Path of Exile

[MonTy]

Onslaught sure emphasizes the issue with melee; survivability. I found normal difficulty moderately hard, had to be a level or two above zones, but I was still cruising along. The Cruel came along. I was five levels above Brutus, had five endurance charges, Max Res, Enfeeble, and he still almost took off half of my life in one hit. That means if I desync or if he crits twice, I'm done. So back to Ledge farming. Got some upgrades, and tackled him again. It wasn't easy, but he went down. Things will only get worse, so essentially you'll have to grind for hours when you're already five plus levels above the zone, in order to barely scrape by. While Range has the same health, same defenses, same or better DPS, and doesn't have to actually be next to the enemy to hit them. After playing Onslaught, I'm crying for a larger melee buff. Not damage like the last melee buff, but survivability.

With that said, I'm still enjoying Onslaught. Aside from the wacky turbo/lethal races, it's the hardest mode I've played. It's a serious challenge with an empty stash. Should be interesting to see how far my melee build can go.