[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

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D1Gz wrote:

I have a 94 marauder sitting around doing nothing and i was wondering if you might be able to do up a passive tree for a marauder version of your build so I can try out MFing on him. I was wondering if I can use my iir and iiq gem together or if the dps wont be good enough. Any tips or suggestions appreciated thx.

You could do a marauder. Remove the scion nodes, remove the 3-point jewel, remove the mana nodes, and connect from 'Master of the Arena' node to marauder start. Go Zerker as your Ascendancy. You'll need some INT on your gear.

Will dps be good enough? Depends on what you're used to and what you plan to do. Caustic Arrow is one of the lowest damage skills in the game, so keep that in mind. You're making an MF build, not Vaal Spark Inquisitor "omg i got 40m xp/h in ship lul" build.

Recently seen Mathil's LA+Frostwall uber run and wonder is it good idea to use Frostwall with CA on hard bosses? Am i right if we have enough pierce CA will go through frost wall?

btw for those who needs fast leo 3 (15 minutes) http://imgur.com/a/mIkoY
if some one focusing on leo, please add me in game so we can do it together

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

First of all, thank you so much Serleth, Chrono and other contributors for this fantastic guide and related discussion. I believe it is safe to assume that this thread is one of the best of its kind on this forum - an inspiration and source of great knowledge to many, many players, including me.

That said, I would like to discuss the scion levelling process in the upcoming 2.3 patch. Keep in mind that I will be writing from the perspective of SC player, therefore more inclined to go "plz-more-clear-speed" route than the safe one.

First of all, do you really think that the nerf to Spark will be relevant from the levelling perspective? Let’s check the changes:

* Spark projectiles are now 20% slower - will that make levelling with Spark that much clunkier? I don't think so.
* Quality on Spark is now worth 1% projectile speed per point of quality (rather than 2%) - doesn't matter, you would not have the quality Spark for levelling anyways.
* The time that Sparks must travel before they re-arm has been increased from 500ms to 1000ms - don't know what to think about this, honestly.
* Spark projectiles now destroy themselves after travelling 150 units, which is in-line with other projectiles - as I understand it simply prevents from clearing mobs several screens away. Again, should not interact with levelling with Spark.


As I am reading it, it appears that the nerf to Spark will mostly impact its late game application, not the levelling one. Am I correct?

Secondly, which support gems are you planning on using for Frostbolt and Vortex / Ice Nova? I know it is hard to answer without the actual numbers known for now, but I was thinking about going for Frostbolt + LMP (later changed for GMP) + Faster Casting and Vortex/Ice Nova + Controlled Destruction + Faster Casting (or Elemental Focus / Conc Effect; depending on which option will give me better clear speed and "smoother" gameplay). I am concerned however that this might be too mana-hungry, especially if I will not mule Clarity for my scion.

Any thoughts?

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X1aNzZ wrote:

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omgree wrote:

Do u think dmg would be enough to start CA as soon as possible in a new league?
Dont u think leveling with totems gonna be much easier and safer (leveling CA in swap gear) and respec at level when u can afford bow +2/+3? Or may be leveling with new ice skills.

Upto lvl 25 or 30, totem or spell gems good but after that when u get conc effect gem in act4 normal and if u have any 4L bow i think dps will be good enuf for lvling

Use : CA+conc+void+rapid decay


and affording +2 5L not that tough after lvl 55-60

In scion forum section i found almost the same build (except some gear). So i think level with anything until 4l bow +1 untill level 25-30 an than we could switch to our CA. Or u think with Frostblade and Vortax we gonna lvling much easier?

A little confused with leveling. Am I supposed to level a templar AND a ranger for the skill gems?

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KaseyM21 wrote:

A little confused with leveling. Am I supposed to level a templar AND a ranger for the skill gems?

im usually buy all gems on poe.trade what i need, cuz i dont have alot freinds and currently not in guild.
For CA it not gonna take that much time to level the Ranger and can get it early.

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omgree wrote:

Recently seen Mathil's LA+Frostwall uber run and wonder is it good idea to use Frostwall with CA on hard bosses? Am i right if we have enough pierce CA will go through frost wall?

Because the Cloud degeneration does not stack, having more clouds on bosses does not do anything. For hard bosses make sure you curse them, have your wither totem up, and throw down your Vaal Lightning Trap for shocking ground. These three things in addition to the normal practice of keeping up your Frenzy charges, and Flame Golem up is enough for most of the bosses in this game (esp with smart placement, and play). But to answer the second question, there is enough pierce to trigger a second cloud through the frost wall.

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swdr wrote:

As I am reading it, it appears that the nerf to Spark will mostly impact its late game application, not the levelling one. Am I correct?

That is how I am reading it as well. Due to the arming time, and the expiration time just look to get a little more cast speed on gear where able and I think for leveling it should feel pretty close to the same. If you want to make sure you can keep up a fast clip while leveling, also grab a firestorm/flame Totem/fire etc, just in case as those are still very solid to push through until Merc.

Per your question about Frost Bolt + Ice Nova/Vortex. I think keeping each in a +1 cold weapon would be good, and keeps your options to a three link (Also helping with mana). Frost Bolt - Faster Casting - Multi Proj, as you suggest sounds strong, and gives you a lot more control over projectile spread and anchor points for your Nova/Vortex. I think Nova/Vortex - Controlled Destruction - Conc Effect would be my first try, but if it feels clunky without cast speed, then swap Conc Effect. (This is still all just conjecture at this point, and maybe Serleth has a better idea, as he is planning on leveling that way too).

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KaseyM21 wrote:

A little confused with leveling. Am I supposed to level a templar AND a ranger for the skill gems?

According to the wiki this is where you can get the build's gems
The recommended gems for the build:

So if you are planning on Leveling as Casutic Arrow, start shadow complete Breaking Some Eggs(Caustic Arrow) and The Caged Brute quest(Clarity). Once you have those two gems start your Scion. You will still need to find or trade for Inc Duration, and Grace, but that should be simple enough to do with friends list or guild, or check dotTrade.

If you are leveling any of the other spell methods you will need to look at what you want and which class offers them. Then you will need to decide if it is worth creating a mule character or just buy/trade from the player market.

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ChronoExile wrote:

Because the Cloud degeneration does not stack, having more clouds on bosses does not do anything. For hard bosses make sure you curse them, have your wither totem up, and throw down your Vaal Lightning Trap for shocking ground. These three things in addition to the normal practice of keeping up your Frenzy charges, and Flame Golem up is enough for most of the bosses in this game (esp with smart placement, and play). But to answer the second question, there is enough pierce to trigger a second cloud through the frost wall.

Yeap, i know that. Just was asking is it working with FW and is it worth it to use strategy FW + CA, but thanks for adwice with wither and golem, i think its gonna be better.

And also, thanks for gem "compilation", gonna put in in my cloud doc :}

ola ^^

just wanted to chime in and wish you all a great start into Prophecy leagues!



so long & see you around in Wraeclast

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Chronodroid wrote:

ola ^^

just wanted to chime in and wish you all a great start into Prophecy leagues!

Spoiler

It hurts a little bit inside, but I will not be running one of the infamous fart-dropping caustic arrowers this time. Part of the reason being a small absence in the time where MFing is most profitable (weeks 2-5) and also that this time, there are not really many trade-based challenges but rather harsh kill-based ones.

My plan includes to complete every challenge, but this time with another approach. I'll be rolling a boss-smoking build that melts anything and has a moderate cost to gear in the first place. From my calc based on past league starting prices, I assume to have even lower cost to gear. The patch notes for 2.3 just made the build a lil' bit better, even, than it was in 2.2.


(if the following is not OK with you Ser, I'll remove it. Just wanted to give back to the awesome community here, as I did in most leagues.)

If I succeed and am around, I'll run any kill-based challenge completely free of charge if you provide the cost of it, e.g. the map or the sacrifice pieces, the entrance fee to the council etc etc.

you can find my ingame name in the signature after league has started or write a PM with title "Fart?!"

so long & see you around in Wraeclast

SOo what build are you making, prolif flameblast?