Uutiset
Eight tips you should know before diving into the Path of Exile: Affliction expansion
D
Diego Nicolás Argüello
As with every expansion, it's going to take you some time to become acclimated with the mechanic at hand. To alleviate the process—Path of Exile is complex enough as is, after all—here is a list of tips you should keep in mind before diving into Affliction.
You get a chance to visit the Viridian Wildwood in (almost) every area
At least during the beginning of the League, Affliction is fairly generous when it comes to welcoming you to its central mechanic. In almost every new area that you visit, you'll see a trail of Wisps upon entering. That's your cue to a Twisted Burrow, which is essentially a hole in the ground surrounded by branches. All you need to do is interact with it to enter the Viridian Wildwood.
Keep in mind that these entrances work per instance. This means that, yes, you can often return to previously visited areas for a chance to spawn an entrance again. Just be mindful of one thing: if the area is lower level, the encounters will be easier, but the rewards will correspond to said level. I recommend taking these chances to explore, rather than grinding for loot.
The Wisps' colors aren't just for aesthetic purposes
There are three different Wisp types in Path of Exile: Affliction. Whenever you enter the Viridian Wildwood and start pushing through the darkness to explore the area, you'll come across colored Wisps. These serve as guidance toward specific encounters, bosses, and new characters that are part of the Viridian Wildwood.
Below are the Wisp types and each of their effects:
Primal Wisps - Blue: Grant better item rarity.
Vivid Wisps - Yellow: Grant a chance to obtain currency items as part of the drop.
Wild Wisps - Purple: Grant increased item quantity.
As you explore the area, the Wisps will inhabit some of the enemies present. You'll know exactly when it happens due to a few factors: There'll be an aura of the corresponding color around them with Wisps flying around, as well as a buff description when you hover over the enemy. Here's a rule of thumb: If a boss or special enemy is empowered, best not to take them lightly, as the buffs can be significant.
They usually have a higher defense and more health, as well as higher damage. Depending on the situation you're in, it's best to deal with any surrounding minions first and then focus on the empowered enemy.
Once you exit the Viridian Wildwood or you get kicked out of it—which happens if you stand on the affliction areas for 10 seconds after the exit is open, or if you're defeated—the Wisps will follow you into the area that you originally entered from. There, the Wisps will empower enemies at random. The same rules apply here. Sometimes they'll affect regular mobs, sometimes they'll target bosses. In any case, play strategically.
In addition, the colors indicate which NPC you're on your way to find. Due to how short the expeditions in the Viridian Wildwood are, you might not see an NPC each time. But as a reference, yellow leads to Warden of the Maji, purple leads to Warlock of the Mists, and blue takes you to Wildwood Primalist. Each NPC will ask you for its color-correspondent Wisps to purchase items. There's also a fourth character, the Nameless Seer, which allows you to buy an item by taking all of your Wisps.
Focus on these enemies first
You're bound to face quite a few enemies in the Viridian Wildwood simultaneously. While different types have different abilities that you should watch out for, there are two in particular that will make encounters a hassle.
The first is the Ribrattle, which looks like bugs made out of wood, often crawling on the floor in circles. If you suddenly get a debuff—it usually affects your movement speed—there's likely one of them nearby. You'll immediately notice their presence due to an aura surrounding them, and they'll likely place a curse on you. They're fairly annoying to get to, so try to close distance as much as possible and attack relentlessly until they're down.
The second is totems. Sure, these are a fairly common sight elsewhere, but they can really mess up your time in the Viridian Wildwood if you don't take care of them quickly. This enemy will often empower the ones around it which can quickly turn into trouble, especially if they're already buffed by Wisps.
You only need one Orb of Regret to respec new passives
In case you missed it in our Path of Exile: Affliction preview, you only need one Orb of Regret to respec the passives of the new Ascendancy Classes. This is a welcome change of pace when you consider the five Orb of Regrets needed for the standard Ascendancies. Of course, Regrets don't fall off trees, especially if you're planning on trading with other players, so be mindful and think twice before getting that one passive skill first.
Leave exploration for the very end
As mentioned, your visits to the Viridian Wildwood are short-lived. If you waste time fighting with each enemy group that comes your way, the invisible timer is bound to end before you know it. Taking this into consideration, I recommend leaving exploration until after the exit is opened.
There will be Wisps to gather, and some additional enemies might appear from the unexplored corners of the map. Plus, it's a great moment to loot anything you might have missed. Stopping mid-exploration to check what enemies have dropped will only waste your time.
There's no downside to hanging out, as long as you don't go out of bounds for ten seconds—otherwise, you'll be kicked out. Don't worry about getting lost, as the exit appears as an icon on your minimap.
Look out for light orbs
During your expeditions, you'll sometimes come across light orbs. These won't damage you, but rather "explode" on impact, revealing the area that surrounds them. They're quite helpful as you progress through the affliction, and also serve as signs that you're heading toward an encounter or NPC rather than a blocked path.
Time is of the essence
Depending on the class and build you're going for, your expeditions to the Viridian Wildwood might be shorter than you'd like. For this, I recommend investing in skill gems that grant you abilities to either move faster or cover large chunks of land with swift movements.
Leap Slam, for example, is a great red gem to have. Spam it as much as possible while aiming for the corners of the screen. If you have the room for a third or even fourth mana vial, even better. In addition, it's always useful to try to empty your inventory before entering the Viridian Wildwood. That way, you'll have more inventory space to loot as much as possible before leaving. If you still find yourself running out of room even with this precaution, don't fret, as…
You can get extra inventory space during this League
Each one of the three Ascendancy Classes of Affliction has its perks, but one in particular might outdo the rest if you tend to run out of inventory quickly. The Wildwood Primalist mostly have Charm Sockets to unlock, but the one passive you want to pursue is Might of the Bear. Basically, it equips your character with a Wildwood Rucksack, a fancy name for a backpack, which adds 20 inventory slots. Yes, that's in addition to your usual inventory space.
There are plenty of uses for this. It might not seem like a lot of room for items like armor or long weapons, but the additional space is perfect for your scrolls, orbs, and other one-slot items. Once you get to the Atlas of Worlds, this backpack is perfect to throw your maps in and leave as much inventory as possible for the loot that matters.
Remember that you can only select one Ascendancy at a time. If you change to the Warden of the Maji or Warlock of the Mists, you'll lose this benefit. Don't fret, though, as you only need to encounter one of the three NPCs again to switch back, retaining your previously spent points. As for the Primalist, this skill tree has some other neat passives: Vivid Wisps Found grants a 10% increase of a given Wisp type whenever you're in the Viridian Wildwood. In addition, if you're using Warcries, Howl of the Wolf makes it so your Warcries open chests, and also have the chance of shaking extra items from corpses. Look, they're already dead, so might as well loot what you can.
You can download Path of Exile right now on the Epic Games Store and make the most of the Affliction expansion.