Overview: Archnemesis was a Path of Exile challenge league. The primary mechanic consisted of collecting mods - each mod is associated to a reward/effect - and applying them monsters encased in a statue. Within a map, mods and rewards are cumulative. Certain mod recipes result in higher tier mods that have more desired rewards/effects. The league started on 20220204 and ended 20220510.
20220204:
I played starting with the first day of the league and decided to league start Arc. Upon removing the blockage in Act 3, I felt bored of the game. The following is a list of possible reasons:
- the build wasn't fun
- the Archnemesis league mechanic didn't seem too interesting
- I didn't want to play whatever number of hours it takes me to get through the campaign
- I'm too tired from taking care of the new baby
- the game in general in general has lost its fun (though maybe standard would be fun).
Perhaps a combination of these reasons are why I felt bored. I'll try checking out another build.
20220205: I spent some time sorting my items in Standard until I got interested in trying Explosive Arrow Elementalist. After a couple hours, I concluded that up until that point the leveling felt far better than arc (I was still using the leveling gems: purifying, flame wall, and holy flame totem). I wanted to continue playing, but I was feeling sleepy. I had yet to do Solaris Temple Level 2, but I had collected the Ribbon Spool* and Thaumetic Sulphite.
*20220902: actually I should be skipping the Ribbon Spool because the reward is just an amulet
Gameplay Log:
20220210: Reached white maps
20220215: TIL the developers made it so that the Uber Lab no longer needs all six labyrinths, just an offering (this change was made during the last league)
20220221: I finally dressed up my Explosive Arrow Elementalist (added MTX)
20220227: Set a goal to reach level 93.
20220303: Reached level 93. Approximately 4 days, 22 hours
20220307: Made some key purchases and set a goal to reach level 95.
20220311: Reached level 95. Approximately 6 days, 7 hours
20220311: Set a goal to get a +3 bow by getting a Leo slam
20220317: Ran Innocence+Brine King+Kitava+Abberath but didn't get any exalted orbs
20220320: Reached level 96. Approximately 8 days, 11 hours
20220322: Got a +3 bow by getting a Leo slam
20220324: Defeated Maven
20220325: Defeated Sirus
20220327: Defeated The Elder. Defeated Atziri (without dying during the fight and died to something after)
20220423: Reached level 97. Approximately 11 days, 6 hours
20220401:
Today I tried playing the Gauntlet. My furthest progress came after about six characters when I made it to the Ledge checkpoint. Upon getting to that checkpoint, I tried to level up in the Submerged Passage and died.
I tried a couple more times and got to "K" (meaning I had created 11 characters).
I was beginning to get the hang of defeating Hillock, but I had trouble getting past the Coast. I was surprised that I had managed to previously get a character to the Ledge.
20220402:
Today I continued trying to play the Gauntlet. I started getting used to using the logout macro and I managed to beat Brutus. My strategy there involved letting the Ancestral Protector draw aggro while I DPS'd Brutus. I managed to run around this one pole or statue which was an easy way to lay down Ancestral Protector and kite Brutus. Unfortunately, I later died in the Labyrinth section of Crypt Level 1. It was unfortunate because I managed to get a Quill Rain and was close to transitionin to Explosive Arrow.
I had made characters all the way up to "Q", and the character that got furthest (the one that died in Crypt Level 1) was "L."
20220411:
Today was the last day of the Gauntlet and over the past few days I've put some time into it:
20220408: 0.9 hours
20220409: 0.3 hours; on one character, I thought I hit the logout macro well before my lifebar was dropping, but the character was dead upon logout. I learned that apparently the macro doesn't necessarily take effect right away
20220410: 1.7 hours
20220411: with only a couple hours of the event left, and then with less than an hour left, I began rushing to the Weaver where I died.
Overall the experience was fun and i figured if I could make it this far in the Gauntlet, perhaps regular HCSSF wouldn't be so bad.
20220508:
Today I tried to fight the Shaper without Maven witnessing and it surprisingly wasn't bad. If I had done the fight with Mave, I figured I probably would need a double life flask.
I did Maven's Invitation Elderslayers but my auras weren't activated and my Molten Shell was not set. While fighting, I was able to put two of the three auras up, Banner, and Temporal Rift. That meant I was still missing the Molten Shell and the third aura (Purity of Elements).
20220408 Comment:
Since I stopped playing early in the league, I did not make any sales and purchases exceeding 1.5 exalt. My greatest spend was 60 chaos for a large cluster jewel for my Bane Occultist character followed by 30 chaos for a two-stone ring for my Toxic Rain character. Meanwhile my top sale was 15 chaos for a cobalt jewel.
20220902 Comment:
In my Ultimatum and Expedition league posts, I made a table of purchases and a table of sales with a minimum cutoff of 1.5 exalt. I'll use slightly higher chaos cutoff because 1 exalt at the end of league was about 140 chaos: 200 chaos. Note that with the same logic, I should chosen a chaos cutoff of about 250 for my Expedition post (not that it matters anyways).
The following were my purchases involving at least 200 chaos or 1.5 exalt:
The following are my sales with a minimum cutoff of 1.5 exalt or 200 chaos:
The Olroth purchase came on the last day of the league as I was going for 40 out of 40 challenges. Although I paid 5 exalt, much later, with about an hour left in the league to go, someone was offering it for free. With that being said, paying for it was worth the cost as it guaranteed my progress towards 40 out of 40 (with any other challenges simply being a grind). The person selling was a pro. He ran the boss down to 10%, ideally would die, take the money of the participants, and then everyone would enter and he would finish it off. Unfortunately for him, the third invited participant went into the portal (instead of waiting as described), so me and the other guy waiting were asked to come in, and the host took our payment afterwards. Technically, if anyone was a jerk, he/she could have just left without paying.
This league contained some big transactions, I got a character to a high level, and completed 40/40 for the first time. It is arguably the best league outcome thus far. In terms of total hours played, it comes in at third highest, not including time played during the Gauntlet, and making as many as possible deductions for time spent in Standard. As such, it is essentially tied with Ultimatum for most hours played, with Delirium holding the number one spot. I don't imagine ever exceeding the number of hours put into Delirium, which is mainly a result of inefficiency as opposed to an indication of enjoying the league.
 |
| Explosive Arrow Elementalist (20220321) |
20220204:
I played starting with the first day of the league and decided to league start Arc. Upon removing the blockage in Act 3, I felt bored of the game. The following is a list of possible reasons:
- the build wasn't fun
- the Archnemesis league mechanic didn't seem too interesting
- I didn't want to play whatever number of hours it takes me to get through the campaign
- I'm too tired from taking care of the new baby
- the game in general in general has lost its fun (though maybe standard would be fun).
Perhaps a combination of these reasons are why I felt bored. I'll try checking out another build.
 |
| So many mods (so little space) |
20220205: I spent some time sorting my items in Standard until I got interested in trying Explosive Arrow Elementalist. After a couple hours, I concluded that up until that point the leveling felt far better than arc (I was still using the leveling gems: purifying, flame wall, and holy flame totem). I wanted to continue playing, but I was feeling sleepy. I had yet to do Solaris Temple Level 2, but I had collected the Ribbon Spool* and Thaumetic Sulphite.
*20220902: actually I should be skipping the Ribbon Spool because the reward is just an amulet
 |
| First Exalted Orb drop of the league |
Gameplay Log:
20220210: Reached white maps
20220215: TIL the developers made it so that the Uber Lab no longer needs all six labyrinths, just an offering (this change was made during the last league)
20220221: I finally dressed up my Explosive Arrow Elementalist (added MTX)
20220227: Set a goal to reach level 93.
20220303: Reached level 93. Approximately 4 days, 22 hours
20220307: Made some key purchases and set a goal to reach level 95.
20220311: Reached level 95. Approximately 6 days, 7 hours
 |
| That's a lot of Essences! |
20220311: Set a goal to get a +3 bow by getting a Leo slam
20220317: Ran Innocence+Brine King+Kitava+Abberath but didn't get any exalted orbs
20220320: Reached level 96. Approximately 8 days, 11 hours
20220322: Got a +3 bow by getting a Leo slam
20220324: Defeated Maven
20220325: Defeated Sirus
20220327: Defeated The Elder. Defeated Atziri (without dying during the fight and died to something after)
20220423: Reached level 97. Approximately 11 days, 6 hours
 |
| Archnemesis mod recipes |
20220401:
Today I tried playing the Gauntlet. My furthest progress came after about six characters when I made it to the Ledge checkpoint. Upon getting to that checkpoint, I tried to level up in the Submerged Passage and died.
I tried a couple more times and got to "K" (meaning I had created 11 characters).
I was beginning to get the hang of defeating Hillock, but I had trouble getting past the Coast. I was surprised that I had managed to previously get a character to the Ledge.
 |
| Loot drop full of uniques (from Archnemesis league mechanic) |
20220402:
Today I continued trying to play the Gauntlet. I started getting used to using the logout macro and I managed to beat Brutus. My strategy there involved letting the Ancestral Protector draw aggro while I DPS'd Brutus. I managed to run around this one pole or statue which was an easy way to lay down Ancestral Protector and kite Brutus. Unfortunately, I later died in the Labyrinth section of Crypt Level 1. It was unfortunate because I managed to get a Quill Rain and was close to transitionin to Explosive Arrow.
I had made characters all the way up to "Q", and the character that got furthest (the one that died in Crypt Level 1) was "L."
 |
| 2x Exalted Orb!?! |
20220411:
Today was the last day of the Gauntlet and over the past few days I've put some time into it:
20220408: 0.9 hours
20220409: 0.3 hours; on one character, I thought I hit the logout macro well before my lifebar was dropping, but the character was dead upon logout. I learned that apparently the macro doesn't necessarily take effect right away
20220410: 1.7 hours
20220411: with only a couple hours of the event left, and then with less than an hour left, I began rushing to the Weaver where I died.
Overall the experience was fun and i figured if I could make it this far in the Gauntlet, perhaps regular HCSSF wouldn't be so bad.
 |
| Decent Tiny Trial's result |
20220508:
Today I tried to fight the Shaper without Maven witnessing and it surprisingly wasn't bad. If I had done the fight with Mave, I figured I probably would need a double life flask.
I did Maven's Invitation Elderslayers but my auras weren't activated and my Molten Shell was not set. While fighting, I was able to put two of the three auras up, Banner, and Temporal Rift. That meant I was still missing the Molten Shell and the third aura (Purity of Elements).
20220408 Comment:
Since I stopped playing early in the league, I did not make any sales and purchases exceeding 1.5 exalt. My greatest spend was 60 chaos for a large cluster jewel for my Bane Occultist character followed by 30 chaos for a two-stone ring for my Toxic Rain character. Meanwhile my top sale was 15 chaos for a cobalt jewel.
 |
| Loot drop full of currency (from Archnemesis league mechanic) |
20220902 Comment:
In my Ultimatum and Expedition league posts, I made a table of purchases and a table of sales with a minimum cutoff of 1.5 exalt. I'll use slightly higher chaos cutoff because 1 exalt at the end of league was about 140 chaos: 200 chaos. Note that with the same logic, I should chosen a chaos cutoff of about 250 for my Expedition post (not that it matters anyways).
The following were my purchases involving at least 200 chaos or 1.5 exalt:
| Item | Price | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Storm Thirst Short Bow | 3 exalt | +2 to Level of Socketed Bow Gems (1 ex is 129 c) |
| Unnatural Instinct | 9 exalt | Was able to purchase primarily off of a big sale (1 ex is 129 c) |
| Pandemonium Turn Topaz Ring | 1 exalt 80 chaos | Curse Enemies with Flammability on Hit (1 ex is 160.1 c) |
| Spirit Horn Blizzard Crown | 2 exalt | Explosive Arrow deals 40% increased Damage (1 ex is 174 c) |
| Large Cluster Jewel | 2 exalt | (1 ex is 174 c) |
| Awakened Elemental Damage with Attacks Support | 2 exalt 140 chaos | (1 ex is 173.6 c) |
| Olroth | 5 exalt | (1 ex is 142.9 c) |
 |
| Turning +2 Bow into a +3 Bow (with Leo slam) |
The following are my sales with a minimum cutoff of 1.5 exalt or 200 chaos:
| Item | Price | Comment |
|---|---|---|
| Crimson Jewel | 8 exalt | A part of me didn't want to part with this jewel, but I also knew I needed the currency to purchase an Unnatural Instinct (1 ex is 146.1 c) |
| Searching Eye Jewel | 1 exalt 70 chaos | (1 ex is 155.2 c) |
| Claw | 2 exalt | (1 ex is 164.1 c) |
| Large Cluster Jewel | 7 exalt | (1 ex is 166.2 c) |
| Dance of the Offered | 3 exalt | (1 ex is 140.2 c) |
 |
| Atlas Passive Tree near the end of the league |
The Olroth purchase came on the last day of the league as I was going for 40 out of 40 challenges. Although I paid 5 exalt, much later, with about an hour left in the league to go, someone was offering it for free. With that being said, paying for it was worth the cost as it guaranteed my progress towards 40 out of 40 (with any other challenges simply being a grind). The person selling was a pro. He ran the boss down to 10%, ideally would die, take the money of the participants, and then everyone would enter and he would finish it off. Unfortunately for him, the third invited participant went into the portal (instead of waiting as described), so me and the other guy waiting were asked to come in, and the host took our payment afterwards. Technically, if anyone was a jerk, he/she could have just left without paying.
 |
| My first Conqueror's Exalted Orb (ever from what I can recall) |
This league contained some big transactions, I got a character to a high level, and completed 40/40 for the first time. It is arguably the best league outcome thus far. In terms of total hours played, it comes in at third highest, not including time played during the Gauntlet, and making as many as possible deductions for time spent in Standard. As such, it is essentially tied with Ultimatum for most hours played, with Delirium holding the number one spot. I don't imagine ever exceeding the number of hours put into Delirium, which is mainly a result of inefficiency as opposed to an indication of enjoying the league.
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