Crucible Week 2: News, Meta Analysis & Winning Strategies

Embark on a thrilling journey through the Affliction League with our comprehensive review of the Destructive Cast On Critical Tornado Shot Ice Spear Deadeye build in Path of Exile 3.23. If you're seeking a powerful combination of Cast on Critical mechanics and ranged precision, this build is designed for you. Join us as we explore the pros and cons, budget considerations, and key aspects of this formidable build. Build Overview Pros: 1. Incredible Clear Speed: Revel in the joy of capturing a plethora of Ice Spears from Tornado Shot projectiles, providing an astonishingly fast map-clearing experience.   2. Boss Damage Mastery: The build excels in dealing substantial single-target damage to bosses, even from a considerable distance. 3. Safety First: Play with confidence as you freeze monsters and map bosses in place. With a 90% chance to evade attacks, high spell damage suppression, and robust armor, the build ensures a safe gaming experience. Cons: 1. Resource Intensive: This build demands a significant investment in POE Currency, making it less accessible for budget-conscious players. 2. Complex Building Process: Assembling this build can be challenging due to the requirement of specific rare items, adding an extra layer of complexity. Budget Considerations Prepare for a substantial investment with a budget of at least 15 Divine Orbs. This high-cost requirement is one of the trade-offs for the exceptional power this build brings to the table. Mandatory Unique Items: 1. Asenath's Mark Helmet: Triggers socketed skills on attack, adding even more Ice Spears to your arsenal. 2. Maloney's Mechanism Quiver: Exclusive sockets debuff bosses for increased damage potential. 3. Intuitive Leap Jewels (x2): Essential for saving valuable points in the passive tree. Performance Ratings Clear Speed: - Rating: 10/10 - Description: The build delivers an outstanding combination of speed and satisfaction, ensuring a swift and enjoyable map-clearing experience. Boss Damage: - Rating: 10/10 - Description: With the ability to cast numerous Ice Spears hitting the target, the build achieves an impressive shotgun effect, earning it a perfect rating for boss damage. Survivability: - Rating: 9/10 - Description: Boasting the capability to handle threats from a safe distance, freeze enemies, and with high evasion, armor, and spell suppression, survivability is commendable. Careful positioning is key when facing Guardians and Pinnacle bosses. Conclusion What are your thoughts on the Cast On Critical Tornado Shot Deadeye? If you crave a build that combines speed, boss-slaying prowess, and a safety net, this could be your ideal match. While it demands a substantial investment, the rewards in terms of power and gameplay satisfaction are well worth it. Don't miss the chance to experience Path of Exile 3.23 in all its glory with this exhilarating build. Keep building, keep conquering!

The highly anticipated Path of Exile 3.23 patch, titled "Affliction," has finally arrivedon December 11, 2023 , bringing a wealth of new content and exciting changes to the popular ARPG. This comprehensive patch introduces a new endgame system, revamps the skill tree, and introduces a host of new items and challenges. New Endgame System: Affliction The centerpiece of the 3.23 patch is the introduction of the Affliction mechanic. This innovative system allows players to inflict Afflicts, debuff-like effects, on enemies. These Afflicts can then be manipulated to trigger various effects, such as dealing additional damage or granting buffs to the player. This mechanic adds a layer of strategic depth and versatility to combat, allowing players to tailor their builds to specific Afflicts and their desired playstyle. Intriguing League Mechanic: Incursions The Affliction Challenge League introduces a new league mechanic called Incursions. These are small-scale maps that players can enter, similar to the Breach league's encounters. Incursions present players with challenges and rewards, such as encountering powerful bosses or collecting valuable artifacts. These challenges provide a fresh and engaging way to experience the game's endgame. Overhauled Skill Tree: Reimagined Ascendancies The skill tree has undergone a significant overhaul in the 3.23 patch. Numerous new nodes have been added, while existing nodes have been modified to enhance their effectiveness and provide more viable options for character builds. This overhaul aims to revitalize the skill tree and offer more diverse and powerful paths for players to explore. Abundance of New Items: Uniques and Supporter Packs Alongside the sweeping gameplay changes, the 3.23 patch introduces a wealth of new items. New unique items have been added, providing fresh and powerful options for players to incorporate into their builds. Additionally, several new supporter packs have been released, offering cosmetic enhancements and exclusive items for dedicated players. Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements In addition to the substantial content additions, the 3.23 patch also addresses a number of reported bugs and optimizes game performance. These fixes and improvements aim to enhance the overall experience for all players. With its innovative Affliction mechanic, intriguing Incursions league, overhauled skill tree, and abundance of new items, Path of Exile 3.23 patch "Affliction" is sure to captivate and challenge ARPG enthusiasts. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the game, there's something for everyone in this content-rich update. So, embark on a new adventure in Wraeclast and unleash the power of affliction!

Path of Exile 3.22, also known as the Trial of the Ancestors league, has introduced a slew of new build options, and one that's generating significant buzz is Transcendence. Historically, this keystone has been primarily used in conjunction with the Loreweave unique item to mitigate the maximum resistance penalty affecting characters. However, with the inclusion of tattoos in this league, paired with Chieftain's Valako notable or the Melding of the Flesh unique jewel, there's a new way to address these issues. This article dives deep into the Transcendence keystone, its strengths, weaknesses, and how to leverage tattoos for a powerful build. The Transcendence Keystone: Strengths and Weaknesses Transcendence offers a robust defensive advantage but comes with two substantial drawbacks that have limited its usage in the past. First, it causes armor to cease reducing physical damage while applying to elemental damage. Additionally, it imposes a substantial elemental max resistance penalty, making it challenging to overcome these hurdles. Traditional Approach: Loreweave Traditionally, Transcendence was paired with the Loreweave unique item, which has a hard cap on maximum resistance, effectively mitigating the keystone's drawbacks. However, this approach requires dedicating your body armor slot to Loreweave, leaving you vulnerable to physical damage unless you have exceptional gear. Enter Tattoos: A Game-Changer in 3.22 Path of Exile 3.22 introduces tattoos, which bring new opportunities to the table. The Tattoo of the Ngamahu Makanga, for example, grants +1 to maximum fire resistance. There are similar tattoos for cold and lightning resistance. Additionally, the unique jewel Warrior's Tale doubles the effect of all tattoos within a medium radius, significantly enhancing their potency. Chieftain's Advantage Chieftain, in particular, benefits from these tattoos due to its Valako notable. By investing in specific nodes on the skill tree, you can obtain up to +8 maximum fire resistance, not including other potential sources like Purity of Fire and halo effect scaling. This means you can easily equip Transcendence without relying on Loreweave. With Transcendence and Lightning Coil, you can effectively address both elemental and physical damage threats. Expanding Beyond Chieftain: Melding of the Flesh While Chieftain benefits greatly from these changes, other classes can also take advantage of tattoos. Adding the Melding of the Flesh jewel to another class introduces another -4 maximum elemental resistance challenge. However, this is easily manageable through additional tattooing. For instance, the Tattoo of the Arohongui Makanga offers +1 maximum cold resistance. Items like Brine Crown provide three maximum cold resistances, and you can further boost your resistances through your shield slot or items like Aegis Aurora. The passive tree offers numerous options, and placing your Warrior's Tale in a strategic location can further increase your maximum resistance. Closing Thoughts In summary, the Transcendence keystone in Path of Exile 3.22 has been a potent but limited choice due to its significant drawbacks. However, with the introduction of tattoos and unique jewels, these limitations are easier to overcome. This league offers a chance to create exceptionally tanky characters using Transcendence, and it will be fascinating to see how players leverage this setup to tackle challenging content and withstand formidable boss abilities.

Path of Exile (PoE) is a popular action RPG that places significant emphasis on strategy, character customization, and crafting systems. One of the key factors in the success of your PoE character is the weapon they use. For the Shadow class, a character known for its dexterity and intelligence, your choice of weapon can greatly enhance your gameplay. Let's delve into some of the best weapons you can wield as a Shadow to make your character more lethal. 1. Dagger The Shadow class greatly benefits from daggers. Daggers have high critical strike chances and damage multiplier, making them the best for critical-based builds, particularly for Assassin ascendancy. Here are some top choices: - Bino's Kitchen Knife: This unique dagger not only provides significant physical damage but also offers life regeneration mechanics, making it ideal for survivability. - Divinarius: A great option for area-of-effect (AoE) spell builds, like Blade Vortex. This dagger boosts both critical strike chance and AoE radius, enhancing your spell damage. 2. Claws Claws, with their inherent life and mana leech, can be an excellent choice for attack-based Shadow builds, such as the Trickster. - The Wasp Nest: This claw offers high physical DPS, critical strike chance, and life gain on hit, making it a highly effective and sustainable choice. - Touch of Anguish: Ideal for chain-based or cold-based builds, it provides additional chain to your attacks, increased critical strike chance, and mana gain on kill. 3. Wands Wands can be a compelling choice for Shadows focusing on spellcasting, especially for Saboteur builds. - Obliteration Demon's Horn: It significantly boosts your chaos damage and offers a chance to explode enemies on kill, dealing chaos damage to other enemies around. - Piscator's Vigil: Perfect for Elemental Attack based builds, it grants increased elemental damage with attack skills and a high critical strike chance. 4. Bows Though not a traditional choice for Shadows, some builds use bows effectively. These are often used in combination with unique quivers for added benefits. - Death's Harp: This unique bow offers high critical strike multiplier and an additional arrow, making it a good choice for critical and projectile-based builds. - The Tempest: Focused on high attack speed and lightning damage, The Tempest is a great choice for elemental builds. Making the Best of Your Weapon Regardless of your weapon choice, remember that effective use of the skill tree, gem slots, and crafting can significantly enhance your weapon's performance. Modify your weapon to suit your play style and build, focusing on key stats such as critical strike chance, attack speed, and elemental damage for attack builds, or spell damage, cast speed, and cooldown reduction for spellcaster builds. In Summary Choosing the best weapon for your Shadow character in Path of Exile can be a game-changer, potentially transforming a frail shadow into a menacing adversary. Be it a dagger, claw, wand, or bow, understanding your play style, build, and the unique advantages each weapon offers will help you conquer Wraeclast. Happy hunting!