In this Path of Exile Starters 2020 Guide, I am about to show some basic necessary information for new gamers in Path of Exile. It is a relatively complex video game that needs a lot of time input, particularly if you go about it the wrong way. Therefore, the goal of this Guide is to concentrate on what will reduce this investment (e.g., how to use the least PoE Currency to get the best equipment). There are plenty more in-depth Guides to research every aspect of the game, so do not have to be panic if you want to dig further; I am here to help you. Let's get started, shall we?
Here Comes The Overview:
First and foremost, you need to know what is Path of Exile? Well, Path of Exile is a free to play online action role-playing game, (or usually, we abbreviated that as ARPG), that is based in the dark world of Wraeclast. You are an exile in this world with the ability to harness a great power that others of the land cannot. By doing that, you are able to use skill gems which are socketed into gear and then supported by linked support gems. Anyway, that means all exiles have the ability to use whichever combination of skill gems and support gems that players hope to build around.
During the period in Wraeclast, you can party, interact, and even trade with other players. Otherwise, totally ignore them and play on your own!
One reason why this Path of Exile is so popular is this game has a very fair business model. In order to succeed you do not need to buy anything with real money if you have confidence in yourself, however, purchasing is also accepted, for instance, buying PoE currency from a legitimate website like EzNpc. However, there are some things that are totally worth getting to improve the overall experience, offering you thorough freedom to play the game as you hope. About that, we will get to you pretty soon in the post. Right now, let's start with the basic.
LEAGUES in Path of Exile:
For the players who play Path of Exile for the very first time in 2020, the first thing is, you will have to select in which League that character will be in. Path of Exile Leagues come in a couple of variations, however, the main two base rule sets being softcore and hardcore.
In softcore, your character might die as many times as they like and suffer no penalties, aside from a growing experience loss depending on the difficulty of the zone you are in (normally – no experience loss, cruel – 5% experience loss, and merciless – 10% experience loss (you cannot de-level and subject to change with patch 3.0)). Which means you have to face it.
However, in hardcore, if your character dies, then your character will be removed from the league and then placed into the permanent standard softcore league. That asks you have to strive to survive in hardcore.
And Leagues, to some extent, are game worlds in Path of Exile, and there are 3 League types: Challenge, Private, and Standard.
1. Challenge Leagues
As a matter of fact, Challenge Leagues are special “temporary” Leagues that only last for a certain amount of time, and usually, they have specific features or modifiers. When these Leagues finished, your character will be transferred to one of the Standard League, so lost progress does not exist. This league is where the majority of players playing this game, tehrefore it is highly recommended that new players start in this League, right now this league is called Betrayal. In Path of Exile, players usually play in the Challenge League until it comes to an end, and then build a new character when the next Challenge League is launched.
2. Private Leagues
Path of Exile Private Leagues are custom made Leagues that lets additional modifiers. At the very beginning, they are purchased with real cash, and the initial cost is 120 Points, or about 12$ USD. The default duration is 10 days and it has 10 player slots available, however, you should keep in mind that these both could be increased with much further purchases. Last but not least, Private Leagues could be based around the Standard League or the current Challenge League.
3. Standard Leagues
The Standard League in PoE is always available to join by any player, and it splits into Solo Self-Found and Hardcore versions. The Standard League is the default, and at the same time, it has no modifiers. The first one is the Solo Self-Found variant, and in this variant players are not allowed to trade or party with other players, thus converting the game into a single-player experience. The second one is the Hardcore variant, and this variant introduces its own version of a perma-death mechanic, however, you will not lose the character if it dies, and instead, the character goes back to the default version of the Standard League upon dying and without losing items and progression.
Right now, there are also have other types of leagues that exist on top of these base rules: they are Temporary Leagues and Permanent Leagues.
4. Temporary Leagues:
These leagues were initially made as the beta testing realm for new game mechanics, but as time goes by, have already become the way to play the game. Leagues that introduce new mechanics last for 3 months or so, with a fresh high scores ladder and economy, and that means you start with no characters or items. For instance, from recent history, they have the ability to introduce things like unique item upgrades (Prophecy League) and new quest types, new methods to craft new monster types and mechanics (Breach League) or gear (Essence League). You should aware that all of these leagues also accompanying challenges that players can finish during the period of the league to receive aesthetic microtransaction rewards, like back attachments or footprints.
Temporary leagues come in softcore and hardcore rule sets (usually the very same mechanic for both softcore and hardcore). After a temporary league finishes, all the items and characters in the player’s stash are merged with the permanent leagues of their respective base ruleset (standard softcore or standard hardcore).
5. Permanent Leagues:
Standard softcore and standard hardcore are included in Permanent Leagues. These are the base leagues of the game that have been running since the last reset in beta. Permanent leagues are where all legacy gear and characters from older temporary leagues officially end up. What's more, they also include most all of the older temporary league mechanics, that have already been tweaked to co-exist and feel balanced with each other.
According to my perspective, I always recommend that new beginners start in the temporary league, softcore or hardcore, cause, usually they will have a better footing in the economy, also they have access to new challenges and rewards, in the meantime, still being able to play into standard once the league finishes.
That is everything about Path of Exile leagues and the guide for PoE 2020 starters. Before diving into this game, the league is the most basic you need to know. Once you know this thoroughly, you can start to play your game more quickly.
