[3.16][HC][ON BREAK] Caustic Arrow Raider, DoT Focused | Tanky | 6k+ Health | All Content | In-depth

There are two basic trees you can use:

Level 94 - Base passive tree

This is the recommended path for majority of the players, focuses on scaling Caustic Arrow only. Budget and beginner friendly. Guide will be focused on this tree.

Level 94 - Classic tree

Old school tree for experienced players. Focuses on generic chaos/DoT increases to scale Caustic Arrow and Essence Drain. The latter skill is used in second weapon slot to further increase damage output. This playstyle has it's own section at the end of the guide's main post. It's a straight upgrade to CA only tree. Beware, it's really expensive.


If you've reached level 94 using any of the trees, start picking up closest jewel slots.

Bandit Reward: Kill All (recommended) OR spare Oak

Ascendancy: Avatar of Veil (Phasing) + Avatar of Chase (Onslaught)

Avatar of Veil and Chase provides amazing defensive, speed and QoL features. No other ascendancy can really match it. Best used for pure mapping, but still works against end game bosses.

Build uses Way of Poacher for levelling purposes, before finishing uber Labyrinth.

Other Ascendancy Classes

Major God: Soul of Lunaris

Nuff said, straight up has the best synergy with the build. Others barely do anything except few specific cases.

Minor God: Soul of Shakari OR Ryslatha OR Garukhan

All three of them are pretty good, but my personal favorite is Shakari. Having full ailment immunity simply feels great. Use it only if you upgraded it.

Ryslatha is 2nd most useful minor god, i use it for any end game boss encounter. It's great for labyrinth as well and overall best choice if you don't want to look at pantheon ever again.

Garukhan is also great option for defence during mapping. Additional evade chance is very powerful combined with high evasion.

Main Skill (GGGGBR):
Caustic Arrow - Void Manipulation - Swift Affliction - Vicious Projectiles - Concentrated Effect
6th Link: Damage on Full Life OR Empower lvl 3/4

Your primary damage setup. First 3 support gems have no real downsides and should always be included in the build. Conc Effect and Damage on Full Life have downsides, which one you prefer is up to you (i recommend first one). Empower has no downside but requires level 3 or 4 to be worth using. Costs a lot of money or time.

In case you feel that your damage good enough, you can use Greater Multiple Projectiles for clearing instead of Swift Affliction.

Wither Totem (BRRR):
Wither - Spell Totem - Multiple Totems - Increased Duration

Free 90% more damage against bosses. Place the totem and let it do the work. It also slows their movement speed, so keep that in mind against some bosses.

Cursed Frenzy Setup (GGBB):
Frenzy - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Curse on Hit - Despair

Setup designed for additional damage against bosses. You can generate Frenzy charges
(12% more damage) and curse enemies at the same time.

CWDT Immortal Call (RRR):
Cast when Damage Taken lvl 3 - Immortal Call lvl 5 - Increased Duration lvl 20

Standard CWDT setup. Immortal Call is useful against random bleeding from bosses / lab traps. Not a mandatory setup, but very much recommended.

Aura: Grace / Vaal Grace

Grace gives huge amount of additional evasion. Vaal Grace allows us to cap Dodge / Spell dodge, and is best used during abyss/breaches/harbingers etc. Vaal Grace can be linked with CWDT Immortal Call setup for longer aura duration, it will not trigger automatically but still benefit from Increased Duration.

Banner: Dread Banner

Used for it's massive 21% less accuracy to nearby enemies. Great defense for mapping for small mana reservation. It doesn't require you to impale enemies in order to gain the primary benefit.

Bonus Mana Regen: Clarity lvl 10

Not a mandatory setup, but very much recommended. If your mana regeneration is too low, this will fix your problems easily. Even if you don't have mana regen problems during mapping, it's great to have Clarity against mobile bosses like Pheonix Guardian.

Movement Skill: Blink Arrow

These are the only mandatory gems and we still got 3 free gem slots. How you fill the rest of them is your choice.

Optional Setups

My current gear / TL;DR:

Below you will find the gear explained in-depth. Piece by piece.

+3 CA Bow

Chaos Staff/Bow (Classic)

Armour

Quiver

Helmet, Gloves and Boots

Belt

Rings and Amulet

Flasks

Jewels

Caustic Arrow levelling (Act 1-10)

Mapping Progression

End Game Bosses/Maps Guide

As i already mentioned before, we can run pretty much anything... within common sense. So no Twinned Core with LMP + Turbo + -10% max res + 2x 100% bonus ele dmg, or anything like this. We're not immortal RF guardian.

I only mention actual deadly mods that you really gotta watch out for. Triple increased damage and stuff is obvious anyway.

Dangerous mods:

* Player Dodge chance is Unlucky / Monsters have #% increased Accuracy Rating
This is actually one of the hardest mods. Very noticeable in high tier maps or breaches etc. Onslaught path negates the problems for the most part, but spells are problematic.

* Monsters have #% increased Critical Strike Chance / +#% to Monster Critical Strike Multiplier
With high evasion, attacks should almost never crit you. Spell on the other hand can still hit hard.

* Monsters fire 2 additional Projectiles
Scary mod on some bosses and monster types. Some monsters are still able to shotgun, like few new Oriath monsters.

* Area contains two Unique Bosses
This is dangerous mod in some maps as you know. You should be able to do majority of them quite easily. Some can be done safely only with enough damage.

* #% increased Monster Movement Speed / #% increased Monster Attack Speed / #% increased Monster Cast Speed
Speed might be deadly in some boss encounters. The faster boss is, the less damage you deal and the more time you spend kiting him. With temp chains + speed you might not be able to kite at all. Watch out for such combos.

* Players are Cursed with Vulnerability
Negated during mapping thanks to warding flask, but not against bosses. Can be very deadly if you receive bleeding.

* Players are Cursed with Temporal Chains
Not a problem most of the time, but worth mentioning. Mod can be easily negated by Timetwist ring, if you're against a tough boss.

* Players cannot Regenerate Life, Mana or Energy Shield
Not a deadly mod, but worth mentioning. You can do it easily, just bring mana flask instead of utility flask. Almost any high level mana flask can work. Don't forget to turn off Clarity for higher mana pool.


Besides that, typical damage mod combinations shouldn't be understimated. Everything applies like to every other build out there.

Old school version of the build that was used before 3.4 patch. With changes to the passive tree in 3.5, it once again is the most optimal way to play this build. You can squeeze ~50% more damage that way.

Pros:
* MUCH Higher damage output
* Awesome active playstyle (warning: personal opinion)

Cons:
* Very expensive
* Significant gear limitations
* Might be too mechanically intensive for some people

If it's worth trying using it, it's up to you to decide. If you're still interested, read further:

What changes compared to normal build:
* Chaos Staff/Bow in weapon swap, Essence Drain setup.
* No elemental resistances on Bow/Quiver - otherwise your resists might be negative after you swap weapons.
* Level 94 - Classic tree - Big changes on passive tree. Focused on scaling DoT/Chaos/Global damage through tree and jewels to benefit both CA and ED. Uses Frenzy charges for the same reason.

* Speaking of jewels, there are only 4 mods that truly benefit this build. %max Life and DoT/Chaos/Global damage increases. Much harder to acquire them.
* If using a Staff, you must use Wither Totem, cannot use Wither Rain (MA disappears on weapon swap).
* Skill Effect Duration nodes are NECESSARY for this build to work.

Frenzy generation during mapping:

Two more things:
1 - Keep in mind that you can deal damage with both of the skills at same time. CA's cloud doesn't disappear after you switch weapon, same goes to ED's DoT debuff after it hits the enemy.

2 - ED projectile has to hit enemy while you wield Staff, otherwise it flies through enemy like nothing happened.

That's about it. These might appear trivial but it's a massive difference in gearing up. I don't think i need to explain playstyle, check out one of my 3.2 videos. The only difference is that in 3.5 CA's duration is going to be short and ED's is going to be long.

Have fun

PoB code:
https://pastebin.com/At0iWXmF

This PoB is based on my character from Bestiary HC league. Some items are slightly different from the original for easier damage calculation and recommended gem setup. It also has CA+ED Tooltip bow for classic version of this build.

It features 7 different passive trees, CA focused Raider is default. You can change them at any time for quick comparison. Number indicates required level for that tree.

In Calcs tab, "In Combat" calculation shows tooltip dps. "Effective DPS" shows fully buffed damage with 15 stacks of Wither and Despair. When checking dps for +1 7-link Elder Bow and Classic build, do not forget to enable Empower support. To see boss damage, simply change the option in Configuration tab and look at number on the left.

Tooltips (currently VERY outdated)

One of the perks of Caustic Arrow, being able to go MF. You should be using any of the Ranger's ascendancies for that purpose, other ascendancies aren't nearly as good. Let's get started:

Pool of MF Items:
* Divination Distillate
* Goldwyrm
* Ventor's Gamble
* Bisco's Collar
* Sadima's Touch
* Greed's Embrace
* Shaper IIQ Amulet
* Rare IIR Jewellery

There's few MF items i didn't list. I have a very good reason for that, it's called opportunity cost. Items like Perandus Blazon just don't give enough benefits to justify wasting important life/resistance slot for them.

There are compatibility problems with Goldwyrm and Divination Distillate. Any more regeneration than what you get from passive tree makes it impossible to gain benefits from MF flask. Div Distillate is better in general, but also big pain to use at the same time. I'll focus this guide on the flask rather than the boots.

How to effectively use Divination Distillate
I've prepared 3 MF setups for most common cases:

Semi-MF
Items: 2x Ventor's, IIQ Amulet, Div Distillate
Max IIQ: 48%
Max IIR: 170%

The optimal setup that allows you to clear all content without neglecting your defences too much. You can be Ele Weakness capped, don't lose too much life and still use Kintsugi. This is what i personally recommend if you want to go MF.

Unfortunately, finding good Ventor's Gamble and IIQ amulet is going to be expensive. However, with Divination Distillate it's a perfect mix of decent IIQ and IIR.


Full MF
Items: 2x Ventor's, Sadima's Touch, Greed's Embrace, IIQ Amulet OR Bisco's, Div Distillate
Max IIQ: 73% / 73% + 50% Bisco's
Max IIR: 220% / 220% + 150% Bisco's

Recommended full MF setup. High IIQ with a very decent IIR number. You should still have decent health and defense despite everything. Unfortunately it will have low movement speed. You should use Chemist's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline to counter that.

This setup isn't suited for running high tier maps. It might be hard to cap ele weakness, lower HP pool, no Kintsugi, lower evasion. You can try it, but i can't guarantee your safety.

It's a mapping setup, don't try T16s or any hard bosses. You get 60% mana regen from Goldwyrm so you don't need it on jewellery.


Cheap MF
Items: IIR Jewellery, Sadima's Touch, Greed's Embrace, Div Distillate
Max IIQ: 43%
Max IIR: ~200%

In case you don't have money or want to invest a lot. Should be relatively cheap. Same potential as semi-MF, but inherits downsides of full MF. Just read the full MF setup for info.

How to craft your own gear. To remind:

Magic items can have 2 affixes: 1 prefix and 1 suffix
Rare items can have 6 affixes: 3 prefixes, 3 suffixes
To check what mod is prefix or suffix, enable Advanced Mod Descriptions in game (Options -> UI)

Additional resources:
Poeaffix.net
PoEDB.tw
My personal cheat sheet

In case you don't have required crafting recipe, ask a trusted mastercrafter. You can find them on forums under Trading -> [your league] - Shops. They'll require a small fee for their services.

+3 Bow crafting

Elder Bow crafting

Shaper Quiver crafting

Chaos Bow/Staff crafting (Classic Build)

Jewellery crafts

Armour crafts

Other crafts (Jewels, Flasks)

Q: Is this build good for a new player?
A: Yes. Assuming you understand basics of Path of Exile, this build should carry you through whole content. Caustic Arrow is really strong right now and that means forgiving, allowing you to be slightly inefficient and still have a great time.

Q: How about Mirage Archer?
A: Mirage Archer has few very annoying flaws for general mapping. It messes up flask uptime and doesn't even contribute to clear speed that much. It has troubles clearing a whole pack of monsters too, so you will end up attacking afterwards anyway. With that in mind,
Greater Multiple Projectiles is simply better unless you're using Dying Sun + additional arrow quiver.

However, Mirage Archer has few good uses. If you disconnect often, it might save your life by killing monsters during 6 second period. It's really good for maps with "Cannot regenerate" mod. You should also use it for speedrunning through zones, when you only want to refill the flask charges on the way (act carries/labyrinth/prophecy farming etc.)

Q: How about additional Toxic Rain setup?
A: Can be possible with some sacrifices. Toxic Rain has huge mana consumption, so you would need quite a lot of investment to sustain it. It also requires significant passive tree changes in order to scale Toxic Rain's damage to reasonable levels.

For easier way to gain more damage, take a look at classic CA+ED build.

Q: How about scaling Herald of Agony minion?
A: This build does not focus on poison and therefore Herald of Agony isn't going to be very reliable or powerful tool. The opportunity cost is simply too high.

Primary issues are virulence stack generation and high mana reservation cost (4-link+) or underwhelming damage (3-link or worse). You can convert the build to include the scorpion, but it's not worth it at all.

Q: (Classic) Wouldn't Blight be better for bossing?
A: That's important question. Without doubt it kills bosses faster and you might want to use it against shaper guardians or shaper himself. That's not exactly the case for all bosses however. In some fights there are too short windows to get up close for Blight to be any useful. In other fight you might be forced to keep your distance. Generally, ED synergizes much better with CA playstyle. If you want to, you can use Blight instead, or even both Blight and ED depending on the boss you're facing. They use the same gem setup after all.

Q: How about Abyssal Cry?
A: You won't need it for clearing monsters quickly. Only useful for Null Portals or some bosses with adds, but that shouldn't be necessary.

Q: I have problems sustaining mana, what can i do?
A: Taking Druidic Route should solve all your mana issues. If not, a single ~40% mana regen mod OR -(6-7) mana cost of skills craft (Elreon's veiled) on jewellery is going to be sufficient.

If the problem persists, that's due to incorrect playstyle. Only a single cloud can deal damage at the same. Your job is to spread degen or reapply it right before previous one expires, not to spam it.

Q: What is Caustic Arrow's cloud scaling with?
A: It's a degeneration area that scales off DoT / chaos / projectile / area / global damage increases. It's not a poison and doesn't scale with it.

It's not an attack itself, but the gem has an attack tag allowing it to be scaled with chaos / DoT increases with attack/bow skills. I know it's a bit confusing, but it's exactly what i said.

Q: Why don't you pick X node on the passive tree?
A: Because jewels are better, period. I provide level 94 tree that's as efficient as possible, many people won't even reach it. If you're above that level, it probably means you have resources to make or buy good jewels that will be worth using over the nodes you have in mind.

Q: Where can i find 33-40% Chaos DoT Multiplier and +2 Support Gems crafts?
A: Both of them can be acquired through unveiling items. Chaos DoT Multi can appear on any weapon, relatively easy to acquire. +2 Levels to Socketed Support Gems is a Mastermind exclusive mod, so unlocking it will take a lot of time or luck. Item level 80+ items can give you +2 levels. Below ilvl 80 items only have +1 level.

Q: What do you think about Impresence amulet? What about Despair aura?
A: It's a good amulet that's usually quite expensive. It's main attribute is 0 mana reservation for Despair and really good stats. However it's not worth it's cost. Everything should be dead before it gets into range of Despair Aura. For bosses we use Cursed Frenzy setup.

The stats on amulet are good but it's possible to craft better one with Essence of Envy on a better base.

Q: Why do you link Vaal Grace with CWDT? You can't trigger it!
A: It's linked so it can benefit from Increased Duration. You save one gem slot that way. CWDT won't trigger Vaal Grace, and that's for the better. It's best to manually activate it when you need it the most.

Q: Why do you take Master of the Arena node on passive tree?
A: For life regen and little bit of strength. Life regen is great for mitigating small degens for Damage on Full Life and defensive purposes. Strength for easier gearing and that little bit of life you get.

Q: I have troubles progressing through acts / maps, what can i do?
A: Get more life and resists on gear, that's the most common answer to this question. If you've followed the guide, the damage shouldn't be a problem at all. That's true especially in maps.

Not having enough defense is a common mistake among new players. All you gotta do is buy or find gear with high life and/or resistances on them. 75% resists is pretty much required starting from act 5. When it comes to life, the more the better.

Q: Is it good for party play?
A: Should be OK for ~4 man party. 5-6 is doable but not that great.

=====
These are questions i've been asked a lot by random people i've spoke to in game. Keep more questions coming.

To do list (for myself mostly)
February 9th, 2019
Equipment:
* Minor update of Chaos Staff. Now properly includes bow as an option. I will add the gear example later (once i get it).
* Removed mentions of elder influenced quiver.

Crafting Section:
* Removed Chase Mods and Fossil Crafting. Their content was included in new sections.
* Added Armour, Jewellery and Other crafts. Combination of all worthwhile crafts/mods for each gear piece, mostly damage oriented. Didn't include obvious crafted mods like resistances.
* Small remake of Quiver crafting. Elder version removed, only shaped one remains.

FAQ:
* Added "Q: Where can i find 33-40% Chaos DoT Multiplier and +2 Support Gems crafts?"

January 25th, 2019
Levelling Section:
* Passive tree for white maps now includes Druidic Route. It should solve majority of mana issues people have at those earlier levels.

Videos:
* Minor update of the header image
* Removed 3.1 - 3.3 build videos. You can still find them in the 3.4 patch archives. (Page 50)

Delve League:
* Section removed, for now. Might reappear later on after i solve 50k character limit issues.

Crafting Section:
* Fossil Crafting from Delve League has been moved to this section.
* Non-specific crafts still require an update, and will receive it eventually.

FAQ:
* Added "Q: I have problems sustaining mana, what can i do?"

January 2nd, 2019
Levelling Section:
* Cheat sheet ascendancy route now states that you have to respec Way of the Poacher, since it wasn't clear for players who only used the short version.

Videos:
* Added T11 Syndicate Mastermind

January 1st, 2019
Equipment:
* Updated +3 Bow showcase to 3.5 standards.

Crafting Section:
* Chaos Staff crafting now also includes Bows. The crafting method is the same, but their perks are different.
* Removed step 3b from Chaos Staff/Bow crafting.
* Updated +3 Bow, elder Bow and shaped Quiver showcase to 3.5 standards.
* Completely new +1 arrow crafting method for elder Bow.

December 21th, 2018
Crafting Section:
* +3 Bow / Elder Bow fossil crafting now uses Jagged fossil instead of Prismatic. Jagged allows for crafting bow with ilvl higher than 82.
* Fixed ilvl of the bow required for 7-link Elder Bow crafting.
* Deleted recommendation to BHC players to use classic crafting method.

December 19th, 2018
Crafting Section:
* Fixed parts of Chaos Staff crafting that would suggest ability to craft +2 Support Gems mod with +2 Chaos Gems when it was impossible (same mod type)
* Added step 3b, an optional but guaranteed way to get only +1 Socketed Gems mod for 2 exalts.

December 18th, 2018
Crafting Section:
* Added new chase elder mod for gloves/amulet: +(13–16)% to Non-Ailment Chaos DoT Multiplier

December 14th, 2018
Equipment:
* Updated Chaos Staff to reflect new crafting method and optional unique staff

Crafting Section:
* Updated Elder Bow crafting to reflect +2 Socketed Support Gems mod.
* Elder Bow crafting now has guaranteed method of crafting +1 arrow bow.
* Chaos Staff has completely new method of crafting. Cheaper and stronger than it used to be before. Finding a person who can craft +2 Socketed Support Gems might be hard...
* Added a recommendation for BHC players to use classic method for +3 bow crafting.

December 13th, 2018
Equipment:
* Updated +3 Bow and +3 Staff sections to reflect newest crafting possibilities

Path of Building:
* Updated PoB to include new gems, new bow/staff crafting options and reflect newest changes to the core build.
* Added new bow for effective dps calculation, +2 CA Budget bow.
* Added notes, in case you forgot something. Text is identical to PoB section.

Crafting Section:
* Updated +3 Staff and Elder Bow crafting to reflect newest crafting possibilities
* +3 Elder Bow crafting renamed to +1 7-link Elder Bow crafting.
* Removed essence crafting method and old alt -> regal method.
* In Elder Bow crafting, it's now better to 6-link the bow first, then start crafting. Craft quality to increase chance of linking!

December 12th, 2018
General:
* Updated all passive trees to 3.5.0 web version to avoid confusion.

Levelling and Progression:
* Changed ascedancy progression, Avatar of Chase (Onslaught) is now picked in cruel/merciless Labyrinth.
* Frenzy ascendancy node should be respec in favour of Quartz Infusion after finishing Merciless Labyrinth.
* Added Passive Trees to Mapping Progression.
* Changed levelling setups, updated to be most effective way of progression.
* Levelling now requires less links overall, less additional gem purchases and no more gems that are useless after a short while.
* Few other minor adjustments to better reflect recent discoveries and changes to the guide.

December 9th, 2018
Equipment:
* Loreweave added as an optional body armour

Levelling and Progression:
* CA levelling passive trees / estimated levels were adjusted, again. Levels 55 and above.

Crafting Section:
* +3 CA Bow, +3 Staff and +3 Elder Bow crafting updated to reflect newest crafting options.
* These sections still require minor clear up. I've tried to provide info once i knew the possibilities.
* Best bases for CA bows updated. Best base is highest AS base OR Maraketh bow.

December 6th, 2018
Levelling and Progression:
* CA levelling passive trees / estimated levels were adjusted to include 2 passive points you now get as a bandit reward

December 5th, 2018 - Betrayal League
General:
* Guide renamed to "Caustic Arrow Raider, DoT Focused | MFing | 6k+ Health | All Content | In-depth"
* Since the build no longer uses Div Distillate as a core item, removing Semi-MF part was important.
* Many minor improvements everywhere, too long to list plus i've forgotten most of them already.

Passive Tree and Bandits:
* Default bandit reward are now 2 passive points.
* CA focused passive tree was replaced with a new one that doesn't focus on Frenzy charges anymore.
* Classic Tree received no changes.
* Other Ascendancy classes got their trees updated as well.
* Removed mentions of Divination Distillate and Frenzy charge generation, as they're no longer are core parts of the build.

Gem Setups:
* Dread Banner is a new mandatory gem.
* Mana Balancing setup (Clarity) is now "mandatory" setup. Renamed to Bonus Mana Regen.
* Faster Casting has been replaced with Multiple Totems in Wither Totem setup.
* Cursing setup renamed to Cursed Frenzy setup. The commentary adjusted to reflect changes to the passive tree.

Equipment:
* 30% CA Duration helmet enchantment is now default.
* 40% CA Damage helmet enchantment is optional, and ONLY possible if you picked up Skill Effect Duration nodes on passive tree.
* Divination Distillate is no longer core item of this build. Replaced with Dying Sun as an end game goal.
* Removed any mentions of "mana on kill" and "X% mana regen" being bad for the build.
* Added recommendations for "X% mana regen" in TL;DR and Rings/Amulets sections.

Levelling Section:
* Twink Toxic Rain levelling and End Game Mapping / Onslaught Path has been removed.
* Added bonus twink gear to Caustic Arrow levelling.
* Updated levelling passive trees / bandits / ascendancy to reflect changes to main passive skill tree.
* Early mapping renamed to Mapping Progression, also includes red maps now.
* Minor adjustments to Mapping Progression based on recent changes to the build. Mostly still the same.

Classic CA+ED Build:
* Updated majority of the section to reflect current changes to the build.
* Added "Frenzy generation during mapping".

Path of Building
* Updated PoB to reflect changes to the passive tree/gear (gems are still missing).

Magic Finding:
* Added Goldwyrm to MF item pool, cannot be used with Div Distillate.
* Added small section, "How to effectively use Divination Distillate".
* Adjusted max IIQ values to reflect Sadima's Touch nerf.

FAQ:
* Minor adjustments to a lot of questions.
* Most notable change is the stance on Toxic Rain as an additional setup. With changes to Div Distillate, it's now possible to use it with some significant changes to the tree. Classic CA+ED Build is still preferred.
* Added "(Classic) Wouldn't Blight be better for bossing?".
* Removed question how to use Div Distillate properly, moved to Magic Finding section.

Changelog's... changes:
* Due to massive changes to the build and already long changelog (i actually hit 50k char limit during the update), i'm removing previous patches from it.
* You can still find whole changelog prior to 3.5 update on page 50 inside archived guide.