[3.9] OUTDATED Metamorph garbage explosive arrow build (yes we make metamorphs into garbage)


Don't play this anymore in 3.10, it's nerfed to the ground, clear speed wasn't the "bestest" already, the only thing that outshines with this build is boss damage but GGG decided to make it a skill that cannot clear maps properly (due to fuse delay) and garbage boss damage.

What the build does:
Spoiler
All endgame bosses
Clear maps at decent speed (not zoom zoom)
Quiet tanky (7k+ life)
Cheap to get started
High ignite damage
Ele reflect immune
Can do no regen map mod just fine


What build doesn't do:
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90%+ avoid elemental ailment map mod (I killed hydra with 100% avoid elemental ailemts but it took 1 whole minutes killing it with only explosions)
Hall of grandmasters (haven't tried so I'd just list as not doable)
Deep delving, I my-self delved till 600 depth for the endgame grind challenge, the build can tank even with deadly mods at 500+ depth but it's not really adapt for delving.


Gear against Sirius or other difficult bosses for massive dps:
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Gear for mapping:
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Gear for normal map bosses, metamorphs, guardians and other easy bosses:
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gear swap with the "gear against sirius", you can swap the helmet as well, the 40% increased duration enchant is a huge damage boost.


Must have gear:
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Quill rain, short bow (the 30% less damage doesn't really matter, each explosive arrow's fuses gives 3% more ignite damage, quill rain's high attack speed will exceed the damage lost)

Rings with life gained on hit OR thief's torment for both life/mana sustain (I don't like it because it doesn't give life and doesn't make you ele reflect immune)

dyadian's dawn, heavy belt, straight forward 35-42% more ignite damage, can be upgraded to 42% with turbulent catalysts.

Mana flask with "flask effect is not removed at full mana" mod is a must have if we're not using thief's torment ring.


Recommended gear:
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Fire damage over time multiplier gloves + life and % attack speed. Having accuracy on it is a plus. (otherwise gloves with attack speed, life and resistances are just fine, we don't miss the little fire dmg over time multiplier so don't force it)

Kaom's heart cuz we squishy, doesn't need corrupt bonus mod like mine, it's just a little plus which is not worth the money imo.

Devoto's devotion for map clearing, enchant doesn't matter, having some attack speed enchant with explosive arrow is nice but expensive.

Devoto's devotion with explosive arrow duration is massive dps boost for bossing, it's nice to keep one in inventory and swap it for tough boss fights like sirus.

Quiver with Damage over time multiplier/Fire damage over time multiplier, life, attack speed, ele damage with attack hits are all good mods for a rare quiver.

Boots with tailwind, tailwind gives us big attack speed boost against bosses, also nice to speedup map clearing.


Unnecessary gear:
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Maloney's mechanism, QoL for map clearing, also decent for bossing(used for frenzy charge generation + cursing), don't waste 10 ex for nothing, it's not much better than a recommended quiver.

Bottled faith, absolutely not necessary flask, not worth 12ex for us explosive arrow players. It's a good QoL against Sirus' degens as it gives us 6% life regen on consecrated ground.

Quill rain with additional arrow corrupt, it's a little plus but we're already over killing all bosses, barrage support lowers our attack speed as we increase the number of arrows, so it's not really a good thing once we have too many arrows.

Aspect of crab is there just to make us tankier against Sirus' degen, also more survivability for mapping isn't bad, for those that doesn't have enlighten and the mana reserved nodes may give up this aura.

Awakened curse on hit, I'm not even sure why I bought it, maybe some QoL against hexproof map mods? Just use normal curse on hit, I'm not even using double curse.

All other awakened gems are unnecessary, awakened greater multiple projectile is quiet nice though for single target setup. (but expensive)


Skill tree(lv 97):
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https://pastebin.com/gCBDUjfy


Budget gear:
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will add this section when I have time


Gem setup:
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will add this section when I have time, check the gems on my gear for now



Leveling(league start without gear):
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I've tried to level character again from scratch, my friend kept saying my build is too expensive but it's actually not. I've leveled through the story in 5-6 hours without practicing with merciless labyrinth done aswell.
lv 1-12 caustic arrow + mirage archer + void manipulation/pierce, you can bring ballistas at lv 4 for Brutus/Merveil encounters as bosses getting tougher in recent patch.
Lv 12 take toxic rain+mirage archer + lesser poison.
lv 16 herald of agony and rush through story with only herald of agony keeping virulence stacks close to max (30-40) if possible.
You don't need to take specific passive points to get well through story,
thus you don't need to respec much, doesn't need any orb of regret.
Herald of agony gem links : Minion damage + Vicious projectile + Damage on full life.
The process is pretty simple and monotone just get carried with herald of agony without any damage node on tree xD.
You can swap with explosive arrow once you hit lv 38 for greater multiple projectile + elemental damage with attacks + lesser poison (we still want herald of agony to carry us :))
Buy Quill Rain as soon as you can, but you can do pretty well without the unique bow anyways.
It takes nothing to get started, it's not as fast as essence drain contagion, totems, orb of storms or any other game breaking starters, but it's definitely viable. Explosive arrow scales with level so I'd recommend leveling more through acts, you may stop and farm at blood acqueduct in act 9 if you think you'll struggle with your current setup. You should have around 140-150% life from tree and 100% ignite chance (including combustion support's ignite chance) when you finish the story, you can do maps just fine with a 4L setup, though I highly recommend a 5L setup with ignite proliferation for better AOE. It will just scale better as you progress with maps and as soon as you get a 6L, game is over.



Q&A:
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Q1. Why Raider instead of Deadeye/Pathfinder?
A1. Raider deals more damage, speedy with onslaught, elemental ailment immune. (but you need some accuracy on gear while deadeye doesn't)
Deadeye has great accuracy + aoe, tailwind is nice but we can get tailwinds on boots now so I gave it up.
Pathfinder might have faster clearspeed as it has better flask sustain, not really sure about it.
Q2. Which quiver base is the best?
A2. Two-point arrow quiver (accuracy). Definitely not wear Penetrating Arrow quiver, we musn't have pierce otherwise the fuses just penetrates through the main target dealing no damage.

Videos:
Spoiler
Will add some videos when I got time to record em
Veritania 2 men health t14 deletion:

Drox t14, 3 seconds kill(the gif of the forum post xD):

Sirius banging, didn't ask the customer for awakening level, it doesn't really matter anyways, it's always instaphase:


T16 Minotaur map clear run + metamorph with normal mapping gear (not using totems or duration enchants):

T16 Hydra Lair run with normal mapping gear:
Shaper banging without damaging flasks:

Last edited by yejianlai on Mar 13, 2020, 9:32:21 AM
Last bumped on Feb 10, 2020, 9:03:29 AM
Hi, thanks for the guide, really enjoying the game now :)
Could you please explain how you use the skill set for mapping and hard bosses?

Do you use EA in both cases?
Why do you have rain of arrows in the gems - what is it used for?

many thanks for help
How far can i get this build with 35 ex investment and why is or not superior to ice shot builds?
Can't compare to iceshot builds since I've never played that build. 35 ex is more than enough to make a 7.5k life boss deletion explosive arrow character, clearspeed wise ice shot beats explosive arrow but it's quiet more squishier
Hi,

Couple of questions. Bandit/Pantheon choice? In which order to take the ascendancy? If only have around 10ex what would you prioritize? Thanks in advance.
Clear speed video?
i still have yet to get a quill rain drop in SSF metamorph. da fuq
"
Hi,

Couple of questions. Bandit/Pantheon choice? In which order to take the ascendancy? If only have around 10ex what would you prioritize? Thanks in advance.


Hi, you can start with 6L quill rain + Kaom's heart, buy Devoto's deovtion or any other Rare helmet with explosive arrow duration, if you want rare helmet you can self craft fossil mod -9% fire res to nearby enemies.

Then get a couple of rings, my rings are all super cheap, like 10c for the coral ring and 50c for the other one(tho I spent currency doing the quality)? I don't remember.

If you want some QoL bring 2 6L quill rains, otherwise just swap deadly ailments for barrage everytime you do bosses. (Highly recommend it actually, it's quiet frustrating swapping gem whenever I meet bosses)

Amulet can be bought for cheap, my amulet was bought for like 70c at day10 I think? I'm lazy to change it so I kept it, after couple of weeks I had jorign and made it talisman, aye some endurance charge isn't bad for mapping. Damage-wise my amulet is definitely quiet garbage compared to newly influenced amulets.

Dyadian's dawn belt is a must and really cheap, I recommend one with High resistance.

If you're lazy to find rare rings with "life gained for each enemy hit" mod plus "reduced ele reflect damage taken" you can always use thief's torment

It's actually quiet versatile build, I don't know what's the best setup either but it's more than enough to clear all contents.

I think 10 ex is perfect to make a complete Explosive arrow build. Boots with tailwind is unecessary but nice to have.

With more currency you could try buying better amulet with +1 gem and fire damage over time multiplier. Tailwind boots, maloney quiver for easier map clearing.
"
ozzye666 wrote:
Clear speed video?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8oOn3xZGIAY&t=
here you go a minotaur map run, Kitava rare mobs were a little tanky >.< but overall the clearspeed isn't zoom zoom anyways, just decent

Killing Minotaur without ballista and explosive arrow duration enchant but I think our damage is more than enough to facetank both boss and metamorph

Edit: Hydra lair run if you need more sampleshttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yn8F9iRZRQQ
Last edited by yejianlai on Jan 5, 2020, 5:08:08 PM
"
kapefyra wrote:
Hi,

Couple of questions. Bandit/Pantheon choice? In which order to take the ascendancy? If only have around 10ex what would you prioritize? Thanks in advance.


We'll need the reduced 25% reflect damage taken from pantheon against ele reflect maps, I always use it just in case I forget to switch.

Bandit I'd say just kill all for the +2 skill points.

I choose Soul of Lunaris for major tankiness, but other pantheon major gods are all good except the brine king which I think is the most useless

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