POE: a game of cheese?
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I've been playing POE for just under a week now (by no means enough time to truly know the game), and I have been noticing something in the game that I play, and the game that I watch others (like Kripparian) play. What I notice is that from what I've seen, this game revolves around cheese.
If you aren't familiar with the term, cheesing is basically doing something that goes against the spirit of the game. One of the earliest examples of cheesing was stacking 3+ bashers in Dota, which would result in you perma stunning anyone you attacked. Sure, it was good, but it was cheese. I won't even go into what PvP I've seen, because it is essentially made entirely out of cheese at the moment, and hopefully they will change that. PvE seems to be the same to me though. I mean, if you are run into an elite that does heavy physical damage, then afterwards you run into one that does heavy fire damage, then afterwards you run into one that does heavy lightning damage, how can you possibly have all the correct stats to prevent a one/two shot? The only way I see, is to cheese it. Going for perma stuns, or ice walls and ground slams, or insane damage output really quickly. It seems like the only way to play the game properly is to become stupidly good at doing one and only one thing. Is this what the end game is like? |
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Something is only cheesy if it breaks game mechanics entirely and allows an unfair and unbeatable advantage to the game. DOTA is far from the first example of "Cheese", for that you have to go back to the old school pen and paper dungeons and dragons gamers from over three decades ago.
Currently there is nothing in path of exile that really fits this, sure there are lots of different ways to make a character that is really powerful, and there are a variety of combinations of monsters that can really hurt you in all sorts of different ways if you are not prepared for it. However there are counters and defenses for almost any build or monster ability. Your example of running into different rare monsters is a good one, however a solid form of base defense (HP, Energy shield, Armour, Evasion, Regeneration, Life leech and the Required resists) can offset almost anything you will face in PvE. PvP is very new at the moment and you will always face someone who has a certain powerful ability their character is built around. But there are counters for all of these built in to the game once you learn what they are and how to work them in to your character. |
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dota is a relatively late example of cheese. in broodwar, 4pool, probe harass on terran, 8rax or gas steal are all cheesy. that game was fun...
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Lameness has always existed in games. I'm pretty sure the term cheese became more prominent during dota though. I could be wrong though.
As for getting enough HP, Energy shield, Armour, Evasion, Regeneration, Life leech and the Required resists.. ye, that isn't going to happen. Not unless the game becomes horrendously overly stat based later on. As far as I can tell, at my level (48) you can choose one or two, MAYBE 3 of those 9 requirements you just mentioned, and stack it high enough to be effective. However there will always be a mob that will one shot you. A mob that your defences aren't prepared for. This typically happens when games become overly stat based. Compare this game to WoW (GASP) for example. In one set of gear you may be pretty powerful in WoW. Swap it out for a completely different set of gear and stat build, and you won't be as powerful, but the difference won't be huge. It won't be optimal, but you won't be completely gimped either. In this game, however, different stats are the difference between being completely invincible and being instagibbed by the slightest breath of air. Its a different approach, I'm not saying its a strictly bad approach, but it does tend to remove the skill aspect from the actual playing of the game, and transfer it to the choosing of items and stat builds. Which one you prefer it merely a preference, but it is extremely hard to cheese actual real time game playing skill, whereas cheesing item stats, with the amount of variance this game has, is incredibly easy. |
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You can't really expect from an ARPG to test you mechanical game playing skills. Actually, most PvE games are quite easy when it comes to micromanagment.
GGG banning all political discussion shortly after getting acquired by China is a weird coincidence.
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Don't call it cheese, call it a tactic. Then it doesn't have a bad ring to it :)
Post a class you play and post the build? I'm sure we could help, although I'm sure it's late now if your build is way out of whack. It may also be that your gear is subpar. I got a mara at 66 (yes, I watch Kripp too :), and yesterday I started a HC Ranger. It's lvl 31 and still HC :) I got her through the game once and now progressing through Act 1 again on a higher difficulty. If you're getting once shot, there's something fundamentally wrong with your build. Maybe I cheesed too as for both of the bosses I had to Teleport scroll cheese them :) shush, don't tell anyone. I didn't want to be too overly leveled the content to try the bosses. So I did the teleport scroll TACTIC. |
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" Oh there is definitely something wrong with my build. Its the fact that I can't cover absolutely ever angle of defence. I have a 48 duelist with 6500 armour (which still takes a fair chunk of damage from physical damage bosses and elites) and I have around 50 or 60% lightning resistance because the bouncing balls are a really headache. Last night I came across an elite bear monster thing that did fire damage instead of physical. He killed me instantly. There is just no way I can have as much armor as I do and the correct amount of lightning resistance, fire resistance, and frost resistance. I don't have that kind of luck with gear. |
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" See your looking at it all wrong... Resist is about the only required defensive stat. The others you just pick and choose one or two that you want to use with your build and then take passive bonuses close to your offensive bonuses that you like to support it. Don't try and get everything or you will probably end up with a mess of a build that is useless after the first difficulty. As far as removing the 'skill' aspect goes for POE, I recommend you check out some of the build of the week videos posted by Chris. You might notice that some of the time they really look like they suck. In truth the build is great, but Chris did not make the build him self and as such has not practiced the skills required to make it work well. I wish I could see you try play my chaining flicker strike claw shadow. With a carbon copy you would not be able to finish areas way below his level without hours of practice, where as I can clear entire area's with him in no time. |
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What I learned from other streamers and krip too is that ALWAYS have spare resist rings in your inventory... (by lvl 50 where it becomes relevant you should have plethora of rare resist rings ) When you see a frost mob switch to frost resistance rings, when you see fire bears , run back and switch the rings again...
Yeah it sucks not always having your "best ring" equipped but the difference in survivability is noticeable. |
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" We all want to believe that what we do is unique and difficult. Sadly, most of the time it just isn't true. " Already do that. Sadly the difference between x% defense and x + 60% defense is not much most of the time. That frost boss can kill me in under a second with or without the rings. |
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