[3.15] Crimson Bow Gladiator, RoA + Puncture | Pure Bleed Build | All Content | In-depth

I am close to level 50, and the clear speed is a bit less than ED contagion. Is their a higher ceiling for this build vs Trickster ED?

Hey there great build thanks for sharing:) i am currently 50 and im gonna see this to 100 for sure.
If you had to use split arrow for the end game (kinda like it a lot) what would you link it with?

Will update soon with my map gear

Greetings again!
Just a small update:
Currently lvl83 and i am on my way to destroy the endgame.
Anyone has any ideas to make my char a bit more tanky? Its the only gladiator in my char list :)

ps:
Build rocks

"

loukas22 wrote:

Greetings again!
Just a small update:
Currently lvl83 and i am on my way to destroy the endgame.
Anyone has any ideas to make my char a bit more tanky? Its the only gladiator in my char list :)

ps:
Build rocks

Glad you are enjoying this build, did you start it as SSF, or did you gear up from the start? :)

Where does sustain come from in the end game setups? Just practiced leveling this through campaign and with hardly any leech(even after getting almost 2% phys attacks as life) happening and natural regen being relatively low it seems like if you run out of HP flask you are kinda screwed. With the hit and run play style it doesn't seem like leech is really effective for recovery.

Minor update since i'm already here:
Once i sell everything i have for sale i'll be able to buy Farrul's Fur for testing. From there i can test the end game version of the build and will spend rest of the money upgrading the bow. In the worst case i'll be able to access my old bow in standard once the league ends.

"

Haasts wrote:

Spoiler

Glad to hear your SSF experience fell in line with my own - haven't been playing this build safely in high-level content lately (ran a Cremation Chieftain for very forgiving A8 Sirus etc) but am using it for grinding out the map bosses challenge.

Spoiler

Some notes for anyone thinking about this in SSF:

Spoiler

* I have chanced every white Studded Belt that has dropped for me this league as well as used Ancient Orbs / temple rooms on belts, and I am the proud owner of fifteen The Magnates and zero Ryslatha's Coils.

* Took me seventeen Corroded+Jagged fossil attempts to craft my bow and wasn't particularly keen to craft others; wish I'd delved to ~iL83 instead of farming ~iL70-75ish biomes.

* Despite every attempt with farming scarabs etc, could not get an Elder/Hunter amulet to drop to craft and should have tried to craft/anoint a different amulet rather than stubbornly holding out for the right base to drop.

* Ran a lot of Calderas and farmed A6 Mud Flats for a couple of hours(?) getting sets of the Lion; didn't get the jewel in the five sets I gathered ... generally heard it takes a dozen attempts to get the jewel and wasn't enjoying the grind. Randomly ended up with another set via random Metamorph/Stacked Deck div card jobs which gave me the jewel; was a very significant DPS boost.

* Boots: 100-150ish Chaos / Alch+Scour attempts; hit T1 End Charge on Kill & Spell Dodge once but on a six-mod item with no MS; first annul (of the three I've found this league) hit a junk suffix instead of a junk prefix and the second annul hit the End Charge on Kill. Eventually decided to see what I could do with Alt+Aug+Regal and hit End Charge on Kil and good life/res rolls, which seemed good enough. Despite doing as many Jun missions as possible, putting Aisling in Research to craft prefixes onto boots without MS etc, I didn't get the option to unveil hybrid MS crafts so caved and used the straight MS craft.

* I'd been using a 5L Kintsugi but had a set of The Dapper Prodigy to turn in and wanted to try out Rain of Arrows of Split Arrow - wish I'd made the change sooner, and might see how Crimson Dance / Siege Ballista works with my level of gear.

Personally i would say it's fine build for SSF but it gets tough around yellow/red maps. Build needs that extra 100% bleed dmg bow or vulnerability on hit to clear well. Ryslatha's Coil being almost impossible to obtain in SSF doesn't help. I would personally use the build on a second character rather than a starter out there. It's fine for trade league tho.

To remind i switched to trade league to speed up my progression, but with enough time i would easily get to similar point to where i am now. Maybe around level 92-94.

Crimson Dance is really reserved only for expensive gear. Puncture's added damage is a big damage bonus on top of significantly higher more multiplier, so without strong bow it's not gonna feel good to use the old setup.

"

clawface wrote:

I am close to level 50, and the clear speed is a bit less than ED contagion. Is their a higher ceiling for this build vs Trickster ED?

Level 50 is just the beginning and the build depends on good weapon. ED is known to be one of the strongest starter build for many leagues now and it's a spell so it doesn't really need much during levelling process. I don't know why you're even trying to compare both builds, on top of it at lower levels.

"

loukas22 wrote:

Spoiler

Hey there great build thanks for sharing:) i am currently 50 and im gonna see this to 100 for sure.
If you had to use split arrow for the end game (kinda like it a lot) what would you link it with?

Will update soon with my map gear

I believe you're the guy who asked me the same question in game, but i'll repeat anyway. You have to replace one support gem (probably Maim) with Pierce or Chain. Both perform in similar way. I still strongly recommend RoA over Split Arrow.

"

loukas22 wrote:

Spoiler

Greetings again!
Just a small update:
Currently lvl83 and i am on my way to destroy the endgame.
Anyone has any ideas to make my char a bit more tanky? Its the only gladiator in my char list :)

ps:
Build rocks

Your character page is hidden so nobody can check. I don't do gear check ups anymore tho (too much time consuming for something you can do yourself). Check your flasks tho, from experience it's the part that's heavily neglected by players.

The build isn't something you can call tanky, but it does have some defences to not get destroyed right away. It still relies on player to dodge incoming projectiles. Killing enemies quick and destroying their corpses is probably biggest defensive portion of the build.

"

vtsRunty wrote:

Spoiler

Where does sustain come from in the end game setups? Just practiced leveling this through campaign and with hardly any leech(even after getting almost 2% phys attacks as life) happening and natural regen being relatively low it seems like if you run out of HP flask you are kinda screwed. With the hit and run play style it doesn't seem like leech is really effective for recovery.

Ryslatha's Coil pretty much refills whole life pool on killing a single monster pack. For bosses, the leech and life potion should suffice. Leech is significantly better if you're using RoA and the vaal version of it compared to Split arrow you're using now.

What do you think about ensnaring arrow with balista and GMP? If they die too fast maybe Mirage archer is better?

I managed to test Farrul's Fur, Farrul's Pounce and ~2,5 sec cycle Aspect of the Cat. I switched to Siege Ballista as the main skill right away, since this is where the skill should shine the most. I had conqueror's available to run shortly after i switched so i decided to try it out. The results were very promising. I tried Awakener as well and it was the smoothest and fastest kill on him i've done so far.
I even recorded it if you're interested to see it in practice.

In short, it feels great. Takes some time to ramp up the damage but afterwards it's awesome. Feels like old build again but weaker (due to mob powercreep).

I didn't throughly test Puncture with the setup yet, but the few attempts i've done didn't hit the mark. Timing the Vaal RoA was very unintuitive. Maybe i need some more time to get used to it but i doubt that's actually the case. I also have to admit i don't even want to test it since Siege Ballista feels so good to use.

Lastly, the iteration of the build that might actually be ridiculously strong. Obviously there is a drawback to it which is losing up to ~700 life in the process, making it softcore viable only. In exchange build should gain massive potential damage output (around double of current one). I already got the necessary items to check it out other than the bow (Spine Bow would be the best base for it). That will have to wait until i test the primary build.

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haitike wrote:

What do you think about ensnaring arrow with balista and GMP? If they die too fast maybe Mirage archer is better?

If you have curse enemies with Vulnerability thanks to warlord's ring or glove vaal implicit then yes, why not. Don't think it's necessary tho. Mirage Archer should be better in general and Barrage Support should stay (for real, it's great).

I'm actually praying for this build, I want to play as starter in trade league, but havok and steelmage are thinking to play it too, plz dont nerf it.....

I did little bit more testing today and confirmed my current feelings about using Farrul's Pounce with Puncture. While it does massively improve damage output over longer periods of time, you need to hit a lot of times to make use of it. That's something you can't do usually. Vaal RoA, which i hoped to solve this issue with, helps a lot but timing it just doesn't feel good since you need to divide your attention.

The good point is, Siege Ballista works super well with the combo and in fact deals similar damage output as Puncture focused build. It's also way more versatile and safe due to playstyle.

What i'll do soon:
* "Remove" the current end game build, since it's no different to basic one. Better gear and that's it. Or maybe keep it as a small section somewhere. Not sure yet.
* Add classic build in separate section, similar how i handled it in my CA guide.
* Make all other necessary adjustments, like adding sources of automatic frenzy generation.
* Update FAQ, record some videos etc.

There's also that other idea i've mentioned last time. It's a great concept but fails due to amount of unique items and passive points necessary. Maybe i'll make it work with some gear from standard. Short version it's a crit build. Long version is in spoiler:

"

hadesownsyou888 wrote:

I'm actually praying for this build, I want to play as starter in trade league, but havok and steelmage are thinking to play it too, plz dont nerf it.....

Because people play the build doesn't mean it's going to get gutted. I'm more concerned about the cost of the gear associated with bleed.

I would be fine with small nerf to Puncture's flat damage to be honest.