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[nenjin]

They must have done something to experience in normal. Because I don't remember being level 30 by the end of act 2.

[TherosPherae]

Shock is the most powerful among the elemental statuses; it amplifies damage from all sources by 30% (was tuned down from 40% on release, but it's still awesome), and can be stacked 3 times. There's a notable called Static Blows in upper left that give you more chance to shock for all lightning attacks/spells you use.

Get Static Blows, use Arc and Spark with Elemental Proliferation, then your minions will do a lot more damage.

That's.... debatable, really, depending on how you use your elemental effects. If you've got minions that are tanky enough to not die when a monster sneezes at them, then you're better off using Shock for more damage. If your minions have less health than a sandwich, however, a well-placed Freeze with Elemental Proliferation can disable an entire crowd of enemies so you and your undead friends can gnaw on them to your heart's content. And then there's Burning, which is pretty powerful on its own but not really worth mentioning for a summoner - it needs a pretty significant base damage to do much, and that usually entails linking stuff together solely for the sake of fire damage.

...And then there's Poison, which is so rare it's not really worth mentioning, especially since I'm not quite sure if it actually counts as an elemental status effect.

[kcwong]

Shock is the most powerful among the elemental statuses; it amplifies damage from all sources by 30% (was tuned down from 40% on release, but it's still awesome), and can be stacked 3 times. There's a notable called Static Blows in upper left that give you more chance to shock for all lightning attacks/spells you use.

Get Static Blows, use Arc and Spark with Elemental Proliferation, then your minions will do a lot more damage.

That's.... debatable, really, depending on how you use your elemental effects. If you've got minions that are tanky enough to not die when a monster sneezes at them, then you're better off using Shock for more damage. If your minions have less health than a sandwich, however, a well-placed Freeze with Elemental Proliferation can disable an entire crowd of enemies so you and your undead friends can gnaw on them to your heart's content. And then there's Burning, which is pretty powerful on its own but not really worth mentioning for a summoner - it needs a pretty significant base damage to do much, and that usually entails linking stuff together solely for the sake of fire damage.

...And then there's Poison, which is so rare it's not really worth mentioning, especially since I'm not quite sure if it actually counts as an elemental status effect.

Chaos is indeed not an elemental damage, so Chaos resist is also not an element resist.

For a summoner, cold has the disadvantage of leaving no corpse sometimes. When you face yellow/orange packs dealing elemental damage, they can destroy a lot of your minions in a flash, and you don't want to be out of corpses.

Summoner in this game is a bit weaker at first, as your minions don't have much life. Once you've take some of those minion nodes they will be much tougher and can make good use of your shock stacks.

Necromantic Aegis is particularly good, if you use a shield with life regeneration and resists. Thanks to that, my two alchemist phantoms lasted the whole way from start to the end of act 3 sewers (all three of them), for example.

[CognitiveDissonance]

...And then there's Poison, which is so rare it's not really worth mentioning, especially since I'm not quite sure if it actually counts as an elemental status effect.

Poison is Chaos damage. As already almost mentioned by kcwong.

[nenjin]

Which it seems like most mobs are at least resistant to.

[CognitiveDissonance]

Which it seems like most mobs are at least resistant to.

Yep, that's because it's so damn good they had to nerf it during beta. Multiple times. One of the main reasons is its ability to ignore energy shields.

Of note, Wiki says there are only 2 skills (poison arrow, viper strike) and 1 passive (addler's touch) that directly inflict Chaos. Otherwise, it's the support gem. Huh.

[Mictlantecuhtli]

For a summoner, cold has the disadvantage of leaving no corpse sometimes. When you face yellow/orange packs dealing elemental damage, they can destroy a lot of your minions in a flash, and you don't want to be out of corpses.

OTOH using cold makes life alot easier in many situations, for the same reason.

[TherosPherae]

Chaos is indeed not an elemental damage, so Chaos resist is also not an element resist.

For a summoner, cold has the disadvantage of leaving no corpse sometimes. When you face yellow/orange packs dealing elemental damage, they can destroy a lot of your minions in a flash, and you don't want to be out of corpses.

Summoner in this game is a bit weaker at first, as your minions don't have much life. Once you've take some of those minion nodes they will be much tougher and can make good use of your shock stacks.

Necromantic Aegis is particularly good, if you use a shield with life regeneration and resists. Thanks to that, my two alchemist phantoms lasted the whole way from start to the end of act 3 sewers (all three of them), for example.

Oh yeah, I forgot that summoners actually need corpses. I thought they were just there for Detonate Dead and for those fuckin' bird-things to vomit at me.

Which it seems like most mobs are at least resistant to.

Yep, that's because it's so damn good they had to nerf it during beta. Multiple times. One of the main reasons is its ability to ignore energy shields.

Of note, Wiki says there are only 2 skills (poison arrow, viper strike) and 1 passive (addler's touch) that directly inflict Chaos. Otherwise, it's the support gem. Huh.

Or unique converters, which tend to be pretty darn terrible with the exception of Ming's Heart.

[Aklyon]

Well technically we don't, but complaining about losing all the non-skele damage will ensue

[BurnedToast]

Is there a particular reason there's no money, and instead I have to juggle what feels like 400 different currencies (which, of course, all take up precious bag space)?

It makes looting (which is about 75% of the point of a game like this) incredibly unsatisfying... oh look a yellow sword, I can't use it I'll.... vendor it for 3 of whatever this stupid blue scraps that I don't need... yay. A whole bag full of loot? Traded for... 1 identify scroll (and a teleport to town scroll costs 3 identify scrolls, trololol). Nice ring in the vendor I want? Too bad, it costs 2 orbs of odormancy and I have no idea where those come from.

I honestly don't see any upside at all and it really kills my interest.

[Astral]

I think it's an interesting take on the currency aspect of the game. Rather than gold, which in a place like this would have no real value (much like real money) you get useful things that allow you to better modify any equipment that you don't sell.

It does make things a bit more difficult in the trading game, because unless you figure out approximate currency values (3 identify scrolls = 1 town portal, etc) you could easily get ripped off. And with values listed more at bartering rates, where people charge what they want/need, you also have a better chance at getting a good deal than if someone was consulting the "10k gold going price" for whatever item or spell you're looking to nab.

[Biowraith]

I found the currency thing a bit off-putting to start with, but I kinda like it now.  I find myself obsessing less about selling every last blue item for precious precious gold, and I find a lot of the currency items to be useful when e.g. I find a white item that has decent base stats and just the right configuration of slots - I can burn through some orbs of fanciness and now it's a yellow item with great bonuses and just the right configuration of slots instead.

For inventory issues, I just drop everything except scrolls into my stash whenever I'm in town.

My only real complaints are that 1) as said, it confuses things a bit for trading, and 2) I get stuck in that "saving it for later" mode where I don't want to use any of my orbs of fanciness at e.g. level 40, because then I won't have them for my end-game gear at level 100 (ignoring the fact I'll probably alt too much to ever reach level 100).

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I honestly don't see any upside at all and it really kills my interest.

Not having to super duper delivery man packs of items back to a store for nonsensical uristite coinage kills the interest for you?

I think D3 might be more your thing. 

[Kanil]

The currency items are pretty much always useful to have, whereas in some other games, gold can become irrelevant and useless after a while. A currency that has no value is a pretty shitty currency, so I'd say PoE's system is probably at least decent. That isn't to say that you can't do better, but it solves a problem some games have.

'course, it then creates the problem of blowing all your currency on crafting something and getting fuck all for it, which can be pretty goddamn miserable.

[aristabulus]

To help keep my currency organized, I keep the main orbs in a vertical stack on my first stash page, on the right side.  This not only keeps them tidy, but serves as a list for how they progress so I don't have to keep loading the wiki for it.  Text version under the cut.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Orb-Alchemy
Orb-Regret
Orb-Scouring
Orb-Chance
Orb-Fusing
Orb-Jeweller's + Orb-Chromatic
Orb-Alteration
Orb-Augmentation
Orb-Transmutation
Portal Scroll
Wisdom (ID) Scroll

This column is 11 squares high in-stash, so there's room at the top for the occasional rare orb, like Regal Orbs or Blessed Orbs.  (each stash page is 12x12)  Any extra orb stacks just stretch left, usually only occurring for the scrolls and low orbs.  Quality upgrade orbs like Armourer's Scraps and Blacksmith's Whetstones usually hang out top-center-ish.  The whole left side is basically just intake; currency fragments, interesting jewellery, a rare item or three.  When intake rubs elbows with the top-center stacks, I put orbs on their stacks and sort everything else to its place on other tabs.

I can't really speak to the trading concerns, as I've been playing self-found...  Also, I threw a bit of money at stash tabs, so the way I use my ~20 tabs is a bit different than someone with only the default 4 tabs.  That said, the organizing column is still useful even without a lot of spare space around it.

... and 2) I get stuck in that "saving it for later" mode where I don't want to use any of my orbs of fanciness at e.g. level 40, because then I won't have them for my end-game gear at level 100 (ignoring the fact I'll probably alt too much to ever reach level 100).

I tend to squirrel mine away too, don't feel bad.  I don't hoard them for end-game, as I've only made it to A2 Merciless (and only with one character).  I bust out the orbs whenever it feels like I'm taking too long to kill things, or I find rares with crappy mods but decent base stats that get serious consideration when compared to my current equipment.  I've definitely poured more orbs into making weapons than anything else, with improving my sockets/links a close second.

I'm in... Domination, I think it is? ....

Then I'm of no help...  I haven't even killed Brutus with my goofing-off Scion yet.    Still dirt poor in Domination, and that may not change until the semester is over.