[3.16][HC][ON BREAK] Caustic Arrow Raider, DoT Focused | Tanky | 6k+ Health | All Content | In-depth
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3.3 Guide Archive Post #1
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 Overview ====== Starting with the most important question: "Why Raider of all classes?" For speed, defensive abilities and massive QoL features. The build's purpose is to quickly run through maps immune to majority of ailments, while remaining mobile against bosses without having to rely on utility flasks. CA isn't a good boss killing skill after all, so that takes time in high tier maps. That's also where ED weapon swap comes in, to take them down in seconds. The build is tanky end game, with over 6k life pool, above ~35k evasion (jade flask up), 46% dodge and 40% spell dodge. If you get hit, you can instantly heal with flasks to counter the damage and move on. Unless you run a very deadly map or terribly screw up, it's hard to die with this build. I've been playing Caustic Arrow since 2.0 league (around 2.5 year ago!). After a long time evolution i'm certain that this version of CA build is the strongest, smoothest and most versatile of them all. Everything with possibility of going MF. Pros * Cheap starting cost, can be used as league starter * Very easy to play * Tanky end game, 6k life without life from quiver * Fast without flasks (over 70% ms, high AS) * Flexible build, adjust how much you want to go MF / damage / tanky * Can run literally any map mod, including "No regen" * Capable of clearing all end game content * 79% max res while mapping (Divination Distillate) * Permanent flask uptime while mapping (except bosses) Cons * Expensive end game gear (+3 Chaos Staff, 2x Empower) * Weapon swap might be annoying * CA damage might feel a bit luckluster in abyss / breaches Passive Tree and Bandits ==============
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Level 84 - Base tree (no jewels) That's the core tree of the build. From there, you just pick up the jewel slots OR chaos damage / DoT nodes around Shadow starting area if you don't have suitable jewels (respec the chaos nodes once you have jewels). You should have around 5k life at that point with decent gear + quiver. Level 95 - End game tree My recommended tree for the end game. Take a note that i respec a life wheel between Duelist and Ranger area to get jewel slot and life recovery from flask node below Scion. You should do it once you have enough jewels. At that point you should easily have 6k life and without those nodes the life potions don't feel good anymore. From that point, you can use passive points however you want. Bandit Reward: Oak (my choice) OR 2 passive points Ascendancy: Avatar of Veil (Phasing) + Avatar of Slaughter/Chase (Frenzy/Onslaught) Frenzy path is default. Reliable, standalone, easy to gear up. Always start a character with it. Onslaught path is very strong end game option. Best used for pure mapping, but it works against end game bosses as well. Bit more expensive, optional, lvl 90+ only. Other Ascendancy Classes
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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 -> Swift Killer -> Ghost Dance Balanced passive tree (Level 97) - Original Raider route Scion wheel tree (Level 100) - Tanky version, a lot more life You can use Weave the Arcane instead of Ghost Dance. Both are viable choices for the last point. Trickster was already great for CA builds, changes in 3.2 made him even better. He straight up gets ~35% more damage than Raider version. Definitely the best dps wise, has great defence and frenzy charge generation QoL. Unfortunately, using Divination Distillate is absolutely impossible. Use Dying Sun / other utility flask instead. Kill all bandits for 2 passive points, since Trickster's Patient Reaper should mitigate small hits/degen on it's own.  Deadeye Ascendancy: Gathering Winds -> Far Shot -> Endless Munitions -> Powerful Precision Base passive tree (Level 92) - Same as Raider's, but without pierce nodes. Previously it wasn't worth picking up, but now it's pretty good. QoL heavy class with some defences, kinda like Raider but focused on clearing/offense. Can get bit more health in the end game thanks to 3 additional passive points. You can pick Fast and Deadly as 4th point if you prefer. You have to take pierce nodes on passive tree if you do so.  Champion Ascendancy: Unstoppable Hero -> Fortitude -> Inspirational -> First to Strike, Last to Fall Base passive tree (Level 97) If you hate dying, here's your choice. Perma fortify makes Champion strongest against big hits. Low QoL and conditional damage steroid. Majority of this ascendancy's power can be acquired by using Vigilant Strike with threshold jewel on non-Champion ascendancies. Still decent despite everything. Passive points after lvl 94:
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In short, what points you can allocate. Everything depends on your preferences, but these should catch your attention.
 Red - Scion life node, maximum life you can get at lvl 100. You will have to sacrifice Trickery major node for this. 6 points Blue - Scion's resist/projectile jewel. Best choice if you're starving on resists. 5 points Purple - Skill Effect duration. Very, very good against tougher bosses. Makes ED last almost 6 seconds. 4 points Green - 15% reduced flask charges used. Pair with 20% on belt to become Pathfinder. Only 2 points  Red - Shadow's chaos nodes. More damage is always nice. 5 points Blue - 6th jewel slot. Most balanced option. 3 points Pantheon ======
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Major God: Soul of Lunaris Nuff said, straight up has the best synergy with the build. Others barely do anything except few specific cases. Minor God: Soul of Shakari OR Ryslatha OR Garukhan All three of them are pretty good, but my personal favorite is Shakari. Having full ailment immunity simply feels great. Use it only if you upgraded it. Ryslatha is 2nd most useful minor god, i use it for any end game boss encounter. It's great for labyrinth as well or overall best choice if you don't want to look at pantheon ever again. Garukhan is also great option for defence during mapping. Additional evade chance is very powerful combined with high evasion. Gem Setups ========
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Main Skill (GGGRRB):
Caustic Arrow - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Conc Effect - Damage on Full Life - Empower Weapon Swap (BBBGGR): Essence Drain - Efficacy - Controlled Destruction - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Empower Your damage setups, CA for map clearing and ED for bosses / tanky monsters. Keep in mind that you can deal damage with both of the skills at same time. CA's cloud doesn't disappear after you switch weapon, same goes to ED's DoT debuff after it hits the enemy. Important note: ED projectile has to hit enemy while you wield Staff, otherwise it flies through enemy like nothing happened. Wither Totem (BBRR): Wither - Faster Casting - Spell Totem - Increased Duration Free 90% more damage against bosses. Place the totem and let it do the work. It also slows their movement speed, so keep that in mind against some bosses. Cursing Setup (GGBB): Frenzy - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Curse on Hit - Despair Use it on tanky rares, bosses and whenever you need to refresh your frenzy charge duration. CWDT + Vaal Grace (RRRG): Cast when Damage Taken lvl 3 - Immortal Call lvl 5 - Increased Duration lvl 20 - Vaal Grace lvl 20 Standard CWDT setup with Vaal Grace for safety. Immortal Call is useful against random bleeding from bosses / lab traps. Vaal Grace allows us to cap Dodge / Spell dodge, and is best used during abyss/breaches/harbingers etc. Not a mandatory setup, but very much recommended. Aura: Grace Movement Skill: Blink Arrow Golem: Stone Golem These are the only mandatory gems, and we still got 4 free gem slots. How you fill the rest of them is your choice. Optional Setups
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Cursing Setup (GGGGBB): Frenzy - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Curse on Hit - Despair - Enhance - Culling Strike If you're rich, that's probably best 6 link body armour setup. Enhance for that extra damage from Despair. Culling strike is for finishing the bosses, but i personally hate it. Fortify: Vigilant Strike with The Vigil threshold jewel Only usable if you have staff 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. Optional Golem: Flame Golem OR Chaos Golem If you don't care about hp regen / taunt from stone golem. Flame golem for the damage, Chaos golem if you want to try some phys dmg reduction shenanigans. Mana Balancing: Clarity If your mana regeneration is too low, this can fix your problems easily. Even if you don't have mana management problems, it's great to have Clarity for some mobile bosses like Pheonix Guardian. Portal Gem If you have a free gem slot, why not? Best socketed inside 6-linked cursing setup instead of culling strike. Equipment =======
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My current gear / TL;DR:
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Weapons: +3 CA Bow, +3 ED Staff (self-crafting recommended) Quiver: Life + increased AoE (Elder) or +1 arrow (Shaper) Armour: Kintsugi Helmet: Life and Resists, 40% CA dmg enchantment Boots: Life and Resists, 80% chance to avoid stuns enchantment Gloves: Life and Resists, of Spite enchantment Belt: Life and Resists, Leather / Heavy Belt with Elder mods if possible Rings: Life and Resists, ~50-60% mana regen total, can be Ventor's Amulet: Life and Resists, Agate/Marble rare preferred, can be Bisco's Flasks: 2 Life flasks, 3 utility flasks recommended. Flexible, use what you want. Get Dying Sun if you hate MF flask. Witchfire brew sucks in long run Jewels: Life/DoT dmg/Chaos dmg/global dmg to scale both ED and CA. Watcher's Eye with 2x grace aura mod is broken (especially +5-8% to Evade), optional jewel. Notes: Mana on Kill is bad, makes it impossible to use Divination Distillate. Aim to have ~160 strength and intelligence, so you can use lvl 20 gems. You wanna cap elemental weakness (113% with MF flask) Below you will find the gear explained in-depth. Piece by piece. +3 CA Bow
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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 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 ~40-50% more compared to a normal 6-link. To make it clear, on the bow we NEED: * +1 Socketed Gems (prefix) * +2 Socketed Bow Gems (prefix) * +15-30% increased Damage over Time (prefix, crafted by Leo lvl 3) Anything else besides those three affixes is just a bonus. There's one suffix you can't have on the bow, "Mana gained on kill". It makes using Divination Distillate impossible. You should also avoid elemental resistances. They don't hurt the build directly, but it's easy to forget about them. Once you start using weapon swap, you might end up with uncapped resistances while using the staff. 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. 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 you have else to upgrade. Bow crafting and elder versions of the bow are fully covered in crafting section. +3 ED Staff
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The second and last core item of this build. Reasoning for this is pretty much the same as +3 CA Bow above. It might be a core item, but most likely you won't be using it until late game. It's way more expensive than a bow, major pain in the ass to craft and you might want to level CA gems in the weapon slot. For those reasons it's one of the last upgrades you'll do, around level 90. Stats we NEED on the staff: +1 Socketed Gems (prefix) +2 Socketed Chaos Gems (prefix) +53-68% increased Spell Damage (prefix, crafted by Catarina lvl 6) You can also mastercraft cast speed and mana regen, but it's not necessary or worth it. Better stick to getting high spell dmg roll. Again, it's probably better to craft one than to buy it. Staff crafting is fully covered in crafting section. Armour
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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:
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Carcass Jack Best chest for start of the league. We need damage early on and it fits perfectly. Also boosts the AoE which is a bit small without high gem level. It's still inferior in the long run and should be used only for league start. Cherrubim's Maleficence Best choice if you want more damage. It has up to 80% increased chaos damage, scaling both CA and ED at same time. Has a lot of life as well, making it OK defense wise. Can be used instead of Kintsugi in the end game, but i wouldn't recommend it for hardcore characters. Queen of the Forest Option for non-Raider ascendancies. Movement speed is our primary way of moving around the map and dodging skills. Raider has enough speed on her own, allowing the use of defensive chests. Others ascendancies don't have that luxury, so you should consider using it. The Brass Dome The only mod this chest really has is "Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes". Nothing else, but it's so powerful on it's own to earn the spot in this list. Mandatory chest to run Hall of Grandmasters. Quiver
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A rare pierce quiver. If you're starting out the league, you want one with high health and elemental resistances. Should make gearing on budget super easy. You'll be wearing that quiver until you start using weapon swap. Once you get to end game and acquire +3 chaos staff, the resistances on the quiver are going to be wasted. By switching weapons you're going to lose stats from quiver, including elemental resists. Not having capped resists can be deadly, even if it's only for one second. In the long run, you want to craft elder/shaper quiver. Something like the first one i linked. Shaper quivers can roll +1 arrow. It's quite rare mod, so getting one with high health is going to be damn hard. Crafting 55-64 life from Tora should be enough. Shooting 2 arrows feels a bit weird at first, but it's a huge QoL and effective AoE increase. Elder quivers can roll increased AoE, highest affix grants 13-15%. It's cool alternative if you dislike 2 arrows. However, those quivers are mostly used for it's frenzy charge generation - it's necessary for onslaught path of this build. Elder/shaper quivers are fully covered in crafting section. Helmet, Gloves and Boots
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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). That's pretty much it, what's left is to look at the enchantments: Gloves: of Spite Nothing else is useful, really. Boots: 8% chance to Spell Dodge if you've taken Spell Damage Recently. Best late game enchantment, once you get onslaught path. Before that, chance to avoid stuns is better. Helmet: 40% increased Caustic Arrow Damage Previously i used 12% increased AoE, and it's still great. However, with all the AoE you can potentially gain from elder/shaper mods, there's very little reason to use it over bonus damage. Belt
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Once again, life and resistances. Strength is also a desireable stat. Leather Belt is the best base, with Heavy Belt being an 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) * 8–10% increased effect of Flasks on You (prefix) * 16–20% increased Life Recovery rate (suffix) * 13–15% to all Elemental Resistances (suffix) And 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. Rings and Amulet
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Like majority of other gear and little more: * Life * Resistances * Strength and Intelligence * #% Mana Regeneration Attributes to reach ~160 requirement for lvl 20/21 gems. Mana regen is needed for mana pool balancing. In the end game (empower 3/4), around ~60% mana regen allows to map and fight most bosses without help of Clarity aura. 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 have an amazing mod "+(4–5)% chance to Evade Attacks". Combined with high evasion it's completely broken. Jewellery also has best unique items 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. Flasks
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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. For life flasks, i recommend 1 Bubbling and 1 Seething with bleeding/freeze/poison immunity for emergencies. Utility flasks should have "Reduced Charges" mod on them, it's undoubtly the best there is for flask uptime during 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: * Divination Distillate - for MF and 4% max resistances. 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. * 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. * 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. * Dying Sun - Screw quiver/bow crafting, here comes the ultimate AoE flask. Never used personally but i'm certain it feels great for clearing. Expensive, but not nearly as the crafting can be. Jewels
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There's not much to discuss, you want 4 mods on your jewels: * 5-7% increased maximum life * 9–13% increased Chaos Damage * 10–12% increased Damage over Time * 8–10% increased Damage In that order. These are the only common mods that scale both CA and ED. Getting a jewel with all 4 mods is kinda impossible, but finding jewels with 3 mods at once should be easy. Be sure to look out for other mods that can be beneficial for CA, ED or the build in general: * 10–12% increased Projectile Damage * 10–12% increased Area Damage * 14–16% increased Spell Damage while wielding a Staff * 10–12% increased Spell Damage * 14–18% increased Evasion Rating * 12–15% increased Mana Regeneration Rate * 7–13% to Chaos Resistance * 6–8% increased Projectile Speed * 4–6% increased Rarity of Items found * Any resistance / strength / intelligence mods Watcher's eye is an expensive jewel you might want to have in your build. It's completely optional. Ideally, you want 2 mods for Grace aura. However it should be hard to acquire, so getting one with a single +(5–8)% chance to Evade Attacks should be your goal. It's insanely powerful when you already have ~70% chance to evade attacks. With Onslaught path you can even hit 95% cap. Mods from strongest to weakest: * +5–8% chance to Evade Attacks while affected by Grace * +6–10% chance to Dodge Attacks while affected by Grace * +10–15% increased Movement Speed while affected by Grace * Unaffected by Enfeeble while affected by Grace * 30–50% chance to Blind Enemies which Hit you while affected by Grace Levelling/Progression Section ====================
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First of all, levelling with CA as a league starter is close to impossible. The damage output is heavily gated behind levels and they're hard to acquire early on. Without twink gear, it's very, very slow. That's why we're going to level with elemental bow until we're ready to respec to CA (within 20 free respec points).
If you have enough money you can level with CA. It's quite fast too, i reached lvl 63 and done everything up to Kitava in ~4:30h. Got lvl ~75 in 2 more hours. Elemental Bow Levelling (league starter)
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Gem progression:
Shrapnel Shot - Onslaught or Faster Attacks - Added Cold - Elemental Damage Shrapnel Shot is easily the best clear gem for act 1. In act 2 you can use Rain of Arrows instead (optional), but keep that Shrapnel for single target. Use until next setup: Blast Rain - Elemental Damage - Added Cold - Faster Attacks or Ele Focus or Conc Effect Your main skill, starting from lvl 28. Great single target and good AoE. In acts 6-9 you might want to switch Faster Attack to any of the 2 other gems for higher damage. Siege Ballista - Volley : Helps a lot during first 2 acts. Throw away in act 3/4. Decoy Totem : Trivializes bosses, place and kill. Start using in act 4 (Kaom/Daresso) Herald of Ice - Anger or Grace Your buffs. Anger for damage (recommended), Grace if you need defence. Level Grace regardless for later. You can stop using Herald around level 50, doesn't bring too much damage at this point. Blink Arrow : That's obvious one Blood Rage : Great until you finish normal Lab Purity of Elements : If you really need resistances Passive Tree Progression: Level ~9 (Act 1) Level ~28 (Act 2-3) Level ~45 (act 4-5) Level ~65 (Act 6-9) Level ~76 (Act 10, CA tree after respec) Ascendancy Order: Avatar of Slaughter (Frenzy) -> Avatar of Veil (Phasing) Important reminder: Don't forget to level CA gems in your weapon slot. Exception for that is if you plan to purchase lvl 21 CA gem - then you can level ED gems for the future. You can also use a +2 5-linked ED staff as soon as you respec CA if that's the case, but not recommended as damage is going to be disappointing. General levelling guidelines: For first 3 acts stack damage/hp on gear. Act 2 and act 3 are going to be slow until you acquire Blast Rain. In act 4 you need some resistances for boss fights. In act 5 the mobs hit hard and can be deadly, i recommend picking up Stibnite flask as a quest reward. Using Grace is a good idea too. Once you get to Chambers of Innocence, you should stay there until level 45. It's a great farming zone, and it's great opportunity to properly gear up for next act. Try to cap your resistances for act 6. You need ~1,6k hp to not get oneshot by Kitava. As you progress through acts 6-9, you're slowly going to feel that your damage falls off (most dmg nodes were taken after all). The base damage from auras/added cold should still be able to carry you through tho. Don't be afraid to skip some gods you find too hard. Act 8 Deodre is still intense and deadly fight even with a Decoy Totem, you might want to find a carry for this one. ~2,5k hp would make the fight safe, but achieving that is very hard. Once you get to Harbour Bridge, you can stay there to farm or kill sisters to progress further. Blood Acqueducts are better farming zone obviously. Anyway, level up until you're ready to switch to CA. You might want finish act 9 before you respec. In order to switch, you need to buy a 5-linked bow with ilvl 64+. Then you have to craft +2 gems on it. You should roll it within ~100 alts/augs. Once you have the bow, you have to respec the elemental / physical bow clusters on right side. Leave projectile nodes at ranger's starting area for now, as they do increase CA's damage. You should respec them whenever as you acquire jewels for the build. 5-link CA gem setup: Caustic Arrow - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Conc Effect - Damage on Full Life You can use Pierce instead of Conc Effect / Damage on Full Life, but you lose some damage for the QoL. Keep farming. Once Acqueduct/Bridge gives too little xp, you can go to Desecrated Chambers instead. It's a deadly zone but gives a lot xp as well. I personally stay there until ~lvl 76, because it's so good. Keep levelling until your CA gem reaches level 18. Then you can finally face Kitava and reach maps. ~4k health is recommended for that fight. Pure CA Levelling (twink gear)
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Required Levelling Gear:
* +1 Gems Tabula Rasa * 5-linked Silverbough (GGGGR) * Empower lvl 2 and 3 * Silverbranch (solves mana problems / high AS) * Hyrri's Bite (for Int/Str) * Karui Ward (MS / dmg) * Goldrim + Wanderlust (obviously) * High life on any gear except body armour and helmet, for lvl ~35-60 char * Lvl 1 Gems: Void Manipulation, whole 6-link Essence Drain and Wither Totem setups It's really simple to level, just spam CA clouds on big packs of monsters while speedrunning through the story. You shouldn't have any problems at all, at any point in the game. For act 1 i recommend using Shrapnel Shot until lvl 10, when you can finally use Empower 2. Early on the damage of CA's DoT damage scales immensely with levels. Until then, CA's dmg is lackluster. Your linked gems in Tabula should be: Caustic Arrow - Pierce - Empower - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Essence Drain That's until lvl 36 where you swap your CA gems to Silverbough and make ED setup inside Tabula. Empower 3 inside CA, Empower 2 inside ED. Throughout whole levelling you want to get close to the build's core gem setup, as without them killing the bosses is slow. Curse on Hit is not necessary because you can self-cast Despair, but it's pain in the ass. Wither Totem is super helpful when 4-linked. Once you get to act 5, i recommend farming lvl 45 in Chambers of Innocence before you face Avarius. For safety and damage purposes (Empower 3). Level Thresholds: * lvl 10 - Pierce + Void + Empower 2 * lvl 12 - Essence Drain * lvl 18 - 3-link Wither Totem * lvl 31 - Swift Affliction, 4-link Wither totem * lvl 36 - 5-link Silverbough * lvl 38 - Curse on Hit setup * lvl 45 - Empower 3 Passive Tree lvl 46 Ascendancy Order: Way of a Poacher (1st Frenzy) -> Avatar of Veil (Phasing) -> -> Avatar of Slaughter (2nd Frenzy) That's the tree you wanna use for levelling, with big focus on damage early on. Pick up everything until Fangs of Viper and from that point focus on getting hp. Once you pick up all of these, just work towards level 95 end game tree. Recommended path: duelist area -> pick up acrobatics & respec projectile nodes -> finish shadow area -> flask nodes & jewels. Starting from act 6, there's no upgrades left besides rare gear with life/resistances. Run through content and level up. Best place to level up are Blood Acqueducts, transitioning to Desecrated Chambers after getting high enough damage / level. 200kk xp per hour should be easy to maintain until lvl ~75 Since you're already rich enough to be able to level with this method, buying lvl 20 CA gem shouldn't be much of a burden. It's a very cheap way to massively increase damage output. Now you can finally face Kitava. 4k life is recommended for that fight. Kill him and progress to maps. Early Mapping
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If you're here, i assume that you have at least lvl 75 and CA gem lvl 18. Curse on Hit setup and Wither Totem should be included in your build as well. If you don't have all of them, you might find the damage to be 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. 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 13 gems levelling at same time, as CWDT setup isn't very useful until red maps. White maps: 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+) * Carcass Jack / Cherrubim's Maleficence * Divination Distillate (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. From body armours, you should buy the one that's cheaper. Carcass Jack is better as a league starter, but usually costs more than Cherrubim's. Divination Distillate might be a bit hard to use early on thanks to low CA mana cost, but with smart mana management it's possible to use it's full potential. Acquiring the bow is 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 - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Concentrated Effect - Damage on Full Life - Pierce Use pierce until you allocate pierce passive tree nodes. Afterwards you can swap it for Slower Projectiles for slightly more damage in exchange for slow as hell arrows. Feels too clunky for me personally. Yellow maps: This is where you'll spend quite a lot of time, recommended level is 80-90. Yellows are the ceiling of the ~20c budget build and progression to red maps requires spending decent amount of money. This map tier isn't too risky, but some map mods might be deadly without proper defences/damage. Gear goals for this tier: * +3 gems 6-linked bow * Level 21 CA gem * Empower 3/4 * 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. You should get level 21 CA through vaaling all the gems you're levelling, once they're ready for it. If you're unlucky and didn't get one, i recommend buying it. Once you get the bow, 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. You can try collecting The Dragon's Heart divination card too, but that might be tricky sometimes. Empower replaces Pierce / Slower Projectiles gem. Do not forget about your other gear, it's equally important. Get more life and resistances, good jewels, 40% CA damage helmet and all the good stuff. In short, upgrade it whenever you need, whenever you can. End Game Mapping / Onslaught path
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If you got this far, you should be around level 90 and have lvl 27/28 CA gem. You're about to discover true potential of this build. The final upgrades are within your reach.
Red maps: That's where mapping becomes tough. The high evasion/dodge starts to fall off, monsters can hit hard, map bosses become tanky. Your damage should carry you through most maps easily, but the bosses combined with some map mods can be too scary. The 3 following goals of this map tier will fix all these issues tier: * Kintsugi * +3 Chaos Gem Staff, ED weapon swap * Onslaught Path 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. Next is ED weapon swap. This is the most impactful upgrade of this build. Obviously, that should come after you acquired lvl 21 CA gem. It will make bosses die twice as quickly if not faster. Like with +3 bow, you should craft +3 chaos staff yourself. 1st or 2nd most expensive item of this build, costs 4 exalts and some more. Check crafting section how to make one. Despite very high evasion and Kintsugi on top of it, some maps might still give you a lot of troubles. That's where the very last upgrade comes in: Onslaught path: It has few downsides, but majority of the time they're non-existent. It's almost a pure upgrade to frenzy path. The more damage you have, the faster you go, the stronger onslaught path becomes. What it does in nutshell: * Makes you nearly invincible against attacks * Gives more speed * Worse frenzy generation and upkeep Since with onslaught you don't generate frenzies on kill anymore, you need another source. Without it the build doesn't have the same smooth feeling while mapping. Pick one of them: * 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 * The Green Dream: 18% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill (duelist jewel slot) Jewel is the easiest way to get them, but you lose decent amount of life/damage you would get from normal jewel. Cheapest way would be crafting the Quiver, but you lose potential for +1 arrow. The best option but 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% change for frenzy is required to have reliable upkeep. 4-6% chance can sustain charges only if you speedrun the maps, otherwise you will lose charges very often. End Game Bosses/Maps Guide
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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. ED Staff is required. Shaper: Required gem setups: Temporal Chains - Blasphemy , Decoy Totem Shaper himself isn't an issue, but the portal phase is problematic. The spawned monsters have too much health to die quickly. Blasphemy setup and Decoy should be enough to protect Zana. Using The Writhing Jar for the talking phase is also recommended (otherwise you might lose frenzy charges). Disable Grace for Shaper fight. Activate Blasphemy for portal phase, deactivate after it's over. 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 and disable Kintsugi's passive. 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: After watching the videos of the fight, i'm almost certain it's possible to do on this build. I'll update this when i get a chance to fight him. 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 strike dude -> Cyclone. You can kite dual striker with Wither totem easily. Breachlords: Elemental breachlords are weak enough to be killed with maxed CA. Uul-Netol is more dangerous so i do recommend getting the staff before you face him. Chayula's domain is insanely hard but possible to beat. Too risky to try, you can die to boss or lose the domain by not being fast enough. Equipping Ming's Heart is a good idea for Chayula. Hall of Grandmasters: Required gem setup: Scorching Ray (instead of ED) 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 5-link Scorching Ray in staff (ED -> SR, take out Void Manipulation, same supports) against those chaos immune exiles. You need chaos resistance yourself, at least make it positive. Be elemental weakness capped. Poorjoy's Asylum: Considering 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. 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. Map Mods =======
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As i already mentioned before, we can run pretty much anything... within common sense. So no Twinned Core with LMP + Turbo + -10% max res + 2x 100% bonus ele dmg, or anything like this. We're not immortal RF guardian.
I only mention actual deadly mods that you really gotta watch out for. Triple increased damage and stuff is obvious anyway. Dangerous mods: * Player Dodge chance is Unlucky / Monsters have #% increased Accuracy Rating This is actually one of the hardest mods. Very noticeable in high tier maps or breaches etc. Onslaught path negates the problems for the most part, but frenzy path is going to have hard times. * Monsters have #% increased Critical Strike Chance / +#% to Monster Critical Strike Multiplier With high evasion, attack should almost never crit you. Spell on the other hand can still hit hard. * Monsters fire 2 additional Projectiles Scary mod on some bosses and monster types. Some monsters are still able to shotgun, like few new Oriath monsters. * Area contains two Unique Bosses This is dangerous mod in some maps as you know. You should be able to do majority of them quite easily. Some can be done safely only with enough damage (maxed CA and/or ED swap) * #% increased Monster Movement Speed / #% increased Monster Attack Speed / #% increased Monster Cast Speed Speed might be deadly in some boss encounters. The faster boss is, the less damage you deal and the more time you spend kiting him. With temp chains + speed you might not be able to kite at all. Watch out for such combos. * Players are Cursed with Vulnerability Negated during mapping thanks to warding flask, but not against bosses. Can be very deadly if you receive bleeding. * Players are Cursed with Temporal Chains Not a problem most of the time, but worth mentioning. Mod can be easily negated by Timetwist ring, if you're against a tough boss. * Players cannot Regenerate Life, Mana or Energy Shield Not a deadly mod, but worth mentioning. You can do it easily. The key is to run through map quickly, queue up as much mana from Divination (spam flasks, don't let mana reach max limit) and confront the boss. Unless it's a tanky/staged one, you should kill him before your mana runs out Besides that, typical damage mod combinations shouldn't be understimated. Everything applies like to every other build out there. https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3053600 - My Guides
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3.3 Guide Archive Post #2
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Videos
===== Uber Elder deathless - requires a lot phys degen mitigation to be possible. Shaper kill - Pretty easy with correct gem setup Chayula's Domain clear - on the razor's edge. Timer part is hard, boss himself can be lethal. Uber Atziri - deathless despite lots of mistakes. Working on more reliable way to tank mini-flameblasts and stormcalls atm. T16 Vaal Temple T15 Elder Note: Most videos have timestamps and commentary on the run in description - what went wrong and what to improve.
Other videos
T16 Shaper Guardians:
Minotaur / Pheonix / Chimera / Hydra Elder Guardians: T12 Constrictor / T13 Purifier / T15 Enslaver / T13 Eradicator T15 Sunken City / Turbo + Dmg T15 Basilica T11 Waterways / No regen - example how you run that mod, more or less Hall of Grandmasters, 5 runs - after learning what to watch out for, it's actually quite easy. It's good idea to wear Brass Dome / Ahn's Contempt for this map (Danzig almost oneshots, almost) Uber Lab, full key run All videos from 3.1 patch, frenzy path PoB Link + Tooltips =============
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PoB code: https://pastebin.com/NQfTSijg This PoB is based on my character from Bestiary HC league. Some items are slightly different from the original for easier damage calculation and recommended gem setup. For example, it has custom created bow that allows to see correct dps numbers for both CA and ED without switching weapons. It has 6 different skill trees, Onslaught Raider is default. You can change them any time for quick comparison. Number indicates required level for that tree. You have to change bandits manually, Oak is default. In Calcs tab, "In Combat" calculation shows tooltip dps. "Effective DPS" shows fully buffed damage with 15 stacks of Wither Totem and Despair. Note: CA's Void manipulation is 2 levels lower to compensate for the +2 chaos gems from custom crafted bow. Keep it that way. Tooltips (if you don't use PoB)
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  That's with 7 frenzy charges. The damage on CA can go up to ~70k easily with 40% CA dmg helmet enchant and max chaos roll Cherrubim's. With the armour the ED DoT should reach around ~110k.  Defence fully buffed. Such a long list i couldn't fit everything in. Evasion is ~35k, ~40k if you get hit (Kintsugi bonus evasion). Phys damage reduction is 2-10% depending on Soul of Lunaris. Magic Find Setups ============
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One of the perks of Caustic Arrow, being able to go MF. You should be using Raider or Deadeye for that purpose, other ascendancies aren't nearly as good. Let's get started:
Pool of MF Items: * Divination Distillate (always used) * Ventor's Gamble * Bisco's Collar * Goldwyrm * Greed's Embrace * Shaper IIQ Amulet * Rare IIR Jewellery There are few MF items i didn't list. I have a very good reason for that, it's called opportunity cost. Items like Perandus Blazon or Sadima's Touch just don't give enough benefits to justify wasting important life/resistance slot for them. I've prepared 3 setups for most common cases: Semi-MF Items: 2x Ventor's, IIQ Amulet Max IIQ: 48% Max IIR: 170% The optimal setup that allows you to clear all content without neglecting your defences too much. You can be Ele Weakness capped, don't lose too much life and still use Kintsugi. This is what i personally recommend if you want to go MF. Unfortunately, finding good Ventor's Gamble and IIQ amulet is going to be expensive. However, with Divination Distillate it's a perfect mix of decent IIQ and IIR. Don't forget about ~60% mana regen from gear, you'll most likely need to have it on amulet. Full MF Items: 2x Ventor's, Goldwyrm, Greed's Embrace, IIQ Amulet OR Bisco's Max IIQ: 83% / 73% + 50% Bisco's Max IIR: 220% / 220% + 150% Bisco's Recommended full MF setup. High IIQ with a very decent IIR number. You should still have decent health and defense despite everything. Unfortunately it will have low movement speed. You should use Chemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline to counter that. This setup isn't suited for running high tier maps. It might be hard to cap ele weakness, lower HP pool, no Kintsugi, lower evasion. It's possible to make it work tho. Just take Scion life wheel instead of damage (lvl 100). It's a mapping setup, don't try T16s or any hard bosses. You get 60% mana regen from Goldwyrm so you don't need it on jewellery. Cheap MF Items: IIR Jewellery, Goldwyrm, Greed's Embrace Max IIQ: 53% Max IIR: ~200% In case you don't have money or want to invest a lot. Should be relatively cheap. Same potential as semi-MF, but inherits downsides of full MF. Just read the full MF setup for info. If you want to start the league with this setup, you might encounter problems with damage early on (no Carcass Jack / Cherrubim's). Crafting Section ==========
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How to craft your own +3 bow / staff, +3 elder bow / quiver. To remind:
Magic items can have 2 affixes: 1 prefix and 1 suffix Rare items can have 6 affixes: 3 prefixes, 3 suffixes Poeaffix.net to quickly check what mod is suffix or prefix PoEDB.tw for checking elder/shaper mods In case your masters don't have required level for crafting, ask a trusted mastercrafter. You can find them on forums under Trading -> [your league] - Shops. They'll require a small fee for their services. Example of a mastercrafter +3 Bow crafting
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Average cost: 6-link ilvl 64+ bow, 2 exalts, ~200 alts, few regals, few scours, few tens of augs, at least 5 alchs. Requirement: Catarina 8, Tora 7, Leo 3 Step 1: Spam alts/augs until you hit +2 to Socketed Bow Gems (prefix) Step 2: Add a suffix with augment orb if it doesn't have already Step 3: Regal and pray for another suffix. If it's a prefix, scour the bow and return to step 1 Step 4: Craft lvl 8 Catarina's "Cannot roll attack mods" Step 5: Slam the bow with exalted orb for guaranteed +1 Socketed Gems Step 6: Use Tora 7 to remove the crafted mod, and then use Leo 3 bench to craft 15-30% increased damage over time. If you're not satisfied with the DoT roll, repeat this step Useful suffixes you might want on the bow: * +#% to Chaos Resistance * #% increased Projectile Speed (makes CA feel more responsive) * +# Life gained on Kill * #% increased Attack Speed Bow bases, from best to worst: * Maraketh (+6% MS) * Steelwood / Reflex (+4% MS) * Highest base attack speed * Lowest base attack speed +3 Chaos Staff crafting
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Average cost: 6-link ilvl 55+ staff, 4 exalts, few hundred alts, few regals, few scours, few annulment orbs, 5 blessed orbs, 4 chaos. Requirement: Elreon 8, Catarina 8, Vagan 8 Crafting Method: Step 1: Spam alts until you hit +2 to Socketed Chaos Gems (prefix) Step 2: Regal the staff Step 3: Use annulment orbs to delete 1 or 2 mods, so only +2 to Socketed Chaos Gems remain. If you annuled the +2 Chaos gems, scour the staff and go back to step 1. Step 4: Once you only have +2 to Socketed Chaos Gems on the staff, craft "Can have multiple Crafted Mods" at Elreon 8 bench. Step 5: Craft "Cannot roll attack mods" and "+(27 to 32) to maximum Mana" at Catarina 8 Step 6: Craft "Cannot roll caster mods" at Vagan 8 Step 7: Slam the staff with exalted orb for guaranteed +1 Socketed Gems Step 8: Remove crafted mods and craft "(53 to 68)% increased Spell Damage" at Catarina's bench Note on the steps 1-3. Ideally you want to roll +2 socketed chaos gems as a single mod on the staff, so you would have to remove only 1 mod. However, from my experience hitting +2 chaos gems is so hard that it's worth trying your luck to remove 2 mods. It should cost less in the long run. You can also craft "Can have multiple Crafted Mods" and create the staff like mine, but it's your choice if it's worth it. Costs 2 ex, and probably few divines for high spell damage roll. Staff's base doesn't really matter, but you should have one with block for that little bit extra defence. Elder/Shaper Quiver
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Let's start with a quick look at good exclusive mods:
Elder: * 13–15% increased Area of Effect (prefix, T3: 7-9%, T2: 10-12%) * Projectiles Pierce an additional Target (prefix) * 31–35% chance to Avoid being Stunned (suffix, T3: 15-22%, T2: 23-30%) * 7–10% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill (prefix, T2: 4-6%) Shaper: * 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%) * 9–10% chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill (suffix, T3: 5-6%, T2: 7-8%) Shaper quiver with +1 arrow is definitely a better choice overall. Elder quiver is mostly used for frenzy charge generation (onslaught path), but the 15% AoE is pretty good too. I recommend simple alt spamming until you hit +1 arrow/frenzy on kill, aug for suffix, regal and craft life at Tora 6. You can also multicraft the quiver and craft life/projectile speed/attack speed if you have the room. Or you could chaos spam, but i'm not a fan of it. Be sure to check if there are good quivers for sale, especially elder ones. Useful non-elder/shaper mods you might want on the quiver: * +#% to 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) +3 Elder Bow crafting
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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 nothing else to do. There best way of crafting is through Shrieking Essence of Dread spamming. It guarantees +2 bow gems prefix, massively increasing the chances of getting desireable mod combination. You can also use the basic +3 bow crafting method, but it should be much more expensive compared to essence spamming. The chances to hit +2 bow gems and another good mod is really small. What can you roll on elder bow: * Adds an additional Arrow (suffix) * 16–20% increased Area of Effect (suffix, T3: 5–10%, T2: 11–15%) * Culling Strike (suffix) * Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Iron Grip / (127–134)% increased Phys Damage (prefix, T3: lvl 16, T2: lvl 18) * Socketed Gems are supported by Level 20 Faster Projectiles / (127–134)% increased Physical Damage (prefix, T3: lvl 16, T2: lvl 18) First 3 mods are obvious improvements. 7-links are great additions as well but not nearly as much. Iron Grip is a direct upgrade over Leo's DoT craft, slightly more damage. Faster Projectiles has a trade-off. It's pretty much the same damage as Leo's DoT craft and gives up to 69% projectile speed for 110% mana multiplier. Essence Crafting Method: Step 1: You need ilvl 82 elder bow, doesn't have to be 6-linked Step 2: Spam Shrieking Essence of Dread until you hit your desireable mod Step 3: We need at least 1 prefix and 1 suffix open to craft the bow to +3. Ideally 2 prefixes to craft DoT damage (unless you hit 7-link) Step 4: If you don't have at least 1 prefix and 1 suffix, remove a mod with an annulment orb. You can craft prefixes / suffixes cannot be changed if you want to protect a particular mod (2 ex for crafting, Haku / Tora 8 respectively) Step 5: Craft "Cannot roll attack mods" at Catarina 8 Step 7: Slam the bow with exalted orb for guaranteed +1 Socketed Gems Step 7: Remove crafted mod at Tora 7 and craft 15-30% Damage over Time at Leo 3 OR 7-12% Attack Speed / 10-30% Projectile Speed at Tora 6 Useful Shaper/Elder/Vaal mods dump
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In case you want to min-max the build. Shaper/Elder bow and quiver were covered before, don't even bother with elder/shaper staff crafting. All 3 contain only vaal implicits. Body Armour
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Shaper:
* +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems * (11–15)% of Physical Damage taken as Cold Damage * (11–15)% of Physical Damage taken as Lightning Damage * (13–18)% increased Rarity of Items found from Slain Unique Enemies / Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 15 Item Rarity Elder: * +1 to Level of Socketed Support Gems * (11–15)% of Physical Damage taken as Fire Damage * (9–12)% increased maximum Life * Recover (5–6)% of Maximum Life on Kill * (1.6–2)% of Life Regenerated per second Vaal: * (40–50)% increased Damage * +1% to all maximum Resistances * (4–6)% increased maximum Life * You take 50% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes * +1 to Level of Socketed Gems * +2 to Level of Socketed Curse/AoE/Duration/Aura Gems Helmet
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Shaper:
* Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Increased Area of Effect / (13–15)% increased Area of Effect (good for Wither Totem / bonus AoE) * (56–70)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate * (6–8) Mana Regenerated per second Elder: * Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Minion Life / Minions have (23–25)% increased maximum Life (tanky golem) * Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Concentrated Effect / (23–25)% increased Area Damage (some damage, kinda shit because conc effect) * (16–20)% increased maximum Mana * (6–7)% Chance to Block Spells Vaal: * (1.6–2)% of Life Regenerated per second * Socketed Skill Gems get a 90% Mana Multiplier * (4–6)% increased maximum Life * +2 to Level of Socketed Curse/AoE/Duration/Aura Gems Boots
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Shaper:
* Unaffected by Burning Ground (No regen maps) * (9–10)% chance to Dodge Attacks * (10–12)% chance to avoid Projectile * (10–15)% increased Cooldown Recovery Speed Elder: * Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 15 Increased Duration / (10–15)% increased Skill Effect Duration (CWDT setup / Wither totem / Decoy totem) * Unaffected by Desecrated Ground (No regen maps) * (9–10)% chance to Dodge Spell Damage * (31–35)% chance to Avoid being Stunned * (7–10)% chance to gain an Endurance Charge on Kill (INSANE mod for mapping) * Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 22 Spell Totem / (17–20)% increased Totem Placement speed (tanky totem + speed) * Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Fortify (for Vigilant Strike) Vaal: * (4–6)% chance to Dodge Attack/Spell Hits * (6–10)% chance to Dodge Attack/Spell Hits while moving * +1 to Level of Socketed Gems * (8–10)% increased Movement Speed * (4–6)% increased maximum Life * +1 to Level of Socketed Gems * +2 to Level of Socketed Curse/AoE/Duration/Aura Gems Gloves
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Shaper:
* Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 20 Faster Casting (13–14)% increased Cast Speed (totem / portal gem) * (9–10)% Global chance to Blind Enemies on hit / Socketed Gems are supported by Level 20 Blind (~20% chance to blind if linked with CoH setup) Elder: * (26–30)% increased Projectile Speed / Socketed Gems are supported by Level 20 Faster Projectiles (faster ED) * (7–10)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill * (13–14)% increased Attack and Cast Speed * (4–5)% Chance to Block Vaal: * +1 to Maximum Frenzy Charges * (4–6)% increased maximum Life * Curse Enemies with Level (10–12) Despair on Hit * +1 to Level of Socketed Gems * +2 to Level of Socketed Curse/AoE/Duration/Aura Gems[ Belt
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Shaper:
* You take (21–30)% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes * (16–20)% increased Cooldown Recovery Speed * (16–20)% increased Mana Recovery rate * (6–10)% increased Movement Speed during any Flask Effect * (8–14)% increased Cast Speed during any Flask Effect * (31–35)% increased Spell Damage during any Flask Effect Elder: * (10–12)% increased Attributes * (8–10)% increased maximum Life * (8–10)% increased effect of Flasks on You * (13–15)% to all Elemental Resistances * (16–20)% increased Life Recovery rate * (6–10)% chance for your Flasks to not consume Charges * (26–30)% to Chaos Resistance during any Flask Effect Vaal: * (3–5)% increased Quantity of Items found * (8–10)% increased Area of Effect * (6–8)% increased maximum Life * (12–15)% increased Skill Effect Duration * (8–12)% increased Movement Speed during any Flask Effect * Grace has (15–20)% increased Aura Effect * +(14–16)% to all Elemental Resistances Amulet
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Shaper:
* Grants Level 22 Grace Skill * Items and Gems have (11–15)% reduced Attribute Requirements * (7–8)% increased Movement Speed * (10–12)% increased Attributes * (8–10)% increased Quantity of Items found * (7–10)% chance to gain a Power, Frenzy or Endurance Charge on Kill * 1% increased Damage per 15 Dexterity Elder: * (1.6–2)% of Life Regenerated per second * (13–15)% increased Area of Effect * Projectiles Pierce an additional Target * (3–5)% additional Physical Damage Reduction Vaal: * Enemies can have 1 additional Curse * +1% to all maximum Resistances * (3–5)% increased Quantity of Items found * (8–10)% increased Movement Speed * Grace has (15–20)% increased Aura Effect * +(14–16)% to all Elemental Resistances Rings
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Shaper:
* (21–25)% reduced Effect of Curses on You * (31–35)% increased Spell Damage * (2–3)% increased Experience gain Elder: * +(4–5)% chance to Evade Attacks (combined with Watcher's Eye, it's broken mod. 2x such ring and you have 80-85% evade chance) Vaal: * Bleeding cannot be inflicted on you * Cannot be Poisoned * (3–5)% increased Quantity of Items found * Grace has (15–20)% increased Aura Effect * +(14–16)% to all Elemental Resistances Jewels
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Vaal:
* You cannot be Maimed * You cannot be Hindered * You cannot be Cursed with Silence * Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you * (4–5)% increased Area of Effect * (4–5)% increased Damage Bow
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Vaal:
* Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow * (9–11)% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill * Socketed Gems are supported by Level 10 Faster Projectiles Quiver
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Vaal:
* Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow Staff
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Vaal:
* (12–15)% increased Cast Speed FAQ ===
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Q: Is this build good for a new player? A: Nope. It requires basic knowledge of the game as well as ability to acquire money and trade. I believe that if you played any other build to yellow maps, you're ready for this one. Until then, you have to find another build guide. Q: Wouldn't Blight be better for bossing? A: That's important question. Without doubt it kills bosses faster and you might want to use it against shaper guardians or shaper himself. That's not exactly the case for all bosses however. In some fights there are too short windows to get up close for Blight to be any useful. In other fight you might be forced to keep your distance. Generally, ED synergizes much better with CA playstyle. If you want to, you can use Blight instead, or even both Blight and ED depending on the boss you're facing. They use the same gem setup after all. Q: How about Mirage Archer? A: But... why? You're already very fast, and you lose at least 40% more dmg on your DoT. Besides, gotta keep that Divination flask running. It can't curse people in CoH - Despair setup either, or generate frenzy charges for you. Q: How about Abyssal Cry? A: You won't need it for clearing monsters quickly. Only useful for maybe abysses or some bosses with adds, but you got ED swap for bosses so... not worth it. Q: Why you don't pick up ailment / poison / attack damage increases on the tree? A: Caustic Arrow's cloud is NOT an attack and is NOT an ailment. It's a degen, that scales off DoT / chaos / projectile / area / global damage increases. Q: Why do you link Vaal Grace with CWDT? You can't trigger it! A: It's linked so it can benefit from Increased Duration. You save one gem slot that way. CWDT won't trigger Vaal Grace, and that's for the better. It's best to manually activate it when you need it the most. Q: How do you maintain Divination Distillate uptime? A: Shoot CA, use utility + MF flasks, shoot again if mana regen is high enough. You get full benefit and refill flask charges that way. The only problem you can have is mana regen balancing. In the end game all you need is ~60% mana regen on your jewellery. Before you reach CA's full potential it might be tricky. You have to balance with Clarity / lower mana regen / more attacks / 0-20% quality on MF flask. You should hit the sweet spot soon without too much trouble. Q: I have troubles progressing through acts / maps, what can i do? A: Get more life and resists on gear, that's the most common answer to this question. If you've followed the guide, the damage shouldn't be a problem at all. That's true especially in maps. Not having enough defense is a common mistake among new players. All you gotta do is buy or find gear with high life and/or resistances on them. 75% resists is pretty much required starting from act 5. For life, the more the better. If you do have problems with low damage during levelling, you can use cheap damage items like Wake of Destruction and Doomfletch. This alone should carry you through acts easily. Q: How do i level with Trickster? A: I don't have experience with levelling as shadow, so can't tell exactly what should you do. Levelling with elemental bow is still possible, but worse than ranger's for sure. You can also try ED+Contagion. I think the latter should be more consistent and stronger in the long run. All chaos/DoT/life clusters on the skill tree are right next to each other, isn't that dependant on gear except links, gets access to all the goodies that makes chaos builds strong. I would follow the end game tree, starting from taking pretty much whole shadow area and spending every single next passive point towards accumulating more life. Kill all bandits for 2 passive points. Ascendancy order: Patient Reaper -> Prolonged Pain -> Swift Killer -> Ghost Dance / Weave the Arcane Q: You keep mentioning breach, what's the problem? A: There are 3 issues with it. #1 - Tanky rares, especially hexproof ones. You can kill them but slowly, and ED swap is a bit too slow for this usually. #2 - Opening the breach. Sometimes you happen to spawn inside a massive pack of mobs. It can be deadly in red maps. It should be safe with Vaal Grace tho. #3 - Mana issues. In wide open maps, you're gonna have problems sustaining the mana. Covering such big area means a lot of CA clouds. I do not recommend running breach in no regen maps for that reason. If it's a linear map, it shouldn't be a problem tho. Q: Is it good for party play? A: Nope, at best 2/3 man party. ===== These are questions i've been asked a lot by random people i've spoke to in game. Keep more questions coming. Changelog =======
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June 1st, 2018 Passive Tree: * All passive trees updated to 3.3 versions Levelling Section: * Added Purity of Elements to Elemental Bow levelling. Very useful if you're starving on resists. * All passive trees updated to 3.3 versions Mods dump: * Now includes vaal implicits! Renamed to reflect the changes. * Now hidden inside Crafting Section. PoB link: * Fixed the PoB link, previous one didn't include all changes from previous update. Now everything is how it should be. May 30th, 2018 - Incursion League Passive Tree: * All trees now pick up Trickery major node.
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 Levelling Section: * Deleted outdated info about Bestiary gem prices * Elemental Bow levelling no longer mentions Phys -> Cold conversion passive tree nodes. Blast Rain now has 100% conversion. PoB Link: * Updated skill trees to include Trickery major node * Removed Aspect of the Crab * Removed Grace gem (since we get it from Vaal Grace now) * Added Vigilant Strike gem May 14th, 2018 Pros/Cons: * Very minor changes to 3 of them. In-depth Equipment: * Updated most sections to fit current build recommendations. * Reworded some explaination parts, most notably +3 Bow, +3 Staff and Flasks. Mostly the same but less clutter. Elder/Shaper mods dump: * Added some mods that were previously deemed bad. * Removed some commentary that's no longer true. Final Words: * Completely remade * Now 300% more inspiring * Lurkers are now 110% more likely to say hi * Thank you May 12th, 2018 Gem Setups: * Removed optional Item Rarity gem. Magic Find Setups: * Added colors to setup names for quick navigation. * Removed "Adapt and adjust" part. May 11th, 2018 NEW: Magic Find Setups: * Finally created a dedicated section for MFing. It's still not something i would do personally. * Has 3 different MF setups for most common cases. * Great IIQ and IIR amount * Has pool of recommended MF items to make your own setup. * Good alternative if you're sick of another MF Tornado Shot Windripper. Crafting Section: * Crating guides now tell you what you're slamming with an exalt, it's +1 Socketed Gems FAQ: * Added question "Why do you link Vaal Grace with CWDT? You can't trigger it!" * Added question "I have troubles progressing through acts / maps, what can i do?" May 8th, 2018 - Bestiary doesn't become core mechanic Gem setups: * Aspect of the Crab removed Crafting section: * Staff and quiver crafting updated, minor adjustments overall * Staff's exclusive bestiary crafting removed * Elder bow crafting updated to current standards. Less fluff, easier to read, quick information. Method unchanged. FAQ: * Removed question about Bestiary Aspects May 4th, 2018 Videos: * Added Uber Elder deathless kill! * Replaced both Shaper kills with new one, uses correct gem setup this time. May 2nd, 2018 PoB Link + Tooltips * Updated PoB setup, now includes few new cool things: * It's based on my BHC Raider. Uses all the gear from that character with minor tweaks. * Now has custom created bow that allows you to check CA and ED dps without swapping weapons. * Now includes all 6 skill trees for all 4 ascendancies. * Skill gems slightly updated to current recommendations. * Updated optional gear choices. Only those that are needed for calculations. * No longer has broken rare items for fun. Progression section * Improved all recently changed sections. Removed some fluff / less relevant informations. * Section is still too big for my taste, but i can't really reduce it anymore. Maybe i'll think of another way some other day... video guide perhaps? Apr 30th, 2018 Levelling Section: * Early and end game mapping revamped - now consistent with other levelling sections. Quick info for PoE veterans, more info for beginners. * CA levelling expanded little bit. No changes besides that. * All sections are bigger as a result, it still might need some work. Will work on it another day. Apr 24th, 2018 Passive Tree and Bandits: * Fixed the name from Skill Tree to Passive Tree. It applies to whole guide. * Raider's end game tree uses onslaught path instead of frenzy. Base tree still uses frenzy path. * Scion deleted from optional ascendancies. * Minor 10% projectile speed / 6% proj damage in duelist area is now consistent across all passive trees, including levelling ones. * Minor other adjustments in the section. Pantheon: * Minor changes to explainations. Gives little bit more info while being easier to read. Gems: * Enfeeble Blasphemy deleted from optional setups * Added Fortify generation setup. Vigilant Strike with threshold jewel for ~35 second long buff. Requires weapon swap. * Added Aspect of the Crab. Who knows, maybe bestiary become core gameplay? * Decoy Totem / Enduring Cry removed from this section. Boss only gems are going to be listed inside End Game Bosses section. * Minor other adjustments in the section. Gear: * Kintsugi is now a mandatory chest. Every other chest is optional. * Kaom's Heart removed from optional body armours. Links are too important for end game bosses. * Cospri's Will removed from optional body armours. It has a lot of potential, but nobody will really use it anyway. It's best for defence during mapping which is not a problem at all. * Minor changes to the body armour section, to reflect above changes. * The Writhing Jar added as optional unique flask. Apr 15th, 2018 * End Game Bosses guide - Major update, based on the knowledge and experience i gained this league. * Videos - Moved to 2nd post (hello 50k character limit, again) * Crafting section - Added exclusive beastcrafting for +3 Staff. * FAQ - Added new question about Aspects from bestiary league. TL;DR Crab is amazing Apr 14th, 2018 * Replaced T14 and T9 Elder kills with a T15 one. Apr 11th, 2018 Videos: * Added T14 and T9 Elder kill * Replaced Uber Lab video with a new one, full key run (this time with Argus) Apr 7th, 2018 Equipment: * Improved whole section, by rewriting few in-depth explainations for the gear. It's mostly the same thing, but should be easier to read and understand. * Added Queen of the Forest as optional armour for non-Raider ascendancies. * Updated some gear pieces to my current ones. Not all of them tho. Videos: * Added 2nd shaper kill, all shaper and elder guardians to the section * Replaced Vaal Temple with new one. * Added playlist of all 3.1 videos recorded, including some videos i didn't share previously. FAQ: * Added 2 more questions that were asked recently. * Deleted question about QotF, since it's included in optional body armours now. Mar 25th, 2018 Skill Tree: * Added new section inside, for passive points after lvl 94. I don't think anyone will use it tho. * Trickster now has Weave the Arcane as optional 4th ascendancy point. * Minor changes to the end game skill tree.
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 Projectile speed node, so super slow ED can fly slightly faster. Super minor, really. Levelling and base skill tree still has 10% projectile damage.  Minor optimization. You're gonna reach base skill tree 1 level faster (83 now) and get 10 more intelligence at lvl 94. The reason why the tree didn't look like that from the beginning? I used to not take Coldheated Calculation before. Now that i take it, i don't see reason to not travel that way. Skill Gems: * Added lvls to CWDT+Grace setup. * Added new optional setup: Enfeeble blasphemy. Gear: * Minor changes in in-depth body armours. Now 3 main chests are linked to see, without direction to wiki page. Optional armours will receive same treatment when i acquire Kaom's Heart. Mar 16th, 2018 - Onslaught update * Added skill trees for Other Ascendancy Classes Onslaught changes: * Onslaught path guide is now in place of End Game Bosses guide. * End Game Bosses guide is now standalone. * Deleted mentions of The Green Dream in Skill Tree and Gearing sections. Levelling/progression: * Added new lvl 76 skill tree in Elemental Bow Levelling. It's there to help people while respeccing the character. * Minor improvements in whole section. Mar 5th, 2018 * Added wiki link to all The Green Dream references. * Fixed Watcher's eye section in equipment -> jewels. Mar 4th, 2018 * Added new question to FAQ: How do i level with Trickster * Updated Trickster's ascendancy order. Swift killer is now 3rd instead of 1st. Feb 28th, 2018 General: * Reshuffled sections a bit, to be more intuitive. Main guide in 1st post, additional info and tools in 2nd. * Other Ascendancy Classes are now inside "Skill Tree and Bandits" * Crafting Section is now in 2nd post (solves 50k char limit issue, was so annoying) * Videos still in 1st post. They are more fitting to be in second one, but i do want to showcase the build. If i ever make a gif with that purpose, i'll move it then. Feb 26th, 2018 - 3.2 update NEW: Other Ascendancy Classes * all thanks to 3.2 changes to Trickster, i've had to include this one. His damage is now straight up silly. We still don't know how strong Ascendant is going to be. I'll update shortly after she gets revealed. Equipment: * Merged current gear and in-depth into a single spoiler. It was annoying me all the time * Added few notes about The Green Dream to reflect 3.2 onslaught path. Videos: * Removed 3 videos that were rarely looked at (i've hit character limit again...) Feb 23rd, 2018 General: * Build guide already reflects ascendancy changes. Onslaught path is not optional end game path, most suited for rapid mapping. Requires The Green Dream. Have yet to determine how reliable it is against bosses. Feb 22nd, 2018 Videos: * Added Hall of Grandmasters videos. With enough chaos res and Brass Dome or Ahn's Contempt it might be HC viable. I have to test it someday. Feb 20th, 2018 General: * As usual, i've done another proof-reading. Videos: * Added 8-mod T12 Torture chamber video. That was awful map, should've used normal mana flask tbh. End Game Bosses Guide: * Added Hall of Grandmaster strategy in end game bossing section. Possible, but lethal and very not HC friendly. Feb 17th, 2018 * Added deathless Uber Atziri video. Feb 16th, 2018 Levelling: * Revamped Elemental Bow levelling. Map mods: * Deleted dangerous and annoying map mods. They were obvious anyway. Minor tweaks to existing deadly mods (renamed to dangerous mods now) Videos: * Added Chayula's domain clear. Be sure to read video description for more info about the run. * Added timestamps for all videos. Mostly boss kills / phases. PoB link: * Minor fix, 5th flask is now a staunching jade flask instead of warding QS flask. Feb 13th, 2018 General: * Neverending typos and grammatical improvements. Overview: * Small change in introduction part. Now it mentions how long i've been playing the build... 2.5 years... * Minor adjustments in pros / cons. Still the same. Levelling: * Elemental Bow levelling is currently deleted. I'll try to update it this friday, after 3.2 announcement. Who knows what's gonna happen to ascendancies. * Added Early mapping - general guidance for gear progression through maps, from league starter perspective. * Added End game mapping / bosses - final step to complete the build, and guidelines for end game bosses. Spoiler: you can do everything. However some aren't worth the risk. Path of Building: * Updated PoB build to better reflect the actual damage / gear. * Has additional alternative chests / few pieces of perfect gear / realistic +1 arrow bow and quiver. You can check the stats faster! * Fixed gem setups, now it has everything i currently recommend. 3 gem slots are still optional. (or 7, if you could CWDT) Videos: * Added T16 Vaal Temple and Uber lab run * Deleted normal Atziri because it's too easy anyway. I should try killing Uber Atziri again i guess. Feb 6th, 2018 Videos: * Added 4 more videos of high tier maps. Feb 5th, 2018 General: * Minor improvements everywhere such as fixed typos, better grammar etc. Overview: * Removed "average clear speed" from cons. After all, is having decent or maybe even fast clear a bad thing? * Removed "smooth levelling experience" from pros. That doesn't really matter at all tbh, shouldn't be included in the first place. Gem setups: * Added few comments to main skills * CWDT + Vaal Grace setup isn't optional setups anymore (not mandatory, but strongly recommended) * Important note added: ED projectile has to hit enemy while you wield Staff, otherwise it flies through enemy like nothing happened. (same thing as the con in overview) Levelling section update: * Minor tweaks to introduction * Added pure CA levelling, turns out it's better than it used to be in the past (thanks to 3.0 and 3.1 patch changes) * I'm not very happy with basic levelling section tbh, too in-depth for veteran player. Will change it in future, maybe for 3.2 build update. Probably gonna look more like new CA levelling one. In-depth gear: small tweaks to armours + added 3 optional armours (Cospri's Will, Kaom's Heart, The Brass Dome) Crafting Section: added bow base ranking, so you don't end up with 1.2 AS bows Moved PoB Link + Tooltips and FAQ to 2nd post (char limit again) Added 1 more question to FAQ - what's the problem with breaches? Jan 22nd, 2018 Guide released To do list (for myself mostly) =======
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* With new league coming up and hopes of better future, i'm back to updating the guide as best i can. Unfortunately the primary thing to do are video guides. With upcoming changes that might be very significant, my hands are tied. The guides should take huge amount of time and if i made them now, i could easily lose huge portion of my progress.
As for why i didn't do video guide in 3.3 like i said? I wanted some footage from current league to showcase, but i died shortly after i acquired my end game gear... Hopefully i won't die to any unfortunate event this time. * Better formatting for the guide, for slightly easier navigation. While i'm happy with how it looks, it's a wall of text and you might get lost in it. (didn't do anything in 3 months, feelsbadman) * With onslaught path literally ignoring majority of the map mods... well... is there actually a point in that section? Might remove it tbh, with small mention in FAQ. * Add pure mastercrafting cost in crafting section. ON HOLD, not sure if it's worth it. Might split average cost into crafting and meta-crafting * Proof read every single time there's a new big update. Final words ======== I'm really glad i've made this guide. I've spent tens of hours at this point, improving and polishing it to be the best it can possibly be. It wasn't the guide alone that improved over time, but the build itself too. I'll keep updating it for as long as i can. Of course, a big thank you to all people who are lurking and people who contacted me one way or another. No doubt that this guide wouldn't be the same if it wasn't for you, giving me a reason to do my best. Thanks for checking out the build, i hope you've had fun using it! https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3053600 - My Guides
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I've decided to push ED weapon swap as an optional setup. That's quite drastic change considering that part was what made this build unique, a very iconic setup that meant "you're hitting the end game now". Now the opportunity cost is just too low (6 exalts + for ~50% more damage).
Starting to work now. " Why would you want despair aura if everything dies within 1 second even without 3.4 buffs? That's overkill and Despair is already included in CoH setup. No offence, but the skill tree you provided is kind of a mess. Huge cut of life, focus on poison/DoT damage mostly with some crit nodes. While you can do it, that's a mostly a softcore build. Might be somewhat decent if you remove crit nodes and take those HP nodes back. And no, this build doesn't use poison so Herald of Agony will not be used. I might do poison version later. " Very early? Nope, but you should hit the threshold where Izaro dies fast much sooner than you do right now. I would recommend around lvl 90 and a typical +3 6-link bow + Kintsugi. With that and 6,6% hp regen from tree/bandit makes it easy to ignore traps in general. Izaro shouldn't be able to hit you either. Uber Lab, full key run - you can expect ~30% less damage on Izaro than what you see on the video with the gear/level recommendation. https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3053600 - My Guides Last edited by DankawSL#2030 on Aug 29, 2018, 10:58:39 AM
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Something I noticed when playing around with the tree is that it's a lot easier to scale minion damage than projectile/chaos/dot damage, even if you have to cross over to the other side of the tree. I'm not sure that the trees will end up being better, but it's worth taking a look at.
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New Path of Building code!
NOTE: Gem changes aren't reflected in PoB yet. I will update this link again after new version arrives. I've run into some problems of having too many options for the passive tree. Optimizing trees with guide in mind took me some time. In case you don't know, PoB has option to store multiple passives. You can find it bottom left corner while looking at the tree. Now i'll slowly update all aspects of the guide. Next update will be when i'm finally done updating all of it, except maybe levelling section. " This is NOT Herald of Agony build and NOT poison build. I might do poison one later but it's not guaranteed. https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3053600 - My Guides Last edited by DankawSL#2030 on Aug 29, 2018, 1:09:49 PM
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planning to use this as starter for delve, would i have much trouble using quantity gear while leveling acts/low maps you think?
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Hey DankawSL,
thanks for this great guide. I'm looking forward playing CA as Pathfinder this league. It will be a pretty much new experience for me. Anyway i played around with PoB and made a tree for Pathfinder, which i feel comfortable with. https://pastebin.com/MVL9PZzp I just want to share this PoB maybe it helps you or someone else. The tree in the PoB i feel most comfortable with is called "BEEFY". Btw. will skill effect duration have a positive effect for CA ? I'm not sure how the degen mechanic works. My worry is that when the degen area lasts longer it will deal the same amount of dmg like when the area has a shorter duration. Thanks again for this great Guide! Cheers! |
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Allright, majority of the most important sections are done. I can finally call it 3.4 build now. There's still some stuff to do but i'll leave it for tomorrow. You can observe progress in the guide's main post.
" I wouldn't recommend quantity gear before you reach maps. After that there's no issue with quantity gear, assuming you're elementa. I believe you've seen it already, but i have MF section in guide's 2nd post. Remember that everything is designed with hardcore league in mind. You can sacrifice more gear slots in SC. " I checked all of the setups you've prepared. Beefy tree looks fine, but there's opportunity cost issue. There's so much hp on the tree already (313%, or 320% with 7% max life jewel) that increases to it don't give nearly as much. At the same time you lose more %damage than you gain %life (you lose ~10% damage for ~6% life). Other trees weren't nearly as good with 1 being direct copy&paste with minor changes. Honestly, it's going to be hard to improve my tree without relying on jewels (which can be incredibly efficient). I specifically avoided jewel slots so the guide is more beginner and budget friendly. You can still take the 3 nearby jewels slots if you level up enough. About the Skill Effect Duration nodes. They don't increase the damage directly, but have very positive effects on the build all around. Increases CA's very short cloud duration by a whole second. Wither stacks last longer, effectively increasing damage against bosses that destroy totem quickly. In case you use Withering Touch support, it's straight up damage increase. Also affects Vaal Grace, Immortal Call durations. Many benefits for only 3 passive points, great pick up that i've already recommended in the old guide. https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3053600 - My Guides Last edited by DankawSL#2030 on Aug 29, 2018, 6:26:56 PM
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the Scion tree is actually a Raider tree. Pls fix.
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