{
"post": {
"title": "Yo just got this gamr what the hell is this skill tree",
"selftext": "Genuinely feels like i’m coding the DNA for a new species holy shit",
"url": "https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/vrdoz6/yo_just_got_this_gamr_what_the_hell_is_this_skill/"
},
"comments": [
{
"body": "its the big scary thing that isn't that complicated once you learn the game.\n\ndon't worry you get a second one at the end game.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "And a much smaller third one half way through.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "And another one with robot sentinels.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "And my axe.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "and my corpse"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "So even though the skill tree is huge and scary, it's actually super simple.\n\nPoE rewards specialization. Say you're playing a life based witch that uses lightning spells. That means that you care about 3 things on the passive tree: increased life, increased spell damage, and increased lightning damage. Since that's all you care about, you can ignore everything else that isn't those 3 things, and in reality, the passive tree becomes far far simpler. Damage with axes or minions? Who cares. Energy shield? Nope. Chaos damage? You don't do that. \n\n\nThe reality is that certain things are a tad more complex, but that's more build specific. The above is the general idea breaking down the tree.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "To add to that:\n\nThe game is built around themes like Magic the Gathering. E.g. in Magic Green has big creatures, Red has damage spells, blue has counterspells etc. Sometimes these themes overlap a bit but in general they give you an Idea how a certain color is supposed to be played.\r \n\r \nIn PoE it't the same thing with Str/Dex/Int this helps you find specific things on the tree:\r \n\r \nStrength: Melee, 2H, Slow, Big Damage, High HP, Armour\r \n\r \nStrength/Dex: Duel Wielding, Shields, Physical Damage over Time, Impaling\r \n\r \nDex: Ranged, Attack, Speed , Evasion, Spell Supression\r \n\r \nDex/Int: Traps, Crit, Chaos Damage over Time\r \n\r \nInt: Spells, Summons, Energy Shield\r \n\r \nStrength/Int: Totems, Brands, Physical Attacks/Spells with conversion to Elements\r \n\r \n(These are a rule of thumb and the areas of the Tree often bleed into the neighboring parts.)",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Excellent addition to an already great comment. Drop knowledge boys, good on ya."
},
{
"body": "And then there are things like dredge or ward loop"
}
]
},
{
"body": "[deleted]",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I didn't, I was just keeping things simple for the beginner. Adding too many things can get overwhelming, which is exactly what I wanted to avoid."
},
{
"body": "And elemental damage",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Eh, elemental damage is very important but plenty of builds don't use it.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Elemental builds use elemental damage, attacks or spells.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Uh, yeah, duh",
"replies": [
{
"body": "You say “duh” but your previous comment says plenty of builds don’t use it 😂",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Physical builds don't use it always and chaos builds don't use it.\n\nIdk what kind of pepega logic you're trying to apply right now.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "The comment tread was referring to lightning spells, so they would use elemental nodes too. The only pepega here is you.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I absutely hate to admit that you're right. I approached the thread with sort of a generic advice mindset but I did respond incorrectly in the sub thread."
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "All non-Brutality builds use it, its actual problem is that +30% ele damage is worse than +20% fire/cold/light damage unless you deal multiple damage types or are RF",
"replies": [
{
"body": "\\*how do you justify that 30% ele damage is worse than +20% fire/cold/light damage?\n\n30% ele damage = 30% fire damage + 30% cold damage + 30% lightning damage",
"replies": [
{
"body": "It's not equal, add 30% ele dmg and 30% light dmg (separately) to, say, an Arc miner in PoB",
"replies": [
{
"body": "30% ele damage = 30% fire damage + 30% cold damage + 30% lightning damage\n\nYou're right it's not equal because in case of conversion you don't get 30% lightning damage and 30% cold damage, so effectively 60% increased damage if 100% lightning to cold conversion. you only get 30% increased damage.\n\nBut 30% ele damage is equal to 30% lightning damage (if i get a bit of fire or cold damage to spells then it's better ...)"
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "Crit investment is awful if you don't know exactly what you're doing, EO is far better."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "that tree is the sole reason most of us still play the same game while definitely not playing the same game every league. I'm in love with the complexity of the game",
"replies": [
{
"body": "That tree is absolutely not the reason I still play the game and I doubt it’s why many people play the game, people still play because PoE has the best end game there is in ARPGs at the moment.\n\nPoE can be very complex but the skill tree isn’t one of those things once you get over the size of it, a lot of similar builds end up looking very similar with slight variations based on skill choices.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "People also still play because other ARPG publishers don't know what they are doing (or know exactly what they are doing - preying on vulnerable people to buy their lootboxes), and the one other game that respects the player is $35"
},
{
"body": "Emphasis on most",
"replies": [
{
"body": "What am I emphasising? There are things you can alter or change but most attack bases bow builds use a very similar tree, most minion builds use the same tree, a lot of self-cast casters use a very similar tree with slight variation based on skill.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "My emphasis was on “most”, on my first sentence",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Builds are limited by their main form of HP, be it life and / or ES, so builds need to hover around those that are nearby and pick up efficient damage a lot the way which is why a lot of builds end up looking very similar.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "What are you trying to do bro it is clear that we disagree on this. I love poe because of the tree. You love poe because of endgame. Simple.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I’m not disagreeing that you love the game for the tree, I’m disagreeing that it’s complex.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Please stop ffs, i don't care about what you think",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Stop reading and replying to things if you don’t care. By replying you’re showing interest.",
"replies": [
{}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "The tree is actually extremely simple once you understand how it's organized. That being said, everyone's reaction to the tree is similar to yours upon first seeing it, lol.\n\nThere's also a second tree for the Atlas now... but you can worry about that when you get to maps, lol.\n\nStay sane, exile."
},
{
"body": "You’ll soon notice the tree is split into sections based on class, and then kind of further splits based on whatever attack/spell/curse based build."
},
{
"body": "They show it to you really early, because it's sort of this game's peacock feathers. They're very proud of it, and it's intimidating, but it's kind of all bluster. Each wheel is specialized, and you want to specialize in this game. So if you're using a one handed dagger doing lightning damage, all the claw, axe, sword, bow, two handed wheels, fire wheels, etc are all off the table and of no interest. The question becomes one of efficiency, of the best route to take to grab the most important nodes while sufficiently filling out your defenses. It is not really a question of \"which of all these crazy nodes am I going to take?\"",
"replies": [
{
"body": "And you can expand it too",
"replies": [
{
"body": "And it's not _all_ of it too (ascendancy is hidden, blight-specific anointments are hidden, masteries are not in your face)"
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "\"It's not exactly rocketscience! If anything its more biomolecular engineering crossed with 18th century nautical navigation, I guess...\""
},
{
"body": "That's the first thing people see and quit the game.\nAfter that we have act 1 endboss which is the next noob filter.\n\nBTW. Game is nice, skilltree is not as complicated as it seems. Right side is for ranged , bottom side melee, left side is nice stuff for mostly every build and top side is caster.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Im not quitting, that shit looks cool as fuck",
"replies": [
{
"body": "It is a right of passage to try and beat the game (story acts) blind the first time around. No guides, no youtube videos, nada. \n\nTrust me when I tell you - you will make a shit build and you will barely make it unless lucky with skill/build choice, butthe experience will be an awesome fundament for your “guided” play-through. \n\nStay sane, exile.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I really enjoyed my time doing that and then realized by maps how bricked my build was, it was a relief to follow a guide after that.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "I was “lucky” playing CA . Started in late synthesis. Killed kitava, moved to whites then, in yellows the game became really hard but then I discovered delve and in delve I dropped a 6-l that pushed my CA to early red maps. There when repeatedly loosing all portals from deaths mainly from beastiary mobs I decided I had enough of the league and started reading how to actually play."
}
]
},
{
"body": "That’s exactly what I’ve done… up until act 10 because now I hit a wall, so I basically had to get help lol"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Just so you know, going in the first time blind like that means you're likely going to end up with a character wrecked beyond your ability to fix it. Some people revel in the idea that they need to start over and build a character better, while others become upset at the time they sunk into that first character was \"wasted\"\n\nUnlike many games, PoE lets you make objectively bad decisions. If that's going to be something that bothers you, you may want to eventually look into build guides. If not, carry on, knowing there's a mountain of knowledge to learn and explore."
},
{
"body": "This is the thing most jaded people on this sub won't understand. If someone opens the skill tree and his first reaction is \"what's this, I don't understand it, eww\", chances are they won't like PoE period. It's fair that the game lays out it's cards early on, not luring players with empty promises like some other games...",
"replies": [
{
"body": "But at the beginning of the tree your decision making is \"I use a BOW ATTACK, I should level BOW damage or ATTACK speed\" level. The biggest noob mistake is ignoring life nodes, not taking fundamentally wrong ones."
}
]
},
{
"body": "Just know that a single character only uses maybe 10-15% of it, and it feels more manageable. \n\nAlso know that respeccing your tree actually costs currency, which is why you can get too deep into a character that turns out to be bad, and really the only choice is to abandon it and begin an alt.\n\nI strongly suggest you look up starter builds for this league (3.18 aka sentinal). This thread is a great jumping off point (but honestly just go with Exploding Arrow ballistas after watching a video or two (CrouchingTuna and Palsteron are gotos, and this is a rare league where nothing is changed, so last leagues videos will work perfectly) and making sure you don't do any of the 3-4 things that will make it bad, tbh).\n\nhttps://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/uov03q/compiled_list_of_streamer_starter_builds_for/"
},
{
"body": "Been playing for years, I rate my knowledge at a D+ not for lack of trying or time invested, its just that much to it all. The skill tree being one of the easier things to understand.\n\nWait until you start testing builds in Path Of Building, crunching weapon dps, any crafting beyond the bench in your hideout. Then figuring out other league content and tweaking your atlas skill tree, all while knowing there is more out there to learn and way easier/better builds than the one you are playing.\n\nComplex game, lots of fun, horrible UI and no QoL features.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "What about the UI is bad? (Other than the fact it's made by a random programmer in his free time while the publishers are billionaires)",
"replies": [
{
"body": "If I name 100 specifically bad things would it make a difference? If pushed I could name 200 bad things."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": ">Im not quitting, that shit looks cool as fuck\n\nOh no, stop him before he reaches maps, he can still be saved!"
}
]
},
{
"body": "Merveil is not a noob filter, Brutus is."
}
]
},
{
"body": "FYI: there is a search bar in the top right. Try typing simple stuff like “maximum life” or “fire damage” or something"
},
{
"body": "Enjoy"
},
{
"body": "Its the easiest part of the game. no kapp"
},
{
"body": "Tbh, that's a pretty good comparison, the skill tree is kinda like your character's DNA, and it evolves as your character levels.",
"replies": [
{
"body": "Like your character's DNA but an extra node is actually a good thing"
}
]
},
{
"body": ">coding the DNA for a new species holy shit\n\nYou're not wrong lmao!",
"replies": [
{
"body": "_shakes test tube_ Finally, a _Seismus trapicus_",
"replies": [
{
"body": "21M dps through esoteric conversions and 10ex jewels."
}
]
}
]
},
{
"body": "You don't need to know it all. Just do like BFS searches and read and pick whatever is close to you. In case you actually need something like life, damage, ele resistances, etc then use the search bar at the top.\n\nUsually following a build guide is useful to learn by example."
},
{
"body": "Lucky for you they simplified it last year. It can be daunting, but you don't need to know the whole thing to play casually. I'm still learning what to do with different characters, and I've been playing for 3 years."
},
{
"body": "That ain't a tree - that's a forest. And yes, there are multiple trees in the game."
},
{
"body": "You actually coding DNA for your character."
},
{
"body": "Fun thing is, that tree is just bunch of stats, most of your build is made from items and gems ;) \n\nOf course it's always better to have synergy xD"
},
{
"body": "I think of it this way. You know how in mmorpg each job has their own tree. In poe, all the trees are merged and accessible for all jobs. So a thief can take warrior nodes if it’s beneficial."
},
{
"body": "You can also use items to extend the passive tree further. Welcome to poe. =)"
},
{
"body": "It looks far more intimidating than it actually is. The reality is that there's actually very few worthwhile passive nodes, and your job to figure out is the most efficient path to reach those nodes.\n\nOnce you play a few decently made builds it becomes pretty obvious and simple."
},
{
"body": "The skill tree looks overwhelming but you only get 130 skill points by the time you get to lvl 100 which is the max. So basically to make things simple you only need to worry about allocating 100 skill points which you should have at lvl 70 ish. You can allocate anything you want and use orbs of regret if you want to change a skill loint for something. Just experiment. It took me like 4 or 5 play through to find a build I love playing"
},
{
"body": "Dont forget, the real game is after act 10."
}
]
}