[3.11] Brittleknee’s Caustic Arrow CI Trickster - Farm Awakener Comfortably! Video Overview Included
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[3.11] Brittleknee’s Caustic Arrow CI Trickster - Farm Awakener Comfortably!
 Greetings, Exiles! I’m Brittleknee! With Path of Exile becoming more dangerous, I wanted to create a character that could stand up to all the content currently offered: Awakener 8, Conquerors, Uber Elder, Shaper, Guardians, Delirium, Metamorph, Delve, etc. Having played my fair share of Toxic Rain, I wanted to instead focus on Caustic Arrow, a skill I’ve never played beyond level 12. While the two skills scale similarly, they have two very different playstyles. Caustic Arrow functions similarly to Vortex, and Toxic Rain functions similarly to Rain of Arrows. I’m happy with where the build is. It can be min-maxed beyond where I’ve taken it. That being said, Awakener 8 is comfortable to farm, and mapping is smooth and relatively speedy. While the damage is certainly not as impressive as some other versions, this build is extremely safe, and can be played in HC and HCSSF granted you understand your limitations and defenses. I've made a quick overview video about the build! It can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMuqK95WTXM Watch this if you'd like to see it in action before committing to reading through the guide! Check out the Media section below for kill videos/clips! Catch me Streaming on Twitch or in game as @Brittleknee!
Harvest Update
Hey, everyone! From here on out I'll included a non-cluster and cluster CI tree below, since with leaguestart SSF, its quite possible that you may not get the clusters you want or need before being ready to transition to CI/ES. While this build won't shine on the league mechanic in the way trappers/miners and other builds that have high "up front" damage that can be set up for in advance, the trade is this build is just as tough and tanky as ever. Even though you might not explode packs instantly after harvesting them, you'll still be able to fight what pops out of your garden with ease. Remember Asenath's is optional. You can use it or go for Unspeakable Gifts on a large cluster and opt for CDot gloves if you'd prefer not to have their utility. We now have access to Elusive, too, so mapping should be extra zoom. Have a wonderful league! <3BK Path of Building Links: Caustic Arrow - CI/ES Endgame - Without Clusters For those starting SSF, or prefer to use what they craft/find even in league. Caustic Arrow - CI/ES Endgame - With Clusters For those who are starting trade league, and will have access to clusters relatively quickly. I use PoB Community Fork by LocalIdentity. If you're getting an error trying to import my PoB's, this is why. Learn more about it and grab the files here: PoE Community Fork 
1.0. Introduction
1.1. Pros & Cons
Pros
Cons
1.2. Playstyle
This is another build that is a jack of all trades, in that it can do everything reasonably well. It’s not the fastest, or the most damage ever, or the deepest delver, but for the extent of a league and completing all the challenges, this can do it. You can start as a life-based Caustic Arrow, Toxic Rain or Bane/ED/Contagion build if you’re leaguestarting on this character, and transition to ES/CI CA when you’ve collected the appropriate gear. There’s few bow-specific nodes on the tree, so feel free to level how you think is best. Once you’re set up, you’ll quickly move between packs using the phys pop to make very quick work out of mobs. During bosses, you’ll have a little bit more to manage in the form of either Wither or Withering Touch, depending on your personal preference, and using Ensnaring Arrow to manage your Curse on Hit setup. Wicked Ward shines in this build, and is augmented by a very low recharge delay, and high recharge rate. While successive powerful blows can still kill you, getting clipped here and there by the odd attack is not much to worry about.
1.3. Origins
This build grew out of my frustrations with 3.9. While Caustic Arrow is arguable a “bow” skill, I was quite miffed that the middle-investment Elemental Bow builds have largely gone extinct due to a heavy handed series of adjustments from GGG. While I hope they soften the changes in an upcoming patch, I still wanted to make a bow bosser capable of all content in this league. Trickster is, and likely will remain, my favorite ascendancy. I wanted to again augment its underlying strengths. I had never tried Caustic Arrow aside from using it until level 12 when you can then purchase Toxic Rain. In 3.9 CA got a bit of a buff to its numbers, so I was feeling a bit curious. This is not going to be the highest damage Caustic Arrow build. I really tried to create what I believe is a well-rounded balance of Offense and Defense. If you want more damage, you can strip away some of the defenses and go for it. It’s also been tested in HC and SSFHC by a viewer, who thought the build approachable and sound. 
2.0. Skill Trees, Ascendancy, and Leveling
Since this is an ES/CI character, and leveling as ES/CI is butts, we’ll level as MoM Trickster since it's super synergistic and doesn’t require too much of a respec or sacrifice. You’ll branch over to MoM until you can pick up a Cloak of Defiance and you’ll also want an Essence Worm. You’ll use the extra eHP from MoM to help soften blows while leveling and progressing maps until you’re ready to start buying ES gear. You can use either TR or CA, it’s entirely up to you. Leveling Trees for MoM/TR/CA with Notes! https://pastebin.com/pHD9mMNn While you're in your MoM TR/CA Setup, you'll want to focus on Life, Mana and Resists on gear. Only certain items can have flat mana values or mana% values (recent changes to temple mods have affected our gear pool) and its important to try and find both when you can. Part of the damage you're going to be taking will be put into your mana pool and you want to make sure its big enough to soak it up. As far as how your damage scales, Chaos Damage, Damage over Time, Cdot Multi, etc, scale both TR and CA. You won't need accuracy for either but TR will need some investment into Attack Speed on a bow, quiver, rings or otherwise. I have a lightly geared TR Trickster I've played in HC, I'll import him and leave his PoB here. I was just progressing into T11's and T12s and my gear is not very super: https://pastebin.com/tcGtTUMC
2.1. Ascendancy Choices
Until ES/CI
When Ready for CI/ES
2.2. Leveling Toolkit
Here’s everything you’ll need to level. Remember you can go TR or CA as you please, it’s entirely up to you. In a league start environment, it can be difficult to find enough attack speed for TR to feel good, so you may have to spend your first currencies on a Quill Rain or Tempyst. We are scaling for DoT damage only, not hit, so the type of damage the bow does doesn’t matter. You’ll want gem scaling and attack speed.
Leveling Trees
 This is my proposed leveling tree. Grab all the life nodes and such and when you’re ready to get an Essence Worm to go MoM then go back and start taking Mana Nodes to pad out your eHP. This will be a total of 26-30 Passive Tree Points and 2 Ascendancy Points to respec in order to go ES/CI. Remember you can get a total of 22 Respec Points during the leveling process so this should not be too expensive.
Gems and Things!
Toxic Rain or Caustic Arrow
Utility 1
Utility 2
Utility 1 and Utility 2 get combined when you get a 5 or 6L for it. It becomes: Main Utility
Wither Setup (Spell or Ballista, you choose)
Auras
Movement & Mitigation
2.3. Pantheons
Pre ES/CI Major: Brine King Minor: Whomever you prefer, Poison Immunity is good for Sultan Shitsnakes boss fight. Post ES/CI Major: Lunaris (Solaris is ok, too) Minor: Whomever!
2.4. Bandits
Help Eramir for +2 Passive Skill Points Check me out on Twitch! http://www.twitch.tv/brittleknee All of my builds are here: https://tinyurl.com/y5vwayk2 Last edited by brittleknee on Jun 19, 2020, 8:29:54 AM Last bumped on Jan 21, 2021, 11:04:31 PM
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3.0. MoM Setup and Transition to ES/CI
3.1. MoM Setup
Required Uniques
 Cloak of Defiance This grants us Mind over Matter while we are in our Life-Based form. Beyond the base 30% provided by the Keystone incorporated in this body armor, Cloak provides an additional 10% damage taken from mana which helps due to our relatively low raw HP while life-based.  Essence Worm This removes the mana reserve cost of Malevolence, allowing us to have more mana off reserve for Mind over Matter. It does, however, come with the drawback of increasing any other reserves, so you’ll want to keep your Clarity as low-level as possible.  Poacher’s Aim This grants us our pierce which helps CA clear immensely. You acquire it as a quest reward from the A5 Quest, The King’s Feast.
Gem Setup
Weapon Toxic Rain - Vicious Projectiles, Void Manipulation, Swift Affliction, Empower, Efficacy, Slower Projectiles -or- Caustic Arrow - Vicious Projectiles, Void Manipulation, Swift Affliction, Empower, Concentrated Effect (Arrow Nova for Clear) Body Armor Ensnaring Arrow, Mirage Archer, Curse on Hit, Despair, GMP, Cull -or- Frenzy, Curse on Hit, Despair, GMP, Cull and Blind, if you'd like. Helmet CWDT - Steelskin Clarity, Flame Dash Gloves Wither, Spell Totem Support, Faster Casting, Multiple Totems -or- Toxic Rain, Ballista Support, Withering Touch, Faster Attacks Boots Vaal Grace, Blink Arrow, Faster Attacks, Faster Projectiles Ring (Essence Worm) Malevolence
Flasks
Sulphur, Jade, Stibnite, Quicksilver, Instant Life Flask. Make sure you cover the usual immunities: Bleeding, Freeze/Chill, Ward. Shock/Ignite for certain Bosses.
Jewels
Priority Stats: Chaos Multi Damage over Time Chaos Damage Life %
Crafting
Bow
There are two major ways to create a +1/+2 Bow. Make sure you use Warlord or Elder Influence for things like Cull and Increased AoE. Base isn’t too important. Maraketh has MS, which I think is nice. With fossils, you can roll Corroded, Metallic and Jagged together. You can land it within 10 resonators, usually less. -or- You can alt spam for +2, with a second useful Prefix. If you Regal a SUFFIX, you’ll want to craft “Cannot Roll Attack Mods” for a guaranteed +1 All Gems slam. If you Regal a PREFIX, you’ll want to roll again.
Gloves
Rolling with Aberrant and Pristine can help prioritize the Chas Dot Multi. You’ll want a Hunter Evasion Base.
Quiver
Hunter Penetrating Quiver for Pierce + Chaos Dot Multi. Use Metallic and Aberrant. This encourages Cdotmulti while blocking Phys.
3.2. ES/CI Setup
Required Uniques
 Soul Strike This grants us a large amount of flat ES as well as helping us work towards the low recharge delay that acts as a cornerstone of the build’s defense alongside Wicked Ward. If you’re making this build in standard, make sure to get a Legacy Variant.  Bated Breath This is very synergistic by providing a nice chunk of ES, as well as making up for some of the recharge rate we lose from Soul Strike. In addition, using Defense Catalysts scales every ES value on the belt, making it a very nice unique, indeed.  Asenath’s Gentle Touch Hitting a Phys Pop Crusader Chest with a healthy amount of ES/EV is a tall order indeed. Thus, we sacrifice the possible ES of a glove slot for the Phys Pop, allowing us to focus on grabbing or crafting a nice rare armor.  Energy From Within This allows us to convert the ES/Life Hybrid wheel between Witch and Shadow into pure ES which is quite nice. It is generally a high enough ilvl to have a corrupting blood outcome if you’d like that immunity. Poacher’s Aim This grants us our pierce which helps CA clear immensely. You acquire it as a quest reward from the A5 Quest, The King’s Feast. It is relatively easily corruptible at ilvl 1 to have 1% reduced Mana Reserve. However, since it is ilvl 1, it cannot be corrupted for corrupting blood immunity.
Gem Setup
Weapon Caustic Arrow, Vicious Projectiles, Void Manipulation, Empower, Damage on Full Life, Concentrated Effect (Arrow Nova for Clear, so have at least 1W socket) Body Armor Ensnaring Arrow, Mirage Archer, Curse on Hit, Despair, GMP, Increased Duration (Or Enfeeble/Temp if Awakened CoH) -or- Frenzy, GMP, CoH, Despair, Cull, Blind (Or Enfeeble/Temp if Awakened CoH) Helmet CWDT - Steelskin (If enough Str, otherwise Vaal Grace or a Utility you prefer.) Clarity, Flame Dash (Or whichever movement you prefer) Gloves Wither, Spell Totem Support, Faster Casting, Multiple Totems -or- Toxic Rain, Ballista Support, Withering Touch, Faster Attacks Boots Enlighten, Flesh and Stone, Vaal Discipline, Malevolence
Flasks
Sulphur, Jade, Stibnite, Basalt/Quartz, Quicksilver. We manually debuff for despair rather than use Witchfire Brew because I don’t like relying on conditional sources of damage.
Jewels
Useful Stats on Jewels: Chaos Multi Damage Over Time Chaos Damage Energy Shield% Recharge% Useful Watcher’s Eye Stats: Damage Over Time Multiplier - Malevolence Energy Shield Recovery Rate - Discipline
Crafting
Bow
There are two major ways to create a +1/+2 Bow. Make sure you use Warlord or Elder Influence for things like Cull and Increased AoE. Base isn’t too important. Maraketh has MS, which I think is nice. With fossils, you can roll Corroded, Metallic and Jagged together. You can land it within 10 resonators, usually less. -or- You can alt spam for +2, with a second useful Prefix. If you Regal a SUFFIX, you’ll want to craft “Cannot Roll Attack Mods” for a guaranteed +1 All Gems slam. If you Regal a PREFIX, you’ll want to roll again. Make sure you hit it with a Vorici white sockets craft for Gem Swaps!
Gloves
You’ll use Asenath’s for clear, but otherwise you’ll want a pair of “bossing gloves” for quicker bosses since the Conquerors and Awakener do not have additional mobs. You’ll roll Aberrant and Dense together to get things like this:
Amulet and Others
Ideally you’ll want a +1 Dex/Chaos and Malevolence Reduced Reserve, and it can be tricky to get it. You can alt spam a hunter’s base, imprint, and regal accordingly. But one and hit the annul, or throw fossils at it, or slap together the two mods via an Awakener’s Orb. To start, you’ll only need Malevolence Reserve and some decent ES, then craft from there. Here’s my original, and here’s my final: 
4.0. End Game
4.1. Final Build Gear
4.2. Improving Further
Basically, the most powerful thing for CA is levels, and higher you can make your CA gem, the Thiccer your DoTs are. While there are cases where crafted gear is better DPS than listed gear, but sometimes come with defensive drawbacks and should be evaluated on a player by player basis. A good example of this is a 2x dot crafted quiver versus Soul Strike. One definitely yields higher DPS but losing Soul Strike's ES mods can be noticeable for your defenses. Thanks to nfinite, who poured a ton of currency into the build to show what a heavily-invested version of this build looks like. You can check out his progress from Delirium League here:
Spoiler
" " Similarly, mafiaboy88 took this build to high investment in Harvest, and offered his PoB for consideration as well: https://pastebin.com/8Fhh0QzF Check me out on Twitch! http://www.twitch.tv/brittleknee All of my builds are here: https://tinyurl.com/y5vwayk2 Last edited by brittleknee on Aug 13, 2020, 7:29:16 PM
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5.0. Frequently Asked Questions
5.1. Frequently Asked Questions
I’ll compile a FAQ from the Questions that start to come in. Check back another time, and don’t be afraid to reach out via DM, Discord, or ask on Stream!
5.2. Troubleshooting Common Issues
I’ll create a troubleshooting section once problems start to come in. Check back another time, and don’t be afraid to reach out via DM, Discord, or ask on Stream! 
6.0. Media
6.1. Videos, Gifs, Clips
I suppose I should note here that I do like to troll a bit on stream. I've been poked at for my slow and safe play style, so I skinned a quicksilver to every flask so I'd "be faster." The flasks are Sulphur, Jade, Stibnite, Quartz and Quicksilver. Awakener https://www.twitch.tv/videos/546726656 Uber Elder https://www.twitch.tv/videos/546735882 Normal Elder https://www.twitch.tv/videos/546734511 Shaper https://www.twitch.tv/videos/546738256 Delve 600 https://clips.twitch.tv/VastOddTurtleCeilingCat
6.2. Social Media
Twitch - https://www.twitch.tv/brittleknee Twitter - https://twitter.com/brittlekneetv Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/brittlekneetv Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/brittlekneetv/ Discord - https://discord.gg/36mXkFq 
7.0. Credits, Updates, Changelog
Credits
Thanks for everyone listening to me bitch enough about nerfed elemental bows until I put this one together. :)
Updates
Archived updates posted at the top of the guide at the beginning of a new league will be moved here at the league’s conclusion.
3.9 Metamorph Update
Hooray! My second build for the league is published! I’m really excited about this one. It feels really good, and I think it’s very fun to play. It has all the major hallmarks of a decent build, and is arguably SSF friendly (all uniques have crafted rare alternatives). Boasting 10k energy shield, moderate evasion, Ghost Shrouds, stun immunity and open Pantheons (choose what works best for you), the build is highly modular, efficient, and forgiving. Caustic Arrow ticks for around 1-1.5M Shaper DoT DPS, and feels pretty darn good. Using Asenath’s Gentle Touch gives us that nice Phys-Pop that’s so, so satisfying, while not requiring an absolutely ridiculous-to-craft chestpiece. Exploding all the rares around the Metamorph will make quick and easy work of them with little to no effort. It’s also pretty effective in Blighted maps where there’s good density. I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. It definitely breathed new life into the league for me, allowing me to enjoy bossing the way I like to; on a bow build. Even if its a spell build cosplaying as a bow build. Hope the rest of the league treats you well! <3BK
Delirium Update
Well, here we are again! I'll be starting this build in Delirium and will be working through the leveling trees on stream to update the leveling section and I'll do my best to include a filter as well for leveling if I have sufficient time. All in all, the build is in a great spot to incorporate the new Cluster Jewels, and I'll include a list of the notables that I think are helpful for the build to keep an eye out for. Yes, Delirium mobs do not leave corpses, but they will be interspersed among normal map mobs that -do- leave corpses, meaning we will still get mileage out of Asenath's. Without Legion being on the map device, expect that these will be the case Unique for the build and a bit more expensive than last league. It's kind of butts that we're losing some of the ES% scaling from the Temple Rings, but the Cluster Notables make up for it in a plethora of ways. Leveling Trees for MoM/TR/CA with Notes! https://pastebin.com/XCbdK8FF Have a wondrous... delirium. <3BK
Caustic Arrow Cluster Notables
Caustic Arrow ======================= Tempered Arrowheads Bow Skills have +10% to Damage over Time Multiplier Bow Skills have 20% increased Skill Effect Duration 10% increased Duration of Ailments inflicted while wielding a Bow Broadside Bow Skills have 25% increased Area of Effect Unwaveringly Evil 30% increased Chaos Damage Chaos Skills ignore interruption from Stuns Touch of Cruelty Chaos Skills have 10% chance to Hinder Enemies on Hit, with 30% reduced Movement Speed Enemies Hindered by you take 10% increased Chaos Damage Unspeakable Gifts Enemies you Kill have a 10% chance to Explode, dealing a quarter of their maximum Life as Chaos Damage Unholy Grace 30% increased Chaos Damage 10% increased Attack and Cast Speed Wicked Pall 35% increased Chaos Damage 20% increased Skill Effect Duration Eternal Suffering +5% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier Chaos Skills have 30% increased Skill Effect Duration Brush with Death +10% to Damage over Time Multiplier Recover 1% of Life on Kill Recover 1% of Energy Shield on Kill Vile Reinvigoration 24% increased Damage over Time 6% increased maximum Energy Shield Regenerate 2% of Energy Shield per second if you’ve Killed an Enemy Recently Circling Oblivion 20% increased Damage over Time 20% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies 15% increased Skill Effect Duration Evil Eye Enemies you Curse take 5% increased Damage 5% chance to Dodge Attack Hits from Cursed Enemies Whispers of Death 5% increased Effect of your Curses 20% increased Damage if you've Killed a Cursed Enemy Recently Dark Discourse 10% increased Effect of your Curses Enemies you Curse are Hindered, with 15% reduced Movement Speed Regenerate 1% of Energy Shield per second if you’ve Killed an Enemy Recently Streamlined 30% increased Projectile Speed 20% increased Projectile Damage Repeater 30% increased Projectile Damage 8% increased Attack and Cast Speed Aerodynamics Projectiles Pierce an additional Target 20% increased Projectile Speed 10% increased Projectile Damage Savour the Moment 10% increased maximum Energy Shield Regenerate 3.00% of Energy Shield per second while stationary Energy From Naught +100 to maximum Energy Shield Spring Back 6% increased maximum Energy Shield 10% faster start of Energy Shield Recharge 15% increased Energy Shield Recharge Rate Prismatic Dance 30% increased Evasion Rating +1% to all maximum Elemental Resistances Untouchable 30% increased Evasion Rating 3% chance to Dodge Attack Hits 3% chance to Dodge Spell Hits Darting Movements 5% increased Movement Speed 5% chance to Dodge Attack and Spell Hits while moving 30% chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments 3% chance to Dodge Attack Hits 3% chance to Dodge Spell Hits No Witnesses 10% chance to gain Elusive on Kill 25% increased Elusive Effect
Changelog
18 Jun 2020 - Build Updated with Cluster Options 24 Feb 2020 - Build Published Check me out on Twitch! http://www.twitch.tv/brittleknee All of my builds are here: https://tinyurl.com/y5vwayk2 Last edited by brittleknee on Jun 18, 2020, 12:21:18 AM
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Thanks for the great guide! How easy would it be to league start with this build? How much investment should I expect before I'm comfortable in T14+ maps? I'm kind of torn between CA and ED/Contagion right now.
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Two questions:
1. Why ensnaring arrow? 2. How mandatory are asenath's gloves, as they tend to be expensive early in the league? | |
" The good news is that since the build is not reliant on bow nodes aside from 4 of them in one wheel, you can still come back to this build after ED/Cont if you choose, or if this one doesn't suit your fancy you can transition easier to an ED/Cont. Leaguestart is relatively comfortable since you'll stay MoM Hybrid until you can craft or buy the CI gear you're needing. There's SO much to craft with the new influence types. I'd say investment for high reds will likely be 8-14ex if you buy your 6L and don't craft it. " Ensnaring is nice for slows. Can use Frenzy in the Utility if you'd like Damage over Safety. You'd just drop Mirage Archer for cull or something else that's nice. Asenath's aren't necessarily mandatory, can make some nice Chaos Multi gloves in the meantime, but the pop is absolutely amazing for clear. If frees you up from having to wait for things to die since the pop clears whole packs, and takes care of tougher things like Meta's by splashing rare monster death pop damage onto it. Check me out on Twitch! http://www.twitch.tv/brittleknee All of my builds are here: https://tinyurl.com/y5vwayk2 Last edited by brittleknee on Mar 1, 2020, 11:39:16 PM
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Played this build as starter for BK's private league. It is cheap to start, tankyish with mom, and REALLY scalable. Highly recommended starter build that can boss and be quite tanky as CI later on.
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I dont really understand how CA can do bosses? Its just an aoe dot that cannot stack or anything so how would it have high enough single target?
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" It's not big, chunky damage but it is consistent and reasonably strong, much like Vortex. You drop it, and use the time it does damage to stay clear of mechanics and refresh as necessary under the boss's feet. As long as the boss stays on the puddle, it takes damage. There's plenty of sources of level scaling, cdot multi, damage over time, etc that scale it. Even more so with new jewels, which should expand the build even more. Check me out on Twitch! http://www.twitch.tv/brittleknee
All of my builds are here: https://tinyurl.com/y5vwayk2 |
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"Many bosses can be just "outlasted" instead of bursting them down. The same reason why Cutedog was farming Awakener with Nebuloch Jugg, it's not high dps but if you just don't die then it doesn't matter if your dps is much lower than the "burst" specs. ES specs also have the advantage of not worrying about running out of life flasks, because you just need a small moment of not taking damage to start recharging ES and for a really bad moment you have vaal discipline to force it nonetheless. Awakener has no soft enrage or anything from what I know, if you can get a spec that doesn't die like mana guardian or strength stacking bv chieftain it wouldn't matter if dps is low-ish. Only issue is these 2 specs need really really specific gear to work while this build doesn't rely on half a dozen uniques to be put together. |
