3 ESSENTIAL TIPS FOR NEW PATH OF EXILE PLAYERS

It soon becomes apparent to new players of Grinding Gear Games' popular hack-and-slash Path of Exile that it is indeed a deep game and certain aspects of the ARPG can be overwhelming at times. Getting your head around PoE Orbs, PoE currency and leveling can seem like a sizeable task at first. However, with just a few short tips, you can manage to wrap your head around the F2P sensation in just a short time.

Keep Your Orbs Handy

Orbs play a massive part in the Path of Exile currency system and beyond and you will need to familiarize yourself with them. You will come across several different orbs, ranging from Chaos Orbs, the Regal Orb, Divine Orb, Orbs of Regret, and so on. The most valuable piece of advice that can be given to you as far as orbs are concerned is to not use the orbs that you come across in the early stages. They can have significant value to the player, especially as you progress through the game. With that in mind, you should save these orbs for a short while, or at least dedicate them to enhancing/leveling your equipment.

There are a few things you should avoid doing with orbs too, particularly when you come across Jeweller's Orbs or Orbs of Fusing. Once you decide on the gear or weapons you are going to level, you will want to avoid using the orbs to craft sockets, since it is cheaper for you to buy the items with the sockets that you want. It will turn out cheaper for your key item in the long run. On the subject of wasting orbs, keep in mind that Chaos Orbs are at a premium, so remember to save them for leveling high-level gear.

Never Underestimate the Importance of Maps

If you have played games such as Guild Wars, Blade and Soul, Diablo, and such, you will know that maps play a key role. In Path of Exile, maps play a pretty significant role as well, and are considered to be end-game content. You will come across them quite a lot when looting your way through the game, which tends to drop once reaching level 60 as a rule, but you can find them earlier on.

Tier 1 maps are what you will be aiming to reach, which come in at level 68. With these maps, you can access key areas that play host to unique items, bosses via portals. These portals can only be accessed once, so make sure to farm the maps that you need. In a similar fashion to certain items, maps can be modded and consist of magic, rare and unique varieties. Each map will also have different monsters and layouts, so it is important to use the map that caters to your playstyle. These maps can be chopped and changed through the orb system, similarly to how items work. Upgraded maps will feature rarer item and monster variety, but will increase the difficulty of the area as a consequence.

Focus on Leveling Up

In this kind of game, the starting class you choose typically becomes a bit of a setback if you change your mind as you progress. Thankfully, Path of Exile is far more flexible, and you generally have a lot of opportunities to change certain aspects of your build to your liking.

As we mentioned earlier, you need to be careful with how you use your orbs and currency items, and that rings true with leveling your character. If you are entering a standard league or events of a similar kind, then spending orbs isn't such a bad thing since leveling items can be more difficult to get your hands on. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid spending orbs while leveling, since it can prove to be very expensive when you could simply find the items that you need. If you already have an idea of the character class you want to pursue, then you should look into purchasing leveling unique items that suit your build best. This is something that will once more save your currency and time. Skills and support gems meanwhile, are something that you don't need to worry too much about in terms of how they will affect your build because they are much more universally applicable, so just experiment with the ones which suit you!

Finally, during your leveling process, you should do your best to complete prophecies. You could come across prophecies of high value, which you can keep hold of to sell for a decent profit, or use them at a later date. Trash to Treasure, for example, will turn a normal item into a unique one, while the likes of Fated Connections and Jeweller's Touch are capable of creating links to a single orb.

Remember these tips as you tread the Path of Exile. They will help you utilize your PoE currency and PoE orbs better. Good luck and happy hunting!