POE 3.23 Nerfs: Top 6 Nerfs in Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction League

POE 3.23 Nerfs: Top 6 Nerfs in Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction League

12/4/2023 5:05:06 PM

With the release of the 3.23 patch notes, players are eagerly anticipating the changes that will be introduced in the Affliction League. Today let's talk about nerfs in POE 3.23. Sometimes there has to be nerfs in order to address certain archetypes that are just too strong in general. So if you want to throw out hundreds of new skills, obviously you have to tone down some of the crazy skills that everybody played last League to make space and room for people to play new stuff and not feel bad about it.

1. Nerfs to Bows

Number 1 of the nerf to Path of Exile 3.23 Affliction is lightning arrow and tornado shot. Lightning Arrow has been a popular choice for many players due to its strong area of effect damage and chaining capabilities. However, in the 3.23 patch, Lightning Arrow has received some nerfs that might affect its overall power and effectiveness.

Reduced Damage: The damage of Lightning Arrow has been reduced, which means it might not deal as much damage as before.
Adjusted Chain Mechanics: The chain mechanics of Lightning Arrow have been adjusted, potentially reducing its ability to hit multiple targets.

Tornado Shot is another popular skill that has seen widespread use due to its high clear speed and versatility. However, in the 3.23 patch, Tornado Shot has also received some nerfs that might impact its performance.

Reduced Projectile Damage: The damage of Tornado Shot's projectiles has been reduced, which means it might not hit as hard as before.
Adjusted Area of Effect: The area of effect of Tornado Shot has been adjusted, potentially reducing its coverage and clearing potential.

2. Kaom's Spirit: Biggest Loser

This might be the biggest one of them all. Kaom's Spirit, a unique item in Path of Exile, has taken a hit in the 3.23 patch. While specific details are not available, it appears that Kaom's Spirit has undergone significant nerfs, reducing its overall power and effectiveness. Players who relied on this item may need to reconsider their build strategies and explore alternative options. As we know, cam spirit was used with most build. 13% of top are playing build are playing Kaom's Spirit right. So understand why they nerfed, but they can still use Rampage gloves, so it's not as big of a deal as you might think.

3. Heatshiver

Heatshiver got knocked down from 100% of cold damage, extra fire against Frozen to 30%. Some people think it's a very extreme nerf, but heat shiver is still good on some of the builds that it was run, it's just not going to be an auto include on everybody, it's not going to be worth it to do some kind of freeze duration stuff, sacrifice your body armor, or annoying stuff. That's probably not going to be worth it, but just for the chill alone, it's already quite good, it gives you a little bit of rest on top, it has corruptions. It's a crazy nerf for stuff like bows, ice trap, frost blade shockwave totems, down the road, that there is a lot more of those builds obviously out there. But the biggest thing that people forget about this nerf is Trinity. Each made it so kind of you have this equilibrium of fire and cold damage whenever you didn't have the freeze up you could kind of see that quite easily, because you didn't have Trinity up sometimes. So that is a little bit gone, you can still make it work, you might have to use stuff like anger or a little bit of added fire damage to make it work now. But that is even more work to get heat into your build.

4. Returning Projectile Bug Fix

Poison got nerfed with returning projectiles, this used to give you a nice 100% more damage for a support gem, it does not anymore, it's now still okay, but it's more so for clear lightning strike, molten strike and also EK. Lightning strike and molten strike got nerfed by 35% less damage. EK is probably still fine, cuz poison spellcasters have been good, they have a lot of early scaling that these builds don't have until they get to poison dagger. For example Ming's heart or CIP stuff like that, they're going to do well they scale with gem levels. But for these builds, they really needed that early game push and poison LS and poison Ms are still going to be fine in late game once they have the gear.

5. Spark Got Nerfed in Multiple Ways

The obvious one is it lost fantasmal spark which used to be the way you play Poison spark. So in total with an ashes of the stars you could get to 100%, lightning damage converted to chaos. This could now be a uh transfigure gem, there's a good chance actually they're going to do that or they're just going to kill the archetype. Spark lost round about 90% of its pro speed and 90% of it is gone. So you lose 19 % projectile speed from the gem and then 20% from equality. You have to remember though that you would not have a level 20 spark, you would have like a level 26, 27, 28, or even up to 30 in end game. And the rest of the pro speed loss and this is a thing some people forgot is blooded sand doesn't have its anomalous quality anymore, and one of these skill gems very unlikely that we're going to get this back, this with enhance used to give you around about 50%. So you're losing all of that and that is on a build that if you were not talking poison is mostly played in the Templar region and even if you're poison, you're not getting that much projectile speed. Because most of the projectile speed is actually tied to projectile damage nodes which don't scale your damage. Tattoos are gone, that was a big Saving Grace for spark last League especially for Pathfinder sparker, they would path around but it wouldn't matter. Every passing point gives you 8% po speed.

6. Sanctum is Still Great

The drop rates for the Forbidden Tomes which is what you open the sanctums with and the hour of divinity and the gilded of chalice which are the duplicate reward relics have been nerfed. Reduced could mean anything but usually if it's crazy, they say a drastically reduced. Mmaybe it drops half as often which would be totally fine. Paying 10c for something that gives you crazy returns up to like mirrors, it is silly if you compare it to something like log books for. For example, hour of divinity and the gilded of chalice understand they don't want as many duplicated mirrors, it's still going to happen. So we'll still get those highlights. Overall, we don't think this is going to change that much, it's still going to be fine, it's a needed nerf, but Sanctum is still going to be a top mechanic to do and the people who like sanctum also like it for not having to trade, they just get raw divines, mirror sometimes, it's pretty hype, it's easy content, easy money.

Despite the various nerfs introduced in the Affliction League, Sanctum, a unique item, remains a strong choice. While the specific details of its performance are not provided, it is mentioned that Sanctum continues to be considered great. This suggests that Sanctum has retained its power and effectiveness, making it a viable option for players seeking a reliable item for their builds.