[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

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Shajirr wrote:

For anyone who played this - how does dodge version compare to IR?

IR has the obvious benefit of preventing potential one-shots from phys damage.

However, armour does absolutely nothing at all for spells and +added dmg as X map mods, while you can dodge those.

Most endgame bosses also have elemental/chaos attacks/spells for which IR is useless.

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hankinsohl wrote:

Hi Kezz:

I haven't played CA this league so my advice won't be as good as Chrono's or Serleths...

But, here's my take.

Your tree and gear looks OK to me. Your flasks could be improved a lot. You'll want at least 2 Seething Hallowed Flasks of Staunching (I usually run 3) - Seething is really great as you'll instantly heal through most damage. Check the opening post where Serleth lists his gear and just copy his flasks.

Don't try to roll Seething of Staunching - you'll just burn through a ton of alts. Instead, buy them via poe.trade and then dump baubles onto them to get 20 quality.

I don't know what level maps you're trying to run... but, if you feel that you're taking too much damage, focus on evasion (a higher evasion chest piece will help quite a bit) and life (more life nodes from trees).

Ultimately, though, it may be play style. As a CA ranger, your main defenses are 1) avoiding damage; 2) evasion and 3) life. You cannot expect to facetank anything at all - instead, stay at range, stay constantly in motion and focus on avoiding damage. Constant motion - e.g., circling around enemies is incredibly helpful. Monsters will target where you were, not where you are. By staying in motion - circle bosses - you'll avoid a ton of damage.

In terms of DPS, everything looks basically OK in terms of gear/tree to me. Perhaps, you're not keeping frenzy charges up. Frenzy charges are a huge boost to damage. Either make sure that blood rage is going (I don't like blood rage, personally though Serleth does) - or that you're keeping frenzy charges up via the Frenzy skill.

For bosses, make sure to use the Frenzy skill (for frenzy charges); make sure to use your Wither Totem (a small improvement to your totem links is to incorporate Increased Duration) once you can afford to do so; and toss a Vaal Lighting Trap when possible (keep in mind that certain boss skills can destroy your traps, so, if possible, throw the trap right at the boss so it immediately explodes, and save up the trap charges - don't throw all three traps at once, rather, throw one, wait till it expires, and then throw another, etc.)

Use of Blink Arrow can help too - mobs will often focus on your blink clone instead of you, thus providing another mechanism for damage avoidance.

Finally, keep in mind that you're running a level 20 CA in a 5-link. Your damage will go up quite a bit with a level 21 CA.
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TL/DR - fix your flasks, insure that frenzy charges are always up, adopt a defensive play style where you're always on the move and at range, and if you still feel you're taking too much damage grab life nodes from the tree (or drop the frenzy nodes and pick up life instead) and try to build up more evasion.

It's normal to take moderate damage from time-to-time and, very occasionally a lot of damage from unforeseen circumstances (especially if you're aggressive)- but with Seething flasks, you can tap-tap-tap your way though any of this and get out of harm's way.

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Shajirr wrote:

Why Andvarius rings are in the gear setup?

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Kezz123 wrote:

thanks for the feedback.

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Gryphyn wrote:

So.... just upgraded to a 6-link, what a change!!