Path of Exile

[Frag]

Typing on the run so sorry if this post is not put together so well.

I've gotten over six melee characters to mapping content in Hardcore, so it's certainly do able. Is it as easy or efficient as rangers or some spell casters? Not even close. The problem is that you can have the same or more health and damage as ranged. So why would you play melee and risk having to get close to mobs to do damage? At the moment it's for fun and the challenge.

But there are some melee skills that have decent AoE/Range and still do considerable damage (12k+). But once again it's not like you'd have more health or better defenses than ranged. A lot of people say you need Enduring Cry to progress in later stages of the game, this is not true. I had one of the most dangerous builds (leap slammer) last until I suicided him at 82. But I have used Enduring Cry with 7 charges and it is very nice. I'm making an Infernal blow/melee splash/Molten Armor/Immortal Call Onslaught character at the moment.

Regarding the latest melee buff. I actually found late game much harder. I now do over 13k damage with my 83 melee but have a lot less health. I know they tweaked reflect and monster damage but reflect feels much more dangerous and less life makes it feel like I have less of a cushion.

All in all I would still recommend playing melee. Just make sure you've got your granite flasks ready, curses up, and resistances maxed.

Here's the thing about Onslaught though, Kole is going to be doing 50% more dps and isn't kiteable... And Brutus in Maps is going to be just as bad.

It's been terrifying playing melee in Onslaught as all the 'hard' bits now result in splats and I've only made it to Cruel where things are 40%/40%/40%, Merci is shockingly hard from what I've watched with 60%/60%/60%. Just like when you turn the HM Charm in Median to 11, anything less than cheese/uber characters aren't just suboptimal, they're dead weight. Seems about right, considering Laz made Onslaught