Theorycrafting: Physical Bow build!

If you started with a Templar (the most efficient way to start this build; not a single other start is this efficient), and built this: passive tree... Taking all skill points from Bandits in order to pick up all the needed nodes; this is only level 75~ as well, so it is possible to get a higher level and more points.

Then use a Lioneye's Glare bow (absolute necessity for this build) socketed with Split Arrow + Mana Leech + Attack Speed + Critical Damage (30 mana cost), 5 Diamond Flasks, constantly keeping Blood Rage on.

What is supposed to be achieved is pure physical damage, constantly critting with 270% crit multiplier bonus, decent tankiness for sticky situations in case one is not careful enough, immunity to chaos damage and stun...

Comments?
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
Last edited by VenatorPoE on Jan 6, 2013, 6:57:31 PM
As a bump; I will add what I see the build going for after level 76.

This is for lvl82 - basically getting the three extra frenzy charges, that also increases evasion by 24% during their duration, which is a fair boost.
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
Alright, apparently nobody is interested in physical bow builds. I hope the release of Open Beta will make them more easily accessible.
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
Interesting build. Sounds like it would be pretty fun rolling around one-shotting bosses with Diamond flasks. You say it's the most efficient, but I would argue that building a Shadow would actually be a better plan for this build. Quicker access to the early game keystones (CI, IR). With a templar, you'll be hurting for survivability until well into your 50s when you can get CI. Even further if you temporarily pick up life/ES nodes while leveling. Evasion rating for armor is higher on Evasion gear than armor is on "Armor" gear. In addition, since most of your skills are Dex/Int, it will be much easier to obtain the links you're looking for on the right types of armor. No need to sacrifice gear quality just to link up your skills.

Build:
Spoiler
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYABbUM8g5IDq0Pqw_EEHsRLxGWFHUVIBjbGdUeGiRqJP0ppSo4Kk0qWysKLIUsvyzpMHwx-jJ-Mww2PTt8Ps8_J0OcUUdaGlqmW69tbG6qdEF08Xb3d9d_K3_GiGuNv5manrmio6XLqriuk7QatMW1SLb3uDe4yr3mvjrBAMHFwdjKqdIZ1QDW0dsa3MfdDeOE51TndOtj9Uv5Y_4r_5P_3g==


Here is an 80 pt build offering pretty much the same bonuses. All Crit multipliers, all Frenzy charges, and lots of Evasion/ES. I didn't travel to pick up Unwavering Stance and Beserking, but that would probably be the next objective. Despite it being a Dex build, I still pick up Iron Grip, because it's basically a 15% physical projectile bonus. However, any extra damage passives should be placed in physical bow dmg instead of strength, because they'll offer a far greater benefit.

Let me know what you think.
"
QueueTip wrote:
Let me know what you think.


Well, this is me, letting you know what I think.

Thank you for your feedback! I appreciate it. My post ended up being huge, so I split it up in sections to make it easy to read.


Alright, the Shadow versus Templar problem.
Spoiler
First of all, you forgot to pick up Shadow Reaver! Major mistake in your build, renders it unusable.

Next, you apparently misclicked (obviously didn't intentionally take it on a CI build) an Increased Health node below the Frenzy charge in the bottom right corner of the tree - there's one extra point you can use.

Near that same Frenzy Charge, you picked up that little crit ring, spending a total of 4 points. You gained 30% crit damage from it (that is the only useful thing from those 4 points), which means you gain 7.5% crit damage per point. For a crazy point tight build like this one, I don't think that is a good choice.

The two Nullification rings near Shadow start, while really awesome (I actually spent quite some time thinking on how to get the two big Nullification nodes in my build), don't really provide the same bang for the buck as the two Body and Soul rings near Templar start. Body and Soul give a lot more Energy Shield, and the cooldown delay is not quite the best, as it won't really do much for you considering you will leech back to 100% nearly instantly all the time.

The Iron Grip keystone will provide a 66% increase to damage in my build, an 18% increase in yours, rendering it nearly useless; if it wasn't by Vaal Pact it would be a waste in this case. You get 24% projectile damage at start which makes the situation a bit better, however 66% > 42%.

While you do get an 18% increased attack speed boost, my build gets a +50% crit damage multiplier (below Resolute Technique). 50% crit dmg > 18% attack speed any day, if you ask me.

And lastly; while you get 322 Dex in your build, I only get 174 in mine. It translates to 644 flat accuracy and 64% increased evasion in yours, 348 flat accuracy and 34% increased evasion in mine. Considering you can get plenty of accuracy on items to reach a high enough hit chance, and that overall, considering Iron Reflexes, and comparing Body and Soul rings to Nullification rings, my armour will come out higher, I say that is not quite an improvement.

My little adaptation of your build.
Spoiler
I made a little adjustment to your build, which you will probably like - I kicked out the Life % point, repathed the right side to pick up Ghost Reaver, and then spent the rest of the points on the bottom to pick up US and Berserk, and I still have 2 points left over, so I decided to pick up Bow Crit Multiplier and Master Fletcher (above Iron Reflexes), and yet I still can't seem to get equal point efficiency compared to my version. I basically just improved your build up to 92 points to reach the same amount of points spent in mine, to see how far it can come at same point usage.

The early game problem.
Spoiler
When it comes to early game, I would build it along the lines of this. That utilizes ~12 points which can easily be removed later with the free respec points you get from missions. If you desire to do so, you can pick up the additional three life nodes near Vaal Pact, to improve your HP, or you can grab the three Bone Smasher nodes below the Fitness ring. Obviously early game I would go through with a two handed mace; as it is by far the most efficient method. If you want an even easier mid game, you can add several more points to the build and later remove them with orbs of regret. On a side note, I would definitely NOT recommend this build to anyone just starting the game, it is far from early-game friendly, and it relies on some items which are not quite easy to grab (Lioneye's Glare, sheesh!).

Items problem.
Spoiler
To end this huge wall of text, I wish to add that the build only utilizes 4L items at most, so it is actually quite item-friendly in my opinion. It can even work with only 3L (SplitArrow+FasterAttacks+CritDmg), but you would have to curse enemies with Warlords Mark or have some other method to regain mana (this build has mana issues if you randomly spam Split Arrow around; despite its low cost).


Honestly, when I skim over my post, I can only hope that you will not be offended by the barrage of critiques sent your way...
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
Not offended at all. I like some good criticism.

The life node + Ghost reaver were definitely overlooked. whoops! I was playing around with that on a tiny browser window at work as not to attract attention, so it was hard to get the big picture.

A couple points tho (I like the modified Shadow build you put together , so I'll use that for the argument):

"
While you do get an 18% increased attack speed boost, my build gets a +50% crit damage multiplier (below Resolute Technique). 50% crit dmg > 18% attack speed any day, if you ask me.

There is also the 30% multiplier to the left of the Frenzy node and the 15% by Master Fletcher you added for a total of 45%. So that comparison is actually 5% crit dmg vs 18% attack speed.

"

The Iron Grip keystone will provide a 66% increase to damage in my build, an 18% increase in yours, rendering it nearly useless; if it wasn't by Vaal Pact it would be a waste in this case. You get 24% projectile damage at start which makes the situation a bit better, however 66% > 42%

True. However, with the 15% from master fletcher, you're really looking at 66% vs 57%.

Also don't forget this 92 point build INCLUDES all of the Frenzy charges. That's an extra 6 points to spend before comparing it with the 98 point templar build.

Heres a 98 pt build using your 92 pt shadow one. I put most in the Ranger Tree for bow bonuses, but just for fun I moved the route to CI to the inner line, and picked up Mind Drinker. If that provided enough Mana Leech, the Support Gem could be removed in favor of something else. Alternatively, you could finish the ring by Master fletcher, and add 3 points to get Steel Skin by Unwavering Stance.

I dunno. Seems pretty darn close in effectiveness. I guess it just comes down to which character model you like better :)
"
QueueTip wrote:
I dunno. Seems pretty darn close in effectiveness. I guess it just comes down to which character model you like better :)


While I agree with you completely, I wanted to add the whole "charts" of data properly. Thought both of us would find them interesting, they beat our number crunching.

Images within spoilers below!

Your build stats:
Spoiler

My build stats:
Spoiler



I didn't check them properly yet, I just made and uploaded those. I will edit this post in case I find anything especially worth mentioning.

EDIT - idiot as I am, I switched the images. Fixed!

EDIT 2 - my findings!

Your build: 416 damage %, 72% increased ES, 18% more ES, 704 accuracy
My build: 366 damage %, 88% increased ES, 20% more ES, 348 accuracy

Other than that we could safely say we match each other, but when it comes to those crucial stats, your build indeed seems to deal 50% more damage in total! Which is of course great; as it improves both survivability and clear speed.

Thank you very much for the insight! I appreciate it, this is why I wanted to run my idea by other people on forum, there are some smart guys out there who can see what I oversee.
Life is tough... but it is tougher if you're stupid.
Last edited by VenatorPoE on Jan 9, 2013, 7:50:00 PM
It'll be interesting to see how the open beta changes CI builds, because this has become very enticing to me for a starting char! Of course obtaining 5 diamond flasks will be quite the challenge with a fresh account lol.
Is this build viable in HC?

Report Forum Post

Report Account:

Report Type

Additional Info