[3.1] DEADEYE Caustic Arrow DPS-focused 6k+ life 60k+ DoT DPS

Please, if you have any questions, DO NOT SEND ME PRIVATE MESSAGES, but post your question here in the thread!


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Introduction
I did this build in Warbands, and it was super effective, both in farming XP super fast and surviving difficult encounters, as well as in Farming Atziri. If you like fast-clearing, mobile builds and can afford a couple of exalts of gear, this is the build for you. With the gear I have, my character has 5.7k life and does close to 40k DPS with caustic clouds.

I was surprised to find that there is no Caustic Arrow build in the ranger section focused on DPS (there's only an MF one), so I decided to post this build guide. I hope you like it and encourage you to post ask any questions you might have regarding the build or the mechanics of Caustic Arrow.


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Video Section
Deathless Atziri run: https://youtu.be/suFVnEhLbmA
Village Ruin 4 Bosses: https://youtu.be/7BRZ4l5iQ4M
Crematorium Double Boss: https://youtu.be/YNag4UgTWnI
Waterways boss: https://youtu.be/3JD9wLUt7sU
Twinned Courtyard with -max resistances, enfeeble and 4 extra projectiles: https://youtu.be/SpE_MPWesYo
Shrine Piety with Blood Magic, Enfeeble and 4 extra projectiles mods: https://youtu.be/jV_ivgM8SZM
Palace Dominus with insane map mods (GMP, monster crit chance, vulnerability, boss buff): https://youtu.be/6MP7qqtVDig
Conservatory Vaal: https://youtu.be/ypkZ62IcbWE
Malformation Piety: https://youtu.be/ve1W412VTSA


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Ascendancy Class Specialisation
There's a couple completely viable choice for Ascendancy:
1) Deadeye (for DPS) - go for Endless Munitions and Fast and Deadly + 2 projectile damage nodes since we don't benefit from any of the notable nodes for the 8th point: http://www.pathofexile.com/ascendancy/classes/Deadeye
2) Raider (for survivability) - go for Avatar of the Slaughter + Avatar of the Veil: http://www.pathofexile.com/ascendancy/classes/Raider
3) play as Shadow and go for Trickster (for hybrid DPS + survivability) - go for Swift Killer + Patient Reaper + Shade Form: http://www.pathofexile.com/ascendancy/classes/Trickster
4) play as Duelist and go for Champion (again hybrid DPS + survivability) - go for First to Strike + Fortitude + Inspirational: http://www.pathofexile.com/ascendancy/classes/Champion


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Passive tree



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Skill Gems
6L: Caustic Arrow - Swift Affliction - Concentrated Effect - Empower - Void Manipulation - Slower Projectiles
5L: Frenzy - GMP - Chain - Curse on Hit - Despair
4L: Fire Trap - Concentrated Effect - Trap and Mine Damage - Increased Burning Damage (these links ARE NOT NECESSARY! They are for killing bosses even quicker, if you want, if not, use something else)
4L: Vaal Grace - Increased Duration - Immortal Call - CWDT (if you can get the colours, which is very difficulty, but I didn't use CWDT-IC and didn't find it necessary)
4L: Grace - Clarity (lvl14 max!) - Summon Flame Golem - Blink Arrow


Full list of required gems by colour:
Increased Duration
CWDT
Immortal Call
Empower
Summon Flame Golem
Increased Burning Damage

Caustic Arrow
Void Manipulation
Swift Affliction
Slower Projectiles
Void Manipulation
Frenzy
GMP
Chain
Fire Trap
Trap and Mine Damage
Vaal Grace
Grace
Blink Arrow

Concentrated Effect x2
Curse on Hit
Despair
Clarity


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Gear
There are several things that are quite essential for this build.
1) Your typical CA +3 to bow gems bow, looks something like this:

All that you care for is the +1 to gems mod and +2 to bow gems mod, because those will boost your dps the most out of all your pieces of gear. If you can, level Leo to level 3 and craft the Increased Damage over Time mod for some extra DPS. All other mods on the bow are completely irrelevant, so you might as well get some resistances on it, but that will probably cost you a lot, as a bow with those mods would be super rare and super valuable.
Oh, and the best bases are either Maraketh Bow or Steelwood Bow which give you 6% and 4% extra movement speed from their implicit mods, which is nice.

You can craft a +3 bow yourself easily if you have Catarina leveled to 8, Tora leveled to 7, and Leo leveled to 3.

2) Empower

This is expensive, but it's probably the second most important source of DPS for you, since it boosts the base DoT of the caustic clouds. Try to get at least a level 3 Empower, or level it yourself (which takes ages, so I don't recommend it), but if you can buy one, a level 4 Empower is obviously the best.

3) Quiver
Since Drillneck was changed, it's not good for this build anymore. The best choice now would be Rigwald's Quills, if you can afford it. If not, just get a quiver with life and resists.

4) Level 21 Caustic Arrow gem
If you can buy this or vaal a 20/20 gem and get a lvl21, it is a substantial boost to dps.

5) Atziri's Step

Very nice survivability boots.

6) Chest
Can be any, but Carcass Jack is probably the best choice if you can afford it.

Cherrubim's Maleficence is also a good choice.

CHerrubim's gives more DPS compared to Carcass, but Carcass gives more AoE and resists. It's your choice.

7) Hidden potential

Thanks to anikma1, I have seen that using all magic gear to benefit from Hidden potential is completely doable and viable. Using this jewel and all magic gear will give you THE MOST DPS you can get out of Caustic Arrow. However, it has its downsides (like not being able to use uniques or capping your chaos resistance or having lower evasion), so it is up to you to decide which playstyle suits you best.

Gloves and helm are standard evasion gear with life and the resistances you need, nothing else necesary. Jewellery should also focus on life and res, nothing else you need.


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My Current Gear
IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The gear section is for showing gear, if you're interested how to set up your gem links, look at the Skill Gems section. Literally every gem slot is there.

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The gear section is for showing gear, if you're interested how to set up your gem links, look at the Skill Gems section. Literally every gem slot is there.


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Buffs & Curses
Use Grace and Clarity.
There's no aura yet in the game that would boost your DPS, as there's no chaos auras. That's why we simply use Grace for the evasion and Clarity for sustaining mana (since both CA and our Frenzy curse on hit setup need a lot of mana).

We use Despair in a Curse on Hit setup with Frenzy, so we both gain Frenzy charges and curse enemies at the same time.


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Bandits
Kill all for 2 points from Eramir.


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Levelling Guide
Level with any other phys bow skill, like Tornado Shot or Split Arrow or Lightning Arrow, until you can get a +3, or at least +2 bow in merciless, then you can start using CA.

Because of that, it is hard to make a leveling tree. It is up to you to determine what is best for the skill you are using for leveling. But an example tree for Tornado Shot would be something like this:

Of course, you would need to spec out of the phys bow nodes later.


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FAQ

Hey

First of all, thanks for this guide.

I have adapted your build to my economic possibilities. This means less jewel slots. With the excess passives I go for moar damage while trying to maintain a decent life%.




It is a level 85 build only. With the remaining passives you can go for more life and evasion (revenge of the hunted) or life and damage (atrophy/ written in blood).

What do you think? Any improvements?

Ciao!

"

Leguleyo wrote:

Hey

First of all, thanks for this guide.

I have adapted your build to my economic possibilities. This means less jewel slots. With the excess passives I go for moar damage while trying to maintain a decent life%.

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwIBAF4FLQW1CC4M8g2NDkgPqxEvE20UCRR1FSAWvxjbGYoZjhm0Go0j9iSLJogmlSpbKwos6S2DLiMuUzBxMHw2PTfUOkI-z0MxQzZHfkkTSn1LeE2SUUdS7FVLWhpbJluvXfJh4mKsZU1noGyMbml07XXLdoJ59nrvfXV_-4JehMWGs4d2ieCNfY1-jb-TH5OZlwabjZu1naqly7TFtNG1SLcwt7a7nrvjvTa95r6nwuzDM8M6xKLIDNNv037UI9X42sHdDd2o45_mWOpi62PtP-2D73r2o_66?accountName=ComradeSerge&characterName=SergePAWarbands

It is a level 85 build only. With the remaining passives you can go for more life and evasion (revenge of the hunted) or life and damage (atrophy/ written in blood).

What do you think? Any improvements?

Ciao!

Awesome take on the tree! I used the 5 points to level 90 to get another jewel slot so that we don't lose any, as these are super important for CA. I also took Sniper, which gives us an additional 30% projectile damage.

Overall, this looks A LOT better now, thanks a lot! I will incorporate it into the DPS skill tree.

so basically it's just like Serleth's build with Method to the Madness and without 2x andvarius or any other MF gear. Some gem swaps were made. No offense though...

Why didnt u use hidden potential? I think with some adjustments in skill tree/jewels it can easily boost your DPS

"

drainer80 wrote:

so basically it's just like Serleth's build with Method to the Madness and without 2x andvarius or any other MF gear. Some gem swaps were made. No offense though...

Why didnt u use hidden potential? I think with some adjustments in skill tree/jewels it can easily boost your DPS

Not exactly. He also doesn't use Atziri's Step, and has a somewhat funky helm/gloves for an evasion character without IR and with Acrobatics. I also don't go for the scion life wheel in the DPS version, and I pick Phase Acrobatics (which I believe is super good and don't quite understand why Serleth doesn't pick it, but hey, it's his build). I also don't go for Primal Spirit and Soul Siphon, but go for Mana Flows instead which saves 2 points.

In short, there's more than just 1 or 2 differences between the builds. Of course, since his was posted first, there's nothing I can say in my defence if you're convinced I copied him or something. However: a) my character is named SergePAWarbands and I can post that it is indeed as old as the previous main temp league by making a screenshot of its /age, which would hopefully prove I did this before I ever heard of Serleth's build; b) people make similar builds all the time, which is completely normal. I have a couple of other popular builds, especially in the Marauder section, for which I could say someone "copied" them, but that would be silly, wouldn't it?

Now that that's out of the way, to your question: I don't like Hidden Potential, it would force you not to use uniques like Atziri's Step, Drillneck and Carcass Jack, without which this build would be complete trash IMO (horrible defences, much lower life). Other than that, I honestly don't see how you could improve the DPS even more, in a meaningful way which wouldn't make you lose a ton of life or utility or other essential elements of this build.

"

ComradeSerge wrote:

"

Leguleyo wrote:

Hey

First of all, thanks for this guide.

I have adapted your build to my economic possibilities. This means less jewel slots. With the excess passives I go for moar damage while trying to maintain a decent life%.

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwIBAF4FLQW1CC4M8g2NDkgPqxEvE20UCRR1FSAWvxjbGYoZjhm0Go0j9iSLJogmlSpbKwos6S2DLiMuUzBxMHw2PTfUOkI-z0MxQzZHfkkTSn1LeE2SUUdS7FVLWhpbJluvXfJh4mKsZU1noGyMbml07XXLdoJ59nrvfXV_-4JehMWGs4d2ieCNfY1-jb-TH5OZlwabjZu1naqly7TFtNG1SLcwt7a7nrvjvTa95r6nwuzDM8M6xKLIDNNv037UI9X42sHdDd2o45_mWOpi62PtP-2D73r2o_66?accountName=ComradeSerge&characterName=SergePAWarbands

It is a level 85 build only. With the remaining passives you can go for more life and evasion (revenge of the hunted) or life and damage (atrophy/ written in blood).

What do you think? Any improvements?

Ciao!

Awesome take on the tree! I used the 5 points to level 90 to get another jewel slot so that we don't lose any, as these are super important for CA. I also took Sniper, which gives us an additional 30% projectile damage.

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwIBAF4FLQW1CC4M8g2NDkgPqxEvE20UCRR1FSAWvxjbGYoZjhm0Go0j9iSLJogmlSpbKwos6S2DLiMuUzBxMHw2PTfUOkI-z0MxQzZHfkkTSn1LeE2SUUdS7FVLWhpbJluvXfJh4mKsZU1noGyMbml07XXLdoJ59nrvfXV_-4JehMWGs4d2ieCNfY1-jb-TH5OZlwabjZu1naqly7TFtNG1SLcwt7a7nrvjvTa95r6nwuzDM8M6xKLIDNNv037UI9X42sHdDd2o45_mWOpi62PtP-2D73r2o_662-dsCPGKAx4fQQ==?accountName=ComradeSerge&characterName=SergePAWarbands

Overall, this looks A LOT better now, thanks a lot! I will incorporate it into the DPS skill tree.

I'm glad you like it! I am currently testing the build. I do not have your gear, but it seems pretty solid.

Glad to hear that!

I will post a short video about the build soon, always lazy about stuff like that...

What are your thoughts on using Infractem as a bow? Does the 100% pierce chance interact with Drillneck? Makes it so you have to aim where you want the cloud, but then again it means it won't get blocked by mobs and frees up a link. The no leech is a downside, but since leech was nerfed in 2.0 I don't think it matters that much. You aren't leeching off the cloud anyway, and that's your dps. I just run 2 life flasks (1 Seething, 1 Bubbling). Have to find somewhere else to get the resists, and no +3 bow. Could put in Inc AOE for mobs or Conc effect for bosses.

Nah, it wouldn't be worth it, the +3 bow is just too good for CA, the biggest and most significant portion of the damage is scaled precisely from gem level. 100% pierce chance would not make up for that loss. The reason is simple: gem level gives you a base damage increase which is then scaled up by all your passive tree and support gem modifiers. That's why there's no better bow for CA than a +3 bow.

We use Vulnerablity in a Curse on Hit setup with Frenzy, so we both gain Frenzy charges and curse enemies at the same time.

good idea; ive been lazy and used dual curse for vuln and warlords and then frenzy boots to gain frenzy but i lose lots of life this route but then again, get 400+ life regen.. dunno whats better, tbh