Ziz Reflects is a new video series where Zizaran talks about topics in a podcast type of approach, to talk about (mostly) Path of Exile. Let us know what you think about this format!
I think it's cool to do some informal 'talk' videos, especially when it comes to making the game more fun for people (that's what we're here for, right?). I would love to see a video talking about your experiences building a hideout. There are some really cool hideouts that I've seen from playing in trade league and I'm curious what your experience has been with that.
I like that SSF encourages you more to actually use crafting items for crafting, instead of just selling them and then using that to buy the item you want to make.
First time SSF this league. For me, absence of FOMO feeling. I dont care if community is abusing mechanic, or running some new feature or found some new build which breaks the game. I just striding on my own pace, setting my own goals and getting excited for random drops. And actually keeping with build much much longer. Also skipping trade. Requiring to come back from map every 2-5mins to sell some crap because need to grind that currency! Or else you feel broke as shit. Not existing now. Just pure game fun for myself. Also GGG fix damn loading time. This is ridiculous
Ya, that is cool that they offer something like SSF, I think it would be cool if they had some way to play offline with SSF though considering there is no real reason you NEED to be online to play SSF. : )
The crafting system in this game is sooo satisfying to me, sure it's very RNG dependant especially at the start, but once you get some recipe and you find gear that can be made better just by replacing or adding missing suffix and affixes? It is incredibly satisfying and you kinda realize from that point on that these famous currencies people like to trade around, are in reality just crafting mats for you to use in crafting.
I appreciate the vast amount of videos that uploaded to UA-cam Zizaran, the Ritual League is the first league where I even made it to end game facing Conquerors and other End-game bosses, and I wouldn't have done it without your guides/tips. Anyway, you always look tired. I hope you are getting many hours of rest between the steaming & content creation.
As a new player, softcore SSF feels perfect. In my experience SSF has been way more enjoyable than trade because I have to actually learn about the game and where items come from, also when I get a new item to drop and think "cool, I have the option to do that other build now". I definitely wouldn't do Hardcore yet though as I don't know mechanics.
Standard is actually amazing for your opposite: people who have very little time to play. By the time they accomplish something new three months is over, then a new mechanic is added into the base game. They don't have to restart from scratch and they have all their accumulated resources and characters to clear the new challenges and farm new loot.
SSF is where the fun is for me. The sense of accomplishment and interacting with all game mechanics is great. Trade feels like everything is a chaos orb and I need to optimise my time farming currency over anything. I feel like I’m actually playing the entire game on SSF and learning the systems in detail. It might be stupid but completing the Pale Court for example feels pretty good on SSF.
Couldn't agree more. The real weight of items is in SSF, and using currency for actual crafting is very satisfying. Also, Ritual right now is the best league mechanic ever for SSF, the ritual shops make it a whole experience better outside of trade league, for me.
Exactly this. And everything is exactly as valuable as you think. A simple instant staunching flask can be as valuable as a boss unique for example. And you are in full control of how impactful your currency is. I mean, an exalt is a crafting item, not something to hoard in your currency tab :) Which leads to how nice it feels to get that last exalt to do a multimod for example. Equally frustrating to not drop one to multimod though.
Been watching you since Breach, it was cool to hear you talk about your opinion changing on SSF. I remember you loving trade league more and then seeing you play SSF for months on end made me wonder what changed.
I'm happy for you @Zizaran , it really feels like you've been putting in the work and your flame and passion for the game and creating content for the community is back in full force. Keep it up Cheers!
Hi Ziz, I actually spoke to you about this during Exilecon and decided to try hardcore SSF last league during the flashback event. It was incredibly fun, and I leveled three different characters to maps (one of which ripped to delirium baran maps sadly). Actually using all the currency I dropped and considering every part of a character when running content was such a different experience compared to trade league that I definitely will continue SSFHC in the future. Definitely agree with your points in the video!
Thanks for another format, keep posting some of your thoughts about PoE when you feel you want to share something with us. Just one more question about the technical aspect, I noticed that your UA-cam clips are more quiet than the others (and definitely more quiet than your Twitch Stream) - could you please take a look into that if that is not intended?
This question I was searching on google why ppl play hardcore, and I just sub ur channel like a week ago and I know you one of the top steamer of this game out there and brought this up, THANK YOU!
Not only that but they have to change how level penalty works. Today I've decided to far "The beast" for my SSF character and I realize that I have to roll new character to farm it or I have to farm only prophecies.
I got sick of hardcore and losing my items while not playing alot but i lost all joy of the game when playing softcore. This vid made me realize i need to do hardcore again
I started playing SSF in 3.6 after being burned out from Trade and all the fuzz it comes with. It since then is the best gaming experience I ever had, feels so much more natural and exciting. Can only recommend to try it. (PS I play Standard SSF, which means I keep all my items and progress forever, which feels like building a house and is very rewarding to me. Yes I miss the new league, but I get it 3 months later when it's usually really polished:)
When I play softcore, Im level 98 trying to get to level 99, only 20% on the exp bar to go. Now I cant play any hard, rippy content, no juiced delirious maps, i cant play Sirus and other risky bosses, i get super worried about map mods, Im always on edge, every big mob pack, every door i have to open in heist, every chest I open, horrible feeling, cant imagine playing the whole game like that.
Completely agree on The leveling thoughts,and your gauntlet event made me try hardcore,The game gets alot more deep when you have to concentrate from The start.
I have about 1300 hours on Poe and I've really started to notice the chore of leveling and the lack of thrill from bossing, I normally play standard leagues. I think I'm ready to try out HC SSF
@@svhafen The thing about HC is that you actually need to care about your gear while leveling. In SC you can ignore your resistances and just face slam into everything. Yes you level more but the process is not as pointless.
I play softcore because I suck (hey, I'm 63 and reactions ain't what they used to be!). But I do try to die as little as possible and dying feels bad. It doesn't help that POE does have some cheesy insta-kill moments. But SSF is cool, because you don't have to feel pressured to zoom and drops matter so much more. Plus you are encouraged to engage with all the content to find the crafts and drops you need. I've been enjoying your recent 10-minute vids Zizaran.
Trading can feel horrible sometimes when you ask the top 100 sellers with reasonable prices to buy their stuff and maybe one answers to you and says "sold" and you feel blessed for even getting a response in the 3 hours of trade league. Im not saying that i prefer ssf because when i get an expensive item for another build i can sell it and buy the one i need for my build.
Yes that's true. But I wish we had more vendor recipes in ssf cause it is quite annoying to pick up things you don't want to pickup just because something is not sustaining. After I started ssf half year ago I realised that when I got something dropped in trade I saw just 5c here, 10c there, wow good 8ex shav and so on. On ssf you deal with real items, especially when you get something like cool essences, fossils, currency or boss fragments. It's so enjoyable to spend these things for youself not thinking in the way you just lost 5ex for this.
I read the title and realized ho wmuch the word reflect means to me lol. Immediately perked. As far as the video, I enjoy your content, so pump away. Obviously the better I learn the game the better, but not always necessary.
I’m in a Medium Core limbo right now, I don’t have as much time to relevel if I die in HC but playing SSF SC I can’t trust myself to delete all my gear if I die😂
Not a HC player but moved from SC trade to SC SSF and oh my god its so much more fun than trade league IMO. Will never go back. Hitting a triple notable fire cluster jewel on my divine ire ignite SSFcharacter was the greatest feeling I've had playing this game
as someone who 90% of the time play HC i can only agree the way the game is going its just getting more and more annoying one shots in HC that kinda ruins the fun. sure u can close calls but most deaths are too some bs you either dont see as the effects overlap or u get offscreened.
HC isnt hard, it basically locks some content based on its risk for your build unlike SC. I played HC for a long time and it was game of avoiding rippy content for me. Basically you play as coward that would rather cut his enjoyment from game than die, otherwise you rip characters no matter how skilled you are all the time. And random rippy content in this game isnt even that rewarding.
I will have to say something about SSF / standard / hardcore etc. from my point of view. One of the strongest things about trade league, is that you interact with people which is very very important for me because you may or may not loose into the game after a while, so even a simple trade for me matters because it gives me sort of connection-feedback from another human being The game itself is awsome but because is an arpg game it means that connection between players is different than in an mmorpg game, for example so that's why i consider that's super important to keep connection as much as possible between players
started ssfhc for the very first time in heist and killed sirus on my second attempt, after my first char died at 89. im usually not a HC\ssf player and it was just a one-time challenge for me, but whats funny is that it had a huge impact on my motivation playing softcore trade. ritual started and i played sc trade and got bored \ burnt out after 2 weeks, never happened before. it felt so easy and pointless, did not expect that
I had the same feeling after switching to hc/ssfhc. Oftentimes I make a char around mid-league to get some remaining challenges done if I need and man, I barely get to maps when I already want to change league. Not exaggarating, even getting through acts feels just... empty to me in sc. And that made me really understand why sc players don't like leveling through acts. Cos they mean nothing.
I play softcore, but I play with a hardcore mindset. If a character dies, I tend to reroll. But if it's my league start, and the build itself is decent, just had a dumb death, I try to at least push to maps to unlock things for my next run. I would love to see the option (for free, not paying for a private league) to have party system restricted to your guild and friend's list. You could still trade items with your friends this way, and play in groups for carries, but without the hassle of whispering people for items all the time. I also think private leagues should be able to globally change drop rates (more item quantity/rarity, up to a certain amount), but be locked/voided leagues. It would be cool to have access to more legendary items for a change, and of course making it voided/locked (can't transfer to another league) would mean you cannot destroy the economy of the main leagues.
I started the game for the first time in this league and made a trade league account because I wanted to play with my friends. I quickly realized that because of how the league starts as a race I was tremendously behind. I started mapping on day 2 and had a lot of fun. Eventually got to the point where I realized I hadn’t been playing with my friends the entire time. I was asking questions and conversing with them but not actually playing with them. I’m pretty sure that I’m converting to ssf. Not quite hardcore yet because I don’t understand the attack patterns of bosses. But ssf definetely has sounded more appealing every day.
You make some really nice points! I started playing this league and would want to get to a point where I've cleared at least most of the end game bosses and such before I go for HC or SSF, to feel more comfortable in knowing how to make a build, scale it and know of most of the potential oneshots. I'm quite hesitant towards HC since I'd feel like I'm at the mercy of lag spikes and such that I do die to as it is now. SSF is interesting and for now I'm limiting myself to trading only things that I could get by good rng or grinding, for example not buying a starforge before I've beaten Shaper, I shouldn't need shaper drops to beat it.
semi new player here. love your videos. i cant wait to be at the point i can do ssf. the way you put it of not having impactful drops in trade is exactly how i feel rn. keep up the content!
I play hardcore in other games, but I feel like Path of Exile is a little too unforgiving with instadeath mechanics like exploding corpses or opening a strongbox that freezes you (let's face it, we all run into that once in a while by surprise). However, I do agree 100% that playing SSF is a good, relaxing way to add some enjoyment into the game. You don't have the pressure of trading items or looking for that perfect item. All you have is yourself and the game. It's less about racing to the end and more about the journey. Plus it forces you to learn the crafting system in PoE, which has it's own benefits.
the last gauntlet was super fun :D I have never really played hardcore before that but actually made it to level 90 (after like 7 deaths in the story)! a crazy experience
It's nice to get insight regarding ssf hc. I realize most people play softcore. Would it be possible to have videos that are catered towards ssf hardcore style such as builds and finding items that would only work in ssf hc? I've wanted to transition into ssf hc but finding it difficult to find information for that particular mode playstyle.
I started playing SSF because I wanted to actually start learning the game more, I was relying too heavily on just farming currency and buying my build to steam roll the game. It adds more challenge, but it is more rewarding and In the end I have more fun, even if I don't progress as far as I could in Trade League. I know for some, trading is the pinnacle of PoE, and that is fine. I think it is cool that there are options.
Yes I like these reflect vids. I'm new to this game and attracted to SSF & hardcore. I even play Skyrim hardcore; meaning if i die I always abandon the character. I didn't intend or decide to do that; I just found that was what I did from the very first time I played Skyrim. Even if I start a character in an ARPG like POE or Grim Dawn in softcore I will abandon it if it dies. Already abandoned a few in POE. Sometimes I wish I didn't do that but I cannot not do it for some reason; not sure why; weird I guess.
Hey Ziz, amazing content as usual. I really like this format a lot. I agree on both points of playing Hardcore and SSF. I sadly cant play hardcore with my current laptop, its beyond bad and laggy that i usually fie 10-15 per 2 hour play sessions in general. Now with regards to SSF, i really want to play in SSF, and i tried one league, but i sadly do not have enough crafting experience to do that. So here is my request, is it at all possible for you to make a Comprehensive Crafting Guide or Intro for the current game model ? Thanks a lot for all the videos you have been making lately, it is extremely enjoyable and educational. Keep it up man.
for me ssf all the way, when i was playing trade league things that dropped mattered so little or didn’t matter at all - when things dropped i didnt see the item but how much chaos it sells for, and i didnt farm an item - i farmed currency so i can buy it, i was slowly losing interest in game until i tried ssf - then it reignited all again. whether hc or not depends on you, i play hc but wouldn’t recommend it
I've never played a Diablo 3 season on softcore. I started PoE about a year ago, only playing the beta before that. I played metamorph hardcore. I now only play softcore.
I don't agree with the negativity on softcore at the end of the video, but it was interesting to hear insight on why you play hardcore sfs. I don't have time to invest in a game like I did when I was younger and having to constantly restart would make me quit the game entirely instead of taking breaks every other league or so like I currently do. That is why I'm glad trading and softcore are both things in the game.
Pretty reasonable take. I prefer SC by a lot, but the points you make are true and valid. Also I like this style of vid where you just give your thoughts on stuff.
Im playing standard softcore with a 100k dps build. Fighting drox for half an hour being able to be killed if you let your guard down is pretty adrenaline heavy
I enjoy these videos a lot! Hearing how a long term veteran sees the game is deeply interesting to me, I've been playing since 2017 and still consider myself a novice and my experience compared to yours is completely different. Such a class game. Shame I got really bad burnout during heist after Harvest :(
I always enjoy your 'thoughts' videos, keep em coming. I can't stomach HC for an entire league but I loved getting a taste of it during the last Gauntlet and will definitely play future ones. The adrenaline rush is unreal, just getting through Merc lab felt at least as exciting as my first time defeating A8 Sirus or Uber Elder on SC. Ritual is the first league I've chosen to play SSF and it's a very refreshing change. The game got kind of stale for me in Heist because I started only caring about the chaos/exalt value of everything that I dropped or crafted. Once I had a couple of strong builds and currency to spare, even dropping a 'pride reservation' Aul amulet or landing a sweet double corrupt on a Shav's felt kinda meh. I had a number of chase/crafting goals for the league which I never followed through on because I reached a point where I could just buy the stuff I wanted. I'm not sure if I'll play SSF in future leagues because I do feel a little limited in what I can do. Harvest helps but I've spent a ton of time chasing add Phys or add/remove Phys because I need an explody chest to progress one build and a better bleed bow to progress the other. No luck so far, and knowing that I could buy them for a few exalts in trade is kinda torturous. Still, it's much more exciting to actually care about what I drop (getting 'The Surrender' from a div card literally made me jump out of my chair) so I'm definitely going to resist the 'migrate all' button until at least the last two weeks of the league.
Feel you man. Started with Cremation and wanted to rush labs when it was lieutenants. The adrenaline rush was insane when trying to not reflect myself with the aoes and man it felt good. Also, really feel the Surrender part. It's not a good practice to plan around (rare uniques) so when I got Soultaker in Ritual in my very first white maps, I was so excited even though I had no use for it at the time. Now I have the Kingmaker waiting for idk, maybe a spectre summoner or something just because I have a strong and fairly uncommon item that is semi buid-enabling. It's crazy how good it feels to get a gimmick unique or such which makes you really think what you could do with it.
Agreed, I also don't understand why people are so keen on caring about what other people do, how much money they have etc. Seems like people are obsessed with what others are doing/have instead of taking care of themselves.
I remember when I use to play PoE Hardcore. The good days before stuff was so stupidly rippy in the wrong ways that it didn't feel like I was just tempting fate to get a stupid death. Not that there wasn't issues back then. I still remember dying in a 1 week HC race when I was in top 20 on a stupidly easy map only because I lagged and rubber banded hard and died the last day of the race. I really wish HC was appealing to me again but I feel like even without lag issues being as big of an issue (well, outside of the new LOL STREAMING lag particularly if you pop any sort of mechanic) there is just so much stuff that can lead to an incredibly cheap feeling death rather then one where I can really feel like 'oh I was dumb, this death is my fault' which just makes me not want to bother.
I'm coming back to PoE for the first time since the beta. Even have an Eternal Orb in my bank and stuff like that. Probably gonna dive into SSF Softcore League. I would like to go HC but I remember almost nothing about the game and they added so much complexity that starting in HC seems ill-advised.
My best experience this League was playing private league with 6-7 friends. Group SSF kinda. It extends playtime and at the same time helps you with bad RNG.
Why he plays HC is simple..... he is a streamer, its his job, constantly having to reset when he fucks up increases excitement and gives me more content to redo
@@someguy4844 Mathil has said its a job so he treats it as one.... even when he's not enjoying playing atm he still does He also has a completely different approach to the game
As a guy who played D2 HC for over 10 years and who's playing POE for a bit over a year I'm going to mention some of the differences that made me play regular SC (mostly - I do have 2 or 3 chars over lvl 90 in SSF and have 2 chars that died 89 in HC): 1. playing on wifi is not adviseable for HC, there's too many things that one shot you in this game and sooner or later, a lag spike will get you killed. 2. I have tried playing bleed bow glad last league twice in SSF, I got to act 6 at lvl 46 and have target farmed Hyrri for 4 - 5 hours each time, one char got to lvl 68 in act 6, got 4 sets of cards and all 4 turned to be shield... the simple fact that such meaningless items can take hours to obtain is making this not worth doing it most of the time... 3. I enjoy playing stone golem builds, I have played one the last 3 leagues (I know, braindead build but it does give me the option to focus on other things beside the game, like petting my cat or drinking my coffe), to get all the primordial jewels I need in SSF I would probably have to triple the amount of time I play and focus on only that goal... There's other things I can mention also but the thing is, [TLDR] HC SSF POE is not a friendly enviroment for anyone who does not commit fully to playing it.
Only thing I dislike about current POE as a fellow HC SSF player (though I don't play as much as you I assume) is Harvest. Im not chasing anything besides Harvest, I will get everything from Harvest, for every single build.
when u play HC, u have to play it strategically, and u must have or gain from it tons of knowledge just in order to live another day and u have to have or learn from it the price you pay for your action, not matter what causes the death, from lack of knowledge of game or accident (lack of resist, evasion, armor to run into group blindly, or didn't look at the monster prefix or suffix, and even disconnection, ctd etc.)
i am definetely a softcore guy, i would have died this season like 4 times because of game crashes where i couldnt do anything, i would be so mad if this would happen in hardcore. but i am growing on the idea of playing ssf since 2-3 seasons. especially because drops become more significant, like your example of the impulsa, in ssf you would have just found some chaos, nevermind its not even worth an ex, nothing special, in ssf it can mean a lot more. the only thing still hindering me is that i am the worst at linking items.
@@hadison6838 I used to have the same mindset as them. I still hate leveling new characters every league. But after an unfortunately large amount of time in standard, I realized that trying to learn the game and make money for builds in a hyper inflated economy is not the way to do it. I find that I have more relative capital in the leagues and it makes funding builds so much easier.
As somebody who has only ever played leagues since 2013 I am really thinking about only doing standard now thst I work way too much and I have a family now which consists of a 2 year old and a newborn (2 weeks old) I haven't played in a week currently and I think standard would be best for me from now on with my lack of time
@@hadison6838 All of my characters are well equipped from either crafting or buying items. Prices aren't bad in my experience, but the builds I play are simple and scale well (slammers, impales, etc). The best part: I only had to do it once. If that makes me tough, I guess that's the fact.
Understandable point. The problem with SSF for me is just that even the "trash tier uniques" are too rare as it is balanced around trade. I would probably play SSF if either currency would be greatly enhanced so you can better forge your stuff even while leveling and not just give it a nice craft addition or I would play hardcore when the punishment of loosing your character wasnt there. So just loosing your gear or something, the way it is now is just too much lost time.
@@Olvenskol to be fair, their business model is shit. Many players pointed out dozens of QoL features that can be sold. Currently the only QoL feature you can buy is stashes (and even among them a LOT of options are missing like converting normal/enhanced stashes into quads). Already got plenty of stashes and like many growned up I don't care about mtx, I never played barbie and I don't plan to.
my biggest problem with HC and SSF and pretty much the only reason why I don't switch (please feel free to convince me) is that I feel soo limited in choosing builds.. in SC u can just play anything because if the build doesn't work out u can still go glasscannon with that exact skill u which to play with and clear nearly all of content
I play PoE to take a break from other games. The issues that prevents me to move from SC to SSF or HC are: - The game sometimes oneshot you unfairly with 0 counterplay. - Even in these days, the game feels severly unoptimized, FPS going up and down on crowded maps making you to move in a way you didn't want to. - I really like completing 36 challenges each league, and theres no variations on the reward from SC/SSF/HC etc. A medium HC where you lose your inventory on death instead of your character could be nice. But I would only play it if they add different rewards on challenges for that league compared to SC. Even if they are just chromas from the SC rewards it's enough to get me into the league. (they could also tweak the challenges a bit if they decide to give different rewards on SSF and HCSSF if they are too much of a pain in the ass to complete)
@@lolleonlolable rerolling. taking safe paths, altf4. Wondering how many kill ritual sirus/atziri got first week. And worst ones, server issues. I feel like losing entire inventory vs a dc is awful, but it wouldnt be as awful as doing the entire campaign again for something that was out of your control.
@@Vexferen what u mean taking safe paths ? ppl like alkaizer or dan do like the hardest content and bearly ever die. most of the time ppl die its thier fault not a dc or some shit. i cant even remember the last time when i died to a lag or dc its jears ago .. when u lag u just log out, you basicly have to lag and than logout and THEN get packettloss dc or whatever this shit is and than ur probably dead but thats really really rare.
What get's you addicted is the moment of loss (death) not the anticipation or thrill. (Gambling/gaming) addicts do not want to hear that but our bodies send out more of "the good stuff" when you die as opposed to - let's say - finding a mirror.
I actually enjoy HCSSF a lot, but I play normal trade league cause I play with my friends. Now that harvest is in the core, I will probably change to HCSSF as one thing I enjoy about trade league is the amazing items you can buy, but, now, with harvest, you can easily craft so good items
I got to admit, I've gotten my highest char to 91 or 92 in HC, and I've played it in total of like 2-3 leagues since early days (I've heard we don't brag about it, since it's like vegans xD) BUT I got to admit, even though I have 3k hours in this game and love it to bits, the reason I don't play HC is because I am actually SO slow with lvling! It takes me anywhere from 6-8 hours the first char (league starter) and maybe half that time the second and third time around with lvling gear. And even though I do admit I get the rush you're talking about when playing HC, it's also the fact that when I die, I know I have to "waste" 3-8 hours of my life to get to the part that I love again or at the very least LIKE. Whilst doing things I don't like (lvling) It's not that I HATE lvling through the acts, it's just that I've done it so many times by now, and am still slow at it xD And I know, just practice and get faster, but I mean, as a average joe, you don't have many hours of the day to play like many of the big content creators, which is fine, BUT that also means using a few days to get to maps is kind of...dauting in a way when you could just sit down and rush through it in a day if you're in SC with just going full dps and throwing yourself at the boss you keep dying to. I don't know. It's always tempting to start HC, and especially HCSSF, at least that way I'd have a good reason to reroll and try different builds! :P
Despite the 200+ ping, I played HCSSF for the 1st time during the recent flashback event. It was fun until we got a surprise blackout, when the electricity came back my lv73 champion was dead.
@Manta style to ignite too, to corrupted blood ... and to GGG's bugs. I died IN MY HIDEOUT this league, burned by ritual effect up until my f**king HO ...
I have good pc but awful internet connection. Can't play on lockstep. I love hardcore but i'm forced into softcore because of constant desyncs and lags.
Im just trying to put in as much work as you do Ziz. Here i am trimming hedges all Sunday for $150 still dont think im grinding as hard as you. Hope you hit whatever goal you have set.
I have thought about trying out HC again. I have played it only once, got an ex on my first map, then subsequently died on said map due to the new league mechanic... Made me think I should learn a bit more before trying again, more so given how many ways there are to be basically one shot...
I played 4 leagues of ssf hc and never got to doing real endgame as in juiced 16+ maps/deep delve/awakener 8 farming cause i keep dying to trivial stuff on lvl 92 or some such.. Enjoyed that alot (no kidding). Am enjoying scrubcore ssf in echo doing maven n stuff alot as well!
great video. I like hardcore and standard as two different games. Standard lets me figure out if I want to invest in a build, once I have a build I then use hardcore to test how good I am at the game. Endgaming standard is not fun for me, how can I test my skill at the game if there are no negative repercussions to dying? But I do agree, "hardcore only" is toxic AF... I basically quit the game when Oriath came out.. because I could not beat the bosses and I "HAD" to play hardcore only lol.
Exactly this. I can understand Streamers playing HC because they just have the time to do it. Hell I would to if it was my job or I wouldn't need to work anymore. But the state of the game just isn't there for people that have limited time.
@@AGVenge It's not about latency. There are enough other issues. But I won't tell you because you obviously are blind to it and are one of those HC over everything guys.
@@AGVenge Well im not saying its not enjoyable and im not saying there couldn't be someone with no issues at all. All im doing is expressing my opinion on it and how I fell about it.
@@AGVenge there have been game breaking bugs that will kill you literally every league i can remember over the years i've been playing. 9/10 times staying alive isnt a challenge, its just not getting unlucky or building an unkillable character.
I started dipping my toes into SSF and HC since hravest. And I cannot decide which is better or worse. Its just different, uncomparable. Sometimes I feel like building specific character that needs a lot of specific uniques/rare mods, and I dont feel like Farming months on end after work to get stuff I need, so I play trade. Sometimes I play a build that desnt need any of it and II play SSF. And my view on leveling, I hate it just as much on HC as I do on SC, maybe even more, because I need to take it slower, because of risk of dying. But I keep doing it because all the events are always SSF HC. I wish there was medium core in sense that you have limited ammount of deaths allowed. Like 10 or something.
Private leagues are the future. You can play with friends while still keeping the drops exciting. We literally have 2 dying suns on the server so there are people still running shaper a month in.
I would play SSF if there was a way to hide those damm buttons that want me to migrate. HC isn't for me since this game is just too punishing. Edit: nvm rerolling to SSF because it is more challenging and trading is disgusting. But still not HC.
Maybe some day I will try it.. but not now, i just aint got time to start over when I die. I personally play softcore trade but I never rush to buy things even if I have money. I usually spend a week trying to achieve it and only if I fail I am buying to progress. I just got limited time for the game so hardcore ssf is something I totally agree is a way more excited and enjoyable to play, but I do care of the time I spend on the games.
I'd like to try hardcore, i'm loving ssf. I played many hardcore characters on D3, but poe feels very scary. Do you have any videos on "how to start hc"?
That's why alot of games are doing AGAIN his classic version, because classic version of the games "Things meter", as POE HC things meter, die meter, itens meter etc.
Why I play softcore: 1. I'm a very slow player so I don't have the time to invest (takes me about 20hrs to go through the 10 acts). 2. I die during the main acts... a lot.
Ziz Reflects is a new video series where Zizaran talks about topics in a podcast type of approach, to talk about (mostly) Path of Exile.
Let us know what you think about this format!
I think it's cool to do some informal 'talk' videos, especially when it comes to making the game more fun for people (that's what we're here for, right?). I would love to see a video talking about your experiences building a hideout. There are some really cool hideouts that I've seen from playing in trade league and I'm curious what your experience has been with that.
> Reflects
Yo I can't run these
I like it, insights from someone who plays as much I'd like. Feels very comfy to watch
These intros are amazing
it's actually a really good series imo, very chill
I like that SSF encourages you more to actually use crafting items for crafting, instead of just selling them and then using that to buy the item you want to make.
First time SSF this league. For me, absence of FOMO feeling. I dont care if community is abusing mechanic, or running some new feature or found some new build which breaks the game. I just striding on my own pace, setting my own goals and getting excited for random drops. And actually keeping with build much much longer.
Also skipping trade. Requiring to come back from map every 2-5mins to sell some crap because need to grind that currency! Or else you feel broke as shit.
Not existing now. Just pure game fun for myself.
Also GGG fix damn loading time. This is ridiculous
@@modisp I'm hoping next league is similar to this one, as I will try SSF. I wish I did this league but gone too far.
My thoughts exacly
Ya, that is cool that they offer something like SSF, I think it would be cool if they had some way to play offline with SSF though considering there is no real reason you NEED to be online to play SSF. : )
The crafting system in this game is sooo satisfying to me, sure it's very RNG dependant especially at the start, but once you get some recipe and you find gear that can be made better just by replacing or adding missing suffix and affixes? It is incredibly satisfying and you kinda realize from that point on that these famous currencies people like to trade around, are in reality just crafting mats for you to use in crafting.
When I saw Ziz reflects and saw the length of the video, I thought it was a bit short for all your reflect deaths.
This is better.
I appreciate the vast amount of videos that uploaded to UA-cam Zizaran, the Ritual League is the first league where I even made it to end game facing Conquerors and other End-game bosses, and I wouldn't have done it without your guides/tips. Anyway, you always look tired. I hope you are getting many hours of rest between the steaming & content creation.
As a new player, softcore SSF feels perfect. In my experience SSF has been way more enjoyable than trade because I have to actually learn about the game and where items come from, also when I get a new item to drop and think "cool, I have the option to do that other build now". I definitely wouldn't do Hardcore yet though as I don't know mechanics.
But as a new player, its really hard to get to the endgame stuff in ssf, comapred to trade.
@@zxkredo But the feeling when you do get there is immensely satisfying.
@@bilbobaggins55587 Of course, but i think that if a new player started playing this league, there's no way the would kill Maven.
@@zxkredo thats a good thing (subjective)
@@junk3996 welp its a different experience for sure
Standard is actually amazing for your opposite: people who have very little time to play. By the time they accomplish something new three months is over, then a new mechanic is added into the base game. They don't have to restart from scratch and they have all their accumulated resources and characters to clear the new challenges and farm new loot.
SSF is where the fun is for me. The sense of accomplishment and interacting with all game mechanics is great. Trade feels like everything is a chaos orb and I need to optimise my time farming currency over anything. I feel like I’m actually playing the entire game on SSF and learning the systems in detail.
It might be stupid but completing the Pale Court for example feels pretty good on SSF.
Couldn't agree more. The real weight of items is in SSF, and using currency for actual crafting is very satisfying. Also, Ritual right now is the best league mechanic ever for SSF, the ritual shops make it a whole experience better outside of trade league, for me.
Exactly this. And everything is exactly as valuable as you think. A simple instant staunching flask can be as valuable as a boss unique for example. And you are in full control of how impactful your currency is.
I mean, an exalt is a crafting item, not something to hoard in your currency tab :) Which leads to how nice it feels to get that last exalt to do a multimod for example. Equally frustrating to not drop one to multimod though.
"HC SSF players are, of cource, the vegans of path of exile."
- SsethTzeentach
there is always so much wisdom in Sseths words
"How do you tell if someone is a HCSSF player?"
"Don't worry. They'll tell you."
He was referring to HC only
Why I play softcore: I have a dog that likes to come and distract me.
Been watching you since Breach, it was cool to hear you talk about your opinion changing on SSF. I remember you loving trade league more and then seeing you play SSF for months on end made me wonder what changed.
I really enjoyed watching this. You make some very interesting points as to why I should try Hardcore and perhaps even SSF.
ziz reflects is a bold title choice lol
Notice his very next character is a chaos-based character, lol. No reflect
@@jasonbaker6795 Learn. Adapt. Overcome.
I'm happy for you @Zizaran , it really feels like you've been putting in the work and your flame and passion for the game and creating content for the community is back in full force. Keep it up Cheers!
Hi Ziz, I actually spoke to you about this during Exilecon and decided to try hardcore SSF last league during the flashback event. It was incredibly fun, and I leveled three different characters to maps (one of which ripped to delirium baran maps sadly). Actually using all the currency I dropped and considering every part of a character when running content was such a different experience compared to trade league that I definitely will continue SSFHC in the future. Definitely agree with your points in the video!
Thanks for another format, keep posting some of your thoughts about PoE when you feel you want to share something with us. Just one more question about the technical aspect, I noticed that your UA-cam clips are more quiet than the others (and definitely more quiet than your Twitch Stream) - could you please take a look into that if that is not intended?
Will do!
This question I was searching on google why ppl play hardcore, and I just sub ur channel like a week ago and I know you one of the top steamer of this game out there and brought this up, THANK YOU!
You're totally right about Div cards that give special boss drops - those totally shouldn't exist or should only drop off the boss itself!
Not only that but they have to change how level penalty works. Today I've decided to far "The beast" for my SSF character and I realize that I have to roll new character to farm it or I have to farm only prophecies.
I got sick of hardcore and losing my items while not playing alot but i lost all joy of the game when playing softcore. This vid made me realize i need to do hardcore again
I started playing SSF in 3.6 after being burned out from Trade and all the fuzz it comes with. It since then is the best gaming experience I ever had, feels so much more natural and exciting. Can only recommend to try it. (PS I play Standard SSF, which means I keep all my items and progress forever, which feels like building a house and is very rewarding to me. Yes I miss the new league, but I get it 3 months later when it's usually really polished:)
When I play softcore, Im level 98 trying to get to level 99, only 20% on the exp bar to go. Now I cant play any hard, rippy content, no juiced delirious maps, i cant play Sirus and other risky bosses, i get super worried about map mods, Im always on edge, every big mob pack, every door i have to open in heist, every chest I open, horrible feeling, cant imagine playing the whole game like that.
Ziz I am gonna need a posture check from you ASAP
Completely agree on The leveling thoughts,and your gauntlet event made me try hardcore,The game gets alot more deep when you have to concentrate from The start.
I have about 1300 hours on Poe and I've really started to notice the chore of leveling and the lack of thrill from bossing, I normally play standard leagues. I think I'm ready to try out HC SSF
You will have to level way more often in HC
@@svhafen The thing about HC is that you actually need to care about your gear while leveling. In SC you can ignore your resistances and just face slam into everything. Yes you level more but the process is not as pointless.
I play softcore because I suck (hey, I'm 63 and reactions ain't what they used to be!). But I do try to die as little as possible and dying feels bad. It doesn't help that POE does have some cheesy insta-kill moments. But SSF is cool, because you don't have to feel pressured to zoom and drops matter so much more. Plus you are encouraged to engage with all the content to find the crafts and drops you need. I've been enjoying your recent 10-minute vids Zizaran.
for me, trade league is a completely different game.
In trade league i play currency farm simulator, in ssf i actually play the game.
I enjoy trading alot, so ssf feels like something important is missing :D
Trading can feel horrible sometimes when you ask the top 100 sellers with reasonable prices to buy their stuff and maybe one answers to you and says "sold" and you feel blessed for even getting a response in the 3 hours of trade league. Im not saying that i prefer ssf because when i get an expensive item for another build i can sell it and buy the one i need for my build.
I don't like trading, but sometimes, you need those currencies for crafting.
Yes that's true. But I wish we had more vendor recipes in ssf cause it is quite annoying to pick up things you don't want to pickup just because something is not sustaining. After I started ssf half year ago I realised that when I got something dropped in trade I saw just 5c here, 10c there, wow good 8ex shav and so on. On ssf you deal with real items, especially when you get something like cool essences, fossils, currency or boss fragments. It's so enjoyable to spend these things for youself not thinking in the way you just lost 5ex for this.
I read the title and realized ho wmuch the word reflect means to me lol. Immediately perked.
As far as the video, I enjoy your content, so pump away. Obviously the better I learn the game the better, but not always necessary.
I start SSF in 3.13 thanks to you and the excitement of drop is 1000% better than trade league
Never going back for me
I’m in a Medium Core limbo right now, I don’t have as much time to relevel if I die in HC but playing SSF SC I can’t trust myself to delete all my gear if I die😂
Not a HC player but moved from SC trade to SC SSF and oh my god its so much more fun than trade league IMO. Will never go back. Hitting a triple notable fire cluster jewel on my divine ire ignite SSFcharacter was the greatest feeling I've had playing this game
I've enjoyed playing HC in D2, but I can't imagine enjoying it in PoE. The PvE balance and enemy design is too sloppy for it to be fun.
as someone who 90% of the time play HC i can only agree the way the game is going its just getting more and more annoying one shots in HC that kinda ruins the fun. sure u can close calls but most deaths are too some bs you either dont see as the effects overlap or u get offscreened.
Two things stop me from trying HC in POE: the enemy design and being online-only.
@@idkfa1000000 As someone who 100% of the time play HC i can assure you the game becomes much more HC friendly with every league.
@@noxustds lol
HC isnt hard, it basically locks some content based on its risk for your build unlike SC. I played HC for a long time and it was game of avoiding rippy content for me. Basically you play as coward that would rather cut his enjoyment from game than die, otherwise you rip characters no matter how skilled you are all the time. And random rippy content in this game isnt even that rewarding.
Enjoyed the reflection. Very oriented to SSF myself.
I will have to say something about SSF / standard / hardcore etc. from my point of view. One of the strongest things about trade league, is that you interact with people which is very very important for me because you may or may not loose into the game after a while, so even a simple trade for me matters because it gives me sort of connection-feedback from another human being
The game itself is awsome but because is an arpg game it means that connection between players is different than in an mmorpg game, for example so that's why i consider that's super important to keep connection as much as possible between players
good point!
started ssfhc for the very first time in heist and killed sirus on my second attempt, after my first char died at 89. im usually not a HC\ssf player and it was just a one-time challenge for me, but whats funny is that it had a huge impact on my motivation playing softcore trade. ritual started and i played sc trade and got bored \ burnt out after 2 weeks, never happened before. it felt so easy and pointless, did not expect that
I had the same feeling after switching to hc/ssfhc. Oftentimes I make a char around mid-league to get some remaining challenges done if I need and man, I barely get to maps when I already want to change league. Not exaggarating, even getting through acts feels just... empty to me in sc. And that made me really understand why sc players don't like leveling through acts. Cos they mean nothing.
You have changed your approach of UA-cam Viewers recently. And it is perfect.
I play softcore, but I play with a hardcore mindset.
If a character dies, I tend to reroll. But if it's my league start, and the build itself is decent, just had a dumb death, I try to at least push to maps to unlock things for my next run.
I would love to see the option (for free, not paying for a private league) to have party system restricted to your guild and friend's list. You could still trade items with your friends this way, and play in groups for carries, but without the hassle of whispering people for items all the time.
I also think private leagues should be able to globally change drop rates (more item quantity/rarity, up to a certain amount), but be locked/voided leagues. It would be cool to have access to more legendary items for a change, and of course making it voided/locked (can't transfer to another league) would mean you cannot destroy the economy of the main leagues.
I started the game for the first time in this league and made a trade league account because I wanted to play with my friends. I quickly realized that because of how the league starts as a race I was tremendously behind. I started mapping on day 2 and had a lot of fun. Eventually got to the point where I realized I hadn’t been playing with my friends the entire time. I was asking questions and conversing with them but not actually playing with them. I’m pretty sure that I’m converting to ssf. Not quite hardcore yet because I don’t understand the attack patterns of bosses. But ssf definetely has sounded more appealing every day.
You make some really nice points! I started playing this league and would want to get to a point where I've cleared at least most of the end game bosses and such before I go for HC or SSF, to feel more comfortable in knowing how to make a build, scale it and know of most of the potential oneshots. I'm quite hesitant towards HC since I'd feel like I'm at the mercy of lag spikes and such that I do die to as it is now. SSF is interesting and for now I'm limiting myself to trading only things that I could get by good rng or grinding, for example not buying a starforge before I've beaten Shaper, I shouldn't need shaper drops to beat it.
I want a version of solo self found for two players.
private leagues ?
You can just play trade league and not trade except with each other. SSF just forces you to abide by some rules that you can choose to do anyhow.
I really appreciate the name of this series. That is all.
semi new player here. love your videos. i cant wait to be at the point i can do ssf. the way you put it of not having impactful drops in trade is exactly how i feel rn. keep up the content!
I play hardcore in other games, but I feel like Path of Exile is a little too unforgiving with instadeath mechanics like exploding corpses or opening a strongbox that freezes you (let's face it, we all run into that once in a while by surprise). However, I do agree 100% that playing SSF is a good, relaxing way to add some enjoyment into the game. You don't have the pressure of trading items or looking for that perfect item. All you have is yourself and the game. It's less about racing to the end and more about the journey. Plus it forces you to learn the crafting system in PoE, which has it's own benefits.
the last gauntlet was super fun :D I have never really played hardcore before that but actually made it to level 90 (after like 7 deaths in the story)! a crazy experience
It's nice to get insight regarding ssf hc. I realize most people play softcore. Would it be possible to have videos that are catered towards ssf hardcore style such as builds and finding items that would only work in ssf hc? I've wanted to transition into ssf hc but finding it difficult to find information for that particular mode playstyle.
Most of zizaran's builds and guides are HC oriented...
I started playing SSF because I wanted to actually start learning the game more, I was relying too heavily on just farming currency and buying my build to steam roll the game. It adds more challenge, but it is more rewarding and In the end I have more fun, even if I don't progress as far as I could in Trade League. I know for some, trading is the pinnacle of PoE, and that is fine. I think it is cool that there are options.
Yes I like these reflect vids. I'm new to this game and attracted to SSF & hardcore. I even play Skyrim hardcore; meaning if i die I always abandon the character. I didn't intend or decide to do that; I just found that was what I did from the very first time I played Skyrim. Even if I start a character in an ARPG like POE or Grim Dawn in softcore I will abandon it if it dies. Already abandoned a few in POE. Sometimes I wish I didn't do that but I cannot not do it for some reason; not sure why; weird I guess.
Hey Ziz, amazing content as usual. I really like this format a lot. I agree on both points of playing Hardcore and SSF. I sadly cant play hardcore with my current laptop, its beyond bad and laggy that i usually fie 10-15 per 2 hour play sessions in general.
Now with regards to SSF, i really want to play in SSF, and i tried one league, but i sadly do not have enough crafting experience to do that.
So here is my request, is it at all possible for you to make a Comprehensive Crafting Guide or Intro for the current game model ?
Thanks a lot for all the videos you have been making lately, it is extremely enjoyable and educational. Keep it up man.
I do enjoy your opinions, even if I don't agree with some of them.
Having another perspective is very useful.
for me ssf all the way, when i was playing trade league things that dropped mattered so little or didn’t matter at all - when things dropped i didnt see the item but how much chaos it sells for, and i didnt farm an item - i farmed currency so i can buy it, i was slowly losing interest in game until i tried ssf - then it reignited all again. whether hc or not depends on you, i play hc but wouldn’t recommend it
I've never played a Diablo 3 season on softcore. I started PoE about a year ago, only playing the beta before that. I played metamorph hardcore. I now only play softcore.
I don't agree with the negativity on softcore at the end of the video, but it was interesting to hear insight on why you play hardcore sfs.
I don't have time to invest in a game like I did when I was younger and having to constantly restart would make me quit the game entirely instead of taking breaks every other league or so like I currently do. That is why I'm glad trading and softcore are both things in the game.
Pretty reasonable take. I prefer SC by a lot, but the points you make are true and valid. Also I like this style of vid where you just give your thoughts on stuff.
Im playing standard softcore with a 100k dps build.
Fighting drox for half an hour being able to be killed if you let your guard down is pretty adrenaline heavy
Sounds like every build I ever made xD
I enjoy these videos a lot! Hearing how a long term veteran sees the game is deeply interesting to me, I've been playing since 2017 and still consider myself a novice and my experience compared to yours is completely different. Such a class game. Shame I got really bad burnout during heist after Harvest :(
I always enjoy your 'thoughts' videos, keep em coming.
I can't stomach HC for an entire league but I loved getting a taste of it during the last Gauntlet and will definitely play future ones. The adrenaline rush is unreal, just getting through Merc lab felt at least as exciting as my first time defeating A8 Sirus or Uber Elder on SC.
Ritual is the first league I've chosen to play SSF and it's a very refreshing change. The game got kind of stale for me in Heist because I started only caring about the chaos/exalt value of everything that I dropped or crafted. Once I had a couple of strong builds and currency to spare, even dropping a 'pride reservation' Aul amulet or landing a sweet double corrupt on a Shav's felt kinda meh. I had a number of chase/crafting goals for the league which I never followed through on because I reached a point where I could just buy the stuff I wanted.
I'm not sure if I'll play SSF in future leagues because I do feel a little limited in what I can do. Harvest helps but I've spent a ton of time chasing add Phys or add/remove Phys because I need an explody chest to progress one build and a better bleed bow to progress the other. No luck so far, and knowing that I could buy them for a few exalts in trade is kinda torturous. Still, it's much more exciting to actually care about what I drop (getting 'The Surrender' from a div card literally made me jump out of my chair) so I'm definitely going to resist the 'migrate all' button until at least the last two weeks of the league.
Feel you man.
Started with Cremation and wanted to rush labs when it was lieutenants. The adrenaline rush was insane when trying to not reflect myself with the aoes and man it felt good.
Also, really feel the Surrender part. It's not a good practice to plan around (rare uniques) so when I got Soultaker in Ritual in my very first white maps, I was so excited even though I had no use for it at the time. Now I have the Kingmaker waiting for idk, maybe a spectre summoner or something just because I have a strong and fairly uncommon item that is semi buid-enabling. It's crazy how good it feels to get a gimmick unique or such which makes you really think what you could do with it.
@@LauriHuu Oh man, I viscerally remember the fear of the reflect. Felt more like I was fighting Atziri than Izaro
Agreed, I also don't understand why people are so keen on caring about what other people do, how much money they have etc. Seems like people are obsessed with what others are doing/have instead of taking care of themselves.
I remember when I use to play PoE Hardcore. The good days before stuff was so stupidly rippy in the wrong ways that it didn't feel like I was just tempting fate to get a stupid death. Not that there wasn't issues back then. I still remember dying in a 1 week HC race when I was in top 20 on a stupidly easy map only because I lagged and rubber banded hard and died the last day of the race. I really wish HC was appealing to me again but I feel like even without lag issues being as big of an issue (well, outside of the new LOL STREAMING lag particularly if you pop any sort of mechanic) there is just so much stuff that can lead to an incredibly cheap feeling death rather then one where I can really feel like 'oh I was dumb, this death is my fault' which just makes me not want to bother.
I started playing Hardcore ssf because of you. i Love every Minute of it, and got my first ever Character at level 94 : ) Sorry, i am a casual
I couldn't even get to level 50 in the endless delve. You are like a whole level above me on this stuff.
I'm coming back to PoE for the first time since the beta. Even have an Eternal Orb in my bank and stuff like that. Probably gonna dive into SSF Softcore League. I would like to go HC but I remember almost nothing about the game and they added so much complexity that starting in HC seems ill-advised.
My best experience this League was playing private league with 6-7 friends. Group SSF kinda. It extends playtime and at the same time helps you with bad RNG.
YESSS!!! THIS is why 'I' love hardcore tooo!!! I dont play ssf but still love Hardcore
Why he plays HC is simple..... he is a streamer, its his job, constantly having to reset when he fucks up increases excitement and gives me more content to redo
Yet mathil..........
@@someguy4844 Mathil has said its a job so he treats it as one.... even when he's not enjoying playing atm he still does
He also has a completely different approach to the game
Ziz the d2 community still popping. Pvp mainly. But good to know where the roots came from.
As a guy who played D2 HC for over 10 years and who's playing POE for a bit over a year I'm going to mention some of the differences that made me play regular SC (mostly - I do have 2 or 3 chars over lvl 90 in SSF and have 2 chars that died 89 in HC): 1. playing on wifi is not adviseable for HC, there's too many things that one shot you in this game and sooner or later, a lag spike will get you killed. 2. I have tried playing bleed bow glad last league twice in SSF, I got to act 6 at lvl 46 and have target farmed Hyrri for 4 - 5 hours each time, one char got to lvl 68 in act 6, got 4 sets of cards and all 4 turned to be shield... the simple fact that such meaningless items can take hours to obtain is making this not worth doing it most of the time... 3. I enjoy playing stone golem builds, I have played one the last 3 leagues (I know, braindead build but it does give me the option to focus on other things beside the game, like petting my cat or drinking my coffe), to get all the primordial jewels I need in SSF I would probably have to triple the amount of time I play and focus on only that goal... There's other things I can mention also but the thing is, [TLDR] HC SSF POE is not a friendly enviroment for anyone who does not commit fully to playing it.
God tier editing, take my upvote
Only thing I dislike about current POE as a fellow HC SSF player (though I don't play as much as you I assume) is Harvest. Im not chasing anything besides Harvest, I will get everything from Harvest, for every single build.
That intro was on point !
when u play HC, u have to play it strategically, and u must have or gain from it tons of knowledge just in order to live another day
and u have to have or learn from it the price you pay for your action, not matter what causes the death, from lack of knowledge of game or accident (lack of resist, evasion, armor to run into group blindly, or didn't look at the monster prefix or suffix, and even disconnection, ctd etc.)
i am definetely a softcore guy, i would have died this season like 4 times because of game crashes where i couldnt do anything, i would be so mad if this would happen in hardcore. but i am growing on the idea of playing ssf since 2-3 seasons. especially because drops become more significant, like your example of the impulsa, in ssf you would have just found some chaos, nevermind its not even worth an ex, nothing special, in ssf it can mean a lot more. the only thing still hindering me is that i am the worst at linking items.
im just about 2700 hours played all in standard, kinda like the more consistency of things there :)
Me too. I don't have time to relevel each league.
@@seanmcgrady8688 So, you prefer shit economy over leveling new characters? Damn. You are tougher than me.
@@hadison6838 I used to have the same mindset as them. I still hate leveling new characters every league. But after an unfortunately large amount of time in standard, I realized that trying to learn the game and make money for builds in a hyper inflated economy is not the way to do it. I find that I have more relative capital in the leagues and it makes funding builds so much easier.
As somebody who has only ever played leagues since 2013 I am really thinking about only doing standard now thst I work way too much and I have a family now which consists of a 2 year old and a newborn (2 weeks old) I haven't played in a week currently and I think standard would be best for me from now on with my lack of time
@@hadison6838 All of my characters are well equipped from either crafting or buying items. Prices aren't bad in my experience, but the builds I play are simple and scale well (slammers, impales, etc). The best part: I only had to do it once.
If that makes me tough, I guess that's the fact.
Understandable point. The problem with SSF for me is just that even the "trash tier uniques" are too rare as it is balanced around trade. I would probably play SSF if either currency would be greatly enhanced so you can better forge your stuff even while leveling and not just give it a nice craft addition or I would play hardcore when the punishment of loosing your character wasnt there. So just loosing your gear or something, the way it is now is just too much lost time.
Why I don't play hardcore: shit pc, frequently crush
Same. Also I dont trust this game to be fair. Just some random glitch in system and you are dead. I dont need this frustration in life.
I won't say I have a shit PC at all, it's all about GGG coding and Chris don't want to hire coders, he's just about playing barbie's MTX.
@@AtlantisArch To be fair, GGG isn't paid for the game, only for the MTX ;)
@@Olvenskol to be fair, their business model is shit. Many players pointed out dozens of QoL features that can be sold. Currently the only QoL feature you can buy is stashes (and even among them a LOT of options are missing like converting normal/enhanced stashes into quads). Already got plenty of stashes and like many growned up I don't care about mtx, I never played barbie and I don't plan to.
Always nice with some insigth, love the new intro's :)
my biggest problem with HC and SSF and pretty much the only reason why I don't switch (please feel free to convince me) is that I feel soo limited in choosing builds.. in SC u can just play anything because if the build doesn't work out u can still go glasscannon with that exact skill u which to play with and clear nearly all of content
I play PoE to take a break from other games.
The issues that prevents me to move from SC to SSF or HC are:
- The game sometimes oneshot you unfairly with 0 counterplay.
- Even in these days, the game feels severly unoptimized, FPS going up and down on crowded maps making you to move in a way you didn't want to.
- I really like completing 36 challenges each league, and theres no variations on the reward from SC/SSF/HC etc.
A medium HC where you lose your inventory on death instead of your character could be nice. But I would only play it if they add different rewards on challenges for that league compared to SC. Even if they are just chromas from the SC rewards it's enough to get me into the league. (they could also tweak the challenges a bit if they decide to give different rewards on SSF and HCSSF if they are too much of a pain in the ass to complete)
so if the game oneshots you with 0 counterplay why are the same players almost always hit lvl 100 like easy in hc or even ssf hc ?
@@lolleonlolable rerolling. taking safe paths, altf4. Wondering how many kill ritual sirus/atziri got first week. And worst ones, server issues. I feel like losing entire inventory vs a dc is awful, but it wouldnt be as awful as doing the entire campaign again for something that was out of your control.
@@Vexferen what u mean taking safe paths ? ppl like alkaizer or dan do like the hardest content and bearly ever die. most of the time ppl die its thier fault not a dc or some shit. i cant even remember the last time when i died to a lag or dc its jears ago .. when u lag u just log out, you basicly have to lag and than logout and THEN get packettloss dc or whatever this shit is and than ur probably dead but thats really really rare.
What get's you addicted is the moment of loss (death) not the anticipation or thrill. (Gambling/gaming) addicts do not want to hear that but our bodies send out more of "the good stuff" when you die as opposed to - let's say - finding a mirror.
I actually enjoy HCSSF a lot, but I play normal trade league cause I play with my friends. Now that harvest is in the core, I will probably change to HCSSF as one thing I enjoy about trade league is the amazing items you can buy, but, now, with harvest, you can easily craft so good items
catch me vibing to the skyrim background music tho
Does the improved crafting options in recent challenge leagues make SSF more enjoyable? Or is it just different?
I got to admit, I've gotten my highest char to 91 or 92 in HC, and I've played it in total of like 2-3 leagues since early days (I've heard we don't brag about it, since it's like vegans xD) BUT I got to admit, even though I have 3k hours in this game and love it to bits, the reason I don't play HC is because I am actually SO slow with lvling! It takes me anywhere from 6-8 hours the first char (league starter) and maybe half that time the second and third time around with lvling gear. And even though I do admit I get the rush you're talking about when playing HC, it's also the fact that when I die, I know I have to "waste" 3-8 hours of my life to get to the part that I love again or at the very least LIKE. Whilst doing things I don't like (lvling) It's not that I HATE lvling through the acts, it's just that I've done it so many times by now, and am still slow at it xD
And I know, just practice and get faster, but I mean, as a average joe, you don't have many hours of the day to play like many of the big content creators, which is fine, BUT that also means using a few days to get to maps is kind of...dauting in a way when you could just sit down and rush through it in a day if you're in SC with just going full dps and throwing yourself at the boss you keep dying to.
I don't know. It's always tempting to start HC, and especially HCSSF, at least that way I'd have a good reason to reroll and try different builds! :P
you should do more "just thoughts" videos in the future. They're very nice and relaxing to listen to
These vids are fun keep em coming!
Despite the 200+ ping, I played HCSSF for the 1st time during the recent flashback event. It was fun until we got a surprise blackout, when the electricity came back my lv73 champion was dead.
if only my game doesnt lag when enemies spawn like strongbox etc i'd definitely try hc, but laptop cant handle shit
My ISP is the reason why I don’t play HC. I feel you there?
@@hollow3d same, conqueror maps have been hell this season. Can't get into blight either.
@Manta style to ignite too, to corrupted blood ... and to GGG's bugs. I died IN MY HIDEOUT this league, burned by ritual effect up until my f**king HO ...
I have good pc but awful internet connection. Can't play on lockstep. I love hardcore but i'm forced into softcore because of constant desyncs and lags.
Im just trying to put in as much work as you do Ziz. Here i am trimming hedges all Sunday for $150 still dont think im grinding as hard as you. Hope you hit whatever goal you have set.
I have thought about trying out HC again. I have played it only once, got an ex on my first map, then subsequently died on said map due to the new league mechanic... Made me think I should learn a bit more before trying again, more so given how many ways there are to be basically one shot...
ziz i need you to tell me how to access that animated maven background immediately PLEASE its so sick!
OMG stygian dolls during mephisto runs.... I remember ;_;
Instantly liked for the intro.
I played 4 leagues of ssf hc and never got to doing real endgame as in juiced 16+ maps/deep delve/awakener 8 farming cause i keep dying to trivial stuff on lvl 92 or some such.. Enjoyed that alot (no kidding). Am enjoying scrubcore ssf in echo doing maven n stuff alot as well!
great video. I like hardcore and standard as two different games. Standard lets me figure out if I want to invest in a build, once I have a build I then use hardcore to test how good I am at the game. Endgaming standard is not fun for me, how can I test my skill at the game if there are no negative repercussions to dying? But I do agree, "hardcore only" is toxic AF... I basically quit the game when Oriath came out.. because I could not beat the bosses and I "HAD" to play hardcore only lol.
I like these videos Ziz! Keep them coming!
I dont like palying hardcore just for one reason, the game is not hc ready, there are so many RNG factors and even problems with latency.
Exactly this. I can understand Streamers playing HC because they just have the time to do it. Hell I would to if it was my job or I wouldn't need to work anymore. But the state of the game just isn't there for people that have limited time.
Exactly. Performance issues make hardcore a no go for me
@@AGVenge It's not about latency. There are enough other issues. But I won't tell you because you obviously are blind to it and are one of those HC over everything guys.
@@AGVenge Well im not saying its not enjoyable and im not saying there couldn't be someone with no issues at all. All im doing is expressing my opinion on it and how I fell about it.
@@AGVenge there have been game breaking bugs that will kill you literally every league i can remember over the years i've been playing. 9/10 times staying alive isnt a challenge, its just not getting unlucky or building an unkillable character.
I started dipping my toes into SSF and HC since hravest. And I cannot decide which is better or worse. Its just different, uncomparable. Sometimes I feel like building specific character that needs a lot of specific uniques/rare mods, and I dont feel like Farming months on end after work to get stuff I need, so I play trade. Sometimes I play a build that desnt need any of it and II play SSF. And my view on leveling, I hate it just as much on HC as I do on SC, maybe even more, because I need to take it slower, because of risk of dying. But I keep doing it because all the events are always SSF HC. I wish there was medium core in sense that you have limited ammount of deaths allowed. Like 10 or something.
Private leagues are the future. You can play with friends while still keeping the drops exciting. We literally have 2 dying suns on the server so there are people still running shaper a month in.
I would play SSF if there was a way to hide those damm buttons that want me to migrate.
HC isn't for me since this game is just too punishing.
Edit: nvm rerolling to SSF because it is more challenging and trading is disgusting. But still not HC.
Maybe some day I will try it.. but not now, i just aint got time to start over when I die.
I personally play softcore trade but I never rush to buy things even if I have money. I usually spend a week trying to achieve it and only if I fail I am buying to progress. I just got limited time for the game so hardcore ssf is something I totally agree is a way more excited and enjoyable to play, but I do care of the time I spend on the games.
Just a quick comment to say Yes I do really enjoy these videos from you Ziz. Your thoughts are always appreciated.
I'd like to try hardcore, i'm loving ssf. I played many hardcore characters on D3, but poe feels very scary. Do you have any videos on "how to start hc"?
step 1: don't be a little bitch
That's why alot of games are doing AGAIN his classic version, because classic version of the games "Things meter", as POE HC things meter, die meter, itens meter etc.
Why I play softcore:
1. I'm a very slow player so I don't have the time to invest (takes me about 20hrs to go through the 10 acts).
2. I die during the main acts... a lot.