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4 rookie mistakes to avoid in Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2 is mechanically a completely different beast compared to the first game. If you have kept up with what GGG has unveiled so far, you'll know that you have to play it slow and give respect to what would be otherwise considered fodder mobs. However, playing foolhardy and getting body-blocked and mauled is not remotely the most punishing mistake you'll make in the game.

The mechanical challenges make you adapt to the game's fresh outlook on ARPG cadence not very long after you start. However, there are a few common rookie mistakes we've all made with our first playthrough in Path of Exile 2. In this guide, we'll talk about the biggest ones that we know of.


Path of Exile 2: 4 common mistakes to avoid

1) Selling unidentified items

This is the most important retcon of all time (Image via GGG)
This is the most important retcon of all time (Image via GGG)

This is relatively the easiest rookie mistake to address, and it goes doubly for players who have experience in the first Path of Exile. In Path of Exile 2, you can get your items identified for free after you have resuscitated The Hooded One. Furthermore, "portalling" to town is also free now.

In other words, picking up blue and magic items is worth far more now if you get free identification from them before you make a sale. You'll need a lot of Gold throughout your journey, so that extra step in your early-game hustle pays its dividends as you get to the later acts on your first character.


2) Not building to cap out your elemental resistances

I made the wrong choice of Runes here, resistance is more important (Image via GGG)
I made the wrong choice of Runes here, resistance is more important (Image via GGG)

Following up on the first point, the big mistake that many of us make while trying to build-craft for Path of Exile 2 is to leave out Elemental Resistances. In the first game, you would receive a flat penalty to resistances in later acts to ramp up the challenge. In this one, it's done a little differently: Chaos damage appears far earlier, and mobs are more likely to have abilities that will afflict you with Ailments.

It's unclear if the same resistance gimp will happen once the full campaign gets added to Path of Exile 2, but at its current state, there's already ample reason to emphasize resistances in your build.

Thankfully, there's a new and cheaper way to do that with Runes and socketed gear in Path of Exile 2. Runes can add a flat amount of resistance when socketed onto armor pieces, so it's possible to get over 10% total resistance towards an element for each armor piece, and over 20% on chest pieces just from this.

The same principle also applies to general defenses, including survivability options like raw health or health recoup. You would think that more damage generally means you have killed them in a flash, but the one-shot potential some bosses bring to the table will soon set you straight on that notion.


3) Ignoring vendor resets

The gambling vendors don't reset, but they are also worth checking (Image via GGG)
The gambling vendors don't reset, but they are also worth checking (Image via GGG)

Each town hub in Path of Exile 2 will have at least two armament vendors with randomized weapons and equipment you can buy with Gold (Wisdom Scrolls are no longer the standard of payment). The main thing that many greenhorns will miss is that the entire vendor stock resets and rerolls once you get a level up.

Vendors in Path of Exile 2 can roll very good gear sometimes, and especially in martial classes, you must stay on top of your level-appropriate gear. While we're on it, it's also worth looking at blue items, as with high values on a desired affix, it's far more useful than Magic items. You can turn that blue item into a Magic item with rather easily available crafting currency, which can potentially be a game-changer if you're struggling with DPS.


4) Following a build guide blindly

Homebrew builds are where it's at (Image via GGG)
Homebrew builds are where it's at (Image via GGG)

The last rookie mistake in this Path of Exile 2 guide is, ironically, the trap that power gamers sometimes tend to step into. As an ARPG, Path of Exile 2 is near-inscrutable in its internal details, especially to someone who hasn't played the first game.

Naturally, players are driven to follow a build guide for a more tailored experience. This means following a more-or-less premade combination of Passive Skill nodes, items to aim for, and Skill setup to follow. There's only one slight problem: the devil is in the details. A build guide can, of course, be beneficial to your journey if it's too daunting — but you should also take the time to study the principles it is made on.

This is because following the build guide to the letter may lead you to relative success in your first run, and possibly even push you far into the endgame. However, as a live-service ARPG, Path of Exile 2 is a slave to the tides of patch notes and rebalances. What's good now might be bad in the next League, so you'll eventually have to sit down and learn the intricacies of balancing out defenses with skill interactions and TTK calculations.

Learning the internal math is half the fun of playing Path of Exile 2, so it's better to make your homebrew builds and fail than follow a build guide blindly. At the end of the failed playthrough, you'll have learned more and come to appreciate the game far more.


The best middle-ground compromise is looking at what other build guides are trying to do, replicating its central reactions and end-game goals, but also taking your time to comb through the details: read why you are using a specific Support Gem, or why you want to roll for a specific affix, or why you are taking specific Keystone skills on the passive tree.


Check out our other guides on the game:

  • Path of Exile 2: All classes and ascensions available in Early Access
  • Path of Exile 2 Atlas system, explained
  • Will Path of Exile 2 have crossplay and cross-save?
  • Path of Exile 2’s new Skill Gem system, explained
  • Path of Exile 2: All returning League mechanics confirmed so far
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