☆ [Outdated] Sarang's TS/LA/Barrage Archer | Pathfinder | Crit Bow | Videos | Budget Version ☆

My thoughts on Patch 3.0 Changes: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1711388/page/55/#p14660402

Spoiler alert we didn't take as much of a beating as everyone else. Build definitely still works I'll try to figure out how to get it to the top.

Good luck tomorrow, I won't be playing the league due to work but I'll be testing in Standard this weekend.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1711388/page/56#p14672639 >>> Random Testing, Day 1

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1711388/page/56#p14677844 >>> Random Testing, Day 2

Did Shaper with Chin Sol bow and non-Legacy Vinktar, prolly will head in this direction


https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1711388/page/57#p14685699 >>> Testing, Day 3

Did Uber Lab, Mino Map, seems good gonna go with this setup




"
What was done in the revamp?

The main idea is find the proper niche for this information. I've made the following changes in the revamp:

  • More Temp-League focused, so no Legacy items. I'll be moving away from using hard to obtain items. This should help and clarify some of the gearing choices for people who aren't necessarily interested in shelling out 60 ex for a Flask or 100+ ex for a Bow.
  • Removal of the Elemental Bow section. Although there are similar concepts, I'm not here to take away from the main message. As a note I've never really liked Windripper that much. Voltaxic/Poison builds have also evolved past the point where I would consider myself comfortable to discuss atm.
  • Removal of Raider variants. Mainly for clarification. You can certainly play this build as a Raider, and I even advocate Raider as a great league starter/budget option. However, for endgame considerations I would like to feature other options.
  • Integration of Budget Version. Had a separate thread, but freed up a lot of space with slimming down the guide.




Hello everyone, I'm _Saranghaeyo_.

This is my Endgame TS/LA/Barrage Archer. I've been playing since Torment League (Patch 1.3) where I started as a Tornado Shot/Puncture Ranger and I've loved the build ever since. Since then I've put countless hours into Bow Attack builds with various classes and gear sets over Standard and many challenge leagues. It is my favorite character archetype in Path of Exile.

I have no claims that this is a must-follow optimal gear/tree configuration, as your style and preferences may differ. Many of the concepts here are slowly becoming general knowledge.

This guide is intended for experienced users who are comfortable with playing as a Pathfinder, mainly the Flask-management playstyle but also life-based. The budget is not intended to include Legacy items. If you aren't a fan of any of those aspects, then this guide may not be for you. Instead, here are some very strong alternatives:

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1745340 >>> blasting_cap's SignalShot (CI Pathfinder)

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1744275 >>> Dzz1rt's Crit Archer (Life Pathfinder, Expensive & Min-Max'ed)

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1782214 >>> Nephalim's LA Ghost Raider (Life Raider, Very Strong Endgame Raider)




Archers gained some amazing offensive weapons in Patch 2.6, although on the defensive front, especially Life Pool, there wasn't a lot of help given. In the current state, CI/ES builds reign supreme with their ability to create a very large EHP pool. I am hoping for some changes and looking forward to Patch 3.0 and/or the beta.

There was no hindrance to the 100% Elemental Damage Conversion strategy, and in fact with the new Primeval Force Cluster this strategy becomes even stronger:



We also gained an incredibly powerful weapon in terms of Flasks:



Rewarding the juggling of resistances to pay off in a big way, with more Elemental Damage penetration. Other major changes to the tree was changing Blood Drinker to "Attack Damage" instead of "Physical Attack Damage," allowing us to not path as awkwardly to the newly changed Duelist Leech area. These changes are reflected in the tree updates.




If you do not feel like reading further, my current Gear, Flasks, and Jewels are posted. This section is always being refined.








What an amazing tool for us to use here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1716360

This allows us to take a more in-depth look at this style of character, including what the actual DPS numbers are. The number of arrows granted in this build through items like a Barrage Helm Enchant, Dying Sun, +1 Quiver, are huge multipliers for our damage that Tooltip DPS in-game does not represent. It is also the primary reason Death's Opus is so underrated, along with its +150% Crit Multiplier.

This Path of Building loadout includes:

  • All the example gear you see above
  • The example Passive Tree provided
  • Well-rolled Chin Sol, Well-rolled Lioneye's Glare, Dummy 370 pDPS bow is 8.7% Crit Base


You can tweak the mods in each of the gear pieces, or even input your own items to see what the best upgrades would be for you. Remember to activate in the configurations things like Power Charges, Range = 0 if you are using Chin Sol, and so forth.






The following are Gameplay Videos from Patch 2.6.
I upload videos to my Plays.tv Channel here: http://plays.tv/u/SarangPOE


The Shaper

https://plays.tv/s/LD_qEJ9yVsil >>> Deathless Shaper Run


Guardian Fights

https://plays.tv/s/LD_qbyaaS7Ox >>> Lair of the Hydra

https://plays.tv/s/LD_qfkspCYXV >>> Maze of the Minotaur (Good speed run, ~1:40 from entering map to kill)

https://plays.tv/s/LD_qjN7sKabI >>> Forge of the Phoenix

https://plays.tv/s/LD_qnV4Vf1Cj >>> Pit of the Chimera (Bad fog RNG, had to portal one time)




  • Maximize Critical Strike Chance
  • 100% Conversion of Physical Damage to Elemental & Scaling


To me, these are the two core things we can focus on to maximize our damage output. Maximizing Critical Strike Chance seems like a no-brainer but from my experience it is the #1 thing that people just ignore. If you take so many passives in a tree for Critical Strike Chance/Critical Strike Multiplier, you are doing yourself a disservice by failing to optimize for it. Do what you have to in order to reach the Critical Strike Chance Cap. See the spoiler for how your Crit Chance is affected by a Diamond Flask.



Diamond Flask Augmentation Table


How to scale damage? It is now moreso becoming common knowledge but in the current state of the game we have excellent opportunities to take Physical Damage, convert it all to Elemental Damage, and scale it hard with Multipliers, especially the WED Gem + Frenzy Charges. That is how we get a large portion of our end-game level of damage. Elemental Damage Penetration from sources such as Boot Enchantments or the Lightning Penetration version of Vessel of Vinktar are also able to augment our damage in ways tooltip DPS does not show.



We were already familiar with PTL + WED, just add in a Signal Fire and you'll be doing all Elemental Damage, which takes advantage of all of your Increased Physical Damage, Projectile Damage, Elemental Damage modifiers, and so forth. With Pathfinder offering ways to reduce Utility Flask usage, we replace those Utility Flasks with more offensive ones:




Offensive Screenshots
I've not been a fan of being so tooltip focused in the past. However, I seem to get enough requests for Offensive screenshots that I'll include them here. These are taken with the gear, flasks, and charges represented by my current gear.










  • Layered Defenses
  • Instant Leech
  • Life Pool


Survive with Layered Defenses. With current Gear/Tree & Flasks,

  • 6.8K Life Pool with non-Legacy Kaom's Heart, 6K Life with Belly of the Beast
  • 20K+ Evasion w/ Jade Flask
  • Acrobatics + Phase Acrobatics Keystones
  • Arrow Dancing Keystone
  • Movement Speed
  • Life/Mana on Kill with Assassin's Mark Curse on Hit
  • Flasks uptime grants us Resistances, more damage, and more to instantly leech.


Speaking of Instant Leech...



Convert damage to Lightning, get a massive leech amount from Lightning Damage. The Non-Legacy versions of this Flask may not have full uptime, but the effect is very strong when you do. Having these defenses, as well as Instant Leech at such a ridiculous amount, protects us from Reflect. I don't recommend doing a Reflect Map, but you can survive through any instant where you may encounter Reflect monsters.



We do NOT use an Evasion Chest. I believe that Evasion stacking on gear is pretty dead in the current state of the game. You can stack as much as you want, but it will never have the same effect as truly increasing your life pool. There are enough secondary forms of damage which cannot be Evaded or Dodged, that pure evasion will never save you from. Also, as Flasks become more powerful, a single Jade Flask of Reflexes is able to emulate an entire body of Evasion:






Several trees are included below.

Bandits
  • (1st Choice) or (Second Choice)
  • Normal: Oak or Point (generally good if using Kaom's)
  • Cruel: Point or Kraityn
  • Merciless: Kraityn or Point or Alira (if not high enough Crit)


Currently using: Oak/Point/Point


Ascendancy


  • N. Nature's Adrenaline
  • C. Nature's Boon
  • M. Master Alchemist
  • U. Veteran Bowyer



Default Tree - With Lioneye's Fall Jewel

Conditions: Have Atziri's Acuity, Have Lioneye's Fall Jewel

Spoiler
Here

Remember to use Lioneye's Fall to convert Claw Nodes



This is tweaked so that if you have a Death's Opus or an 8.70% Crit Base Harbinger, you should be very close to Crit Cap using a Diamond Flask.

Well-rounded for all content. Considerable Life Total along with Phase Acrobatics and Arrow Dancing. 5 Jewel Sockets.

Frenzy Charge in Duelist can be swapped to Cloth and Chain. Projectile Damage Nodes in Scion next to Sentinel can be swapped to Resistance Nodes to house:

(Or Blue Dream)

For Power Charge generation. This allows you to drop Herald of Ice and Curse on Hit/Assassin's Mark for something else like Herald of Ash.



End-Game Tree w/ Vaal Pact

Conditions: Does not have Atziri's Acuity

Spoiler
Here

What I would consider playing in a temp league.

Also, go with this tree if you don't have Atziri's Acuity yet.

We get good damage, have access to Vaal Pact, and are protected well with Phase Acrobatics and Arrow Dancing.



End-Game "Traditional" Style Tree

Conditions: Have Atziri's Acuity, feels comfortable with lower life total

Spoiler
Here

Still a considerable Life Total along with Phase Acrobatics and Arrow Dancing. We lose a portion of the life total from the Tanky Tree to do a lot more damage. This is closer to what you would expect from a traditional Ranger. Good for all content.



End-Game "Traditional" Style Tree v2

Conditions: Have Atziri's Acuity, farms content where Frenzy/Power charges are not always up, such as Shaper, Uber Lab, etc

Spoiler
Here

Now has access to both WED/Penetration Clusters, and has a very high damage potential. This tree will be very good for boss farming. Great for areas such as Uber Lab farming where Frenzy Charges don't necessarily stick, as an example.
Fake Temp League Elitists LUL
Last edited by _Saranghaeyo_#5448 on Feb 19, 2018, 2:56:22 AM
Last bumped on Oct 19, 2017, 6:49:48 AM


A budget gear set for this build can be put together. It can be a very good budget option and/or League starter. While testing this setup, I found Raider to be pretty strong here. You can start as either class, and switch Ascendancy later. Raider has an advantage on a low budget because your only source of Instant Leech is either Vaal Pact or Atziri's Acuity, and Vaal Pact + Blood Rage creates very uncomfortable gameplay. Raider's automatic Frenzy Charge generation bypasses this weakness.

As a budget character, consider this a transition phase between upgrades and the ability to reach all end-game content. It's unlikely to take on Guardians or Shaper with this gear, but to help you farm to get there.

This is what you should expect to do with budget gears:

  • Up to T13 Maps Comfortably
  • T14 & T15 Maps with some kiting/manual dodging
  • Uber Labyrinth with certain Modifiers (NOT a dedicated Uber Lab farmer)
  • Normal Atziri
  • Other lower level boss instances, such as Normal Rigwald & The Pale Court





Cost Breakdown
As of 4/8/2017, Legacy League pricing:

Rat's Nest w/ No Helm Enchant: ~2c
Tabula: ~13c
Death's Opus: ~18c Unlinked + ~19c Jeweller's Touch
Signal Fire: ~15-17c
Gloves/Belts/Boots: Most likely in the 3-10c range
Vinktar Flask: ~50c, and should be one of the last things you buy
Atziri Flask/Rest of the Utility Flasks: ~1-3c each
3-mod Damage Bow Jewels, without a relevant 4th mod or % Maximum Life: ~2-5c each, not needed until you get the available Passive Points to get the Jewel Sockets


Example Videos - Budget Gear
Normal Atziri

http://plays.tv/s/LAYW9AyBRm4d


Uber Lab

http://plays.tv/s/LAYWg7PUS7ye >>> 2/2/2017 Layout, Argus skipped since he was not along the path


Maps

http://plays.tv/s/LAYWQyuMvUnx >>> Twinned T14 Maze with Multi Proj & Extra Monster Life

http://plays.tv/s/LAYWzJtReHR- >>> T15 Abyss with Enfeeble



Just like most bow builds, use your Flasks, attack with your Lightning Arrow or Tornado Shot (Links are both shown in the sample gear) to clear trash, and use Barrage as a strong Single Target skill.

Curse on Hit with Assassin's Mark will allow us to keep our Power Charges up. I dislike manual cursing or Frenzy Charge generation (with the skill itself). In the time that it takes you to fire your Frenzy with Curse on Hit and GMP, you could just fire 2 attacks and kill the targets in the same amount of time. The Raider Ascendancy allows us to bypass manual generation of Frenzy charges; with Way of the Poacher, this is free as well, so no need to risk using Blood Rage and having your health dip in between packs.

Gearing wise, I found it much more successful to go for Rare, Tri-Resist Gloves/Belt/Boots than seeing most beginning players go for items like Atziri's Step, and so forth. The biggest reason for me is that Jewelry with Flat Physical Damage and WED can provide so much damage for even the poorest of builds, and when you are struggling to cap your resistances, Jewelry options with both DPS mods and Resistances aren't cheap.




For leveling, get raw damage and life first, and Crit comes much later on. Gearing requires some stats, so if you follow this rule, we need to prioritize STR/DEX first, and then INT later. So starting in Ranger, moving to Duelist, and finishing off in Shadow is my preferred way to level.

First 29 Passive Points Used
Here

How we start off. You can alternatively start with the Projectile Damage Nodes and path the same,
since we don't get much value from % Life Nodes early on. Either one is okay. Travel to Aspect of the Eagle early on, and grab Primal Spirit so you can get STR/INT to help with gear and recharge your Quicksilver Flasks more often. Head through to Herbalism, pick up the lower area of the Bow Wheel so you have damage, and finish off with Acrobatics, as it helps greatly early on.


Next 18 Passive Points, 47 Points Used
Here

Head to the Duelist area for raw Projectile Damage, pick up the Life Nodes there and most importantly,
at this point you'll need some mana sustain so grab the first leech node in Essence Sap.


Next 22 Passive Points, 69 Points Used
Here

We move into Shadow for Life Nodes, Life Leech (Blood Drinker), and some Physical Damage Nodes.
This is setting us up, as we are around the mid-50's as we start to pick up some Crit Nodes.


Next 23 Passive Points, 92 Points Used
Here

After you get past the 60's, it's time to start taking the Crit Nodes around the Tree, which we've already laid out the skeleton for. Around the end of this tree, you'll be in Dried Lake before maps,
so it's a good time to start getting Vaal Pact. From here on, you can progress to any of the other trees.


When you get Atziri's Acuity, you can connect to Shadow via the right side of the skill tree (saves points). My personal preference for the last things to pick up are Point Blank (when you progress into higher content or commit to boss killing), Frenzy Charges, and Jewel Sockets that take 3 points to travel to.




Video Archive - Patch 2.4

Spoiler
The Shaper

http://plays.tv/s/Kyg1NBL7hGxp >>> Deathless Shaper Run, with Barrage Single Target Swap

Guardian Fights

http://plays.tv/s/KyScA6GHGFLI >>> T16 Maze of the Minotaur (Deathless)

http://plays.tv/s/Kyfm1wutd84W >>> T16 Pit of the Chimera (Deathless)

http://plays.tv/s/KySc6IFwdeNP >>> T16 Lair of the Hydra, 1st Encounter (Deathless)

http://plays.tv/s/KyQYMNLVhOta >>> T16 Forge of the Phoenix, 1st Encounter (2 Deaths)

Red Maps

http://plays.tv/s/KyQYH78mJ_Aq >>> T13 Lair w/ Elemental Reflect & Temporal Chains

http://plays.tv/s/KyQYWiZazKoJ >>> T13 Waterways w/ Elemental Reflect & Double Boss

http://plays.tv/s/KyQYbMe_tnv5 >>> T14 Mineral Pools w/ Elemental Reflect & No Regen (using Dying Sun Flask)

http://plays.tv/s/KyQYkOJn2WRy >>> T15 Core w/ 43% Extra Monster Life (using Dying Sun Flask)

http://plays.tv/s/KyTSZu9bDXLk >>> T15 Abyss Twinned (using non-Legacy Kaom's Heart and Legacy Reach of the Council)

Other

http://plays.tv/s/KyhHQd06K0Jc >>> Uber Lab 4 Key Run 9/27/2016


Video Archive - Patch 2.4 Testing

Spoiler
Patch 2.4 - Budget Testing in ESC

http://plays.tv/s/KxKuyg1D-Gsz >>> Sample Gameplay in T8 Tropical Island with Budget Gears

http://plays.tv/s/KxLh76y5wjhY >>> 30% Packsize T10 Courtyard Map (Budget Gears)

http://plays.tv/s/KxM0CDHCSFCa >>> 25% Packsize T11 Wasteland Map (Budget Gears)


Video Archive - Patch 2.3

Spoiler

http://plays.tv/video/57be228dbb9709f0ac/normal-atziri-test-run-for-plays-tv >>> Normal Atziri Run, testing recording software and new rig (still getting used to new gameplay feeling)

http://plays.tv/s/Kw2ZO0E7IBCN >>> Pale Court Run, with nice surprise at the end

Uber Lab, Argus/Izaro Encounters only


8/26/2016 Layout

http://plays.tv/s/Kw5ymX8m-uxC >>> Argus

http://plays.tv/s/Kw5zd72TnfZC >>> Phase 1 Izaro, Gargoyles

http://plays.tv/s/Kw6-hwvouuyv >>> Phase 2 Izaro, Essences

http://plays.tv/s/Kw60ImzpfqaU >>> Phase 3 Izaro



http://plays.tv/s/Kw6KjWpUNoE5 >>> Dried Lake Run, aka 26% Packsize T13 Wasteland

http://plays.tv/s/Kw6KaHrZ3p-R >>> Minus Max, Double Monster Damage + Onslaught T14 Conservatory



Old Research Topic from Patch 2.0

Spoiler
(Personal Reference, no longer applicable on 2.4+): https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1415823


Post always WIP.
Fake Temp League Elitists LUL
Last edited by _Saranghaeyo_#5448 on Apr 23, 2017, 10:41:31 PM
Nice to see you're doing this again. Though the number of people that take the time to read through a resource like this painfully low.
For try, for see, and for know.

This is a buff
"
Etherfire wrote:
Nice to see you're doing this again. Though the number of people that take the time to read through a resource like this painfully low.


Trying my best.

I don't plan on posting more in the "other" thread any time soon really. I will at least say, just by copy + pasting my stuff, the results should be better anyways.

I'm also just going to leave the first page as is, maybe make some 2.4 changes.

New computer being built now, so at least there will be videos in the future.
Fake Temp League Elitists LUL
2 questions:

1) In drillneck section, you listed a few attributes a rare quiver could have-With the "WED" section, do you mean a quiver with "X-X Added ice,lightning,fire damage"?

2) About what nodes on tree minimum do i need to run Blood Rage at a miniumum? I got the life leech nodes and the Oaks regen node already, do i need sumthin else to sustain it ?
By WED he means the "increased elemental damage with weapons" roll. The flat ele rolls on quivers are kinda too low to be much good.

For blood rage you need master of the arena, the one below it, and heart of oak. With that you will have a degen of 0.4%, which is unnoticeable, especially with life leech.

For try, for see, and for know.

This is a buff
This is a great resource for everyone who wants to get into bows, thanks for taking your time and doing this!

I've learned alot about archers, a part of the game i was rather inexperienced with, by randomly stumbling across and reading your posts in the past, and it's good to see there's now a place to find all this knowledge compiled.

I totally agree with you about the tooltip whoring, millions of tooltip DPS under thousands of conditional buffs you can't keep up when it matters the most are really meaningless when the build simply feels bad to play.

To anyone looking for a good starter bow build that will progress with moderate investment and last you up into the toughest of content, look no further. This guy right here knows what he's talking about.
twitch.tv/enkivt
So Phys to Light is better than Added Lightning?
I'm kind of lost, are you planning on taking VP endgame?
IGN: Arlianth
Check out my LA build: 1782214
Why don't increase attack speed as well? Wouldn't firing more arrows per second mean more critical strikes per second -> faster clear speed overall? Or by your experience it is pointless and crit alone is enough?

Because of Kaom's Heart build loses so much. Golem with 30% crit and 30% acc, Vaal Haste/Grace and some other great supporting skills, can't make Blink Arrow faster with support gems, as well as something like Arctic Armour which is great as well. 500 hp worth it? Specially considering that now there is Kintsugi to help squishy EV builds. Hinekora, and passives for dodge as well.

About cursing methods. Herald of ice curses enemies after you hit them with something, right? Not when they enter certain distance to character. Isn't it kind of not so great?

Poacher's Mark is most useful for flasks dependent (more or less all builds depend on flasks but I mean ones that not invest much into them and can handle everything without them) builds, right? Because I love my Projectile Weakness and it's multiplicative more damage modifer along with extra pierce chance. Can't substitute Assassin's Mark with anything though.

Pathfinder drug/flask addict rules yeah!
Last edited by SunL4D2#6224 on Aug 15, 2016, 3:10:47 AM

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