[3.22 UPDATED] Bergerbrush's Beginner Friendly Toxic Rain Raider

Offense

Toxic Rain

Taken from PoE Wiki:

Toxic Rain is a bow attack skill where the user fires multiple arrows in the air, which land and drop spore pods, dealing chaos damage over time and slowing enemy movement speed for their duration. The spore pods explode after a delay, dealing chaos damage.

The explosion of the Spore Pods counts as a hit, which allows for rapid application of "on hit" effects such as poison, or life and mana gain on hit.

Increasing the number of projectiles increases the number of pods you produce, thus increasing your damage.

Accuracy affects all hit portions of the skill but not the damage over time of the pods.

Sources of increased area of effect allow the damage over time from each spore to overlap. However, this also increases the spread of the pods.

Spore explosions and arrows count as "kill with this weapon" but damage over time component does not.

Toxic Rain Ballista

We use Toxic Rain ballistas in order to deal more damage and also apply Wither to the enemy. Use the Ballistas for Bosses or extremely tanky mobs. As our normal Toxic Rain will be fine for clearing.

Wither

Wither is a debuff that applies 6% increased chaos damage taken per stack, up to 15 stacks. Each stack has its own independent duration of 2s, which is not refreshed when applying new stacks. So increasing our Wither Duration and/or Wither Effect, also increases our damage.

Mana Cost of Skills

We utilize certain crafts on our jewellery and on our helmet and flasks in order to deal with the mana cost of Toxic Rain.

Defense

High Evasion

We use Evasion in order to have a high evade chance. Meaning that enemies will likely miss us with their attacks.

Molten Shell or Steelskin on Left-Click

In my opinion the easiest way to automaticly have Molten Shell/Steelskin activated most of the time is by putting Molten Shell/Steelskin on your Left-Click. So while you are using Left-Click to move in the game it will automaticly use Molten Shell/Steelskin whenever it is off cooldown.

Spell Suppression

With 100% Spell Supression we mitigate incoming spell damage quite well. So due to our Evasion, Armour and Spell Suppression. We can survive most incoming hits. So one thing that is very important, is to hit the 100% Spell Suppression cap. In order to do that, you will need to get some Spell Suppression on some of your gear.

But it is always best to manually dodge incoming attacks and spells as well for a higher survival rate!

Build Guide Videos
Toxic Rain Build Guide Video!

Showcasing



Helpful Path of Exile Playlists

Playlist of General Tips & Tricks in Path of Exile

Beginner Guide Playlist of how Path of Exile Mechanics Work

Good Uniques for Leveling Early

- Tabula Rasa -


Tabula Rasa is one of the most common leveling items because it has 6-links and all are white which means you can slot any gems into the sockets. The item also doesn't have any requirements and can therefor be worn by anyone at any given time. But keep in mind, it doesn't really have any stats. But because of the 6-link it provides a large damage boost.



- Quill Rain Bow -


Quill Rain is one of the best early leveling Bows you can have for leveling. It has extremely high Attack Speed and also grants you mana per enemy you hit with attacks.



- Wanderlust Shoes -


Wanderlust shoes are one of the most common leveling boots. It can be used at level 1 and has no requirements. It provides a good amount of movement speed and also Freeze Immunity.



- Goldrim Leathercap -


Goldrim is a very common leveling helmet as well. As it also can be used at Level 1 and gives a LARGE AMOUNT of all Elemental Resists.



- Le Heup of All Ring -


There aren't many really great rings for leveling. But Le Heup of All is a pretty good choice. It gives a nice stat boost to help with overall gearing, it gives damage and a good amount of resists.



Rare Gear & How to Obtain it



- General Rare Gear -
Gloves - Helmet - Belt - Rings - Body Armour - Amulet

For these items it is generally very much the same when you level new characters. You want modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need



- Bow -


On the Bow you want modifiers such as:

Any form of damage
+% to Attack Speed
+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need


- Quiver -


On the Quiver you want modifiers such as:

Any form of damage
+% to Attack Speed
+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need



- Boots -


Boots are very simple as well, same as other General Rare Gear items but we also want movement speed. We want modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
% Increased Movement Speed (The higher the better)



- Shield -


The Shield is needed for when we use Poisonous Concoction. And the Shield modifiers is just as the other gear, we want modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need

- Level 1-12 (Act 1) -

I suggest leveling with Caustic Arrow until you are Level 12 and can start using Poisonous Concoction.

This may sound weird as this build is meant to use Toxic Rain. Which you can level with if you want. But Poisonous Concoction is an extremely powerful leveling skill, and I therefor suggest using that for leveling.

----Caustic Arrow skills and so on linked around here!!!-----

- At level 12 you can remove your Bow and start playing Poisonous Concoction -

You can remove all the previous Skills you have used at this point and start using the ones provided from this point on in the Guide.

Poisonous Concoction is a very interesting and unique Skill in Path of Exile that requires you to not have any weapon equipped. It also has a mechanic where it uses your Life Flasks in order to deal more damage. (In a way you are throwing your flasks to deal damage with them)

Therefor it is vital to keep more than 1 Life Flask on you during leveling and also keep your Life Flasks updated every Act!


3-Link Damage Setup



Auras



Only level Precision to level 10. The more we level it, the more mana reservation it will require.

Movement Skill & Steelskin



Link these skills with Lifetap as it will use Life instead of mana when activating them.

- Level 12-22 (Act 2) -

If 4-Link is Accquired



Auras



- Level 22-32 (Act 3) -

If 5-Link is Accquired



Auras & Curse



Despair is a Curse which lowers enemies Chaos Resistance and makes them take more Chaos damage. You should manually cast this on bosses or tanky enemies to kill them easier.

Extra Damage



Plague Bearer is a Skill that you activate and incubate Posion damage into. When the buff reaches it maximum value you can activate this skill again to Poison and damage enemies around you. This is very helpful for clearing and helps with Single Target as well!

Act 1 Level 1-12
Act 1 Skill Tree

Act 2 Level 12-22
Act 2 Skill Tree

For the Bandits Quest in Act 2 I suggest you KILL ALL BANDITS.

Killing all Bandits gives us:
2 Extra Skill Points

Act 3 Level 22-32
Act 3 Skill Tree

I suggest doing first lab after finishing Act 3. At this point you should be strong enough to face Izaro in the Labyrinth.

You should pick the Ascendancy called Raider and the First Skill you should pick is "Rapid Assault"

Here is a Video on how the Labyrinth & Ascendancy System Works

Act 4 Level 32-40
Act 4 Skill Tree

Act 5 Level 40-45
Act 5 Skill Tree

Act 6 Level 45-50
Act 6 Skill Tree

Act 7 Level 50-55
Act 7 Skill Tree

After finishing the quest "The Silver Locket" take the "Jade Flask" as your reward from Weylam Roth. This is a strong defensive Flask that gives us Evasion during the flask uptime and we will use this Flask in our Flask Setup later as well.

Act 8 Level 55-60
Act 8 Skill Tree

At the beginning of Act 8 I suggest that you go and do your second Labyrinth now. Your next ascendancy skill will be "Avatar of the Chase"

Act 9 Level 60-64
Act 9 Skill Tree

Act 10 Level 64-68
Act 10 Skill Tree

I suggest doing your third Labyrinth at level 68 before you battle Kitava again. When you defeat Kitava in Act 10 she lowers your resistances by an extra -30%. Therefor it is easier to do the third Labyrinth before defeating Kitava.

The third set of skill points in our ascendancy tree will be "Quartz Infusion"

Video of Labyrinth & Trials Explanation

1st / Normal Labyrinth: Rapid Assault
2nd / Cruel Labyrinth: Avatar of the Chase
3rd / Merciless Labyrinth: Quartz Infusion
4th / Eternal Labyrinth: Way of the Poacher

The Pantheon is unlocked after Act 6 when you start defeating certain bosses in the Acts. It is a little mini "Skill Tree" where you can select 1 Major Skill and 1 Minor Skill. By clicking "Y" in game you can open your Pantheon and select which ones you want. I suggest these different Skills depending on your playstyle.

Major Pantheon:

I would suggest "Soul of the Brine King". Because there is a very strong synergy with Soul of the Brine King if you use a Divine Vessel in a map and capture Puruna, The Challenger. This will make it so when you have "Soul of the Brine King" you cannot be Frozen. And not being able to be Frozen is extremely good defensively in Path of Exile!

Minor Pantheon:

I would suggest Soul of Gruthkul for slightly more defense or Soul of Ryslatha for Quality of Life.

This PoB contains all Skill Tree's for every act while leveling and also has some generic leveling gear and Skill Gem setups for your progression through the acts!

Leveling PoB: https://pastebin.com/qfGQEkUy

Early Mapping Skill Tree ~ Level 68

Stage 1 Finished Skill Tree ~ Level 80

Early Mapping - Stage 1 PoB ~ Level 68-80: https://pobb.in/1CrORdGQT56t
This PoB contains 2 different skill trees that you can swap between. It also has a set of two different gear setups that showcases your early gear, and your gear progression.

Here is a video explaining how to use Path of Building

IMPORTANT - You always wanna try to keep your Gems atleast Level 20 with 20% Quality unless I specifically say something different. If the Gems in this Guide don't have 20/20 Gems it is because I don't have those myself and can therefor not link them in this Guide.

5-Link Toxic Rain



6-Link Toxic Rain



6-Link Toxic Rain Ballista



Auras - Helmet



Utlity & Golem - Gloves/Boots



Withering Step applies "Wither" to nearby enemies when you activate it. And as soon as you use another skill it is deactivated. Learn to play with this in order to apply Wither stacks faster on Bosses. Wither makes it so enemies who are Withered take increased Chaos Damage.

Movement & Steelskin - Boots/Gloves



IMPORTANT! - Put Steelskin on your Left-MouseKey so that when you walk around, it automaticly activates it when it is off cooldown.

Here you can use Dash or Flame Dash or whatever movement skill you prefer. I prefer Dash so therefor I linked Dash here.

Video on How to use Trade Website

Here we will go over what gear you want and above is a helpful video to show you how to trade for gear on the Path of Exile Trade Website.



- 5-Link or 6-Link Rare Bow -

CHEAP Price~MEDIUM Price - There is a nice trick to easily get a 6-Link Short Bow by turning a Set of Six "The Porcupine" Divination Cards. Once you have done that you can also use "Shrieking Essence of Dread" or "Deafening Essence of Dread" on your Bow to guarantee atleast "+2 Level of Socketed Bow Gems", which will make for quite a decent Bow for now. It is recommended to do this until you get both "+2 Level of Socketed Bow Gems" and "% Increased Attack Speed".

If you are looking for a stronger Bow or other ways of accquiring it then these are the modifiers that you are looking for:

+ to Level of Socketed Gems
+ to level of Socketed Bow Gems
"% Increased Attack Speed"
+% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier
% increased Chaos Damage over Time




- Quiver -

CHEAP - Look for modifiers on Rare Quivers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+% to Damage over Time Multiplier with Attack Skills
"% Increased Attack Speed"




- 5-Link or 6-Link Rare Body Armour -

CHEAP~MEDIUM Price Look for modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage




- Helmet -

CHEAP - On your Helmet you want modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage




-Amulet-

CHEAP~MEDIUM Price Look for modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+ to Strength and/or Intelligence

ANNOINT - Potency of Will - Sepia Oil+Sepia Oil+Opalscent Oil

Video on how to Annoint




- Rings -

CHEAP - You are looking for Rare Rings with modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to Any RESISTS you need
+ Strength




- Gloves -

CHEAP - You want Rare Gloves with modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need




- Belt -

CHEAP - You want a Rare Belt with modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+ Strength



- Boots -

CHEAP - You want a pair of Rare Boots with modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
% Increased Movement Speed (preferably 25%, 30% or 35%)
+% to any RESISTS you need




- Flasks -
granite flask here instead

CHEAP - I suggest a Life Flask that gives Instant Health when used paired with Anti Bleeding to use when you have normal bleeding on you. (We can't get Corrupted Bleeding on us because of Skill Tree)

A Stibnite Flask for More Evasion. (Preferably rolled with % Increased Attack Speed During Effect)

A Granite Flask that gives us a bit of Armor for defences.

A Jade Flask that increases our Evasion. (Preferably rolled with %Increased Evasion Rating During Effect)

A Quicksilver flask that grants us high amounts of Movement Speed.




- Jewels -

CHEAP - If you are using Rare Jewels you should look for modifiers such as:

% Increased Maximum Life
% Increased Attack Speed
% Increased Attack Speed with Bows
+% to any RESISTS you need
+% Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier
+ Strength and/or Intelligence if needed

Video on How to use Trade Website

The main point of these upgrades is to increase your overall QoL and damage in order to keep farming for Stage 3. Where the upgrades will start getting more expensive. So the main things we are looking for here is to stabilize your mana cost of Toxic Rain, hitting the Toxic Rain AoE threshold, and overall rounding out your character to a good point.

IMPORTANT! - Based on user testing, it is suggested to get 39% Increased Area of Effect on your Toxic Rain in order to get more damage. It is therefor very important that we get the Bench Craft Modifier "+1 Level of Socketed AoE Gems & 9% increased Area of Effect" on atleast one of our items. It is suggested to do this on either your GLOVES or your HELMET. It is also very IMPORTANT! that it is only 9% increased Area of Effect. Because we have 20% from the Skill Tree and 10% from the Quality on our Toxic Rain skill gem as well.


- 6-Link Rare Bow -

MEDIUM Price - You want the same modifiers as in Stage 1. But just higher numbers or more of the modifiers overall on the item.




- 6-Link Body Armour -

MEDIUM Price - You basicly want a similar Body Armour as in Stage 1. But preferably with higher numbers or more modifiers overall. It is also very important here to get the specific Implicits.

In order to get the specific implicits we want, you need to use "Eldritch Embers & Eldritch Ichors".

The specific Implicits you want are:

"Flasks Gain a Charge every 3 seconds"
"Malevolence has % Increased Aura Effect"




- Helmet -

MEDIUM Price - The main thing here is to have a helmet with good life, resists and then get the right Implicit.

A very important part here is to get the Implicit Modifier "Reduced Mana Cost of Attacks". This is so our Toxic Rain costs less mana, and is easier to spam. You can acquire this yourself by using "Eldritch Embers" on your helmet. If you feel that your helmet is good enough, and you don't need an overall upgrade.

Look for modifiers on the Helmet such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage
("+1 to Level of Socketed AoE Gems & 9% increased Area of Effect" ON EITHER THE HELMET OR THE GLOVES! NOT ON BOTH!)




- Rare Gloves -

MEDIUM Price - You want implicit modifier "Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier"

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
% increased Attack Speed
("+1 to Level of Socketed AoE Gems & 9% increased Area of Effect" ON EITHER THE HELMET OR THE GLOVES! NOT ON BOTH!)




- Rings -

CHEAP Price~MEDIUM Price -

The important part here is to get the crafted modifier "Non Channeling Skills have -6 or -7 to Total Mana Cost". This makes it so our Toxic Rain costs less mana and is easier to spam.

Look for modifiers on the Magic Ring such as:

Non Channeling Skills have -7/-6 to Total Mana Cost
+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+ Strength




- Amulet -

MEDIUM Price -

The important part here is to get the crafted modifier "Non Channeling Skills have -6 or -7 to Total Mana Cost". This makes it so our Toxic Rain costs less mana and is easier to spam.

It is also suggested to get a amulet with "+1 Level of All Chaos Skill Gems", which will increase the level of our Toxic Rain skill. As we know by now, Toxic Rain gets a high damage increase, with higher gem levels.

Look for modifiers on the Amulet such as:

Non Channeling Skills have -7/-6 to Total Mana Cost
"+1 Level of All Chaos Skill Gems"
+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+ Strength and/or Intelligence

ANNOINT - Potency of Will - Sepia Oil+Sepia Oil+Opalscent Oil

Video on how to Annoint




- Large Cluster Jewel -

MEDIUM Price~EXPENSIVE Price - Cluster Jewels is an essential part of this Build like many others. We gain a high amount of our Damage through Cluster Jewels and therefor we start of with a Large Cluster Jewel.

The specific Large Cluster Jewel we desire here is the Jewel that has the "%Increased Chaos Damage" modifier.

I really suggest trying to get a "8 Passive Cluster Jewel" so we can save as many Skill Points as possible, but of course this can get expensive. If you really do not have the Budget for it, then go for a 9 Passive.

Depending on your Budget you can either opt in for TWO Large Skill Nodes or THREE. The three nodes that we want are "Unholy Grace", "Wicked Pall" and "Unwaveringly Evil". I suggest buying what ever suits your budget and what ever you find available. "Unholy Grace" and "Wicked Pall" are the strongest, so if possible, get those first.

Here is a quick Video to explain how Cluster Jewels work and how to use them!




- Medium Cluster Jewels -

MEDIUM Price~EXPENSIVE Price - The specific Medium Cluster Jewel we desire here is the Jewel that has the "%Increased Damage over Time" modifier.

We will put 2x Medium Cluster Jewels inside our Large Cluster Jewel as well. I suggest for the Mediums that you buy a "4 Passive Cluster Jewel" or a "5 Passive Cluster Jewel". They basicly work the same way, so it doesn't matter if you go for a 4 or a 5.

The two Large Skill Nodes you want on these are the "Brewed for Potency" and "Wicked Pall".




- Rare Quiver -

MEDIUM Price - You want a Rare Quiver with modifiers such as:


+% to Damage over Time Multiplier with Attack Skills
% increased Attack Speed
% increased Damage with Bow Skills
+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need




- Rare Boots -

MEDIUM Price - You want a pair of Rare Boots with modifiers such as:

% Increased Movement Speed (preferably 30% or 35%)
+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need

And you can also influence your gloves with Searing Exarch Influence and look for more "Movement Speed" or even "Action Speed"




- Stygian Vise Belt -

MEDIUM Price - You want a Rare Stygian Vise Belt with modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+ Strength

If you want an even better belt you can get a Stygian Vise that has Life, Resists and also any of these modifiers as well:

% Increased Flask Charges Gained
% Increased Flask Effect Duration
Regenerate "x amount" Life per second




- Abyssal Jewel -

CHEAP Price - Abyssal Jewel to put in the Stygian Vise. We want modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+ to Strength
% increased Attack Speed

IMPORTANT - You always wanna try to keep your Gems atleast Level 20 with 20% Quality unless I specifically say something different. If the Gems in this Guide don't have 20/20 Gems it is because I don't have those myself and can therefor not link them in this Guide.

There is no special Gem upgrades or changes in this Stage. Just make sure you have your Gems leveled to 20 and you upgraded the Quality to 20 as well. ESPECIALLY FOR TOXIC RAIN!

Keep in mind, this Tree looks a bit weird, but that's because we will use Cluster Jewels from now on.
Stage 2 Skill Tree ~ Level 90

PoB for Stage 2 ~ Level 90: https://pobb.in/lzlw6zsb88bX

Video on How to use Trade Website

- Enchanted Helmet -
new helmet here
EXPENSIVE Price - You're looking for a helmet with a Toxic Rain Enchant. Then you want to get the Searing Exarch Implicit Modifier "Reduced Mana Cost of Attacks". This is so our Toxic Rain costs less mana, and is easier to spam.

It is also suggested that you get the Eater of Worlds Implicit Modifier "% of Physical Damage taken as Elemental Damage". This is so we can mitigate physical damage better. It is suggested to get the cold version of this.


Then get the standard modifiers such as:

+ to Maximum Life
+% to any RESISTS you need
+% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage (if not at 100% already)




- A Strong 6-Link Rare Bow -

EXPENSIVE Price - In order to heavily increase our damage we want a very strong damage over time and gem levels bow. This bow can be self crafted and costs around 5-6 divines.

The best version you can get here is the one with "+2 Level of Socketed Support Gems" due to us using a Empower Gem, which will increase the level of our Toxic Rain gem the most.

How to selfcraft your own Toxic Rain Bow! (i dont have this video yet)

If you are buying this bow instead of crafting it, then look for these modifiers on a Rare Bow:

+1 to level of Socketed Gems
+2 to Level of Socketed Bow Gems OR Level of Socketed Support Gems
% increased Attack Speed
% increased Chaos Damage over Time
+% to Chaos Damage over Time Multiplier




- A Despair on Hit Ring -

MEDIUM Price~EXPENSIVE Price - Once again you want similar modifiers as such on the rings in Stage 2. But this time you specifically also want the modifier "Curse Enemies with Despair on Hit". This is a curse that increases our damage by a lot and is therefor very important!




- Watchers Eye Jewel -
item here
EXPENSIVE Price - Watchers Eye Jewels can be rolled with many different unique modifiers that enhance certain auras. The specific one we want on this Jewel is the moidifer:

% to Damage Over Time Multiplier While Affected by Malevolence




- Forbidden Flame & Flesh -
EXPENSIVE Price - These Jewels can be EXTREMELY expensive and is not required in anyway or form for this build. These items are only there if you have money to invest and want to become even tankier if you truly enjoy this build and want to have anything to invest into.

Good combinations of Flame & Flesh Jewels are ones that give the Ascendancy Nodes:
"Gathering Winds"
"Avatar of the Slaughter".

IMPORTANT - Now since we are trying to push our damage even further we aim for Level 21, 20% Quality Gems and in some cases we now aim for Awakened Gems.

The Awakened Gems can only go up to level 5, so therefor our aim is to get level 5 and 20% Quality Awakened Gems. But leveling these gems can be difficult and buying them at high level can be pricey. So even having Level 1, 20% Quality Awakened Gems is fine.

6-Link Bow



We upgrade our Toxic Rain to level 21 with 20% Quality Gems higher damage. And we also upgrade our Void Manipulation and Vicious Projectiles to the Awakened versions. And lastly we add an Empower Gem in order to increase the level and therefor damage of our Toxic Rain.

Stage 3 Skill Tree ~ Level 97

PoB for Stage 3 ~ Level 95: https://pobb.in/mtrilWGCW7H_