I haven't played Path of Exile in a minute (and by a minute I mean like more than a year). I was deep into the game, like real deep. Only ever played Hardcore as this allowed me to actually stop playing. 😅
For me, PoE is a purely hardcore experience. If you're playing on softcore you're kinda missing the point of the game IMHO. But to each their own, no judging here (much...).
Needless to say when I heard that a small team inside GGG developed a new mode that was uber hard, with bells and whistles that tickle the fan of every breed of masochist - I was back in. 💯 And what better way to experience this fresh new experience than with my HIVE gaming crew? None! - is the correct answer.
Usually, I link to soundtracks in my gaming posts, but since this is a Let's Play type of series, I'll be sharing a specific track for each part. And I figured there's no better way to start off than with the titular title track. 🙌
I will explain the mechanics of this new mode as we go, but let's just say it is the hardcore of the hardcore: no item drops, no currency drops, enemies are harder, you're weaker, no movement abilities and it goes on... and on...
Naturally I had to play it...
But boyyyy I didn't know what I was getting myself into. 😅
Choosing the hardcore version of corse, because PoE is a hardcore game. 💯 And for those unfamiliar with the lingo, hardcore just means once you're character dies you get booted from the league. Your character doesn't get deleted, you can still play in the softcore leagues. But for all intents and purposes you'll probably stop playing with said character once you get shafted.
So - one life, once chance, one opportunity!
And gonna be rocking my preferred class which has always been the templar.
I'm not looking through a guide. Ain't got the time to plan out my build. Just gonna rely on my outdated game knowledge to carry me. So we're going real YOLO here. // am I allowed to say yolo? feel like that word has run its course
And we back! Glacial Hammer equipped and ready.
Ah, Hillock old pal! How I've missed you! Welp, time to die, old friend...
At this point I noticed that the mods are doing slightly more damage, but I didn't have any problem with Hillock. This foolish sense of security nearly killed my @$$. Yeah, this mode ain't all that it's cracked up to be! Fool!
It was a great feeling to enter Lioneye's Watch again. 👏
We're starting off nice and simple - hardcore = go for life. ♥️
And for my reward for killing Hillock, I chose Purifying Flame as my quest reward. 🤑 This is one of the newer skills I haven't played with before, and the concentrated ground effect interested me. Plus it's a magic projectile that always tickles my fancy. 😁
To the coast, we go!
At this point I started to realize that this mode was no joke. First of all nothing dropped. You'd be lucky to acquire a good white item. 😅 For another, you actually had to paly the game. Manage your resources and your movement efficiently. I haven't had to pay attention to PoE since my first hundred hours of playing. This feeling was really refreshing.
Especially when:
I almost die trying to kill the first area boss. 😅 I actually had to log out. This was my first wake-up call. We skilling some area bosses in this mode.
Wasn't long until I encountered the league mechanic: Crucible. In layman's terms, this is basically a skill gem for your weapon. And it took me an embarrassingly long time to figure this out, but the more you hold on to the skill the more enemies spawn, and hence the more progression you get on your weapon upgrade.
I think I figured that out at the end of Act 1. 😂
We leveled up and we continue on our preset path. It's gonna be several levels still before we have to really think about what we level up next.
Searching for the damn exit to this place. Have to admit, they've improved the procedural generation in this game. In thee past, I used to always complain that the procedural generation was more of a hassle than anything else.
I still think it's a hassle but at least the areas feel drastically different with future iterations now. That's a step up! 👍
Found out first waypoint! ⏬
The Tidal Island is ahead of us! It was time to fetch that medicine chest and get our QuickSilver flask! 🔦 If I knew how useless that thing is in this mode I don't think I would of honestly bothered. 😛 But nah, we still need it, especially in the early game.
We enter Tidal Island with reckless abandon. Resulting in another wakeup call - this mode ain't no joke.
That will do it for this first part folks! Hope you enjoyed. This was more of a set-up/introductary part, we'll be getting more into the nitty gritty with following installments. But for now, I'll see you in Part 02!
🔜 NEXT PART 🔜
Thank you for reading, you rock! (and maybe roll) 👏👏👏
Shout-out to the 🍕PIZZA🍕 gang, 🤙 gang. 🤙
I was really unsure whether or not to write this since I've never done anything close to a Let's Play before, but 
Hope everyone enjoyed; will be back in a couple of days! Your boy has other types of content to get to! You know I can't be tied down with just one content type! I'm a creative!!! I must roam freeeeeeee!
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Hope everyone is having an amazing week! 🙌🙌🙌