Beating the Campaign - Path of Exile for TOTAL Beginners

This Path of Exile Guide for TOTAL Beginners is focused on giving YOU the knowledge and information you'll need to know in order to beat the main story campaign without using any sort of build guide, and is the second of four guides in the series. But rather than telling you exactly what to do, it focuses more on general tips, principles, concepts, and game mechanics, to point you in the right direction as you explore Path of Exile on your own and at your own pace.

This video is up to date for the 3.22 Affliction League of Dec. 2023, but see pinned comment for changes from prior updates (particularly re Vendor Recipes).

CONTENTS:
00:00 Introduction
01:00 Game Settings and Options - Map & UI Settings
02:51 Keybinds and Hotkeys
04:18 Tips Introduction
04:43 Tip #1 - Experiment a LOT
06:00 Tip #2 - Try to Specialize
09:42 Tip #3 - Use Supporting Abilities
12:09 Tip #4 - Use Support Gems
14:39 Understanding Sockets
17:53 Tip #5 - Be Flexible Regarding Items and Gem Colors
19:15 Tip #6 - Focus Gear on Life and Resistances
21:25 Tip #7 - Avoid Useless Junk
23:53 Tip #8 - Use a Loot Filter
25:51 (MOSTLY OBSOLETE) Tip #9 - Learn to Use Vendor Recipes
28:05 Outro

Links to other guides in the series:

Links to Other Useful Information:

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Path of Exile is a free-to-play* online ARPG developed by Grinding Gear Games, and is available on PC and certain consoles. Interested in trying it out? Check out these links:

Graphical assets, sound effects, and music used in this video are from Path of Exile, and are used consistent with the game's Terms of Use:

Nothing in this video is sponsored by Grinding Gear Games, and the commentary and information in this video do not represent the opinions or positions of any other entity whatsoever, unless they happen to agree with me, which is pretty likely.

* Although the game is technically free-to-play, there is a cash shop, and if you end up wanting to really get into the game, you're going to need to at least buy a couple of stash tabs. More on that in the 4th video.

I wonder who the first person will be who doesn't realize that the thumbnail was a joke...

[salendrak]

*3.21 UPDATE:* Tip #9 in the video is now mostly obsolete, as the 3.21 league is removing the vendor recipes that added flat elemental damage to spells. The generic added physical damage and added spell damage recipes still work though.

[diplft]

I started POE a few days ago after dumping a hundred hours into D4 and needing a switch up, these videos have been INSANELY helpful, I’ve tried to play POE numerous times over the last 5 years and couldn’t even get the motivation to get out of the beach, I’m now halfway thru act 1 thanks to these videos :)

[ComfyDyl]

First video I’ve found that doesn’t tell you to blindly follow build guides without telling you how to. Great stuff

[lluisg.]

Great guide!
Most of the 'beginner' guides out there focus a lot on end game stuff, trading and currency. Completely overwhelming any newby.
Yours instead really points the main doubts we all had when playing for the first time. Also the chronological order of the tips is quite accurate to the character progression.
Good job!

[ShacharAdar]

I had no idea about the weighted color of sockets when using Chromatic orbs!
I was spamming 30+ and never got the wanted result, and now I understand why!!!
Thank you so much for your guides

[griffMcTall]

You are an outstanding teacher. Super clear and well paced. I reinstalled after watching the first video and am actually having fun with the game now. Just finished Act 1 today for the first time. Hope the momentum keeps going.

[kevinhumor]

Fantastic! After years of barely playing the first act and countless guides that are incredibly bias i'm actually understanding and wanting to play more and more!
I really wanna get atleast 1 character to endgame before poe 2, thank you!

[soznyw]

Thanks for the video Mr. Sal. Have 500+ hours on D4 and now I am done with S1, trying to learn PoE before the start of the new league and future sequel. I hope you keep creating this total beginner friendly content for us newbies.

[dallashill]

Great guide! I’ve always wondered why there were so so many terrible guides out there on POE, a game that doesn’t deserve to be overlooked

[Animear-]

Thank you. Seriously, by the end of the video everything “clicked” together in a way that DID make me feel confident in how to go about playing the game. I appreciate your hard work.

[lltagged]

Even though I beat the campaign already I got quite a few good tipps from this one! Wished I had known before. Thanks!

[TheShrtCircuit]

This is exactly the content I've been looking for. My friends who play a lot of poe always just point me at build guides, but now I feel like I can make a build for myself.

[paulovaldivia]

New to poe here, this videos are helping me alot!
Thank you for the content!🎉

[BaiDobchan]

200 hours in I learned how to not drag and drop items. Amazing.

[the-real-Lovefist]

Started playing this lately using build guide for league. Loot filter has been a blessing.

[raphaelbovey]

This is exactly the video I needed. Thanx.
PoE is such an amazing improvement in fun and scope coming from D4

[inaciolago]

Great video! I've always wanted to try this game but it felt sooo overwhelming i'd never got past the first 1 hour or so. Now i feel like i can understand it better!!

[lodaus]

Thanks you for the great guides, they are extremely helpful!

[rayderrich]

Another very good talk about mechanics everyone should learn about. I thank you.

[spacey_jones]

As a noob I hadn’t realized Nessa had a 2nd vendor page of items till you showed it :x