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

It's been around 3 weeks since i last visit forums. I'm neglecting answering questions a lot lately, don't i? I'm probably back for longer now, with new league on the horizon and i also played decent chunk of PoE in past few days (for bleed guide purposes mostly).

Similar to previous times, i'll only answer recent questions since many of the old ones are already answered or "expired". I still refrain from doing gear checks.

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Juanmacrack wrote:

Spoiler

Hi, I started crafting my Elder Bow and still nothing. I've spent like 5000 alts or more since last week, sometimes appears the listed mods but when I regal, no luck. Am I doing something wrong or just I'm very unlucky?
I've 30% Quality with Elder influence. ILvl 83

I'm regaling when appears Damg Over Time Multiplier (Higher than 31%) or Skills fire an Additional Arrow. I've searched on POE Chronicles and the mods and ILvl is ok. I can`t reach Bow Attacks Fire an Additional Arrow (ILvl 86), but this one has the same effect I supposse.
Also if i can reach the two listed mods when regal, what should I do if I spam exalt and hits Onslaught on Kill?
Please dont say me i have to scour again...

Everything is in order. Getting both mods is very rare and you'll burn through thousands of alts and probably over hundred regals. If you truly want the combo then you definitely should've get ilvl 86 bow (on top of elder/warlord influence) for increased chance of rolling extra arrow.

You can easily recover from exalting onslaught on kill, simply craft "Suffixes cannot be changed" and scour. It's a waste of total 3ex, that's why i recommend using warlord influence over the elder in general.

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Spoiler

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Required: 6-linked bow ilvl 86+ OR Warlord's bow ilvl 82+

I think your bow needs to be ilvl 86+ if it has Elder influence. 82+ is only if it has Warlord influence. (otherwise you won't get the "additional arrow/projectile" mod)

Ilvl 82 for elder and warlord. Ilvl 86 for none influenced version. These mods don't exclude each other, so you can have two of them at the same time.

Thanks so much for answering.
I 've been confused because in crafting section says:

1. [...until u hit one of two mods:...]
2.

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Ilvl 82 for elder and warlord. Ilvl 86 for none influenced version. These mods don't exclude each other, so you can have two of them at the same time.

Should you not then say that an elder bow (82+) is also an option in the crafting guide? For the "end game bow"?

well figured id start trying my hand at crafting, far from optimal but was pretty decent first try.

Well, I am done with this league. This build has been a lot of fun, and it taught me how to play the game (last league I couldn't even finish T1 maps without dying). I wasn't able to kill Sirus, though, but that might just be due to the (very ugly) fight mechanic (I have no idea how to evade some of his attacks as I just feel like he instantly kills me in the later stages without any warning). I got to level 95. Here is my final gear, not perfect, but it did the job:

Many thanks to DankawSL who writes and maintains the build, and Viktranka who recommended the build in another thread (and answered my questions).

I am thinking of doing this build again, but I don't know what to try. I was thinking to trade some QoL for tankiness (especially since the new league seems to be bringing even deadlier content), but I don't know if I can do much better than what I already did. Would a Trickster or a Champion be a good idea?

February 29th, 2020
Gem Setups:
* Cursed Frenzy now uses Barrage Support instead of GMP.
* Updated 6-link Cursed Frenzy setup, it's actually worth 5/6-linking chest now. New setup:
Frenzy - Barrage Support - Awakened Curse on Hit lvl 5 - Despair - Enfeeble - Enhance

Videos:
* Added 5 new videos for all 5 conquerors, awakening level 8.
* Added a note that all videos are recorded in SSF or have gear/stats that are achievable in SSF environment.

===================

Gem setup change was an easy decision to make. Nullifies requirement for accuracy and allows to quickly proc onslaught on bosses while charging up the frenzies. While not 100% accurate at long ranges, it still should hit enemies at least once to curse them. There's one extra reason and it's Awakened CoH, which grants ability to bypass Hexproof mod. More hits = easier times bypassing. It's simply superior.

On another note, Delirium looks very promising. Everything to be honest. Can't wait to see all the notables and keystones available from cluster jewels. Speaking of them, the current passive tree is very efficient and so far the small passive nodes were mostly underwhelming. Without good notable or strong explicit mods, i don't see much point of using them. The only thing left is to wait for more info. By the way, don't get baited by Touch of Cruelty. It's not worth the investment.

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Juanmacrack wrote:

Spoiler

Thanks so much for answering.
I 've been confused because in crafting section says:

1. [...until u hit one of two mods:...]
2.

Both desired mods are suffixes and magic items can have only 1 suffix. Your item needs to be rare in order to have both mods. As long as you stick to the guidelines you'll be fine.

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Should you not then say that an elder bow (82+) is also an option in the crafting guide? For the "end game bow"?

Because if i listed every single option for every single part of the build, it would be multiple times longer. My guide used to give more freedom and options. The only thing i achieved with this approach is confusing the people who needed guidance the most.

Technically you don't even need any influence at all. Influence is only needed if you truly want the 2 mod combo, and it's so you can increase the chances. Elder is slightly better than Warlord if you want the combo. However most people will only craft DoT multiplier and be done with it, and the Elder's influence downside of sometimes having to waste 3ex due to terrible luck is... not very good to say the least.

Regardless of everything, because of all the options available now the crafting section needs bigger update. I mentioned it sometime in the past. I need to finish something else first before i do such update tho.

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DankawSL wrote:

By the way, don't get baited by Touch of Cruelty. It's not worth the investment.

Why? Is it because you need too many points to fill the wheel?

Also if someone used Vaal Blight with the Touch of Cruelty would it stack for 30% increased chaos damage taken? Or would only strongest apply? No idea if these mods stack or not.

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Viktranka wrote:

Spoiler

Why? Is it because you need too many points to fill the wheel?

Also if someone used Vaal Blight with the Touch of Cruelty would it stack for 30% increased chaos damage taken? Or would only strongest apply? No idea if these mods stack or not.

In short - it's not very efficient. Longer version - there are few key points:

* 10% increased damage taken is additive with Wither Totem and Despair, making it around ~5% effective damage increase against bosses. Makes no difference during map clear. The damage is more or less equal to ~35% increased damage (for this build).

* Hinder is already applied by Wither Totem with slightly stronger slow value. This fact makes hinder application part useless.

* Typical jewel sockets should be stronger than cluster jewels with small investment. This is logical conclusion based on current info and might not end up true. More about that below.

* There's a chance Wither Totem might not even apply damage increase since totem is not "You". It probably will, similar how totems inherit Champion's taunt.

The conclusion - you're getting decent node which requires a lot of passive points to get to. Decent, that's it. Nothing chase worthy. And yes, the increased damage should stack up to 30% if you use Vaal Blight. Gladiator has similar bonus for Maim with exact same wording and it does stack additively with other sources.


Cluster jewels talk
Now let's focus about cluster jewels. You have to keep in mind that you waste 3 passive points to even start picking up the minor nodes... That's short version why cluster jewels suck at low investment. You need at least 2 notables or jewel sockets to make them worth, more or less.

What makes cluster jewels extremely broken in theory is ability to chain very high amount of minor nodes with minimal amount of travel nodes. Here the "travel nodes" are cluster jewels themselves and the necessity to socket them should be nullified by notables which are usually worth ~3 minor passive points.

I'm sure GGG knows this and will try to balance it out so spamming cluster jewels doesn't become dominant strategy for majority of the builds... i hope at least. Builds with inefficient tree pathing will definitely benefit from the jewels. The passive tree i provide here is very efficient with exception of 4% max life nodes, so if it can benefit from cluster jewels is unknown for now.

It's also worth noting that Voice unique cluster jewel is REALLY good for any build. Once you run out of 2-point jewel sockets, this unique can give you 3 jewel sockets for 7 points. That's 2 extra points saved!

However it's all speculation. Without precise info and stat values there's nothing more we can estabilish.

Before you get Awakened Curse on Hit lvl 5 (it seems to be very expensive), should you use the gem at lower levels as well, as well as the non-awakened version before that... in the 6-link chest setup? I would assume so.

had allot of fun this league on this build. some of the new influenced items really make it shine. I put my own spin on it. check out my profile if you curious.

thank you for the amazing guide will be back in the future.