, and Templar's Rusted SwordRusted SwordOne Handed Sword
  Physical Damage: 4-9
  Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.55
  Weapon Range: 1.1 metres40% increased Global Accuracy Rating, Glass ShankGlass ShankDagger
  Physical Damage: 6-10
  Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.50
  Weapon Range: 1.0 metres30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance, and Driftwood SceptreDriftwood SceptreSceptre
  Physical Damage: 8-11
  Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.20
  Weapon Range: 1.1 metres10% increased Elemental Damage respectively are melee weapons. As such, their stats are mechanically identical to those they are presented here and can be compared as a one-to-one analogue.

• However, the Driftwood WandDriftwood WandWand
  Physical Damage: 5-9
  Critical Strike Chance: 7.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.40(8-12)% increased Spell Damage and Crude BowCrude BowBow
  Physical Damage: 5-13
  Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.40 are different - they are projectile-based weapons, not melee. Instead of their "Weapon Range" value applying to melee strike attacks, their weapon range values define the base maximum distance (in units) that projectiles fired from them can travel before disappearing.

• Driftwood WandDriftwood WandWand
  Physical Damage: 5-9
  Critical Strike Chance: 7.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.40(8-12)% increased Spell Damage (and to an extent, Driftwood SceptreDriftwood SceptreSceptre
  Physical Damage: 8-11
  Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.20
  Weapon Range: 1.1 metres10% increased Elemental Damage) are not only attack weapons - they are also spellcaster weapons. (FireballFireballProjectile, Spell, AoE, Fire
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: (6-25) Mana
  Cast Time: 0.75 sec
  Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
  Effectiveness of Added Damage: 370%
  Projectile Speed: 1040
  AoE Radius: 9Unleashes a ball of fire towards a target which explodes, damaging nearby foes.Deals (9-1640) to (14-2460) Fire Damage
  25% chance to Ignite enemies
  Base radius is (0.9-1.4) metres
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  Base radius is (0.01-0.2) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. is a spell.) If you read their stats closely, you may find that the only stat on either item that actually affects spells is the implicit stat! Its Physical Damage, Critical Strike Chance, Attacks per Second, and Weapon Range stats are completely irrelevant to spellcasters, as they only affect attacks.

Attack skill gems

The Marauder receives the Heavy StrikeHeavy StrikeAttack, Melee, Strike
Level: (1-20)
Cost: 5 Mana
Attack Speed: 85% of base
Attack Damage: (195-313)% of base
Effectiveness of Added Damage: (195-313)%Attacks enemies with a forceful blow, knocking them back. Requires a Mace, Sceptre, Axe, Sword or Two-Handed Weapon.Knocks Enemies Back on Hit
25% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold
+0.2 metres to Melee Strike Range
(20-39)% chance to deal Double Damage

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
(1-20)% chance to deal Double DamagePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. skill gem. It is being used here as an example to explain the individual stats of attack skill gems.

Heavy Strike as depicted in-game when hovered over on the ground at its level 1 form.

• Gem Name: Heavy Strike. The name of skill gems is always the same as the skill that they grant.

• Gem tags: Attack, Melee, Strike. Gem tags determine the skill’s compatibility with certain modifiers and passive skills. They summarize the mechanics of the skill. Specific tags are discussed later.

• Level: 1. As you gain experience while a gem is socketed into your equipment, that gem gains experience equal to 10% of the experience that you are gaining.

• Cost: 5 Mana. Using this skill has a base cost of 5 mana. Most skills cost mana, but some cost life.

• Attack Speed: 85% of Base. If you were paying attention, you will know that “Base” is referring to the weapon’s “Attacks per Second”. To find the skill’s base attack speed, simply multiply that of your weapon with your skill.

• Attack Damage: 195% of Base. This stat is multiplied with the base flat damage from the weapon using the skill. This stat is exclusive to attack skills. This stat scales with gem level.

• Effectiveness of Added Damage: This stat is multiplied with any additional sources of added damage that apply to the skill. This stat appears on all skills that deal damage. This stat scales with gem level.

• Level requirement: 1. This gem requires a character level of 1 to equip. As a gem levels up, its level requirement increases.

• Gem description: Gem descriptions summarize their mechanics using human language and define weapon compatibility. In this case, Heavy Strike can only be used with Maces, Sceptres, Axes, Swords, or any Two-Handed Weapon.

• Gem modifiers: These stats define the gem’s mechanics using the language of the game. Some of these stats scale with gem level, while some don’t.

• Experience bar: This bar tracks the gem’s current experience and how much experience is required before reaching the next level.

• Gem icon: The gem’s art has no mechanical significance – however, its colour does. Heavy Strike is a red gem. This means that it has strength requirements at higher levels and can only be socketed into red (and white) sockets in equipment.

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• A skill's "Effectiveness of Added Damage" is used as a tuning tool to modify a skill's ability to scale with damage. Without it, balancing skills would be far more difficult. For example, Rain of ArrowsRain of ArrowsAttack, AoE, Projectile, Bow
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: (7-11) Mana
  Attack Damage: (48-60)% of base
  Effectiveness of Added Damage: (48-60)%
  AoE Radius: 24Requires Level 12Fires multiple arrows into the air, to land in sequence after a delay, starting at the targeted location and spreading outwards in all directions. Each arrow deals damage in an area around it. Half of the arrows will land directly on targets if there are targets in their range.Fires (18-22) Arrows
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  Fires +(0.2-4) ArrowsPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. fires 17 arrows at level 1, while Burning ArrowBurning ArrowAttack, Projectile, Fire, Bow
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: (7-12) Mana
  Attack Speed: 70% of base
  Attack Damage: (200-300)% of base
  Effectiveness of Added Damage: (200-300)%
  Projectile Speed: 3260Fires a burning arrow that deals fire damage and has a chance to ignite.Adds (3-201) to (4-302) Fire Damage to Attacks against Ignited Enemies
  25% chance to Ignite enemies
  100% of Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  (1-20)% more Damage with IgnitePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. fire only one. To balance these skills, Rain of Arrows has a 60% effectiveness of added damage (at level 20) while Burning Arrow has 300%.

• Higher level gems have attribute requirements. For example, Heavy StrikeHeavy StrikeAttack, Melee, Strike
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: 5 Mana
  Attack Speed: 85% of base
  Attack Damage: (195-313)% of base
  Effectiveness of Added Damage: (195-313)%Attacks enemies with a forceful blow, knocking them back. Requires a Mace, Sceptre, Axe, Sword or Two-Handed Weapon.Knocks Enemies Back on Hit
  25% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold
  +0.2 metres to Melee Strike Range
  (20-39)% chance to deal Double Damage
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  (1-20)% chance to deal Double DamagePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., being a red gem, has strength requirements starting at gem level 3. The higher the level a gem is first encountered, the higher their requirements start off as - both level and attribute requirements. However, as different gems approach the normal maximum level (20), their level & attribute requirements reach the same peak - 70 and 155 respectively.