First "real" character went wrong, should I respec or restart?

[Dark Sun Gwyndolin]

So, a few weeks ago, I committed myself to finally learning PoE1 and its massive skill tree; previously, I'd been turned off by how hard it was to respec and decided that with PoE2 on the horizon, it was my last chance to get into PoE1.

I did, and ended up picking a Totem Chieftain. Problem is, I learned about ten hours in that the build I was following was obsolete, because Ancestral Totems no longer existed. So, I decided I would follow the build regardless and try to make it work with Flamewood and "tank" totems. Even then, it's clear from the Chieftain changes that a "pure" totem Marauder isn't a thing anymore, so Ancestral Bond isn't worth taking outside of specialized hypertank builds.

Despite that, I'm actually doing just fine; I unlocked my Ascendency class, freed the Scion, and made it to Act 4. I'm still having no trouble killing enemies and have workable gear, including a Quecholli. However, I now understand the skill tree well enough that I would make very different choices during leveling (in particular, keeping to the Marauder's section of the tree until I have a good build foundation, rather than rushing up to the Templar's section for Ancestral Bond). Also, I now know how to stack resistances and would pick "kill the bandits" during Act 2.

What should I do next? Keep going as my Chieftain until I farm enough Orbs of Regret to clean up my build (about 40 or so)? Start over as a Marauder? Start over as a different class? Wait for the end-of-season tree reset (that might not happen due to PoE2)?

[HDRcade[Tyler]]

I'd just say carry on and do you until you feel like making a different character. At least beat the campaign. You are still learning everything about the game and will continue to do so for a while so use this character to build your knowledge, have fun and actually do something unique to what others are doing.

If you run into a progression block with this build down the line (if being key word here) then at least you will have farmed some good stash stuff for the next 'real' build you do.

I'm currently running a Ranger and not using a build guide having a blast doing it and just learning all the intricacies of the game. Next time I'll follow a build guide (probably Rightous Fire Templar/Marauder or something) but I'll have the know how to really perfect it with what I've learned through this playthrough.

[Dark Sun Gwyndolin]

Alright then, I'll stick with my Chieftain at least until the end of Act 5, or until I simply can't progress. I'm thinking of doing a Ballista Ranger for my next build.

[Lord Bullingdon]

Happens to the best of us. Double check to see if they didn't just rename the skill. They've done that a few times. I thought Magma Orb was gone until I realized it was turned into Rolling Magma.

[acirb]

Originally posted by Crossbreed Priscilla:

Alright then, I'll stick with my Chieftain at least until the end of Act 5, or until I simply can't progress. I'm thinking of doing a Ballista Ranger for my next build.

If you can't progress, it just means you need to upgrade your gear a little bit. Or maybe change out some support gems.

Remember that you can add resistances on the Crafting Bench in your Hideout.

Getting Ancestral Bond is a double-edged sword, but you should rush towards it soon. You can't deal damage yourself when you get it. The increase in Totems is a nice boost in damage, though. Going from 2 -> 3 is a 50 % increase in DPS, and 3 -> 4 is a 33 % increase in DPS.

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If you've been picking passive points that are useful for a Totem build, don't worry about changing them. Even if you need to respec, you will not need to change all of your points (Unless you level as melee, and change to totems at endgame. That would be a lot of points but still not a full respec.)