[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

The issue for me is going over to Ancestral Bond and then respeccing everything out. And yeah, FT + SB is solid but I still find it lacklustre without being able to drop the additional FT.

I love cold skills though, I did a 40k dps Chaos Nova build in Talisman by doing 100% conversion Cold > Fire > Chaos and it was raaaaaaaaaad. Not the fastest, but super fun to play.

So I'm hoping that Frostbolt + Vortex / Ice Nova will be similarly interesting. Chaos conversion will be more difficult with the changes but I might still end up trying it just for all the purple.

Sorry if the question is noobish, but i want to know about mechanic

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Piercing: Piercing Caustic Arrow Projectiles will cause additional clouds each time they hit and will receive the chaos damage bonus any time they impact an enemy, but multiple overlapping clouds will not cause additional debuffs.

How does this damage scales? And damage only apply to the arrow not to cloud? Each time it will pierce dmg will scale more and more? How does arrow dmg calculate (not cloud), is its rly worth having additional arrow?
For phys dmg bonus CA should be insert only in weapon?

Ok, totems are defenetly good, but speaking about leveling, what about ED+contagion?

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omgree wrote:

Sorry if the question is noobish, but i want to know about mechanic

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Piercing: Piercing Caustic Arrow Projectiles will cause additional clouds each time they hit and will receive the chaos damage bonus any time they impact an enemy, but multiple overlapping clouds will not cause additional debuffs.

How does this damage scales? And damage only apply to the arrow not to cloud? Each time it will pierce dmg will scale more and more? How does arrow dmg calculate (not cloud), is its rly worth having additional arrow?
For phys dmg bonus CA should be insert only in weapon?

We're only dealing cloud damage, not arrow damage.

But, with Drillneck, Pierce chance also applies as projectile damage, which DOES apply to the cloud.

Without Drillneck, we wouldn't get the damage benefit. So what Pierce + Drillneck does for us is provide both the Pierce conversion into Projectile damage, and then whenever the arrow pierces, it drops another cloud, which effectively provides us with additional AoE.

To that effect, Deadeye giving us the additional arrow not only provides greater AoE on its own, but it also provides more opportunities for pierce to occur, thus dropping more clouds.

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omgree wrote:

Ok, totems are defenetly good, but speaking about leveling, what about ED+contagion?

I don't like the mechanics of ED / Contagion at all, so I haven't properly tested it for levelling. I find it slow early on (used it up to about level 40) and didn't like it, so I stopped.

Someone else will have to chime in here to provide a more thorough experience.

@omgree

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Piercing: Piercing Caustic Arrow Projectiles will cause additional clouds each time they hit and will receive the chaos damage bonus any time they impact an enemy, but multiple overlapping clouds will not cause additional debuffs.

The Above quote is explaining that every time a Caustic Arrow hits an enemy a cloud is created. A cloud is also created if the arrow pierces an enemy. This means with high pierce chance a single arrow can create more than one cloud. While cloud damage does not overlap, this mechanic provides additional clear speed by increasing the area of the cloud damage.

How does this damage scale?
- Cloud damage scales by gem level, area damage, projectile damage, damage, chaos damage, and damage over time effects.

Damage only apply to the arrow not to cloud?
- Because this build does not scale the initial hit, only the cloud damage, the above methods to scale damage is for the cloud damage.

Each time it will pierce dmg will scale more and more?
- No, the clouds do not overlap for more damage.

How does arrow dmg calculate (not cloud)?
- I think the hit is based on the phys damage of the bow, but again this build only scales the cloud, and not the initial hit. Someone with more knowledge on the hit mechanics of this skill should answer this.

Is its rly worth having additional arrow?
- Yes. More coverage = faster clear speed = more things dying = more items = more currency.

For phys dmg bonus CA should be insert only in weapon?
- This build does not care about the phys damage. The reason it is in the weapon, is for the +3 to bow gems, as the cloud damage scales from gem levels.


Serleth and his Ninja posts!

I strike from the shadows.

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Sutyrin wrote:

Sorry for the noob question, but you all mention dual totems. What do you mean? IIRC, two totems are available only if you take Ancestral Bond keystone, which is way too far from our skill path. Is there some other way to use 2 totems at once?

There are a couple options outside of the Ancestral Bond skill.

- Templar class / Heirophant ascendancy / Ritual of Awakening
- Soul Mantle chestpiece

Use both and you could have 4 totems active at any time. Needs a lot of curse removal flasks, though!

What this typically means though for levelling builds is Searing Bond, which allows you to place an additional totem inherently in the skill. Whether you double up on Searings, or use Searing / F.Totem.

Grimjack, Serleth thanks for the explanation!
I think that I will try Serleth's way: Frostbolt + backup skills. New skill shouldn't be too underpowered, right? :-D