☆ [Outdated] Sarang's TS/LA/Barrage Archer | Pathfinder | Crit Bow | Videos | Budget Version ☆

Just hit 90 in EHC with the Voltaxic version of this build, all solo and without logouts as usual.

Couldn't afford Kaoms despite having some gg drops (of which most haven't sold yet), so i've went the Kintsugi route again and took a little bit more eva nodes.
Gear was fairly cheap, spent roughly 80c for the initial stuff and another ~150c for a Witchfire Brew and a gg Opal Ring. The latter wasn't necessary, but how could i not buy this sexy ass thing?
Cost was further kept low by my fusing luck, 6-linked the Voltaxic within 60 fuses and then just randomly spammed fuses on my Kintsugi, took something around 300 for the 6L there.
But honestly, none of the 6Ls are even necessary. I've had so much overkill damage in T13s, even a 5L is more than enough for casual mapping.

Haven't bothered with Uber Lab yet, prolly going with Master Alchemist when i do. I'm not really planning to farm Guardians/Shaper, and for anything else i don't really feel the need for Master Surgeon.

Lifepool is obviously somewhat limited with Kintsugi instead of Kaoms. It worked if you know what you're doing, but i'm considering the switch to Kaoms to have a bigger lagbuffer for high tier maps.
On top of that i'm also thinking to switch out Rats Nest for a rare helmet and boots for Atziri's Step, also picking the Life+Ar/Ev nodes at duelist start. What do you think about that?

All in all great build as expected!

Here's my gear and tree for reference:



@SunL4D2: This whole ES > Life thing is just bullshit and has to stop. There are cases where ES is undoubtly better, but it's not the solution to everything like some people currently claim.

No offense, but looking at your profile you clearly haven't experienced the real endgame grind past 95 yet. Maybe you've killed Uber Atziri and Shaper, but that's a completely different part of endgame with different requirements to build and gear.
A dedicated bossfarm build is not necessarily a good setup for endgame mapping. With those bosses, you have a mostly fixed set of things you will encounter and thus can build exactly against that.
With maps you only have a fixed bossfight, but the other 99% of map are randomized mobs with another layer of randomness coming through mapmods, so you can't have a fully optimized setup against everything there.

Eva+Dodge aren't terrible. Don't expect any wonders from just Acrobatics and a minimal amount of evasion, it needs some investment just like any other form of defense. Having 15k+ Evasion, Acro+Phase Acro, Atziri's Step and proper Vaal Grace usage makes a huge difference in high tier maps, add in Blind, Enfeeble and Decoy Totem and the probability to ever get hit is extremely low.
A similar ES setup will have a higher hitpool, but the lack of Eva+Dodge means it will also get hit by all those small projectiles and everything else around in maps, which can easily hit for a few thousands of damage in high tiers with tough mapmods and no mitigation.
That's why such a build will die as soon as your wintar (that's no typo) flask is down, while an Eva+Dodge based char will survive.

Just take my above HC char as proof, if that's not enough for you feel free to stalk my temp league chars thread. Last league i've solo'd deathless to 97 with a lifebased Eva/Dodge setup, you just need to know how to adjust your playstyle to such a setup.

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SunL4D2 wrote:

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You clearly haven't got a clue what you are talking about... You are pretty much just quoting phrases from all those crying-threads.
Eva-Dodge is a great mechanic, if you are capable of surviving the few, but worst possible heavy hits coming through. And with a setup like Dzz1rt, or mine (posted few pages back) it's no problem at all.. i am running t16 like for fun, without any mirror item and without the danger of dying, plus not at all being afraid of any red-bosses, like you just said a few posts before.

You should probably just play the game instead of watching videos or reading whining-threads.

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Enki91 wrote:

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Are you fine playing without instant lifeleech?

@drugsanddragons: Yeah works for me. All bosses die before they can be any harm, would only need it for T15+ and maybe a few select others, but there's always the option to just skip them if you know they will kill you. Those few alt shards aren't worth it.

Ele ref rares aren't noticeable, not sure about ele ref maps cuz i haven't run any. Even though i know i should be able to run them, it's not worth the risk finding out at this point.

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Enki91 wrote:

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Hmm, interesting. I also don't get why no Frenzy charges taken in your tree and no Constitution. Isn't it supposed to cripple you in Hardcore? Also what is your bandits path?

@drugsanddragons: I've tried to incorporate the scion life wheel, but came to the conclusion that there's just no reasonable path over there. You'd have to give up the whole shadow section for just a minimal life gain. It's not worth it.

The tree posted in the voltaxic example gear section is the most balanced one, but keep in mind it's meant to be used with Kaom's Heart! Life with Kintsugi will be substantially lower, if you're not used to the evasion playstyle i'd recommend to invest into a Kaoms before jumping into dangerous maps.

Haven't taken frenzy charges yet because i just find other nodes being more helpful. Will also have to drop a few gems once i get a Kaom's, and Blood Rage might be one of those that won't make it.

Bandits are Life - Passive - Passive. You could also take Alira or Kraityn in Merciless, i decided against them because you can't always keep them up in bossfights anyway, and don't need it for trash mobs.

€: Spent a little fortune to upgrade gear and switched to Kaom's + Atziri's Step. Also switched out HoI for Blasphemy, helps making up the loss of Rat's Nest a bit and can switch Ass Mark for Enfeeble when needed.
Overall probably the best setup for HC, a little bit slower but much safer and more reliable.

Not much left to upgrade, might gonna divine the Voltaxic to perfection or get a +1 Drillneck.
Also 4 stat jewels, but not expecting to find many in a HC temp league.

New setup for reference:

Dzz1rt, seems like misunderstanding. You actually agree that proper ES build would be better. I would play Life build in League anyway though since I started late and don't have currencie for ES gear while Kaom is like 1 Ex now wtf lol.

Enki91,basta1982 evasion sounds good and stuff. Until you get hit. And you will get hit, because of how Evasion works - monsters won't miss many times in a row, Resolute Technique bypasses it, Spells don't care about it. 40-45% Dodge is all you will get. And all mutigation you left with as Life EV char is Arctic Armour (you can run it as ES char as well though). You mean Blind from Flask? It creates Smoke Cloud under you and you don't really want to be in close range with anything.

But ES char have twice Hit Points (even with Legacy Kaom it's still 9k vs 12k) and it's a lot. Better leeach and larger room for mistakes - what can be better. Specially if you don't have 300 Ex item that also eats 6 Sockets...and default assumption is you don't have it for obvious reasons.

Have no idea just how cautiously you should have played and rolled maps to survive for so long. I have char with Grace + Arctic Armor + Vaal Pact + Dodge who one-two shot any pack but still had problems if mobs somehow slip throw or I move a litttle bit closer than opposite side of the screen or boss didn't die in seconds. It's so squishy fuck idk how paranoic one should be to play such glass cannon builds properly ;_;

No wonder EV Life based chars are non-existent on the ladder. I guess one should have special mindset / type of player to suffer through evasion style gameplay... Q_q

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Anyways. which bow would be better for 2-10 Ex budget in 5-Link and doesn't Signal Fire's raw elemental damage boost justifies using it over rare quiver any time of the day?

@SunL4D2: Yes, Evasion needs a different playstyle and more game knowledge to be played successfully, but matter of fact is that a lifebased Eva+Dodge setup is superior for mapping as an archer.

Not sure what ladders you were looking at, but the majority of archers on the EHC ladder are lifebased for a reason. There's even a Lv100 with a similar defensive setup as used in this guide.

Legacy Kaoms isn't needed to hit a good lifepool. I'm at 7.5k in EHC right now, and still got a few lifenodes left to take if needed.
You have to make sacrifices for that, but they aren't nearly as huge as all the sacrifices and limitations you have to take as an ES based archer. For some reason, no one is ever mentioning those while happily listing all of lifes downsides.

Please link your gear, flasks, everything so we can have a look at why you can't survive as a lifebased archer. It could also be up to your playstyle - Decoy Totem, Vaal Grace, Jade + Basalt Flask, repositioning - you need to learn to properly use them.

You can get a really decent 380-400pdps Harbinger at that budget, which would be my choice.
Signal Fire is just tooltip and easily mitigated if not built around, you have better crit consistency with a good Spike Point Quiver.

At topic, thanks to drugsanddragons sparking a thought i've optimized my EHC voltaxic tree to include Scion Life wheel and gain another jewel socket. It's a pretty high level tree, but if you're at the point where you actually need that much life you're really high level anyway.
Updated the link in my previous comment with the new tree.

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Enki91 wrote:

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Thanks to you, man! That was quite informative.

Enki91, I was talking about first 70 positions month ago. There were no archers at all though xD

30% extra damage is huge and if u fo full elemental it's even more - I felt it when switched to Signal Fire the other day. You also get 26-36 pen from tree, Vinktar, flask effect. stacking for Vinktar and PF passives.

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You have to make sacrifices for that, but they aren't nearly as huge as all the sacrifices and limitations you have to take as an ES based archer.

Limitations? Not running Blood Rage and buying expensive gear? You also get extra 6 Links by going ES, so it becomes much more convinient. And you are not pigeon holled into "2 extra TS projectiles" enchant anymore.

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Please link your gear, flasks, everything so we can have a look at why you can't survive as a lifebased archer. It could also be up to your playstyle - Decoy Totem, Vaal Grace, Jade + Basalt Flask, repositioning - you need to learn to properly use them.

It's old char and I won't fix him anyway.

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You can get a really decent 380-400pdps Harbinger at that budget, which would be my choice.
Signal Fire is just tooltip and easily mitigated if not built around, you have better crit consistency with a good Spike Point Quiver.

Hmmm, Harbinger. Good one, but will it really be so much better than 3 Ex worth 280 pDPS Reach with 4 extra arrows?.