Path of Exile free to play in about six hours.

[LochnarITB]

Interesting.

So now I guess I need to figure out if I can play it on my laptop, if I like the controls, and if I can figure out "What" to play.

Does anyone know what a "Shadow" is like? (Give me WoW terms here) The others are fairly easy.

Marauder - Warrior
Witch - Mage
Templar - Paladin
Ranger - Hunter (sans pet?)
Duelist - Rogue
Shadow - WTF?

There is no description on the site except that it uses Dex and int.

Just from their little blurb and reading the forum a little, it sounds like they best translate as a thief, which would be a stealth rogue in WoW, I guess. I don't recall enough of the skill gems to remember what abilities there are to flesh that out though.

[shoju]

I'll probably start out with a marauder. The Passive tree seems a little daunting to me.

[bldavis]

Maurader is def fun, mine is 21 now

[MonTy]

Maurader is def fun, mine is 21 now

Having a blast with my Marauder as well. Up to 48 with my Hardcore one who has been using two-handed mauls. You can really stack a ton of life with his passives, so that helps with survivability in hardcore.

His skills are a lot of fun. Casting Molten Shell then leaping into a group of mobs to see them all explode is something else. I also just picked up the increase area of effect passive which makes ground slam absolutely incredible. For single targets I just cast my rejuv totem and slam away.

Here's my planned Build, if anyone is curious: http://goo.gl/pK3Cx - I've heard 85 points is what you should have when beating merciless, so I've limited myself to a build of that size. If I make it, then I'll certain take more damage passives. I do have a question, would anyone know if the path right of Iron Reflxes seems doable? I would love to get Alchemy and the Crystal Skin wheel.

Anyhow, I would love to hear how the game is going for others, and especially other classes.

[kandrathe]

I've played enough to know that unless they do stupid things, it's going to be a huge hit. I think my favorite part so far is just how creepy and scary the dungeons can be. It's definitely comparable to the original Diablo, with much of the modernization of Titan quest, Dungeon siege, Diablo III, etc. So far... Real world money is not an issue. Right now, there is plenty of play without needing to pay.

[LochnarITB]

Right now, there is plenty of play without needing to pay.

Certainly, but who can get enough pets? And us pack-rats gotta have our stash! I think they have this thing nailed. The passives will spook folks but they will get used to it and builds will be all over the place for players to grab. They are a small company and should do well with this business model.

[LennyLen]

The passive skill tree gets a lot less daunting once you've played two or three characters. There's a lot of useful info on the forums as well if you're worried about investing in the wrong skills.

[kandrathe]

I found that too. It actually makes some sense the way it is laid out. Mostly 6 classes with an offensive and defensive track, then as you move away there are refinements on specialization -- but nothing stops the barbarian from heading toward the caster skills. And, it's the same with equipment -- As long as your caster has enough strength, they can dress like a barbarian.

[bldavis]

oh god i just got a "walk like an eqyptian" parody stuck in my head....

but like has been said, the only think limiting you is getting enough stats to equip the right items, and some skills are certain weapons only

[shoju]

Maurader is def fun, mine is 21 now

Having a blast with my Marauder as well. Up to 48 with my Hardcore one who has been using two-handed mauls. You can really stack a ton of life with his passives, so that helps with survivability in hardcore.

His skills are a lot of fun. Casting Molten Shell then leaping into a group of mobs to see them all explode is something else. I also just picked up the increase area of effect passive which makes ground slam absolutely incredible. For single targets I just cast my rejuv totem and slam away.

Here's my planned Build, if anyone is curious: http://goo.gl/pK3Cx - I've heard 85 points is what you should have when beating merciless, so I've limited myself to a build of that size. If I make it, then I'll certain take more damage passives. I do have a question, would anyone know if the path right of Iron Reflxes seems doable? I would love to get Alchemy and the Crystal Skin wheel.

Anyhow, I would love to hear how the game is going for others, and especially other classes.

Yeah... that has me wondering if I was looking at it right. I was looking at a 2h'er build that just stacked strength, and stuns, and life leech, and resistances.

granted, I've not played the game, but that's just sort of what I was looking at. Building up strength, weapon speed, life leech, making sure magic doesn't kill me, and going at it.

I'm going to try and download it tonight and see what I can do.

[shoju]

I'm currently in the middle of the download. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to make it run on my laptop, but I'm going to try.

[Frag]

You'll be able to run it, Shoju.

Fragit in game for those who want to add me and I've been streaming on twitch when I feel like it.

[shoju]

I am able to run it, and I'm playing. I'm a level 12 ish (I forget what I was when I logged out) Marauder, Act I, on my way to the prison for the kill quest there.

So early opinions. I hate that skill gems have weapon requirements on them. I started out with a staff, so I was getting skill gems for staff / mace. Then I got this Yellow... Named 2h'd axe, and it's just so much better that I would be silly not to use it. But, I only have 1 skill that works with it, So Auto Attack Plus Inferno Blade here I come. It's a little boring, since I can't use my Ground Slam, or Arctic, Frost ,Glacial Hammer thing.

I do have a couple of green gems, and I had a blue gem thta I was using for a bit, but then I got a better belt, but I forgot that the belt had +2 attributes on it, which allowed me to use the blue gem (int thing)

Needless to say, I'm a hot mess right now. But, I'll get the hang of it. Since I figured out the controls, I've only died a few times, and that was because I didn't realize what I was getting myself into.

EDIT:
I played a little more today, I'm up to level 15, and into the ship's graveyard. I'm going to start farming some stuff so that I can try and upgrade my gear. I've got several of the yellow items, but I've been wearing them for a while. I'm not sure how long that stuff is supposed to last.

At this point, I'm building my Marauder to be a sort of Death Knight. I don't have the build fleshed out very far, I'm just trying to figure out what I'm taking when, and what not. This is where I'm at right now. This gives me plenty of life leech, and life back on killing blow, I'm going to keep looking, because I'm enjoying that so far.

[LennyLen]

I've been having terrible latency problems the last few days. The only server I can normally play on is Singapore, but the cable link from Australia to Singapore was severed recently and won't be repaired for another week. Until then I'm getting pings of 800+ ms.

It's playable for single enemies or small mobs, but I'm up to the Vaal Oversoul and I keep getting killed by attacks I don't even see until a second later.

So I guess I'll spend the next week catching up on some TV shows that I haven't been watching for the last six months since I started playing PoE.

[shoju]

That sucks

I'm up to level 25, and I have TONS of Yellows (2 pages of my stash full), and a few skill gems that I would like to rid myself of. I felt dirty vendoring them before asking if any lurkers would want them. Most of them are <20 in level, but I have stuff for pretty much anything you would like to do.

I can't see myself playing 2 characters at this point, since I'm having a blast on the Marauder.

[bldavis]

it depends on the stuff you have
my witch is around 20 right now, but she has a lot of gear that just never got replaced due to nothing dropping

[shoju]

I'm logging in right now if you want to meet up. I'm in the tree town. Name's Onisu.

[bldavis]

not sure if you are still on, but i will check
my witch is javalais

[MonTy]

Still going strong with my Marauder who just hit 64 in Hardcore. If anyone is starting out in Hardcore I'd be happy to gift some gems and scrolls- just add "Monty".

Been a lot of fun chatting it up with Frag (by fun I mean he answers all my noob questions). Would love to have more lurkers on my buddy list!

[LochnarITB]

Wow! In playing the closed beta, much of the time there was no act 3. I think they did open it up at one point but I hadn't played a toon high enough to get there. I'm just in the first area of act 3, and maybe I'm a sheltered little gamer that doesn't get out in the gaming world like I should, but I think it is gorgeous! So many fine little details. Tiling on the shack roofs. Weeds that brush aside and wave as things move by. The beetle baddies are so cool. I love it. This is a winner folks. Give it a try (and don't let the passive skill tree or barter system intimidate you, you'll get used to it).