Leveling and Progression Guide for Explosive Arrow Ballista | 3.18 Sentinel (Path of Exile)

!!!!!!MANA RESERVATION IS NEGATIVE BECAUSE OF THE DIVINE BLESSING SETUP, IT IS BUGGED!!!!!! For Item-Setups: Decent Gear belongs to "Endgame" passive tree Great Gear belongs to the "Cluster-Endgame" passive tree -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR: (for more infos watch the BIG Mistakes to Avoid section in the Full Build Guide) 1) Do NOT get any added fire damage to attacks on ANY of your gear pieces! (example '1-5 fire damage) You can check this by looking at your Explosive Arrow tooltip, the only Fire damage you should see is for the Explosions, nothing else. 2) Do NOT get any Pierce, Chain or Fork. Only the last enemy hit gets a Fuse, so you will COMPLETELY BRICK your character!!!!!!!!!! 3) Do NOT ignore Accuracy, you need 100% chance to hit, because Explosive Arrow is an attack skill, otherwise your fuses will sometimes not hit the enemy. 4) Do NOT have a bow with lower than 1.5 base attack speed. Do not trust Path of Building for fuse calculation! Xoph's Inception/Nurture are really bad for the build, NEVER use them!!!!!!!! 5) Do NOT use Barrage Support. It doesn't work the way you think it does! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- LEVELING SECTION In this section I will write down some specifics regarding Act1-10 progression. There is also a whole video dedicated to this here: Some basic info: If you need several of the same quest reward gems, you can take one of them and buy the other ones from the corresponding Act vendor (for example Nessa in Act 1) -------------------- Level 2-3 The first skill you will use is Freezing Pulse (enemy at the gate reward after killing hillock) The freezes will keep you alive until you get your first gearpieces. Level 4-28 Afer that your setup will revolve around 3 fire skills: 1) Purifying Flame (buy this gem from Nessa) +Arcane Surge Support (reward from the "enemy at the gate" quest, lvl 2) +Combustion Support (reward from "the Caged Brute", lvl 8) Later at Level 18 you will replace Combustion Support with Elemental Focus Support (reward from "Sharp and Cruel in Act 2) 2) Holy Flame Totem ( buy after "Breaking some eggs" quest, lvl 4) + Summon Phantasm Support (reward from "Mercy Mission, lvl 4) , replace this one later at around Level 18 with Faster Casting Support + Combustion Support (reward from "the Caged Brute", lvl 8) + Elemental Focus (reward from "Sharp and Cruel in Act 2) Later at Level 18 you will replace Combustion Support with "Faster Casting Support" (buy from Helena in A2) 3) Flame Wall (reward from "Breaking some eggs" quest, lvl 4) + Efficacy + Elemental Focus (reward from "Sharp and Cruel in Act 2) As soon as you are Level 16 and you finished the "The Root of the Problem" quest, take Wave of Conviction and replace Purifying Flame. The support gems stay the same. ------------------------------------------------------------ The following recipe will MASSIVELY help you throughout the acts: ( Do NOT skip this recipe, it will more than DOUBLE your damage) Flat damage wand recipe: any magic wand + orb of alteration + white ruby ring = magic wand with added damage to fire spells (level 8 requirement) Flat damage wand recipe: any magic wand + orb of alteration + rare ruby ring = magic wand with added damage to fire spells (level 20 requirement) If you need a Ruby Ring for the recipe: Iron Ring + any red gem = Ruby Ring If you need Orb of Alterations for the recipe make sure you sell rare gear that is identified, that will give you alteration shards! ----------------------------------------- Once you are Level 16, take both Herald of Purity and Herald of Ash and use them as your Auras! (Intruders in Black Quest Reward) Take Flammability at Level 24 and use it whenever you are facing a boss! At Level 28, do the Fixture of Fate Quest in the Library to get access to all gems, now buy the following gems if you want to transition to Explosive Arrow at Level 32: Explosive Arrow Ballista Totem Support 2x Faster Attacks Support Grace Determination Defiance Banner Lightning Spire Trap Frenzy Also go to the Act1 Vendor and buy a Precision (already leveled, in library it would be Level 1) --------------------------------------------- Here you have to make a decision, you can follow the tried and true Cremation/Armageddon Brand and transition to EA at maps (lots of guides on this leveling method on youtube) or you tranisiton whenever you have the Uniques: Storm Cloud and Skirmish When you can buy those will depend on how rewarding the league mechanic is, how many people play this build and also wether you got a chaos or two dropped already. You CAN also respec with only a Storm Cloud if you like to use your main skill early (I will do this) but just know that the build will feel a little slower at first! Explosive Arrow needs some levels to get going so don't stress about damage too much, just make sure you have all the moving parts correct! At Level 32+, do your Labyrinth and get the Elementalist Ascendancy! As your first points, choose "Shaper of Flames" You need to be Level 38 at the earliest so transition! If you want to transition once you have a Storm Cloud and a Skirmish, you need the following: 4-Link (important, dont use a 3-link, if you do not have a 4-link with these colours, don't tranisiton) Explosive Arrow +Ballista Support +Faster Attacks +Ignite Proliferation 4-Link (if you don't have another 4link selfcast Flammability for now) Frenzy +Faster Attacks +hextouch Support (level 38) +Flammability 2-link (You don't deal any damage, so a Trap has to apply Combustion) Lighning Spire Trap +Combustion Support As your Auras, for now you will be using: Purity of Elements (Defenses) or Wrath (damage) Precision (IMPORTANT, you NEED this for ACCURACY) Only use Determination + Grace + Defiance Banner later, once you start feeling squishy! Use the Lightning Golem for increased attack speed if you have the socket space! Ascendancy Order: 1) Shaper of Flames 2) Mastermind of Discord 3) Heart of Destruction 4) Bastion of Elements Good Leveling Uniques: - Storm Cloud - Skirmish - Tabula Rasa For any further information after this transition, watch the leveling video here: Also, do look at the Act 1-10 Passive Trees if you need guidance on which passive points to take! Wish you all the best at Leaguestart! <3