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

Hi DankawSL,
First of all, great guide, very well-tailored and dedicating.
I'm a veteran and I have skipped several leagues since Legion, everything looks new and quite overwhelming (I'm still trying to figure what are divergence or anomalous gems are).
Your guide really triggers to urge to play the new league, I love DoT builds but I only played ED, TR and CA before so I want to try something new this league.
I checked poe.ninja and saw most people are using Split Arrow instead of RoA, what is the main difference between the two of them in your opinion?
Another question, is Maim gem necessary when "Blood in the Eyes" already applies Maim on bleeding enemies?
Thanks for your answers.

"

webas wrote:

Spoiler

Im slightly puzzled. You have one pob with siege ballistas. Is it possible to have pure siege ballistas build as glad bleed? So the gameplay would feel less hectic (pressing too many buttons).

And second question - why so little uniques? Even started build must get great rares instead of uniques? thanks for reply

You can play pure Siege Ballista bleed, but i wouldn't recommend it. Unfortunately they have quite long time until they can fire arrows at enemies. There's also problem with levelling, because to make bleed Ballistas competitive you need few key items which are expensive (that's why it's "End Game Build"). Having RoA setup makes clearing maps much quicker and safer.

...I wouldn't call rares i have in PoB "great". They're something you can reliably find yourself if you pick up few rares every map. Couple days into the league i bet you could buy something similar for few chaos.

Rares are just better than uniques in nearly all cases unless you want something specific. Plus having rares, high life and overcapped res allows to use those good uniques which usually lack something in stats - like in this build where total 3 uniques that are used give no resistances at all.

"

lucre280893 wrote:

Spoiler

Hi DankawSL,
First of all, great guide, very well-tailored and dedicating.
I'm a veteran and I have skipped several leagues since Legion, everything looks new and quite overwhelming (I'm still trying to figure what are divergence or anomalous gems are).
Your guide really triggers to urge to play the new league, I love DoT builds but I only played ED, TR and CA before so I want to try something new this league.
I checked poe.ninja and saw most people are using Split Arrow instead of RoA, what is the main difference between the two of them in your opinion?
Another question, is Maim gem necessary when "Blood in the Eyes" already applies Maim on bleeding enemies?
Thanks for your answers.

Split Arrow vs RoA breakdown.

Maim from Gladiator ascedancy stacks additively with Maim from support gem.

Where is the PoB?

Hi, DankawSL.

I liked this build, but smg was a bit off for me. So i opened PoB, thought about it and here's what i came up with (These all are about basic tree since i'm going to league start with it and classic build... well it's not exactly league starter)

1. Things that made me think about changing build:
Would be nice to use resolute technique in non-crit build;
Using ascendency point not to it's full potential feels bad - i'm talking about outmatch and outlast and no way to get max endurance charges.
Enduring cry is op-op.
You are allocating cleaving which is on path from call to arms (which makes using enduring cry ez and thus bringing us to max enduring charges) to resolute technique.

2. What i came up with.
I have dropped all right side of the tree and went to the left and to scion life wheel. I took axe and sword bleed clusters since they are perfectly in range of lioneye's fall.
Then i noticed that we can use medium thread of hope to get frenzy and enduring charges notables.
Here's my PoB - it is based on your's - same items (plus two jewels mentioned above) but different tree.
https://pastebin.com/E2BDU5Am

3. Results of my changes.
As a true PoB warriors lets start from dmg - it is higher in my version 15-20%. Here i'm talking about PoB dmg. I know that it sucks in calculating bleed dmg but i hope that it sucks in the same way. Meaning that if it shows, that dmg is higher real dmg can't be 50% less.
So i guess that my version has fine dmg.

Life is almost the same (184% increased against yours 186%)

What we have lost? We have lost our dodge and some evade.

What we have gained?
1) Resolute technique - huge "+" for league start.
2) 5 endurance charges that are up on maps and bosses, so it's 30% (10 from outmatch and outlast) phys dmg reduction.
3) +1 all max res
4) EZ enduring cry on left-click.
5) We are passing by cleaving now so we can get another skill on amulet. There're some good stuff to take. Growth and decay for big dmg and some life regen. Discipline and training for pure life. No witnesses for elusive. And what i like the most (and took in that PoB) - crystal skin for max res and elemental ailments avoidance. With thick skin cluster we have 35% on tree so it's ez to get to 100 using crafts on items.

IMO we get much more then we loose - we do more dmg and we are more tanky.

What we can do with my variant.
We can get 17% inc life for 4 points near barb (with higher lvl all drop a bit of dmg). We are close to cluster jewels points so we can ez make use of them (much more thought than i have put into this build needed for it). And my favorite variant (it's crazy and might be stupid, but i like it) - we can drop arena challenger and outmatch and outlast and take versatile combatant put that unique block quiver on, use unique block flask and get 56% attack and spell block (thanks to no acro).

Important thing to know - i haven't played bleed since 1.x or smg like that, so i might have messed smg not obvious up and my variant sucks ass. So what do you think about it?
Will it be ez for you to came up with cluster jewel and "classic" variants of my variant? If it will take any time and you don't think that my variant is better - don't bother.
What's not super cool about this variant - you can ez drop thread of hope at start, but you kinda NEED lioneye's fall, getting it at league start is hard. So do you have any thoughts about it? Switch to this variant later? Smg else?

What dps the build can pull with mediocre / starting gear ?

And also up to date PoB?

January 14th, 2021
Crafting Section:
* Removed Harvest method for Elder Bleed Bow. Old method was removed on 3.12 patch.
* Harvest crafting for Hunter Quiver is still valid.
* Removed Fossil Crafting for Hunter Quiver. Alt -> Regal still remains as a "just want quick damage upgrade" option.

"

LilShy wrote:

Where is the PoB?

At the beginning of 2nd post. It really shouldn't be hard to find.

"

agarwean wrote:

Spoiler

Hi, DankawSL.

I liked this build, but smg was a bit off for me. So i opened PoB, thought about it and here's what i came up with (These all are about basic tree since i'm going to league start with it and classic build... well it's not exactly league starter)

1. Things that made me think about changing build:
Would be nice to use resolute technique in non-crit build;
Using ascendency point not to it's full potential feels bad - i'm talking about outmatch and outlast and no way to get max endurance charges.
Enduring cry is op-op.
You are allocating cleaving which is on path from call to arms (which makes using enduring cry ez and thus bringing us to max enduring charges) to resolute technique.

2. What i came up with.
I have dropped all right side of the tree and went to the left and to scion life wheel. I took axe and sword bleed clusters since they are perfectly in range of lioneye's fall.
Then i noticed that we can use medium thread of hope to get frenzy and enduring charges notables.
Here's my PoB - it is based on your's - same items (plus two jewels mentioned above) but different tree.
https://pastebin.com/E2BDU5Am

3. Results of my changes.
As a true PoB warriors lets start from dmg - it is higher in my version 15-20%. Here i'm talking about PoB dmg. I know that it sucks in calculating bleed dmg but i hope that it sucks in the same way. Meaning that if it shows, that dmg is higher real dmg can't be 50% less.
So i guess that my version has fine dmg.

Life is almost the same (184% increased against yours 186%)

What we have lost? We have lost our dodge and some evade.

What we have gained?
1) Resolute technique - huge "+" for league start.
2) 5 endurance charges that are up on maps and bosses, so it's 30% (10 from outmatch and outlast) phys dmg reduction.
3) +1 all max res
4) EZ enduring cry on left-click.
5) We are passing by cleaving now so we can get another skill on amulet. There're some good stuff to take. Growth and decay for big dmg and some life regen. Discipline and training for pure life. No witnesses for elusive. And what i like the most (and took in that PoB) - crystal skin for max res and elemental ailments avoidance. With thick skin cluster we have 35% on tree so it's ez to get to 100 using crafts on items.

IMO we get much more then we loose - we do more dmg and we are more tanky.

What we can do with my variant.
We can get 17% inc life for 4 points near barb (with higher lvl all drop a bit of dmg). We are close to cluster jewels points so we can ez make use of them (much more thought than i have put into this build needed for it). And my favorite variant (it's crazy and might be stupid, but i like it) - we can drop arena challenger and outmatch and outlast and take versatile combatant put that unique block quiver on, use unique block flask and get 56% attack and spell block (thanks to no acro).

Important thing to know - i haven't played bleed since 1.x or smg like that, so i might have messed smg not obvious up and my variant sucks ass. So what do you think about it?
Will it be ez for you to came up with cluster jewel and "classic" variants of my variant? If it will take any time and you don't think that my variant is better - don't bother.
What's not super cool about this variant - you can ez drop thread of hope at start, but you kinda NEED lioneye's fall, getting it at league start is hard. So do you have any thoughts about it? Switch to this variant later? Smg else?

Sigh, not this again... It's like FAQ doesn't exist.

Q: Have you thought about using Lioneye's Fall and taking melee nodes in Marauder's starting location?
A: Yes, it's a very viable alternative. However it heavily encourages armour as a defensive mechanic which i dislike in general. Performance-wise it's very similar to the passive tree i provide. Overall going to shadow area is easier for newbies, has smoother progression and much less demanding gear requirements.


To answer you specific points (bit hard to do since everything is around the place):

1 - First of all let's clarify something. What you see in equipment section is THE BARE MINIMUM with some hints to potential end game upgrades. People totally don't realise that. No matter what version of bleed bow you came up with, pretty much all of them will use the gear i suggest. The advanced stuff is inside End Game Build section. You might be why asking "why would you do that?". It's because there's lots of people who barely can even afford that minimum, you even have an example on previous page.

2 - Classic build is the main build of this guide, not Puncture. However Classic cannot function without key items which you won't be able to afford right away. Therefore Puncture is default build and you have option to do whatever you want from this point. Also this guide existed for around 1 year before bleed bow even became popular.

3 - RT is great, but no longer necessary since 3.7 patch. Split Arrow builds (which usually go to left side) feel absolutely terrible without it, which is not the case for RoA which functions well regardless.

4 - Your ideas are well known and used. Almost all streamers who made this build used them. Thread of Hope, Lioneye's Fall, automatic Enduring Cry (which afaik is not very reliable for end charges anymore).

5 - To note i also generate endurance charges, usually from boots. Replica Farrul's Fur is also a BiS option which is only for wealthy people but still. I cover ele ailment immunity in End Game build already. From experience, it's not really necessary.

6 - You didn't grasp full extent of what's lost by going left side. There's more to a build than just damage and life. Sure it does have higher numbers, but is it necessary? The amount of QoL features that make build smoother just vanish. Some people already learned that through Assailum helmet.

7 - I'm stopping here because every single time this "new" idea shows up, it eats too much of my time. I still have things to do. Not like i could answer much more. I will not change my build, it does it's job and i don't doubt it's the most beginner friendly version that exists.

"

arcadiyan wrote:

What dps the build can pull with mediocre / starting gear ?

And also up to date PoB?

Harder to calculate since PoB is terrible at calculating bleed since forever and fork doesn't change that. It's been a while since i checked it in my own calculator. In any case at least 1 million dps at close to no budget should be possible. Damage wise you're gonna be fine. Survivability is usually the problem for people (even tho it's perfectly fine for me).

3.13 update is already ready, i don't change number until build is ready to go.

Thanks for the reply even tho i'm fcking blind.

"

DankawSL wrote:

January 14th, 2021

6 - You didn't grasp full extent of what's lost by going left side. There's more to a build than just damage and life. Sure it does have higher numbers, but is it necessary? The amount of QoL features that make build smoother just vanish. Some people already learned that through Assailum helmet.

This is exactly what i were talking about when i said all that "i might have messed smg not obvious up" stuff.

I can go through stuff i haven't consider before your reply and realised from it. But i don't think anyone care (or should care, really). The point is - you reply helped allot, thanks man.

"

agarwean wrote:

Thanks for the reply even tho i'm fcking blind.

"

DankawSL wrote:

January 14th, 2021

6 - You didn't grasp full extent of what's lost by going left side. There's more to a build than just damage and life. Sure it does have higher numbers, but is it necessary? The amount of QoL features that make build smoother just vanish. Some people already learned that through Assailum helmet.

This is exactly what i were talking about when i said all that "i might have messed smg not obvious up" stuff.

I can go through stuff i haven't consider before your reply and realised from it. But i don't think anyone care (or should care, really). The point is - you reply helped allot, thanks man.

Thanks for understanding. This means at least i didn't write this in vain.

From top of my head what's lost:

* 20% flask duration and 20% increased flask charges gained (Druidic Route)
* Mana, while not big i remember having issues sometimes before picking up Druidic Route
* Acro+Phase Acro, especially the latter. Every league GGG introduces more mobs that cast dangerous spells. 10 boss fight... you really might want it there. If not going Acro, you should go full armour and try to rely on Molten Shell to save you from elemental damage.
* Lots of attack speed. AS in general is a minor dps boost, but also clear speed and safety (since mobs get hit quicker and you have more time to dodge).

* LOTS of dexterity which you need to use a bow. Citadel is the popular choice which doesn't require too much dex but still. League starting on left side should be a pain.
* Plenty of physical damage which scales bleedsplosions. It's fixed with cluster jewels, but it's gonna be long time since you'll have them.

But for real, the absolute biggest problem with left side is how ridiculously league start and beginner unfriendly it is. Going right side you can just play and don't care much about gear except for high phys bow and 5/6-link. Easy mapping until high yellows/reds.

Getting a decent amount of physical mitigation for evasion/dodge-based builds has become a lot more easy as well. Not too long ago you pretty much had no physical mitigation as a "right-side-build" at all. These days you can generate endurance charges pretty easily, you got all these physical damage as elemental damage affixes, a basalt flask, the "outmatch and outlast"-node and so on...

Im a beginner to this game still.. So a question

What is the estimated damage in end game with this? With lets say a few ex worth of gear? Im new, so just looking around and I saw this one glad bleed build on PoB that uses split arrow and has 60 million dps on puncture (which seems insane?) But only 828k with split arrow, this of course with good gear.

When I see your build I dont see any numbers like that at all, its 300k on puncture and 70k on rain of arrows, but both seems to perform similarly, what am I missing? Thats with the original gear on your PoB and its worth an ex or two as well right?