Completed LP Path of Exile Beta: I want to be a machoman

[nihil]

This game is great fun. I have the beta as well, but I haven't played it in a while. The map is new to me (looks awesome!), and I haven't tried the keystone skills. Time to roll a new soon.

 

[Crooked Bee]

Let it be known that Path of Exile's official twitter has linked to this LP:

https://twitter.com/#!/pathofexile/status/177128166278696960

 

[SerratedBiz]

Time to bring out the trannies.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Let it be known that Path of Exile's official twitter has linked to this LP:

https://twitter.com/#!/pathofexile/status/177128166278696960

That's very brave of them. I mean, this isn't GD, but on the first page a character was already identified as a "machete-rape negro", which could mean a ban on SA, for instance. Who knows what else is going to be posted in this thread, especially given the fact that we know they're reading.

Anyway, where's the update? OP is such a lazy fuck.

 

[Azira]

 

[Renegen]

Let it be known that Path of Exile's official twitter has linked to this LP:

https://twitter.com/#!/pathofexile/status/177128166278696960

Woot, now I have to update it soon. Thanks for page 2, and thanks for what is shaping like a great game!

edit: although it would be in the spirit of the codex to troll them and never update this again.

 

[Renegen]

update 4: bring a torch light (super big update)

Since it's been a week since the last update, here's a quick recap of where we are. We are playing as great conqueror Hongda, whose life mission is to crush his enemies, see them driven before him and hear the lamentation of their women. That's basically it, and that is good.

Hongda rolls into town.. er wait did I already use this same quote somewhere else? Not that anyone would remember, it's been a week. We get a shiny new gem and let me go ahead and foreshadow this one and say it is a sweet skill.

As per the poll, the optional Fetid Pool is our destination, and I've been saving my mana trying not to kill too much on the way there.

A quick prayer to Skay Wai, the God of indiscriminate Mauling.

Prayer has been answered, we bask in His warmth.

And Hongda quickly gets to work.

Still got it. This new skill has made things easy, you could say it reduces our big problems into smaller problems.

We even have time for some meaningful social interaction.

Guess we are now officially a troll, how appropriate.

Stats, always more stats. This game couldn't possibly succeed. With our new skill, we get a whopping 2.5% hp regeneration per second, and with items and everything that's 4.5 hp per second, not bad. Also note that armour and evasion values add meaningful reductions in damage, take that every hack 'n slash ever made.

Bask in His warmth too, fucker. (oh shit, can I say fucker on the Codex?)

Here is the newest convert.

The lucky ones become chunks of ice.

We meet our first boss of the area, personally I didn't really notice his allies being any tougher.

And the second boss. He hardly did any DoT against my health regen, though he hurt me a little. Good exp, but the items were very poor, time to head back to town to sell some at least.

I only have 2 scrolls of wisdom and decide to use them on some mana shield items to upgrade my crappy gear. Mana shield absorbs almost all damage directed at you as long as it is active.

Lucky me both have increased rarity! Pixie Wool Gloves sound kind of gay on the other hand... let's just say I got the gloves from a recent sexual conquest. As in rape.

Some of the rest of the items were interesting, but with no scrolls of wisdom I had to get rid of them.

On my way to the Submerged Passage, I couldn't help myself and kill Brokeback Bloom again, or whatever his name is.

And we get rewarded for it. Just in its normal form it's already stronger than the maul, something to keep.

Intermission
(part 2 of the super big update will be following shortly)
(technically you didnt need a torch light for part 1)
(but you will for part 2, promise)

 

[dextermorgan]

Anyone else have problems with borked image links in the last update?

 

[Renegen]

...and part 2 is here.

The Submerged Passage. A very good example of how modern graphics can create atmospheric areas. You really feel like this place is dark and damp, the kind of place you'd be likely to be eaten by a grue.

Strange creatures are emerging from the dark.

Good thing these creatures are vulnerable to pain.

The area has 2 monsters. Cave Crustaceans are very interesting because when you defeat them they drop their carapace and get a 2nd life bar as a sand critter. That is unless they first explode, in that case they don't get a 2nd life bar.

A skill gem drops, very nice. A shield skill on the other hand is not likely to be used by Hongda.

Level 7 reached, I took +6% additional life. These calamari-like creatures aren't very interesting except they die easily. Even my Thorny armor proves to still be useful.

Let me demonstrate how your light radius gets smaller as you lose life, for SCIENCE.

Oh shit, time to chug potions. Hongda sank into the red once, just to see what it feels like. The game mysteriously doesn't have light radius modifiers, either good or bad. It would add a new layer of strategy.

We're actually now on Submerged Passage lvl 2 and the proof is this shooter with mana shield, quite an annoying fucker.

One of the weaknesses of this game is unfortunately that there isn't enough monster variety. Diablo 2 was great at having 3-4 monsters per map and each map could spawn as much as 10 different monsters, adding a lot of variety.

The cheap method of adding variety is a lot of bosses and rare monsters. As for this guy, I'm going to go on a limb and say not to trust him.

More bosses. The good news is that if you target him with a skill that does 20% of hp as explosive damage...

every fucker dies. In other news, the items still suck.

Every hole and crevice in the Submerged Passage lvl 2 has been explored but we only find an exit to the Ledge, the next area. I think the boss we're looking for was accessible from lvl 1, oops.

So back in level 1, but first I decided to head to town and identify the rare staff and maybe even get a scroll of wisdom or two, that would be nice.

The staff is simply amazing, it easily doubles our DPS. We're now ready to pay the boss a visit. Scrolls of wisdom are still low.

Time to start exploring part 1 and hunt the Dweller of the Deep. Next time!

next update: old foes

 

[Renegen]

Anyone else have problems with borked image links in the last update?

Nope, they show fine to me. Hmm, which ones?

 

[dextermorgan]

Anyone else have problems with borked image links in the last update?

Nope, they show fine to me. Hmm, which ones?

It was all of them but it works fine now, seems like it was a temporary glitch on my side. Thanks for the update!

 

[Monocause]

If someone would like to share a beta invite with a fellow 'dexer, PM me. I'd really like to give that a spin, seems interesting (though I'm a bit worried at how you seem to come out of every fight without a scratch on your screenshots).

Also, can you guys explain how their F2P model is really supposed to work? They're developing a game with decent production values and will need to maintain servers for the players which means rather large maintenance expenses - at the same time they claim that it's 100% free and the only thing they'll charge you for will be cosmetic fluff like appearance customisation. What am I missing here?

 

[Brother None]

Nice mega-update.

It really is a nice-looking game. Design and graphics-wise both, I mean.

 

[Renegen]

If someone would like to share a beta invite with a fellow 'dexer, PM me. I'd really like to give that a spin, seems interesting (though I'm a bit worried at how you seem to come out of every fight without a scratch on your screenshots).

Also, can you guys explain how their F2P model is really supposed to work? They're developing a game with decent production values and will need to maintain servers for the players which means rather large maintenance expenses - at the same time they claim that it's 100% free and the only thing they'll charge you for will be cosmetic fluff like appearance customisation. What am I missing here?

Haha, my hp is always full because I've gotten quite good at chugging potions with my blood mage witch. With her, every fight I lose at least 50% of hp. I hope I've given the feeling that the game is visceral, hp can be lost quickly but also regained quickly. The game so far is somewhat easy part is due to me being lvl 8 but part is due to the lack of monster variety. The little variety there is usually results in dishing out the most damage. Going back to D2 again, they had monsters that revived, monsters that were great at gangbanging you, monsters that leetched mana, monsters that cast many spells, monsters that teleported, monsters that moved really quickly etc That's where the fun of killing was. Also, my lvl 15-20 duelist sucks and can barely stand in melee so it's quite relative. You should expect some difficulty increase as the LP moves among, but the game is somewhat on the easy side, it's not complete.

I haven't really paid attention to their F2P model and at the moment there isn't any cash shop or anything implemented in-game. I have the feeling they have deep pockets and their strategy is to slowly add features as they advance through the beta and eventually they will be ready for launch.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

I forgot to ask about one important feature: Is there an Emotionally Engaging narrative present? I cried when Marius died at the end of D2.

 

[Renegen]

Emotions are for lesser men, not for Hongda.

 

[praetor]

thanks to this LP i remembered i have a beta key. thanks Renegen game seems pretty fun if a bit on the easy side (especially since i got my "medium health flask of quite a bit of insta health")

 

[XenomorphII]

I like the looks of this.

 

[Ashery]

8:53 PM - Ashery: oh shit, didn't know you were the one doing the PoE LP
8:53 PM - Renegen: the older games are seen as a first try to the eventual success of today's games
8:53 PM - Ashery: ...
8:53 PM - Ashery: ugh
8:53 PM - Ashery: *sob*
8:53 PM - Renegen: oh ya
8:53 PM - Renegen: make a comnent ill try to honor it
8:54 PM - Ashery: "Get me a beta invite"?

 

[RK47]

I forgot to ask about one important feature: Is there an Emotionally Engaging narrative present? I cried when Marius died at the end of D2.

who the fuck is marius?

 

[Renegen]

update 5: old foes

What do we have here? A bonus screenshot of my witch in action for dear Sov. She has zombie minions made of flesh and herself is a blood mage. She's powerful.

But let's get back to our game. Our latest level is used to get Heart of the Gladiator, how can I resist? In total it adds 45 life and 6% added physical damage.

We return to the Submerged Passage except that with a new LP episode it's a new instance full again of enemies. I realize we are lvl 8 in a lvl 5 area, yikes.

We find the Flooded Depths, finally. If the Dweller of the Deep is also lvl 5, I'm afraid he's going to go extinct soon.

We have to make this interesting, how about aggroing as many of them as possible to follow me?

The result is half a mana pool spent and no life lost. That's what our new 6.5 life regen/sec does.

Interesting skill, god knows this LP is shit without new skills every update.

More aggroing as I just storm through the level without really trying to kill everything.

Easy. Those dead bodies are almost lined up in a pleasant pattern. Well I am an artist.

Ah finally, The Deep Dweller. He looks like a giant.. enemy crab. His weakness must be fire.

I wished I did use fire properly because he took off his carapace and whipped out his 2nd life bar. On average each life took about 3 hits.

And all he was guarding were a lot of crappy items. I almost feel bad for killing him, almost. Actually 1 item interested me, I pick up the ringmail vest to replace my aging armor.

This vest adds to my energy shield, and again, I get more rarity. I'm getting lucky with the mods, wish I got lucky with the items too.

I pick up the rest and backtrack to that Ledge exit. What will await us?

A Ledge basically, hmm. Maybe it's a metaphorical ledge, a place where one stands to see deep into the horizon. Probably just a ledge ledge actually.

And what do we have here? Good old skeletons. Just one, actually, it's easy.

Skeleton archers appear, didn't see that coming.

Because of their annoying ranged attacks, they keep pulling me into fights I don't want to be a part of. This was literally 2 seconds later. Or metaphorically.

Monster variety done right. They have succeeded in making me chug a few potions, and gain a level. That last one is entirely of their own making.

This is a big level because we need to aim for a new long term goal. What shall we take, Butchery?

More life regeneration? That would be too easy. It's also about 40 levels away.

Ah skull cracking. I find the undefined benefits of this skill choice very satisfying from a role playing point of view.

Really, there were too many choices. On the way to becoming a crack skull cracker, we first take Diamond Skin, it's convenient, and girls love diamonds.

We also backtrack a bit to go to town and sell our loot and get our quest reward.

This time our reward is actually a skill point, which we use for +7% fire resistance. I guess in the Ledge, you sometimes have to go backwards to go forward.

We continue on our journey and get caught up in some serious conflicts.

The skeleton archers go down easily of course but they fucking hurt. Ow. It also helps to be in a lvl 8 area.

Really an individual archer is a lot like a small problem we may have, he may be prickly but alone he's no threat. It's only when we have many small problems bothering us for an extended period of time that you start to make errors. To overcome, we must challenge these problems at their earliest. I guess the Ledge is metaphorical after all.

By what may be more than coincidence, we come to the end of our journey at the entrance of the Rocky Climb. Maybe a Sisyphean task awaits us?

This new area brings back the skeleton archers and some new enemies in these felines.

They also have goatmen, an old foe for Titan Quest veterans as they look suspiciously a lot like satyrs.

But really, our labours are over. Our oldest foes are not giant enemy crabs, skeleton archers or even satyrs, but ourselves.

Armed with the wisdom gained from the Metaphysical Ledge, we steel ourselves for the dangers to come, confident in our eventual victory. We also realize we couldn't cast Glacial Hammer because we forgot to equip it.

next update: where RPG heroes are born
I also discovered that the excellent PoE website allows me to link Hongda's skill tree to all of you. I encourage you to check it out, especially for those living vicariously through me, as every skill is described in detail. Go on and tell me what to pick!
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-...we6I3qHYSIY8j-1rtDs2xIFfL1RfP0TQ913hNAboxk0n3

Apparently, friend invites may be coming in the following months and that if you post in their forums, you are 10x more likely to get a key.

 

[Cowboy Moment]

Some of the points close to your destination improve "endurance charges". I've gathered that it's some kind of temporary buff mechanism, is that right?

 

[Renegen]

Yeah, they are. Charges if used properly can be OP but in a different way than you'd think. It's very easy to get frenzy charges, and with the right passive skills I think endurance charges are also easy to get, but the ways to get charges are currently few. It really depends on what skill gems drop.

 

[Monocause]

Apparently, friend invites may be coming in the following months and that if you post in their forums, you are 10x more likely to get a key.

I repeat my request for an invite should some of the 'dexers get one.

 

[Renegen]

update 6: where RPG heroes come from

We return to the Rocky Climb and head straight north with our new ice skill, who will volunteer?

The skeletons are the first I guess, they're not too bright. As we swing, the tip of the staff changes, I now understand why the skill is called Glacial Hammer!

The skill is pretty sweet, a skeleton archer boss goes down so quickly there's nothing of interest to note. His items suck too.

Continuing north, we manage to level up (+7% fire resistance) but there's no real hordes to stop us anymore.We vendure down the narrow pathway, a real rocky climb.

Pretty quickly we find the entrance to the next area... a prison. Hongda's not here to rescue anyone or to do an in-game tutorial, his only objective is to kill Brutus.

Is anybody here? Since Diablo 2 had prisons with skeletons and we've just faced skeletons, maybe this area will be different.

Nope, here come the skeletons.

It's an abandoned prison after all, everyone must've been released for good behavior.

We find a gold ring, which is a pretty cool item as its base modifier is increased rarity. I'm thinking we should finally craft our first item.

Not far is a waypoint back to town, let's do this.

Apparently these orbs have a chance to create a rare item too.

We only get a magic item, in all my crafting I've been kind of unlucky. Crafting is a huge part of this game and will probably create fits within many players.

Back in the prison, we also find some human type of enemies. This guy would have more luck eating my flesh if he didn't have just 1 ally.

We continue exploring and mix things up a little bit. Zombies are only good at reaching you in numbers so you can deploy an AoE skill.

On the next level, more of the same. I'm starting to think this tutorial mission is quite bland.

Hey someone left a rare item on the floor, or dropped it after shattering into ice. I hope no one minds that I pick it up.

Continuing forward, we find spell-casting skeletons. They look pretty sweet and add to the challenge a little bit. The area is actually the same level as me so the one hit kills are gone.

A better armor drops, might as well use it. Why not identify our loot.

The rare axe is really good actually. Its base damage is the same as the staff and it adds to our gem level, so let's use it. The armor had really bad modifiers though.

I'm forced to switch skills again since I have an axe, but guess who's back to killing in one hit?

The righteous rage fuels me! Even the skeleton mages die in 1 shot.

The axe is very nice, it swings faster and has a different feel to it.

The whole sequence goes so fast, I don't even notice I level up. It really goes fast when you're on the same level as the area. +10 strength.

And I mean really fast. I'm definitively learning what this tutorial area is trying to teach me, whatever it is.

A blood trail leads the way to the next area, is this a sign the story arc has reached a close?

Kinda quiet here, not a single monster...

Whoa, here is Brutus, one on one.

His arms look like battering rams or something, better be careful.

I'm ready for him though. He simply doesn't hit hard enough to require much strategy from me.

Hit and chug, hit and chug.

On the other hand,he drops 2 rares. Well 3 rares in this run is just as much as I got in the LP up to here, that counts for something.

The next area suggests we won't come out in a rosy town with plenty of side-quests.

And I was so convinced the prison was there to establish me as an anti-hero in a cinematic character-driven world!
I'm now really confused about my identity. Well time to go to town.

In town, the townsfolk are as thankful as always. Tarkleigh, I'm going to kill you last.

next update: back to the start