Added Elemental damage for Elemental Hit gem?

Just want to make sure before I buy a new Bow.

I plan to make a tri-Elemental Hit. If the Bow has Added Cold damage, does it only apply to Cold Elemental Hit and not all the hits?

If that's the case, I am better off looking for Critical damage on the Bow for tri-elemental ?

Physical damage for Elemental hit does nothing right? Unless I have something that converts Physical to Cold or Fire damage?

generally, for an elemental hit bow, you want

prefixes:
+1 gems
+2 bow gems / +2 socketed support gems
% increased elemental damage with attack skills

and suffixes:
crit chance
attack speed
attacks fire additional arrows

on a high attack speed base (thicket for the 1.5 attack speed, or highborn for the % ele implicit but slightly slower)


Without using the combat focus jewels, you are correct that 'added cold damage' will only apply when it chooses to deal cold damage, and physical damage will *never* apply.

Also, ele hit is one of the few attacks that actually scales well with gem levels. Hence prefixes being + levels (and empower being a viable support gem, especially if your bow is +2 support, not +2 bow)

Thanks. Hard to find Bows without Added elemental damage. :(

depending on your budget, you *could* just make one.

start here (fractured ele with attack skills)
https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Sentinel/wokeP4dfb

then use


until you get an open prefix + open suffix. it MUST have 1 of each, and ONLY 1 of each, open.

craft 'cannot roll attack mods' (suffix), and then slam an exalt or a Leo bench slam. you WILL hit +1 all gems (its the ONLY prefix without an 'attack' tag)

craft 'prefix cannot be changed' and scour. Now you have +1 all, +2 bow, %ele, 3 open suffixes.

multimod, attack speed, crit chance.

total cost:
bow 100c?
couple essence 20c?
cannot roll attack mods - 1 ex
exalt slam - 1 ex
prefix cannot change - 2 ex
multimod - 2 ex
attack speed - 1 ex
crit chance - couple chaos


8 ex, made it yourself.

alternative to crit chance is 'chance to deal double damage' - costs a divine. if you dont want to try to be a crit build.

Unless the meta's been changed since I last played ele hit, typically you want to go for avatar of fire + combat focus jewels to make it always choose fire damage. Then your added physical/cold/lightning count, albeit at 50% of their value.