Skitterbots vs (Vaal) haste for toxic train

> FAQ < How much area of effect do we want? You want EXACTLY 39% area of effect, since Pathfinder already gives 30% area of effect, this effectively means you have to get 9% aoe somewhere. There are 2 viable options for this: 18% quality on your Toxic Rain gem or 9% aoe craft on gloves or amulet. I'd recommend the craft since it's hard to get a 21/18 TR gem Why does the tree say 3.19? I want a 3.20 build! This PoB was made before PoB was updated to 3.20, nothing really changes for this build tree-wise, it does gain a bit of damage from the despair and onslaught buff changes which I chose not to simulate changes in config for this PoB. So you'll gain more damage once the actual patch gets implemented into PoB. Which version do I pick? Master Surgeon or Master Alchemist? If you want me to make the choice for you: just go for the Master Alchemist version. If you want more info there's a breakdown further in the notes. I can't fit all auras! Hey, that's not a question! If you can't fit all auras you're probably using the Devouring Diadem skillset(go to skills and select the "pre-diadem" one). Either that or you enabled the Haste aura even though we're only using Vaal Haste before we have Diadem. I have big mana issues, what do I do? If you have big mana issues(before picking up Eldritch Battery for example) there's only one realistic choice: use an Enduring mana flask. You can drop your silver flask to fit it. I can't cast my Malevolence Divine Blessing, why? You can only use Malevolence once you're Eldritch Battery. You also need enough energy shield to cast it. To get enough energy shield you can either: - Reduce the cost of Malevolence by using a lower level Divine Blessing - Get a little bit of energy shield on gear - Use Divergent Inspiration and/or Divine Blessing - Get more "reduced mana cost of skills" on jewellery or jewels Why not ... ascendancy? There's a lot of ascendancies that are valid for Toxic Rain, but we have to pick one. Some comparisons: Champion: less damage, more tankyness, less sustain Raider: better for Heist, slightly faster, way less tanky Trickster: really good sustain, lower phys mitigation early on, tankier vs spells Occultist: more of a Caustic Arrow ascendancy imo, lacks speed and defenses I don't have an Empower, but the endgame bow has +2 support gems, what now? On the items tab on the right side I added an "Endgame Bow #2" you can use instead! How to craft these bows can be found in the Crafting section of this PoB Why no cluster jewel setup? I'm not a big fan of including cluster jewel setups in starter builds. If you want to look at a build that killed all Ubers in SSFHC last league WITH clusters, take a look at NewSpiral's profile: https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/NewSpiral/characters?characterName=Ultimate_Reward Why claw nodes in the leveling section? The claw nodes still give Poisonous Concoction poison chance, and it gives you really good life and mana gain on hit > LEVELING < Starting out in act 1 you'll use Caustic Arrow and Puncture. This is the part where you'll be the weakest, so don't be discouraged! Use puncture on bosses and Caustic Arrow to clear, try to hit level 12 before Merveil as this will make that fight much easier After we hit 12 level with poisonous concoction(pconc). This is a poison-based attack that requires you to not equip a weapon(make sure to disable auto equip!). We take some claw nodes early on because the poison portion of it still affects pconc, and the life/mana gain on hit mastery is really nice early on. Gearing pconc is really simple: all you need to upgrade to get more damage is your flask and links. So just get life and resist gear and keep a lookout for linked fast bows for when we swap to Toxic Rain. For twink leveling gear there's not that much outside of the usual suspects: +1/+2 tabula, goldrim, Wanderlust and Thrillsteel. You switch to Toxic Rain around Blood Aquaducts, make sure you have a decently fast bow by then AND USE A MANA FLASK UNTIL YOU HAVE ELDRITCH BATTERY. > MASTER SURGEON VS MASTER ALCHEMIST < Master Alchemist is the "default" way to play. It has more flask effect, so you'll deal more damage and you'll be faster and tankier vs single hits. Master Surgeon can abuse the "Used when Charges reach full" mod on flasks with the "Gain charges when hit" mod to automatically recover life each time you get hit. This is really good for sustain(you can probably stand in the middle of a Harbinger pack and never die) but requires you to roll very specific flasks and it'll be slightly less speedy than the Master Alchemist version. In the end: if you have the endgame flasks rolled it's only 10-20 respec points to switch between the versions, just try each one and use the one you like most! > CRAFTING < Farming Porcupine Early on you'll want to farm a set of The Porcupine divination card. You can do this in the following maps: - Courtyard - Gardens - Orchard - Terrace Best endgame bow(+1, +2 support gems, chaos damage over time, attack speed, chaos dot mult) 1. Alteration roll a Hunter Thicket Bow(ilvl 78+) for T1 attack speed 2. Regal 3. Annul until you have only the attack speed left, if you miss start over 4. Craft "Can have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers"(2 divines) and "Cannot roll Attack Modifiers"(1 divine) 5. Slam 2 exalts(closing eyes is optional), this will guarantee +1 socketed gems and chaos damage over time 6. Remove crafted mods 7. Craft "Can have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers"(2 divines), "Chaos Damage Over Time Multiplier" and "+2 to Level of Socketed Support Gems"(2 exalts) 8. Done! Slightly cheaper endgame bow(better when you have no empower) 1. Get a Hunter Thicket Bow(ilvl 78+) 2. Use shrieking essences of dread until you hit T1 attack speed 3. Annul until you have 2 open prefixes(the only one should be +2 to bow gems), and 1 open suffix. If you have 2 open suffixes craft "Can have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers" in the next step before the "Cannot roll attack mods" 4. Craft "Cannot roll Attack Modifiers"(1 divine) 5. Slam 2 exalts(closing eyes is optional), this will guarantee +1 socketed gems and chaos damage over time 6. Remove crafted mods 7. Craft "Chaos Damage Over Time Multiplier" 8. Done!