Help on a poison arrow build

I need a little help on a poison arrow build.



I"m not sure if using ES with PA would be good or not.

Also don't know what else to use with PA, like ice shot maybe?

Any ideas/help?

Not one answer at all?

I am a bit of a newb yet, so take my advice with that in mind.

If you are going for CI you will need more ES...a lot more. In my opinion CI builds are barely worth the effort. But thats my opinion.

Forget Iron Grip. You arent collecting enough Strength to make it worth the long drive to it. It is also very likely that you will get a gem or ten along the way that provide that skill without spending the passive points.

Try to think where you'll be by the time you hit level 70. At level 70 you should be in the final stages of Act 3 Merciless and will have spent around 85 skill points. My level 70 Scion has 87 skill points assigned...and, btw, is still pretty much a pussy becuase of the build I chose (one that required ZERO or near zero expense). That will change but it is a frustrating reality that you will have to deal with if you go with a specialized build....like CI.

As far as your specific questions; I don't really know. I've been focusing on spell crafting with my builds. I can say that most archer builds find higher success with Lighting Arrow than with Poison.

I do hope that someone can answer those questions directly but, as I'm sure you've noticed, most people here are focused solely on what someone else has already done, then done again, then refined, then spent about 600 exalts, then says is final, then refines again...anyway, you get the point.

Try to study the passive trees of the successful builds. You will find commonalities in the types of builds you look at. Example; lots of life nodes for tank builds.

And don't forget to have fun. :)

Your not getting any answer due to PA being very meh in merciless. The damage output just isn't there and greatly diminishes late game. And PA can't compete with party friendly builds as it kills too slow to be of any help.

With that said though, it is viable. Note I didn't say decent but viable. Meaning you can complete Act 3 merciless using it as a primary attack. Just realize you will be kiting a lot and going slowly.

On to your build:

1) Drop Iron grip. You don't have enough STR in your build to warrant using it at all. Move those points into either increasing your evasion/ES or into more projectile damage. I recommend more eva/es as you will need to kite/survive long enough for your PA to actually do its full damage.

2) As a complimentary skill to this type of build I would go with (spell totem + summon skeletons + faster casting + minion life). Helps to keep mobs off you and helps keep them in your PA's cloud. Makes kiting easier also.

3) Not sure what skill you're using for single target. Frenzy is always nice with +faster attacks + added phys projectile damage supports.

Just some tips. Hope they help. For more info on PA mechanics and optimizing its damage look in the "Skill feedback" subforum for "Poison Arrow" thread.

Thanks for the feedback. I guess i'll drop iron grip if it's not going to make any difference. I've been looking into this build a bit, i know it's a little hard with it's damage. I think it's trick is getting the gem that levels up PA and a bow with multiple + level specs on it. And Vulnerability curse for even more damage.

As Tonuk said, i was thinking of using skeletons with the build. Without the frenzy nodes, was thinking of trying to use something else for single, like ice shot or burning arrow.

Burning arrow makes a nice single target attack. I've used it on a couple builds. Might also think about explosive arrow or elemental hit as single target. Neither depend on weapon damage for scaling.

The only advice I can give you about PA is that it can be a great leveling tool early game (especially with a bow skills mod), but is completely worthless late merciless and into maps. I wouldn't plan on making your build revolve completely around PA for 60+ or your gonna have a bad time.