[0.11.2] Lightning Arrow Duelist - 1.0.0 updated!

Since Athena shutdown his thread and will not be updating it, this will be the new Duelist LA thread. Which is still completely viable. I will be going over two different builds - one being life based, and the other being energy shield based for chaos inoculation.

IMPORTANT TO NOTE Blood magic keystone build is primarily only used for leveling since it is nearly impossible to run any auras with it, unless you are playing standard league.

Also - level using split arrow, rain of arrows, spectral throw, or melee spec (cleave, melee splash+dual strike, leap slam, etc.) This is because it is hard to level via LA without a 4 or 5 Link.

51 points

80 points - at this point you should be doing maps. Your DPS will drastically increase after picking up Static Blows.

level 90 - 108 points

level 90 Lioneye's Glare build - 108 points

level 90 Lioneye's Glare, Alpha's Howl, 3 aura build - 108 points

level 90 Voltaxic Rift build - 108 points

level 100 build 118 points

IMPORTANT TO NOTE It is really hard to pull off Lightning arrow without it being 5 linked. 4 link is doable, but, It's best to level up with Rain of Arrows or Split Arrow until you get a hold of a 5 link.

Lightning Arrow Links
In order of importance

Lightning Arrow + Lesser / Greater Multiple Projectile + Life Gain on Hit + Weapon Elemental Damage + Chain + Blood Magic

Use Greater over Lesser MP when your DPS is too high and you are dying to reflect(after you start stacking a lot of weapon elemental damage and increased attack speed affixes on your gear, this may occur) - though, this does not apply to the Voltaxic Rift builds, since they are immune to reflect.


Single target options

Frenzy + Weapon Elemental Damage + Life Leech + Blood Magic / Faster Attacks

Auras / Curses / Misc

Auras: can only be used by the BM gem build. Keystone should not use them, at least on hardcore / nemesis leagues.

Recommend: Grace / Wrath / Determination / Anger / Haste.

Optional: Hatred / Vitality / Purity

Other gems:

Elemental Weakness / Conductivity / Enfeeble / Temporal Chains

Enduring Cry / Lightning Warp / Decoy Totem


It is also a good idea to run a setup similar to this for maps with elemental reflect, min-max resists, and/or lightning thorns - Even though Voltaxic Rift builds do not need to worry about reflect, they are still vulnerable to Lightning Thorns.

Ranged Attack Totem + Lightning Arrow + Chain + Lesser Multiple Projectiles

Place the totem at the pack of elemental reflect/lightning thorn guys. Slowly poke them with your own LA, but be cautious of how faster you attack and take it slow. This will save you.

Kaom's Heart, Thunderfists, Voltaxic Rift, and Lioneye's Glare.

This build is still viable without Kaom's Heart, but you will need max health rolls on your gear and very high armor/evasion rating in harder level 72+ maps.

Why is this?

Kaom's heart (pre nerfed and nerfed) is a really powerful item. You are trading less single target DPS (not much less, if any at all if you have Thunderfists) for a giant increase in your survivability. If you can maintain max resists and do good single target DPS, get a Kaom's Heart ASAP.

Thunderfist and Kaom's Heart play together well - allowing you to still be able to use a 5 link for single target DPS, while not being able to use any sockets in your chest due to Kaom's Heart. The 100 lightning damage and shock duration increase is just a really good added bonus :)

Lioneye's Glare is one of the best bows that you can have, as a non-crit based LA spec. In my opinon, it still beats higher physical damage bows since it frees up 2 skill points and adds an additional 5% shock chance (5% base crit chance.) But, others will disagree.

Voltaxic Rift is a special item that allows you to stack crit without the fear of dying to reflect since it converts your lightning damage to Chaos, and chaos is not an element, thus not being affected by elemental reflect. You must build and use specific gear in order to abuse this bow - even though it is rather expensive to get a hold of, it is a very powerful bow and will change the way that you play Lightning Arrow.

One other suggested item is Alpha's Howl. It will make your auras strong. With this item and certain passives, it is possible to run 3 auras on mana.

Damage Affixes you are looking for, in order of priority are:

Non crit builds:
Increased Attack Speed, Elemental Weapon Damage, Elemental damage.

Crit builds:
Increased Attack Speed, Elemental Weapon Damage/Critical Strike Chance, Critical Strike Multiplier, Elemental damage.

Normal - Help Oak
Cruel - Help Kraityn
Merciless - Kill all or Help Kraityn