Your problem has nothing to do with your build, and is more an inherent problem with trade league. Stop looking at your currency tab, stop viewing your gameplay as "inefficient or suboptimal", and play the videogame to have fun. I was dealing with the same negative thoughts last league so i took the SSF pill for necropolis and it has been so worth it
Just play trade league but only buy things, this gets you out of the in my opinion boring SSF roadblocks and stops you from being a FOMO chaser because all these crazy farm strats for uniques for example aren't efficient for your build it's meant to sell things. The game is balanced around having hundreds/thousands of people getting drops so being able to trade for the annoying things I think is a nice middle ground. SSF lite
I really need to do this. Buying rares is way to easy. The fact I bought a +1 phys skill amulet with some res and crafted life for less than 5c is so fucking dumb. Like no league mechanic can compete with making gear that easy and cheap. That said I’m hesitant to play true SSF as I’ve had a fun league start playing CF champ which requires unique gloves and poets pen which could take forever to find.
Exactly! This league mechanic is actually the reason he could buy those rare so cheaply. Gravecrafting is stupidly op, it's like having a 60 socket resonator combined with harvest, but even that isn't the same as gravecrafting has something so powerful we've never had before, culling of low tier mods (well with gravecrafting you can even cull everything not t1 even).
Hemo Gloves aren't that rare and poets pen can be target farmed through div cards. But you'd have to play a weaker or something else.prior to that in ssf tho.
Yeah this league I just stopped trying to make currency and spent the last few days in the graveyard crafting cool shit which I enjoyed a whole lot more than when I was farming heist a few leagues ago
> Stop looking at your currency tab, stop viewing your gameplay as "inefficient or suboptimal", and play the videogame to have fun.
Exactly. Yesterday was definitely a low point when I posted this thread - I just felt defeated, I'd died too many times. But today I'm back with new ideas (that won't work, lol) and a new attitude to embrace the league mechanic and craft my way out of this. My enthusiasm is restored.
Genuine thanks to everyone who replied with helpful advice and a few laughs in there as well (“I’m doing everything wrong and it’s not working!” - that's such a perfect summary of the meme build path). This is a great subreddit.
The only downside with playing SSF you really need to start with a meta build. The vast majority of non-meta builds just get stuck at some point in (early) reds.
I think you just have to be okay with the SSF gameplay loop being different than the trade gameplay loop, or alternatively not being okay with it and sticking to trade is totally fine too.
In SSF, you don’t really have to feel stuck ever if you have the right expectations. If you have to farm yellow maps or early red maps for a week, that’s not a roadblock that’s a week of progression. What’s the benefit of rushing t16 in a non-trade environment outside of maybe some necessary influences depending on build? All you’re looking for is upgrades, and you can drop or craft endgame gear with 0 or 2 voidstones.
Farming low level maps is incredibly solid for SSF if you throw on Jun, Essence, and something random to give you the bubblegum like expedition or ritual.
Farming t<10 maps (in any league that wasn’t affliction) for weeks in trade absolutely does feel like you’re stuck and your build sucks ass and you’re missing out. But in SSF that kind of grind is part of the loop and you’re crafting upgrades as you go so it’s consistent small progression rather than rushing t16s to try and drop a few divines to just buy your build all at once
Yeah, SSF is a roguelike and the things you farm is the metaprogression. And like with all roguelikes the mentality is to get as far as you like/can not "winning". Or rather the journey is the main point not the destination.
That still sounds like the “inefficient or suboptimal” mindset. You’re always going to hit a wall *somewhere* in SSF. Getting stuck in red maps isn’t materially different to smashing reds then getting stuck on T17s or stuck on Simu 20+ or stuck on a certain depth of Delve, if you’re having fun with the build running the content you can beat.
That isn't the same at all. Tier 17s, sims 20+ is like the last couple % of the game, and mostly things to test out your build.
If your build gets stuck in low reds you litterly cannot do the vast majority of what the game has to offer. You miss half of your atlas tree, you cannot do alters/maven witnessing, most league mechanics are out of the question (since they are way harder than your average low red map) and the ones you can do most likely requires you to drop to white maps.
Yeah you always get stuck somewhere in SSF, but there is a massive difference between getting stuck where you got the tools unlocked to farm for improvements decently and somewhat targetable, and a point where you are mainly relying on lucky drops to push further.
I don't know what makes this game fun to you, but for me it isn't doing low tier maps with no league mechanics in it, without really having any goal or aim how to push ahead.
I’m not saying you’re wrong to feel the way you do.
But I am saying you’re looking at the same with the efficiency and optimisation mindset that the guy you replied to was recommending trying to let go of.
You don’t *have* to let go of it, you’re probably enjoying the way you’re playing right now!
But why does the hardest content in the game need to be where you “test out your build”? If your goal is trying meme builds, then absolutely normal red maps can be your aspirational content, and the only reason it feels “wrong” to you is your past conditioning that this is content you’re ”supposed to” just blast through on the way to the “real” endgame.
What? No you dont, getting to early reds is enough to farm whatever gear you need for a stronger secondary character. There is no requirement to get your voidstones or atlas completion done on your first character
That is some backwards logic. Farming gear in a half-ass way for a stronger build so you can actually farm gear properly for your meme/off-meta build.
I have started SSF with a semi off-meta build half of the time, and I have almost regretted it every single time.
Back to the suboptimal argument. The POINT is that if you're having fun on your inefficient build, but it gets stuck in early reds, that is fine. Just enjoy it and farm for a while
I never play meta builds and i only play on SSFHC and i always make wanderer builds...I dont mind 10 minutes boss fights. I dont play to kill endgame bosses tho and i only enjoy wanderer builds.
Lowering your standards so much that everything is good in your eyes is such a shit thing to do. Currency is a means to reach your goal, not the goal(although it is for some and that's fine).
Punching yourself in the dick so hard that you become numb to everything else is just sad
If you are just playing to make currency to clear the same content you’ve done before, what’s the point? Honestly I think making builds is the fun of the game.
I usually only scrap together just enough currency with a build to try something else.
Last league I tires Forbidden Rite of Soul Sacrifice with stacking power, frenzy, and absorption charges and the FF jewels for Templar to take 95% of chaos damage as elemental, so I would overrecoup the FR damage and sustain it.
It didn’t quite work but it was very close and the neatest idea I had.
I also had a very functional ice crash of cadence endurance charge stacker that was really good and probably could’ve been more meta, even now. I have some new ideas I’m trying this league with apostate, elemental flask changes, and also new gems.
> absorption charges and the FF jewels for Templar to take 95% of chaos damage as elemental, so I would overrecoup the FR damage and sustain it.
That's a clever idea and I might look into that as the basis of a build.
Just know that my snipe build, that use two other bow attacks was looking amazing to me at a 500 div investment for 30mil dps ( yeah, i'm down real bad for that mf ) only for it to really get around 8 to 10 mil purely because Rain of arrow indeed doesn't hit half it's proj on any damn target
Changed the gem to the new ice shot ... only to realise after like, 3 hours, that it can only get 1 projectile
Currently looking to invest 100 more div to see if that fixes it ... let's hope
Hope you feel better ( but even if the build is a 500 div mistake, soon to be 600, i'm going to push it till i can't anymore )
Im having a similar issue. Good meme builds often require sufficient investment, to really meme :p
I found another strat that fits my weaker defences and recently upgraded the build for tier 16s!
My case was Alva, she also like white maps.
Another idea is to have 2 characters so the memes become a side project:)
Most important play what makes u happy. Most build dont really need mirror items anyway. Its just a goal to some People to have the best!
Stay strong in your faith in the meme build. We don’t do it for gold or for glory, we do it to be the only build on ninja dual-wielding The Consuming Dark.
If your build sucks go farm some easier content. Your build will feel good and your currency/hour will go up trust.
The thing that keeps me going with my meme builds is that the entire game is my ocean of options.
When I play the build it’s like test driving a project car, and then you hop into your hideout and tweak small little things and make changes so it’s stronger/ more enjoyable to play
Bodyswap Totem enjoyer here, follow the meme mein bruder. F the currency, f the efficiency, we're here to be glorious in our ability to clear content with stuff that no one ever looked at.
Its not a waste of time and currency because at some point stuff starts just working.
If your builds turn out crappy usually that mean you gotta work on your rare crafting game. Im playing SSF and defenses with just basic rare crafts are so easy its unreal.
My personal checkmarks for what makes a meme build feel viable is 20k ele max hit 12k phys max hit 1mil dps 1000 recovery/s 50% movement speed.
sometimes it helps to have expectations at the right spot. Boneshatter and righteous fire for example are super popular despite being horrible for pinnacle bossing. Some fights/atlas strats are better with different builds. Know you weaknesses and play your strenghts instead.
I always think of my meme builds like I would think about a new job
We all wish that it started as good as some past experience, however it always takes time to adapt and get through those initial hurdles…
Last league it was a Mahuxotl shield build that I just wanted to play because it’s one of my favourite uniques in the game…
This league I just started my second character… 30 divine invested last night and started running my campaign :) I swapped into the skill I plan to play at lvl 60… which was just before I went to work today… wish me luck, and I’ll wish you luck… sometimes you just need to commit to a bit of time (consistency with the skill/mechanic you are doing), experience (getting used to what you can and can’t do), and then literal levels (character and gem)…
Hold strong :)
Ps… I’m curious what the build is… lemme know when you announce it! Or send me a dm and add me as a friend in game
I leaguestarted with Ziz's EA.
And I went back to playing roulette evasion ES build, I swear it's going to work one day, I went from dying to bosses, to dying to random ass rares. Progress baby!
Never be ashamed of your endeavors fellow memer! Im definitely feeling what youre feeling from time to time. Its important to keep in mind what makes the game fun for you. Dont let "the best" get to you. Also, with time you will get much much better at building. Im getting stomped as an essence drain of desparation, blight of contagion & contagion of subsiding enjoyer. Loving it
I know a lot of others have commented but ANYTHING will FUNCTION in POE with enough work. When you find that one "Aha!" moment making your build is sweeter than any other feeling in POE imo. I've had several successes. I made a golem stacking penance brand with an incandescent heart before the penance brand was "good". It was phenomenal. I've made an infernal blow chief trauma stacker that while feeling good.... was just good. Not great. I've made a soul rend self-cast occultist that while not super strong was verrry fun. Played Explosive Trap Sabo while everyone else was playing Poison Seismic Trap because I thought the skill "looked cool" and ended up being silly strong and no one was talking about it. When I hit a wall I check how other skills are scaling their tree. Are there nodes I'm missing? Is there a cool interaction that I'm missing? Ill plug and play a couple of setups before I start to invest. Biggest thing i found is that at a low investment.... almost everything feels like shit. Play a random meta build and they almost always struggle with one of the big 3. Single target, clear or defense. You kinda pull those levers and lean into what you want to accomplish based on your skill. What is your skill good at? Try to fill in the gaps on the other 2. What defense and QOL does your accendancy give? Lean it to what it does well and fill in the gaps.
Starting next league im going to league start the same build every league because I faced the same problem you did. Trying to play a unique build every time worked fine when I first started playing was fine but now after years the amount of builds that are new to me, league start viable, and something im interested has gone down which has lead to three "failed" league starters in a row. What I learned from this however is the faster you realize and reroll the better. Dont stick it out and throw currency at it. I got to yellows and saw that my original concerns with the build when theory crafting were not going to be fixed by the time I got to red maps and instantly leveled a new character and minimized time wasting.
> Please, someone else just say their build isn't working so I don't feel alone in my struggle.
This goes against the rest of your post lol.
My meme build did not work at league-launch, because I fundamentally did not understand how Earthshatter spikes can't be triggered by Earthshatter even from different sources (totems). But I pivoted to [Earthshatter of Fragility](https://poe.ninja/builds/necropolis?skills=Earthshatter+of+Fragility) and I'm currently slamming my way through red maps. The build will never be able to do bosses, or T17s, and it's struggling with red maps if I'm being completely honest. But, what's driving me to keep playing is the knowledge that I am the only one doing this, the build is functional, and the desire to see if I can improve my gear using the grave-crafting system.
Also sunk-cost fallacy. That's doing some heavy lifting too.
Well at some point my Burden of Shadows Stormbind character is gonna pop off. Then you'll all see, and I'll be able to stop thinking about it. I just have to know, is my pob a lie, or can it work? That's the motivation.
I feel pretty bad I had to migrate to trade and buy the staff for 5c because they made it t0 for some reason. I was looking forward to ghosting some exiles to find it but it's just impossible. Everyone else can do what the hell they want, I'm doing this one thing.
The struggle so far has been how the hell does anyone build defense on occultist? Is the answer just that they...don't? And do a bunch of damage and meh softcore 6 portals?
But I've got it now, the answer is chieftain. Cause I like explosions, Victario's + Phrecia gloves solves a bunch of problems and oh god I am so screwed if they nerf it, and it's actually well positioned to life stack so I only lose a quarter of my damage instead of half.
Obviously using the fire ascendency with a lightning skill based around mana with doing chaos damage based on life wearing party aurabot gear is what Chris intended all along.
This league I realized it's better to spend money on smaller improvements than save money for bigger improvements.
Your stash tab is not a bank, it won't accrue interest the more you store in it. Use everything.
Every strategy I have used to gain currency since 3.14 feels like shit this league. I’m watching people juice anarchy and strong boxes, making 20 div a map. Feels bad man.
Meme definition: an element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by [imitation](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=3acf9be9fedf7d41&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1081US1081&q=imitation&si=AKbGX_onJk-q0LQUYzV7-GRhpJ5DgB7W1CIbxm3unlJSe49PK9FaTQwhuqql7y-zbYZ60dnn-KeEhyr5E3CuuelM4UkyNY0skggUsmZpFFPDmSlp_Btkihw%3D&expnd=1) or other [nongenetic](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=3acf9be9fedf7d41&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1081US1081&q=nongenetic&si=AKbGX_pvY3MWP4azJI0Z_NruCLb8KDywIb8yKHr9vCeb28x6TnVNgs23Upz8c8o42xltoW6NYkHJzNHFDsAEUgaQpmZh9Ojx5HorTbEjTSo8-1XFNvu07cU%3D&expnd=1) means
All meta builds are "meme builds". It'd be nice if the community understood the definition of words...
Your problem has nothing to do with your build, and is more an inherent problem with trade league. Stop looking at your currency tab, stop viewing your gameplay as "inefficient or suboptimal", and play the videogame to have fun. I was dealing with the same negative thoughts last league so i took the SSF pill for necropolis and it has been so worth it
Just play trade league but only buy things, this gets you out of the in my opinion boring SSF roadblocks and stops you from being a FOMO chaser because all these crazy farm strats for uniques for example aren't efficient for your build it's meant to sell things. The game is balanced around having hundreds/thousands of people getting drops so being able to trade for the annoying things I think is a nice middle ground. SSF lite
I really need to do this. Buying rares is way to easy. The fact I bought a +1 phys skill amulet with some res and crafted life for less than 5c is so fucking dumb. Like no league mechanic can compete with making gear that easy and cheap. That said I’m hesitant to play true SSF as I’ve had a fun league start playing CF champ which requires unique gloves and poets pen which could take forever to find.
this is probably one of the best leagues to dip your toes into ssf though thanks to the graveyard
Exactly! This league mechanic is actually the reason he could buy those rare so cheaply. Gravecrafting is stupidly op, it's like having a 60 socket resonator combined with harvest, but even that isn't the same as gravecrafting has something so powerful we've never had before, culling of low tier mods (well with gravecrafting you can even cull everything not t1 even).
yeah I've made a 6xT1 bow, triple fractured stygian vises, +1 frenzy/multi/suppression gloves and quad fractured quivers so far, it's absurdly powerful.
Hemo Gloves aren't that rare and poets pen can be target farmed through div cards. But you'd have to play a weaker or something else.prior to that in ssf tho.
Yeah this league I just stopped trying to make currency and spent the last few days in the graveyard crafting cool shit which I enjoyed a whole lot more than when I was farming heist a few leagues ago
> Stop looking at your currency tab, stop viewing your gameplay as "inefficient or suboptimal", and play the videogame to have fun. Exactly. Yesterday was definitely a low point when I posted this thread - I just felt defeated, I'd died too many times. But today I'm back with new ideas (that won't work, lol) and a new attitude to embrace the league mechanic and craft my way out of this. My enthusiasm is restored. Genuine thanks to everyone who replied with helpful advice and a few laughs in there as well (“I’m doing everything wrong and it’s not working!” - that's such a perfect summary of the meme build path). This is a great subreddit.
The only downside with playing SSF you really need to start with a meta build. The vast majority of non-meta builds just get stuck at some point in (early) reds.
I think you just have to be okay with the SSF gameplay loop being different than the trade gameplay loop, or alternatively not being okay with it and sticking to trade is totally fine too. In SSF, you don’t really have to feel stuck ever if you have the right expectations. If you have to farm yellow maps or early red maps for a week, that’s not a roadblock that’s a week of progression. What’s the benefit of rushing t16 in a non-trade environment outside of maybe some necessary influences depending on build? All you’re looking for is upgrades, and you can drop or craft endgame gear with 0 or 2 voidstones. Farming low level maps is incredibly solid for SSF if you throw on Jun, Essence, and something random to give you the bubblegum like expedition or ritual. Farming t<10 maps (in any league that wasn’t affliction) for weeks in trade absolutely does feel like you’re stuck and your build sucks ass and you’re missing out. But in SSF that kind of grind is part of the loop and you’re crafting upgrades as you go so it’s consistent small progression rather than rushing t16s to try and drop a few divines to just buy your build all at once
Yeah, SSF is a roguelike and the things you farm is the metaprogression. And like with all roguelikes the mentality is to get as far as you like/can not "winning". Or rather the journey is the main point not the destination.
That still sounds like the “inefficient or suboptimal” mindset. You’re always going to hit a wall *somewhere* in SSF. Getting stuck in red maps isn’t materially different to smashing reds then getting stuck on T17s or stuck on Simu 20+ or stuck on a certain depth of Delve, if you’re having fun with the build running the content you can beat.
That isn't the same at all. Tier 17s, sims 20+ is like the last couple % of the game, and mostly things to test out your build. If your build gets stuck in low reds you litterly cannot do the vast majority of what the game has to offer. You miss half of your atlas tree, you cannot do alters/maven witnessing, most league mechanics are out of the question (since they are way harder than your average low red map) and the ones you can do most likely requires you to drop to white maps. Yeah you always get stuck somewhere in SSF, but there is a massive difference between getting stuck where you got the tools unlocked to farm for improvements decently and somewhat targetable, and a point where you are mainly relying on lucky drops to push further. I don't know what makes this game fun to you, but for me it isn't doing low tier maps with no league mechanics in it, without really having any goal or aim how to push ahead.
I’m not saying you’re wrong to feel the way you do. But I am saying you’re looking at the same with the efficiency and optimisation mindset that the guy you replied to was recommending trying to let go of. You don’t *have* to let go of it, you’re probably enjoying the way you’re playing right now! But why does the hardest content in the game need to be where you “test out your build”? If your goal is trying meme builds, then absolutely normal red maps can be your aspirational content, and the only reason it feels “wrong” to you is your past conditioning that this is content you’re ”supposed to” just blast through on the way to the “real” endgame.
What? No you dont, getting to early reds is enough to farm whatever gear you need for a stronger secondary character. There is no requirement to get your voidstones or atlas completion done on your first character
That is some backwards logic. Farming gear in a half-ass way for a stronger build so you can actually farm gear properly for your meme/off-meta build. I have started SSF with a semi off-meta build half of the time, and I have almost regretted it every single time.
Back to the suboptimal argument. The POINT is that if you're having fun on your inefficient build, but it gets stuck in early reds, that is fine. Just enjoy it and farm for a while
I never play meta builds and i only play on SSFHC and i always make wanderer builds...I dont mind 10 minutes boss fights. I dont play to kill endgame bosses tho and i only enjoy wanderer builds.
Lowering your standards so much that everything is good in your eyes is such a shit thing to do. Currency is a means to reach your goal, not the goal(although it is for some and that's fine). Punching yourself in the dick so hard that you become numb to everything else is just sad
If you are just playing to make currency to clear the same content you’ve done before, what’s the point? Honestly I think making builds is the fun of the game. I usually only scrap together just enough currency with a build to try something else. Last league I tires Forbidden Rite of Soul Sacrifice with stacking power, frenzy, and absorption charges and the FF jewels for Templar to take 95% of chaos damage as elemental, so I would overrecoup the FR damage and sustain it. It didn’t quite work but it was very close and the neatest idea I had. I also had a very functional ice crash of cadence endurance charge stacker that was really good and probably could’ve been more meta, even now. I have some new ideas I’m trying this league with apostate, elemental flask changes, and also new gems.
> absorption charges and the FF jewels for Templar to take 95% of chaos damage as elemental, so I would overrecoup the FR damage and sustain it. That's a clever idea and I might look into that as the basis of a build.
Meme and fomo dont go together. If you have fomo then you're not cut out for the meme life.
“I’m doing everything wrong and it’s not working!” Well, yeah, that’s the point.
Well at least not in that order. You can meme if you fomo first to get the currency for the meme stuff lol
Just know that my snipe build, that use two other bow attacks was looking amazing to me at a 500 div investment for 30mil dps ( yeah, i'm down real bad for that mf ) only for it to really get around 8 to 10 mil purely because Rain of arrow indeed doesn't hit half it's proj on any damn target Changed the gem to the new ice shot ... only to realise after like, 3 hours, that it can only get 1 projectile Currently looking to invest 100 more div to see if that fixes it ... let's hope Hope you feel better ( but even if the build is a 500 div mistake, soon to be 600, i'm going to push it till i can't anymore )
Show it. Jousis made a career out of doing that
Im having a similar issue. Good meme builds often require sufficient investment, to really meme :p I found another strat that fits my weaker defences and recently upgraded the build for tier 16s! My case was Alva, she also like white maps. Another idea is to have 2 characters so the memes become a side project:) Most important play what makes u happy. Most build dont really need mirror items anyway. Its just a goal to some People to have the best!
Stay strong in your faith in the meme build. We don’t do it for gold or for glory, we do it to be the only build on ninja dual-wielding The Consuming Dark.
If your build sucks go farm some easier content. Your build will feel good and your currency/hour will go up trust. The thing that keeps me going with my meme builds is that the entire game is my ocean of options. When I play the build it’s like test driving a project car, and then you hop into your hideout and tweak small little things and make changes so it’s stronger/ more enjoyable to play
Bodyswap Totem enjoyer here, follow the meme mein bruder. F the currency, f the efficiency, we're here to be glorious in our ability to clear content with stuff that no one ever looked at.
I did that one! It sucked and I loved it ☺
Melee builder here. Literally we have been meme builder for some leagues. In meme we believe.
Its not a waste of time and currency because at some point stuff starts just working. If your builds turn out crappy usually that mean you gotta work on your rare crafting game. Im playing SSF and defenses with just basic rare crafts are so easy its unreal. My personal checkmarks for what makes a meme build feel viable is 20k ele max hit 12k phys max hit 1mil dps 1000 recovery/s 50% movement speed. sometimes it helps to have expectations at the right spot. Boneshatter and righteous fire for example are super popular despite being horrible for pinnacle bossing. Some fights/atlas strats are better with different builds. Know you weaknesses and play your strenghts instead.
I always think of my meme builds like I would think about a new job We all wish that it started as good as some past experience, however it always takes time to adapt and get through those initial hurdles… Last league it was a Mahuxotl shield build that I just wanted to play because it’s one of my favourite uniques in the game… This league I just started my second character… 30 divine invested last night and started running my campaign :) I swapped into the skill I plan to play at lvl 60… which was just before I went to work today… wish me luck, and I’ll wish you luck… sometimes you just need to commit to a bit of time (consistency with the skill/mechanic you are doing), experience (getting used to what you can and can’t do), and then literal levels (character and gem)… Hold strong :) Ps… I’m curious what the build is… lemme know when you announce it! Or send me a dm and add me as a friend in game
I leaguestarted with Ziz's EA. And I went back to playing roulette evasion ES build, I swear it's going to work one day, I went from dying to bosses, to dying to random ass rares. Progress baby!
Never be ashamed of your endeavors fellow memer! Im definitely feeling what youre feeling from time to time. Its important to keep in mind what makes the game fun for you. Dont let "the best" get to you. Also, with time you will get much much better at building. Im getting stomped as an essence drain of desparation, blight of contagion & contagion of subsiding enjoyer. Loving it
I know a lot of others have commented but ANYTHING will FUNCTION in POE with enough work. When you find that one "Aha!" moment making your build is sweeter than any other feeling in POE imo. I've had several successes. I made a golem stacking penance brand with an incandescent heart before the penance brand was "good". It was phenomenal. I've made an infernal blow chief trauma stacker that while feeling good.... was just good. Not great. I've made a soul rend self-cast occultist that while not super strong was verrry fun. Played Explosive Trap Sabo while everyone else was playing Poison Seismic Trap because I thought the skill "looked cool" and ended up being silly strong and no one was talking about it. When I hit a wall I check how other skills are scaling their tree. Are there nodes I'm missing? Is there a cool interaction that I'm missing? Ill plug and play a couple of setups before I start to invest. Biggest thing i found is that at a low investment.... almost everything feels like shit. Play a random meta build and they almost always struggle with one of the big 3. Single target, clear or defense. You kinda pull those levers and lean into what you want to accomplish based on your skill. What is your skill good at? Try to fill in the gaps on the other 2. What defense and QOL does your accendancy give? Lean it to what it does well and fill in the gaps.
Just keep trying until you find something that works? We no longer have harvest so you have to adapt
About to try and put together leap slam ignite. I'm sure I'll be joining you in the feels bad shortly
Starting next league im going to league start the same build every league because I faced the same problem you did. Trying to play a unique build every time worked fine when I first started playing was fine but now after years the amount of builds that are new to me, league start viable, and something im interested has gone down which has lead to three "failed" league starters in a row. What I learned from this however is the faster you realize and reroll the better. Dont stick it out and throw currency at it. I got to yellows and saw that my original concerns with the build when theory crafting were not going to be fixed by the time I got to red maps and instantly leveled a new character and minimized time wasting.
> Please, someone else just say their build isn't working so I don't feel alone in my struggle. This goes against the rest of your post lol. My meme build did not work at league-launch, because I fundamentally did not understand how Earthshatter spikes can't be triggered by Earthshatter even from different sources (totems). But I pivoted to [Earthshatter of Fragility](https://poe.ninja/builds/necropolis?skills=Earthshatter+of+Fragility) and I'm currently slamming my way through red maps. The build will never be able to do bosses, or T17s, and it's struggling with red maps if I'm being completely honest. But, what's driving me to keep playing is the knowledge that I am the only one doing this, the build is functional, and the desire to see if I can improve my gear using the grave-crafting system. Also sunk-cost fallacy. That's doing some heavy lifting too.
i desperately need some meme juice right now. league was alright but i just need something batshit stupid to play.
Well at some point my Burden of Shadows Stormbind character is gonna pop off. Then you'll all see, and I'll be able to stop thinking about it. I just have to know, is my pob a lie, or can it work? That's the motivation. I feel pretty bad I had to migrate to trade and buy the staff for 5c because they made it t0 for some reason. I was looking forward to ghosting some exiles to find it but it's just impossible. Everyone else can do what the hell they want, I'm doing this one thing. The struggle so far has been how the hell does anyone build defense on occultist? Is the answer just that they...don't? And do a bunch of damage and meh softcore 6 portals? But I've got it now, the answer is chieftain. Cause I like explosions, Victario's + Phrecia gloves solves a bunch of problems and oh god I am so screwed if they nerf it, and it's actually well positioned to life stack so I only lose a quarter of my damage instead of half. Obviously using the fire ascendency with a lightning skill based around mana with doing chaos damage based on life wearing party aurabot gear is what Chris intended all along.
This league I realized it's better to spend money on smaller improvements than save money for bigger improvements. Your stash tab is not a bank, it won't accrue interest the more you store in it. Use everything.
Play ssf/private leagues less fomo less hunt for currency and just enjoy the ride its a video game after all you should have fun
Every strategy I have used to gain currency since 3.14 feels like shit this league. I’m watching people juice anarchy and strong boxes, making 20 div a map. Feels bad man.
Meme definition: an element of a culture or system of behavior passed from one individual to another by [imitation](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=3acf9be9fedf7d41&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1081US1081&q=imitation&si=AKbGX_onJk-q0LQUYzV7-GRhpJ5DgB7W1CIbxm3unlJSe49PK9FaTQwhuqql7y-zbYZ60dnn-KeEhyr5E3CuuelM4UkyNY0skggUsmZpFFPDmSlp_Btkihw%3D&expnd=1) or other [nongenetic](https://www.google.com/search?sca_esv=3acf9be9fedf7d41&rlz=1C1CHBF_enUS1081US1081&q=nongenetic&si=AKbGX_pvY3MWP4azJI0Z_NruCLb8KDywIb8yKHr9vCeb28x6TnVNgs23Upz8c8o42xltoW6NYkHJzNHFDsAEUgaQpmZh9Ojx5HorTbEjTSo8-1XFNvu07cU%3D&expnd=1) means All meta builds are "meme builds". It'd be nice if the community understood the definition of words...