So a while back, I downloaded Path of Exile to try out. The game was still in closed beta at the time, and at the time, I only played it for a short period of time but never really got hooked onto the game. I played in hardcore, but died fairly early in the game, so I kind of got a bit discouraged given how sudden and abrupt the death was. So at the time, I still had lots to do in Diablo III, so I continued to play for several more months. Path of Exile then turned to open beta, and I tried to get into it again, however, it still didn't hook me in. I didn't follow any build or anything, and just winged it. My ranger at the time, made it to the low 20's and I put the game aside again to continue my Diablo III. It also probably helped that I was still streaming Diablo III and generally having a good time being part of that community.
Near the end of May, I heard news of a fresh ladder starting up with some extra things being thrown into the game which, to me, sounded very interesting. Luckily as well, I had just reached my third paragon 100 character on D3, and was starting to feel burnt out on the game. This time around though, I decided to follow the advise of others, and actually follow an established build. Being that I personally like ranged play, I decided to stick with the ranger, and chose to go with a Lightning Arrow build.
This time around, there was a bigger group of us playing the game, so it made farming for items that much quicker as we would end up sharing a lot of gear and items to help each other progress. This, combined with following a proper build, I finally got hooked.
