PoE Sanity

PoE 2 0 5 Campaign Defences and League Start Leveling Tips

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Summary

  • Prioritize Armour: Even basic body armour in Act 1 significantly increases your effective hit pool.
  • Upgrade Flasks Constantly: Replace Lesser Flasks at levels 4, 10, 16, and beyond; rolling them to Magic rarity can make them more effective than higher-level white flasks.
  • Targeted Resistances: Focus on Cold for Act 1, Fire for early Act 2, Lightning for late Act 2, and Fire for Act 3.
  • Survival Stats: Aim for 250–300 combined Life and Energy Shield per Act and utilize Strength for both health and armour requirements.
  • Utility Mechanics: Utilize the new Runic Ward crafting, manage the risks of sprinting, and complete permanent buff quests for skill points and resistances.
  • Leveling Efficiency: Stay within the monster level range, do the league mechanics for crafting currency, and reset zones for extra experience when needed.

Introduction to Campaign Defences

This guide focuses on surviving the Path of Exile 2 (0.5) campaign through defensive layering. While damage is important, these tips will help prevent frequent deaths during league start.

Armour is Overpowered

In the early campaign, armour is exceptionally strong. Equipping a simple body armour in Act 1 can increase the number of hits required to kill your character by roughly 30–50%.

  • If you lack the Strength to wear armour, find it on the passive tree or through gear.
  • Constantly upgrade your armour bases; higher-level bases provide significantly more flat armour.

Upgrade Your Flasks

Failing to upgrade flasks is a common mistake that slows down progression.

  • Level 1: Lesser Life Flasks (50 life over 3 seconds).
  • Level 4: Upgrade to 90 life over 5 seconds.
  • Level 10: The most critical jump (150 life over 4 seconds). Ensure this is done before fighting the King in the Mists, the Executioner, or Ghenor.
  • Level 16: Grand Life Flasks (260 life).
  • Rolling Flasks: Use currency to make flasks Magic. A level 23 flask with “increased amount recovered” can outperform a plain level 30 flask.

Resistances and Gear Swaps

Capping all resistances at 75% is difficult early on, so prioritize based on the area’s primary threats:

  • Act 1: Cold Resistance (Essential for Ghenor).
  • Act 2 (Early): Fire Resistance (Mordant Mine and Mordant Quarry).
  • Act 2 (Late): Lightning Resistance.
  • Act 3: Fire Resistance (Despised Matlin Waterways).

Keep “swap gear” in your inventory, such as a Ruby or Topaz ring. Even a white ring with a high resistance implicit can be enough to survive a specific boss or zone.

How to Get Resistances

  • Vendors: Frequently check vendors for resistance gear and rings.
  • Charms: In Act 2, check Zarka for charms. Look for specific utility like “used when poisoned” (for Viper Napuatsi in Act 3) or “used when ignited.”
  • Runes: Slot runes into empty equipment sockets for flat resistance (Fire, Cold, or Lightning).
  • Essences: Use resistance-specific Essences to guaranteed a mod on a piece of gear.

Life and Strength

Aim for a “ballpark” figure of 250–300 combined Life and Energy Shield per Act.

  • Strength: Each point of Strength grants two life. Strength is highly valuable because it simultaneously increases your health pool and allows you to wear better armour.
  • Essence of the Body: Use these to add flat life (sometimes over 100) to your gear.

Runic Ward

In the 0.5 league, utilize the Runic Ward mechanic. You can craft a small amount of Ward on every piece of gear. This acts as a buffer that protects your life pool and should be utilized as an extra layer of defense.

Sprinting Management

Sprinting is high-risk. If you are hit while sprinting, you can be knocked down, often leading to death.

  • Settings: In Options > Interface, the “Keep sprinting while moving” toggle determines if you continue sprinting after a dodge roll.
  • Ranged Threats: Ranged monsters and fast projectiles are the most dangerous while sprinting.
  • Defensive Rolling: Use the dodge roll manually to avoid attacks rather than relying purely on movement speed.

Permanent Buffs and Optional Bonuses

Complete quests that grant permanent character power. You can check which bosses grant buffs by looking for the “plus” icon on the World Map (U).

  • Key Quests/Rewards:
    • Cold Resistance: Permanent buff from specific Act 1/2 bosses.
    • Uncut Skill Gems: Clearfell (Mysterious Campsite chest) and Mud Burrow (The Devourer).
    • Elemental Offering (Act 2): Provides a choice of a Fire, Cold, or Lightning ring and a corresponding Rune.
  • Consult the Permanent Buffs Guide for a full list of locations.

League Mechanics and Experience

  • Do the League Mechanic: Mechanics like Runes of Alder provide crafting currency (Jeweller’s Orbs, Regal Orbs) that allows you to improve your gear immediately.
  • Level Range: Try to stay close to the zone level. Being significantly under-leveled results in an experience penalty and less passive power.
  • Resetting Zones: If you are under-leveled, refresh a zone by Control + Clicking a waypoint or entrance and creating a new instance to farm more mobs.

Boss Strategy

Pay attention to telegraphs like slams and stuns.

  • Ghenor Tip: You can block his freezing projectiles using a shield and the Raised Shield skill.
  • Slowing Down: Do not compare your pace to professional streamers. Taking the time to gear up and learn mechanics will prevent the frustration of repeated deaths.

Key References