FASTEST and SAFEST Clearing Build - Toxic Rain Raider League Start Guide - Path of Exile 3.15

---------------------------------------- WARNING WARNING WARNING ---------------------------------------- Path of Exile 3.15 Expedition League is potentially a turning point for the game. It is becoming MUCH more difficult. Understand, that I will do everything in my power to properly update this PoB with information as it becomes available. Regardless of what information we get, the true effects of the potential nerfs will only really come to light once we play the league. If you have any issues or need guidance on this build join my discord, linked in the description of every one of my videos. Understand that I myself am not capable of helping so many people but the community is extremely helpful. That being said they are not there specifically to help you. They play the game just like you do and if you want to be successful in Path of Exile you have to put the work in. Don't expect them to be Google for you. ----------------------- WHAT WE KNOW ----------------------- 3.15 will be massively nerfing quite a few things. SUPPORT GEMS There are a few new "rules" that have been given to us and this is a direct quote from GGG "https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3147157" Damage multipliers between Support Gems have been standardised following these rules: 1 - Gems that provide a useful benefit in addition to damage usually grant less than 25% more damage at gem level 20. 2 - Those that provide only a damage bonus or have only a very mild restriction or penalty grant around 30-35% more damage. 3 - Those with downsides or restrictions grant between 38% and 48% more damage, depending on how severe the cost of using the support is. Going off of these rules Toxic Rain should be in good shape. The major losses to the build were ailment immunity which we have accounted for and a small amount of onslaught effect which is not a huge deal. FLASKS Flasks are going to be a point of interest going into this patch. We really and truly do not and will not know what is ideal until we explore this system. Currently expect that EVERYTHING you know about flasks to be up in the air. I have done my best to account for these changes but until PoB gets updated with all of the new information I am limited in what I can do. Do your best, I believe in you :) --------------------- INTRODUCTION --------------------- Please check the build guide on my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/c/bigducks Liking my Videos and Subscribing to my YouTube channel help me to keep bringing you more content like this, if you just grab the PoB please consider giving me a like to help me out, I appreciate all of your support! Keep in mind there may be multiple videos per build, always look for the most recent video. Toxic Rain / Caustic Arrow -> Toxic Rain This is a chaos damage over time build which uses Bow Attacks. Although they are attacks, these abilities scale similarly to spells. This makes them an excellent early league choice. This build is quite fast and has excellent clear speed. This is a build meant for farming. You CAN do bosses with it at higher levels of gear but this builds truly shines while farming heist, maps and so on. Bossing on this build is acceptable. With the addition of Concentrated Effect into the links we are able of pulling of some respectable boss damage. ------------ RATINGS ------------ GOOD -> Clearing, Survival, Movement Speed, Elemental Damage Taken, Chaos Damage Taken, Playstyle, Trade League, Softcore, Cost, Damage Taken Over Time MEH -> Bossing, Physical Damage Taken, Solo Self Found, Hardcore BAD -> N/A DIFFICULTY OF PLAY - LOW This build is very easy to pilot and due to being at ranged while also stacking significant defenses is a very safe build even on lower levels of defenses. The only thing preventing it from being VERY LOW is that the bow HAS to be crafted if you don't plan on outright buying it and is difficult to obtain early on. ----------------------- CONFIGURATION ----------------------- The current configuration is set to reflect the damage you would do while clearing maps and then finishing off a map boss. It does not do any "PoB warrioring" and should reflect typical boss damage you could do during a map. We are capable of having roughly 4 pods hit a boss on average. Sometimes it will be 3 and sometimes 5. We do use Withered Stacks and are able to potentially keep up more than 6 at any given time. However the configuration is set to 6 as a precaution to not be over-selling. For accurate damage on a boss such as Sirus account for turning flasks on/off and Frenzy charges if you are unable to maintain them throughout the fight. --------------------------------------------- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS --------------------------------------------- Q: Bandit? A: Kill All. --- Q: Pantheon? A: Brine King and Abberath. --- Q: I can't find an item with those exact stats what do I do? A: You don't need the exact stats on every single item, Jewels are a big culprit for people getting confused. Get what stats you can and prioritize the stats in the defensive and offensive sections below. --- Q: The leveling skills are all level 1, do I keep them at that level? A: No, this is to signify that it is a leveling skill and you level it up as you go. --- Q: You're using Life Gained on Spell Hit rings, whats up with that? A: Early on this build will utilize Thief's Torment to sustain itself in both mana and life. This should last you all the way into yellow maps and even some reds. At a certain point you're going to want to get different rings but you still need a source of life gain to make the build feel smooth. There are a couple ways to do this. Vitality Life Gain on Hit Watcher's Eye (This is GIGA expensive early on but is by far the best choice, it is also a solid investment as it will work on MANY different characters.) Life Gain on Spell Hit Rings + -mana cost enchants (This works with our Asenath's casting Ball Lightning which hits constantly thus healing us substantially) --- Q: It said to check notes about Divine Flesh, I'm here... A: That isn't a question, but the goal with the Divine Flesh tree is to stack as much Max Chaos res as you can, it is available on things like Cluster Jewels and Quivers and such. When you use this along with maxed chaos res it can significantly reduce elemental damage taken. However...I don't feel that the build is weak to elemental damage to begin with and if you are REALLY concerned with it or on HC or something then go for it. --- Q: How do I stop dying? A: BOSS SLAMS WILL KILL YOU ON ALMOST ANY BUILD. YOU CANNOT TANK BOSS ATTACKS IN PATH OF EXILE WITHOUT A *VERY* SPECIFIC BUILD. This is a Dodge build, Dodge is a random chance mechanic. You WILL die occasionally if you put yourself in harm's way. That being said, Make sure you have the following: 75+ of ALL Elemental Resist (Resistances max at 75, having a bit over will help for ele weakness maps etc.) 50+ (Ideally 75+) Chaos Resist. Read the above question about Life Gain on this build. As much Dodge as you can manage (Acrobatics / Phase Acrobatics / Quartz Flask / Elusive / ETC) Don't ignore the power of Wind Dancer + Kintsugi. It combines extremely well with our Dodge to give us a HUGE Effective Healthpool. High tier Life roll on every piece that can have life Some pieces can have % Life on this build, such as Jewels, Belt, etc. Keep your Flasks up at all times while clearing. --- Q: How do I do more damage? A: This Build scales Damage Over Time Multiplier, + To Level of Gems, Increased Duration, and Attack Speed Some other stats we are looking for in relative (but not exact) order. Chaos Damage, Generic Damage, Damage Over Time with Bow Skills. --- Q: Should I use Flesh and Stone or Skitterbots? A: The default answer is Flesh and Stone, however if you are wanting to scale specifically damage, Skitterbots is a good alternative as it still provides slow. --- Q: I'm having trouble keeping my mana up, what should I do? A: In patch 3.15 GGG massively increased all mana costs and added mana cost to triggered spells. Because of this it is far more difficult to maintain mana on pretty much any build. Early on you should be using a mana flask and trying your best to not reserve too much mana. For example you may have to drop one of your auras early on. Once you obtain Thief's Torment your mana problems should be fixed for some time. The next step would be obtaining -mana cost jewelry, and a Replica Conqueror's Efficiency. --- Q: What about (insert other ascendancy here) A: You can for the most part play Trickster with very minimal changes. Pathfinder is slightly different but should be doable. --- Q: I don't have thread of hope, what should I do instead? A: This thread of hope is REALLY good. If you can't get one, manually path to Potency Of Will. --- Q: I'm scared of Cluster Jewels, can I play without them? A. You SHOULDN'T, but you can. Clusters are very powerful and will provide you massive benefits. There is a tree that is dedicated to not using clusters. --- Q: My question isn't in here, what do I do? A: Double check that you have looked through the video and this PoB. If you can't find it you can join my discord, linked in the description of all of my videos. Please remember that the people in the discord channels are very helpful but it is not their job to assist you. This is a knowledge based game and you have to put in the work to be successful. ------------------ LEVELING UP ------------------ Prioritize The Gems you need immediately, Main Links > Movement > Auras > Utility. Check the "Skills" tab for which gems to grab. Levels 1 - Maps || Caustic Arrow / Toxic Rain Self Cast + Ballista We will stick with this playstyle throughout the entirety of the game. Eventually when you hit higher tier maps you will drop the Ballista as it isn't worth keeping over having a larger aura set. Gearing - Focus on getting Movement Speed boots, Gear with the Links that you need, Life and Resists as well as Sapphire Rings for the Merveil fight. Act 1 has become significantly more difficult this patch so be aware that you might have a rough time. - Pick up Blue/Yellow items and sell them unidentified to the vendor for Transmutation Shards and Identified for Alteration Shards. - For Caustic Arrow / Toxic Rain the ONLY stat that matters on your bow early on is Attack Speed. If you can manage to find a Quill Rain then great! If not you can use a white Short Bow for the entire campaign, and it will be better than most other things. - Focus on topping off your resists early on and re-checking them after the Act 5 Boss and Act 10 Boss, grab as much life as you can. - Do not ignore links, if you feel your damage is lacking it is 100% because you are not setting up your links properly. Every ability is important, and you should be prioritizing links in softcore. You can run a few white pieces of gear with resists crafted on them from the bench in your hideout (talk to helena in act 2) with proper links until you can get your items together. - Don't ignore Essences, they can be very powerful for turning white pieces of gear that have proper links into resist / life gear. - Don't forget about your flasks, update your life and mana flasks consistently and make sure to stay on top of getting new flasks as they become available to you. There is a quicksilver flask available from both Mercy Mission (Act 1) as well as The Great White Beast (Act 2) A Silver flask is available from The Key to Freedom (Act 5) There is a Quartz flask available from The Silver Locket (Act 7) Tips - Explosive Trap is a useful ability for Single Target up until you obtain Toxic Rain - Make ample use of Smoke Mine if you want to move faster through the acts, you can make your life easier by putting Detonate Mine on left click. - Don't underestimate the new changes to mana, they will potentially make mana regen much more valuable, you should attempt to keep your mana flask updated at all times. - The Toxic Rain Ballista Setup is powerful, place as many of them as you can on the ground while also keeping Caustic Arrow's debuff up and then Spam self cast Toxic Rain. Your damage should be quite good. - The New Focused Ballista Support is most likely good, however I have not tested it, you can attempt to add it into the Toxic Rain Ballista Setup. ------------------------------ GENERAL PLAYSTYLE ------------------------------ The video guide will be MUCH better at showing how to do this but I will give you some basics. - Use Toxic Rain as your main ability, make sure to fire this at least every few seconds minimum to trigger Mirage Archer. - For significantly higher damage on bosses make sure to stay near them while using Withering Step to apply Wither Stacks. - Use Flame Dash for crossing Gaps or for dodging boss abilities and such. - Early on you will Self Cast your Despair curse on bosses or hard enemies until you can afford the Asenath's Chant. ------------------------ CLUSTER JEWELS ------------------------ There is info on Crafting these in the Crafting Section. Clusters are important for this build! They are not required but the "Overwhelming Malice" node is a HUGE dps boost. Make sure you get it! - Large Cluster Chaos Cluster - We are mainly looking to get as many solid nodes as we can. Anything that gives Skill Effect Duration and Chaos Damage is good here. Bow Cluster - There is a very cheap early cluster that you can obtain through Alt+Aug+Regal on a Bow Large Cluster. It is Tempered Arrowheads and any other mod that gives damage. Chaos Clusters are significantly better though. - Medium Clusters Chaos DoT Multi - You are looking for specifically Eldritch Inspiration and Wicked Pall. If you can get either of these and any other solid node I would keep them. Eldritch Inspiration will be VERY nice with the new mana changes. ------------------- ASCENDANCY ------------------- Raider - Our ascendancy is all about speed. Go fast, dodge fast, avoid fast. Rapid Assault - This gives you Onslaught. Permanently. It is affected by Onslaught Effect and at base gives you 20% Attack, Cast, and Movespeed. Avatar of the Chase - This gives you MUCH stronger onslaught as well as significantly more chance to Evade. Overall a very good offensives and defensive node. Quartz Infusion - Remind you of the Flask? It is named after it. Dodge, Spell Dodge, and Permanent Phasing. VERY important for clearing quickly and staying alive. Avatar of the Veil - Nerfed this patch but still strong, we have to invest a few more points to become ailment immune however I feel that Freeze/Chill immune is enough and like 80% chance to avoid ignite/shock is plenty. Oh yeah and stuff has less chance of hitting us. -------------------------------------------------- CRAFTING AND OBTAINING THE GEAR -------------------------------------------------- REMEMBER that you can always just buy all of the final pieces from the trade website. Crafting most of the time is cheaper. Typically leveling items or items in the "Budget" section that are just Life / Resists and that are not hard to obtain will not be included in this section. There will be items that simply aren't in need of detailed crafting notes, I will mention that in those cases. Weapons / Offhands Currently all of my videos are out of date for this craft, I will make updated crafting videos when I get time. In the meantime please refer to Elesshar's Videos which I will link below. - Budget Option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rY-0xiTMqns - Expensive Option https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2QVFhMogok Helmet - Budget Option - Simple helmet with Life and Resist and any other stats you need. - Mid / Expensive Option - Asenath's Chant tends to be very expensive early on and I suspect that it will continue to be very expensive this league. NOTE: Watch out for scammers on this item, they will attempt to put the non upgraded item in the window. Chestpiece - Budget Option - 6 link Rare with Life and Resists, Corrupted is fine but double check colors. - Mid Tier Option - Kintsugi, this can be expensive depending on quite a few things. It is the most powerful defensive option for this build by far. it is obtained through a prophecy and is rather rare. - Expensive Option - Corrupted Kintsugi with +2 Auras or +%Dmg. Boots - Budget Option - Nothing Special in this slot, simply go for as much resist, movespeed and life as you can get. - Expensive Option - Elusive, Tailwind, Onslaught boots. - Buy Hunter base ilvl 86 boots of your choice, two-tone are good. These will be expensive so prepare your wallet. - Alch / Scour or Alt roll the boots until you get Tailwind and no other Hunter Modifier. - Buy or Roll Onslaught on Kill Redeemer Boots. - Awakener orb the Redeemer boots onto the hunter boots. - Lock suffixes and harvest reroll crit to obtain elusive. If prefixes are full you can reroll prefixes until you have an open slot to do so. - If your boots have full prefixes repeat the previous step. The goal is to hopefully have no other prefix roll. - Lock suffixes again, aisling slam, benchcraft life and hope you get one of the movement speed unveils. You can repeat from the previous step if you did not land what you wanted. Amulet - Budget Option - Obtain an amulet with Chaos DoT Multi and decent stats, this should be somewhat cheap to buy. - Expensive Option - Buy or obtain a hunter amulet base that is ilvl 82 - Use single Aberrant fossils until you land +1 Chaos, Chaos DoT Multi and other useful stats (You can hit +1 Dex as well if you are insanely lucky) Rings - Budget Options - Simply go for Life, Resists and any other solid stats you can find, nothing special here. Belt - Budget Options - Grab any Belt with Life / Strength / Resists that you need. Nothing special for this slot. - Expensive Options - Upgrade to a Stygian Jewels - Thread of Hope - This is a drop off of Sirus, you want Large Ring, with as good of a resist roll as you can get - Corrupting Blood Immunity Jewel - This is a random corruption of any Jewel, it is rare and best that you buy a life / generic damage one with the mod once and use it the entire league. - Jewels - You do not need this specific Jewel, get jewels with Life%, Some damage modifiers and any resists that your build needs. Cluster Jewels - Large Cluster When crafting Large Chaos Clusters the main thing we are looking for here is anything with Skill Effect Duration and Chaos Damage. My suggestion is to use Aberrant Fossils or Chaos Harvest Rerolls or Reroll+ Best way to obtain this Cluster is to purchase it. - Medium Clusters Chaos DoT Multi - These are best rolled with Single Aberrant Fossils, you are looking for either Wicked Pall or Eldritch Inspiration and any other good node (both is ideal). ------------------------ FINAL THOUGHTS ------------------------ A build that goes faster than I ever imagined. Solid Deeps, solid defenses. Definitely a keeper. If you have suggestions or just want to hangout with the community make sure to join my discord linked here -> https://discord.gg/aDtqeDC Thanks for taking the time to read through all of this! If you enjoy the build make sure to let your friends know about my YouTube Channel / Twitch Stream and have them join the discord server! Thanks, have fun and stay safe out there in Wraeclast, and I'll see you all next time!! ---