[3.16][HC][ON BREAK] Caustic Arrow Raider, DoT Focused | Tanky | 6k+ Health | All Content | In-depth

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esostaks wrote:

Struggling a lot to clear T16 rare + corrupted maps (bosses). Dealing close to no damage to them and they (even their adds) almost one shoting me :/

That's to be expected. Guardians are relatively challenging and have a lot of damage/hp compared to previous red maps. Rolling very challenging maps can result in death, even for the most tanky builds.

CA doesn't have greatest single target but it's not that bad either. It should take around 1 minute to kill single guardian at ~150k base dps. It is a boss after all.

About one shotting problem, the keyword is "almost". Evasion builds usually don't end up with a lot of health and their defence relies on avoidance rather than mitigation. People often complain "evasion works until you die in single hit", and that is why you wear Kintsugi - to avoid instagibs.

You cannot get hit twice in a row, except for spells. However, in case of spells you're fast enough to dodge almost anything. As long as your hp is above 1, you're OK. If you get hit, just heal back to full with life potions.

About the adds, the only scary ones are Chimera's. In fact, they're more frightening than Chimera himself.

The only thing you can do about those close calls is to level up and get more life/mitigation. In fact, your gear has really low life number in general. You should be above 6k life at this point, so get some upgrades.

EDIT: Completely forgot to mention, you don't have curse immunity flask. Buy/craft both Jade and Quicksilver flask to recommended mods. You can also use lvl 20 -> lvl 1 quality 20% gems recipe, it'll pay off in the long run (all gems except Grace).

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DankawSL wrote:

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esostaks wrote:

Struggling a lot to clear T16 rare + corrupted maps (bosses). Dealing close to no damage to them and they (even their adds) almost one shoting me :/

That's to be expected. Guardians are relatively challenging and have a lot of damage/hp compared to previous red maps. Rolling very challenging maps can result in death, even for the most tanky builds.

CA doesn't have greatest single target but it's not that bad either. It should take around 1 minute to kill single guardian at ~150k base dps. It is a boss after all.

About one shotting problem, the keyword is "almost". Evasion builds usually don't end up with a lot of health and their defence relies on avoidance rather than mitigation. People often complain "evasion works until you die in single hit", and that is why you wear Kintsugi - to avoid instagibs.

You cannot get hit twice in a row, except for spells. However, in case of spells you're fast enough to dodge almost anything. As long as your hp is above 1, you're OK. If you get hit, just heal back to full with life potions.

About the adds, the only scary ones are Chimera's. In fact, they're more frightening than Chimera himself.

The only thing you can do about those close calls is to level up and get more life/mitigation. In fact, your gear has really low life number in general. You should be above 6k life at this point, so get some upgrades.

EDIT: Completely forgot to mention, you don't have curse immunity flask. Buy/craft both Jade and Quicksilver flask to recommended mods. You can also use lvl 20 -> lvl 1 quality 20% gems recipe, it'll pay off in the long run (all gems except Grace).

Any advice to improve health rolls? Wasn't 60 health on each piece an optimal roll? I had around 6k at one point, but gloves with frenzy charges + resistances + health was too expensive and since I switched To Atziri's Step Slink Boots for extra defense I had to go with resistances on gloves since otherwise my resistances aren't ~109 %

Life/ES is primary way of defence. Stuff like mitigation and avoidance is secondary. Overall, the more life the better. 60 life is fine only if other mods are ridiculously good/hard to get, it's often crafted too.

How to improve life pool? Just... buy/find upgrade i guess? I can help with some things.

Your belt can be replaced with ~130+ hp one with ~90+% resistances for really damn cheap.
(Trade search) You'll have to craft the mod yourself tho, but that shouldn't really be an issue. I also advice to sort with highest total elemental resistance.

Getting high life Kintsugi shouldn't be a problem. (Trade search) Just look at life and ignore evasion, since it will get ridiculously expensive that way. If you want a chance for best rolls for cheap or maybe to vaal some Kintsugi's, you can finish the prophecy instead (Trade search).

These are the cheapest and easiest upgrades. Situation with quivers doesn't look well (i bet they all sold out due to TR/CA popularity), crafting shaped quiver is what i would do tbh, but not until you fix other gear.

Like i mentioned in the guide, frenzy on kill gloves are best and most expensive choice. Overall, this requires crafting. I'll PM you temporary solution for this soon.

The last somewhat easy upgrade is helmet. Spam Pristine fossils on it until you hit something good. Pristine + Aberrant combo is also good, but not sure if it's worth on ilvl 63 helmet.

Not only you'll be close to ele weakness cap (which you don't need that much since you're in softcore) but easily have over 6k life. You will quickly notice the difference.

Hi,

I've been using your build this league and have to say that i'm really satisfied and impressed with it, however i have a question regarding the crafting of the elder bow :

"Alteration spam:
Step 1: Spam alts/augs until you hit one of the desireable mods, that includes +2 Socketed Bow Gems
Step 2: Add a suffix with augment orb if it doesn't have already

7-link crafting:
Step 3a: If you hit at least 1 desireable prefix, regal the bow
Step 4a: If you have +2 bow gems and 7-link mod, go to next step. If not, scour the bow and return to step 1
Step 5a: Craft any prefix at Tora's bench and slam the bow with exalted orb for guaranteed random suffix
Step 6a: Remove crafted mod at Tora 7 and move to Crafting finish

Suffix crafting:
Step 3b: If you hit at least 1 desireable suffix or prefix, regal the bow. Chances to hit right mod are higher if it's a suffix
Step 4b: If you have +2 bow gems or 7-link mod, and desired suffix, go to step 7. If not, scour the bow and return to step 1

Crafting finish:
Step 7: Craft "Cannot roll attack mods" at Catarina 8
Step 8: Slam the bow with exalted orb for guaranteed +1 Socketed Gems
Step 9: Remove crafted mod at Tora 7 and craft 15-30% Damage over Time at Leo 3 OR 7-12% Attack Speed / 10-30% Projectile Speed at Tora 6"

Are the steps 5a and 6a necessary or can that 1 exalted be spared from usage?
To be more clear regarding my question, is the one random suffix from step 5a necessary to guarantee +1 Socketed Gems with the "Cannot roll attack mods"

Yes, it's necessary. In that current step, the bow has 2 prefixes and 1 suffix. Considering how rare +1 gems prefix is, you will have to slam twice anyway. What that particular step does, is lowering the chance of rolling "+X mana on kill" - something that happened to me and one other guy i helped crafting the bow. Correcting that mistake costs 2ex (scouring suffixes)

Catarina's "Cannot roll Attack Mods" drastically reduces amount of suffixes, and that means higher chance of rolling the only bad mod. It obviously increases chances of hitting good mod too, but that's a gamble that i don't believe is worth it.

I also noticed a mistake of mine in suffix crafting there, will correct it today along with adding another quiver fossil crafting method that i've completely overlooked.

Ok, so you say that CA is the most powerful/effective, but everyone else keeps saying that Tornado Shot is better.

I went with a Deadeye over Raider. Could you PLEASE take a look at my build and see where you think I went wrong?

I've done everything that was "logical". Now that doesn't account for not having the specific Unique (or even rare) items.

I'm getting SERIOUSLY smacked down by even T1/T2 bosses :( And I'm beginning to lose hope that this is a failed build, and my interest in the game is waning fast, as I seriously hate having to re-do the 10 Acts every freaking time :(

October 28th, 2018
Delve League:
* Added new shaped quiver fossil crafting method - Serrated instead of Pristine for higher chance of hitting +1 arrow.

Crafting Section:
* Elder bow crafting received minor improvements/fixes

Besides that, i've been trying to make navigation little bit easier by making images with spoiler below it instead of usual "X section, =====" type. It might or might not go through, but i think it will after i nail down the format.

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DeathStalker77 wrote:

Spoiler

Ok, so you say that CA is the most powerful/effective, but everyone else keeps saying that Tornado Shot is better.

I went with a Deadeye over Raider. Could you PLEASE take a look at my build and see where you think I went wrong?

I've done everything that was "logical". Now that doesn't account for not having the specific Unique (or even rare) items.

I'm getting SERIOUSLY smacked down by even T1/T2 bosses :( And I'm beginning to lose hope that this is a failed build, and my interest in the game is waning fast, as I seriously hate having to re-do the 10 Acts every freaking time :(

Everything went wrong. I think it's obvious you've tried to do your own build based on some other build/guide. Unfortunately, without experience and understanding the game mechanics, you will hit a wall sooner or later.

I'll only tell you how to reverse the self-inflicted damage, the guide should do the rest. First of all, gem setup. You can easily find them inside the guide. It should nearly triple your current damage.

Afterwards you will need ~60 respec points. Cheapest way to do so is through buying Vinia's Token (Trade search), 1c offers only. 4 sets (20 cards) should be enough, assuming you have 20 points from sidequests. Once you get those, mimic this passive tree by respecing and reallocating passive points.

Then you have to fix your gear. Everything in that order. Find it yourself or buy it, whatever method. Finding replacements should be easy with the equipment you're wearing right now. Obviously, what you should be looking for is inside the guide.

Good luck on fixing your character.

What I have, skill-wise, really is not that far off from what you indicate.

I would like to try and understand what makes THOSE choices better than the ones I've taken?

I don't have anything near that amount of c - Chaos drops have been pathetic in this league (I'm still at <50 and I've never even used one!)

I have about 20 respec pts right now.

I know the equip is not the best - I thought that regen was a better option than it turned out to be, so I probably sold a crapload of better items :( Ok, that's on me, I know.

I have a Carcass Jack that I'm waiting to get enough resources to 6s & 6l - which will be a while :( (I don't like trading for items, as I find it no different than using chat codes on other games - I want the "satisfaction" of doing something myself, not having someone else do it for me).

I'd really like to understand why the choices you suggest are better than the ones I've selected.

Thanks! :)

I'll try to be brief.

My suggested gem setup deals highest damage possible, focused on scaling degen ground. It's that simple. Your setup focuses on hit part, which is mediocre compared to other similar skills. CA is simply outclassed in that area by other bow skills. Not only that, your current setup scales all types on damage without focusing on a single one, losing a lot of potential damage in the process.

The reasoning similar for passive tree, equipment and other secondary gem setups - with bonus focus on defence and QoL. Mostly defence over damage since everything dies instantly anyway, except bosses.

Don't 6-link your body armour, it's all about the bow. As always, the reasoning can be found inside the guide.

You don't need more than 10c to clear majority of the content in game. Buy a 5-link +2 bow and you're good to go. For real. To get all regret orbs for respecing passive tree, you will need 20c (max 30c if you're impatient). That's it.

If you're not willing to trade, then it's fine. Farm Tabula on blood acqueducts/channel map and the result is going to be the same (but you'll be more squishy). Delve should also drop a lot of regret orbs too, but it might take a while to get them all.

Ok, Kitsugi is doable (only 1c, surprisingly!), but not the Maraketh bow - I'll have to rely on finding one of those,a nd then having the resources to 6s and 5l it :(

Also, looking at Trade, how are some of these Superior Bows getting +25%, +30%?! I knew gems could, under certain circumstances, get to +21%, but that's the first I've seen it on anything else.

I just REALLY hate breaking down to trade :( To me it still feels like cheating.

Also, I can't drop the +30 Int, as I need it for the Enfeeble gem. I could drop the Soul Of Steel node, and gain 3 pts there.

Still 11 levels to go before getting to the Entropy node.

Doesn't 12% Attack Speed factor in at all?

If not, the two of those would at least get me to the Blood Drinker node.

Also, I'm still waiting on a response in another thread - is Life/Mana Leech on Hit only? Or does DoT factor in? If the former, Tornado Shot would grant more, but CA for the latter (I think).

Thanks!