[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

"

Minzy wrote:

Haven't played much recently due to computer issues so I haven't been keeping up much with poe news.

How will this work with prophecy update? Has the skill tree been updated?

Very little will change with the scion tree, which for our purposes, as I understand it, will still be the best for us. They have not nerfed any skilled, and they have only moved 1 node on the skill tree, leaving it unaffected for us.

I think this build will be strong, as Serleth said earlier, this build will still be viable compared to faster clearing builds. Our large life pool and kiting abilities should also allow us to deal with the new end game labyrinth. The prophecies should be fun, as no enemies will reflect chaos dmg, and we can, if need be, swap out any piece of equipment (but our bow) in order to complete any given prophecies.

"

gutsquasher wrote:

Generally, I don't run any maps 8+ without pack size. Pack size and some IIR/IIQ on a maps is way better, IMHO, than just IIR/IIQ, because you get so many more mobs, that it makes up for the loss in IIR/IIQ.

This is true to some degree, but it really depends on what other mods are on the map. You can have pack size and still a low enough IIQ/IIR ratio where you're losing out compared to running something with 100% IIR / 50% IIQ.

That said, if your goal is more maps, extra mobs trump that.

"

Haven't played much recently due to computer issues so I haven't been keeping up much with poe news.

How will this work with prophecy update? Has the skill tree been updated?

Not yet, but nothing too significant is happening.

Adjusted tree will be up Wednesday-ish, but the basic gist is the extra Ascendency points give us Path of the Ranger and then we save three or so points on the passive tree as a result, which allow us to path to the right side of the Piercing Shots cluster, then two passives elsewhere for what you want (life, damage).

Very minimal adjustments.

That said, we still don't have the patch notes. Which is why I'm waiting to post an adjusted tree, just in case something unexpected happens.

If you've played this build before, it'll run exactly as it has since 2.0. I don't know when you last played, so while this build was weaker in 2.1, it recovered with 2.2 and in fact was better than it was even in 2.0. Bosses go down a lot quicker.

It now keeps pace with mid to mid-high dps clear speed builds, strictly in terms of clear speed and not accounting for loot pickups, which do Gorge runs in ~3:30 (same as this build).

As a point of comparison, the high-echelon dps builds do Gorge in about 2:30.

EDIT: If the provisional patch notes are any indication, nothing further will change with CA.

Can one realistically hope to level several Empowers in 2nd set Haku weapons to lvl 3 and try to vaal them for lvl 4 in a 3-month league (e.g. Prophecy)?

Or is it more realistic to do the same with Q20% CA gems and try to vaal them for lvl 21 when they hit 20?

EDIT: I just got my own answer from the wiki, lol. You need 1,666,045,137 XP to level Empower from 0 to 3, and only 342,050,139 to level CA from 0 to 20 (btw. the XP gap between 19 and 20 is HUGE for CA, compared to one between 18 and 19!)

So I guess buying lvl 3 Empowers and vaaling them is more realistic (who DOES level Empowers to 3 in temp leagues then?) Or buying lvl 4s once we're rich.

What is your experience?

Side question: is it worth it to include Empower in the gem setup as soon as it's lvl 2, or replace it with another gem until we have a lvl 3 Empower?

"

Jadran wrote:

Can one realistically hope to level several Empowers in 2nd set Haku weapons to lvl 3 and try to vaal them for lvl 4 in a 3-month league (e.g. Prophecy)?

Or is it more realistic to do the same with Q20% CA gems and try to vaal them for lvl 21 when they hit 20?

EDIT: I just got my own answer from the wiki, lol. You need 1,666,045,137 XP to level Empower from 0 to 3, and only 342,050,139 to level CA from 0 to 20 (btw. the XP gap between 19 and 20 is HUGE for CA, compared to one between 18 and 19!)

So I guess buying lvl 3 Empowers and vaaling them is more realistic (who DOES level Empowers to 3 in temp leagues then?) Or buying lvl 4s once we're rich.

What is your experience?

Side question: is it worth it to include Empower in the gem setup as soon as it's lvl 2, or replace it with another gem until we have a lvl 3 Empower?

Side question is answered in FAQ under "Q: Increased Area of Effect + Empower/Rapid Decay?"

As for levelling your own Empowers, it really depends on how much you play.

I play roughly 4 hours a day (after the first week) or so, and I can typically level I think 2.5 sets of Empowers to level 3? In about a month. I don't exactly keep track.

But yeah, it's realistic to do it yourself unless you're a casual player (2/hrs or less avg/day). Then you'd just want to buy them yourself.

Given you're talking about buying a level 4 Empower, and that you went 37/40, I'm inclined to believe you actually have the time available to invest. So, you should do it yourself.

You'll still profit even after the GCP cost if you're buying Empowers for 7-10c, and say 40-50c for the GCPs. Call it 0.8ex, you can sell the first batch probably for 2ex each (early on).

Worst case scenario, you're making 6 by the time you level the first batch. Sell them all clean to maximize your profit and you could pretty much buy a level 4 straight up. Cleans will go for 3.5-4ex each (2.5-3ex profit per) * 6 = 15-18ex profit.

Or something along those lines, anyway.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Serleth and I did miss that FAQ section :( I'm trying to dig through the whole thread now to see how it has developed over the last year.

What masters do you keep in your hideout / focus on leveling in the beginning of the league?

"

echelontee wrote:

What masters do you keep in your hideout / focus on leveling in the beginning of the league?

If you want to craft your own +3 bow you will need Catarina level 8, and Tora level 7.

For the currency exchange Haku, Eleron, and Vorici are the 'best' three, and they need to be level 6.

Master affix items that sell well are Eleron rings, and Vagan daggers(his other weapons also sell, but daggers are the most desired), Masters need to be level 4 to sell signature mods. These tend to be more valuable at the start of the league than the end

And Zana for free maps!

I don't have a set plan or strategy I follow for a new league, so I'm not sure the best way to recommend leveling your masters or in what order. I just try to rush Tora to level 7 so I can have four masters as soon as possible.

Why Conc. Effect? it's shows no effect when i put on Conc. Effect with Caustic Arrow...

"

Kunibertos wrote:

Why Conc. Effect? it's shows no effect when i put on Conc. Effect with Caustic Arrow...

From the second bullet point in the OP: "Area Damage Modifiers and Tooltip Damage - For those new to CA, they will not show up on the tooltip chaos damage/s calculation. But they do factor in. So don't be afraid when you slot in conc effect and see no change: it's happening, but it's a known "bug" that it doesn't show up on tooltip."

Use the calculator in the tools section to calculate out the 'actual' cloud DPS with Conc equipped.

"

ChronoExile wrote:

"

echelontee wrote:

What masters do you keep in your hideout / focus on leveling in the beginning of the league?

If you want to craft your own +3 bow you will need Catarina level 8, and Tora level 7.

For the currency exchange Haku, Eleron, and Vorici are the 'best' three, and they need to be level 6.

Master affix items that sell well are Eleron rings, and Vagan daggers(his other weapons also sell, but daggers are the most desired), Masters need to be level 4 to sell signature mods. These tend to be more valuable at the start of the league than the end

And Zana for free maps!

I don't have a set plan or strategy I follow for a new league, so I'm not sure the best way to recommend leveling your masters or in what order. I just try to rush Tora to level 7 so I can have four masters as soon as possible.

To add to this (thanks Chrono):

It's entirely dependent on what your strategy is.

Like Chrono said, if your goal is to craft your own bow, you'll definitely want Catarina level 8, however Tora is not a requirement. You need the "cannot roll attack mods" from Catarina, and the multimod from Elreon if you want to roll a dual res bow, but it's Leo that you need (he's free, doesn't take up a slot) to craft the DoT mod.

If your goal is profit, you want Elreon and Vagan.

If your goal is to have a solid mix of things you can craft on your gear to improve items you buy or find to fit the res balance needs, you want Elreon, Haku and Tora.

My personal recommendation is Elreon, Vagan for profit / jewelry crafting, and then level Haku to 6 (for his highest tier resistance) and swap him out for Zana once you find her, and Catarina for the last slot once you get a large hideout.