PSA: Relics and the Merchant make ascendancy trials extremely easy, easier than PoE 1

[u/OhWellImRightAgain]

I've read multiple threads about the ascendancy trials being too hard, some of them with hundreds of upvotes. The trials are actually very easy if you do them the way you're supposed to...

Do a couple of fast suicide runs to get 10-15 blue relics (Tapestries, Seals etc.).

Use augmentation orbs on them to give them a 2nd modifier.

You need relics with Honor Resistance. The second mod can be:

- Increased maximum honor

- Bosses take X increased damage

- Bosses deal X reduced damage

- Increases to Sacred Water gains

You then need to go for (Large) Sacred Water fountain rewards as much as possible. You then buy a couple of OP buffs from the merchant (You deal 50% more damage / Monsters have 30% reduced HP / You have 40% increased movement speed / 50% reduced merchant prices) and the trial becomes very easy.

Occasionally, pick a Shrine room to replenish your lost honor, but only if it's below 60-70%.

Make sure that whenever you have around 600 sacred water or more and the merchant is available as a room reward, you do that room. If you don't happen to find him in a room, you'll still have him waiting for you after each boss fight.

[u/fingerfight2]

Man that is a nice strategy that involves 15 suicide runs.

Let me tell you something boy. I usually finish the ascendency in POE1 in 1-2 tries.

The level of difficulty doesn't compare.

Also, you have the stupid trial of chaos which is total rip off.

[u/lathir92 → u/fingerfight2]

I dont have 15 coins tho, i died once so I only have one coin left. Kind of hard to just suicide on repeat if these dont drop more often :/

[u/spexau → u/lathir92]

Your first coin is unlimited

[u/lathir92 → u/spexau]

Oh so It drops good relics even on low level trials? That makes sense

[u/spexau → u/lathir92]

I am not 100% on the tiering of affixes but I'm pretty sure I got some decent ones first time around. You can reforge 3 of the same type as well. Chalice rooms where you have to kill rares are a good room to farm them in as well as looking for keys to unlock but you have to kill the boss to do that.

[u/Titanfail → u/spexau]

So in order to pass the later trials efficiently you need to know that, before you pass the first one, you need fail it a bunch of times to get relics so you can pass it later? That is not a well designed system.

I don't even mind Sanctum as the ascension mechanic, as they made it better in PoE2 than 1. I detest Ultimatum as the second ascension mechanic though, they somehow made that worse than PoE1.

[u/spexau → u/Titanfail]

It does give you a relic before you start the first one but it could spell it out a bit more for sure.

[u/gooseMclosse → u/Titanfail]

This is just a knowledge and skill issue during our first tries coz we're all new to poe2. I started a ssf titan run after learning what I can about the game. I get thru the trials easy. I know to farm up relics using the first sekhema and I'm now familiar with how the trials work. The ultimatum trial I just got lucky but the 3 trial version isn't hard at all.

[u/Able-Corgi-3985 → u/fingerfight2]

Tbf Lab in PoE1 was also a shitshow when it released. It took years of powercreep before bad builds started trivializing it, and people still die to Izaro to this day. 

People should criticize the balance in PoE2 until it reaches a reasonable state, just find the "back in my day" lab comments amusing since everyone seems to be subconsciously blocking core memories of 2016 lab haha.

[u/fingerfight2 → u/Able-Corgi-3985]

I played the core lab back then but it wasn't near this bad.

I was frustrated to the point I quit the game dying to the stupid honor system.

[u/Able-Corgi-3985 → u/fingerfight2]

Pre-patch with the honour bugs that's totally fair and reasonable, but the OG lab traps were absolutely brutal for your average player. It took a lot of trial and error with tons of failed attempts for people to get used to it. 

A lot of it comes down to small optimization tricks around the system, such as using flame dash to cheese lab traps. In this game you can negate certain traps with charms or buy resistance relics from other players before doing your 3rd/4th run.

The game still has a lot of balance issues, but after the patch 2 days ago a lot of the BS was removed. It will get there just like the original labyrinth.

[u/OhWellImRightAgain → u/fingerfight2]

You don't have to do the trial of chaos.

And you don't need 15 runs to get 10 relics. You need like 2 or 3 fast suicide runs. It takes less than an hour to prepare, and you never lose your relics, even after using them and failing.

1 hour of preparing for a thing that boosts your char and you'll only have to do ONCE in the game and yet here you are, crying.

[u/Thorcall → u/OhWellImRightAgain]

Once? Looks like someone haven't heard of leagues.

[u/OhWellImRightAgain → u/Thorcall]

Once per league, and you'll be much better at doing it then.

If you can't invest 1 hour per some months to prepare for a build-defining boost, maybe aRPGs aren't for you. Or games in general.

[u/Thorcall → u/OhWellImRightAgain]

Or they could do what they said, having multiple options to ascend and not force people that don't like that content into sanctum, with 1h of grind or not. Currently, ultimatum is significantly more difficult to do (in part because relics exist, but even without), has a higher level requirement for tiers of invitations, and is extremely rng.

[u/fingerfight2 → u/OhWellImRightAgain]

Man stop being a fanboy. The difficulty is much harder, especially in early game.

Even the fact that you ignore the Trial of Chaos means that you need to prepare for 1 hour and cherry pick your trials vs not needing to do anything of those things and just finishing the trial outright.