Path Of Exile Resource #18 - Abyssus Unique Item Review

Abyssus in Path Of Exile is a unique ezomyte burgonet that when equipped grants the player up to 25 additional points towards all three attributes, up to 225 percent additional melee critical strike multiplier, up to 120 percent increased armor, and adds up to an additional 60 physical damage to attacks. The downside to using this unique is that it increases the amount of physical damage you take by a minimum of 40 percent. This unique has a maximum armor rating of 722 if all armorer's scraps have been applied to the unique. This unique has changed since it's introduction into the game in April of 2013.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best suited for melee based character builds and range based character builds that are focused on dealing as much physical and critical strike damage as possible. This unique is not for character builds that are focused on having high amounts of physical damage based mitigation and physical damage based survivability. The up to 25 additional attribute points granted by the unique is beneficial towards all character classes, since it can help ease attribute requirements on gear and grant small increases towards maximum life, melee physical damage, accuracy rating, evasion rating, maximum mana, and maximum energy shield. The up to 225 percent additional melee critical strike multiplier granted by the unique is beneficial towards melee based critical strike builds. To gain the full benefit of using an Abyssus as a melee based character, you will have to not spec into Resolute Technique, as the keystone passive skill will make your melee based character never deal critical strikes, which completely removes the benefit of the unique modifier. The up to 120 percent increased armor is great for any character builds that scale armor as their main source of defense against enemies. The up to an additional 60 physical damage added to attacks granted by the unique is enormous and best in slot for character builds that want to deal as much physical damage as possible. The minimum 40 percent increased physical damage taken granted by the unique is it's one downside, however this downside can be mitigated by having a large amount of life, a large amount of armor, and utilizing the Vaal Pact keystone passive skill in tandem with a large amount of leech. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 60. In the late stages of the game, this unique is great for character builds that are focused on dealing physical and critical strike damage, and due to it's unique modifiers, is likely the best in slot helmet for maximizing damage per second.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Abyssus - additional information regarding the Abyssus unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Resolute_Technique - additional information regarding the Resolute Technique keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vaal_Pact - additional information regarding the Vaal Pact keystone passive skill

Path Of Exile Resource #17 - Voidwalker Unique Item Review

Voidwalker in Path Of Exile is a unique pair of murder boots that when equipped grants the player up to 50 dexterity attribute points, up to 180 percent increased evasion and energy shield rating, 30 percent increased movement speed, 20 percent chance to avoid projectiles while phasing, the unique modifier "you have phasing if you have killed recently", and the unique modifier "projectiles pierce while phasing". This unique has a maximum evasion rating of 483 and a maximum energy shield rating of 66 if all armorer's scraps have been applied to the unique. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in September of 2016.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best suited for range based character builds that utilize piercing projectile attacks in their main build setups. The up to 50 increased dexterity points granted by the unique is beneficial towards all character classes, since it can help ease attribute requirements on gear and grant a small bonus towards accuracy and evasion rating. The up to 180 percent increased evasion and energy shield is somewhat negligible, unless your character build is focused on scaling evasion rating as your primary source of defense against enemies. The 30 percent increased movement speed granted by the unique is useful with regard to builds that cannot use whirling blades as their main movement skill in their build setup and will mainly utilize walking to get from area to area. The unique modifier "20 percent chance to avoid projectiles while phasing" is amazing for evasion based character builds. This will make enemies projectiles attacks have less of a chance to hit you, which is a definitive increase to defenses. The unique modifier "you have phasing if you've killed recently" works in tandem with the previous modifier, and is incredibly useful since it means that you will almost always have the phasing buff if your character build has a sufficient clear speed. The final unique modifier "projectiles pierce while phasing" is a damage output boost for builds that utilize and scale their main damage with pierce in their build setups. This unique modifier can save you from having to invest in a pierce support gem and several passive skill tree points, and works incredibly well with the Drillneck unique, since the Drillneck unique grants increased projectile damage based on your arrow pierce chance. The best character class to pick when deciding to fully utilize maximize damage output with this unique is the Ranger. The best ascendancy class to pick when deciding to go Ranger is the Deadeye. The Deadeye's Powerful Precision notable passive skill states "projectiles have 100 percent additional chance to pierce targets at the start of their movement, losing this chance as the projectile travels farther", "attack projectiles return to you after hitting targets", and "projectile critical strike chance increased by arrow pierce chance". This works in tandem with the Voidwalker unique, since it means that the downside of losing pierce chance as the projectile travels further is completely neglected, since you will have 100 percent pierce chance while phasing. Due to the fact that your arrow pierce chance is 100 percent while phasing, it means that your critical strike chance will be greatly enhanced. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 69. In the late stages of the game, this unique is a great defensive and offensive item due to it's unique modifiers, and is likely the best in slot item for evasion based character builds that utilize and scale their main damage with pierce currently.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Voidwalker - additional information regarding the Voidwalker unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Phasing - additional information regarding the Phasing buff
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Drillneck - additional information regarding the Drillneck unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Deadeye - additional information regarding the Deadeye ascendancy class

Path Of Exile Resource #16 - Victario's Acuity Unique Item Review

Victario's Acuity in Path Of Exile is a unique turquoise amulet that when equipped grants the player up to 40 percent lightning resistance points, up to 10 percent chaos resistance points, 10 percent chance to gain a frenzy charge on kill, 10 percent chance to gain a power charge on kill, 5 percent increased projectile speed per frenzy charge, 5 percent increased projectile damage per power charge, and up to 24 dexterity and intelligence points from the turquoise amulet's implicit modifier. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in June of 2013.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best suited for range based character builds that utilize projectile attacks in their main build setups. This unique can also be useful for spell based character builds, however it is less popular in such builds since most people consider projectile spells to be weaker than their projectile attacks counterpart. The up to 40 percent lightning resistance points granted by the unique is beneficial towards all character classes. The up to 10 percent chaos resistance points is beneficial towards most character classes, although on a much less noticeable scale since currently only a few enemies in the game deal a significant amount of chaos damage. This unique modifier is not useful for characters that utilize Chaos Inoculation in their builds, since Chaos Inoculation grants immunity to chaos damage. The 10 percent chance to gain a frenzy charge on kill, as well as the 10 percent chance to gain a power charge on kill are both incredibly powerful unique modifiers that are hard to come by elsewhere. The unique modifiers provide an easy way of generating frenzy and power charges, an action that many range and spell based character builds need in order to fully maximize their damage potential. The frenzy and power charge generation can be difficult to sustain while fighting bosses that do not spawn or provide minions to kill during the fight. These two unique modifiers have incredible synergy with the next two unique modifiers that the unique grants, which are 5 percent increased projectile speed per frenzy charge, and 5 percent increased projectile damage per power charge. The 5 percent increased projectile speed per frenzy charge is mostly negligible, unless your build specifically needs increased projectile speed to make it comprehensively stronger. The 5 percent increased projectile damage per power charge is incredibly strong for builds that fully utilize power charges in their main build setup. In most cases, spell based character builds are the ones to fully utilize power charges, however most range based character builds that have a high critical strike chance rate can utilize power charges in a multitude of ways, such as through specific gear selection and effective passive skill tree utilization. The up to 24 dexterity and intelligence points granted by the turquoise amulet's implicit modifier is beneficial towards all character classes, since it can help ease attribute requirements on gear and grant a small bonus towards accuracy rating, evasion rating, maximum mana, and maximum energy shield. In the early stages of the game, as well as the late stages of the game, this unique is useful due to it's ability to save you a support gem link or curse aura, such as a power charge on critical strike support gem or a poacher's mark curse aura, greatly increase your general damage output, increase your overall clear speed, and moderately increase your survivability.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Victario%27s_Acuity - additional information regarding the Victario's Acuity unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Chaos_Inoculation - additional information regarding the Chaos Inoculation keystone passive skill

Path Of Exile Resource #15 - Skyforth Unique Item Review

Skyforth in Path Of Exile is a unique pair of sorcerer boots that when equipped grants the player up to 120 increased mana points, 30 percent increased movement speed, 25 percent chance to gain a power charge on critical strike, 6 percent reduced mana reserved, the unique modifier "you have no life regeneration", and the unique modifier "stun threshold is based on 500% of your mana instead of life". This unique has a maximum energy shield rating of 77 if all armorer's scraps have been applied to the unique. 3d art for the Skyforth unique was added in June of 2016. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in December of 2015.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best suited for any character builds that fully utilize the potential of Chaos Inoculation, Ghost Reaver and Vaal Pact in their build setups. The unique modifiers on this unique make it so it is the best in slot item for character builds that utilize the specifically mentioned keystone passive skills. The up to 120 increased mana points granted by the unique is beneficial towards any character builds that have a low mana supply or have attack skills that cost a large amount of mana per use. This unique modifier is generally more useful towards spell based character builds than melee or range based character builds. The 30 percent increased movement speed is useful towards builds that cannot use whirling blades as their main movement skill in their build setup and will mainly walk around to get from area to area. The 25 percent chance to gain a power charge on critical strike granted by the unique is most beneficial towards builds that fully utilize power charges but need an easy way to generate them. Most builds that fully utilize the potential of power charges are spell based character builds and range based character builds, however since this unique is generally more beneficial towards spell based character builds, it is more effective to use it on those builds. On spell based character builds, the best unique item to use in conjunction with the Skyforth unique is the Void Battery unique. This is due to the fact that the Skyforth unique saves a gem link by not needing to link a power charge on critical strike support gem in your build setup. The Void Battery unique primarily scales spell damage through attaining power charges, and since the Skyforth unique grants an easy way to generate power charges, you can add another, more effective damage support gem to fully maximize the damage on your build. The 6 percent reduced mana reserved is great for builds that fully utilize auras, whether defensive or offensive, and want to have as many of them as possible in their builds. The unique modifier "you have no life regeneration" is the only downside to equipping this item, however since most builds that utilize this item to it's fullest extent spec into Chaos Inoculation, Ghost Reaver and Vaal Pact, this downside is negligible. The final unique modifier "stun threshold is based on 500% of your mana instead of life" is great for builds that scale energy shield as their primary source of defense against enemies, since energy shield based builds have trouble with enemy stuns. The main way most energy shield based builds have dealt with this problem was through utilizing the Eye Of Chayula unique amulet, which grants the unique modifier "cannot be stunned". However, equipping the Skyforth unique saves us from having to utilize the sub optimal for energy shield based builds Eye Of Chayula unique, meaning that in it's place you can use any other amulet you want, whether it be a defensive or offensive for your build.
You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 67. In the late stages of the game, this unique is a great defensive and offensive item due to it's unique modifiers, and is likely the best in slot item for energy shield based builds currently.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Skyforth - additional information regarding the Skyforth unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Chaos_Inoculation - additional information regarding the Chaos Inoculation keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Ghost_Reaver - additional information regarding the Ghost Reaver keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Vaal_Pact - additional information regarding the Vaal Pact keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Whirling_Blades - additional information regarding the Whirling Blades movement skill gem
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Void_Battery - additional information regarding the Void Battery unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Eye_of_Chayula - additional information regarding the Eye Of Chayula unique

Path Of Exile Resource #14 - Rat's Nest Unique Item Review

Rat's Nest in Path Of Exile is a unique ursine pelt that when equipped grants the player 15 percent increased attack speed, up to 75 percent increased global critical strike chance, 150 percent increased evasion rating, up to 25 percent increased rarity of items found, 10 percent increased movement speed, and 10 percent reduced character size. This unique has a maximum evasion rating of 648 if all armorer's scraps have been applied to the unique. 3d art for the Rat's Nest unique was added in June of 2016. This unique has changed since it's original introduction into the game in April of 2013.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best suited for range based character builds and melee based character builds due to its unique modifiers. The 15 percent increased attack speed is great for range and melee based characters since most range and melee based attack skills are enhanced by attack speed and not cast speed. The increased attack speed granted by the unique can also benefit spell based character builds that utilize whirling blades in their setup, since whirling blades becomes more effective with increased attack speed. The 75 percent increased global critical strike chance is best for range based character builds since most range based builds spec into critical strike nodes on the passive skill tree to enhance their damage output. Since most melee builds utilize Resolute Technique on the passive skill tree, and since there aren't many great easy to obtain critical strike nodes in most melee characters passive skill trees, the increased global critical strike chance that the unique provides isn't good in most cases for melee based character builds. The 150 percent increased evasion rating is great for range builds that scale evasion as their main source of defense against enemies, as well as any builds that utilize Iron Reflexes in their setup. The up to 25 percent increased rarity of items found is a good passive boost to players who want their characters to find more rare items while playing. The 10 percent increased movement speed is best for range based character builds since moving is the primary way range based builds can get around. Blink arrow and Phase Run, which are the only movement skills that bow users can utilize, have cooldowns, and as such means that scaling movement speed as your primary way of moving around is best. The 10 percent increased movement speed also helps your build clear quicker if you are a range based build that has a good damage output beforehand, since it will make the time it takes to kill a pack of enemies and run to the next pack less. The 10 percent increased movement speed also can help your survivability, since it means you can dodge enemies attacks easier by moving out of the way. The 10 percent increased movement speed is not as great for melee based characters builds or spell based character builds, since whirling blades is by far the best movement skill to utilize if your build can utilize it, which most melee and spell based character builds can. The 10 percent reduced character size is negligible, and does not provide a boost to your character. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 55. In the late stages of the game, this unique is great for range and melee based builds that want to greatly increase their damage output, want to have increased clear speed, and want to have increased survivability.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Rat%27s_Nest - additional information regarding the Rat's Nest unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Whirling_Blades - additional information regarding the Whirling Blades movement skill gem
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Resolute_Technique - additional information regarding the Resolute Technique keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Iron_Reflexes - additional information regarding the Iron Reflexes keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Blink_Arrow - additional information regarding the Blink Arrow movement skill gem
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Phase_Run - additional information regarding the Phase Run movement skill gem

Path Of Exile Resource #13 - Headhunter Unique Item Review

Headhunter in Path Of Exile is a unique leather belt that when equipped grants the player up to 55 additional points of strength, up to 55 additional points of dexterity, up to 60 increased maximum life, up to 30 percent increased damage against rare monsters, and the unique ability modifier, "when you kill a rare monster, you gain its mods for 20 seconds". The unique also has the leather belt implicit of granting up to 40 increased maximum life, which means that in total you can receive up to 100 increased maximum life alone from this unique. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in October of 2013.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique can be used in most builds, as it is largely effective in most builds and has no requirements other than being at least level 40. The reason why it is effective in most builds is due to the unique modifiers it has, these modifiers are very broad and effective at empowering most builds through game content. The up to 55 additional points of strength granted by the unique is useful for any characters that lack strength in their builds, but may need some for fulfilling the attribute requirements needed to equip or fully utilize a specific item. The up to 55 additional points of dexterity granted by the unique has a similar implication to the one stated above. The up to 100 increased maximum life granted as a modifier and from the implicit is useful for any character builds that scale life as their primary source of defense against enemies. If your build utilizes Chaos Inoculation, this modifier as well as the implicit of the unique will not affect you. The up to 30 percent increased damage against rare monsters is useful for most builds, since in general it will make your overall clear speed quicker, and it will enhance the effect of the last modifier on the unique. The modifier helps you to gain mods quicker, as the last unique modifier grants you the ability "when you kill a rare monster, you gain its mods for 20 seconds" and will make your character stronger in less time, making it a great synergistic modifier to enhance the power of the unique. The last unique modifier on the belt "when you kill a rare monster, you gain its mods for 20 seconds" is incredibly powerful, since there is no limit to how many rares you can kill as well as how many mods you can obtain. This unique modifier alone makes the unique a progressive item type, since it might take a few kills over a period of time to see a noticeable difference in your clear speed and defenses. Even if your build already has good clear speed, defenses, or both, by equipping this belt it will make your clear speed, defenses, or both even better. 20 seconds, while it may not seem to be a long stretch of time, is actually very long if your build has a naturally quick play style and has good clear speed. In the early stages of the game, as well as the late stages of the game, this unique is helpful due to it's ability to increase your survivability, your clear speed, as well granting you additional attributes which can help you meet the attribute requirements needed to equip or fully utilize a specific item if needed.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Headhunter - additional information regarding the Headhunter unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Attribute - additional information regarding the Attribute mechanic
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Chaos_Inoculation - additional information regarding the Chaos Inoculation keystone passive skill

Path Of Exile Resource #12 - Alpha's Howl Unique Item Review

Alpha's Howl in Path Of Exile is a unique sinner tricorne that when equipped grants the player up to 100 percent increased evasion rating, up to 30 percent cold resistance, 25 percent chance to avoid being chilled, a cannot be frozen modifier, and 8 percent reduced mana reserved. The item also has a +2 to socketed aura gems modifier, meaning that any auras you cast while the aura gems are in the unique will be two levels higher. 3d art for the Alpha's Howl unique was added in February of 2015. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in April of 2013.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best for range based characters and spell based characters who utilize many auras and curses in their builds, due to the 8 percent reduced mana reserved modifier that the helmet grants. This modifier if enhanced by passive modifiers on the skill tree will allow the player to fit in more auras and curses as they please. The up to 100 percent increased evasion rating granted is better for range characters or characters that utilize iron reflexes in their build. The up to 30 percent cold resistance granted is beneficial towards all character classes. The 25 percent chance to avoid being chilled modifier is mostly negligible, however in some cases it can be helpful such as when opening a strongbox with the frigid modifier, which means that the strongbox will cast ice nova, or in maps rolled with the chilled ground modifier. The cannot be frozen modifier is very useful in many situations and will save you a flask slot or flask modifier, this modifier makes you immune to the arctic modifier on strongboxes and monsters that can freeze you with high amounts of critical strike chance and cold damage. The +2 to socketed aura gems modifier is useful for builds that utilize many auras and curses in their builds, as auras and curses do increase in effectiveness the higher their level is. Curses linked to the blasphemy support gem do count as an aura and therefore are affected by the +2 to socketed aura gems modifier granted by the unique. This unique is best used in conjunction with passive skill points and ascendancy points found on certain ascendancy classes that reduce mana reservation, as well as uniques that reduce mana reservation, such as Conqueror's Efficiency, and an enlighten gem, which has the function of applying a mana multiplier less than 100 percent. This is multiplicative with the effects of reduced mana reservation modifiers, making the reduced mana reservation modifiers more effective the higher the level of the enlighten gem. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 64. In the late stages of the game, this unique is best when utilizing many auras and curses, saves you a flask or flask modifier with the cannot be frozen modifier, grants a moderate amount of cold resistance, which is useful towards any character build, and grants a moderate amount of evasion rating, which is useful for most range characters.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Alpha%27s_Howl - additional information regarding the Alpha's Howl unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Aura - additional information regarding the Aura mechanic
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Enlighten_Support - additional information regarding the Enlighten support gem
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Conqueror%27s_Efficiency - additional information regarding the Conqueror's Efficiency unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Iron_Reflexes - additional information regarding the Iron Reflexes keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Strongbox - additional information regarding the Strongbox mechanic

Path Of Exile Resource #11 - Drillneck Unique Item Review

Drillneck in Path Of Exile is a unique penetrating arrow quiver that when equipped grants the player 10 percent chance of your arrows piercing enemies, up to 12 percent increased attack speed, +350 points towards your evasion rating, up to 50 points towards maximum life, up to 19-24 physical damage to attacks with bows, and projectile damage is increased by arrow pierce chance. 3d art for the Drillneck unique was added in April of 2014. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in March of 2014.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best suited for ranged characters who fully utilize the pierce passives skills on the skill tree as well as the pierce support gem in their main damage skill setup. With the right ranged based character build, using Drillneck can more than double your damage. The most effective character class to choose when building around this item is the ranger, since the ranger has the most effective skill nodes near her in the skill tree. The most effective offensive ascendancy class to choose while being a ranger is the Deadeye, since Deadeye has many notables that have great synergy with Drillneck. The most effective Deadeye notable to spec into to fully utilize Drillneck is Powerful Precision. Powerful Precision states that your projectiles have 100 percent additional chance to Pierce targets at the start of their movement, losing this chance as the projectile travels further, as well as projectile critical strike chance is increased by arrow pierce chance. This means that while equipping Drillneck, as well as having 100 percent pierce chance through the pierce support gem and the correct skill nodes on the passive tree, you will not only double your damage, but your critical strike chance will greatly improve. Drillneck is the best in slot damage enhancing quiver for any build that fully utilizes pierce. The up to 12 percent increased attack speed is great for many bow skills and will overall make you do more damage per second, as well as give you more time to react to your environment as your attack animation will be shorter. The added evasion granted by the unique is great for range builds that primarily utilizes evasion for defense against enemies. Range builds that utilize the iron reflexes keystone passive skill gain an armor boost instead of an evasion boost. The up to 50 points towards maximum life granted by the unique is a nice boost towards life based range character builds. The up to 14-24 added physical damage to attacks with bows is large and significant for builds that scale large amounts of physical damage to utilize in their attacks. In the early stages of the game, this unique is useful due to its high amounts of added damage, which can increase clearing speed while progressing to the end game. In the late stages of the game, this unique is useful due to granting an increased amount of physical damage and attack speed, an increased amount of overall damage if you are utilizing pierce in your character build, and overall increased survivability against enemies and the environment.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Drillneck - additional information regarding the Drillneck unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Deadeye - additional information regarding the Deadeye ascendancy class
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Iron_Reflexes - additional information regarding the Iron Reflexes keystone passive skill

Path Of Exile Resource #10 - Void Battery Unique Item Review

Void Battery in Path Of Exile is a unique prophecy wand that when equipped grants the player up to 40 percent increased spell damage from the wand's implicit, up to 20 percent increased cast speed, up to 65 percent increased global critical strike chance, up to 50 more points towards maximum mana, +1 to power charges, and 25 percent increased spell damage per power charge. The downside to using this wand is that it reduces your spell damage by 80 percent. You can dual wield two Void Battery's and double all of the characteristics that the wand has. This includes the downside of equipping the wand, which if dual equipping will reduce your spell damage by a total of 160 percent. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in May of 2013. The only change that occurred was to the base wand itself, as the spell damage implicit on all wands have raised in value after version 2.3.0 was released.

Item Usefulness Information - This unique is best suited for spell based characters who want incredibly high spell damage and critical strike chance for their spells. With the right spell based character build, dual wielding two Void Battery's can provide some of the highest spell damage and critical strike chance in the game. Down below, I will be describing a build that I believe utilizes Void Battery's most effectively, however this build is just a suggestion, you can choose other character classes if you desire so. In order to fully utilize the power of dual wielding two Void Battery's, the first thing you need to do is make a new witch character who will ascend as an Occultist. The reason why we go Occultist is because Occultist has a notable passive skill called Forbidden Power, which grants you 10 percent chance to gain a power charge on critical strike and grants you an extra power charge. This is perfect for synergy with Void Battery, as Void Battery mainly scales spell damage using power charges. While you gain passive skill points for your skill tree, you will need to spec into all of the extra power charge notables, as more power charges means more damage for your build. When you reach Merciless Act 2, you will need to help Alira for an extra power charge. If all is completed, you should have 10 power charges by endgame. If you dual wield two Void Battery's and have all of these power charges activated, the negative 160 percent spell damage granted by these uniques will be completely negated, and your increased spell damage, from the two wands and the power charges alone, will be 170 percent. This spell damage calculation does not include that you will critical strike with your spells almost 100 percent of the time. Some spells do better with two Void Battery's than others. For example, spells that deal cold damage and/or lightning damage directly or indirectly are better than spells that deal fire damage. This is because your high critical strike chance ensures that enemies hit by your cold and lightning damage based spells will get elemental status ailments. For cold damage spells, the targets will either become chilled or frozen, which is a great defensive buff to you since enemies that are chilled slow down in animation, meaning they have less movement speed and less attack speed, and enemies that are frozen prevents them from taking any actions at all, meaning that they cannot attack you or move towards you. For lighting damage spells, the targets will be shocked, meaning that they take 50 percent increased damage from all sources, which is great for more offensive builds. The increased cast speed that dual wielding two Void Battery's provides is great for almost every spell, as cast speed increases your overall casts per second and therefore damage per second. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 68. In the late stages of the game, this unique is best when it is dual wielded, and will grant the player incredible amounts of spell damage, great amounts of cast speed, and incredible amounts of critical strike chance.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Void_Battery - additional information regarding the Void Battery unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Status_ailment - additional information regarding the Status Ailment mechanic
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Occultist - additional information regarding the Occultist ascendancy class

Path Of Exile Resource #9 - Daresso's Salute Unique Item Review

Daresso's Salute in Path Of Exile is a unique citrine amulet that when equipped grants the player up to 24 strength and dexterity from the amulet's implicit, up to 40 percent fire resistance, up to 40 percent cold resistance, 10 percent increased movement speed when on full life, +2 to melee weapon and unarmed range, and 60 percent increased melee damage when on full life. The amulet has one downside, it reduces your maximum energy shield by 50 percent. This unique has not changed since it's original introduction into the game in June of 2013.

Item Usefulness Information - This item is a very powerful choice for life based melee characters, due to several characteristics that the unique grants. For example, a life based melee character who specs many skill points into life regeneration or life leech will find it easy to be on full life almost all of the time. If you are on full life frequently while equipping this unique, you gain 10 percent increased movement speed, which is great for players that want to have faster clear speed, and you gain 60 percent increased melee damage, which will significantly increase your melee damage and make killing and farming bosses much easier. The full life that this amulet requires you to be on to be more effective might guide players towards thinking that they should go and spec into Chaos Inoculation on the skill tree and scale energy shield instead of life, since then you will always be on full life if you have energy shield protecting it. However, this unique blocks players from going into Chaos Inoculation since the unique when equipped reduces your maximum energy shield by 50 percent, which is a very large chunk of energy shield. This is why this unique is much better for life based melee characters, on life based melee characters it doesn't bring any downsides and provides you with incredible amounts of damage. The +2 to melee weapon and unarmed range means that the skills that you cast have a higher distance or area of effect to affect anything from the point of origin. Since most melee skills have a relatively short range, this is very effective for expanding the range of the initial melee skill you cast, and will make you attack from a greater distance away, while pushing the area of effect further away from you, which may affect more enemies. The best melee skill to use with this unique equipped is cyclone, since it benefits the most from all of the passives that the unique provides. In the early stages of the game, this unique is great for progressing quickly for melee characters due to granting increased movement speed, as well as giving you much more melee damage, which will make clearing packs of enemies or bosses much easier. In the late stages of the game, this unique is the best in slot for players who use cyclone as their main skill, as well as characters who either spec into leech, life regeneration, or both, in order to fully utilize the passives that the unique grants, but overall grants life based melee characters increased farming and leveling speed.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Daresso%27s_Salute - additional information regarding the Daresso's Salute unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Range - additional information regarding the Range mechanic
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Chaos_Inoculation - additional information regarding the Chaos Inoculation keystone passive skill

Path Of Exile Resource #8 - Divinarius Unique Item Review

Divinarius in Path Of Exile is a unique imperial skean that when equipped grants the player up to 70 percent increased spell damage, up to 100 percent increased critical strike chance for spells, +10 life gained on kill, +5 mana gained on kill, and 10 percent increased radius of area skills. By dual wielding two Divinarius uniques, you will be granted up to 140 percent increased spell damage, up to 200 percent increased critical strike chance for spells, +20 life gained on kill, +10 mana gained on kill, 20 percent increased radius of area skills, and 80 percent increased global critical strike chance, as each dagger grants 40 percent increased global critical strike chance from their implicit characteristic.

Item Usefulness Information - This item is a fairly powerful choice for any spell character that wants high spell damage and very high critical strike chance in their builds. If the critical strike chance on this unique is rolled perfectly and you dual wield them, you're critical strike chance will be near 100 percent on every hit, assuming you went a typical spell character critical strike build. Even though most spells skills are buffed while wielding the unique, some spells will perform better than others due to the specific characteristics that the Divinarius unique possesses. For example, spell skills that perform better while equipping Divinarius include glacial cascade, storm call, shockwave totem, flameblast, and freezing pulse. This is due to the fact that Divinarius grants the player up to 20 percent increased radius of area skills if dual wielding, and the very high critical strike chance that the unique possesses. All of the spell skills mentioned above are enhanced by both increased area of effect buffs and critical strike chance buffs. Divinarius works well with spell skills that deal cold damage, as the high critical strike chance that the unique grants causes any cold damage dealt to be able to freeze and chill enemies, which can be seen as a great defensive buff, since frozen enemies cannot attack you, and chilled enemies have a slower movement speed and attack speed, which means that you are safer in both situations. The increased radius of area skills that the unique grants can be enhanced by using an increased area of effect radius gem support in your main spell skill setup. This will make your build clear packs of enemies quicker and will help in situations where enemies may be hard to hit due to their high movement speed or other specific abilities that they may possess. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 66. In the late stages of the game, this item is useful for critical strike based spell characters because of its medium spell damage output, its very high critical strike chance for spells, and its ability to buff spells that become more effective with more area of effect.

Informative Link -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Divinarius - additional information regarding the Divinarius unique

Path Of Exile Resource #7 - Pledge Of Hands Unique Item Review

Pledge Of Hands in Path Of Exile is a unique judgement staff that when equipped grants the player up to 160 percent increased spell damage, 100 percent increased maximum mana, as well as having socketed active skill gems inside the staff be supported by level 30 spell echo. This unique item has not been changed since it's introduction into the game, which was back in July of 2014.

Item Usefulness Information - This item is mainly used in spell based setups, as its increased spell damage and increased mana attributes are suited towards characters that mainly deal spell damage. Any spell can be enhanced effectively in this staff if linked properly, however some spells can work better than others due to their specific qualities. For example, firestorm, arc, blade fall, and blade vortex work incredibly well with Pledge Of Hands. These spell skills benefit and work greatly with the combined spell damage increase and the level 30 spell echo that the unique grants. Flameblast, freezing pulse, ice spear, and spark do not work very well with Pledge Of Hands. Most of these spell skills do not benefit as much from the level 30 spell echo that the unique grants. The level 30 spell echo that the unique grants as a bonus link to your main skill gems is incredible, as it will make you cast spells incredibly quickly, and it frees up a gem slot, which means that you can add an additional support gem to make your main skill stronger. For example, if I was playing an arc character with a non-Pledge Of Hands 6 link, the setup I would have would be arc, spell echo, faster casting, added lightning damage, controlled destruction, and empower. However, if I had a Pledge Of Hands 6 link, my setup would be arc, faster casting, added lightning damage, controlled destruction, empower, and since I already have spell echo granted by the unique, I input iron will, which will boost my spell damage depending on how much strength I have currently. Most builds that utilize Pledge Of Hands are non critical strike builds, meaning that they do not use or gain power charges or mainly do their damage through gaining flat spell damage increases on their skill tree or on their gear. The 100 percent increased maximum mana that Pledge Of Hands grants you essentially doubles your current mana, which greatly benefits any builds that have mana problems or use mana as a build enabler during regular gameplay. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 68. In the late stages of the game, this item is useful because of it's ability to double your current mana, which is of great utility in many spell based builds, high spell damage increase to spell gems, and it's unrivaled cast speed increase due to granting a level 30 spell echo to your main spell skill.

Informative Link -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Pledge_of_Hands - additional information regarding the Pledge Of Hands unique

Path Of Exile Resource #6 - Kaom's Heart Unique Item Review

Kaom's Heart in Path Of Exile is a unique glorious plate that gives 500 points towards your maximum life, as well as up to 40 percent increased fire damage, and has no sockets. Kaom's Heart also has a legacy variant, which grants you 1000 points towards your maximum life and the same maximum percentage towards increased fire damage as well as no sockets.

Item Usefulness Information - This item has a possible widespread usage for most builds, as if you want to use only one skill for clearing areas and farming, this item can be equipped. This item is more suited towards builds that are life based, as the increased life that Kaom's Heart gives is quite substantial and can be easily enhanced by grabbing increased maximum life nodes on the skill tree. This unique is probably most effective when equipped by a melee character, as most melee characters scale some damage with fire damage, and have access to more and better maximum life nodes on their skill tree than any other character class in the game. Builds that deal fire damage either on a melee, range, or spell character can use this unique and gain a nice boost to their damage per second. For example, a firestorm or flameblast spell character that uses a staff and only uses either skill as their main skill separately can utilize this unique to bolster their defenses if they are life based, and increased their damage per second. The armor that this unique grants to the wearer is a maximum of 664, which is quite low for armor and physical damage mitigation, but since this unique grants you 500 increased life, or 1000 increased life if using the legacy variant, the health that it grants you becomes your main form of damage mitigation, not just physical damage mitigation. This makes it more useful in some cases than other unique chest pieces, such as Lightning Coil, since if you scale increased maximum life on your skill tree, it can be more effective in some cases than scaling large amounts of armor. The strength requirement to wear this unique is 191, which may be high for some character classes, and might mean that you need to find or buy pieces of gear that grant additional strength to your character once equipped. You cannot use this unique in the early stages of the game, since it's level requirement is level 68. In the late stages of the game, this item is useful since it greatly bolsters your defenses if you are life based, and it increases the amount of fire damage you deal which is ideal if you are playing a character that mainly deals fire damage.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Kaom%27s_Heart - additional information regarding the Kaom's Heart unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Lightning_Coil - additional information regarding the Lightning Coil unique

Path Of Exile Resource #5 - Astramentis Unique Item Review

The Astramentis in Path Of Exile is a unique onyx amulet that gives the player up to 116 more points towards all three attributes, unless you have a legacy version, which gives you up to 120 more points. Astramentis also gives you a negligible -4 physical damage taken from attacks.

Item Usefulness Information - This item is interesting because the added points towards all attributes, which are strength, intelligence, and dexterity, can be beneficial towards any characters who use iron will or iron grip as a support for their main skill, any characters that need more attributes in order to wear high end pieces of gear, or any characters that use items that benefit specifically from having increased attributes. Iron will gets a buff with this item because of the high strength attributes it gives you, and with a perfect legacy Astramentis, the increased spell damage will be equal to 24 percent. Iron grip also receives a buff with this item equipped, as it is roughly the same as iron will except that it applies to projectile attack damage, and with a perfect legacy Astramentis, the increased projectile attack damage will be equal to 24 percent. The increased strength and intelligence that this item gives you can be beneficial towards characters who use a Mjölner, as Mjölner has a very high strength and intelligence requirement. The increased dexterity that this item gives is useful if your build revolves around the Iron Commander bow, since the bow grants you an added 1–3 Physical Damage to Attacks per 25 Dexterity, and the ability to Summon 1 additional Siege Ballista Totem per 200 Dexterity. All of the attributes gained while wearing this item helps builds that use the Pillar Of The Caged God staff, as the staff gains 1% increased Area of Effect Radius per 20 intelligence, 1% increased Attack Speed per 10 Dexterity, and 16% increased Physical Weapon Damage per 10 Strength. In the early stages of the game, this item is useful mostly for its added attributes, and allows players to easily wear more diverse pieces of leveling gear they couldn't have worn if they were missing the attributes that come from Astramentis. In the late stages of the game, this item is useful due to its ability to increase the damage output of people using iron will or iron grip in their builds, as well as allowing certain items to be accessed if they have large attribute requirements, as well as enhancing certain items to more effective, such as the Pillar Of The Caged God staff or the Iron Commander bow.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Astramentis - additional information regarding the Astramentis unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Iron_Commander - additional information regarding the Iron Commander unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Mj%C3%B6lner - additional information regarding the Mjölner unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Pillar_of_the_Caged_God - additional information regarding the Pillar Of The Caged God unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Iron_Will_Support - additional information regarding the Iron Will support gem
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Repentance - additional information regarding the Repentance unique
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Iron_Grip_Support - additional information regarding the Iron Grip support gem
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Iron_Grip - additional information regarding the Iron Grip keystone passive skill
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Attribute - additional information regarding the Attribute mechanic


Note - The Iron Will support can also be added to your build by using the Repentance unique. The Iron Grip support can also be added to your build by accessing the Iron Grip keystone in the passive tree. They are not mentioned in the Astramentis item review above but are enhanced due to the characteristics that the Astramentis item has.

Path Of Exile Resource #4 - The Basics Of Leveling Part Three

In Path Of Exile, as you start off fresh in a new league or on a new character, you will notice that there are quests right off from the beginning of the game. Quests are a reward system in Path Of Exile, by completing certain tasks you will be able to earn skill points, various items, or master experience. However, if you're goal is to get to endgame as quickly as possible, there will be some quests that you will want to avoid. This part of the guide will hopefully teach you which quests are worth doing while leveling a new character in Path Of Exile.

Quests - In each act, there are numerous different quests that will be presented to you. Some of these quests are optional, while others are needed to be completed in order to move further into the game. I will be covering the quests in each act that are beneficial to be completed if you want to level a new character quickly in this game. Most of the quests listed below give you skill points or gems, but on rare occasions for some specific builds items that are granted from completing a quest will greatly enhance your leveling speed.

Act 1 -
Enemy At The Gate - The first quest that you will encounter, you need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, Tarkleigh will reward you with a skill gem
Mercy Mission - This quest is useful to do because it grants you a quicksilver flask, which grants you increased movement speed while active, and will help you progress through the game quicker
Breaking Some Eggs - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a skill gem as a reward from Tarkleigh
The Dweller Of The Deep - Completing this quest grants you a Skill Book, which grants you a skill point to use on your passive tree, this is an optional quest but recommended to do for all character classes
The Caged Brute - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, Tarkleigh will grant you two skill gems as a reward
The Marooned Mariner - Completing this quest grants you a Skill Book, which grants you a skill point to use on your passive tree, this is an optional quest but recommended to do for all character classes
The Siren's Cadence - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a skill gem as a reward
The Way Forward - Completing this quest grants you a Skill Book, which grants you a skill point to use on your passive tree, this is an optional quest but recommended to do for all character classes

Act 2 -
Intruders In Black - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a skill gem as a reward
Sharp And Cruel - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a skill gem as a reward
The Root Of The Problem - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a vendor gem reward, which means you can buy new gems from Yeena
Deal With The Bandits - Look at your build guide before considering what to do in this quest, there are three different bandit leaders, you can either side with one of them and kill the other two to get the respective reward or you can kill all of them to get the reward from Eramir, the rewards that will be given to you vary and will be posted in a link down below
Shadow Of The Vaal - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive no reward for completing this quest however

Act 3 -
Lost In Love - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a skill gem as a reward, as well as Sewer Keys, which are also needed to progress further into the game
Victario's Secrets - Completing this quest grants you a Skill Book, which grants you a skill point and two respec points to use on your passive tree, this is an optional quest but recommended to do for all character classes
Fiery Dust - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive Infernal Talc as a reward from Lady Dialla, this item is needed to move further on in the game
The Ribbon Spool - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a rare item as a reward
Piety's Pets - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a Skill Book as well as a Tower Key, the Tower Key item is needed to move further on in the game
Sceptre Of God - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive no reward for completing this quest however

Act 4 -
The Eternal Nightmare - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a skill gem and the ability to buy more vendor gems as rewards for completion
Breaking The Seal - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a skill gem and the ability to buy more vendor gems as rewards for completion
The King Of Fury - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a reward for completion
The King Of Desire - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive a reward for completion
Corpus Malachus - You need to complete this quest to move further on in the game, you will receive no reward for completing this quest
An Indomitable Spirit - Completing this quest grants you a Skill Book, which grants you a skill point and two respec points to use on your passive tree, this is an optional quest but recommended to do for all character classes

Informative Link -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Quest - useful information regarding all quests in-game including the ones that aren't effective to do if you want to level quickly

Path Of Exile Resource #3 - The Basics Of Leveling Part Two

Leveling up quickly and effectively in Path Of Exile may be fairly difficult for some new players. Knowing variables such as the layout of the area that you are in, the type of monsters you will encounter, and the fastest way to complete a quest that is necessary to move further on in the game greatly help experienced players level quicker than someone who has just started. This guide was written in order to help new players adjust their play style through learning relevant information on how to level quicker in the current state of the game.

Areas - In Path Of Exile, there are many unique areas. Each of these areas have there own layout, their own monster types, and their own quests associated with them. Being that each area is unique, it is difficult to clear these areas quickly without knowing what they are comprised of. Some areas, such as The Ledge are easy to navigate through, since they are very linear, and some other areas, such as The Lower Prison, are hard to navigate through because they have many walls and other obstacles that stand in your way. Of course, experience plays a huge part in getting through these areas swiftly, I have played this game for quite a while now and know how to get past most levels quickly. However, if you are new to this game, it is hard to navigate these areas effectively. The first thing you need to do if you are having trouble clearing these areas is to identify what part of the area is giving you a problem. It could be the monsters, your build is built a certain way and the monsters are naturally more powerful against you in that scenario. It could be the layout, the area is maze-like and you don't know where to go. Once you have identified your problem, the second step is to look down below and check out the links that I have posted. Each link will lead you to information that is relevant to your problem and will help you solve it. Before I conclude, I would like to add a few general tips that you can follow that help with the leveling process.

General Tips -

#1 - If you have trouble killing any type of monster, whether it be a normal pack of monsters, a magic pack of monsters, a rare monster, or a unique monster, just skip it. Run past the monster and rush to the next area. However, if you need to kill a boss that grants you access to the next part of the game, and you are having trouble killing it, your best bet is to buy better leveling uniques or changing your main skill and your support links. Remember, much of this game revolves around gems and items, and if you don't have a good setup, or are not following your build guide properly, you may end up paying for it in terms of slower clear speed and less damage per second.

#2 - If you are having trouble navigating through a certain level, press the TAB button on your keyboard. This will enable you to see which areas of the level you have not been to yet, and should make your navigation fairly simple. To get rid of the level outline, simply press the TAB button again.

Informative Links -
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Zone_Levels - useful information for determining the layout of an area, as well as the monsters that occupy that area
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Monster - information regarding what attributes monsters have
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Unique_item - information regarding all unique items in the game, you can search up leveling uniques as well as endgame uniques from here

Path Of Exile Resource #2 - The Basics Of Leveling Part One

In Path Of Exile, the process of leveling can be boring for most players, as it takes quite a long time for people to complete each act quickly and move on to the next one, due to lack of experience or lack of gear. This guide was written to teach those who are not familiar with effective leveling strategies. By learning these strategies, you can level up quicker, clear acts faster, and reach endgame with ease and swiftness.

Note - This is part one of a number of leveling guides. There is going to be more information regarding leveling in my other leveling guides which are on my blog. Feel free to check them out if you deem it necessary.

Build - The first thing we need to do when determining how to level up quickly is examining what build you will want to play. Are you going to go a range character, melee character, spell character, or something in between? Determining what build you want to play for endgame is crucial, because many variables can be altered to be in your favor so that you can level up quicker. Remember, most leveling items are used only in early game to the beginning of late game. While being good early on, if you find that your damage is not adequate enough to clear areas and level up quickly later on, you may need to change your gear to other leveling gear or endgame gear once you have reached that point. I would also like to take a moment and mention that regardless if you are playing a range character, melee character, spell character, or anything in between, many build guides if you follow them have item recommendations. This is important because it is provides relevant information to you quickly, which is better than searching up various items and trying to determine which one of them is best by pure comparison. Remember, the people that are making these guides usually have much more experience playing Path Of Exile if you are new and have learned most of the games mechanics. They have more in-depth knowledge of items and what makes them good or bad. Below this guide will be some useful links relating to some overall important information if you are just beginning in this game. Hopefully this resource has helped you learn some strategies relating to leveling effectively in Path Of Exile.

Informative Links -
https://www.pathofexile.com/ - official Path Of Exile website, you can access much information through the main page
http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Path_of_Exile_Wiki - the Wikipedia for Path Of Exile, contains all information on everything in the game
http://www.pathofexile.com/forum - this page has build guides, as well as other utilities that can be used to enhance your game experience

Path Of Exile Resource #1 - The Basics Of Farming Areas

Path Of Exile is for all intents and purposes, a game in which grinding is required. Grinding gear, whether it be for early, middle, or late stages of the game, is necessary for getting further into the game. However, not all grinding in this game is the same. Some areas are better to grind than others, due to several variables which will be mentioned later on. This resource has information on which areas in each act are best to grind, as well as how you can grind these areas efficiently and effectively in a step-by-step process. 

Note - In order to refresh areas, hold CTRL and afterwards click on the entrance to an area. The entrance can be either an entrance leading to an area, or a waypoint.

Act 1 - The best area to grind in act 1 when starting off is The Ledge. If you need some loot or currency to spend on leveling uniques early on, this area is the place to get it from. The reason why this place is desirable for grinding is because of a few variables which end up being favorable to you. For example, the layout of the area is easy to navigate through, the map is very linear and has an easy to follow route from the beginning of the area to the end of it. All you need to do once you have activated the waypoint is spawn in through the waypoint, walk in the direction of where the three cairns are when next to the waypoint, and clear the area of monsters all the way to Kuduku, who is the boss of this area. Once you have killed Kuduku, keep on going to The Climb, which is the next area, and once you are in The Climb, refresh The Ledge area, and redo the entire process over again. Alternatively, once you have killed Kuduku, you can use a portal scroll to teleport out of the area. Once you have either sold your items to the vendor or put them in your stash tab, you can refresh The Ledge area and redo the process again.

Act 2 - The best area to grind in act 2 is The Fellshrine Ruins. The reason why this place is desirable for grinding is because the area has a very open layout, it allows you freedom of space and movement and it has a path which leads you to The Crypt. All you need to do to grind this area efficiently is activate the waypoint in The Crypt. Once you have the waypoint activated, travel to the waypoint and then leave to The Fellshrine Ruins which is indicated to have the entrance to the area in the same room as you. Clear the Fellshrine Ruins and using a portal scroll, teleport out and sell your items to Greust, as he is the closest reachable vendor, or put them in your stash tab. Once you have done this action, teleport back to The Crypt using the waypoint and refresh The Fellshrine Ruins area and redo the process again.

Act 3 - The best area to grind in act 3 is The Docks. The reason why this place is desirable for grinding is because the area has a semi-open layout, high mob density, and is linear. In order to access grinding to The Docks, the first thing you need to do is activate the waypoint in The Docks. Afterwards, you can farm the area and once you have cleared most of the area out, use a portal scroll and sell your items to any of the vendors in The Sarn Encampment, or you can put the items in your stash tab. Once you have done this action, refresh and teleport back to The Docks using the waypoint and redo the process over again. The Docks has monsters that are easy to kill, and since these monsters come in packs, using builds that have large area-of-effects will be more efficient and efficient than using builds that have small area-of-effects or are designed to do single target damage.

Act 4 - The best area to grind in act 4 is The Dried Lake. The reason why this area is desirable for grinding is because the area has a very open layout, very high mob density, and an easy to follow path to the boss of the area, who is called Voll, Emperor Of Purity. In order to farm this area, the first thing you need to do is access Highgate. Highgate connects to The Dried Lake, making it very easy to refresh The Dried Lake in order to redo the area. Once you have accessed Highgate, go to The Dried Lake and stick to the left side of the area. Clearing the area as you do this action, travel down while sticking to the left and you will find a large area partially blocked off by stakes. Travel further downward past the stakes and you will find Voll and a small group of monsters with him. Once you have killed Voll, collect the items that he drops and use a portal scroll to teleport back to Highgate. After you have sold your items to either Petarus and Vanja or Kira in Highgate, or put the items in your stash tab, travel downward back to the entrance to The Dried Lake, refresh the area, and redo the process over again. This area is by far the best non-map area to farm in the game, due to its very large mob density and open layout, as well as in Merciless Difficulty the area has no drop penalties regardless of your character level, and due to the divination card that Voll can drop, which is called The Brittle Emperor. This card regardless of what league you are playing in is desirable and expensive, as it is used to create an item called Voll's Devotion, Agate Amulet. This item is used in high-tier builds and is therefore desired. If you have farmed this area and have gotten one of these cards, your best option is to sell it for market price and use the currency to buy gear upgrades.

As stated above, the best non-map area to grind in the game at the moment is The Dried Lake in act 4. Most people usually rush past the other acts in order to reach act 4 and start farming The Dried Lake. However, if you are just starting or are in a new league, you may want to farm these areas in each act a few times before moving on to the next act. The currency you gain from farming these areas can help you buy leveling uniques from other players, which will speed up the leveling process as well as make your character more powerful for later stages in the game. Hopefully this resource has helped you gain insight on which areas are best for farming and why, and how to farm the respective areas effectively and efficiently.