R.I.P. [2.6] Explosive Arrow - Champion Build Guide (DPS - multi class - HC viable)

How does the build do in terms of damage without the insane investment into Spectrums?

It's just fine. If you go SC the Witch is better overall (imo) tho.

I have the bad habit of doing content on HC without putting in too much time in researching the fights, so the duelist will probably be a safer bet.

You will do just fine. So long you don't die. :p

It's a pretty safe build but look at gear with life. Try get rare helmet, gloves (can also be Winds of change), quiver and belt with life. Keep the amulet. You could even try use Enfeeble instead of Flammability. Don't forget about a Ruby flask once you start to do damage. and a Rumi's or Basalt flask.

The strength of this build is that you attack and you can blink to safety really fast. The movement speed and damage are good. You are very tanky and you also have a lot of life regen. If you feel like it you can even take Iron reflexes but tbh at this point seems like an overkill.

We rely on mobility and manual kiting the most, while keeping up frenzy charges and EA stacks. The burn should do the rest. You can even kill stuff off screen...

Leveling with Duelist is a bit of a pain tho.

I've got to lvl 94 on your Elementalist build, I kinda want to give it a try on this one next league. The only thing I'm uncertain is reflect damage. Does Essence Worm + PoF mitigate it as good as Paragon of Calamity or would I need something like Sybil's lament.

This also caught my eye, of something that you have written

"If you get some viridian jewels and combine with some Crimson ones you can also get a massive amount of armour!
This can make a grand spectrum build cheaper and give less problems with reflect while also getting a lot of armour!"

What would the ratio of crimson to viridian be?

And lastly if just for the overkill sake IR is taken, the gloves/boots bases need to be Evasion?

Either way I'm going with one of your EA builds :).

Hey. :)

Keep a Ruby flask in the set up just in case you stack arrows. It's nothing like Paragon but you will be ok. Now if you really go for Grand spectrum you might want to be careful if you go HC. I didn't have a Grand spectrum set up on my Champion.
Maybe in 2.5

Try min. 8 Viridian + 4 Crimson :) ...Or if you want to go bananas take 11 Viridians + 1 Crimson.

Gear priority: Armour > hybrid Armour / Evasion.

You can definitely get IR especially if you play SC. Personally I don't care for that as you can get a lot of damage and stats from gear. See how it feels. If you do have a Spectrum set up, then IR might be more appealing.

For leveling I'm not sure... Do you already know how to do it? It may not be as easy as with the Elementalist. You will probably need more regrets.

Thanks for your answers.

Yah Elementalist wasn't really a problem. Despite the tiny lack of damage, so late in the league i had plenty of leveling uniques and things in the bank, that made it kinda easy.

I'm sure it will be a slight struggle as a starter, but I doubt it will be that bad. Overall what I love the most about this build is the not dying part, plus the ability to spray arrows, super quick. In that case am I better off as an Elementalist?

I'm thinking of a Champion mostly because of what the Ascendancies give and because every rip after 90 I've had was random oneshots from hard hitting mobs, usually melee. But if imma be dying to different off-screen reflects, then I'd rather take the witch as at least i can try to dodge fast moving melee attackers.

Worst case scenario, I start with Champion, rip and go witch again :) or Berserker or Pathfinder. I hate having choice as I'm easily confused and split. May I lastly ask if the Pathfinder's way to handle reflect is the same as the Champion's?

Honestly I have no idea How the build with Spectrum would do with reflect. I imagine that if you stack too many arrows you could die. But generally you don't need to over stack. 1-3 stack should be plenty.
I had a good set up with normal jewels and reflect was never a problem but Spectrums can do like 2x the damage...

I think I would start leveling with EQ probably and then recpec. You may want to do some research of your own tho!



So you are doing HC? I would not go with Berserker in HC. He is generally tanky but he takes increased damage...

Great thanks. Yah well it depends on how well they fix the 64bit client, as few nights ago, I've got an error in Core and by the time i managed to end-task the game, had ripped. If it's all good I've narrowed it down to either Champions or Pathfinder. Just trying to decide which I'd like better. But as someone who leveled 19 characters to lvl 80 last league, i may as well level both.

On the leveling part I'd be fine. Three leagues ago, I leveled up a CI character, didnt really know you are not supposed to switch until later. Never the less I leveled it up, but by Merciless i was carrying over 96 deaths :).

Thanks a lot for your input, I really appreciate it. I already hooked 4 people on this build and they love it as well. No more countless hours on the forums looking for a suitable build :).

P.S Stripped my Deadeye and respecced it to Pathfinder, transferred all of my witch gear. Insane running speed as well as ias, but the damage seems a bit underwhelming with the same gear and no jewels. The life pool also seems significantly lower, though flasks hp regain, perhaps makes up for that.

Indeed with Essence Worm and Purity I had 0 reflect issues. I can only assume Champion has no problem with it as well. I may stay away from Grandspectrum after all.

P.S2: Did a few Uber labs, and it's ironic a bit how a lvl 76 5.4k hp Pathfinder, has a much easier time downing Izaro and running through the maze, than the lvl 94, 8k hp Elementalist.

<3

It really depends how far you want to push it. Btw Fortify also mitigates reflect. Any way you chose to go you'll prob have fun. But like I said I'm not sure about the leveling part.

I'm going with a cheap totem build to start the league and then I'll try something new. Maybe I'll do some EA tests in standard with the Berserker and maybe other classes too.