[2.2]->[2.6] Pathfinder Budget / Lightning Arrow / 100% pierce / Crit / Infractem

really like this build, thanks for the ideas. 100% piercing arrows makes a lot of fun, combined with frenzy/GMP cursing and active weapon switch it also isn't like 'boring' 1-click builds. Two frenzy shots in two directions and nearly everything on screen is cursed and half dead, next LA shot shatters the rest.

Bloodlines mods like Living Blood aren't so scary anymore (if I play solo that is), because the elemental is even without a crit/oneshot nearly instant dead after three traps, kiting exiles/hard hitters works also like a charm with this Chin Sol setup, despite it's only a 4L right now.

I'm currently lvl82 in Bloodlines, with 4.4k life. This build is definitely HC viable if you watch for the usual stuff that kills you (shocked ground, close range heavy hitters, etc.). It's my ~6th HC/overall 50+ toon, and the first that hit lvl80+. Movement speed helps a lot in this regard, you can easily evade most of the attacks and nearly all melees, without constantly hitting Quicksilver.

right now I'm on 4.8k/3.8k tooltip dps on LA/puncture without charges (and Heartseeker cluster still missing), both still on 4 links, as sidtherat already said you get much more out of it than that when you hit 3+ mobs/packs. 1 Frenzy to curse half of the screen plus 1-2 LA shots and everything shatters.

IMO the hardest part of this build is getting a 5L/6L Infractem (just managed to 6s it with ~300 jews, then used ~60 fuses but no luck yet). No one sells a 6s (let alone a 5L) on Bloodlines. Bought a 6S/4L Chin Sol on poe.trade for 5c which easily is enough even for mapping.

I mixed the passive tree up with ZiggyD's Tornado Shot build. I did get nearly all life nodes first before the good dmg clusters, the 4L LA damage was enough for me until Merciless.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgIAm42v6wgu7YMZjgBe037ven115wr-ugqbeOv8xVb6Z6DdDXfXh3Ys6Vuvfys51OOfFSDK0yF2MHzWinb3Sn0i4hm0hs5RR419MfpH4r6nwTOVBY2_51Qj9qCf0IFlTXXL2cYIifrrBbUk_U2SpDm9NupiMpSa8ZLz1CPo1v_eR35_Al1oXkUwcSLqmybndKbgyqndqLEwMgFtbEt4tQiyGbVINj06QnGhz3oGI_Pq7LCdqo9PYesfQSoLjAtirGyMelMDHnBSuXwWvyaVYeJVS4w2

I'm considering dropping the 'Profance Chemistry' cluster and getting the 'Reflexes' notable right above it, what do you guys recommend? 15% inc life is not much but better than nothing, and 60% inc flask life recovery sounds not bad, but I only have 5216/34% evasion, which seems a bit low for my main defense. I rarely played an evasion build before, so I don't know for what amount I should aim for?

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sushibagel wrote:

Fun build so far thanks. I just made it into maps and enjoying the speed at which I can melt packs.

How necessary do you think Frenzy charges are? Right now I'm running herald of thunder curse on hit. So with the three heralds I'm not able to run hatred though, do you feel this setup sacrifices too much on dps for the long run?

a) Herald of Thunder is a 'full' INT gem, meaning that sooner than latter youll run into INT-wall and will not be able to level it up. Damage - down.
b) HoT has a quite small effective range. This means that in most cases (for me - your playstyle might be different) my lightning hit nothing due to targets being a) out of range b) dead already
c) Frenzy + Pierce + CoH + GMP covers several screens worth of mobs. In my setup it also seamlessly generates Power Charges via PCoC in my BBBGG 5link
c-bis) this setup works (worse but still) for curse immune maps!
d) HoT does not proc LGOH from Theifs Torment (and cannot be augmented with Leech). Frenzy setup steals A LOT of life/mana per each volley. Utility + Sustain in one package.

e) Herald of Ice and Thunder have diminishing returns with low attack speed. Infractem is a slow bow. Id stick with Herald of Ash (15% MORE damage + stragglers-cleaning burn) + Hatred + Herald of Ice (great synergy with Lightning Arrow)

in short - even if i had FREE links/mana for HoT setup i would not run it. But this is my own personal preference. But.. if it works for you - enjoy :) fun is the most important part of any build (in my book)

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Inchoately wrote:

...

glad you made it work in Bloodlines. I never planned this build to be HC viable. Few words of advice - there are surprises that might get you killed

your evasion is bit low (i have 38% - but im in standard so i can afford dying once in a month). It (and currently low dmg - i have 12k in 5link LA) is your main defense vs reflect. I run high accuracy (~91%) and that would have had me killed instantly vs reflect pack. Thiefs Torment leeches A LOT vs packs but you also deal a lot vs packs. And you cannot leech from Herald of Ice explosions (these deal A LOT of damage and reflect a lot of damage too). Dodge helps a bit but this is skating on a VERY thin ice. With flask i reach 95% vs projectiles yet i managed to die (on purpose) in a -max/ele reflect vs a pack that was a bit too large to achieve equilibrium between LGOH from the ring and reflected damage with a SOLID crit..

second - be aware that projectile speed can really ruin your day. i play SC and more than once i considered dropping it. -max, ele reflect map requires caution. unlucky volley hitting double reflect == 'resurrect in town'.

btw that non-1-click gameplay is what made me to play this build longer than any of the previous ones. and this is a 100% budget for-fun buid that most people diss immediately

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sidtherat wrote:

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sushibagel wrote:

Fun build so far thanks. I just made it into maps and enjoying the speed at which I can melt packs.

How necessary do you think Frenzy charges are? Right now I'm running herald of thunder curse on hit. So with the three heralds I'm not able to run hatred though, do you feel this setup sacrifices too much on dps for the long run?

a) Herald of Thunder is a 'full' INT gem, meaning that sooner than latter youll run into INT-wall and will not be able to level it up. Damage - down.
b) HoT has a quite small effective range. This means that in most cases (for me - your playstyle might be different) my lightning hit nothing due to targets being a) out of range b) dead already
c) Frenzy + Pierce + CoH + GMP covers several screens worth of mobs. In my setup it also seamlessly generates Power Charges via PCoC in my BBBGG 5link
c-bis) this setup works (worse but still) for curse immune maps!
d) HoT does not proc LGOH from Theifs Torment (and cannot be augmented with Leech). Frenzy setup steals A LOT of life/mana per each volley. Utility + Sustain in one package.

e) Herald of Ice and Thunder have diminishing returns with low attack speed. Infractem is a slow bow. Id stick with Herald of Ash (15% MORE damage + stragglers-cleaning burn) + Hatred + Herald of Ice (great synergy with Lightning Arrow)

in short - even if i had FREE links/mana for HoT setup i would not run it. But this is my own personal preference. But.. if it works for you - enjoy :) fun is the most important part of any build (in my book)

Thanks for the explanation/reply this definitely explains the thinking behind your setup. I think I will give that a try it sounds like it would be a lot more effective.

thanks for your input.
I guess my dmg isn't high enough yet to get dangerous ele reflect hits. Luckily, very few people do -max plus ele reflect maps on HC, aside from some public yolo groups in Sarn...
So do you recommend to drop Herald of Ash on ele reflect maps and run one purity aura instead, maybe PoL against shocked? Or do you think it wouldn't matter much? I tried Grace instead of Hatred but the dmg loss is really noticeable, at least with 4L LA.

Seems I need to search for new boots and need to replace carcass jack to get more +evasion. I managed to get a +99% evasion Jade Flask, that helps a bit I guess.

I dropped the Profane Chemistry life cluster and instead went for the big evasion cluster above it, I'll keep you informed.

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sidtherat wrote:

your evasion is bit low (i have 38% - but im in standard so i can afford dying once in a month). It (and currently low dmg - i have 12k in 5link LA) is your main defense vs reflect. I run high accuracy (~91%) and that would have had me killed instantly vs reflect pack.

How did you manage to get up to 12k with this build? I'm only level 76 right now and haven't taken all the crit chance/crit multi nodes yet, but there aren't that many left nearby, and I'm doing 4.7k with Lightning Arrow in a 5-link (same skill setup as you). That's already with two Heralds and Hatred running (without charges though).

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Inchoately wrote:

Seems I need to search for new boots and need to replace carcass jack to get more +evasion.

I really recommend Atziri's Step if your resists can handle it, I got a corrupted one for a Chaos and the high evasion and additional spell dodge is strong.

I have a bit over 7k Evasion at level 76 for 43% chance which seems fine to me in combination with Acrobatics, I've taken some nodes from the Revenge of the Hunted cluster which gives some much-needed life, a bit less than Profane Chemistry but it's closer and has evasion and some damage as well.

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scrooge999 wrote:

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sidtherat wrote:

your evasion is bit low (i have 38% - but im in standard so i can afford dying once in a month). It (and currently low dmg - i have 12k in 5link LA) is your main defense vs reflect. I run high accuracy (~91%) and that would have had me killed instantly vs reflect pack.

How did you manage to get up to 12k with this build? I'm only level 76 right now and haven't taken all the crit chance/crit multi nodes yet, but there aren't that many left nearby, and I'm doing 4.7k with Lightning Arrow in a 5-link (same skill setup as you). That's already with two Heralds and Hatred running (without charges though).

link your tree, it will make easy to see what multiplier youve neglected - %phys, aspd or maybe simply gem levels. difference between lvl17 gems and lvl20 with some % can be quite substantial

7600 with no auras/heralds/charges
9900 +Hatred
10900 +HoA
11600 +HoIce
15400 +4 power/ +4frenzy charges


i think that the most important part is the accuracy - 91% (2990). it makes 'real' crit chance so much higher than for someone with lets say 83%

ill try the atziri step - have a pair with a nice corruption but my gear is desperate for resists (issue when using only one ring with little resist)

Chance to hit 83% / Critical strike chance 37.3% / Critical strike multi 233%

DPS with Herald of Fire + Herald of Ice + Hatred 4,829

Tree (next obviously Aspect of the Eagle):



Relevant gear:

your quiver is pretty bad..

look for one with crit/aspd/ele damage + resists and life (if you need resists from it)

as for the tree - aspect of the eagle is.. not something I would focus on. the node itself is very good, but the path leading to it is less than interesting


using your points id make small changes:

respec out of the 3 nodes leading to Aspect of the Eagle and put these into:
- 2 starting ranger nodes (8aspd / 20% acc)
- 20% accuracy node in the bow cluster between shadow and ranger

why? remember that real crit == crit * accuracy. in some cases it is more profitable to spec into acc instead of crit

other than that after getting a decent quiver (crit or phys base + crit/aspd/wed + resists/life) your damage should probably double

your lvl 16 gems (auras too) shall level and bump your damage even further.

also - you can respec out of Revenge of The Hunted (very mixed nodes, not that great per point value) and grab 'Art of the Gladiator' in the Duelist starting (12% aspd, no armor penalties etc) and then pick his 3 life nodes if you need life (you wont need it..). one INT node on the way should allow you respecing out of +30 INT nodes giving you one extra point

from what i can see by your stats your biggest issue is accuracy and pretty non-damaging quiver - other than that, it should be enough

attack speed is also a big factor for overall damage (more shots -> more hits/crits/explosions). Try to get a high %q LMP and aspd on the quiver. I went relatively early to the Duelist area, because there are some very cost effective points (aspd, acc, dex, str, proj. dmg, evasion, life for ~9 points). Of course you'll lose one power charge, but these Duelist points feel more valuable than going up the Witch tree towards Written in Blood, imo.

Also getting gear with +int and/or strengh can save you valuable skill points (in your case 3). If you're planning to go to the Duelist area, grab 'Fury Bolts' early on wich also gives you +20 str.

My current HC skilltree:
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgIAm42v6wgu7YMZjgBe037ven115wr-ugqbeOv8xVb6Z6DdDXfXqviHdizpW69_KznUqKLjn9qNytMhdjB81op298HYSn2r0hm0hs5RR419MfolP76nwTOVBY2_51Qj9qCfZU11y9nGCIn66wW1TZK9NupiMpSa8ZLz1CPo1kd-fwJdaF5FMHEi6psm53Sm4Mqp3aixMDIBbWxLeLUIshkPq7VINj06QnGhz3oWv_Pq7LCdqo9PYesmlSoLjAtirGyMelNh4nBSuXxVS4w2

I skilled out of 'Sniper' and grabbed 'Master Fletcher' instead. My next points are going into the Witch crit/aspd nodes and 'Heartseeker'

I managed to get 50% evasion with new boots/chest, ~48% seems to be the soft cap with Ondars Guile. The overall incoming dmg looks more balanced, but that may be only my subjective feeling.

My current gear, if anyone's interested (still no 5L Infractem :/ ):

a further note on accuracy - it affects both crit and non crit damage (contrary to crit multi) and forms a base. i got one of the highest DPS increases after picking that 'acc/crit' cluster near to mana/life leech ones. it was a really substantial DPS increase

also i started to do some rudimentary math and it seems that 'projectile damage' nodes might be a way to go for this build. projectile damage scales phys and added/converted damage. i'm not sure how WED interacts with it but i presume it double dipping

BTW:

i've never suspected that time will come to see this puny build on the first page of build guides for so long. i honestly expected it to die quietly.. it is a good feeling to be proven wrong