[3.16][HC][ON BREAK] Caustic Arrow Raider, DoT Focused | Tanky | 6k+ Health | All Content | In-depth

Allright, i get it. You dislike Raider for some reason, probably not enough damage. There are alternative ascendancies using the exact same passive tree. Starting with the best one:



Trickster
Ascendancy: Patient Reaper -> Prolonged Pain -> Ghost Dance -> Escape Artist
Balanced passive tree (Level 95) - CA focused tree
Classic tree (Level 96) - CA+ED Classic tree

Highest damage output out of all ascendancy classes. Amazing survivability against all type of content. Suitable for both CA only and classic CA+ED version. Lower speed and QoL compared to Raider.



Pathfinder
Ascendancy: Nature's Reprisal -> Master Toxicist -> Nature's Boon -> Master Alchemist
Base passive tree (Level 94) - Same as Raider's

Great middle ground between Raider and Trickster. Almost as high damage as Trickster while having elemental ailment immunity like Raider. Flask recharge is incredible as well.

You can sacrifice one of the Master nodes to take Nature's Adrenaline node for additional speed.



Champion
Ascendancy: Unstoppable Hero -> Fortitude -> Conqueror -> Worthy Foe
Base passive tree (Level 96)

If you hate dying, here's your choice. Perma fortify makes Champion strongest against big hits. Taunt branch is also great for clearing packs of mobs. Low QoL with great defence and decent damage.

You can use Inspirational and First to Strike, Last to Fall nodes instead of Taunt branch. Gives massive conditional damage and defence.



Deadeye
Ascendancy: Gathering Winds -> Far Shot -> Endless Munitions -> Fast and Deadly
Base passive tree (Level 94) - Same as Raider's

Good option for mapping. Great offensive QoL features with good damage. Quite weak defensively.

You can pick Ricochet as 4th point if you prefer. Gives higher damage output at cost of mobility.

Withering Rain (GGGR):
Toxic Rain - Mirage Archer - Withering Touch - Increased Duration

Optional setup to Wither Totem. It's much, much worse when it comes to raw damage increase and reliability. However this setup can be used in any situation for additional utility/damage which is not possible with totem.

Bestiary Aspect: Aspect of the Crab

Any source of damage mitigation is great for evasion characters. With very high evasion numbers it can easily act as permanent 20% physical damage reduction. End game only, otherwise low mana pool might cause troubles.

Cursed Frenzy Setup (GGGGBB):
Frenzy - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Curse on Hit - Despair - Enhance - Culling Strike

If you're rich, that's probably the best 6-link body armour setup. Enhance for extra damage from Despair. Culling strike is for finishing the bosses, but i personally hate it.

Essence Drain Swap (BBBGGR):
Essence Drain - Efficacy - Controlled Destruction - Void Mani - Swift Affliction - Empower

Used in classic version of this build. To learn more, head over to the Classic CA+ED Build section.

Fortify: Vigilant Strike with The Vigil threshold jewel

Only usable if you have melee weapon swap. Gives ~35 second long Fortify, awesome bonus for hard hitting bosses. Without threshold jewel the duration is only ~12 seconds, but it's enough if you facetank a monster. Best used in classic build.

Golem: Stone Golem OR Flame Golem OR Chaos Golem

Stone Golem is most useful with his taunt and high flat health regeneration. Flame golem for the damage, Chaos golem if you want to try some phys dmg reduction shenanigans. Golems tend to die quite often in high tier maps, but are very useful in early mapping or against labyrith traps (stone golem).

Portal Gem

If you have a free gem slot, why not? Best socketed inside 6-linked cursing setup instead of culling strike.

Weapons: +3 CA Bow (self-crafting recommended, see crafting section)
Quiver: Life and Resists, late game get +1 Arrow shaper quiver
Armour: Kintsugi


Helmet: Life and Resists, 30% CA duration enchantment
Boots: Life and Resists or Atziri's Step unique, 8% chance to Dodge Spells enchantment.
Gloves: Life and Resists


Belt: Life and Resists, Leather / Heavy Belt with Elder mods if possible
Rings: Life and Resists, can be Ventor's
Amulet: Life and Resists, Agate/Lapis/Marble rare preferred, can be Bisco's


Flasks: 2 Life flasks, 3 utility flasks recommended. Flexible, however you need Jade Flask with 90%+ increased evasion rating and another one with curse immunity.


Jewels: Life and damage on all of them, very efficient if you have at least 3 good mods.

Notes: High evasion is important. Not as much as life, but use evasion bases if possible.
Aim to have ~160 strength and intelligence, so you can use lvl 20 gems.
It's good to cap elemental weakness curse (109%). X% Mana regen is very good QoL.

The first core item of this build.

Caustic Arrow's cloud has very limited options when it comes to increasing it's damage output. Additional levels and crafted mods are the only way to make your bow actually benefit the build in the first place. CA setup socketed inside +3 bow easily increases the damage output by ~50-60% more compared to a normal 6-link.

To make it clear, on the bow we NEED:

* +1 to Level of Socketed Gems (prefix)
* +2 to Level of Socketed Bow Gems (prefix)
* +33-40% Non-ailment Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier (prefix, crafted)

You can also use super budget version with only +2 to Level of Socketed Bow Gems,
it's enough to actually beat almost any encounter in the game. However the more damage, the easier it gets. Crafting +3 bow is not that expensive and massively boosts the damage.

I recommend to self-craft the bow as it's the cheapest way to do so. Plus, you can directly upgrade the +2 6-linked bow into +3 once you acquire currency. Chaos DoT Multiplier doesn't have to be highest level, 2nd tier already gives really good bonus.

Elder versions of the bow can roll few amazing QoL mods on top of +3 bow gems, but crafting one is extremely expensive and you shouldn't bother with it until there's no other significant upgrade you can make.

Bow crafting and elder versions of the bow are fully covered in crafting section.

Used in Classic ED+CA Build, check it's section at the end of the guide's main post.

The second and last core item of this build. Reasoning for this is pretty much the same as +3 CA Bow above.

It is a core item, but most likely you won't be using it until VERY late game. It's not going to be cheap either. You can either use Cane of Unraveling unique staff that's slightly inferior OR a crafted weapon that's much hard to acquire.

Stats we NEED on the crafted weapon:

* +1 to Level of Socketed Gems (prefix)
* +2 to Level of Socketed Support Gems (prefix, crafted)
* +33-40% Non-ailment Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier (prefix, crafted)

The easiest way to create the weapon is through multimodding. Crafting method is fully covered in the crafting section.

Kintsugi
My personal choice of body armour. I use it to mitigate potential oneshots from bosses, and it saved me multiple times in the past. Additional 50% evasion if you get hit is a really nice bonus for mapping. The "20% Less Damage Taken if you've not been hit Recently" also works against degens (LAB TRAPS!) until you've been hit.

Kintsugi is a mandatory end game body armour for Raider. Combined with with very high evasion + dodge, the unique passive acts as 25% more life. It is true for many bosses.

Before you reach the end game, you might want to use Carcass Jack or Cherrubim's for additional DPS. If you're non-Raider ascendancy, you might want to consider Queen of the Forest instead. You will find more explainations below.

Optional Armours:

A rare pierce quiver with life and resistances. Later on you'll want to craft or buy shaper quiver. Something like the first one i linked, the more life and resists the better.

Shaper quivers can roll +1 arrow. It's a quite rare mod, so getting one with high health is going to be damn hard. Crafted 41-55 life is going to suffice for majority of the game. Shooting 2 arrows feels a bit weird at first, but it's a huge QoL and effective AoE increase.

Shaper quivers are fully covered in crafting section.

Packed into same category, as you want same thing from all of them:

* Life
* Resistances
* Open Suffix (optional)
* Movement Speed (boots only)

Evasion based preferred, especially the helmet (can achieve really high evasion). Atziri's Step unique boots are amazing defensive option if your resistances allow it. That's pretty much it, what's left is to look at the enchantments:

Gloves: of Spite

Nothing else is useful, really. You can totally ignore the gloves enchantments.

Boots: 8% chance to Spell Dodge if you've taken Spell Damage Recently.

Best late game enchantment. The build is nearly invincible against attacks, but spells still hit quite often. 80% chance to avoid stuns is also a great alternative.

Helmet:
#1 - 40% increased Caustic Arrow Damage
#2 - 30% increased Caustic Arrow Duration

Damage enchant is always good, gives around around ~7% more damage. It's default without any drawbacks. Duration enchant allows to drop skill effect duration nodes in exchange for even higher damage, at cost of QoL/utility of other skills.

Once again, life and resistances. Strength is also a desirable stat. Leather Belt is the best base, with Heavy Belt being slightly weaker option.

I also have to remind that elder influenced belts are absolutely amazing. They can roll few VERY good mods:

* 8–10% increased maximum Life (prefix)
* 16–20% increased Life Recovery rate (suffix)
* 13–15% to all Elemental Resistances (suffix)

That's not even all of the good mods. If you ever accumulate enough money to buy/craft it for yourself, i recommend getting one.

Like majority of other gear and little more:

* Life
* Resistances
* Strength and Intelligence
* #% Mana Regeneration
* +(4-5)% chance to Evade Attacks (elder mod)

Attributes to reach ~160 requirement for lvl 20/21 gems. Mana regen is not required but allows to drop Clarity if you have enough of it.

Once you hit the end game, i recommend buying a good Marble amulet. Life regen is really helpful in mitigating degens / small hits. Elder rings are also necessary to hit evade chance cap with their "+(4–5)% chance to Evade Attacks" mod. It's required in the end game maps, for safety reasons.

Jewellery also have the best uniques for magic finding. Well rolled Ventor's Gamble is great addition to this build, even if you don't want to focus on MF. Shaper amulets fall in the same category since they can roll 10% IIQ. Combined together they give great IIQ+IIR mix without hurting your defences too much.

Magic Finding has it's own section.

This is the setup i run personally and recommend it for everyone. 2 life flasks to quickly heal from 0% to 100% health in a single hand motion. 3 utility flasks which you use every ~6 seconds. The mods on those flasks combined with Raider ascedancy and Soul of Shakari allow for complete ailment and curse immunity during mapping plus very high evasion.

Life flasks - i recommend 1 Bubbling and 1 Seething with bleeding/freeze/poison immunity for emergencies.

Utility flasks - i suggest Quicksilver and Jade. You NEED curse immunity and 90%+ increased evasion rating on them. They should also have "Reduced Charges" mod, it's undoubtly the best affix for flask uptime in maps. For additional effects, curse/bleeding immunity and increased evasion rating are the only good options.

Flask setup is flexible, you're not forced to use what i recommend if you don't want to. Adjust it to your liking.

From unique flasks:

* Dying Sun - Ultimate AoE flask. Luxury upgrade to the build, not required, very expensive.

* The Writhing Jar - Great flask for end game bosses. Allows you to generate fortify and onslaught before the fight starts or to refresh frenzy charges during waiting phases.

* Divination Distillate - for MFing purposes. Allows you to run "no regen" maps without changing a setup, at slower pace. You might want to use mana flask for some bosses/breaches/fast mapping instead.

* Witchfire Brew - Good flask if you start out the build, but as you progress with the build it starts to feel like a dead weight. Especially against bosses, where the flask overrides the Curse on Hit setup and will "delete" the curse once you're out of blasphemy range.

There's not much to discuss, you want any 3 out of these 6 mods on your jewels:

* 5-7% increased maximum life
* 3–4% to Non-Ailment Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier
* 9–13% increased Chaos Damage
* 10–12% increased Damage over Time
* 10–12% increased Projectile Damage
* 10–12% increased Area Damage
* 8–10% increased Damage

Life on the jewel is especially valued, get it if you can. Getting a jewel with all 4 good mods is kinda impossible, but finding one with 3 mods at once should be easy. Be sure to look out for other mods that can be beneficial for you:

* 14–18% increased Evasion Rating
* 7–13% to Chaos Resistance
* 4–6% increased Rarity of Items found
* Any resistance / strength / intelligence mods

Watcher's Eye is an expensive jewel you want to acquire once you reach the end game maps. It is incredibly strong both offensively and defensively. Primary mod you would look for is 18-22% Chaos DoT multi while having Malevolence, as it provides around 10-15% more damage. Anything else is just a bonus. Worthwhile mods from strongest to weakest:

* +(18–22)% to Non-Ailment Chaos DoT Multiplier while affected by Malevolence
* +(5–8)% chance to Evade Attacks while affected by Grace (if you decide to keep using it)
* Unaffected by Bleeding while affected by Malevolence
* (15–20)% increased Recovery rate of Life and Energy Shield while affected by Malevolence
* (-5 to -10) to Total Mana Cost of Skills while affected by Clarity
* (20–30)% increased Mana Recovery Rate while affected by Clarity

I've tried to be beginner friendly in this section, but didn't want to write essay either. If you're a veteran, i'm sure you can get all important information without reading guidelines. Please do read the short "Preparing for maps" section anyway.

Gem Progression:

Caustic Arrow - Pierce / Swift Affliction - Void Manipulation - Vicious Projectiles

You'll get Void Manipulation at lvl 8, Vicious Projectiles at lvl 18. Use Pierce Support gem until you pick up pierce nodes on passive tree, around level 40-45. Once you do, use Swift Affliction instead (buy from Siosa).

Toxic Rain - Mirage Archer

Additional utility/damage setup for bosses. Shoot Caustic Arrow, then attack once or twice and repeat. Slows enemies and can easily generate frenzy charges/onslaught from Raider ascendancy.

Wither - Spell Totem - Multiple Totems

Used for additional damage against bosses, can be used starting from level 38. Place and forget, single cast should be enough. You might need little bit of strength/intelligence to use it.
Do NOT level up Wither until you reach act 9.

Despair : Curses enemies to increase damage. Use on bosses, tough packs, rares etc.
Do NOT level up Despair until you reach act 9.

Blink Arrow : Your movement skill
Grace : Your aura, grants additional evasion.
Purity of Elements : If you really need resistances. Use instead of Grace if necessary.

Gem Rewards:
* lvl 2 - Caustic Arrow
* lvl 3 - Mirage Archer (Medicine Chest side quest)
* lvl 8 - Void Manipulation
* lvl 10 - Blink Arrow

* lvl 12 - Toxic Rain
* lvl 18 - Vicious Projectiles
* lvl 24 - Grace, Despair
* lvl 38 - Greater Multiple Projectiles

Any gems you don't receive as a quest reward can be bought from Siosa (act 3) or
Lilly (act 6) once you complete their quests. Petarus and Vanja (act 4) also sell Multiple Totems after you enter Belly of the Beast.

Passive Tree Progression:
Level ~9 (Act 1)
Level ~18 (Act 2)
Level ~28 (Act 3)
Level ~45 (Act 4-5)
Level ~53 (Act 6-7)
Level ~53 (After Respec)
Level ~60 (Act 8)
Level ~70 (Blood Acqueducts farm)
Level ~73 (Before Kitava)

Bandit Reward: Kill all (recommended) OR spare Oak

Ascendancy Order: Way of a Poacher (1st Frenzy) -> Avatar of Chase (Onslaught) ->
-> respec Way of the Poacher (merciless lab) -> Avatar of Veil (Phasing)

Additional twink gear:
* Silverbranch/Silverbough
* Tabula Rasa
* Goldrim
* Wanderlust
* Hyrri's Bite (Int/Str)
* Karui Ward

Important reminder: Don't forget to level additional CA gems in your weapon slot. They still level even if you don't use them.

General levelling rule: First and most important to remember - when searching for equipment, your priority on them is Life and Resistances. Links are equally as important, be sure to look out for correct socket colors. This applies to all acts.

Act by act guidelines: Preparing for maps:

The area with a long stream of blood is where you'll spend next 1-2 hours. It's a great place to farm experience. Look for gear upgrades and slowly replace your gems to recommended final setups. Before you proceed, you need a Tabula Rasa which you can farm in Blood Acqueducts OR you can buy 5-link bow with ilvl 64, high attack speed base if possible. The second option is better in general. On your newly purchased 5-link you can craft +2 bow gems with alteration/augmentation orbs. You should roll it within ~100 tries, still a bit RNG dependant. The 5-link CA setup is:

CA - Vicious Projectiles - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Concentrated Effect

Now you're ready to get into maps. Progress through last 2 acts and face Izaro in merciless Labyrinth before the final fight. After you complete 3rd labyrinth, you should respec 1st frenzy ascedancy node. You can acquire all necessary points from side quests. When you're ready, defeat Kitava once and for all. 4000 life is enough to not get one-shot in both fights.

If you're here, i assume that you have at least lvl ~73 and CA gem lvl 17. Cursed Frenzy setup and Wither Totem should be included in your build as well. If you don't have all of them, you might find single target damage disappointing. This build is dependant on levels, especially if you're starting the league. Don't rush the content.

Before you begin mapping, it's wise to pack as many CA gems to level as possible (if you didn't already). Once they hit lvl 20, you can corrupt them with Vaal orbs for a chance to get lvl 21 gem. You can have up to 12 gems levelling at same time, as CWDT setup isn't very useful until red maps.

White maps:
Passive Tree Progression (level 81) - rush Phase Acrobatics

They shouldn't be a problem at all. Most map mods are trivial, running them blue is completely viable. No real danger outside of few bosses like Pen, Grotto or Spider Lair. For this map tier, you have 3 very simple goals:

* 6-linked bow with +2 gems (ilvl 64+)
* Correct Flask setup
* Carcass Jack / Cherrubim's Maleficence (optional)

It's possible that you've acquired money for all of them before killing Kitava. If not, simple unid chaos recipe should do the trick. Body armours are optional boost to damage/clear. They're meant to help you early on, only to be replaced once you engage harder content.

Your primary goal right now is acquiring 6-linked bow, it's very simple. Buy ilvl 64+ 6-link bow, then spam alts/augs to roll +2 bow gems (prefix). You should get it within ~100 alts. The links on the bow should look like this:

CA - Vicious Projectiles - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Concentrated Effect -
- Damage on Full Life

Keep in mind that you can always switch Swift Affliction with Greater Multiple Projectiles for map clearing. The AoE coverage is massive QoL in exchange for single target damage, which you can always solve by switching the gems again.

You should also get flasks with right mods. They're very important. Not having right flasks will heavily affect your survivability. 2 instant Divine Life Flasks with at least one having bleeding removal, Jade Flask with at least 90% increased evasion and Quicksilver Flask with curse immunity.

Yellow maps:
Passive Tree Progression (level 88)

This is where you'll spend quite a lot of time, recommended level is 80-90. This map tier isn't too risky, but some map mods might be deadly without proper defences/damage. Goals for this tier:

* +3 gems 6-linked bow
* Phasing path (uber Labyrinth)
* Level 21 CA gem
* 20% quality gems
* General gear upgrades

The +3 bow is the primary goal in yellow maps. You should craft it by yourself, as it's the cheapest way of acquiring one. Check crafting section for full details how to do it.

Once you have proper damage and defences, you can face Izaro inside uber Labyrinth. You will be safe as long as you dodge his attacks, which you should do with ease. Allocate remaining points in phasing path and ignore elemental ailments! Do not forget you need to have phasing/onslaught/maximum frenzy charges in order to gain the immunity.

Around the high tier yellow maps most of your gems will reach level 20. When that happens, the most important part is to vaal your maxed CA gems. Corrupting level 20 gem might increase it to 21, giving you significant damage boost.

Non-CA gems shouldn't be vaaled, quality is much more important on them. You can easily raise it with following vendor recipe (sell to shopkeeper):

Level 20 gem + 1 Gemcutter's Prism = Level 1 gem with 20% quality

It will lower your damage/defence for a short while, but within an hour or two there will be barely any difference at all with higher end game potential.

Do not forget about your other gear, it's equally important. Get more life and resistances, good jewels, CA helmet enchantment and all the other good stuff. Evasion gear is also important In short, upgrade it whenever you need, whenever you can.

Red maps:
Passive Tree Progression (level 94)

That's where mapping becomes tough. Monsters can hit hard, map bosses become tanky, map mods are huge pain. Your damage should carry you through most maps easily, but the bosses combined with some map mods can be too scary. The 5 following goals of this map tier will fix all these issues tier:

* Kintsugi
* Elder Ring with +4-5% chance to Evade Attacks (one required, two for additional safety)
* Malevolence aura
* Empower 3/4
* 7-link +3 Elder bow.

In that order. It's best to acquire Kintsugi as soon as possible. It's a cheap and underrated unique. Gives massive defensive boost for your character.

Despite very high evasion and Kintsugi on top of it, some maps might still give you a lot of troubles. Elder Ring should solve these problems. Paired with Jade Flask, Dread Banner and 25% more evasion from Onslaught path, it can reach up to 95% evade chance cap. You need ~70% chance on character sheet with Jade Flask up to be evade capped. Two rings are recommended, but one should be enough.

After you acquire Elder Ring/s, you will be able to switch aura from Grace to Malevolence without hurting your defensive capabilities... If you haven't switched earlier. However you can always stick with Grace for extra safety.

Once you upgrade your defences, the next upgrade should be Empower gem. Level 3 is easily enough for majority of the content. Level 4 would be ideal, but it costs massive amounts of money. Price is very high early on and drops over time. Empower replaces Damage on Full Life OR Concentrated Effect, your call.

Elder 7-link bow is a goal you probably won't reach. It increases damage output by ~15% more... for a price. It's not necessary to do all end game content, just makes it slightly easier. Once you get all other upgrades, optimize your gear and everything else - you can think about wasting money on crafting/buying one.

After that, all you can do now is enjoy the build, kill some end game bosses and look for another build you want to play.

As a rule, you're capable of killing pretty much any boss deathless. Scary red maps, end game bosses, all of them. Some of them are not worth the risk tho. Learn to skip them.
+3 6-linked bow is required.

Shaper:
Required gem setups: Decoy Totem

Shaper himself isn't an issue, but the portal phase is problematic. The spawned monsters have too much health to die quickly. Decoy totem should be enough to protect Zana. Using The Writhing Jar for the talking phase is also recommended (otherwise you might lose frenzy charges).

Shaper Guardians: You shouldn't have many issues with them. Chimera and Phoenix are the easiest. Hydra's turrets can be deadly if you don't watch out. Minotaur's lightning gates apply deadly debuff that can easily be a death sentence.

Elder:
Required gem setup: Frost Wall

Once you get to know his moves, he's very easy. In first phase you should prioritize killing spawned minions, so they won't drop decaying ground (phys degen). Damage elder whenever you don't have to focus minions. Second phase, just protect Shaper with Frost Wall (see video). Third phase can be tricky and even deadly, but overall try to burst down the Elder while killing mobs to recover flask charges.

Elder Guardians: They shouldn't be a problem. All of them have some scary attacks, but you can avoid them easily. Using Purity of Lightning against Eradicator is wise idea as well, his damage can be spiky sometimes.

Uber Elder:
Optional gem setup:
* Enduring Cry - Immortal Call - Increased Duration
* Aspect of the Crab
Optional Pantheon: Soul of Arakaali (recovery upgrade), Soul of Ralakesh

This is mostly mechanical fight. None of the above setups are required, just allow to make more mistakes and allow to handle the physical degen if you couldn't kill Elder's squids fast enough. Against Shaper balls, i recommend kiting. You're fast enough and playstyle allows for near indefinite kiting by simply running in circles. Everything else depends on your skill. You can do it.

Uber Atziri:
Required gem setup: Purity of Fire, Purity of Lightning, Vigilant Strike
Required gear: The Writhing Jar, The Vigil, Topaz/Ruby Flask

Thing with Atziri is, that she's mostly a mechanical fight. You can dodge almost anything... until RNG screws you over and you die. It's possible to kill her without getting hit at all (we got lots of speed after all), but you want to be prepared for anything. Vigilant Strike gives long lasting fortify, Kintsugi reduces damage by another 20%, Purities gives 4% resist each. It won't save you from everything, but gives you chance to actually take a single hit and live. Not sure which resistance flask is more important, so choose it yourself or take both (1 life flask left).

As for Alluring Abyss itself, the zone can be really dangerous. Take it slow, don't tank mobs (rare soldiers hit super hard). It's nothing too hard. Vaals are probably the hardest part to be fair. Use The Writhing Jar to fortify and refresh frenzy charges in waiting phase. Trio is pretty easy, see Vaal Temple below. Disable Grace and start using PoF/PoL for Atziri, also fortify yourself between phases.

Vaal Temple: Shouldn't be a problem. Additional speed, double damage mod, temp chains or twinned are probably too risky. Titty bitch -> Dual striker -> Cycloner. You can kite dual striker with Wither totem easily. Beware of Titty bitch's physical blade rain, it's good idea to remain mobile until it's on cooldown (after she casts it).

Breachlords: Elemental breachlords are weak enough to be killed with ~22 level CA. Uul-Netol is more dangerous, CWDT-IC setup is required to prevent one shots. Chayula's domain might give you big troubles. It's doable tho, be sure to kill rare mobs as you go. Boss can be really dangerous, equipping Ming's Heart / Chaos resistance breach ring is a good idea.

Hall of Grandmasters:
Required gem setup: Scorching Ray
Required gear: The Brass Dome

Easy for the most part. The tough part are few exiles that can deal absurd damage in short time. Lethal map purely thanks to them. CI forces us to use Scorching Ray against them, Balefire unique is the easiest way to get the setup. Use it in or even 2 of them in a weapon swap. You need chaos resistance yourself, at least make it positive. Be elemental weakness capped.

Poorjoy's Asylum: Since CA can't off-screen mobs and shatter / explode corpses, it's a scary map. Those DD assholes are capable of killing you in split second. I generally avoid this map. I recommend using Mirage Archer for it, you can even combine it with Writhing Jar to actually off-screen enemies.

Uber Lab: This might not be the safest build for a full key run, but kills Izaro quickly enough for it to be possible. Kintsugi's amazing for lab traps, or you can also use QotF if you prefer.

Since classic build focuses on Frenzy charges for additional damage/speed, it would be great to have them up all the time. With onslaught and phasing path you don't generate frenzies on kill, so you need another source. Without charges, the build doesn't have the same smooth feeling while mapping. Pick one of the following:

* ilvl 84 Elder Quiver: (7–10)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill
* ilvl 84 Elder Gloves: (7–10)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill
* Precursor's Emblem: 10% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill

Cheapest way would be crafting the Quiver, but you lose potential for +1 arrow (not a problem if you use Dying Sun).

The ring is new Azurite mine unique. Not the most efficient option but it's decent. Finding a good mod combination to make it worth is going to be hard.

The best option and also most expensive of them all is crafting Elder Gloves. That way you can have a jewel slot and +1 arrow quiver at same time.

7-10% chance for frenzy is required to have reliable upkeep, the more the better. If you hit T1 affix, make sure it has at least 9% chance, otherwise you will lose charges constantly.

* You sacrifice 3 fractured items to get 1 synthesised item.
* Synthesiser TRANSFORMS a random mod into implicit. The implicit value/mod is based on combined values of that mod from all 3 items. The higher total mod value, the better the implicit becomes.
* Synthesised implicit/s are randomly chosen from all available explicit mods from all 3 items, not just fractured mods. Implicits cannot be transformed.

* Fractured items must be rare in order to create synthesised item.
* Item level of synthesised item is based on highest ilvl fractured item.
* Base of synthesised item is randomly chosen from the three fractured items.
* One fractured base chosen at random determines amount of implicits. Amount of fractured affixes equals amount of implicits.

* Very few mods have no implicit outcomes.
* Fractured affixes cannot be changed in any way, including mod values.
* If mod has two variable rolls, only the higher one is taken into account.
Example: Adds 5 to 9 Physical Damage to Attacks - implicit threshold is based on 9 only.
* Hybrid mods count towards single mod progressions.
Example: +28 max life (hybrid) and 97 max (single) will count as 125 maximum life.

* Some mods / mod tiers have more than 1 outcome. Synthesiser can pick multiple implicits from the same mod, but each one counts as a single implicit.
Example: Total +350 to maximum Life can give you +(25–30) to maximum Life OR 4% increased maximum Life. It can also give you both of them if you rolled 2 implicits.

In case you cannot understand the points above, you should watch ZiggyD's video instead.

Almost everything is random and it is up to player to decide if they want to gamble, or if they want to gamble at all. There are ways to reduce or completely eliminate the rng factor.

NOTE: The list showcases info in following way:
* Synthesised implicit mod <-- minimum combined mod value to create implicit
It also shows average minimum item level required to reach mod threshold and amount of possible outcomes from that mod if there's more than one.


Bow Implicits:
* +1 to Level of Socketed Gems <-- +3 to Level of Socketed Gems (ilvl 50)
* +1 to Level of Socketed Support Gems <-- +6 to Level of Socketed Support Gems (craft)
* +1 to Level of Socketed Bow Gems <-- +6 to Level of Socketed Bow Gems (ilvl 64)
* Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow <-- 136% increased Projectile Speed
(2 outcomes, ilvl 82)

* Killed Enemies Explode, dealing 5% of their Life as Physical Damage
<-- 36% increased Light Radius (2 outcomes + 1 if you have flat accuracy mod, ilvl 30)
* (37–40)% increased Chaos Damage <-- 221% increased Chaos Damage (craft)
* (33–36)% increased Chaos Damage <-- Attacks with this Weapon Penetrate 45% Chaos Resistance (craft)

The mods are listed in order of importance. +1 all gems is the strongest mod possible, effectively gives 2 bonus levels for CA (if you use Empower support). It gives higher damage with no downsides compared to +3 7-link elder bow. +1 Support and Bow gems are slightly weaker, but still worthwhile.

Additional arrow is always amazing, but it's very hard to get as you need three maximum rolls (minus 2% at best) of T1 Projectile speed. Exploding enemies implicit is actually extremely strong defensively, especially useful in Azurite Mine. Increased chaos damage is obvious.

Quiver Implicits:
* Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow <-- 136% increased Projectile Speed
(2 outcomes, ilvl 82)
* Arrows Pierce 3 additional Targets <-- +1001 Accuracy Rating (ilvl 76)
* Recover (1–2)% of Maximum Life on Kill <-- +36 Life gained on Kill (2 outcomes, ilvl 40)
* (5–10)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill <-- +161 to Dexterity
(2 outcomes, ilvl 82)
* (7–8)% increased maximum Life <-- +281 to maximum Life (ilvl 64)

Synthesised quiver with additional arrow is superior in every way compared to shaped quiver. It's much, MUCH easier to create good quiver with a lot of life that way. +3 pierce mod is incredibly valuable as you can ditch not very efficient pierce nodes from the passive tree in exchange for better nodes. Also compared to majority of the other mods, very easy to get. 2% max life on kill gives AMAZING sustain during mapping. Frenzy on kill is great QoL during mapping and bonus life is always great.

Boots Implicits:
* (5–10)% chance to gain an Endurance Charge on Kill <-- 96% reduced Attribute Requirements (2 outcomes, ilvl 60)
* (4–5)% chance to Dodge Spell Hits <-- 401% increased Evasion Rating
(2 outcomes + 1 from hybrid mod, ilvl 84)
* +(20–24) to maximum Life <-- +251 to maximum Life (ilvl 54)
* 1% of Life Regenerated per second <-- 58,4 Life Regenerated per second (ilvl 83)

You can have 2 mods which make elder boots so amazing... as an implicit. Of course it's not going to be easy to craft it, as spell dodge requires top tier and hybrid %evasion rating mods. Endurance charge on kill should be relatively simple to get tho. Life and life regen is always a nice bonus too. Movement speed implicits are not very important, since we already move really quickly anyway.

Helmet Implicits:
* +3% chance to Evade Attacks <-- +246 to Evasion Rating (2 outcomes, ilvl 42)
* +(20–24) to maximum Life <-- +251 to maximum Life (ilvl 54)
* 1% of Life Regenerated per second <-- 58,4 Life Regenerated per second (ilvl 83)

Helmets are not incredibly interesting, but the evade chance is really good. Might even make elder ring unnecessary. And obviously, life is great. There are two more life tiers above the one i listed, but they're really hard to reach (326+ life). The primary downside of synthesised helmets is having to run uber lab to enchant them yourself/pay someone else to do it... So for the most part, you won't be crafting them.

There's a lot of methods to reduce randomness of synthesiser. I cannot list them all, only the most relevant ones. The key is to reduce amount of potential implicits to minimum. Keep in mind, all methods have risks and costs. Which one you want to use is up to you.

High chance +1 / Low chance +2 Bow gems implicits:
Step 1: Get three bows with their fractured mod being the same two/three suffixes.
(example: three bows with Dexterity and Cold Resistance)
Step 2: Use Corroded - Jagged - Metallic fossil combo to roll +1 to Level of Gems and +2 to Level of Bow Gems on all three bows
Step 3 (optional): Use annul to remove 3rd suffix from the bow/s to increase chance of success. If you removed any +X to Level mod, go back to step 2.
Step 4: Synthesise all 3 for high chance of rolling +1 to Level of All/Bow Gems and small chance of rolling both of them.

NOTE: above method should be relatively cheap way of crafting good and potentially insane bows. Just find cheap combo, spam fossils and pray.

Very high chance, +1 all gems implicit (expensive):
Step 1: Get three bows with their fractured mod being the same two suffixes.
Step 2: Scour them and craft "Cannot roll Attack Mods"
Step 3: Slam the bow with exalted orb for guaranteed +1 Socketed Gems
Step 4 (optional): Craft +2 to Level of Socketed Support Gems
Step 5: Synthesise all 3 for very high chance of rolling +1 to Level of Socketed Gems

Guaranteed 1 implicit:
Step 1: Get three items with their fractured mod being the one required for implicit.
(example: three bows with fractured +2 Level to Bow Gems to get +1 Level to Bow Gems)
Step 2: Scour the item and then regal it
Step 3: Use annuls to remove the regaled mod
Step 4: Synthesise all 3 for guaranteed implicit, assuming it doesn't have multiple outcomes

Guaranteed 2 or 3 implicits:
Step 1: Get three items with their two/three fractured mods being the ones required for implicits.
Step 2: Scour the item
Step 3: Synthesise all 3 for guaranteed implicits, assuming they don't have multiple outcomes

50% chance, 1 implicit:
Step 1: Get three items with the same fractured mod
(example: three quivers with Dexterity, tier doesn't matter)
Step 2: Scour the item and then regal. Repeat this step until you hit mod required to create desired implicit.
Step 3: Synthesise for 50% chance of success, assuming they don't have multiple outcomes

~25-33% chance, 1 implicit:
Step 1: Get three items with the same fractured mod that's opposite affix type to your desired mod (suffix/prefix)
(example: three quivers with Maximum Life [prefix] if you want to craft +1 arrow [suffix], tier doesn't matter)
Step 2: Scour the items
Step 3: Use alts and augs to roll mod required to create desired implicit.
Step 4: Regal them and synthesise for small chance of success.

Low chance, 2 implicits:
Step 1: Get two items with a single fractured mod being the one required for implicit.
(example: two bows with fractured +2 Level to Bow Gems to get +1 Level to Bow Gems)
Step 2: Scour the item and then regal. Repeat this step until you hit another mod required to create desired implicit combo.
Step 3: Get another item with two or three fractured mods. Craft it in a way it has two mods required to create desired implicits. Freestyle method, use what you want.
Step 4: Synthesise for 33% chance of getting 2-3 implicits. Then you also need to hit correct implicits (small chance to hit them all).

There are gear limitations in order to be able to run MF flask reasonably:

* You CANNOT have "X% mana regeneration" and "+X mana on kill" affixes on gear
* You CANNOT use Clarity (unless you're fighting a boss/have mana sustain problems)
* You MUST have at least have 6-link bow
* It's a very good idea to use Greater Multiple Projectiles to increase mana consumption

That's it, what's left is the proper way of using the flask to it's full effectiveness:

Shoot CA, use utility + MF flasks, shoot again if mana regen is high enough. You get full benefit and refill flask charges that way. Quite simple, isn't it? It's the proper way to use flask nearly all builds to be fair.

NOTE: Fossil crafting method is currently the cheapest way to craft +3 bow. It's not 100% reliable, but usually costs only a fraction of classic method in the long run. Should take below 10 attempts to get one.

Fossil crafting:

Classic method:

Useful suffixes you might want on the bow:
* +#% to Fire/Cold/Light/Chaos Resistance
* #% increased Projectile Speed (makes CA feel more responsive)
* +# Life gained on Kill
* #% increased Attack Speed

Bow bases, from best to worst:
* Highest base attack speed OR Maraketh Bow (+6% MS)
* Lowest base attack speed

That's literally the last upgrade you should do for this build. Crafting one takes huge amount of currency on top of having to 6-link the bow yourself. Only craft it if you have no other upgrades to get.

What can you roll on elder bow:

* Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Vicious Projectiles (prefix, T3: lvl 16, T2: lvl 18)
* Adds an additional Arrow (suffix)
* 16–20% increased Area of Effect (suffix, T3: 5–10%, T2: 11–15%)
* Culling Strike (suffix)

There are two chase mods here, Level 20 Vicious Projectiles and +1 arrow. Prefix is easy to get and gives you additional ~15-20% more single target damage. Suffix on the other hand gives bonus utility/AoE while being more expensive to craft.

Regardless of what you want to do, you should increase quality of the bow with perfect fossil or Hillock's transportation bench (25%+) and craft 15-18% quality mod. This will increase chance of 6-linking the bow, reducing the overall cost of crafting. Once the bow is 6-linked, proceed to real crafting:

Alt -> Regal Crafting Method (7-link):

Alt -> Regal Crafting Method (+1 Arrow):

Fossil Crafting (suffixes):

Let's start with a quick look at good exclusive shaper mods:

* Adds an additional Arrow (prefix)
* 7–10% increased Movement Speed (prefix, T2: 3-6%)
* Attacks have 20% chance to Maim on Hit (suffix, T2: 15%)

Chase affix here is obviously +1 arrow. Massive QoL that will increase your clear speed. It is a quite rare mod, it will take many tries before you get it. Cheap and reliable method is to use alterations and mastercraft life. RNG dependant method is with fossils, it will also have high chance of hitting life rolls. You can also try your luck spamming chaos orbs in order to hit both life and +1 arrow.

Alt -> Regal Crafting Method

Fossil Crafting Method

Useful non-shaper mods you might want on the quiver:
* +#% to Fire/Cold/Light/Chaos Resistance
* #% increased Projectile Speed (makes CA feel more responsive)
* +# Life gained on Kill
* #% increased Attack Speed
* Projectiles Pierce 2 Additional Targets (Deafening Essence of Misery)

Before you craft, you think if you want to use a Staff or a Bow. The primary difference is that Staff can roll additional cast speed and can also use Vigilant Strike to generate Fortify buff - powerful defensive option. It's also easy to see which weapon setup you're using with a Staff/Bow combo.

Bows should be easier to roll and can use quiver for additional life/resistances if you're relying on them. Primary benefit is from additional projectile speed from a quiver, since Essence Drain is really slow.

Crafting Method:

This method is currently the only guaranteed way of creating staff like that. Other methods rely heavily on luck, and require much higher currency investment. Getting +2 Socketed Support Gems craft might be really hard... You'll have to use a service for it.

Staff's base doesn't really matter, but you should have one with block for that little bit extra defence.

Elder Leather Belt
Fossil method: Aberrant + Pristine
Fossil mods: 20-30% increased Chaos Damage (prefix)

Elder mods:
* (8–10)% increased maximum Life
* (16–20)% increased Life Recovery rate

Crafted mods:
* 17–20% increased Damage
* 2% of Life Regenerated per second during any Flask Effect

With this method it's insanely easy to roll a decent belt in ~10-20 tries. Pristine fossil removes majority of bad mods and makes rolling Life + Life Recovery rate really common. In case you crafted a good RF belt, you can sell it for money and buy another base and try again.

Chaos Damage Amulet
Fossil method: Aberrant + Pristine (opt) + Aetheric/Corroded (opt)
Fossil mods: 20-30% increased Chaos Damage (prefix)

Essence method: Screaming/Shrieking Essence of Envy
Essence mods: 23-26%/27-30% increased Chaos Damage (suffix)

Elder mods:
* (1.6–2)% of Life Regenerated per second
* (13–16)% to Non-Ailment Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier
* (3–5)% additional Physical Damage Reduction
* (13–15)% increased Area of Effect
* Projectiles Pierce an additional Target

Crafted mods:
* 13–16% increased Area Damage / 10–12% increased Area of Effect
* 13–16% increased Projectile Damage / 17–20% increased Projectile Speed
* -9 to -8 to Total Mana Cost of Skills
* 0.7–1% of Life Regenerated per second
* 13–16% increased Chaos Damage

Rolling amulet is going to be tough. They have a lot of potential mods and you probably know from your experience that finding a good rare jewellery is hard. Pristine helps a bit with rolling life, Aberrant gives you the damage. I advice to only use it on Marble amulet or elder influenced Agate/Lapis. Elder's chaos DoT multiplier and chaos damage can turn your amulet into huge damage increase.

You can also try blocking some undesirable mods with Aetheric (less attack mods, more caster mods) or Corroded (no elemental mods, more poison/bleed), but i'm not sure how effective it's going to be.

Essences have a guaranteed effect, but it will take quite a lot of attempts to roll a good one. The mod also occupies valuable suffix slot. Fossil method is better in the long run.

Elder Ring
Crafting method: Chaos Orb spamming

Elder mods:
* +(4–5)% chance to Evade Attacks

Crafted mods:
* -9 to -8 to Total Mana Cost of Skills
* 17–20% increased Damage
* 13–16% increased Chaos Damage

It's all about the evade chance mods. Not much can be done to increase chances of hitting it. Chaos spam should be the best way. You can also try using Dense fossils, but it's not very efficient since it prevents life roll from occuring.

Body Armour
Vaal implicits:
* You take 50% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes
* (40–50)% increased Damage
* +1% to all maximum Resistances
* (4–6)% increased maximum Life

Considering we're using unique body armour and don't need it 6-linked, this is a great opportunity to acquire very powerful vaal implicits.

Both 40-50% damage and 50% reduced crit damage mods are chase mods, for offensive / defensive purposes respectively. Next up is +1% to maximum resistances, in short it reduces elemental damage by a small but in reality significant amount. 4-6% max life is always good to have if you don't have anything better.

Helmet
Fossil method: Aberrant + Pristine (opt)
Fossil mods:
* Nearby enemies have -9% Chaos Resistance (suffix)
* 1% Life Regeneration (suffix)
* 2-3% increased maximum Life + 15-25 maximum Life (prefix)

Crafted mods:
* (36–40)% increased Evasion Rating / +(24–28) to maximum Life
* Projectiles Pierce an additional Target / +1 to Level of Socketed Projectile Gems
* 7–8% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire Damage

Aberrant for the reduced resistance mod. It's a huge damage boost, especially against bosses. Should be reasonably easy to craft. You can add Pristine fossil for high chance of rolling 100+ life, but it will remove possibility of getting evasion mods and make it harder to roll reduced chaos res mod.

Elder Gloves
Fossil method #1: Aberrant + Pristine + Aetheric (opt)
Fossil method #2: Aetheric + Pristine + Metallic (opt)
Fossil mods:
* 1% Life Regeneration (suffix)
* 2-3% increased maximum Life + 15-25 maximum Life (prefix)

Elder mods:
* (13–16)% to Non-Ailment Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier
* (7–10)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill

Crafted mods:
* (36–40)% increased Evasion Rating / +(24–28) to maximum Life
* Projectiles Pierce an additional Target / +1 to Level of Socketed Projectile Gems
* (24–28)% increased Damage during any Flask Effect

First method focuses on crafting chaos DoT multiplier with optional bonus Aetheric to increase chances of rolling frenzy on kill mod. The second method is aimed for the latter mod. Pristine as always for higher chance of rolling life mods. Aberrant for higher chance of rolling chaos DoT multi. Aetheric and Metallic block bad prefixes from spawning.

Elder Boots
Crafting method: Chaos Orb spamming
Essence method: Screaming/Shrieking Essence of Greed

Elder mods:
* (7–10)% chance to gain an Endurance Charge on Kill
* (9–10)% chance to Dodge Spell Damage

Crafted mods:
* (36–40)% increased Evasion Rating / +(24–28) to maximum Life
* (20–24)% increased Movement Speed
* (17–20)% increased Movement Speed / (6–9)% increased Movement Speed if you haven't been Hit Recently

Great defensive craft. Chaos spam should give highest chance of hitting any of these two mods. High life, desired mod and movement speed/open prefix are the key mods. 20%+ MS can be crafted, it's more than enough for the build. Essences will guarantee high life roll, but might be really costly.

Jewels / Abyssal Jewels
Fossil method: Aberrant + Pristine (opt)
Fossil mods: 13-19% increased Chaos Damage (suffix)

Jewels have a really high pool of mods, so prepare for a lot of failed attempts. Just keep spamming Aberrants until you hit 5-7% maximum life. Adding Pristine is probably not worth it, however it will crafting easier for sure.

This method also allows Abyssal Jewels to be a decent option, since they're easier to craft than normal jewels (smaller affix pool) AND you can finally roll 2 damage mods that will actually boost your damage permanently. (10-14% damage when using 2-handed weapon + fossil 13-19% chaos damage)

Flasks
Crafted mods:
* 3% of Life Regenerated per second during Flask Effect
* (20–25)% reduced Mana Cost of Skills during Flask Effect
* 50% Chance to avoid being Stunned during Flask Effect / (8–12)% increased Movement Speed during Flask effect

There's not much to say. All 3 of those mods can be really, really good. 3% Life regen is amazing, equals ~2 mods on gear. Mana cost reduction should solve any mana problems during mapping. Stun avoidance can potentially save your life if you receive heavy hit. These mods can only be acquired by unveiling unique flask that drops only from Syndicate Mastermind.

I should probably mention, use Beastcrafting for easy Warding/Staunching mods on your flasks. Simply roll a right prefix and finish it off in menagerie.

* Do something about Delve League, probably unify it as a master mission section.

* Minor adjustments everywhere i guess? I bet i've messed up somewhere.

* Better formatting for the guide, second wave (colors in big sections, i guess?) ON HOLD, kinda looked bad when i tried. Maybe later.

* How about you finally do that video guide?

* Proof read every single time there's a new big update.