First, let's talk about divination cards. Divination cards are rewards from either random or specific monsters. The most common ones typically give you some POE Currency, but there are specific divination cards that offer 6-link items as a reward. You can also influence the drop chance of divination cards using scarabs. In particular, the Divination Scarab is very effective for this.

Examples of these divination cards that are quite common include the Porcupine for a 6-linked Short Bow, The Chains that Bind or the Dapper Prodigy for a 6-link armor, The Emperor of Purity for a 6-link Holy Chainmail, or Imperial Legacy for a 6-linked Imperial Bow.

Head over to where the divination cards drop. For example, The Chains that Bind only drops in dungeons like the Cage, Cells, Dungeon, Penance, Shavronne's Tower, the Control Blocks, and the Slave Pens. You can kill monsters in these areas, and they have a chance to drop the Chains that Bind. Collect them, and then you have your 6-link armor.

Tainted Orb Of Fusing

For the next method, let's break down the process step by step. Firstly, we'll focus on acquiring Tainted Orbs of Fusing, which drop from Beyond Demons and can also be obtained from Tainted Currency applied to maps in the Necropolis League.

While these orbs are rare, they become more accessible with increased focus on the Beyond content within the Map Device and Atlas tree. It can either add or remove a link on the corrupted item. This mechanic is crucial for the strategy, as we'll use it in conjunction with bench crafting to create a 6-link corrupted item.

In the Solo Self-Found (SSF), you may come across a valuable but relatively common unique item, such as a Heretic's Veil, which is frequently utilized in various bow builds. To acquire this item, run an Alva Temple to double corrupt it, or simply use a Vaal Orb to corrupt it and hope for a favorable implicit modifier. Assuming you succeed in obtaining a decently corrupted unique item, the next goal is to 6-link it.

Bench Crafting

The next method I'm going to talk about is quite straightforward. In your hideout, you'll have access to a crafting bench. Once you've found the 6-link recipe, which can drop somewhere in Act 8, you can turn 6 sockets into 6-link sockets.

If you don't have the recipe for all crafts you're missing, you can simply scroll down on the crafting bench, and it will tell you where that craft is. The recipe for 6-linking an item costs about 1,500 Orbs of Fusing, but at least it's a certain method.

Omen Of Connections

There's a technique that allows you to guarantee a 6-link result using just one Orb of Fusing with the Omen of Connections. The Omen of Connections is quite rare, and it seems to drop from monsters, making it an exclusive reward obtained from engaging in the Ritual mechanic. During Rituals, you may occasionally receive the Omen of Connections as a reward.

Place it in your inventory and travel to a fresh zone to ensure that no other Omens have been triggered, as they can only activate once per zone. With this Omen in your inventory, use an Orb of Fusing on the desired item to guarantee the maximum number of links. It's crucial to ensure that the item in question either already has 6 sockets or has the potential to reach 6 links.

Beastcrafting

In the Path of Exile 3.24, you can capture beasts, go to the Menagerie, offer beasts at the Blood Altar, and craft all sorts of gear and fixes. This batch introduced a new Beast to the game: the Black Morgan, who was previously a boss in other leagues. The Black Morrigan doesn't normally spawn, but only appears in the map if you use a specific Scarab, the Bestiary Scarab of the Shadowed Crow.

This Scarab is fairly rare, but you can use the Atlas strategy to get more scarabs and block the ones that you don't want. What you need to do is run a map with Einhar, make sure that he's actually in the map with the Bestiary Scarab of the Shadowed Crow, and also with the Bestiary Scarab of Duplicating so that when you capture the Black Morrigan, you can get 2 copies for crafting.

Then you head to the Menagerie, and the Blood Altar is giving you a recipe to craft a 6-link item. Any item with 6 sockets can be 6-linked using this, as long as the item isn't corrupted. This is a truly amazing way to 6-link armor and weapons, including unique ones in Solo Self-Found (SSF).

We scale the projectile count to 5 and start scaling the energy shield. For this reason, we will use Ephemeral Edge with Resolute Technique corruptions. The easiest way to get this is to spend POE Currency to buy non-corrupted ones, then vaal yourself or double corrupt your weapon until you hit this.

Note that it’s not worth the price tag of 10 Divine Orbs or more, as players demand it a lot. It saves money to do it yourself.

Since our main damage type is lightning, we can use Voice of the Storm unique Amulet to get even more damage in this build.

Lightning Damage with Non-Critical Strikes is Lucky, which means that every time we deal damage to an enemy, the game rolls twice and chooses the higher number. This is very useful when your damage range is very high, especially since the damage range of our lightning build is very large compared to other builds.

Precise Technique

Because of Voice of the Storm Amulet, we can’t scale critical hits, so we can use a very interesting Keystone Passive, Precise Technique. If Accuracy Rating is higher than Maximum Life, attack damage is increased by 40% in exchange for us being unable to deal with critical hits. Because we use Chaos Inoculation, our max life is 1, and this Keystone will take effect with zero effort.

Scale Damage By Defense

I really like this build because we can scale damage with layers of defense. Where does the nearly 13k energy shield come from? Let’s start with the biggest source.

Because we selected Trickster, we have access to Escape Artist Ascendancy node. Equipped body armor has +1 maximum energy shield for every 6 Evasion Rating. We need to use a hybrid body armor base to benefit more from it.

In addition, we also need very high evasion and energy shield roll on the body armor. On this build I rolled 2.2k evasion and 490 energy shield. It’s worth noting that this chest armor alone gives us almost 5k of energy shield.

We also stacked Intelligence for more energy shields, reaching over 1.1k, which is pretty impressive.

Curse

We can use 3 curses in this build because using my favorite Anathema unique Ring, our curse limit is equal to our maximum energy cost. Each character can have 3 charges, so our curse limit is 3.

All 3 curses I use include Elemental Weakness, Conductivity and Sniper’s Mark.

Many people are worried that this unique Ring will not work if there is no power charge in the build. But actually, according to the wording of the ring, you don’t need to generate them, so don’t worry about that.

Aspect Of The Crab

Additionally, Aspect of the Crab is also crucial in this build. This will give us Crab Barriers every half second, and each crab stack will reduce physical damage, so this aura alone will reduce physical damage by 20%. But please note that when we are attacked, we will lose all stack.

In Necropolis League, we get level 30 Aspect of the Crab, which adds two extra max stacks, so we’ll get 24% physical damage reduction. I know for some of you it may not be a vast difference, but it’s better than nothing.

To combat the disadvantages of this aura, we will use our very high intelligence to convert the evasion rating with an evasion and energy shield mastery. So we can free up an aura because we won’t be using Grace.

New Tech

Next, I wanted to do something new with this build. As you can see, we use 4 flasks so that we can easily sustain ourselves even during boss fights.

We achieve this via Traitor Keystone, which will provide 4 flask charges every 5 seconds per empty flask slot. Additionally, I’m using Searing Exarch implicit modifiers to generate 1 flask charge every 3 seconds.

We get all the good Flask-related nodes on the passive tree and from now on we have 100% uptime. This is very cool. Because this way we can solve resistance problems and get more damage in the build.

Our key recovery comes from an energy shield leech. Doing this alone isn’t very good, as you’ll stop leeching when you reach full energy shield. But since we chose Trickster as Ascendancy, we can access an interesting node, Soul Drinker.

This allows us to leech the energy shield without the leech effect being eliminated if our energy shield is maxed out. This means that if we can hit the target, we can stay stationary on almost anything.

Elemental Ailment Immunity

For Tier 17 and Uber endgame you need Elemental Ailment Immunity, so we use Ancestral Vision. Additionally, Modifiers to Chance to Suppress Spell Damage also apply to Chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments, for half its value. We also get the remaining avoid% from boots.

Items

Next, let’s move on to the gear you’ll need for this build.

For weapons, we chose Ephemeral Edge. First and most important, attacks with this weapon increase the maximum lightning damage by 20% of the maximum energy shield, while also giving us a large amount of energy shield.

Then there’s Voice of the Storm Amulet. Lightning Damage with Non-Critical Strikes is Lucky. We are also anointing on this Arcane Focus.

The most important thing is Anathema unique Ring. With this ring we can use 3 curses in our build. It also gives us intelligence and a bit of energy shield.

I made most of the other rare items in this build myself, so it’s hard to estimate the cost, but it’s not expensive at all. But in short, you need to quality up all the items around 28% if possible, and get bases with fractured intelligence tier 1 mod.

Flask Setup

Flasks are a very important part of this build, so if you make a mistake here, you’ll end up with worse results than you’ve seen before.

I use Bismuth Flask with increased effect and additional elemental resistance. You can get higher reduction duration when you craft this flask, but be sure to check the uptime of PoB flask as it requires 100% uptime.

Next up is Ruby Flask with reduced charge and crafted to avoid being stunned.

Our damage flask is Silver Flask, which will give us Onslaught. Now I’m using the increased effect on this one, but if you only want to use this build for bossing, then you’ll need the flask charge recovery rate for better uptime.

Finally, don’t forget to use the Taste of Hate unique flask, which will give us a huge damage reduction in physical attacks.

Passive Tree

Finally, I just want to highlight a few things required for this Molten Strike Trickster build in the passive tree.

Through Necropolis League, we got a new unique jewel, which is Perandus Pact. We get 45% energy shield from this jewel.

The most important thing is the flask effect duration. We need 4 so that our flask can have 100% uptime. All that’s left is spell suppression, which I know can be expensive, but is worth the investment.

Since we have Trickster as Ascendancy, Polymath will give us more damage with each mastery allocated.

The most important node is Escape Artist, which is our main defense layer.

Next is Soul Drinker node. This will give us Energy Shield Over-leech, where we can leech from the damage we deal.

The last node is Spellbreaker. This will help us cap our suppression. If we’re in full energy shield mode, we’ll take less damage from spell damage.

Anyway, that’s the end of this guide. I hope you enjoyed this build of Energy Shield stacking Trickster. Good luck!

Moving on to other gear components: the Oracle amulet offers Necrotic Resistance, while the Necropolis Plate body armour and Spidersilk Sash belt provide additional Necrotic Resistance. With standard boots, gloves, and ring, the gear setup is complete. The choice all depends on your amount of Last Epoch Gold.

Skills & Specializations

Chthonic Fissure: The initial step is to head left and upwards to acquire the node Chaotic Rupture. This node ensures that Chaos Bolts are automatically generated from your Chthonic Fissure, eliminating the need for manual activation. The next node to prioritize is Of Gloom and Flames, doubling the size of your Chthonic Fissure, resulting in increased Chaos Bolts and spirits.

After securing these nodes, the focus shifts to acquiring Damned Waters, Twisted Waves, and Grim Tide. The Grim Tide significantly boosts Chthonic Fissure and ailment-inflicted Necrotic damage multiplicatively for every 1% added crit multiplier. Twisted Waves amplify torment damage multiplicatively for every 2% uncapped Necrotic Resistance.

Considering the build’s high mana consumption, allocating points into Fragile Crust (3 points) and Fell Fire (1 point) helps manage mana more effectively. Investing 3 points into the Tombgorger further amplifies the multiplicative damage of your torment.

Soul Feast: Soul Feast plays an important role in this build. The first thing you want to do is get Hellmind and into Waning Life, which provides Necrotic Penetration and damage chance per intelligence. Then to get mana to ensure you never run out of mana, especially when fighting rares and bosses.

After that, allocate 5 points into the Bones of the Accursed. If you want more Ward, you should invest in this setup. However, if you prefer more damage, move 1 point into Grim Affliction, which offers 35% multiplicative damage but half the ward. This decision is entirely up to you.

Chaos Bolts: The first thing you want to do is get Extracted Liberation, which makes your Rip Blood auto-cast. Then, you want to get another Affliction where your Bone Curse is auto-cast. So, with your Chaos Bolts, you don’t have to manually trigger Rip Blood or Bone Curse. This setup helps with life leech and mana leech, making it very effective.

Next, you want to get the Condemned to Chaos and Mania in Flames for the ignite chance and the damned. Additionally, you want multiplicative damage based on having ailments on the enemy. Lastly, allocate 1 point in the Grave for 2 DoT per missing health.

Bone Curse: The last skill, Curse of Bones, is its basic setup. First thing you want to do is to turn it into a Necrotic damage curse. You then want to get Marrow Thief, which is going to give you bone armor chance to kill for some survivability. Get Brittle Bones, which is where you're going to get your kill threshold, and then get slow duration.

Rip Blood: What you need to do is to put 5 point into Splatter. Then turns it into Ward Gain and made it a Necrotic spell. Boost its damage and then get more Ward back from Rip Blood. If you can handle it when it comes to mana, which is going to double your Rip Bloods.

Passive Trees

Acolyte: Starting with the base Acolyte tree, you want 8 points into Forbidden Knowledge, 6 into Stolen Vitality, 1 into Mana Mortality, and 5 into Unnatural Preservation. You want as much Necrotic Resistance as possible, and you're almost going to max your Necrotic Resistance in this first tree because you've got 6 vitality and then you've got 60 Necrotic Resistance.

Warlock: You want 5 into Soul Stealer, 5 into the Occultist Mind for mana and intelligence. You want to put 6 into Spirit Leech, which is going to keep you alive. You're then going to get some Ward, but this note is very important: Ward Decay Threshold per 1% Necrotic Resistance.

You're then going to put 5 into Harrowing Armor, which is going to help you stay alive, and 5 into Dark Protections, which is going to give you damage reduction and help you stay alive. You want to make sure you have Withering because this is also going to give you less damage taken while withering and help keep you alive.

To put it briefly, new regions that are distinct from the original game are to be expected. If you want to take on the challenge more easily, be sure to accumulate enough Elden Ring Runes to level up your character!

4. Eight Novel Types Of Weaponry & Armor

New weaponry and armor are standard features in any expansion developed by FromSoftware, and Shadow of the Erdtree is certainly no different.

The trailer exhibits a Gladiator-inspired ensemble complete with a striking fur cape, alongside a sleek red dress tailored for those with a keen eye for fashion. However, the allure lies primarily in the assortment of weapons. Although the exact count remains undisclosed, Miyazaki has verified the introduction of eight novel weapon classifications.

These encompass a hefty Japanese sword, a versatile dueling shield described by Miyazaki to Famitsu as blending offense and defense, and throwing daggers engineered for hurling in combat. Additionally, glimpses are offered of innovative selections, such as a fully automatic crossbow equipped with incendiary bolts and a fresh Twinblade paired with a shield.

“I believe even veterans who have extensively utilized existing weapon types in the main storyline will find these additions invigorating and gratifying,” Miyazaki remarks.

5. Ten Brand-New Bosses & Fresh Enemies

The adversaries depicted in the trailer, including the leech-like creature, appear vexing enough, but it’s the bosses that are anticipated to present the greatest challenges.

Miyazaki has confirmed the presence of over 10 new bosses, comprising a horned beast adorned with human body parts that unleash devastating lightning strikes, a porcupine-esque creature boasting a formidable bite, a peculiar skeleton mounted on horseback wielding a boomerang-like weapon, and a towering inferno fueled by burning bodies. Additionally, players can confront Mesmer the Impaler, a formidable adversary utilizing fiery assaults and occupying a pivotal role.

Furthermore, Miyazaki hints at a challenge comparable to that posed by Millennia in the base game, though the identity remains unconfirmed. As always, anticipation builds as we await further revelations, albeit at the cost of numerous defeats.

Lastly, the expansion introduces an array of new spells and abilities, with some showcasing truly remarkable capabilities.

6. Fresh Spells & Skills

Certainly, the expansion also introduces an array of fresh skills and weaponry, some of which are truly astounding. Among these are:

• Dual curved swords, enabling agile maneuvers to evade attacks and strike adversaries
• A spell capable of summoning numerous butterflies, subsequently detonating them in an area around the player
• A flurry of kicks delivering multiple hits to opponents
• The integration of the new Twinblade and shield, offering a formidable offensive combination. 
• Moreover, players can utilize the horned beast’s head, possibly unleashing breath-based assaults, and harness the porcupine’s quills in combat.

However, what has been revealed merely scratches the surface, leaving us eagerly anticipating what other marvels await.

7. New Regular & Legacy Dungeons

During an interview with Eurogamer, Miyazaki affirmed the existence of numerous dungeons, including multiple Legacy Dungeons.

Several of these dungeons are showcased in the trailer, notably a grand, fortress-like structure reminiscent of Stormveil, albeit with the summit appearing dilapidated. Additionally, the arena belonging to Mesmer piques interest as it potentially occupies a distinct dungeon setting.

In summary, the full breadth of available dungeons is yet to be revealed. However, indications suggest a diverse selection awaits, catering to enthusiasts of the original game.

8. Novel Plots & Characters

Exploring the Land of Shadow introduces players to fresh faces, some harboring “ulterior motives.”

The addition of these characters implies the potential for new side quests, the possibility of embarking on uncharted quest chains, or the chance to engage with additional vendors. Notably, the official website teases the introduction of fresh plotlines, promising to “enhance players’ RPG freedom.”

These narrative threads might lead to diverse outcomes, dependent on the paths players opt to pursue.

9. Results Of The Expansion Are Unaffected By The Main Story

Nevertheless, it’s certain that the decisions made in the expansion won’t alter the outcome of the main storyline.

Moreover, Miyazaki clarified to Famitsu that the “progression of events in the main story will remain unaffected by the DLC’s content,” indicating that no new conclusions for the base game should be anticipated if players opt to embark on the Shadow of the Erdtree adventure first.

Players should anticipate a self-contained narrative within the realm of Shadow of the Erdtree, with resolutions confined to its confines. However, it wouldn’t be unexpected if this tale unveils a couple of earth-shattering revelations along the way.

10. Price & Exclusive Editions

Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree is priced at $39.99, in contrast to The Ringed City at $14.99 and The Old Hunters at $19.99. 

While various factors come into play when comparing the prices of DLCs from previous years with the current one, it’s notable that this expansion is only $20 less than the base price of Elden Ring.

Additionally, there are multiple editions available:

• The Premium Bundle, comprising the expansion along with a digital art book and soundtrack
• The Deluxe Edition, bundling the base game with the expansion and digital extras
• The Collector’s Edition, boasting a physical artbook, an 18-inch statue of Messmer, and a voucher to download the expansion (unfortunately, this edition is exclusively available through the Bandai Namco Store in select countries). 

Moreover, players have the option to acquire a limited quantity of physical replicas of Messmer’s helm.

It’s worth noting that Season 2 starts with 4 wild cards in your lineup, which is an increase from last year. While you’ll need to invest more MLB The Show 24 Stubs in wild cards, this should help diversify your lineup more as the season goes on.

Team Affinity

For Team Affinity, if you missed the 99 OVR that will come into play in TA Phase 3, don’t worry because you can get him after Season 1 as well. You only need 10 wins to earn Events and Battle Royale rewards, including Flawless, in a single run.

This also makes Team Affinity programs easier to complete, while adding more programs each season. Team Affinity is arguably the biggest change this year in terms of how it works.

Team Affinity Programs

There will be three batches of Team Affinity programs every season, which basically means we’ll have one every month.

These TA programs will include 30 players at a time and are much more flexible in how you earn these rewards.

If you want to acquire these players, you don’t have to do activities such as Conquest or Showdown. Because their XP requirements are generally low, the developers want us to play the game the way we want while still getting those rewards. This means that whether you prefer co-op, solo, or multiplayer, you should be able to earn these rewards.

When the third TA program drops in the third month of the cycle, there will be 99 OVR in this program. What’s more, this will be a program that you can complete at any time throughout the year, and it won’t be time-limited like the first two parts of the program.

Captains & Cornerstone Cards

The developers enhanced Captains and introduced Cornerstone Cards in the hope of making team-building more important and making the lineup more diverse.

Cornerstone players will appear at the start of each season, and there appear to be four players at each release, and you can swap one player for another at any time during the season.

For Captains, there will be 60 captains at launch, 2 per team, and you'll be able to earn them throughout the year.

Captains are set up to make them more important in making squads for specific teams more viable. With this in mind, your captain will give better boosts if you have fewer high-rated options. This way, you don’t feel you can’t compete with your current team’s specific squads. On top of that, each captain will improve his hitter and pitching ability this year.

New Items

Besides Live Series and more, MLB The Show will feature 250 player items this year, including Flashbacks, Legends and all that good stuff. Season 1’s bosses are Andy Pettitte, Jimmy Rollins, and Larry Walker.

Also, some of the card series coming this year include:

• Subway Series
• Negro Leagues Series/Barrier Breakers
• Hyper Series
• Hall of Fame Series
• Headliners Pack
• Standout Series

In terms of programs, we know at launch there will be the usual Season 1 Program, a Spring Breakout Program, and a Starter Program, which is on top of the usual Battle Royale and Ranked programs.

Final Thoughts

Sadly, we haven’t gotten a ton of news about single-player updates, as there are more single-player missions planned in various plans, other than easier access to XP and rewards. That said, it seems like playing any mode in Diamond Dynasty will feel more rewarding this year, which is the bigger overall deal.

In short, this looks to be the year for developers to correct many of the changes they made last year. Regardless, hopefully all the new content added this season will make people even more excited about the upcoming MLB The Show 24!

These items have very low-level requirements and are commonly found. Even if you don't have them, you can easily obtain them through the Merchant Guild, often for a small amount of Last Epoch Gold. Besides, some are even free with no Legendary Potential. With just the base Uniques and no legendries, they will still carry you through the early chapters of the campaign.

Weapon: Firestarter’s Torch

The real powerhouse is the Firestarter’s Torch. This weapon is incredibly potent in the first few chapters. With a 177% chance to inflict Spreading Flames on hit, this effect can go as high as 26. Spreading Flame deals fixed damage over time, totaling 200 damage over 4 seconds.

In the early game, simply hitting any enemy with this torch equipped can trigger Spreading Flames, obliterating entire packs. The Spreading Flames DoT spreads to all nearby enemies, making it devastating in crowded encounters.

As we enter Fortress Gardens, we're playing as our Rogue with nothing but the Firestarter’s Torch equipped. Utilizing only basic attacks, I'll demonstrate how effective it is. Once triggered, you'll see how it spreads to everything around.

This allows us to gather a large pack of enemies, hit them a few times with any skill, and watch as the spreading damage over time obliterates them. This torch is my go-to weapon for early leveling, and I rely on it for every character I create.

Helmet: Calamity

When it comes to the helmet, we have a couple of options. But I typically run the Calamity helmet. While it's not that great, it does provide some fire damage, which synergizes with an item we'll be using later.

Body Armor: The Kestrel

For body armor, the Kestrel is our top choice. With no level requirement, it offers significant advantages. It provides bonus movement speed and a chance to gain haste for 1 second on hit. It boosts the effectiveness of haste, making it an excellent choice for staying agile during combat. The Kestrel is a solid body armor option, ensuring you remain swift and mobile.

Belt 1: The Scavenger

For the belt slot, my preference is the Scavenger. Requiring only Level 9, it offers up to 120% chance to find potions, along with granting haste for 3 seconds upon potion use. Throughout the campaign, you'll find yourself constantly consuming potions to restore health.

The potion finds chance provided by the Scavenger ensures you keep your potion reserves topped off. Furthermore, the haste granted synergizes well with other items like the Kestrel, which enhances the effectiveness of haste.

Belt 2: Thorns Slinger

If you're considering alternatives for the belt slot, there are a couple of options to explore. One choice is the Thorns Slinger. While I typically refrain from using this if I've already equipped the Scavenger, it does offer additional movement speed and a chance to inflict bleeding on hit, providing some offensive utility.

Belt 3: Vipertail

Alternatively, you may consider the Vipertail belt. This option boasts up to a 70% chance to poison on hit, along with some dodge rating and increased melee attack speed. It's a solid choice if you're seeking to enhance your damage output and don't require the speed provided by the Scavenger.

Rings: Arboreal Circuit

Then, for the rings, our choice is the double Arboreal Circuit. With no level requirement, each ring can provide up to 18% movement speed if you achieve a maximum roll on both the implicit and the explicit stats on the ring itself. Therefore, we equip 2 of these rings.

They offer a chance to summon an ocher tree whenever you get hit, essentially acting as a decoy totem that draws enemy attention away from you. Having 2 of these rings equipped not only boosts your speed through the campaign but also provides additional minions to aid in tanking enemies if you come under attack.

Gloves: Avarice

Next, for gloves, our choice is simple - Avarice. This option is readily available early in the campaign. Avarice gloves provide Elemental Resistance and a source of leech, making them a valuable addition to your gear.

Having Elemental Resistance ensures you're better protected against Elemental Damage, while leech provides a means of regaining health during combat, enhancing your survivability.

Boots: Advent Of The Erased

When it comes to boots, there are several options to consider. You could opt for the Morningfrost boots, which have a Level 8 requirement. They provide decent movement speed and offer a significant source of flat damage if you stack some dexterity.

However, my preference lies with the Advent of the Erased boots. These are unique boots from the Weaver’s Will set. Weaver’s Will functions such that as you wear the item and gain experience, the Weaver will add affixes and upgrade them, essentially granting you a free Legendary item.

If you manage to find a pair with 30% movement speed, you'll find yourself moving swiftly through the game. These boots provide good movement speed, a chance to gain haste when a nearby enemy dies, reduced damage over time while under haste, and a bit of Ward on cooldown.

Relics: Tome Of Elements

For the relic, we just take 2 of elements because it is a non-level requirement. It gives you a little of extra leech with the elemental damage that we’re going to be doing with, like the spreading flames and all that. Then you get some extra chance to ignite on hit with elemental skills if you have any. It is a really solid relic.

Final Thought

So if you have a budget and you do want a solid leveling set that could be applied to any character, then I would highly recommend investing and rolling all this damage over time and just letting the Firestarter’s Torch carry you into your Monoliths.

I’m sure you can run plenty of other options with different weapons, maybe different armor pieces, but these are the pieces that I use because they’re common, they give you a lot of movement speed and haste, and the Firestarter’s Torch just absolutely carries your damage in the early game and in early monoliths, especially if you really build into it and stack up that damage over time.

First, you need to go to PVP area and find Abomination walking in a circle around the center of the area. This boss can be powerful, but if you’re willing to spend Diablo 4 Gold on decent gear, he’ll probably only take about 30 seconds to defeat. Defeating two Seething Abominations will also net you 10 Grim Favors in about 3 minutes.

Whisper Dungeons

Our next farming method is completing Whisper dungeons, which will provide 5 Grim Favors for each completed dungeon.

This can be a little tricky because the completion time of the dungeon depends entirely on the objectives. Typically, dungeons with the objective of killing all enemies may take the longest to complete. For this reason, it is recommended to use a Speed Farming Build for your class and stack as much movement speed as possible.

Grotesque Debtors

Other ways to grow Varshan Body Parts are to look for Grotesque Debtors. These special enemies will have a chance to spawn when you or anyone near you complete Whisper objectives. You just need to keep an eye out for this symbol on the minimap. It means Grotesque Debtors are spawning at that location.

Farming Living Steel

Helltides is a special event in Diablo 4 where two areas spawn higher level enemies. Enemies in Helltides drop a special currency called Aberrant Cinders during the event. Aberrant Cinders will be used to open new treasure chests that spawn around the area.

Note that dying in Helltides will cause you to lose half of Aberrant Cinders you collected.

Once you have collected 275 Aberrant Cinders, you can find a Living Steel Chest. Each Living Steel Chest provides 5 Living Steel, while other chests only drop 1 Living Steel. Each area has 1 Living Steel Chest, which means you can get a total of 10 Living Steel per run.

Overall, the best farming strategy is to prioritize collecting two Living Steel Chests from Helltides every hour. Whisper can also be farmed while you’re waiting for the next Helltides to spawn.

After completing Helltides, follow the priority list of Arcane Tremors and Seething Abomination first, then use the remaining time to run Whisper dungeons until the next Helltide appears.

Running Uber Bosses

Next up is running Uber Bosses. I recommend being properly equipped and fully upgraded before attempting these.

Grigoire

Grigoire is located in Hall of the Penitent in Dry Steppes Region. You need 5 Living Steel to summon Grigoire. They usually drop 1-2 Shards of Agony per run.

Varshan

Varshan is located next to Tree of Whispers in Malignant Burrow. Because summoning Varshan requires collecting all 4 Body Parts, if your Body Parts are unbalanced, you can exchange them by trading Varshan Body Parts for Malignant Cache at Alchemist.

Defeating Varshan again has a chance to drop 1-2 Mucus-Slick Eggs. After completing each run of Grigoire or Varshan, you can use Reset Dungeon button on the right side of the map.

Duriel

To find out how many times you can summon Uber Duriel, check your Mucus-Slick Eggs and Shards of Agony and divide the lowest number of summoned items by 2.

To get the most out of beating Duriel, I recommend that you create or find an entire team of players, which means you have more chances of running Uber Duriel.

Uber Duriel always drops 925 gear, which is a great place to find the best gear. But the main reason to grow Duriel is Uber Uniques, but there are some regular Uniques as well. Tibault’s Will, X’Fal’s Corroded Signet, Godslayer Crown, and Flickerstep are popular choices for different builds.

That’s all for my Uber Bosses farming guide, follow this guide and you will become a master farmer and conquer all challenges in Diablo 4!

Snapshotting involves exploiting buffs gained from certain abilities while swapping out Diablo 4 Items mid-action to stack buffs and achieve exceptionally high damage output, essentially breaking the game. Blizzard has taken steps to address this by removing snapshotting mechanisms and plans to eliminate them entirely in the future.

To prevent snapshotting in the Gauntlet leaderboard system, Blizzard has implemented a restriction. Once players enter the Gauntlet, they cannot swap out equipped items, selected skills, or Paragon Board allocations. This measure aims to prevent abuse of snapshotting mechanics during Gauntlet runs.

Furthermore, they provided a demonstration of the Gauntlet leaderboard system, featuring three developers playing different classes—a Necromancer, Sorcerer, and Barbarian. Commentary was provided by two content creators known as Annacakelive and Macrobioboi. Each player had an 8-minute timer to accumulate the highest number of points. It was intriguing to observe their approaches and strategies with their respective classes.

Proof of Might was collected by defeating monsters or obtaining keys from mobs to unlock specific chests scattered throughout the dungeon. The layout, mobs, and pylon arrangements remain consistent each week, ensuring a level playing field for all players. However, these aspects change weekly, allowing players to continually attempt and improve their scores. Players can strategically manage their resources, such as pills, which multiply scores or reset monster respawns, to maximize their points.

The Gauntlet leaderboard system is set to a difficulty equivalent to level 70 rather than a level 100 nightmare dungeon. This decision broadens the scope for diverse abilities and builds, as lower-level enemies enable the utilization of less conventional but potentially effective skills. The dynamic nature of the Gauntlet introduces new possibilities and adds freshness to the gameplay experience.

Rewards in the Gauntlet include gear and cosmetics. Players can earn up to four caches per week based on their performance tier—Seal of the Blooded, Seal of the Steadfast, Seal of the Iron-Willed, and Seal of the Worthy. These caches contain gear with item levels of 925 and may include unique items. Additionally, players can earn cosmetic character portraits and, for the top 100, a trophy to adorn their mounts.

Lastly, the Hall of the Ancients showcases the top 10 players in each class category for the week. This serves as a platform for recognition and bragging rights, emphasizing the focus on displaying class proficiency and builds rather than solely farming gear.

Class Buffs & Changes

Now, let's delve into the class buffs and changes. I won't delve into extensive details. Instead, I'll provide a general overview of the adjustments slated for patch 1.3.3.

Barbarians and Druids will see enhancements to their basic skills, particularly focusing on early-game resource generation. Specifically for Druids, improvements are planned for companions like wolves and Necromancer minions, along with movement speed upgrades for Necromancers.

Sorcerers will witness enhancements to certain paragon nodes, as well as adjustments to abilities like Incinerate and Conjuration. As for Rogues, there's a focus on refining ranged abilities, with changes made to skills such as Heartseeker and Barrage, alongside adjustments to specific aspects.

Overhauling The Seasonal Mechanics: Changes To The Center Shell

In addition to class adjustments, significant changes have been made to the Center Shell, which encompasses the entire seasonal mechanic in Season 3.

These adjustments include tweaks and some nerfs, likely implemented to maintain balance ahead of the introduction of the gauntlet leaderboard system. Modifications have been made to various aspects, including Tuning Stones, Poison Support, Bleeding Support, and Burning Support, with even the Governing Stone, like Tempest, receiving adjustments.

Community Feedback On Diablo 4's Seasonal Content Approach

This next topic is closely related to class adjustments and enhancements.

The developers sought feedback from the Diablo 4 community regarding the focus on introducing new legendaries and unique items for various builds. Historically, at the onset of each season, every class would receive a new aspect or legendary item, along with a unique item, alongside alterations to abilities, potentially fostering new viable builds.

Now, the community was asked whether they favored continuing this approach. One drawback is that sometimes these additions render certain builds nonviable compared to top-performing ones. The proposed alternative is to concentrate on one or two classes, akin to the approach seen in Diablo 3. This would involve significant buffs to specific skills and abilities, accompanied by the introduction of legendaries or uniques tailored to enhance these builds. This strategy could inject more excitement into the game, providing players with more meaningful choices and fostering a sense of progression.

While specifics regarding the implementation timing were not provided, it's plausible that these changes could be introduced midway through the season. This approach could enhance the game's ongoing appeal, ensuring a steady stream of content throughout each season, rather than waiting until the season's conclusion to introduce new features.

Anticipating Season 4

Following the Q&A, the final segment of the campfire discussion centered on Season 4. The developers provided some insight into the direction they intend to take with it.

It appears that substantial changes are in store, reminiscent of Season 2's adjustments to vulnerability, critical damage, and overpower, but on a larger scale. Concerns about potential delays, particularly with the Gauntlet, seem to have been addressed, as everything appears to be progressing smoothly.

Season 4 promises to bring significant positive changes, with PTRs allowing players to preview and test the season before its official release. This serves as a sort of beta test for Season 4, enabling players to provide firsthand feedback and fostering better communication between the community and developers. This announcement has generated considerable anticipation among players.

Preparing some Last Epoch Gold can improve your gaming experience and make it easy to get through the early stages of the game.

Bladedancer

First, let's talk about the Bladedancer. It boasts remarkable speed, owing to Shift's significantly low cooldown. This allows you to swiftly navigate from one pack to another. Moreover, its AOE capabilities are impressive, effortlessly clearing groups of enemies with custom skills.

Bladedancer also excels in dealing substantial damage to bosses. In its current state, I consider Bladedancer to be among the top classes for leveling.

Shaman

Shaman is a choice that stands out among classes. With an array of powerful skills, it can effortlessly clear and move swiftly. Its effectiveness doesn't rely on waiting for minions or other prerequisites.

Moreover, the Shaman inflicts significant damage on bosses, making it a formidable choice for early-game progression.

Sorcerer

The Sorcerer is truly amazing at the moment. With its abundance of AOEs, you can effortlessly clear while on the move. The Teleport skill adds an extra layer of mobility, allowing you to swiftly navigate between fights and breeze through the campaign.

While there may be some minor mana issues, these are easily mitigated, especially as you progress and optimize your gear. Overall, the Sorcerer stands out as a top-tier build, capable of completing tasks quickly and efficiently.

Lich

The second class I've extensively played and want to discuss is the Lich. It's currently quite remarkable, particularly due to the minimal mana issues it faces. However, since you may need to pause briefly to defeat monsters and its movement spell isn't as effective compared to other options.

While Lich is highly versatile, there are still some limitations, especially if you opt for a version with fewer projectiles. Additionally, using the crit version might pose challenges, particularly during the leveling process.

Necromancer

Moving on, let's discuss the Necromancer class. I find the Necromancer to be incredibly impressive because minions can effectively carry you through the entire campaign. Necromancer can be compared with the Lich class because of its outstanding performance.

Minions effortlessly eliminate enemies for you. However, the Necromancer has some issues with movement, requiring a brief pause for minions to engage enemies, as they can be somewhat slow and not always tactically astute. Its overall performance remains exceptional, and it's a highly effective choice.

Beastmaster

Delving into the Beastmaster, I find its potential intriguing. I believe the Beastmaster will shine brilliantly in the endgame, its journey to that point presents considerable challenges. The pace is sluggish, lacking the swift movement of other classes like the Necromancer.

Its minions, though faithful, pale in comparison to the Necromancer's army. Thus, the Beastmaster falls short in terms of speed and efficiency during the leveling process.

Spellblade

Let's delve into the Spellblade class. Spellblade presents a compelling magical archetype with the potential for considerable strength. However, it currently grapples with certain issues. Notably, when assuming the role of a Spellblade, one must engage enemies primarily through melee attacks.

This approach, particularly during the leveling process, can prove cumbersome and frustrating. Despite these challenges, Spellblade boasts high damage output and offers teleportation capabilities. Nevertheless, the inherent difficulty of consistently landing melee hits remains a significant concern.

Druid

The Druid occupies a unique position, blending elements of the Shaman's swiftness with the Beastmaster's versatility. While it requires less setup to become effective and boasts an impressive swarm form for clearing, its speed falls short of the Shaman's pace.

Its single-target damage output doesn't match that of the Shaman. The Druid offers a balanced progression path between the faster-paced Shaman and the more gradual Beastmaster.

Runemaster

Next, I delved into the Runemaster class, facing a challenging decision between it and the Sorcerer. Ultimately, I found the Runemaster to be exceptionally impressive. It boasts capabilities comparable to the Sorcerer, excelling in various scenarios.

With its array of AOEs, potent boss damage output, and swift mobility facilitated by teleportation, the Runemaster emerges as a formidable contender in all aspects of gameplay in Last Epoch.

Marksman

The next class is going to be Marksman. Currently, Marksman is in a pretty special position. You can clear a lot with Marksman, but it still needs a few different bonuses to work properly. Both Multishot and the version of Rain of Arrows works well, but it just requires a little more setup.

So while you’re running through the campaign and preparing for early leveling and the early game phase by itself, I think Marksman should be somewhere in between. It can still be powerful, and it has Shift the same way as Bladedancer has it, so it will come online but later on.

Paladin

Let's discuss the Paladin, a class currently positioned quite favorably. With its remarkable Shield Rush skill boasting an impressively low cooldown, the Paladin effortlessly traverses through hordes of enemies.

Additionally, the Javelin skill proves highly effective in dealing damage. Renowned as one of the strongest half-mill classes alongside the Bladedancer, the Paladin possesses all the necessary tools to navigate the early game effortlessly.

Void Knight

Void Knight presents a conundrum for many players. While I appreciate the unique character gimmick, its reliance on Damage Over Time zones poses challenges, especially when rushing through the campaign or seeking swift completion.

Although it may seem unfavorable at present, Void Knight holds promise for formidable strength in the endgame, offering a different gameplay experience once fully developed.

Forge Knight

Forge Knight stands out as another intriguing class worth highlighting. Presently, Forge Knight holds a sturdy position in the latter stages of the early game. However, initiating as a Forge Knight can prove challenging. It necessitates around 30 to 40 passives to truly shine, delivering significant damage and functionality to the build.

This requirement adds complexity to the early game experience, making it more arduous than some other classes. While not as problematic as the Void Knight, Forge Knight still grapples with various issues.

Whenever you have other things to do or just need a break from New World, but still want to earn some New World Coins at the same time. Then it can be very beneficial to stop your game and strategically place your character in a quiet area with a lot of resources.

In the long run, this allows you to accumulate large amounts of gold, Aptitude, and resources with little effort. But instead of being AFK for 20 minutes, run an OPR/3v3 Arenas and then collect all the resources between matches to make yourself super efficient.

If you want to really maximize your efficiency, you can create a second account on the same server and raise it to a high enough level to collect resources in one of these locations where you want. 

Then it stays there all the time and you just switch from the main node to the alternate node every 20 minutes or so, collect all the nodes, and then go back to the main node and transfer all the profits over.

This will even allow your alt to eventually reach level 65 and also open up more possibilities for additional gold crafting activities.

General Spots

I’m going to categorize them all into areas that have a variety of different resources next to each other, and other areas that are more dedicated to specific types of top-tier ores.

For the first type of general area, one of my favorites is this little area in Cutlass Keys. A total of 4 Runewood Trees, 8 Wyrdwood Trees, 4 Wirefiber Plants, 10 Spinfiber and 9 Silkweed are generated in this area.

Also, there are some Cougars and Boars roaming the area, which you can eliminate as well. If you need some Thick Hide, there’s a lot of potential here for you to make some serious money with AFK.

If you want to shorten your AFK time and add some ores to your grind. You can even go around to Fort to the north and grab all Starmetal and Mythril from there, which can be done in about 2 to 4 minutes. There are a lot of decent chests out there, and the mobs are only level 40. So they are easy to deal with.

I also like that there is a Spirit Shrine here that is very close, so you can quickly run over and check it out.

Anyway, I sat here AFK for 30 minutes and got some loot. If I sell it and multiply that number by 2, that means I get 4,860 gold per hour for very little effort.

I didn’t even go to Fort to hunt for ores during this period to keep my AFK time as high as possible. Overall, this is a great place.

For the second general location, we will stay at Unbound Island. This small island is close to the fast travel point and has many Runewood Trees and Mythril. All of this is in a small circle where you can do a quick lap on your mount, grab all the resources, then AFK on some rocks for 20 minutes, then come back later to repeat the process.

Mythril Ore Spots

Next, we’ll take a look at some AFK locations for those looking for specific ores.

We’ll start with Mythril Ore. Unbound Island, mentioned earlier in the general section, is a great place to farm Mythril Ore. Alternatively, you can camp outside the cave mentioned in the first general location and obtain the ore resource.

However, when you want to get a lot of Mythril, another excellent area to camp in is Brimstone Sands. It’s close to a fast travel point and has five Mythril Veins, so a lot of Mythril Ores will spawn. There are also some Sandstone Blocks around here, which will only increase your profits if you head here. Be sure to grab two Elite Chests along the way, though, for a chance to easily earn some Scarabs.

Another really cool place to farm Mythril Ore is Mourningdale. Since the fast travel point is far away, it takes a while to reach it. But because of this, there’s usually no one here, and it’s a great place to get Mythril Ore, and there’s some Orichalcum in there, too. So in the long run, sitting here will give you a ton of benefits when you run here from fast travel.

Orichalcum Ore Spots

If you want to focus on farming Orichalcum, there are plenty of great AFK locations here too.

First, there is an area in Brimstone Sands that you can combine with monster grinding to get Ancient Glob of Ectoplasm, which can make you a lot of money.

There’s also a bunch of Orichalcum and Starmetal Veins in there, but if you combine that with monster grinding, it’s not too AFK. One thing to note is that there are often many people farming here, so be prepared to grab ores.

I dare say that the best AFK place to farm Orichalcum has ended at Edengrove. There are large numbers of Orichalcum and Starmetal on the cliffs of Edengrove. But be warned, this is a very popular place, so you have to be lucky to get it.

But if you’re on a less popular server or go during off-peak hours, you can manage to get the spot yourself. You can run up and down the edge of the cliff and then come back and repeat the process when they spawn again.

Starmetal Spots

Finally, if you prefer farming Starmetal Ore, there’s a nice AFK location here as well. But in most cases, it’s usually cheaper than Orichalcum or Mythril. So if you really need it, it’s better to sell the other two and buy Starmetal on Trade Post.

But the location I chose was Cutlass Keys in Rothoard Hollow cave on the outskirts of the capital. It’s a quick trip from the city and contains many Starmetal Ores, as well as some Gold and Silver Ores.

Note that there are some pirates in there, but they are very low level so they are easy to deal with.

When you’re done mining, you can jump onto the rock and wait for the vein to regenerate. Since this is a low-rise area, no one usually camps in the area.

Conclusion

All in all, this guide covers the best places to farm resources in AFK so that you can get a lot of gold with very little effort. Not only will you get tons of loot if you do this, you’ll also get tons of Aptitude Crates and skill line upgrade materials from them, which will only increase your profits.

Also, if you’re not on a low-popular server and you find some locations occupied when you go there to try it, try grinding during off-peak hours, it will help a lot. Good luck!