Lightning arrow or Split arrow?

LA+chain+lmp will damage any skill in the game except for power siphon on a low life crown build.
split is really awful in comparison compared to LA and PS.

you can simply try both in a map and see the difference.

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feyith wrote:

Lightning Arrow has a built in Chain type effect, right? So if you miss Faster Attacks, switch that in. :)

I like the Shock. I do Lightning Arrow with Cast Fireball and Ice Spear on Critical Strike. I know Split Arrow with Chain is more ideal for my build on paper, but the Shock and lower mana cost seems to up the clear speed for me.

I would think adding in LMP and Chain will out-mana SA with Chain.

my LA is lot higher mana cost than my split arrow, but I can still handle it

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linkstatic wrote:

I would think adding in LMP and Chain will out-mana SA with Chain.

Just LMP by itself costs less, but with Chain seems to leech enough to keep mana full.

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jtrand wrote:

yeah I can handle the mana cost for both. I have 11% mana leech off of physical dmg which is enough for both skills.

mana leech is rarely/never about how much mana leech you have xD its pretty much only about how much mana you have :)

If your mana pool is great enough to sustain overpower LA I think you should consider end game options or key stone upgrades.

If you play LA, your advantage should defenitely be on the Shock Side and Half Split Monster Pack (LA is a Smart AoE), if not considering the single target side (Frenzy works wonderfully so no point in end game discussing LA against SA for single target) both pretty much do the same but differently in AoE.
As stated before by other posters for LA :

+Strong Smart AoE
+Stronger Elemental Output
+Shock Status

-Mana Cost
-Lesser Support Customization
-Lesser Leech from Gear/passive
-A bit lesser damage overall than SA, mainly the %Base Damage and the LMP and/or Chain being "mandatory" and SA scaling more on Physical Base Bow
-Ele Reflects being more of a pain with LA

So at this point, I've been questionning myself too about LA? SA? SA Allows more Physical Scaling and brain dead clearing (you enter a room and just shoot wildly it clears everything, boss included). With Damage being more in an equilibrium (I have 1:1:1:1 at the moment) Reflects are handled easily (not with LA while we compare here) and opened the Mind Over Matter Key Stone thanks to the huge Mana Difference between SA/LA (Cost & Leech are the 2 main factors), one point, since Vaal Pact was already taken.
11% Mana leech seems a lot, is it Auxium & 6% Mana Leech amulet?