[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

Need some help figuring out a few things related to my skill tree and gearing, I deviated quite a bit here, I didn't grab Acro and I started as Scion. I took a bit of advice from people I play with as well, I'm doing pretty fine at the moment, but 'm not sure how I'll fare when I get goldwyrms soon, which following the guide will be my next purchase. (Finding good rarity gear even moderately priced on warbands has been a mission) In particular the amulet, seeing as once I have to change to Andys+Goldwyrms that, helmet, and gloves will be the majority of my resists.


Gear:


Tree:


I finally found a decent unique so I intend to buy the goldwyrms once I sell the soul taker I got today, other than that my main issue is jewels.

Going Scion allowed me the freedom to get up to 9 jewel sockets at the end.

Right now I'm 76, and I'm unsure of whether I want to get Reflexes or not.
Here's what I had aimed for lvl 90



I'm not sure if it's worth dropping the Reflexes and going for that extra Projectile Damage near Piercing Shots. My original intent was to have a lot of jewels available to me later as I can get a lot of damage that way, so far I've had only moderate success with jewel crafting though, so we'll have to see how that goes.
I also know it's almost always worth going for the scion life wheel when it's that nearby, but honestly I'm just having trouble choosing exactly which jewel slots to bother with at the moment, while crafting more jewels.

Jewels:
I'm also thoroughly enjoying the potion nodes, but dropping those 2 nodes could get me another jewel that could be at least another 20% damage or 20% damage/7% life, or if I need resists after andvarius, some resists and 10% damage.

I also haven't used Clarity at all for a long time, I think I used it as a crutch for maybe 5 minutes until I just rerolled my potions and got an instant mana pot that got me through the little few seconds until I could proc rallying cry. I use a hybrid flask as well with it, just as much for HP as mana.

Ser, does MF work differently for normal game zones compared to maps? I ask because I was playing with one of my non-MF ranger toons and was getting ridiculous drops. Maybe it was just RNGesus smiling but with only +8 rarity I had 7-8 uniques and 6 divination cards drop in 5-6 hours. Snagged a few chaos in that time as well.

well I guess this is a start. really lucked out on the Leo roll

How's my gear looking so far? Just now going through A2 Merc, so I'm just about to hit Lv60. My IIR without Item Rarity is around 130, and I'm still not really sure if I should run Item Rarity or Increased Area in my 5L. Is losing that much IIR worth the larger poison area?

"

13isLucky wrote:

Ser, does MF work differently for normal game zones compared to maps? I ask because I was playing with one of my non-MF ranger toons and was getting ridiculous drops. Maybe it was just RNGesus smiling but with only +8 rarity I had 7-8 uniques and 6 divination cards drop in 5-6 hours. Snagged a few chaos in that time as well.

Yes.

Maps roll item quantity and item rarity values based on the difficulty and amount of mods on the map, which inherently provides every character with at least a bit of MF while mapping, even if they're 0/0. Normal zones don't provide that bonus. As well, there's a currency drop penalty in effect for non-map zones. For every level difference greater than 2 below your character (ie, level 40 character in a 37 zone) there is a 2.5% currency penalty drop rate per level. So in that example, a 40 character in a 36 zone would see a 5%.

For the purposes of this penalty your character is never considered to be above level 68, so you will see a 100% currency drop rate in any zone 66 or higher.

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dbush2765 wrote:

How's my gear looking so far? Just now going through A2 Merc, so I'm just about to hit Lv60. My IIR without Item Rarity is around 130, and I'm still not really sure if I should run Item Rarity or Increased Area in my 5L. Is losing that much IIR worth the larger poison area?

That's entirely your decision on whether you prefer to have greater AoE coverage for faster clear speeds, or more IIR for the phat lootz.

Gear's fine. Only thing I would say if you can afford the res balance is to switch the boots out for a pair with some movement speed and IIR.

"

Penetros wrote:

I'm not sure if it's worth dropping the Reflexes and going for that extra Projectile Damage near Piercing Shots.

I'm just having trouble choosing exactly which jewel slots to bother with at the moment, while crafting more jewels.

I'm also thoroughly enjoying the potion nodes, but dropping those 2 nodes could get me another jewel that could be at least another 20% damage or 20% damage/7% life, or if I need resists after andvarius, some resists and 10% damage.

I also haven't used Clarity at all for a long time, I think I used it as a crutch for maybe 5 minutes until I just rerolled my potions and got an instant mana pot that got me through the little few seconds until I could proc rallying cry. I use a hybrid flask as well with it, just as much for HP as mana.

IIR on jewels is so minimal as to be effectively worthless compared to damage or resistance rolls you can get, which will help in terms of keeping the potion nodes (if you choose) without needing to sacrifice them for damage, or life, or resistances.

As for the tree, once you get a quality Poison Arrow, drop the AoE nodes in Scion entirely. They'll be inefficient. Which is one of two central reasons I avoided going Scion with the build; to remove that temptation. I would in fact say that you can remove one AoE node right now and barely feel it.

Going for piercing shots (at all) isn't worth it until Drillneck. You're spending four points to get 20% projectile damage. Inefficient.

Reflexes is unnecessary (for SC).

Your pathing into Herbalism from the left side of the cluster is also inefficient, if you plan on picking up Acrobatics. You save a point by going to the outside. If you're going Acro, you will eventually want to respec this. It's the same point cost, but gives you free access to Acrobatics.

(Note: it will seem like one extra point, but it isn't, since you'd pick up the last node in Herbalism anyway, which you haven't done yet).

Having a mana flask at all imho is dangerous and inefficient. It takes up a flask you could be using for quicksilver or granite or jade. It's your decision, but especially since you're going for 9 jewels you won't need to be running a purity once you have all the jewels rolled as required, meaning you'll have room for both grace and clarity, and won't need a mana flask in the slightest.

All told, this frees up 7 points from your tree (4 from piercing shots, 1 from AoE, 2 from potion nodes), allowing you to get more life, more damage, or more jewels, or acrobatics, at your discretion.

Adjusted tree without the 7 points used, assuming you'll want to pick up Acrobatics after level 90, or give you the option to move nodes into it

Adjusted tree, 7 points available, no plans for Acro

Anyway, that's my feedback. Hope it helps. You didn't directly ask any questions so I hope I've covered everything. If not, please reply and I'll continue to work with you.

@Thomasmgp That's fricken... amazing. Well done.

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dbush2765 wrote:

How's my gear looking so far? Just now going through A2 Merc, so I'm just about to hit Lv60. My IIR without Item Rarity is around 130, and I'm still not really sure if I should run Item Rarity or Increased Area in my 5L. Is losing that much IIR worth the larger poison area?

Spoiler

Like Serleth said some posts ago, it's about map clear speed. Bigger AoE makes you have to shoot less to kill big groups, thus making you clear things faster.

I'm using IIQ gem because i don't have enough currency to buy Goldwyrm (I wanted to by a 20% one, but prices skyrocketed). Also, after you buy Goldwyrm you'll probably have to rebalance your resists, since Goldwyrm doesn't give resists to lightning and cold.

My gear, anything I can majorly improve on?

"

Statusblue wrote:

My gear, anything I can majorly improve on?

Spoiler

It's min-max stuff for you at this point. You shouldn't need intelligence on your amulet (as long as you're willing to drop down a level or two for vulnerability), so you can drop that for a gold amulet with the high lit resist to cover off lightning coil, since you've opted for a dual-curse setup you won't have to cover the extra -20 on all other resistance slots. It'll likely mean some smart jewel investment, but it's doable.

Other than that, better IIR on gloves with similar rolls.

If you're having trouble with resistances you may consider investing in a different +3 bow with resistances on them. Since you're in Standard, it shouldn't be a problem to find one eventually.

had my luckiest trade ever today and have my 16/50 goldwyrm now. :) it's my first big unique.
have a +2 5L bow, rest of my items are rare combining resisticanes, IIR and life. also running pendarius blazon belt, but don't know if that is even good.

have 162/24 with the item rarity gem.

what big unique should i go for next? andvarius? or maybe aurseize?

"

ukab wrote:

had my luckiest trade ever today and have my 16/50 goldwyrm now. :) it's my first big unique.
have a +2 5L bow, rest of my items are rare combining resisticanes, IIR and life. also running pendarius blazon belt, but don't know if that is even good.

have 162/24 with the item rarity gem.

what big unique should i go for next? andvarius? or maybe aurseize?

Andvarius. Then either a second andvarius, or +3 bow. You'll need to drop perandus for a rare belt after Andy, most likely.