Lightning Arrow

Higher LA levels will not increase the radius.
There are several passive nodes in the skill tree which do that. 20% by the templar start, 20% next to the witch start and 12% in the center.

IF you plan to level LA to level 11+, at which point it will hit 4 nearby targets, you should take at least one of those.
You could link the increased area of effect support gem as well.
Be aware the mana cost goes through the roof, 28 mana at level 11.

it seems odd that you would need passive skills to make a skill function properly

Well, it happens a lot that 5 monsters are close enough to each other.
A decoy totem or someone playing a tank is a very efficent way of drawing enemys together.

Passives/support gems are there to improve skills. Because Lightning Arrow isn't one of the skills you can mindlessly level to the max, those interactions are fine imo.

I'm curious if this is now properly affected by point blank and chin sol increased damage at close range effects? I would test this but that gets pretty complicated and I'm out of regret orbs.

On that mana cost issue, has anyone leveled it past level 5 and preferred the extra targets for its mana cost? I never thought it to be worthwhile in combination with +damage supports...

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zharmad wrote:

On that mana cost issue, has anyone leveled it past level 5 and preferred the extra targets for its mana cost? I never thought it to be worthwhile in combination with +damage supports...

I am using it at level 10. I think it all depends on how much mana you have available and your attack speed/damage. For me additional target and 15% shock chance is worth it because I attack quite slow. I have to use mana leech anyway if I want to use it as a default attack so why not get some benefits if I don't run out of mana anyway. I might even try level 15 but the 50% mana cost jump might be too much and there just aren't enough monster packs of that size to take full advantage of 4 targets with pierce. Mind that I have about 650 mana and run grace + all elemental auras.

I lvled it to 6 on my current character and think it's worth it. You only have so many support slots, and with Chain higher lvls of LA maximize the shotgunning against larger packs. But I just can't afford to go another tier due to Chains 200% multiplier.

With a very slow bow (and consequently a non-elemental build) I can see it being taken higher.

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aimlessgun wrote:

I lvled it to 6 on my current character and think it's worth it. You only have so many support slots, and with Chain higher lvls of LA maximize the shotgunning against larger packs. But I just can't afford to go another tier due to Chains 200% multiplier.

With a very slow bow (and consequently a non-elemental build) I can see it being taken higher.

Oh yes, Chain/Fork with additional targets can boost the damage by quite a bit considering every hit has a chance to shock. Have you tried getting it to 10? its 2 base mana difference between 10 and 6 and 12% shock chance is nothing to look down on when you hit targets multiple times.

Hrm I should at least get it to lvl 7 shouldn't I >.>

For my build 11% more mana cost probably isn't worth the 9% more shock from 7 to 10. I rarely need to shoot things many times, and I have decently high crit to also apply shock with.