[outdated] Caustic Arrow Solo Map MFer (20/300+)

I'm not sure, I didn't try it (I was leveling with Magma Orb). Regardless, it'd be a good secondary setup to help with single target, and it's something that will be added to the end of the build with the Frenzy CoH setup, so it's something I'd recommend tossing in to your mix anyway if you're leveling with CA, which will be significantly easier in 3.0.

Hey Serieth!

First of all wanted to thank you for making this amazing build and guide, i have been using it in Awakening (haven`t played since) and will be using it now too, love CA and to have a chance to make some Currency as solo player always helps.

Now as a less experienced player i`ve been thinking what is your thoughts on LvL-3 Enhance Support for last link instead of IIR. Would it add more dps/QoL or if i would ditch IIR there is way better options?

Secondly been messing with the idea of using second Bow (mechanically can swap in milliseconds) for bosses and big HP targets with +IIR +IIQ and Culling strike, would that make sense to use? And if yes, what would be good alternative for Single target Bow skill in this build to link those gems too?

"

KostoLev wrote:

Hey Serieth!

First of all wanted to thank you for making this amazing build and guide, i have been using it in Awakening (haven`t played since) and will be using it now too, love CA and to have a chance to make some Currency as solo player always helps.

Now as a less experienced player i`ve been thinking what is your thoughts on LvL-3 Enhance Support for last link instead of IIR. Would it add more dps/QoL or if i would ditch IIR there is way better options?

Secondly been messing with the idea of using second Bow (mechanically can swap in milliseconds) for bosses and big HP targets with +IIR +IIQ and Culling strike, would that make sense to use? And if yes, what would be good alternative for Single target Bow skill in this build to link those gems too?

have fun dealing with 2x hp bosses in 3.0

I'm level 69 in Beta playing CI Caustic Arrow with Soul Strike. I switched around level 35 to Caustic Arrow.

It has felt good for the most part, leveling in the top right of the tree feels squishy without decent HP gear as usual but it was pretty standard. I ran +1 4Link bow and switched around level 55 to a +2 4 link bow. Essence Drain also on a 4link. Spell totem + wither. WIthout ED, the single target is very weak. With wither active, ED+caustic cloud kills bosses quickly up to T5 (haven't done more myself). Clearspeed feels very good, I'm using Poacher's Aim jewel and +1 target pierce quiver, seems to be all the pierce that is needed but I haven't played super dense higher tier maps yet. Soul Strike made me feel completely safe with the Occultist Wicked Ward (ES regen not interrupted by damage), I have 5500ES with pretty mediocre gear. Tier 3 ES values at best on any slot. With Sulphur flask, Caustic cloud = 9642DPS (lvl 17+2), ED is 9973DPS (lvl 16+1). I'm using frenzy charges since I'm applying curse for now with frenzy and they buff the DPS of the cloud as well. I plan to run blasphemy + temp chains + vuln if I play this build in 3.0. I might wait to play it though since GGG said they plan on improving the skill or adding a CA jewel.

Anyway, it definitely has been fun to play. I would wait to switch to Caustic arrow until CI + soul strike with a +2 bow if I play this build again though, it's just so much worse than other leveling skills ultimately.

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mezmery wrote:

have fun dealing with 2x hp bosses in 3.0

Everybody's going to have that problem, though.

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KostoLev wrote:

Hey Serieth!

First of all wanted to thank you for making this amazing build and guide, i have been using it in Awakening (haven`t played since) and will be using it now too, love CA and to have a chance to make some Currency as solo player always helps.

Now as a less experienced player i`ve been thinking what is your thoughts on LvL-3 Enhance Support for last link instead of IIR. Would it add more dps/QoL or if i would ditch IIR there is way better options?

Secondly been messing with the idea of using second Bow (mechanically can swap in milliseconds) for bosses and big HP targets with +IIR +IIQ and Culling strike, would that make sense to use? And if yes, what would be good alternative for Single target Bow skill in this build to link those gems too?

Thanks for your kind words =)

Enhance improves the quality on a gem, and it's important to note it only effects active skill gems. So in this case, it would only improve the AoE of the cloud. Given that Drillneck will (more than likely) no longer be effective for the build come 3.0, we'll be running a rare penetrating arrow quiver with life and resistances, allowing us to get Carcass Jack equipped more easily and/or offset resistances on jewels for more damage rolls.

This will provide us with far more dps/QoL than running Enhance would. If you're going to drop IIR, it should be for a straight dps multiplier gem. Given that we run CA - VM - RD - CE - Empower, that leaves Slower Projectiles as the clearcut winner.

The culling option is fine, though I think you'd be better off adjusting the Frenzy CoH setup, going with Frenzy - GMP - CoH - Vuln - IIR - IIQ, dropping GMP for the new Decay support if you wanted to add more dps to bosses and weren't that concerned about the QoL factor on cursing.

Our build doesn't really have much room to add things for single target, but the common options are investing in a +3 bow rolled with Essence of Decay (expensive as hell), the aforementioned Decay gem switch, and possibly an ED setup instead, which will benefit from our projectile damage, DoT and chaos damage nodes (we'll be picking up a lot more chaos damage come 3.0 due to the changes to Drillneck and Dirty Techniques, so this becomes a more effective option). There aren't any bow skills that would benefit us greatly with our tree so uninvested in traditional bow nodes.

@coogiboy thanks for your feedback on the different build style, my friend.

No problem, this seems to be the only place with Caustic Arrow discussion going on so I figured I would post my experiences. Just solo'd Merc Lab no problems, damage seems to be fine where I am now. Thanks for the thread.

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KostoLev wrote:

[...]

Secondly been messing with the idea of using second Bow (mechanically can swap in milliseconds) for bosses and big HP targets with +IIR +IIQ and Culling strike, would that make sense to use? And if yes, what would be good alternative for Single target Bow skill in this build to link those gems too?

I'm going to chime in with my opinion, hope you don't mind... This is a personal preference setup I enjoy running on my CA character in standard league. In challenge leagues I usually run a fewer number of sockets/links overall, and keep portal in my main set up.

• Bow

6L: Caustic Arrow - RD - VM - Conc - IIR - Empower (I might switch IIQ in for low tier maps.)

• Helm

4L: Frenzy - GMP - CoH - Vuln

• Gloves

4L: Flame Golem - Blink Arrow - Faster Attacks - Faster Projectiles

• Boots

4L: Spell Totem - Wither - Faster Casting - Increased Duration

• Chest

3L: Grace - Clarity - Enlighten
3L: Blood Rage - Vaal Lit Trap - Increased Duration

• Weapon Swap

?L: Portal

Once the 3.0 patch launches I was going to test replacing Faster Projectiles with Decay. While the Blink Arrow mobility is really fast, it is certainly not needed. This would give both the golem and the blink arrow clone the ability to inflict decay. Which for bosses with no, or very few, adds should help greatly.

Also as Serleth mentions with the changes to the allocated nodes with the 3.0 changes a 3L or 4L ED set up might be just the boost needed for single target and boss damage. It might help make leveling chaos damage smoother as well.

RE:

Thanks for advice Serleth, absolutely missed the part about Enhance/Empower affecting only "Skill gems", indeed adding more quality on CA would be a waste.

And pairing new Decay with Frenzy is very sound idea for additional single Target DPS. Only thing im missing is how IIR/IIQ support gems work, initially i thought that Culling Strike is needed to secure a kill and Trigger those gems as theres big possibility CA will finish the boss and IIR/IIQ would have no effect, or am i missing something?

"

Serleth wrote:

"

mezmery wrote:

have fun dealing with 2x hp bosses in 3.0

Everybody's going to have that problem, though.

like bisco wander strand speedrunner or some kind of mf totems? erm, no.

"

KostoLev wrote:

[...]

And pairing new Decay with Frenzy is very sound idea for additional single Target DPS. Only thing im missing is how IIR/IIQ support gems work, initially i thought that Culling Strike is needed to secure a kill and Trigger those gems as theres big possibility CA will finish the boss and IIR/IIQ would have no effect, or am i missing something?

Damage over Time effects are fully compatible with the IIR and the IIQ support gems. So if you have Item Rarity Support linked to Caustic Arrow and the monster dies from CA (cloud or hit) the game will use the rarity value from the support(in addition to gear) in determining the items dropped from the monster. No Culling Strike needed.

When a monster dies while being affected by DoTs from two different sources, the DoT applied first is given the credit for the kill. Lets say you have CA without Item Rarity and Frenzy with Decay and Item Rarity. Your goal would be to apply the Frenzy/Decay first. This way if the monster dies while under the effects of both DoTs the Frenzy/Decay with extra Rarity is credited the kill. No Culling Strike required, but the timing might be tricky.

You could add Culling Strike to the Frenzy set up in the above example, and the kills from Culling would always have the increased Rarity value. Hits dealing the final blow are a guaranteed kill credit over the applied DoTs when said monster dies.

Over all the build guide doesn't use Culling Strike because it is not needed in a solo play setting. If you are playing in a party, or are going to start using two DoTs, tracking who or what gets the kills for magic finding purposes becomes a little more confusing.