PoE – The beginner’s guide

All beginnings are hard. Especially if you are a complete beginner in PoE. Especially the skill tree with its numerous possible combinations can easily overwhelm any beginner. However, in order to give you an easy start, we will show you everything you need to know as a beginner in the game Path of Exile (PoE) in this guide.

The first decision – Choose your League

Before you can even dive into the gameplay, you have to choose a server. Unlike in the other online games, the servers here have different unique features. Thus, each server offers you a unique gaming experience. These servers are also called leagues. In this section of the PoE Beginner’s Guide, we will explain which leagues they are and how they differ from each other.

The permanent Standard League

Standard Leagues are permanent servers that reflect the core gameplay of Path of Exile (PoE). Since the release of the game PoE, nothing has changed in this mode and in this League. In other words, there are players on these servers who are already very powerful, because they have invested a lot of time in the game. Also, a lot of items are very expensive on the market. So you either have to spend many hours farming or you decide to use a currency service.

The standard League is split into two further modes. The “Normal” mode, where you can level up as usual and keep all items even if you die in the game. The other mode is the “Hardcore” mode. Here your character has only one life. So if you are killed by monsters in a fight, your character will die in the hardcore league as well. Afterwards, this character will be banished to the standard league and can continue playing there. The Hardcore mode is therefore a real challenge and is not for every beginner.

The temporary Challenge League

But what are these challenge leagues and how do they differ from the standard league? These and other questions will be answered in this section of the PoE Beginner Guide. Unlike the Standard League, each player starts from scratch at the beginning of a new Challenge League. This challenge league continues for a few months. During this time, all players have the opportunity to level up a character and farm equipment. What also makes these leagues so special are the special features and attributes that are not available in the standard league.

For example, in a challenge league you could collect different seeds and plant them. You could then eventually fight against these plants and get your loot. With each new season of the challenge league, a new event starts with it. This ensures that players are motivated to start over. At the end of each season, your character is automatically transferred to the Standard League. There is also a Hardcore mode, which is the same as the Hardcore mode for the Standard League. However, if you don’t have any experience with the game PoE, we recommend you to start on the standard server. As the name Challenge League suggests, it is a race against time. All experienced players will be leveling up and looking for equipment as fast as possible.

The different Classes and their advantages

Next in this PoE Beginner’s Guide, we’ll talk about the different classes and the advantages of these classes. In Path of Exile there are a total of seven different classes. All of these classes use the three main attributes intelligence, strength and dexterity. Once again, a distinction is made between the pure classes and the hybrid classes. We will now explain what these are and what makes them so special.

Marauder

The Marauder is one of the three Puren classes from PoE. He is mainly focused on the Strength attribute. This is also reflected in his playstyle. Here, everything revolves around pure strength. You can take down your opponents with powerful melee attacks. Unlike many other classes, however, you don’t really have the ability to attack your opponents from range.

Witch

The Witch class focuses mainly on the Intelligence attribute and is thus also one of the three Puren classes. The Witch is the complete opposite of the Marauder. You mainly have ranged attacks and spells that you can use to destroy your opponent’s. This is very handy to keep your opponents away from you. However, the Witch doesn’t have as strong defense and armor as many other classes. That’s why she is also vulnerable to damage.

Ranger

The last of the three Pure classes is the Ranger. The main attribute of this class is dexterity. As a Ranger, you’ll be able to destroy your enemies from a distance with a bow. You also have a one-handed sword for close combat attacks. We recommend this class especially for beginners, because the Ranger is also very easy to play and also deals a lot of damage.

Duelist

Next in this PoE Beginner’s Guide is the first of the following four hybrid classes. The Duelist mainly uses the attributes Dexterity and Strength for his attacks. He carries a sword or an axe in battle. He is especially characterized by his fast play style. We think that this makes him one of the strongest classes in Path of Exile.

Templar

The Templar uses an interesting combination of intelligence and strength attributes. Equipped with a staff, he deals strong elemental damage in close combat. So not only strength makes his melee attacks stronger, but also intelligence.

Shadow

The Shadow uses daggers and claws to defeat his opponents. He focuses on the attributes intelligence and dexterity. In doing so, he uses the power of his spells as well as his weapons to deal out enormous damage. However, he wears light armor and is particularly vulnerable to damage from large groups of enemies. With his mines, he can also set traps to hunt down his enemies.

Scion

The extraordinary thing about this class is that the Scion uses all three of the main attributes. It is by far the most flexible hybrid class from PoE. This also allows you to create a very special and unique class design. However, we do not recommend this class for beginners.

The PoE Talent (Skill) Tree shortly explained for Beginners

After you have decided on which server and class you want to play on, this PoE beginner’s guide will explain what the talent tree is. Each class has its own talent tree. You can choose between over 1325 different talents. All these talents give your character a passive bonus and make him stronger. Depending on your playstyle, you can choose between different subclasses, e.g. for the Marauder, the subclass Berserker. So a completely new playstyle can be created by the different distribution of your talents in the tree. You don’t have to worry about your decision either. If you don’t like your current talent distribution, you can simply change the points again. In this way, you can approach and master your individually created class step by step. In addition, this enormous talent system also has the advantage that there is no one meta-build.