[outdated]King of the Forest: Poison LA ReachZerker 7kLife 250MS
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With the changes to 3.0, this build is dead :( I'll leave this here for nostalgic reasons.   hey guys, very short update for 2.5: nothing really changed :D the only nerf is towards decoy totem. I cant really tell if its a bad nerf or not, but i provide you with a solution: Should decoy totem feel useless to you, try using "mirror arrow" ! It basicly is an awesome distraction aswell, which you can combine with blink arrow too. Mirror arrow clones are kinda tanky even with no links, are cheap and fast to "cast" and are a great distraction. I had the chance to test this build vs. the shaper , and vs. chimera. both fights were very comfortable to do. However I have quite good gear (6L barrage, 6th link was faster attacks), and recently equipped a +2barrage helmet and a dying sun. These items are kinda mandatory if you want to be able to do shaper/guardians/uber atziri comfortably. Its doable with less, but those items are a great help. Witchfire brew is also highly recommended. This build is still great for everything in 2.5. However my newer Shadow crit variant feels a bit more robust, and has higher dps potential. Have fun ! (old)Short Update for 2.4 Edit again: " The nerfs hit us pretty hard :( This build still works fine though. Frostwall is a thing of the past, and now all we need to do is use barrage for single target. It is ridiculously strong aswell. In order to compensate the damage loss, I specced into more damage on the tree again, so that effectively we have similar impact damage and about 17%less poison damage compared to 2.3. As for links I recommend Lightning arrow - added chaos - pierce - slower projectiles If you are using lioneyes glare at the start, GMP and void manipulation will be the other 2 links. Do not start this build unless you have a 5Link at least. If you are using reach of the council, 5th link will be void manipulation. 6th link is not needed. Either you play with 2 5L and link barrage the following way: Barrage - added chaos - pierce - slower projectiles - void manipulation or you play with a 6L, and put barrage as the 6th "link" - since both LA and barrage share the same links in the council case. You can run this build as Berserker or Deadeye, while deadeye is slightly weaker, it might be easier to start off. Pathfinder and Champion are also possible, but they are suffering more from the damage loss so its alot harder to do now. Everything else stays the same, gearing, leveling etc. You just can skip the frostwall links and replace it with something you like. I still need to experiment what is best. I am also experimenting with going crit as an assassin and will update my guide after testing it more, but it looks promising. All in all the clearspeed hasn't changed for the high-end part of gear. The only thing that has suffered is the single target damage. Barage is great, but nowhere near the insane frostwall damage. So I wouldn't say this build is top tier anymore, but very close to being so. It should still be able to kill all bosses like guardians and shaper, if you have a bit of dodging skills and game knowledge. Good luck everyone in Essence leagues ! I will update the guide with more details after 2-3 weeks into the new league. Feel free to post any questions, problems or ideas here, I will check this thread frequently still. Long live the king ! // partly outdated 2.3 stuff starts here. Frostwall is not working anymore !!!! >>> Small update: I specced out of the shadow damage starting nodes to get even more life. 7400 now, 8000 with a belly of the beast ! (Link to Tree - 232% Life + 7x jewels with life!!)<<<  Hey guys, my second build guide here :D This is probably the most versatile archer I've ever played, and one of the most powerful builds I've ever made. I hope some of you may find this interesting. The guide will be refined/updated through the next one or two weeks or so, so be sure to check it out from time to time to get all the recent updates&help sections! If you have any questions/requests which aspect I should cover more here, feel free to ask me here or ingame, my IGN is BigPurpleBrah The main idea of this build follows the current Lighting Arrow + 100% Pierce with Frostwall for bosses Meta. (If you don't know how this works, I recommend you watch this video from Mathil: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsn2wIKfKu0). It uses Queen of the Forest's Unique Property: "1% Increased Movement Speed per 450 Evasion Rating" and stacks evasion to get very high mobility. Therefore the Name "King of the Forest" because the Character, a Marauder, is male :D However this is _NOT_ your standard Rats Nest 4.5k life crit Bow squishy full dps yolo build. I guess most of us have played this kind of character before and while its fun to start out with, at certain point you start to hate it because its just not reliable and fun to play in the highest levels of content. Your dps is fine, but you die alot because you're too squishy. This build covers all the weaknesses of average Joe's Bow build while maintaining very high dps. The main feats of this build: " If this sounds interesting to you, then check out my videos!
Videos
1:37 Gorge Run - Jade Flask for extra MS. can still get faster by dropping a bit of life for extra ms/evasion 3 Minute T15 Colosseum run Single Target DPS showcase vs Uber Argus Typical Uber Izaro fight - killed within seconds Atziri killed with a Tabula and a white Crude Bow Uber Atziri killed with a white Crude Bow!! Let's now go over the core of this build:
Tree+Bandits
ASCENDANCY
 Aspect of Carnage is the most important one , get it first (if youre in HC get Pain Reaver first maybe)
Gear
My Current Gear:
My gear is close to optimal kinda, but you dont need this level of gear to be strong. A 5L chest is not needed, a 5L bow is enough; you dont need crafted chaos dmg on rings, flat phys does the job, or even nothing, its luxury. You dont need the helm enchant, you dont need a +1 quiver even though I recommend getting one. Flasks: For higher tier maps, I use instead of Jade. Jewels: For Ele reflect maps I use instead of Lightning Arrow. For Phys Reflect Maps I use instead of my belt.
Gem Setup
The Main attack: 5L: Lightning Arrow - Added Chaos - Pierce - Slower Projectiles - Void Manipulation If you can't use reach, you have to use GMP. The 6th link can be whatever you like ! It is luxury and not needed. Examples of good links: Faster Attacks, Faster Projectiles, Culling Strike, Life Gain on Hit, Item Rarity 4L Charges/Curse Setup: Frenzy - Curse on Hit - Vulnerability - Faster Attacks Again, if you dont have Reach, use GMP instead of Faster attacks. 4L Utility Setup: Frost Wall - Spell Echo - Faster Casting - Decoy Totem 3L Buffs Setup: Blood Rage - Vaal Haste - Increased Duration 3L Cast when damage Taken setup: Cast when damage taken (low lvl) - Immortal Call (low lvl) - Increased Duration Misc. Gems - Put them where you want: Summon Golem (Pick any you like, Chaos/Stone/Flame, I like Flame), Blink Arrow.
Enchantments
For gloves, I don't know which enchants might be good. I don't like them so I use none. For boots, I like the life regen ones the best. Added damage is not useful, extra movespeed or attack speed is okay, as is extra leech. For Helmets, I consider the following enchants useful for this build: - Lightning Arrow Damage - Lightning Arrow Radius - Golem Buff Effect - Vulnerability Curse Effect - Frost Wall cooldown recovery None of them are mandatory. If you get one it's nice, but you can totally have fun without any.
Stat Screenshots
hideout
fully bufffed
how this works/Theory
The goal of this build was to abuse "double dipping" Poison to the maximum: When applied by a Projectile, "Projectile Damage" applies to the initial hit as well as to the Poison DoT damage, effectively "double dipping" in the total damage. Using a bow skill with added chaos - slowerproj-pierce-void manipulation combined with Drillnecks Projectile damage, Projectile damage from the tree, Frenzy Charges, and berserkers "40% More Damage" now combine together to a huge doubledipping fest. We get a free poison effect on all attacks at max. frenzy charges using snakebite. We only use 4 charges in total so that they are easy to get (use frenzy for bosses, bloodrage enough for maps) and to sustain. Getting more would be detrimental, because of snakebite's 10%reduced duration per charge. I chose Lightning arrow as a skill because its meta as fuck at the moment I mean I chose it because of its supreme AoE coverage as well as best single target in the game through frost wall. Despite what other people claim, I still think it is one tier above Splitarrow/Tornado shot or whatever. Its too good and needs a huge nerf. You might think its a bad idea to use it, since 50% of physical damage gets converted to lightning, right? Yes, but since we use added chaos damage and void manipulation, we dont really care about that. This build works with a white crude bow. The physical damage is bonus, chaos is the real deal. While split arrow / Tornado do more damage against a single enemy (except if you use frostwall, then LA is best again single target), the AoE Lightning effect also applies poison, allowing several stacks through one attack if you hit a pack, which makes it so good. Reach of the Council is the most OP unique Item GGG has released since Skyforth. It is GG BIS for this build. Why ? Because we dont need a GMP gem. The 26% LESS Damage modifier on it double dips as well, i.e. it reduces the inital hit damage by 26% AND the Poison damage by 26%. That was the reason why your DOT suffered so much from being applied by an AoE skill. With reach, you can use your single target skill now for pack clearing ! Balanced!!!!!11111 The damage is so absurd with Berserks double dipping 40% that you simply dont need to go crit, saving you ~10 points that can go into life instead. It also saves you from getting expensive crit/accuracy gear, since we use RT. Resolute Technique also makes you character really reliable: Never miss, dont care about accuracy/blind/enfeeble, a thing that crit bow characters sometimes have problems with. The BM Keystone is chosen because it provides very efficient life, as well as solved mana issues. Now we can link Frost wall to faster casting to spam them even faster, and do no regen maps / spam skills as much as we want. No stressful use of Vaal clarity. As this build does mostly chaos/poison damage, we dont need any offensive auras. Yet Grace is very good, providing defense and Movespeed if you chose to use Queen of the forest, therefore its viable to use an Essence worm for a free Aura. Once you reach the point of damage where you oneshot everything and your single target damage is great, all that limits your clearspeed is movementspeed as a bow character. This build also has a very high movespeed: 96% without any flasks or buffs ! Devotos devotion, 30% Movespeed on boots, and some from the tree, plus the bonus from queen of the forest all add up to alot. You can scale it to absurd amounts with a quicksilver, silver, Jade and Stibnite Flask, pumping your Evasion and therefore your Movespeed into insane levels. On top of having insane damage, one of the highest movespeeds of any archers, this build now also gets a huge life pool on top. I am almost at 7k life at lvl 93, and there is plenty of life ready to get in the tree. Using a rare helmet with life instead of devotos pushes me to 7200 life. You can get even higher with a belly of the beast/Kaoms heart if you really want. All these features combined make up for a very versatile, reliable and fun archer to play, so definetely not your average ratsnestmaligarocritbow4klife build! A few comments on end game:
Uber Lab
Very smooth to do with this character. High mobility allows you to run through/dodge most traps eaisly. For Argus, open the door at max. frenzy charges. Pop a decoy totem ASAP, run in and away from him. Wait until he attacks the decoy totem (usually the first thing he does). Curse + spam frostwalls. Shoot 2-3 times and he is dead. Example Video here: https://youtu.be/n4RncMfBt9c Same for Uber Izaro. Go in, drop a decoy totem. Wait until he comes up. For his first attack, he will always target you, be careful ! Run away the second he starts to move. Wait. He should target the totem as the second attack. Curse, charge up frenzies, spam walls.Shoot 2-3 times, he is down to min hp for the stage or dead in last stage. Example Video here: https://youtu.be/r5yxTt3YnRM
Uber Atziri
Coming soon. Basicly spam frostwalls on every boss, and be sure youre at max. charges. You can also use Barrage/Puncture mines for this. I've managed to kill uber Atziri with a white crude bow !! Check this out: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1697525
Core Malachai
 Higher resolution Sadly I didn't record the run. I swapped in Life gain on hit as a 6th link for extra safety. Run was deathless until the first heart was down, then I died three times due to panicing alot :D The leech and high mobility help alot in this fight, but you still need skill to outplay everything. The dps is enough to kill everything quickly, but the mechanics of this fight don't allow you to just kill him instantly. You cant take too many hits, and you dont have surgeons flasks. So not recommended to do in HC. Now at last, a little more info and help if you want to follow this build:
Leveling
I don't recommend leveling as a bow, you kinda need the pierce nodes but they are very far away. Leveling as 2handed melee with sunder/earthquake is incredibly easy, just get a new weapon every ~10 levels. Cauterizer is a very good leveling weapon for example. For leveling trees you can try the following: Starting tree then this then like this By the time you are in merciless dried lake, you can start using a bow. Should be between level 64 and 68, once you can equip and have all the items basicly. Respecced tree at lvl69 Then basicly fill out jewels/damage/life as you feel like. Don't forget to level an added chaos gem !!!! It is very important.
Gearing Tips
For higher tier maps you need at least one of the following: Reach of the council + a 5Link OR Good phys bow (e.g. Lioneye's Glare) +6Link. The mandatory things are snakebite+drillneck. You can start with rares in every other slot at first. Devoto's devotion is not mandatory, it is just to maximize movespeed. You can totally use a rare helmet with life and feel good. Also you don't need an Essence Worm ring at first, Grace is only really helpful in T10+ maps so it's fine if you use two rare rings at first. I highly recommend getting a belt with at least 18% reduced flask charges used. That will allow you to pop your quicksilver 3 times instead of two, which really speeds up clearing maps with bad layouts. The gearing is kinda easy, the only difficult thing is getting enough int for the gems. As you can see in the tree, i pick a jewel on the top right that has 2 int nodes as travel part, I recommend specing in there very early on. Also if you have troubles getting the int, you can use a 30 int stat node as a temporary help. Try to get alot of int from your Amulet (implicit!) and your ring. You can also craft up to 30 int onto your boots with catarina, dont forget that! And also jewels can roll in on them too. For jewels just get Life+Projectile damage or general increased damage, u can buy them blue for very cheap prices, then regal and hope for something good. For overcapped resistances I recommend getting jewels with a bit resist on them aswell, like mine. For flask choices, there is plenty of useful things nowadays. Pick your own style. Useful stuff besides the usual quicksilver+lifeflask: Taste of Hate, Sulphur Flask, Jade Flask, Basalt Flask, Silver Flask, Stibnite Flask, Atziri Flask
Hardcore
Very much hardcore viable:
High life pool, reflect free and good damage/little to no lag. All map mods. Scalable defenses: Instead of Queen of the Forest, you can use Kintsugi/Lightning Coil/Daressos Defiance. You can use Taste of Hate, Basalt flask, Enduring cry, chaos golem for extra physical mitigation. Phase acro/Quartz flask for extra dodge. Life gain on hit as a 6th link for extra safety. The tree has plenty of 5% life nodes ready to be taken still, so you can skip a bit of damage for even more life ! It is viable to do this build as a Champion for the extra defense through fortify, as my buddy does this in HC (currently lvl91)
Tips&Tricks
will be added over time
Bonus sections:
Bored? Just play as a wander for a while!
Since all the tree and the gems are scaling general projectile damage, it is totally viable to play as a wander ! I have done it for many levels before I got my hands on a reach and developed this build. I used Obliteration, it is a very good wand for a cheap price. You need alot of int, which is hard to get, so if you have troubles you can use the Atziri unique shield, its not very good but provides a sick amount of int. Links are Kinetic Blast - GMP - Pierce - Added Chaos - Void Manipulation - Slower Projectiles a 6Link is mandatory if you want to oneshot packs, a 5L works for starters.
Variation: Barrage/Puncture Mines for Uber Atziri
More details will be added soon. Check out this thread where I've killed Uber Atziri with a white bow: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1697525 Old video I made when I first tried it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAe82vDwPMo&feature=youtu.be
My other stuff
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1646732/page/1 - Low Life Kinetic Blast Champion Guide https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1696052 - My Lootfilter RIP King of the Forest view-thread/1738625 Last edited by cmphx#5486 on Jul 29, 2017, 2:54:41 AM Last bumped on Jul 29, 2017, 2:53:45 AM
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Changelog:
08/07/16: Added a few details on Gearing RIP King of the Forest view-thread/1738625 Last edited by cmphx#5486 on Jul 8, 2016, 2:26:30 AM
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What would be a good sub for the bow on standard?
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" It's doable with a Chin sol or Lioneye's Glare. Lioneye's glare is actually very good as you can save ~7 points by not going into RT. Use the points to go into deadly draw. Eventually, you'll want a high pdps thicket bow or Maraketh bow. I have a character on standard that uses Glare, its still great, but not as good as reach. And you pretty much need the 6L. Edit: also you could try and roll a ilvl83 Thicket/Maraketh for the flat damage chaos roll. Will be great if you can get a bit of pdps on it aswell. RIP King of the Forest view-thread/1738625 Last edited by cmphx#5486 on Jul 3, 2016, 11:03:16 AM
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Followed this guide for HC , Reached 91.5 Easily , Using Kintsugi And Champion instead of Berserker and Queen of the forest and only a 5 link ( Reach is very nice for that ) but i have no problem clearing any tier of map almost as fast as with a berserker , Single target is nuts with frost wall and LA anyway . |
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" How would you skill as a champion? |
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" //edit: you probably want a bit of duelist leech This will work: Tree as a champion RIP King of the Forest view-thread/1738625 Last edited by cmphx#5486 on Jul 4, 2016, 3:38:03 AM
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" I think I am missing something. How are you applying Poison? I thought it would be linked to LA, but it's not in your links " |
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" oh, didnt mention it cause i thought it was clear : i use snakebite gloves RIP King of the Forest view-thread/1738625 Last edited by cmphx#5486 on Jul 4, 2016, 3:30:39 AM
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Damn, somehow I missed that. Must be the early hour, sorry about that :)
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