[3.20] Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder - Fast, fun to play
 Hello. Welcome to my Scourge Arrow build guide. So, let me start with saying that I really love Scourge Arrow. I tried quite a few variations of SA and I think I like this one the most. Why? well, mostly thanks to Master Toxicist awesome poison proliferation. It solves a lot of problems that Scourge Arrow has, and that is having to charge to deal good damage, having issues with struggler monsters near walls and having issues with outputing damage consistently (because of constant charge/release playstyle). Master Toxicist solves this by proliferating all our poisons to nearby enemies when they die, so we just need to shoot once, and everything around dies, including rares and leaves no strugglers behind. And for bosses, well, our poisons last around 5 seconds and we run Mirage Archer so boss will be constantly dealt decent DoT damage, even when we are dodging. Also, in 3.7 and 3.8 poison builds received huge buffs on tree, and Darkscorn (currently one of the best bows for this build) received huge buff as well. Scourge Arrow was buffed too (we no longer have any issues with doors) so now it actually feels great to play even in closed areas. If you have any questions about the build or just want to talk you can always @ me in PoE Discord (my username is deathbeam#0001). Changelog Click here to view Pro's & Con's + Relatively good single target after you get the playstyle down + Really good clear speed (because of Master Toxicist poison proliferation and Scourge Arrow coverage) + 200%+ increased movement speed + 80%+ evade chance + 100% spell suppression + 44% damage prevented (thanks to scaled Progenesis flask) + 80% of physical damage taken as either elemental or chaos damage + Permanent flask uptime (Nature's Boon) + Ghost Dance + Ailment + Curse immunity + High life recovery (thanks to very high Life flask investment) + Can do most map mods (reduced flask stuff can be annoying) + Can do all content - Scourge Arrow playstyle takes some time getting used to - Very active playstyle (a lot of life flask pressing, a lot of active skills and positioning) - Not very good league starter anymore because of all the nerfs over the years, now you basically play Poisonous Concoction until you can afford at least basic starter setup - Enemies do not die instantly so sometimes we can take some dangerous hits (we combat this with our high defenses) Content Done - Uber Eater of Worlds - Uber Searching Exarch - Uber Shaper - Uber Cortex - Uber Uber Elder - Uber Maven - Uber Sirus - Simulacrum wave 30 - T16 Blight Ravaged Maps - 100% Delirious T19 Double Beyond maps - Maven Invitations (Twisted, Hidden, Formed, Forgotten, Feared, Elderslayers) - Delve depth 600+ - 5 way battle - Mastermind - Black Sun - Infinite Hunger - Uber Atziri My characters using this build - Legion character - Blight character - Metamorph character - Delirium character - Harvest character - Heist character - Ultimatum character - Expedition character - Archnemesis character - Sentinel character - Sanctum character Path of Building Path of Building is tool for PoE to plan gear, skill tree and calculate effective damage. It also contains Bandits and Pantheon choice. You can download it here. Important! Make sure you are on Path of Building Comminity version, the guide requires it. If you do not know how to use Path of Building, watch this video. After that simply import below Pastebin URL into PoB: Path of Building code (last updated 13th February 2023)
Navigating through PoB (important, read carefully)
There are trees for level 100, 90, 80, 70, 60, 50, 40, 30, 20 and 10. Bear in mind that low level trees are optimized for my playstyle and do not really prioritize taking a lot of life early. There are also special trees for various build variations (see Build Variations section). Use dropdown in bottom left corner of Tree section in PoB to cycle between the trees:  There are also special item sets for various build variations. Use dropdown in top area of Items section in PoB to cycle between item sets:  There are multiple skill sets as well again for various build variations. Use dropdown in top area of Skills section in PoB to cycle between skill sets: 
How to configure PoB for your own character
To calculate the actual DPS your Scourge Arrow is doing simply multiply your damage by 4. And for ballistas by ballista count. Explanation of multi: - DPS * 6 because of 6 Thorn Arrows - DPS * 2 because Release is worth exactly 2 Thorn Arrows This would be in ideal scenario where all pods are hitting but sadly that is no longer the case so now we estimate around half of the hits, so multi is 4. After importing your character to PoB, follow these steps to properly configure it to show your actual stats: 1. Go to skills section and set Scourge Arrow as active on left side. Then set stages to 5 and switch from Release to Thorn Arrows 2. Find Scourge Arrow under Socket Groups, set count on it to 8 and tick Include in Full DPS 3. Find Siege Ballista under Socket Groups, set count on it to 6 and tick Include in Full DPS 4. Enable all flasks in items section and switch to configuration section 5. Check Are you Focused? 6. Check Do you have Alchemist's Genius? 7. Set Rage to 50 (if you have source of rage generation) 8. Check Are you Leeching? 9. Check Have you Crit Recently? 10. Check Is Infusion Active? 11. Set # of Withered stacks to 15 12. Set Is enemy boss? to Guardian/Pinnacle Boss Build Variations
Starter
Damage: 4/10 Survivability: 4/10 Clear Speed: 5/10 Initial investment:: 3/10 This setup is not utilizing anything special, only base tree without Cluster Jewels and basic gear. It is the ideal setup for league start after you can get the gear or as temporary setup before getting enough currency for one of the alternative setups. Also it is most straightforward setup, what makes it easy to follow. You can start transitioning to other setups from starter setup at level 90+ and after getting Divergent Herald of Agony.
Default
Damage: 8/10 Survivability: 7/10 Clear Speed: 7/10 Initial investment: 6/10 This setup is utilizing Cluster Jewels and multiple curses for increasing the damage and defense and then stacks flask effect on top to increase its defenses through defensive flasks. It is no longer using armour and its instead using physical damage taken as elemental to solve phys issues. It is also using Strength of Blood combined with Vaal Pact for additional damage mitigation. If you prefer recovery over mitigation simply unallocate Strength of Blood. It can be sometimes better, e.g for mapping if you arent dying already as the extra recovery from all the leech is very strong as well. If you can't afford Progenesis yet use Alchemist Ruby, Alchemist Topaz and Taste of Hate instead of Bismuth, Silver and Progenesis. If you do not have reduced Herald of Agony reservation on your ring, get it on helmet instead of phys taken as ele or use Inspiration instead of Hex Bloom.
Tank
Damage: 6/10 Survivability: 10/10 Clear Speed: 6/10 Initial investment: 8/10 This setup is variation of Default setup but it is focusing primarily on defense over mapping and single target. It has around 50% higher max hit and is not using Strength of Blood because it is skipping Life Flask in order to fit in triple elemental flasks and Taste of Hate as big source of extra mitigation so it needs the extra recovery from leech. The setup is also using Petrified Blood to enable Overleech. On top of overleech it is also using Flagellant flasks + Master Surgeon for even more recovery. Because of Petrified Blood the build needs to use Enlighten for auras and it also needs Increased reservation efficiency of skills corruption on abyss jewel and lower level Temporal Chains (anywhere between level 5 and 10).
Ballista
Damage: 7/10 Survivability: 4/10 Clear Speed: 10/10 Initial investment: 10/10 This setup is using only Scourge Arrow Ballistas with Wilma's Requiral to stack a lot of attack speed from utilizing both attack speed and cast speed components of Frenzy Charges, Onslaught, Haste and Soul Eater from Zerphi's Heart when mapping. Because of Ancestral Bond on Wilma's this needs to be pure ballista setup and is primarily suited for juiced mapping and some bossing where you can dodge boss abilities because of its limited survivability (as helmet slot is taken so a lot less phys taken as ele and the build also cannot leech so no Strength of Blood or even recovery from leech in general). This setup also needs Magebane relic to cap suppression, Chaos Innoculation Impossible Escape and ideally max frenzy charges circles of nostalgia to reach its full potential so the entry cost is very high compared to other variations. Leveling and gearing
Gem progression
The gems and setup below are sorted vertically based on priority, where stuff on bottom is less important in each level breakpoint section. Gem names that are italic are the ones that changed since previous level breakpoint. Level 1 3 link - Caustic Arrow (Act 1 - Enemy at the Gate - Nessa) Pierce Support (Act 1 - Enemy at the Gate - Nessa) Chance to Poison Support Level 4 3 link - Caustic Arrow Pierce Support Chance to Poison Support 1 link - Dash (Act 1 - Breaking Some Eggs - Nessa) 1 link - Steelskin (Act 1 - Breaking Some Eggs - Nessa) Level 8 4 link - Caustic Arrow Pierce Support Void Manipulation Support (Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Nessa) Chance to Poison Support 1 link - Dash 1 link - Steelskin Level 10 4 link - Caustic Arrow Pierce Support Void Manipulation Support Chance to Poison Support 1 link - Dash 1 link - Steelskin 1 link - Withering Step (Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Nessa) Level 12 5 link - Poisonous Concoction Void Manipulation Support Unbound Ailments Support (Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Siosa) Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support (Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Nessa) Chance to Poison Support 1 link - Dash 1 link - Steelskin 1 link - Withering Step Level 16 5 link - Poisonous Concoction Void Manipulation Support Unbound Ailments Support Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support Chance to Poison Support 1 link - Dash 1 link - Steelskin 1 link - Withering Step 1 link - Herald of Agony (Act 2 - Intruders in Black - Yeena) 1 link - Blood Rage (Act 2 - Intruders in Black - Yeena) Level 18 6 link - Poisonous Concoction Deadly Ailments Support (Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Yeena) Void Manipulation Support Unbound Ailments Support Vicious Projectiles Support (Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Yeena) Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support 1 link - Dash 1 link - Steelskin 1 link - Withering Step 1 link - Herald of Agony 1 link - Blood Rage Level 24 6 link - Poisonous Concoction Deadly Ailments Support Void Manipulation Support Unbound Ailments Support Vicious Projectiles Support Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support 1 link - Dash 1 link - Steelskin 1 link - Withering Step 1 link - Herald of Agony 1 link - Grace (Act 3 - Lost in Love - Clarissa) 1 link - Despair (Act 3 - Lost in Love - Clarissa) 1 link - Blood Rage Level 31 6 link - Poisonous Concoction Deadly Ailments Support Void Manipulation Support Unbound Ailments Support Vicious Projectiles Support Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support 2 link - Dash Second Wind Support (Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Siosa) 2 link - Steelskin Increased Duration Support (Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Siosa) 1 link - Withering Step 1 link - Herald of Agony 1 link - Grace 1 link - Despair 1 link - Blood Rage Level 38 6 link - Poisonous Concoction Greater Multiple Projectiles Support (Act 4 - The Eternal Nightmare - Petarus and Vanja) Deadly Ailments Support Void Manipulation Support Unbound Ailments Support Vicious Projectiles Support 2 link - Dash Second Wind Support 2 link - Steelskin Increased Duration Support 1 link - Withering Step 1 link - Herald of Agony 1 link - Grace 1 link - Despair 1 link - Blood Rage After you are done with leveling (so after you finish Act 10) switch to Scourge Arrow setup. This will cost also around 14 regrets, but you should get that from quests anyway. Frequently asked questions (F.A.Q)
Why am I not doing damage?
This question is asked way too often. So here is list of things you should make sure you have and do: 1. Darkscorn 2. +1 Arrow quiver 3. Scourge Arrow helmet enchant 4. Despair + Temporal chains 5. Ailment Duration focus mod on Helmet 7. 100% chance to poison, check your character sheet in game and check SA and ballistas and make sure they both have 100% chance to poison. If not grab some extra from tree 8. Mana leech (from tree or clusters) and reduced mana cost craft on one of your flasks. I know this should be obvious, but if you cant sustain your own mana then you cant properly DPS stuff 9. Source of Wither (Glorious Vanity, Withering Touch, Withering Step, Balance of Terror, Abhorrent Interrogation)
Why am I dying?
Here is another checklist for you: 1. Do you have proper flask setup. Flasks are #1 thing for Pathfinder, well rolled defensive flasks are super important 2. Do you have capped elemental resistance 3. Do you have at least positive chaos resistance 4. Do you have enough sources of physical damage taken as elemental or chaos damage (aim for at least 50 total if you are not using armour) 5. Do you have Phasing (tree, abyss jewel, this is very important)
Why is extra arrow so important and how to play with it?
Extra arrow changes how your pods are spread when you shoot. They are spread between all your arrows, so +1 arrow is not adding extra pods. But it significantly improves the overlaps. When bossing, you want to position your mouse cursor close to your character so you shoot the pods in nice V shape like this:  For comparison this is how it looks with single arrow:  Media Mapping T19 Double Beyond 100% Deliriums Malformation Lvl 96 Malformation 100% Delirious Beyond + Nemesis Lvl 96 Beachhead Lvl 84 Phantasmagoria/Cells Lvl 85 Crystal Ore Lvl 88 Esh's Breachstone Lvl 88 Tul's Breachstone Lvl 88 Pit of the Chimera Lvl 88 Glacier Monolith Farming Lvl 90 Vaal Temple Lvl 90 Elder Burial Chambers Lvl 94 (Tornado Shot) Cage Lvl 72 (Mapping with Plague Bearer) Delve Depth 364 Lvl 94 (Tornado Shot) Lair of the Hydra Lvl 90 (Vicious Projectiles bow + Devoto) Leyline Lvl 92 (Mapping with Chainbreaker) Silo Lvl 85 (League start with Petrified Blood) Burial Chambers Lvl 92 (Petrified Blood + Perma Berserk) Level 100 ding Juiced Cemetery Crimson Temple Mapping with Nightgrip Scourge Arrow Poison Ballistas (Wilma's + Zerphi's) Pathfinder - 100% Deli Wandering Path Bossing Ahuatotli Delve Depth 483 Lvl 95 Warlord Lvl 80 Redeemer Lvl 82 Hunter Lvl 84 Metamorph Level 80 Atziri Lvl 88 Red Elder Lvl 91 Shaper Lvl 91 Elder Lvl 92 2 way battle Lvl 94 (Tornado Shot) 5 way battle Lvl 93 (with HoAG disabled by accident) Simulacrum Wave 19-20 Lvl 95 Sirus Lvl 96 The Twisted Lvl 95 (Petrified Blood + Divine Flesh) Black Star Infinite Hunger Eater of Worlds Searing Exarch Simulacrum Wave 30 Kosis + Omni (Kosis one shotting ballistas so its pretty damn slow) Uber Eater of Worlds Misc Difference between having and not having SA enchant on helmet Mapping with Lightning Warp + Asenath's Chant Siege Ballista only clearing Flask sustain Flagellant in action My builds: [3.17] Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2551841 Last edited by thedeathbeam on Feb 24, 2023, 7:48:31 PM Last bumped on Mar 14, 2023, 4:04:17 PM
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Small update:
Added info about Soul of Shakari and Darkscorn synergy, as I completely forgot to mention this. Basically, it is also physical damage reduction (at 25% effectiveness, but still). My builds:
[3.17] Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2551841 |
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Your build seems dope. I'll do it right now and review later.
Thank you for your work :) |
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Looks good, going to try this out - any levelling guides for 30/60/90 so we know which way to assign passives?
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" I still need to add them, sorry :/ But for now, on tree, try to get all poison chance on hit nodes on tree early, life, evasion and Master Fletcher, those are mostly core part of the build. If you are lacking evasion for QoTF get avatar of the hunt early, otherwise skip it. If you are getting stunned a lot, either take Brine King, or Unpredictable Offensive, otherwise skip it as well. Avatar of the Hunt and Unpredictable Offensive are weak nodes for this build, they are purely for utility on the final tree, and can be easily skipped. Oh, also, get the bottom-right mana leech node for sure. EDIT: Also, small update. For leveling, I addeed Quill Rain as great option (more info in the leveling section in the guide) My builds: [3.17] Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2551841 Last edited by thedeathbeam on Jun 22, 2019, 6:07:20 AM
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" Awesome thanks for the quick response! | |
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1) What about the Legions? Is it good at clearing them? Does poison proliferate off "freed" mobs?
2) Is it any good in Timeless Conflict? 3) Are DMG reflect maps doable? (both ELE and Phys) Looks really interesting, might give it a try. Receiving these answers might just tip me over the fence, lol. Good job! | |
" 1. It is decent, SA spread is pretty big, in good areas you can clear the whole monolith. But, for the poison prolif, no, atm it do not works with legion, but GGG mentioned that they will be looking about some ascendancy on kill effects not working with legion (and hopefully this includes Pathfinder) 2. Did not tried the build in 4 or 5 way battle so I dont know yet, but, the damage and clear is pretty good, so I imagine it will not be very bad there (ofc, it cant compete with stuff like TS, as that is on whole another level) 3. Yes, you can do both. Honestly, so far no map mod was an issue for me, I just alch and occasionally corrupt everything without even looking at the mods. My builds:
[3.17] Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2551841 |
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Started this build today, feeling decent leveling with Scourge Arrow itself.
I would like to know why Master Alchemist over Nature's Adrenaline? In PoB Nature's Adrenaline seems to give more total damage, and movement speed and attack speed is always welcomed. We are not doing any elemental damage anyway, so the Master Alchemist does not seem all useful beside the immunity. | |
" It's solely for immunity, so we can use better flasks. E.g, when not using Master Alchemist, you will have to give up suffix on either Jade flask or Quicksilver flask, and losing it on either of them means big loss in movement speed, so basically taking Nature's Adrenaline will make you slower in the long run. But yeah, it is more damage for sure, as that 20% attack speed is very nice. It's mostly personal preference I guess, but I prefer the extra movement speed from Master Alchemist (thanks to better flasks) a lot more. My builds:
[3.17] Scourge Arrow Poison Prolif Pathfinder - https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2551841 |
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