[S]Explosive Arrow Marauder by Slaydemkidz (lvl 96 HC) - For EXPERIENCED Players! (1.2.0)!

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GreatMalek wrote:

---very long informative post incoming---

okay, I've come to the realization that I will never own a 6 link quill rain or chest piece (at least not for a very long time) to use with my EA setup. So, I've decided to make a build which will allow me to do the same damage as Xantaria's build with only a 5link.

my lv 86 EA build

          My build          

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgQAmy0XHbe2jX7NmL6nbmmE2WVNJd9Hfhv6q8WkGQHc4uq-imEheA2E7xLhqW5Yr3TtbEa18jboeu9ybDWSAedgSzIJ_o-sWacwn8sFLU3jiPEUIBRxplfnY1BHBg5Bqjrh_gpj_fjr37_yRbc-Ja33MkGHCfZyqfnofNmCxyj6mK3r7riTpwidrtgkGmwSaTbFGYXkIhccNtgkqilPcXkqjTbp7DiCm5eF42o62Bo47FVN2KeEnjyMdpBVgW8EsxRN8B8CcYM4ogDvfNJNwA8t0g==

Xantaria's lv 86 EA build, for reference

          Xantaria's build          

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgEAxthYY1BQjM_2SF8_VEnnUu8Oud3UjxkuJ-3z3ayqcqlZ83zZ9zLAGvjrZp6QVUGq-tKnhN-_NukdFBo442qPRuw4pwjQ0DrYna64k89lTdgt0hJp6-5Vxp48jHYXHCj6gW9xeZitgscEs_noFE0CcUGHgziiALc-73z-CudjiPGsWTWStfKpbngNbEa-inJsAdwyCeLqpBlhIRv6hO8S4SXfdO2E2XrvZU1uaWBLR36-pwUtq8XSTcAP1e1qk7ZBTipbryml3Q38xWegh3ZKfQ==

I'll go straight into the pros and cons of my build vs his

          Pros:          

- I do 3.8% less burn damage/second and 12.5% more explosion damage than him using only a 5link (math on this further down the post).

- 10% more attack speed since we started from duelist :D

- Unwavering stance to avoid all stuns to freely cast EA and split arrow

          Cons          

- 43 dexterity vs his 94, which means you'll have to have nice gear to add that last 110 dexterity (you can get 30 from a jade amulet, 20 from your quill rain, 40 from a light quiver so you only need 20 more from other gear).

- 252% life increased vs 262% life increased, and his life nodes are readily accessible

- 4.5% life regen vs 6.4% life regen, not too terrible considering your explosive arrow costs less since you won't be using concentrated effect, and most of your regen should be coming from your split arrow, chain and life gain on hit combo.

- No elemental adaptations, :( i couldn't afford the 3 points to get it...

- 0% chaos resist vs his 8-12%, not too big of a deal but worth mentioning

- 128% increased armour vs his 136%, which is a total of 3.4% less armour

- NO iron reflexes, so only use armour pieces!!

- I use unwavering stance since I mostly solo, but the reason I also put this under cons is because you won't benefit from blind or grace and IR like xantaria's build. Up to you if you want to spec into US or not.

- He has the maurader nodes for reduced critical strike damage and I don't, unfortunately.

OKAY, time for the math part to prove I do similar amounts of damage with only a 5link

*All of this information was gathered with the gear and passive tree he provided

Assume a Base damage of 100

          Xantaria's Explosion damage          

He has 8% increased aoe from the passive tree, 10% increased fire damage from 20% fire penetration gem, and 69% more damage from lv 20 concentrated effect gem.

8 + 10 = 18% increased, and 69% more

100*(1.18)*(1.69) = 199.42 fire damage

          Xantria's Burn damage          

Now for the burn. In addition to all the above damage sources listed, he also has 60% burn from passives, and 59% burn from increased burning damage gem

8 + 20 + 60 + 59 = 137%, and 69% more

199.42*(2.37)*(1.69)*(.2) = 159.75 burning damage/second

With max quality, max level gems, he burns for 5.8 seconds, so his total burn is 926.53 fire damage.

          5 link Explosion Damage          

My 5 link set up will be his 6 link without the concentrated effect gem.

I have 8% increased aoe from the passive tree, 24% projectile damage from the passive tree, 10% elemental damage from the passive tree, and 72% increased fire from the passive tree. I also have 10% increased fire from a 20% fire penetration gem.

8 + 24 + 10 + 72 + 10 = 124%

100*(2.24) = 224 fire damage (which is 12.3% more explosive damage so its a little worse with reflect)

          5 link Burn damage          

Now for the burn. With all the above damage sources listed, I also have 60% burn from the passive tree and 59% from the increased burning damage gem.

124 + 60 + 59 = 243%

224*(3.43)*.2 = 153.66 burn damage/second which is 3.8% less damage than xantaria's build

With max quality, max level gems, I also burn for 5.8 seconds so my final damage will be 891.25

So as you can see, over 5.8 seconds, he will do 926.53 fire damage and my 5link set up will do 891.25, so its not matching exactly, but close enough.

For a 5link, this build is a much cheaper alternative, but if you had the funds to buy a 6link, there isnt much this build provides that xantaria's build doesnt.

One thing you could do however is swap elemental proliferation for concentrated effect and do A SHIT TON of single target damage since the more mod applies twice. I would only advise this for boss runs and places you are 100% sure don't have elemental reflect.

Hope you enjoyed my cheap variation! took some time to write, so you guys better appreciate this! :D