Auto-targeting Limitation (caustic arrow + pierce) : Possible Solutions

Disclaimer: I am not a designer or engineer, so I do not know the bounds of what is possible or feasible.

In the event you may not be aware, there is an issue surrounding caustic arrow and the pierce mechanic on console. Due to auto-targeting, and caustic arrow's projectile expiring at target destination, the projectile will always expire at the enemies location, preventing further projectile travel despite any amount of piercing (pc players can circumvent this by targeting behind a pack of enemies). While the pierce mechanic does work (evidenced by hitting an enemy that has traveled towards the player during projectile flight), auto-targeting prevents the destination from being behind enemies. I understand that auto-targeting is mandatory when using a controller, so removing that isn't an option. I also understand that there must be a unified skill across platforms, and not multiple behaviors of the same skill for each platform.

A possible solution I do see is the removal of projectile expiration at target destination. The disadvantage of this idea is the removal of one of Caustic Arrows strengths. In it's current state, if you miss your target, the cloud will still activate and damage your target. However, if we removed expiration at target destination and let it behave like other bow skills, if you were to miss your target, no cloud would form. So the result could be a decrease in the skill's effectiveness. My argument there is that the gains would outweigh the losses, as most pc players target beyond enemy packs anyways. Those players are not benefiting as much at their targeted destination as they are on the way to the targeted destination.

Another possible solution could be to refresh the projectile's expiration upon a successful hit. Meaning, in the event of a miss, the skill would behave how it currently does, but if a hit occurs, the projectile then travels on the same trajectory until pierce limit is reached, a wall is hit, or normal projectile distance is met.

Hopefully this message reaches the eyes of GGG. It would be nice to know if this is an issue that will be tended to, or if they are happy with how Caustic Arrow is currently preforming on Xbox.

Thank you for your time.

I am currently running a caustic arrow build and have noticed the same issue. Hopefully GGG will respond and clarify if this is intended or if the skill is going to be updated.