Path of Exile | Hardcore Race Update Day 3

Day 3 you gave me hopes and dreams and then crushed them into dust in your hand.

The Good News

I earned the couple more levels I needed to make the switch into Glacial Cascade and it is always exciting to see the screen just filled with its icy shards of death. Watching things fall over like trees in the wind as soon as they are touched is amazing!

I was not at a point yet where using the skill was as enjoyable as it could be. It rather stop-and-go and a bit clunky I would say. I’ve always enjoyed the smoother skill usage that other games provide and that is something that is bit lacking in that aspect. There are some skills and items to create an even better experience. They however take time and even cost a fair amount.

Such as picking up volatile mines as I was planning to do. Other things like looting denote mines and linking it with totem. Old favorite if I recall a few seasons back was Cast When Damage Taken Support but that no longer works for mines –how dare they (or I’m just recalling things wrong)!

Switching over skills to 4 link brings a lot more firepower. Glacial Cascade, Remote Mine Support, Minefield Support, and Concentrated Effect Support. The nice thing about this is I can switch it up a bit for clearing or for encounter fights if I need to. Something like Increased Area of Effect Support for the fourth gem slot can increase the area of effect which can be great for cleaning. Meanwhile, Concentrated Effect Support reduces the area of effect of Glacial Cascade but increase the damage which is great for encounters. They are both blue sockets as well so no need to spend currency switching.

With my main skill moved to another equipment slot and have no need for my old main skill everything went to the bank for just in case. This opens options if I had to start over or if I wanted to make a different build. I would have taken a small decrease in damage just to keep such a nice thing there for future use.

Encounters

One of the fights I was looking forward to was High Templar Avarius. The fight itself while rather simple has a few phases to it. I really enjoy having to dodge the larger but slower swings of the giant creature he activates. They also make a great place to hide behind when they are deactivated when the room is filled with one of his many attacks that can end you. He shall not be harming me anymore with that staff!

By the time I got around to Kitara the final boss for act 5-- I was ready to go. Other than finishing off the last of my level. I did not need to grind out more experience or even try and upgrade items. I went in to test the waters and see where I needed to improve.

Turns out I didn’t at all. Other than a couple of port outs to refill my potions that was it. He was dead and this lead me moving forward. I then got on a boat shortly afterword’s and thus the cover image for this blog was taken.

After taking down Kitara there was no way I was going get to bed early and I did not know at the time how true that was going be.

The Night Still Young

I’ve only done the encounter Tukohama a couple of times in the past. There was one point where I tried to move out of his next big attack and I could not. So I popped some potions to take the incoming hit and tried to Flame Dash away to negate taking further damage. Not only could I not move and flame dash as well had not done the trick. Next, I tried to open my inventory and click on a portal scroll.

RIP my highest ever hardcore character!

This encounter I seem to lack some information on its mechanics. I thought I had a grasp of it but my guy is now dead. Hmmm

You know who did not die? I took a 5-minute break just to see him still there face tanking like a boss. Granted I did not notice any health decrease from the boss so I assume he was not doing anything anymore. If only he was that useful during the fight!!!

Moving Forward

All along I have just been randomly dumping stuff in my bank slots and tabs from time to time. While it is a mess and most of my bank is filled with junk it has come in handy. Health and mana pots that are better than starting, gear with resistance, rings with life on them and so on.

You might also recall I have that crazy wand and for a starting leveling item it having 2 blue and 1 green linked sockets—it’s amazing. I swap out the green gem depending on what I need. For clearing I use Onslaught support it provides a short buff that increases movement and some damage. While I use Added Cold Damage for higher and more predictable added damage for encounters.

Along with benefits of Onslaught and Flame Dash, I am also using two Quicksilver Flasks for movement speed while clearing. I swap out one of the Quicksilver for another Mana Flask during encounters as I can run dry without doing so on mana.

As I result I have been going much faster and even being under-leveled for encounters as well. I’ve been trying to stay no more than 1-2 levels behind trying not to fall back on old habits of going to fast. For now I have the gear to get away with this and I’m not as rusty this time though things.

This night ended up going on for much longer than expected. As such, I feel like where I left off for the night. In The Sewers of act 3 (ugggg). I’m expecting not to have much time for day 4. So, I felt it was worth trying to push and rush a bit to not be so far behind. Mondays tend to be a little wearing on me.

Character And Currency

I made it to level 24 in a rather short time and I’m a little under level for where I left off. Which is the collection quest in that zone being finished and I just need to rerun up to the gate to start working my way towards the market and Solaris Temple for next quest.

For just picking up whatever junk I have laying around or off the ground my resistance is not too bad. I’ve not put much effort into my gear other than rerolling socket colors.

Little disappointed on the amount of currency I have being this far into the race. At least have enough Chromatic Orbs to fit my needs. I’m also not struggling to have enough Scroll of Wisdom which is great.

The amount of beasts I have in the Menagerie is really starting to pile up! I just wish the arena around the blood alter was bit bigger. That feels a little small for my kind of playstyle. Perhaps I have an idea what to do on my shorter day 4?!?!