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

Hi! I'm trying to push to level 100 with this build. I want to make it tanky without sacrifice too much damage, Right now I have 6.7k hp with aspect of crab, but I don't know why I still feel weak. Usually I will manually dodge everything by myself and if I fucked up, I prayed that evasion/dodge work.

don't get me wrong I think this build is very strong. I have killed Uber Elder deathless many times.

but that on-death effect (exploding corpse I don't know which monster does that) from maps monsters and some stupid ground slam from blighted boss kill me every times.

I want to make it more tanky (tanky enough that I can run away or hit that log out macro :P)


edited (11/7/2019):

also I've been trying to push this build in delve, really want to reach depth: 1000+

almost give up on CA after reached depth: 425

35+ pack size those corpse explosion starting to be a big problem. We can't
explode corpses AFAIK. I avoided all nodes that have really dangerous mods, but its seem I can't avoid the increasing pack size mod

my solution right now is to just run the node and go back for side area to get those chests, not really efficient but really increased my survivability

I'm not sure should I get the Sporeguard chest which will fuck my evasion cap for sure.

I tried Abyssal cry, I feel its not that effective.

I'm using Soul of Steel right now which isn't helping me against something that will certainly oneshot me. I'm fine with getting oneshotted, usually it is my fault to not avoid that.

so any advice for deep delving? and should I try Sporeguard? which is so hard to get and really expensive to buy.

PS. as always thanks for good guide and sorry about your character. I hope one day I'm brave enough for hardcore.

"

MKDE wrote:

Spoiler

Hi! I'm trying to push to level 100 with this build. I want to make it tanky without sacrifice too much damage, Right now I have 6.7k hp with aspect of crab, but I don't know why I still feel weak. Usually I will manually dodge everything by myself and if I fucked up, I prayed that evasion/dodge work.

don't get me wrong I think this build is very strong. I have killed Uber Elder deathless many times.

but that on-death effect (exploding corpse I don't know which monster does that) from maps monsters and some stupid ground slam from blighted boss kill me every times.

I want to make it more tanky (tanky enough that I can run away or hit that log out macro :P)


edited (11/7/2019):

also I've been trying to push this build in delve, really want to reach depth: 1000+

almost give up on CA after reached depth: 425

35+ pack size those corpse explosion starting to be a big problem. We can't
explode corpses AFAIK. I avoided all nodes that have really dangerous mods, but its seem I can't avoid the increasing pack size mod

my solution right now is to just run the node and go back for side area to get those chests, not really efficient but really increased my survivability

I'm not sure should I get the Sporeguard chest which will fuck my evasion cap for sure.

I tried Abyssal cry, I feel its not that effective.

I'm using Soul of Steel right now which isn't helping me against something that will certainly oneshot me. I'm fine with getting oneshotted, usually it is my fault to not avoid that.

so any advice for deep delving? and should I try Sporeguard? which is so hard to get and really expensive to buy.

PS. as always thanks for good guide and sorry about your character. I hope one day I'm brave enough for hardcore.

Sorry for the late response.

If you don't feel comfortable right now with the build, then there's not much you can do to improve it. Many of the hard hitting mechanics you have to manually avoid are spells, so dodge doesn't help there. However movement speed makes it possible to avoid nearly everything, with Kintsugi preventing the oneshots (usually).

About DD monsters, i believe you have Stygian Revenants in mind. Surprisingly huge amount of people don't know how they work despite Blood Acqueducts being very popular farming place before hitting the maps. I explain in this comment how these monsters work, with thread video showcasing their ability very well. About the blight boss monster - with right tower strategy you won't see most of the bosses. Take a look at my videos of blighted maps.

What you can do which is the best possible investment is getting the Hardened Scars hidden notable. It's the strongest defensive option for characters without access to fortify. Not only it has same amount of mitigation as Basalt Flask with Soul of Steel (which you use currently), but also reduces elemental damage on top.

The second possibility is to invest into vaal legion jewel in order to get one of the notables. Either extra 20% life as energy shield or the +10% max chaos resistance one to further reduce elemental damage. Both have their own pros and cons.

Now for the delve problems. I don't have experience in deep delving so i can only help with theory. You have 3 options to destroy corpses - Bubonic Trail boots, Sporeguard body armour and Abyssal Cry skill. There's also a possibility to use Haemophilia gloves, you'll have 50% chance to apply bleeding and explode monster. Corpse explosion is extremely useful but not necessary as you can avoid wetas most of the time... but then again i'm not sure how it is in deeper levels. Frost Wall is also necessary a necessary tool from what i noticed.

In general Caustic Arrow is not great for deeper levels of the delve. It's damage is more than enough to enjoy all content . Inside azurite mine you will hit wall eventually and will need more damage. You should consider switching to Toxic Rain for this purpose.

Also as an evasion character you will die once in a while in delve. At certain point only builds with very high damage reduction will not die to a single hit. That's where the Raider comes in and has highest chance to avoid any damage from all ascendancy classes. In the end the idea is to simply kill enemies as quick and hope you won't get hit. It's best to grind level 100 first and then focus on delving.

That's basically all i know about deep delving. Hope it helps.

yea, really feels like hitting the wall surrounded by increased 30% chaos resist and 60% increased life

I feel like its very unforgiving in deep delve one small mistake can kill you.

https://youtu.be/1IlWzjejz4A(no sound)

I really feel depressed after this rip. I don't know why. really love CA invested so much in it. Is this git gud situation or the node mods really rippy that I shouldn't go in there. I did kill him though but I had to avoid all of his attacks

any comment on my gameplay? I know that I should hit that vaal grace :(



this boot really help me a lot. I got endurance charges with immortal call which really make me tanky, but when I lost all my endurance and crabs. I'm ded :(

I don't have any problem with blighted map anymore after I read your tower guide, but blight league is so boring there is no end game things to do.

so I set my goal to delve and now i'm hitting the wall :(

this is really embarrassing to ask, I don't know where to put timeless jewel.
if i put it near acrobatic I will lose my dodge chance. I'm a bit confused.


update: I decided to go back to corruption because in deep delve you have to dodge everything by yourself anyway. right now its just DON'T GET HIT and HIT THEM FIRST. I'm using corrupted soul from vaal timeless jewel right now. I'm still not sure where to put it to maximize my defense.

I don't understand why Hardened Scars can help me.

*15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
*You have Fortify during Effect of any Life Flask

I will only have fortify if i use my life flask. how can this help me?

I have endurance charge boot. What should I use immortal call or steelskin?

A little rant:

I did try SA build. I crafted my little cute bow.



spent exalted orbs on something that I won't play anyway. I really hate SA.
however I tried to make it tanky as possible but I don't know man its feel so squishy.

good thing about SA is you can oneshot mobs off-screen.

I know its one of very strong skill right now, however I don't see how it can be HC viable for deep delve

back to CA. in map I feel I'm tanky. I can shoot CA dance around without getting hit, but in delve why the monster always hit me. I might have to get some knowledge about all those monsters. I think there some monsters shoot projectile to you and explode beneath your feet which so hard to spot. those weta is easy to dodge and there aren't so many in main lane, but if you go in to side area without killing weta in main lane that might be a problem.

yea, maybe I need to learn more about delving and how I can tackle it as CA build. yesterday I lost 60% of xp but hey I learned something and that is good.

"

MKDE wrote:

Spoiler

yea, really feels like hitting the wall surrounded by increased 30% chaos resist and 60% increased life

I feel like its very unforgiving in deep delve one small mistake can kill you.

https://youtu.be/1IlWzjejz4A(no sound)

I really feel depressed after this rip. I don't know why. really love CA invested so much in it. Is this git gud situation or the node mods really rippy that I shouldn't go in there. I did kill him though but I had to avoid all of his attacks

any comment on my gameplay? I know that I should hit that vaal grace :(

this boot really help me a lot. I got endurance charges with immortal call which really make me tanky, but when I lost all my endurance and crabs. I'm ded :(

I don't have any problem with blighted map anymore after I read your tower guide, but blight league is so boring there is no end game things to do.

so I set my goal to delve and now i'm hitting the wall :(

this is really embarrassing to ask, I don't know where to put timeless jewel.
if i put it near acrobatic I will lose my dodge chance. I'm a bit confused.


update: I decided to go back to corruption because in deep delve you have to dodge everything by yourself anyway. right now its just DON'T GET HIT and HIT THEM FIRST. I'm using corrupted soul from vaal timeless jewel right now. I'm still not sure where to put it to maximize my defense.

I don't understand why Hardened Scars can help me.

*15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
*You have Fortify during Effect of any Life Flask

I will only have fortify if i use my life flask. how can this help me?

I have endurance charge boot. What should I use immortal call or steelskin?

A little rant:

I did try SA build. I crafted my little cute bow.

spent exalted orbs on something that I won't play anyway. I really hate SA.
however I tried to make it tanky as possible but I don't know man its feel so squishy.

good thing about SA is you can oneshot mobs off-screen.

I know its one of very strong skill right now, however I don't see how it can be HC viable for deep delve

back to CA. in map I feel I'm tanky. I can shoot CA dance around without getting hit, but in delve why the monster always hit me. I might have to get some knowledge about all those monsters. I think there some monsters shoot projectile to you and explode beneath your feet which so hard to spot. those weta is easy to dodge and there aren't so many in main lane, but if you go in to side area without killing weta in main lane that might be a problem.

yea, maybe I need to learn more about delving and how I can tackle it as CA build. yesterday I lost 60% of xp but hey I learned something and that is good.

I don't have much knowledge about Kurgal. I've killed him once on my softcore build so i kind of know his moves. However i have no idea how to dodge the stationary lasers, never figured out the pattern if there is.

You definitely attack too much, you have 2 seconds of freedom before you have to reapply CA on stationary target. I'm guilty of this habit as well, hard to get rid of it since map clearing is where you spend majority of your playtime. Map mods on Kurgal are brutal, not only he's tanky as hell but also the damage you take is ~55% physical, ~25% lightning and ~20% chaos. It's not matter of having crab or not, but general damage reduction. Due to how long the fight is, Vaal Grace won't really help you unless you time it perfectly.

The boots are pretty much what i would call BiS, with exception of dexterity (can't have everything, right?).

Timeless jewel can be socketed in slots near Perfect Agony and Point Blank. The latter doesn't affect any important major nodes, so it's only a matter of socketing correct jewel. You've figured it out already i see. Same goes to your next question about Hardened Scars.

I believe Steelskin is better than Immortal Call because it doesn't remove endurance charges. They're quite similar overall, with IC being better against physical damage when it consumes charges.

Scourge Arrow is known to be strongest bow skill currently. Hit builds always had more options to increase the damage than DoTs, that's why you never really see DoT builds being used. I've already mentioned - the deeper you go, the more damage you need and damage reduction gets more pointless.

I can assure you that nearly every single character that reached ~500 depth died at least once out there. People just push it for the sake of pushing. It's a path ridden with your own corpses. Take a look at HC delve ladder. There's not many builds above 500, with nearly every single one being ascendancy with quite a lot of damage reduction.

Knowledge is power. I agree you should learn about them. Quick TL;DR - almost everything that hits you is a spell with physical damage and usually a phys -> fire/cold/light conversion as well. Just look out for them.

I really liked the crafting section of this guide, it really rounds out the guide well, one of best guides I've ever seen. I also saw your advice from last time, changed my flask setup, and crafted a better 6-link bow using fossils, am focusing on trying out a LL build for my miner with Shavs for now so will get back to this one soon (hopefully).

I tried delving a bit (only around ~150) but I think that I really need the last two points from Uber lab

I'm probably gonna stop when I died from normal mobs. right now I'm still ok with white/magic mobs.

If I have to describe experience of delving at depth:500

its feel like. I'm on Adderall trying to dodge everything. focus on every monsters projectiles while running away from wetas

one last question what should I do to my char next? I do really love that timeless jewel that you told me to use it. that really help me a lot.

Should I go for Mathil's DPS? or should I invest in more defense?

thank you so much for all your advice its help me a lot.

update: just found aul at depth 500. He oneshotted me. the mods is so crazy that its so pointless to do it. its like suicide. yea i'm gonna stop my deep delve journey now. I think I learned a lot what can kill me and can't kill me.

I invited one of deep delver to kill my aul. he is SA raider, he died like 5-7 times during going to boss room and in boss fight. but he did kill it with his 10 million Mathil's dps (I wish i could find an Aul with good mods that I can do)

anyway I'm happy with my build so probably going to focus on pushing 100

I've decided I want to my character a bit tanky 600k tool tip dps is pretty good right now. I'm not sure what should I do to make my character get more life. I don't think sacrifice dps jewel node is useful. I'm not sure because I can't put my vaal timeless jewel in POB, so I don't really know what should I do.

I did sacrifice my Heavy Draw and Deadly Draw to get more life. not sure good idea or not but my DPS is fine.

back in 3.3 we had ~200k tool tip dps. I guess I used to low dps.

all reasons I'm asking this is because I just want to keep playing this build.

so if there anything that you think I should do/change to my gear/passive tree.

Thanks in advance.

How is this build for mid-to-high budget delving? Can it farm ~400 - 500 depth comfortably?

I tried to be a good steward and search this topic before asking but I'm getting some conflicting information. There are some posts from OP that say to check out the "delve" section in the guide, but I don't see one listed, and it looks like it is still a to-do item in the change log.

A few other posts mention delving around 300 - 350, but not sure if that is as high as it can comfortably go, or if greater depths are possible.

"

BrianHVB wrote:

How is this build for mid-to-high budget delving? Can it farm ~400 - 500 depth comfortably?

I tried to be a good steward and search this topic before asking but I'm getting some conflicting information. There are some posts from OP that say to check out the "delve" section in the guide, but I don't see one listed, and it looks like it is still a to-do item in the change log.

A few other posts mention delving around 300 - 350, but not sure if that is as high as it can comfortably go, or if greater depths are possible.

400 is easy but you still can die if you are not be careful with mods that empower monsters

500 is hard at least for me. It is doable but you will die and I don't think we can do boss with nasty mods.

If you don't mind dying and can invest in gear that will boost your dps. you should be fine kill them before their kill you. but I'm pretty sure you going to die if you keep pushing.

this is just my experience from trying to push to 1000.
right now I'm not going to push deeper until I reach level 100.

rank of people using CA (kinda similar to this build)
https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds?skill=Caustic-Arrow&sort=depth

ps. I don't feel that keep going deeper give you better loot, but city biome is more common which give you maps sustain, but its very very risky to go in there.

"

MKDE wrote:

Spoiler

I'm probably gonna stop when I died from normal mobs. right now I'm still ok with white/magic mobs.

If I have to describe experience of delving at depth:500

its feel like. I'm on Adderall trying to dodge everything. focus on every monsters projectiles while running away from wetas

one last question what should I do to my char next? I do really love that timeless jewel that you told me to use it. that really help me a lot.

Should I go for Mathil's DPS? or should I invest in more defense?

thank you so much for all your advice its help me a lot.

update: just found aul at depth 500. He oneshotted me. the mods is so crazy that its so pointless to do it. its like suicide. yea i'm gonna stop my deep delve journey now. I think I learned a lot what can kill me and can't kill me.

I invited one of deep delver to kill my aul. he is SA raider, he died like 5-7 times during going to boss room and in boss fight. but he did kill it with his 10 million Mathil's dps (I wish i could find an Aul with good mods that I can do)

anyway I'm happy with my build so probably going to focus on pushing 100

I've decided I want to my character a bit tanky 600k tool tip dps is pretty good right now. I'm not sure what should I do to make my character get more life. I don't think sacrifice dps jewel node is useful. I'm not sure because I can't put my vaal timeless jewel in POB, so I don't really know what should I do.

I did sacrifice my Heavy Draw and Deadly Draw to get more life. not sure good idea or not but my DPS is fine.

back in 3.3 we had ~200k tool tip dps. I guess I used to low dps.

all reasons I'm asking this is because I just want to keep playing this build.

so if there anything that you think I should do/change to my gear/passive tree.

Thanks in advance.

In general you pushed build so far you don't have much to customize at this point. Just pushing with what you have seems like the best option. One thing you could do is get +1 arrow and 7-link bow, so you can ditch Dying Sun for Quartz flask (for the extra 10% spell dodge). Obviously this is very costly process. You should still consider using Toxic Rain instead of CA.

Important note - your Div Distillate should proc fortify, but only for as long as you it runs. It can't act as a damage reduction flask unless you balance out mana to never reach maximum (something this build used to do). Using hybrid flask with "Flask Effect is not removed at Full Mana" or "Mana Recovery occurs instantly at the end of the Flask effect" is way to go.

The rule you should follow is - keep your build balanced until it's not relevant anymore. Then spec into pure avoidance and damage, going deeper by a path forged with corpses. Since you won't be delving anymore, i guess you don't really need those advices.

Your current gear is already way above the necessary damage and defence required to farm up lvl 100. I honestly don't know if you can even die at this point in maps.

"

BrianHVB wrote:

Spoiler

How is this build for mid-to-high budget delving? Can it farm ~400 - 500 depth comfortably?

I tried to be a good steward and search this topic before asking but I'm getting some conflicting information. There are some posts from OP that say to check out the "delve" section in the guide, but I don't see one listed, and it looks like it is still a to-do item in the change log.

A few other posts mention delving around 300 - 350, but not sure if that is as high as it can comfortably go, or if greater depths are possible.

I used to have the section but i removed it due to 50k character limit. Some of the info became outdated too. I checked in case - currently there's no mention of delve / azurite mine inside the guide itself. Only the older posts might point you there.

Based on my experiences, with correct gear it should be possible to reach up to 350-400 without death with recommended defensive setups. On budget it's more or less ~250-300, where i delved this league. To repeat again, i'm not very experienced in deep delving.

@DankawSL There something I don't understand. Why do you think I should consider Toxic rain. I thought CA kill monsters faster. I know I don't have mana problem. I can just stack toxic pods, but still I think CA clear map faster.

about DOT/s I'm not sure which one is better.(I bet TR is better) If you can explain why I should go toxic rain that would be great.

Thank you in advance.

I found Aul no rippy mods so decided to try it.

I killed him without dying. This is my first time fighting Aul so its very messy. I know I spam my flask a lot can't really help it :(

I used pantheon Soul of Solaris for this one.

https://youtu.be/-JGGLQzfTpw
I killed every boss with this build deathless. feels good man. I know I know it's softcore :(.

btw I just realized that people in softcore are pushing delve because after depth 6k, there are no mods at all and a lot of fossils nodes. I thought people just do it for fun or trying to push their build. This is so broken IMO. pepehands :(