Path Of Exile 2 Carry Run

Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 mini-league is on its way, and this patch will probably dedicate 70% of its content to balance adjustments. So, the question is: which skills, gear, or ascendancy do you think should be buffed first in PoE 2?

Based on the current performance of various aspects of the game, we've identified five areas with the strongest demand, and these will almost certainly determine how enjoyable your gameplay will be in Patch 0.5.5:

1. One-Handed Melee Weapons
2. Concoctions
3. Warbringer
4. Shield Charge
5. Life Build

One-Handed Melee Weapons

Some one-handed weapons, such as one-handed maces, are currently in a very awkward position in PoE 2.

Most melee builds will choose Giant's Blood keystone passive in the late game to allow dual-wielding two-handed weapons, thereby gaining higher base damage or additional skill level affixes.

Because two-handed hammers can easily obtain +4 or +6 attack skill level affixes, while one-handed hammers can only roll a maximum of +2 or +3.

This gap makes one-handed weapons almost uncompetitive in Path of Exile 2 endgame content. Even if you're playing a Shield build, people often only use one-handed weapons as a transition, eventually switching to two-handed weapon configurations.

If Patch 0.5.5 adds archetypes like Daggers, Flails, and Swords without systematically enhancing one-handed weapons, they will suffer the same fate.

Therefore, the best solution is to increase the skill level affix cap for one-handed weapons in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5, narrowing the gap between them and two-handed weapons.

Concoctions

Concoctions were actually a very creative playstyle in previous PoE 2 patches, but subsequent patches have nerfed them multiple times, especially the change that forces them to be cast unarmed, which directly makes Concoctions unusable with Heralds. Heralds are crucial for efficient map clearing in the game, but Concoctions suffer from a weakness in area-of-effect clearing, making them ineffective in practice.

Meanwhile, the overall role of Pathfinder Ascendancy in PoE 2 has become increasingly ambiguous; it's not purely Poison Ascendancy, nor does it have a clear strength base.

While some players are still willing to experiment with Shattering Concoction and Bleeding Concoction, their overall usage rate in the game remains low.

If we want Concoctions build to return to the game, the most direct method is to restore its previous stats, or redesign the core mechanics of Pathfinder so that it benefits from synergy with Concoctions and Damage over Time effects like Poison, or simply make it a pure Concoctions Ascendancy.

Regardless of whether Patch 0.5.5 can accommodate these changes, if you still want to master Concoctions build or enhance your Pathfinder configuration, you can buy PoE 2 currency from IGGM.com to support your various build strategies.

Additionally, if you are a new registered user, you can earn points through IGGM Check in - not only is it very easy to operate, but more importantly, these points can be used to redeem coupons later, or directly offset part of the cash value when placing an order according to the discount rules, making it cheaper for you to acquire PoE 2 currency at IGGM!

Warbringer

Warbringer was once a star in PoE 2 Patch 0.1 thanks to its high block and survivability, but subsequent global changes significantly weakened its signature passive: Turtle Charm.

Warbringer has not received any compensatory buffs to date, so this Ascendancy passive is quite useless for it.

In contrast, Ascendancy characters like Monk, Shaman, and Gemling Legionnaire are constantly acquiring new mechanics, leading to a widening power gap between them.

Therefore, Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5 really needs a deep rework of Warbringer, such as increasing the block cap and strengthening other passives to revitalize it.

Shield Charge

Currently, Shield Charge in the game is neither a competent movement skill nor a primary damage dealer.

In actual combat, both small groups of monsters and monster projectiles frequently obstruct Shield Charge's path, preventing it from reaching its ideal distance and significantly reducing its damage.

Even more frustrating for players is that sometimes Shield Charge will pass directly through the target enemy without triggering a hit, rendering the skill completely ineffective.

The root cause of these problems lies in the development team's sloppy design of hit detection and terrain interaction, making one wonder if the developers themselves have even used Shield Charge.

Patch 0.5.5 should ideally address this issue as soon as possible, ensuring that Shield Charge's mechanics and effects reach their proper level - either prioritizing damage output or movement capabilities.

By the way, if you want to stay updated on PoE 2 news or access more in-game resources, follow IGGM PoE 2 Facebook Group. We hold giveaways from time to time, giving you a chance to win free currency!

Life Build

This issue seems to resurface in the community every time PoE 2 is about to update: the advantage of Energy Shield has far exceeded reasonable limits - endgame characters easily stack over 20,000 Energy Shield, and Effective HP can reach hundreds of thousands.

In contrast, Life builds, even using extreme HP-stacking methods like Kaom's Heart and Veil of the Night, only reach a maximum Life of around 20,000, and Life Leech has been further nerfed.

Currently, the top of the leaderboards is almost entirely dominated by Energy Shield builds, with Life builds unable to compete.

Although the development team explained their reasons for not adding Life nodes to Passive Skill Tree, the numerical disparity is already so significant that the original reasons are hardly convincing to players anymore.

Since Patch 0.5.5 focuses on balance adjustments, it would be a good time to risk reintroducing Life percentage bonuses into Passive Skill Tree, or adjust the obtainable cap for Energy Shields, to narrow the gap.

Life builds really need to be seen, adjusted, and valued by the game.

Hopefully, PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5 will bring changes related to the aforementioned issues.

Anyone who has played Path of Exile 2 0.5.0 knows that melee characters are at a disadvantage compared to ranged characters. But melee characters have been at a disadvantage from the start, due to the fundamental differences between melee and ranged characters. Melee isn't simply about lower damage; it's about bearing a greater cost in terms of output methods, survivability, skill mechanics, and defensive systems, without receiving sufficient compensation.

Therefore, today we won't discuss whether melee characters are truly weak, but rather explore the reasons for this weakness and how to improve melee capabilities.

The Inherent Cons of Melee

Distance Itself is a Form of Defense

In any game that includes melee and ranged combat, ranged characters naturally possess an undeniable advantage - distance. Melee characters must engage at close range, meaning enemies have more opportunities to hit, interrupt, stun, and inflict various status ailments. Ranged characters, on the other hand, can comfortably attack from a safe distance, only needing to focus on projectiles flying towards them. This seems like common sense in ARPGs, but the problem is that Path of Exile 2 not only failed to compensate for this inherent imbalance, but actually amplified the disadvantages of melee combat in multiple dimensions.

Movement and Attack Are Incompatible

The game features a mechanic that is extremely detrimental to melee combat: most ranged skills can be cast while moving, while melee skills require the character to stand still and attack.

This means that ranged characters can move and attack simultaneously, maintaining DPS while avoiding ground effects and boss charged attacks. Melee characters, on the other hand, must choose between movement and attack: every attack means exposing themselves to danger.

Unbalanced Defensive System: Armor vs. Energy Shield

The Awkward Situation of Armor

The traditional defensive strategy for melee characters is simply to stack maximum health and stack armor. However, in Path of Exile 2 0.5.0, this path is exceptionally difficult.

Armor's in-game calculation formula is effective against small amounts of physical damage, but its damage reduction against large amounts of physical damage (such as boss slams) is extremely limited. For armor to be truly effective, players must stack a massive amount of armor, and the armor also needs to be able to convert into elemental damage reduction, a condition requiring additional resource investment.

Meanwhile, the Passive Skill Tree offers very few nodes for armor and life. Life nodes typically only provide a 3% bonus, while energy shield nodes often offer 15%, 20%, and even powerful nodes providing a 50% energy shield bonus.

Furthermore, the developers seem to be designing items that completely block melee characters from stacking life. The following two pieces of equipment are good examples:

1. Veil of the Night: Provides a 50% life bonus, but at the cost of no elemental resistance - in PoE 2, having no resistance is tantamount to suicide.
2. Kaom's Heart Conqueror Plate: Provides a large amount of life, but at the cost of no Spirit - meaning you can't use any Aura.

The Dominance of Energy Shields

A prevalent phenomenon in PoE 2 is that almost all top-tier builds prioritize energy shields. Two keystone passives have almost completely dominated the current defensive meta:

1. Chaos Inoculation (CI): Reduces maximum health to 1, but grants immunity to Chaos Damage, relying entirely on energy shields for survival.
2. Mind over Matter: Damage is deducted from mana before health.

The combination of these two passives, along with the massive bonus nodes of energy shields, makes energy shield builds the most robust defensive system in the current patch.

Monster Mechanics: On-death Effects and Ground Surface

Ranged characters can kill monsters from a distance, with on-death effects occurring more than 10 meters away, allowing them to easily walk away. Melee characters, however, experience explosions at their feet when killing monsters, resulting in shorter reaction times and narrower escape windows.

The same applies to ground surface. Ranged characters can move and attack simultaneously, nimbly navigating between ground surfaces; melee characters, however, must pay attention to their footing while stationary, and must stop attacking and roll away as soon as a ground surface spawns beneath them.

Advice for Melee Players

In PoE2 0.5.0, the development team did make a series of adjustments to melee classes. Melee classes saw improved survivability, with ascendancy classes like Warbringers now performing exceptionally well.

However, these changes haven't fundamentally changed the underlying imbalance between melee and ranged classes; ranged builds still dominate in terms of damage output. If you still insist on playing melee, the following suggestions might help you go further:

Abandon Stacking Armor + Life

In the current Path of Exile 2 patch, the traditional melee approach of pure armor + life is struggling. Consider the following:

• Hybrid Defense: A hybrid route combining armor and energy shields, utilizing ES node in the talent tree to compensate for insufficient blood pool.
• CI + Energy Shield: Classes like Monk can opt for CI route, placing all their survivability on the Energy Shield.
• MOM + High Mana: Utilize Mind over Matter to treat mana as a second blood pool.

For melee builds, experimenting with defensive systems like ES hybrid, CI, or MOM often requires investing more resources to fine-tune the synergy between gear, passives, and skills. If needed, you can buy PoE 2 currency at IGGM.com to expedite gear setup and build adjustments.

Also, don't miss our newly launched IGGM Points System! Create and log in to an IGGM account, participate in daily check-ins to earn points, accumulate points to redeem coupons, and help you acquire various in-game resources at lower prices.

Make Good Use of Movement Skills

The key to melee survival lies in mobility. Skillfully using rolls, jump attacks, and other movement techniques to flexibly reposition during gaps in stationary attacks is a core technique for minimizing damage taken.

Stay tuned for patch updates

Patch 0.5.0 already provides some buffs to melee classes. With subsequent patches, the development team may further adjust the melee meta. It's essential to keep up with official patch notes and adjust your build strategy accordingly.

In addition to the above methods, you can join IGGM PoE 1+2 Facebook Group. We're currently hosting a free currency giveaway. Active participation could earn you the powerful Mirror of Kalandra, which will undoubtedly boost your build.

In conclusion, the melee/ranged balance issue in Path of Exile 2 is essentially the result of multiple systemic flaws. Hopefully, the studio can provide melee players with a truly fair arena in the future. After all, a healthy ARPG ecosystem should allow every playstyle to have its value and competitiveness.