Burning Arrow scion build help
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For my new character I'm trying to build Scion archer using Burning Arrow skill as main offensive element.
While it really doesn't have to be top end-game viable build, I don't want to get one-shoted at 66 level white maps feeling I've done something terribly wrong. Already started leveling but didn't spend any passive points yet. So I'm open for comments. As said before for main attack I'm planning on using Burning Arrow + Lesser Multiple Projectiles + Pierce, and I don't know maybe Faster Attacks or Faster Projectiles plus something else. Weapon would be high physical damage bow. So for passives I'm going for the Holy Fire, Heart of Flame and Breath of Flames. All located on the INT part of tree. I'm trying to get there shortest path as possible, getting some life along the path. As an archer I'm trying to get Piercing Shots and few increased physical damage with bows nodes on the DEX path plus anthing else that seems useful on the way there. Main survivability goes from using Acrobatics, Phase Acrobatics and Ondar's Guile as well as from increased life and increased evasion. Since my main attack will be quite mana hungry, I'm getting some increased mana and increased mana regeneration nodes while I'm already at the INT path. With more mana and faster mana regeneration I'm also using Mind Over Matter as an additional layer of protecion. Passive tree goes like this. I've got few concerns. Is such increase in life enough? I've seen builds going even past 150 % and I'm not sure about my amount. I could possibly go for more by using two increased strengh nodes left of Sentinel and from there up to 7 Life nodes near Constitution passive (actually including it to). What about mana? Should I increase it more rather than increasing mana regeneration rate? Is that amount of evasion increase fine? I could add up to 6 Evasion passives near the Reflexes node. Do I need more DEX? Anyway, all of these would require more passive skill points. Should I ommit some of the nodes I've used or maybe did I miss some usefull ignite/burning/fire damage nodes on the way? Thank you for your time. | |
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I think the main problem with this build is you're trying to do two different things. The two main ways to scale burning arrow are through physical damage nodes and using hatred and herald of ash to just deal a large amount of damage on hit, or to scale it with HUGE amount of crit and crit multiplier then using elemental proliferation to spread a burn for aoe damage. These two ideas are quite different in terms of the skill tree. I would pick which one you prefer before thinking about anything in the skill tree.
first
The first way is less about the burn, and more about just dealing a substantial amount of damage with your attacks. The skill tree as a scion would probably look something like this
I'm sure this is not the most efficient path, but it will definitely function well enough for you to get to the end game and get enough game knowledge to be able to make choices that are better on your own. The first thing to notice is that it has 154% life. This is just a personal preference for me, since I play almost exclusively hardcore leagues. You may well choose to ditch a couple life nodes here and there for more damage if you're playing in a softcore league, but in general even in softcore you want no less than 120%. A second important thing to notice is that all the damage nodes are physical, not elemental or fire. Yes, burning arrow has added fire damage and burn chance, but you will also be running the hatred aura (adds a portion of your physical damage as extra cold damage) and herald of ash (adds a portion of your physical damage as extra fire damage) so scaling up the physical damage has a huge effect on the elemental damage in turn, while scaling the elemental does not do the opposite. With a build like this you would use burning arrow with pierce and lmp and physical projectile attack damage, etc. etc. Largely your damage comes from physical and because your physical damage is increased your elemental damage also gets increased.
second
The second way to scale burning arrow involves using elemental proliferation and spreading a huge burning aoe. The skill tree would look more like this
This build also has a pretty large amount of life, but the primary damage focus is on crit and crit multiplier. With this build you only use one single projectile for your burning arrow. You link it to supports like physical projectile attack damage, fire penetration, crit multiplier, added fire, and elemental proliferation. You also run the herald of ash skill gem supported by elemental proliferation. This means if you encounter a pack of enemies, you crit just one of them for a ridiculously huge hit, then you get an enormous burn in an aoe around that monster due to the herald of ash overkill effect and elemental proliferation. I don't believe the fire damage nodes are worth while for either build because with herald of ash and hatred, when you scale the physical damage you get a lot of elemental damage out of it but it doesn't go in the opposite direction. Mana regen is only really a problem if you choose to do the first method, in that case I would consider either getting a little mana leech on your jewelry slots, or picking up mind drinker in the skill tree. You don't need to get much extra mana. Evasion specific nodes in the skill tree are generally considered to be borderline inefficient. There are simply better things to spend points on usually, however it is good to get a large amount in any ondar's guile build. I wouldn't go grabbing up all the 12% evasion nodes, but keeping reflexes and going for revenge of the hunted are definitely strong choices. How to make currency in Path of Exile, a comprehensive guide:
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First of all, sorry for such a terribly late replay and digging-up this thread. At first my real life plans have changed quite a lot so I didn't have time to play PoE anymore, but lately I did go back to the game, and along with that to the discussed build.
Thanks for anyone who did read my post and thank you a lot Shmizz for replaying. I went with your first idea. My current passives are looking like that. There's 297 % increased damage with bows, 67 % increased projectile damage, 163 % increased maximum life - current maximum life is 3837. For survivability there are Acrobatics, Phase Acrobatics, Ondar's Guile and Blood Drinker + evasion located on gear (35 % chance to avoid attacks). Also I did get Mind Drinker for keeping all the support gems of Burining Arrow along with Herald of Ash and Hatred. Acutally I've got 3 more unalocated passive points, I really don't have any idea what else I could improve. My gear: Skills setup: * Burning Arrow + Lesser Multiple Projectiles + Pierce + Faster Attacks + Added Fire Damage - primary attack for fast killing larger groups of weak monsters (3 arrows, 99 % chance to pierce), about 5100 DPS, * Burning Arrow + Faster Attacks + Physical Projectile Attack Damage - secondary attack for stronger normal monster, also rare and uniques, about 7200 DPS, * Herald of Ash + Hatred + Reduced Mana. So yeah, that's very "easy to use" build. Basically altering two attacks when needed. What can I do with this? Currently character level is 86. No problem completing the game on Merciless. No problem surviving level 72 blue/magic (I can self-sustain them up to level 71) maps or Zana's daily maps scaled to level 76 (excluding some bosses and exiles). I've played with this character for quite some time, including leveling almost all equiped skill gems from level 1 to 20. What's next? Well, that's my question. I would like to be able to get as much as possible from this character. To be honest, this is the best one compared to my previous attemps that got smacked at the start of Merciless difficulty. 1. Any suggestions to my passives? Maybe I should drop few nodes in favour of others, what should I invest into next? 2. What with my skill setup? Any way of getting yet more damage and most important increased survivability? I'm sure I could be able to run at least one more aura. But with the changes to aura cost comming soon, I'm not going to try get 4th socket in my gloves for now, as one of them will be freed by removing Reduced Mana. 3. What parameters should I prioritize when getting gear? Everything I'm using is what I've got from drop excluding some changes to count/colors of sockets. Only two pieces are weapon (~3 Chaos Orbs) I did bought for maximum increased physical damage and boots (~20 Chaos Orbs) I bought to get elemental resistances to maximum. I've got about 120 Chaos Orbs saved and quite more money located in Alchemy/Regal/Divine Orbs. While I'm aware it's not much for super-high-end gear I'm sure I could buy way better gear than I have currently. I just don't want to spend my money unreasonably. I do know that new expansion is just around the corner, and with that all the discussion will start from the beginning, but I hope some suggestion are universal and will be useful now and then. Thank you for reading. |
