Nevertheless, it’s when skill gems and the tree float that things get really exciting. My Necromancer relies solely on Scorching Ray to deal damage. Naturally, I have unlocked plenty of nodes which boost fire damage, but a few major nodes possess these smart synergies which PoE goods are really fun to unlock. Take Elemental Equilibrium by way of instance, making enemies I struck with elemental damage briefly get 25 percent immunity to those components and -50 percent resistance to other elements.
How could that be helpful to me? Well, when an enemy is hit by Orb of Storms, they become immune to lightning damage but weaker to fire. And because Scorching Ray is really a harm over time ability, it does not really “hit” an enemy, therefore I never risk making them more immune to fire by accident. That’s only one of a dozen little synergies my personality has. I have never been much of a concept crafter, but viewing my construct slowly come together as I unlock more major nodes was a rewarding experience.
Path of Exile’s core combat won’t ever be as satisfying as Diablo 3’s. It is slower and lacks the same kinetic energy as critters ragdoll and the environment crumbles from your attacks. But what it lacks action and animation, it makes up for in spades with the strategic depth that comes from slowly molding a character from such a robust system. I really don’t feel nearly as attached to any of my Diablo characters because I feel like I have invested so much time to sexually understanding the way my Witch functions. She feels handcrafted even though I built her from a template. Along with her passive tree nearly complete and a good deal of her skills set up, she burns through packs of monsters with tremendous ferocity.
I wished to learn more about the POE game since I knew that its complexity is in fact a virtue. Another day I spent an hour to the wiki finding out where I could find the rest of the skill gems I want to complete my construct, and there’s a few dozen other long-term goals I am starting to work towards. Just like a fantastic MMO, I am excited about the journey rather than the destination. And that is another reason why Diablo 3’s Necromancer, despite being a lot of fun to buy poe exalted orbs to play, never hooked me for longer than a few days. Within an hour or two, I’d power levelled him to 70, but that I did not feel any relationship with the progress I’d made.