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

Hi there!

I just wanted to drop by and thank you for this great guide. Build feels amazing so far, I am currently level 79, haven't done uber lab yet, also still need to optimize my flasks (I'm saving currency for Dying Sun), but even with all those things to upgrade, it's really, really strong! I'm sitting on 5,3k HP, taking defensive nodes at the moment, because DPS (150k unbuffed) is more than enough for now.

For some time I wanted to find a build which I would push to it's limits. I think it's great opportunity to do so. I'll be probably trying MF too.

That's my gear at the moment.


I bought pair of gloves and boots with %life regen (Delve mod I believe). I crafted bow and quiver myself (need to get higher life roll on the second one). Decided to go with level 3 empower on main setup, not sure if it's stronger than damage on full life, haven't tried that yet. As I said, I will be upgrading a lot, helmet enchant and flasks are first (Dying Sun flask is huge!), then I'll probably try to get 21/20 CA, elder bow would end up last on my upgrade list.

I guess that's everything I wanted to share, thanks for great guide again, hopefully this year will be full of GG drops for all of you!

"

DankawSL

Maaan, already killed Uber Elder reaaally easy with the skill duration points, 20% quality and nothing more.

Used Lunaris and Shakari no Aspect no Vitality no marble. Obviously using this items will be more safe.

Now only need elder jewelry i think and Empower + Enhance lvl4 (and obv the other gems).

Thank you for the amazing guide, your tips and your time!

After two tests i've confirmed that mastermind's zone level works EXACTLY like Alva's temple level. Same formula, except it takes average level from all safehouses instead. Safehouses also use that formula:

Avg lvl of safehoues + 10 lvl = mastermind zone level (capped at highest safehouse level)

So in case you wanna farm mastermind for some reason (like +2 support gems), farm A10 Ossuary and at the end just do few T6/T11 maps, run a single safehouse at this level and just defeat the mastermind.

Or in case you're scared of lvl 83 zone, run A8 Harbour Bridge for like 1-2 hours and you're gonna lower the level a bit (i think).

"

RidgemanSpiker wrote:

Spoiler

I'll throw Summon Holy Relic back on and double check, maybe I did not give it a fair shot. As I said the regen on Golem was noticeable. And I should just not be lazy about Portal and self-cast :P

I have yet to try Crab Aspect. I'll give that a go and see where I stand once I pick up a regen ammy. Still like the bonus regen with you combine Watcher's Eye+Vitality, plus it is helping out with the minions as well.

Not really a reply here, but i totally forgot. 3% regen during flask effect craft is a thing, i'll be using it in my final flask setup later. 2% regen if you have flask active on belt is also a thing too. That's very easy regen right there.

"

Fluctuoso wrote:

Spoiler

Thanks man, you are amazing. My last question is about Mastermind. There is any item /pot for this boss. I failed my first time just because was my first time doing the boss. Btw i was pretty close and i think im able to kill him.

Do you have any tip for Mastermind boss?
Ill respect the passive tree for the skill duration nodes. 1 jewel point 1 dex and 1 hp and still have 600khp.

So 2.70 seconds CA atm.

Hope will works better now, thank you again!

Yep, the fight is awful if you're doing it first time. My video shows the fight quite well. Most of mastermind's attacks are easy to understand, then there are two deadly ones that are rare:

Teleport Slam - only available during "blackflame" phase when mastermind is using staff. Can teleport multiple times, and i don't quite get how to stop it. I usually run around like a chicken with 150%+ movespeed while trying to dodge flames. Alternate - you could use Immortal Call to avoid ~90% of the damage it deals. It's 75% physical and 25% fire according to poedb. I didn't try it yet, if you mess up timing you're gonna be dead.

Volatile Skeletons - only available after mastermind throws away the staff, i believe? Probably the deadliest move of the fight. Mastermind spawns skulls in the area that you have to destroy in order for them to not transform into crawling skeletons. You have 10 seconds to step on all of them. Each skelly deals HUGE amounts of damage, around 40-50% hp at 78+ zone. There's probably a cheese strategy for them tho - Frost Wall. They have hitboxes and can actually block your character. You could create a safe zone for yourself with well placed walls until skeletons expire (they last for long time tho).

I think you can gather the rest from the video.

"

fuksdelux wrote:

Spoiler

Ty for your time,
i do a lot changes, now my HP going extrem down but boost my dps (more aoe, coz single looks like almost same).
there is my stats, dunno how u have that much dodge/evasion.
https://pastebin.com/3U42HaVF or https://poe.technology/poebuddy/3U42HaVF i know about one flask but rn i dont have any chaos orb (lul)

You have 4 hp nodes nearby which you didn't pick up. They give you 18% life total. Just pick them up and you're good to go. You should try respeccing the last 10% res node later on.

And obviously - change the flasks later when you have the money again. Curse immunity flask is VERY important.

"

Rackham_ wrote:

Spoiler

Hi there!

I just wanted to drop by and thank you for this great guide. Build feels amazing so far, I am currently level 79, haven't done uber lab yet, also still need to optimize my flasks (I'm saving currency for Dying Sun), but even with all those things to upgrade, it's really, really strong! I'm sitting on 5,3k HP, taking defensive nodes at the moment, because DPS (150k unbuffed) is more than enough for now.

For some time I wanted to find a build which I would push to it's limits. I think it's great opportunity to do so. I'll be probably trying MF too.

That's my gear at the moment.

Spoiler

I bought pair of gloves and boots with %life regen (Delve mod I believe). I crafted bow and quiver myself (need to get higher life roll on the second one). Decided to go with level 3 empower on main setup, not sure if it's stronger than damage on full life, haven't tried that yet. As I said, I will be upgrading a lot, helmet enchant and flasks are first (Dying Sun flask is huge!), then I'll probably try to get 21/20 CA, elder bow would end up last on my upgrade list.

I guess that's everything I wanted to share, thanks for great guide again, hopefully this year will be full of GG drops for all of you!

Just wanted to say, your gear is amazing, especially the rings.

Empower 3 has little bit less damage than DoFL (~5% or sth?) but the effect is always guaranteed, making it better choice overall. Empower 4 obviously gives more damage.

Your upgrade plan is great too, something i would recommend myself pretty much.

I don't really have anything else to say. Thanks and have fun!

"

Fluctuoso wrote:

Spoiler

Maaan, already killed Uber Elder reaaally easy with the skill duration points, 20% quality and nothing more.

Used Lunaris and Shakari no Aspect no Vitality no marble. Obviously using this items will be more safe.

Now only need elder jewelry i think and Empower + Enhance lvl4 (and obv the other gems).

Thank you for the amazing guide, your tips and your time!

I mean, you effectively gained huge amounts of damage and QoL from all the upgrades. Your Wither Totem especially, it's double as efffective than before or sth like this - assuming you managed to use it during the fight.

The setups i've listed there was to counter the degen, which a lot people have problem with. However with current DPS levels and enough awareness it's possible to kill majority of the squids, i know i've killed most of them in 3.4 when i tried the fight.

Forgot to mention last time - since you also don't like Culling Strike that much, try socketing Portal instead. The extra 8% gives 24% cast speed, which is massive. Super fast portal like this feels good to use.

I just recently started mapping, and I have issues with mana sustain. I'm using clarity(L10) and my amulet has %regen, but I find if I spam CA I run out of mana very fast. Usually this isn't an issue, but delves/incursions/bosses run me dry. I watched your safehouse video, and it never seems to be even close to an issue for you, like it is for me.

I've read previous posts about Druid and Flow, but you don't seem to actually take them yourself. With a mana pot it isn't an issue, but I'm looking to set up my flasks properly and that means removing it, which I can't see doing. Am I missing something? I'd love some help!

https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Codz/characters
Character "MyEyesTheyMelt", not sure how to do a direct link, sorry.

I picked up Druidic Route at level 90, like i suggest in progression guide. I love the mana and the incredibly easy flask uptime it offers, i always try to take it in my builds.

The real issue here is, you spam too much. My current mana regen is lower than yours plus your CA levels aren't that high - so the mana cost is lower. Your CA lasts for 1.8 second, the DoT portion is your damage. You don't need to constantly hit enemies. Create a new degen every 1,5 second. With helmet enchant you can apply it even less frequently.

There's one more thing to consider, your mana pool. Currently it's quite low (it will get better with levels / Druidic Route), so if you spam a bit you will run out quite fast.

Other than not spamming CA and letting degen do the work, there are few easy solutions to your problem:

* Vaal Clarity which you already have. I used it as well for mana intensive encounters myself, solved nearly all my issues - even without any mana regen gear
* Take Druidic Route earlier and increase your regen/mana pool that way. Levelling up also increases your mana so the consumption will get better with time.
* Elreon's veiled mod should also do the trick (up to -9 mana cost of skills), but shouldn't be necessary at all.

"

DankawSL wrote:

I picked up Druidic Route at level 90, like i suggest in progression guide. I love the mana and the incredibly easy flask uptime it offers, i always try to take it in my builds.

The real issue here is, you spam too much. My current mana regen is lower than yours plus your CA levels aren't that high - so the mana cost is lower. Your CA lasts for 1.8 second, the DoT portion is your damage. You don't need to constantly hit enemies. Create a new degen every 1,5 second. With helmet enchant you can apply it even less frequently.

There's one more thing to consider, your mana pool. Currently it's quite low (it will get better with levels / Druidic Route), so if you spam a bit you will run out quite fast.

Other than not spamming CA and letting degen do the work, there are few easy solutions to your problem:

* Vaal Clarity which you already have. I used it as well for mana intensive encounters myself, solved nearly all my issues - even without any mana regen gear
* Take Druidic Route earlier and increase your regen/mana pool that way. Levelling up also increases your mana so the consumption will get better with time.
* Elreon's veiled mod should also do the trick (up to -9 mana cost of skills), but shouldn't be necessary at all.

I'm sure you're right - I do spam the skill a lot. What do you do during your downtime? So far I've just been keeping the totems up and keeping frenzy at 3 stacks, then spamming CA until I need to repeat. I suppose I'll just take it easy on the CA casts from now on.

Thanks for the response, your guide is amazing and the build is very fun. The quality and design of this guide is out of the world, especially the crafting section is *very* helpful.

"

DankawSL

Yeah, definetly this builds is amazing. Reached lvl 97 already and bought lvl 4 Empower. And killed Uber Elder without deads so im so proud, thanks a lot.

I have a few questions if you can help me maybe. If you check my passive tree
i change some hp nodes (still got 6k) and have now 5 frenzy charges.

My question is, between Avatar of the Hunt/Master Fletcher, Toxic Strikes and Fatal toxins, what should be priority? Since i think im ok with 5 frenzy charges and at lvl 97 can respect some talents. Actually have all in Hunt/Master Fletcher but not sure if im doing correctly.

I still didnt try Xoph's Chayulas Pure bosses, i though will be easier than Uber elder right?

Thanks alot man a hope see you IG.

Gl

Grabbed Fluctuoso's tree for PoB(THANKS!), used Empower instead of Damage on Full Life.



Added 250k more DPS ;o
Now I just have to lvl my Ranger :D

So, how does this build deal with the T15/16 Syndicate encounters? Really problematic or doable?

"

Q: How about additional Toxic Rain setup?
A: Can be possible with some sacrifices. Toxic Rain has huge mana consumption, so you would need quite a lot of mana regen to sustain it. It also requires significant passive tree changes in order to scale Toxic Rain's damage to reasonable levels.

I run Toxic Rain on a raider, with only small differences to the passive tree:
- I used the other 'half' of the circle at growth and decay
- I only take to bravery in duelist and use the rest to go up to scion life (not all of them, but total +%life in the tree is 180%) & take the move speed + DOT nodes that are on the corner on the way to the scion area.
- No druidic Rite and add Deadly draw for attack speed + DOT dmg
- the scion gem slot with resists instead of the gem near Method to the madness.

https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/3.5.1/AAAABAIBAQBeAO4FtQZwBx4ILgiJDkgPqxEvEZYS8RNtFAkVIBa_FyYZjhm0IuIi6iP2JIsknSU_JogmlSpNKwos6S1NLYMuIy9yMHEwfDIBNZI2PTfUOkI-zz8nQdBH4kkTSVFKyEt4TZJN41FHVYVcQF1oXfJh4mJaYqxlTWuQbIxuqnGhdZ52gnp_eoR7w311hrOHy4ngiq-NfY2_j0-P-pARkx-VBZUumvGbjZ2qo4qkOaXLplenm7Ewshm0xbTRtQi1SLXytzC9Nr3mvqfC7MM6yAzKqc8Vz3rQrdN-1CPYvd2o5ljrY-0_7YPuDu968NX2o_6P_ro=?accountName=concillian&characterName=Concillian_Betray

I don't think there is a ton of sacrifice in my TR passive tree vs. your CA passive tree. I think they are very similar. Using my PoB and switching only the skill gems TR for CA and Mirage Archer for a DPS support brings my CA DOT DPS to nearly 400k, and nothing in my build is at all optimized for CA. I think it's pretty easy to be going back and forth.

You don't even need that many links, my gems are a bit of a mess and all over the place. If I cleaned them up and linked up my chest, I could probably make room for a 6 link CA on my chest to run both without any real issues.

Here is how I handled mana issues:

Option #1) Just run a mana flask. Really, raider is not dependent on specific flasks. It's not so bad running Grace and having a mana flask instead of a 3rd utility flask. I did early mapping with Daresso's Defiance for more attack speed with onslaught. This results in insane APS (more than 4 APS). The high attack speed sucks up mana if you're 6 linked, but mana flasks completely eliminate this problem. If you match your mana flask fill rate to your usage rate, it becomes like a utility flask in that it's up nearly 100% except in boss fights, so you can use staunching or curse immunity, etc... on the mana flask.

Option #2) unveil -x mana enchant for rings so you can craft that. This enchant can be used on a ring that also has the version of the prefix "XOPEC'S" that offers -x to total mana cost of skills. This is because that prefix is a hybrid that also has +xx maximum mana, which allows you to double up the -x mana cost of skills. These rings are rare, and so sort of a trade league endgame solution to double up, but even just the enchants make a big difference. A good ring is on the expensive side (mine was ~100c for one with life and some resist, so not crazy expensive, but not cheap) With that offering -7 mana, -7 enchants on both rings, +4 Toxic Rain is only 15 mana.

Just last night I started my switch over to Option #2 and I was experimenting... I can run Purity of Ice as well as Grace and still have plenty of mana with pretty much zero other investment in mana & regen. This passive tree setup + how easy it is to craft a god tier bow (+33-40% non-ailment chaos damage multiplier craft says hi) means raider DPS is great with very little +%increase damage on gear, so gearing has a TON of flexibilty to do things like this.