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

Thanks for sharing/updating this build <3

I've been playing around with it for all of delve and I really like that there is a lot of room to thinker with this build.

Quick question: why are you dropping frenzy charges this time around? anything i'm missing?
(EDIT: I guess it's just lack of passive skill pts)

Also, with single target dps lacking a bit, uber elder was very challenging and a bit more dps would've helped a great deal. Since I don't plan on pushing high delves and the tankiness of raider is honestly through the roof (i play sc) i was thinking of going trickster ca+ed this time around and i'm considering Daresso's Defiance. Perhaps the dps buff from chaos node would be enough and trickster is a bit overkill. Any thoughts on this from a sc perspective?

I've been playing on and off since alpha, generally bow builds, and your build/guide is one of the best I've seen. Keep it up! <3

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Cons
- Mediocre single target damage

I was testing this build in HC a few days ago and killed Daresso faster then I ever have before. Are you sure it's mediocre single target damage?

I just put on Mirage Archer and had an extra Totem shooting my twilight strand's burning arrow

December 6th, 2018
Levelling and Progression
* CA levelling passive trees / estimated levels were adjusted to include 2 passive points you now get as a bandit reward

Totally forgot include the bandit reward, makes levelling much easier i guess.

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ThunderBiome wrote:

Spoiler

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Cons
- Mediocre single target damage

I was testing this build in HC a few days ago and killed Daresso faster then I ever have before. Are you sure it's mediocre single target damage?

I just put on Mirage Archer and had an extra Totem shooting my twilight strand's burning arrow

Damage expectations are relative. Some people can't even stand boss fights that last longer that 3 seconds. Objectively, single target damage is lower than majority of the builds out there. If you were to use classic build after this patch... then boss damage is going to be on the stronger side now.

Single target is not terrible by any means tho, just weaker than most builds. Besides, i need to write SOMETHING in cons. I honestly don't know what else i can put in there.

As for levelling damage, old elemental bow levelling (3.1-3.3 build) definitely had higher single target in first 5 acts but slightly worse clear than current CA. If you're satisfied with the damage, then i'm happy as well.

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Sicstrings wrote:

Spoiler

Thanks for sharing/updating this build <3

I've been playing around with it for all of delve and I really like that there is a lot of room to thinker with this build.

Quick question: why are you dropping frenzy charges this time around? anything i'm missing?
(EDIT: I guess it's just lack of passive skill pts)

Also, with single target dps lacking a bit, uber elder was very challenging and a bit more dps would've helped a great deal. Since I don't plan on pushing high delves and the tankiness of raider is honestly through the roof (i play sc) i was thinking of going trickster ca+ed this time around and i'm considering Daresso's Defiance. Perhaps the dps buff from chaos node would be enough and trickster is a bit overkill. Any thoughts on this from a sc perspective?

I've been playing on and off since alpha, generally bow builds, and your build/guide is one of the best I've seen. Keep it up! <3

Urgh... dropping the frenzy charges was a very hard choice to make, but it had to be done. There's HUGE amount of factors that contributed to that, so i'll mention two most important ones:

* Not enough passive points, you got that. Switching bandit reward is a side effect. New chaos DoT multiplier nodes are too good to skip, taking majority of the points. It was a choice between VERY good increased damage nodes and frenzy charge multiplier.

* Focus on frenzy charges kinda forced you to also have them up during map clear. Now with straight ~35% more damage buff and only 3 of them, they're no longer necessary (T15s with +2 5-link, no joke). That allows to use onslaught path right when you finish uber lab. That's HUGE buff for... every aspect of the build pretty much.

I personally find that ~250-350k damage against uber elder totally acceptable, not too faceroll and not that hard either. With the buffs (~35% more dmg) and weapon swap ED (40-55% more dps) he can go down really damn fast. It all depends on the person i guess.

What i can tell you tho, is that i would not use any other ascendancy for CA other than Raider. The QoL and speed are just too good. I recently played with my bleed Gladiator and not having permanent ailment immunity just felt bad, i even died to T12 Enslaver's ignite due to lack of permanent mobility. That's my personal opinion on it.

I also believe that Daresso's Defiance is kinda overrated. Silver flask / abyssal jewels can already give you onslaught effect for mapping. Against bosses (like uber elder) you would need to get hit to receive effect... which might result in death. In the end, it's up to you. My recommendation is always Raider.

As sad as I am to see Frenzy go (literally my favorite mechanic in the game), comparing that to the Onslaught setup even to me seemed like a no-brainer with the permanent phasing uptime after only one kill, not to mention all the extra damage nodes after redistributing things. The build seems way more streamlined as a result, if not a little more basic.

You got me sold on the build and I will try it over Occultist/Trickster.

I really need a 3.5 starter pack though. Will you have an updated PoB for 3.5 for level 90 before the league starts?

I am also planning this build for Betrayal. I never played CA before and I tried it in standard this week. It seems fun so am going to run with this one. Looking forward to starting tomorrow.

Do you think adding the new Bonechill support gem to CA would work? Would that DoT scale with CA DoT or would they cancel each other out?

Can't wait to try out the changes you've made to the build, they looks really nice! Thank you for such a quick update, so it's all ready before the league even starts; I can't imagine the work it took, and you are awesome to have done it so quick!

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Arcanus444 wrote:

As sad as I am to see Frenzy go (literally my favorite mechanic in the game), comparing that to the Onslaught setup even to me seemed like a no-brainer with the permanent phasing uptime after only one kill, not to mention all the extra damage nodes after redistributing things. The build seems way more streamlined as a result, if not a little more basic.

The build still uses frenzy charges in classic version. Frenzies are going to be better with enough investment into damage.

Yep, it's definitely easier for beginners due to even lower gear recommendation + earlier power spike.

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zorker wrote:

You got me sold on the build and I will try it over Occultist/Trickster.

I really need a 3.5 starter pack though. Will you have an updated PoB for 3.5 for level 90 before the league starts?

Build is already updated to 3.5, every section i could before the league's start.

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Dacar92 wrote:

I am also planning this build for Betrayal. I never played CA before and I tried it in standard this week. It seems fun so am going to run with this one. Looking forward to starting tomorrow.

Do you think adding the new Bonechill support gem to CA would work? Would that DoT scale with CA DoT or would they cancel each other out?

Bonechill only applies to cold DoT. It doesn't do anything for Caustic Arrow, since it's a chaos DoT.

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ryoken0367 wrote:

Can't wait to try out the changes you've made to the build, they looks really nice! Thank you for such a quick update, so it's all ready before the league even starts; I can't imagine the work it took, and you are awesome to have done it so quick!

It didn't take that long tbh. I've had very awful workflow so it took almost whole day, but i could've done it in just few hours. I already know how to deal with my problem so next time - it's going to be faster.

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I meant this jewel slot, there's 18% all resistances on the right. You don't need to allocate the points to gain the benefits. It's for frenzy charge generation obviously.

I meant to reply earlier, but since you're updating right now it's better than never. The Green Dream/Nightmare does require you to pick the resistance nodes to get the benefits, so it doesn't really work as a Frenzy charge generation without excessive points spent.

Is there any reason not to use this little fella? 109 Life regen per second (1.8% at 6K) basically for free. Seems to stay alive much more reliably than golems too.

Also you can get it close to the start of the game from the 'Breaking Some Eggs' quest in the Mud Flats (if you mule a Witch or Templar).