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

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Emnelrith wrote:

I meant to reply earlier, but since you're updating right now it's better than never. The Green Dream/Nightmare does require you to pick the resistance nodes to get the benefits, so it doesn't really work as a Frenzy charge generation without excessive points spent.

I repeat, it does not require you to allocate (keyword) the points. Take a look at Tempered Mind for example:

* -1 Intelligence per 1 Intelligence on Allocated Passives in Radius
* +100 to Accuracy Rating per 10 Intelligence on Unallocated Passives in Radius

The Green Dream doesn't have any the bolded words, the resist nodes just need to be in radius.

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HardSave wrote:

Is there any reason not to use this little fella? 109 Life regen per second (1.8% at 6K) basically for free. Seems to stay alive much more reliably than golems too.

Also you can get it close to the start of the game from the 'Breaking Some Eggs' quest in the Mud Flats (if you mule a Witch or Templar).

I never thought about this gem before, will make a short test tomorrow. I don't see any harm from using it at all, so if you're comfortable with - you can use it personally.

If the gems works well, i might add it to the build. It could even boost golem survivability to not die all the time too.

Vitality + Grace + Enlighten (mana reserve/int nodes//8% reduced reservation hat are helpful for leveling) with Stone Golem + Holy Relic got me pretty far in mapping/delving while I was undergeared/defenced otherwise. Phase Runnin+re-summoning is a pretty neat way of de-aggro chasing rare mobs, though having to re-summon often can get burdensome. I'm praying that Delving is still a more reasonable path to crafting a +3 bow.

I didn't read your reply before deleting, but I just read through your update and I'm sad to see Frenzy go and glad to see some of my ideas present like taking all 3 ascendancies for leveling :D Still excited to experiment with other 5/6Ls like for cursing/debuffing/slowing/etc. After playing an MF Windripper I'd love to see some way of integrating Herald of Ice and a DoT cold attack for some freezing/cold scaling shenanigans.

2Hey, I tried to quickly go through the thread but didn't find answers so apologies if it has been asked already.


So, I am interested in this build as a league starter but I am wondering how good it is for really early pushing.

I can do 0 to maps in about 5-6 hours as an arc miner, how much slower do you reckon this build is in terms of leveling speed?

As I'll be hardcore pushing, what kind of gear do you think is needed to farm red maps? I am looking to push into red maps asap, would this be able to do red maps fast and efficiently with say a 5 link +1 bow? Or do I need at least +2? How hard would it be to self-craft a +2 bow very early in the league on day 1?

I'm lv89, just tested out a rare/corrupted 20% Spider Lair Map (T11), running only 3L level 20 CA (level 18 + 2 bow), mostly MF gear (no overcapped res), crap 10% DoT jewel, around 22k dps on tooltip. I ran Poacher's Mark on aura to auto-frenzy and had no problem killing rare mobs with a Wither Totem. Boss was a bit tough so I didn't finish, but I'm sure would go down easy if Despair'd.

I do have an additional projectile quiver and 20% support gems(a small dmg boost with 2), but I think potentially, lv 19-20 CA in a 5L with GMP shooting 25k+ (on tooltip), especially throwing in curses here and there, should be able to clear red maps, and 100 depth delves no problem, especially with new DoT passives.

As far as defenses, besides basic life/res/evade/etc., I would definitely try running Stone Golem + Holy Relic. Life regen is surprisingly effective with this build and combined with Phase Run will probably save you from some hairy ABORT!!//empty flask situations. I don't play hardcore, but I can say 90% of my deaths are from my own stupidity, running headfirst into a full screen of mobs.

This build can clear at any stage in gearing: just take it slow, shoot ahead as you move, and...don't stop moving! You will learn to shoot less arrows more effectively and let the skill do the work for you. The DPS is more than enough to kill most mobs within the ~2-3 seconds the DoT is in effect. But given that more attacks /= more damage on individuals, tougher maps/areas just means you have to adjust your movement to factor in the bit of extra time it takes to kill them.

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Ghoruz wrote:

Spoiler

2Hey, I tried to quickly go through the thread but didn't find answers so apologies if it has been asked already.


So, I am interested in this build as a league starter but I am wondering how good it is for really early pushing.

I can do 0 to maps in about 5-6 hours as an arc miner, how much slower do you reckon this build is in terms of leveling speed?

As I'll be hardcore pushing, what kind of gear do you think is needed to farm red maps? I am looking to push into red maps asap, would this be able to do red maps fast and efficiently with say a 5 link +1 bow? Or do I need at least +2? How hard would it be to self-craft a +2 bow very early in the league on day 1?

Arc anything is one of the fastest ways to level, so levelling with bow might feel a bit slow especially since you're using a bow (no fast movement skill). I takes me around 6-7 hours to get to blood acqueducts while taking a slower, hardcore viable approach. You could probably do it faster by picking sacrificing life for damage nodes and using Mirage Archer. Not recommended tho, obviously.

With recent buffs to CA? 5-link +2 is enough to farm T15s, with only problem being tanky rares/bosses taking like 30 seconds. Have in mind that you need gem levels to deal damage.

Crafting +2 on a bow (ilvl 64 required) is a matter of ~100 alts/augs.

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glappoid wrote:

Spoiler

Vitality + Grace + Enlighten (mana reserve/int nodes//8% reduced reservation hat are helpful for leveling) with Stone Golem + Holy Relic got me pretty far in mapping/delving while I was undergeared/defenced otherwise. Phase Runnin+re-summoning is a pretty neat way of de-aggro chasing rare mobs, though having to re-summon often can get burdensome. I'm praying that Delving is still a more reasonable path to crafting a +3 bow.

I didn't read your reply before deleting, but I just read through your update and I'm sad to see Frenzy go and glad to see some of my ideas present like taking all 3 ascendancies for leveling :D Still excited to experiment with other 5/6Ls like for cursing/debuffing/slowing/etc. After playing an MF Windripper I'd love to see some way of integrating Herald of Ice and a DoT cold attack for some freezing/cold scaling shenanigans.

Vitality reserves too much mana for the benefit it gives. For levelling, you only need life flasks. I never have a situation where i run out of them, and they certainly heal more than ~1.5%.

I almost never felt a need to lose aggro from monsters, with some exceptions like Deadly Rivarly V Xandro with his RT. Everything dies before just fine.

Copy&paste my reddit message (slightly outdated i guess):

1st Frenzy -> 2nd Phasing -> 1st Onslaught is what i already did last league personally, even tho it wasn't as good as full frenzy. And technically you will respec 1st frenzy node as soon as you get uber lab.

I also understand that your second reply wasn't aimed at me, so i'm not responding to it (i would make an essay out of it anyway).

I don't know what I was going for either. I've been mapping quite a bit waiting for Betrayal, and aside from ED or committing a 6L to TR or some other single-target DPS, CA pretty much takes care of everything.

And you're right, mana reserve is tricky and not worth it once maxing damage/running tougher maps(same goes for golem/relic) but, was quite interesting to experiment. How about a cursing HoAg on Vile Toxin gloves and 6L TR + Mirage Archer ;)

Small update about very underused skill.

I'm sure nobody heard about Toxic Rain before. I've run tests in previous league, but with the Divination Distillate on the table - it was pretty much impossible to use it.

With MF flask gone from the build, i've tested it again on my old classic character and it was... usable. I might actually provide a skill tree / dedicated section / totally new guide (doubt that one) for it in the future. The tree would look close to classic build, with possibility of ditching duelist area for 2nd duration cluster. I'll try to run some more tests before the new league starts, however there are few things i have to take care of first (like cleaning my recently tea-splashed keyboard).

That being said, i still prefer CA. With Dying Sun and +1 arrow quiver, the clear feels so much better than what TR provides. Well, maybe Pathfinder's 50% AoE would equalize the grounds here, who knows.

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glappoid wrote:

I don't know what I was going for either. I've been mapping quite a bit waiting for Betrayal, and aside from ED or committing a 6L to TR or some other single-target DPS, CA pretty much takes care of everything.

And you're right, mana reserve is tricky and not worth it once maxing damage/running tougher maps(same goes for golem/relic) but, was quite interesting to experiment. How about a cursing HoAg on Vile Toxin gloves and 6L TR + Mirage Archer ;)

Please no HoAgony, it just doesn't work with this build. And if you want to reserve mana that badly, Crab/Spider aspects exist.

I've addressed Toxic Rain above.

Really awesome guide. Only played 1 character in Delve and now I'm gonna go into Betrayal with this build. Should I build right away the ''classic'' tree or do I use the levelling progression one?

It all depends if you want to spend basically nothing or you want to spend at least 10ex+ gearing up the classic build...

Start out with basic tree, if you have money you can always modify the build once you're ready. Levelling progression is based on the CA focused tree.

Another minor update, based on my experiences with new league:

* Syndicate members can be REALLY deadly, it think we all experienced that one already. I've "frozen" my progress at the end of act 3 because they simply took too much time to deal with, as CA is not a great boss killer early on. (i "unlocked" the progress after picking up phase acro)

* With all the new crafting options, the progress through storyline is faster than it has ever been. I've killed Kitava below 9 hours, including ~1 hour lost playing around with syndicate.

* The damage is visibly higher this patch. So much that damage penalty from GMP is barely noticable in maps (except bosses ofc). You need 5-link bow / Tabula for that tho.

* I recommend getting very early Phase Acro. With how dangerous syndicate is, you REALLY need that extra avoidance.

Besides that, i already have minor improvements to the guide in mind. There's also going to be really small improvement to the levelling passive tree, levels 56+. Might do them during a break sometime soon.