[3.15] Crimson Bow Gladiator, RoA + Puncture | Pure Bleed Build | All Content | In-depth

December 1-5th, 2018 - Betrayal League
Build unchanged for the most part. That insane Ryslatha's Coil buff... Not only it gives great amount of life (that was very much needed) but also gained a lot of damage as well! It's BiS unique now, you can't NOT use it.

About the future of the build - i'll most likely play this build in softcore this league as my 2nd build to safely push it to the limit. As in tradition, i'm starting the league with CA Raider in HC league.

There are few issues i've had with the build that i'm looking to solve (already have ideas, need to test first tho). Siege Ballistas die too quickly, this is especially important in end game boss fights. Nearby totem nodes (Ironwood) and some jewels could easily fix it, but i don't know since i'm very unexperienced with totems. It's either that or use another skill for single target, but i would prefer the current solution honestly.

Build's base mobility also hurts end game boss viability as well. There's simply not enough time to dodge and place ballista in a safe place. You can kill nearly any boss in the game, but not all of them (i actually reached 50-25% phase on uber elder before i died). That's not something that can be solved that easily.

That's it for now, i'm going to sleep. Updating CA Raider tomorrow, it's getting way more changes than this build.

EDIT:
December 6th, 2018
Path of Building
* Updated PoB link
* Updated build's passive tree (super minor change)
* PoB now reflects recent item changes to the build
* Ryslatha's Coil is updated to 3.5 values (added +95 life mostly)

Hey, playing a build heavily influenced by this, as a Champion using the Haemophilia gloves.



https://pastebin.com/8nvLL44W

Went the Impale route on the ascendancy tree. Will probably pick up the Taunt node last since I don't think the banner one is that great.

Managed to work in a couple of nice Focus skills. Looking forward to crafting an Elder bow once bases become available and I get delving a bit more.

That's awesome, i didn't think anyone would make this build as a starter.

Haemophilia turns any ascendancy into Gladiator tbh, but i really dislike how it reduces bleed duration and takes slot for potential Blasphemer's Grasp.

Champion should work well defensively. Fortify + Taunt nodes are no-brainers here. Impale doesn't do anything for bleed (since it's a separate reflect damage) and the ascendancy node can't even give you a lot of flat physical damage due to low impale chance. The good thing about taunt route is that you can potentially ditch RT and pick up better/closer nodes instead. Thinking about Scion life wheel here.

I suggest to first buy a normal 6-link and craft decent bleed bow and then think about the elder one. It should take ~80-100 tries to have a single chance for the 7-link bleed combo - and it still might roll crappy bonus prefix.

Anyway, i'm looking forward to your results and good luck!

Any suggestions for Immortal Syndicate encounters? I'm lvl 75 and I'm reaching a point where I can't win any research encounters.
I understand this build wasn't made in 3.5, but do you have any tips for making my life easier? :)

My Gear (sry I dont know how to link stuff here):
Bow 5link: 97% increased physical dmg (50-150), 25% increased dmg with bleeding, 60% chance for bleeding inflicted with this weapon to deal 100% more dmg.

Body Armour: Working on a 6link for Siege Balista

Skirmish + Ryslatha's Coil (uncorrupted)

Resistance: +50% fire, +40% cold, +30% lightning, +7% chaos

edit: maybe this helps:https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/2HIGH2SCORE/characters

Syndicate members are really tanky and deal heavy damage, so i bet it might be difficult to play the build this league. I'll be trying it myself later in softcore, but not just yet.

Things you should do:

* Buy a better bow base, 6-links are quite cheap and crafting shouldn't be too difficult
* (temporary solution) Craft flat physical damage on your current bow
* Finish merciless labyrinth, should be really easy now.
* I'm not sure if you finished all quests that award a passive point. Based on my tree, it seems that you're missing 7 of them.

* Use Blood Rage. There's no reason to not use it as it heavily increases damage and speed.
* Level up a bit and pick up Resolute Technique.
* Resistances. You NEED them capped, on any build. Period. Bismuth flask is ok as temporary solution but not a permanent one.
* Your life is also low. You have to improve it by picking up the life nodes (i saw that you skipped evasion/hp cluster)

Just did shaper with this build in 3.5 at level 85. Made a few changes and opted to switch out siege ballista and tornado shot for scourge arrow. Great build super fun and off meta.

hey just a question why swift affliction on the balista and no vicious projectile ? is the "more physical projectile damage" not scaling with bleed and balista? in case i dont have helder or a unique bow who have the mod for sure it is not better to take vicious ? sorry for my bad english , amazing build i love it ,bleedsplosion popcorn is really cool and balista is really safe

In case you're wondering - nope, the build is not dead. I'm playing it in SC from time to time, when i'm not on my CA character. Currently at lvl 92 with not that good gear and nowhere close to final setup.

Some notes based on my experience:
* Syndicate members are obviously quite deadly, but i have yet to die to them. Ballista + Purity Sentinels make it somewhat safe with the face tanking.
* Focus can be VERY good on this build. up to 140% increased ailment duration which is effective DPS increase for bosses. You could craft 28-36% AS while focused to further empower the short spike of power. I didn't get to test focus yet unfortunately.
* Picking up Ironwood totem nodes solves nearly all problems with Ballista survivability. They can still be destroyed obviously.

I'll get to updating the guide eventually, once i test everything out. Not like the guide is that popular it requires the immediate attention right now.

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notabot123 wrote:

Just did shaper with this build in 3.5 at level 85. Made a few changes and opted to switch out siege ballista and tornado shot for scourge arrow. Great build super fun and off meta.

Glad you're enjoying it! Scourge Arrow is good for both single target and clear, but best in either. I personally felt it's too slow for clearing and little bit lackluster in single target. Long charge also makes it kinda scary to use sometimes.

"

mortadèle wrote:

Spoiler

hey just a question why swift affliction on the balista and no vicious projectile ? is the "more physical projectile damage" not scaling with bleed and balista? in case i dont have helder or a unique bow who have the mod for sure it is not better to take vicious ? sorry for my bad english , amazing build i love it ,bleedsplosion popcorn is really cool and balista is really safe

FAQ: Why don't you use Vicious Projectiles?
A: Lowers AS. Other support gems offer nearly as much damage without any real downside. Plus it's also a goal to have 7-link bow, with Vicious Projectiles being the bonus link.

ok thx , i am not at the point to have the 7 link ,i have just a normal high dmg citadel bow for now ( fossile crafted with bleeds mod)for cheap but its my main objective

its just swift affliction give just 45% affliction dmg + small duration reduction , and vicious give 49% more phys projectile dmg + 49% on phys dmg over time +10% reduction atack speed, the thing i dont understand is the 49% more phys projectile damage is it scaling with bleed ? or just the phys dmg over time , its not clear , for exemple the nodes with projectile damage boost on the template dont give bleed dmg so i dont know if its same with this gem

Projectile damage doesn't increase bleed dps. Only the "Physical Damage over Time" portion works with bleed.