[1.1.0] Crit. Bow Witch (RoA + EB + MoM + Max. Evade)

Bow Witch builds are somewhat of a rarity, and seem to become rarer with every patch. Actually, I can think of only one functioning bow Witch build and that was Baker's, but 1.1.0 broke it, and the build has not been updated (yet?).

So, I've been giving post-1.1.0 bow Witch builds a lot of thought myself, and came up with three basic variants:

- The Life build looks to be by far the easiest. That said, I don't like it because it is passive point heavy, and even though the life nodes taken are efficient ones, I still doubt whether it's enough.

- The ES build seems to make sense for a Witch, and is probably closest to Baker's original but there is a problem: we have no Armour, and the Acrobatics series of nodes that can make Evasion so efficient, directly counteracts the efficiency of our ES. Also, the 1.1.0 changes to Vaal Pact hit CI builds particularly hard, as the tradeoff to the leech nerf of being able to use flasks again is meaningless to us. A low life ES Witch build would need CI to survive, and without full Evasion, and a now less than half as efficient way to replenish our ES, I again doubt whether it would be enough.

- The Life + Mana hybrid build looks a bit weird, as we'd be taken life nodes, but not nearly enough to survive. However, through Eldritch Battery we can add the Witch's significant ES to our allready above average mana pool, and then use that as a shield by taking Mind over Matter. Moreover, since this leaves you with NO Energy Shield at all, it's "safe" to spec into the Acrobatics' series of nodes and go full Evasion.



In summary, the latter options seem the best to me, but I wonder what other peole's thoughts are on this matter.

I'm theorycrafting a Bow Witch build for some time now.
I have a potential 9.35% crit chance Harbinger with fire and lightning damage and a 9.1
with physical damage.I think as Witches we have to benefit from the many Int nodes and the ES also.

A CI witch can be very succesful and of course with a bigger ES buffer than any other build.
Also we have the ability to take two power charges easily and the awesome area node if we
choose RoA as our AoE attack.

A life based build would benefit tremendously from Eldritch Battery and can possibly sustain
LA with it's huge mana pool.

I'm thinking something like this for a CI Witch.


And I'm going to try this an elemental EB Witch since I have a physical ranger bow user.


Notice I did took only crit nodes.Two more frenzy and power charges and 36% reduced mana meaning we can easily use Anger,Wrath and Grace or Hatred going full out Dps.

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Slagmaur wrote:

Also we have the ability to take two power charges easily and the awesome area node if we
choose RoA as our AoE attack.

I REALLY REALLY like that idea. I had totally forgotten about that Area Node working for RoA.

By the way, for a phys. based archer, which would be the most logical choice if you're using RoA, I think Frenzy should be your single target attack.

"

Slagmaur wrote:

A life based build would benefit tremendously from Eldritch Battery and can possibly sustain
LA with it's huge mana pool.

Still, I think Life alone won't cut it, as you'll be left with virtually no armour and only a half-!@#$%^&* ES. I think if you not go CI, and especially if you ARE taking EB, you should grab MoM as well. Once you're at Ondar's and Point Blank, it's not that far anyway, and it's 30% of every type of damage you take (save perhaps DoT?) that does not directly drain from your Life pool. There's a third Frenzy charge right next to it too.

I hadn't really considered an elemental build yet. It sounds logical for a Witch, but from what I've seen on the fora they don't tend to be difficult at least, and LA in particular. Sure LA converts from physical, but your passives will be really spread out. Also I've played an LA Duelist in Domination, and I sincerely doubt ANY build can consistently run linked LA on mana. I've only ever succeeded with LL + Blood Magic. A Witch might be able to pull it off, but then it would leave little for percentage based aura's and MoM. Secondly, LA builds tend to perform terrible against single targets.

That route you take to Vaal Pact is one I'd totally missed. It does make it more easily accesible for CI builds. I'm still worried though on how it performs post 1.1.0. I just haven't heard anything about it yet. Currently I'm also playing a CI + Vaal Pact Discharger, and I've yet to see how that plays out. It should be fine though as Discharge just has a massive damage output per attack. Do you think the new Vaal Pact could work for a non-CI build, possibly even with EB + MoM?

Yes that Area node works for RoA.So if you're planning to use RoA take it along with that
Power Charge.

Frenzy is the best single target skill for bow users.Hands down.
Elemental or physical.Burning Arrow is mana friendly but less dps than a fully charged frenzy
and Elemental Hit uses 32 mana at level 20.By itself.

As for armor 8 out of 10 bow users don't have any armor at all right now.Everyone uses Ondar's
Guile and even Acrobatics in order to avoid the reflected damage.

I have never used Vaal Pact in Life builds so I don't really know anything about it.

As for MoM is a very good idea and especially if you take Point Blank.The frenzy charge there would be awesome also,but in order MoM to be useful you have to take many mana reserve nodes
and not only the 5% in Shadow area.My EB Witch (melee) with a 500 ES armor goes up to 1600 mana
and with two 60% auras on she has 300 mana left.I don't know really.Physical nodes are all in
the ranger area and I think you'll have many points to spent there.

Overall physical bow chars have only one problem and that is reflect and with immortal call and enduring cry you kinda get past it.Mana and physical leech works wonders with a physical build and crits proc every elemental damage you may have on gear.

On the other side the elemental tree I posted can give the opportunity to use 3 auras and the
mana pool to use a purely elemental skill.I'll give it a try.And of course with a high level
clarity the ability to use Arctic Armour.

I agree with you on the elemental tree, but especially after you mentioned those AoE node(s), I'd really like to give RoA a try.

Regarding the reflect, yes that's true as well, but I accept that and try to work with it. After all, most builds have some kind of weakspot, and if they don't they're usually ridiculously expensive gear dependent builds.

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Slagmaur wrote:

As for MoM is a very good idea and especially if you take Point Blank.The frenzy charge there would be awesome also,but in order MoM to be useful you have to take many mana reserve nodes and not only the 5% in Shadow area.My EB Witch (melee) with a 500 ES armor goes up to 1600 mana
and with two 60% auras on she has 300 mana left.I don't know really.Physical nodes are all in
the ranger area and I think you'll have many points to spent there.

I'm not quite sure which "mana reserve nodes" you're referring too. Do you mean nodes that lower the amount of mana reserved by aura's?

In any case I understand that you're saying a MoM build would basically just need more mana. You might be right here as well: while mana is relatively easy to keep up with leech and regen, a MoM build would need a significant base mana pool, especially with aura's. I don't necessarily need to run 3+ aura's, but one or two would definitely be nice. However, with EB we'd have two ways to increase our mana pool through gear. One by modifiers that directly increase the mana pool, the other by modifiers that grant more ES, which is then also converted into mana. I'm not sure if there's a difference in effectiveness between the two, and if so, which of the two is the more effective. With EB, does 1 ES translate into 1 mana?

Both Carcass Jack and the Cloak of Defiance would be very interesting pieces for such a build, and while not the cheapest, still pretty affordable. Carcass Jack would have a higher damage output and overall better modifiers, but the Cloak of Defiance allows you to drop the MoM keystone (and looks sexy, compared to Carcass Jack's Lady Gaga dress look).

Yes I mean the nodes that lower the mana reservation for auras.
With a 5% node only and about 1000 mana you can use two auras easily (especially with a physical
build).

As for EB and ES and mana nodes I don't really know the exact maths but I assume they can
be found somewhere in the wiki.Cloak Of Defiance seems a good unique but I think Carcass
with the life and ele resists and of course the area damage suits perfect for the build you
have in mind.Especially since you are already near MoM and the last frenzy charge is something
every bow user considers.

Edit : Re-read your first post.If you take EB and Acrobatics your mana pool is lower than without
Acrobatics.

"

Slagmaur wrote:

Edit : Re-read your first post.If you take EB and Acrobatics your mana pool is lower than without
Acrobatics.

So the conversion occurs AFTER the ES reduction by Acrobatics?

That's good to know, because that'd be a significant blow to your mana pool. It has to be seen then, whether the increased dodge chance weighs up to that. It's probably best to try and experiment with it with a respec point/orb of regret.

Prepatch with the same equip my Ranger with EB then but no Acrobatics had more than the 850ish
mana now.

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Slagmaur wrote:

Prepatch with the same equip my Ranger with EB then but no Acrobatics had more than the 850ish
mana now.

O.K.,.. that settles it, Acrobatics is a no-go with MoM. That does make a decent mana pool for MoM even more important, as you're gonna dodge a lot less.

Following your advice on mana and aura's, I came up with the following update:

- I dropped Acrobatics
- I dropped Frenzy charges (yes weird, I know)
- I basically dropped all inefficient/sub-par nodes, like nodes that ONLY add 8% life, and do not lead to better ones
- I made sure all base Dex, Int AND Str comes from on-path nodes or nodes that add other bonusses as well
- I dropped PURE crit multiplier nodes (kept the once that added other bonusses too), as I feel crit chance is far more important anyway
- I dropped Arcane Focus. It doesn't make sense wasting a skill point for 14% extra ES if it's only gonna get converted anyway. You'd probably be better off going for some straigh 8% mana increase
- I significantly increased mana pool and mana regen
- I significantly increased auramancing capabilities (e.g. -20% mana reserved)

Dropping Frenzy was a bit of a wild gamble, but leads to noticeably better attack speed, better damage, more crits, more mana, more mana regen, and better overall stats. However, a Frenzy version is attainable for exactly the same amount of points (112):

Eager to hear what you think about this.

I've started a bow witch in evasion, but I'm not physical/Crit like you guys : I'm using ice shot :).
Also going for CI ( so no acro ... ), I'll try to be very mobile and carry flasks of heat.

Also vaal RoA is an awesome CC, I can't wait to link it with aster projectile + inc area inc duration !

I'm at level 41 so far and it's going pretty well ( I switched to bow around lvl 30 basically ).