Lightning Arrow and Tornado Shot Deadeye builds have been two of the most popular builds in POE 3.23 with many players.
In this guide, I would like to introduce each of them to help you quickly understand which one is more suitable for you.
Tech Explanation
First, in Affliction League, the major changes to Bow character are Quality change and the nerf of Kaom’s Spirit. The combo that had been used with Voll’s Vision since the launch of Kaom’s Spirit almost always triggered Berserk is no longer available.
Personally, I prefer Rampage to Kaom’s Spirit, so I don’t mind it at all. But for many players, this will be a blow both offensively and defensively.
However, while something is lost, something new is also created. I will mainly introduce Manaforged Arrow/Lifetap and Warlord’s Mark/Berserk.
First, Manaforged Arrow works by using your primary Bow skill and spending 300% of the mana cost of a supported Bow skill to use a supported Bow skill.
With the support of Lifetap, the mana cost of the supported Bow skills is reduced to 0, and every time CD is increased, we can activate immediately Bow skills to generate powerful single-target DPS. Personally, I think using Manaforged Arrow is great for both clearing and fighting bosses.
Next up is the Warlord’s Mark/Berserk combo. This combo will keep you Berserk on almost the entire map if enemies are present.
The effect of Warlord’s Mark is that when you stun the marked enemy, you will gain 20 Rage points. However, there are two caveats: first, frozen enemies will not be stunned, and second, you must continue to cast Warlord’s Mark. But there are two ways to deal with it.
The first method is to use Elemental Focus Support. This is a support gem that prevents Elemental Ailments from enemies and also prevents freezing.
The second is the real deal, GaileSight or Interrogation/Secrets of Suffering. These will not freeze enemies, but will make them vulnerable. This is a very good unique item as it prevents freezing and increases damage. The downside is that these unique items may require more POE Currency budget.
Skill Gems
Each Skill Gem has a fixed level, but due to the tight attributes, I adjusted them. The damage is about the same, so if you can have that stat elsewhere, upgrade it.
The reason Boots has an empty slot is to gain 30% MS in the extra advantage. If you don’t need MS, use CWDT Guard or Cod Portal. But this setting is map specific. You can’t use a Berserk on bosses, so just use the single target setting.
You may want to upgrade Skill Gems in the later weapons. But I specified the color of Boots before because I wanted you to change Boots gems to gloves before Pinnacle Boss fight. When Gloves are empty, you gain 25% life from Maji Ascendancy, which will make the boss fight a little easier.
In the main 6-Link, I use Mirage Archer Support to increase the cold damage. Sub 6-Link will feature a Manaforged Arrow setup to increase individual DPS.
We use here TS because Storm Rain and Blast Rain are difficult to cause damage in some situations. Use TS because it always generates DPS and clears the map very well.
This setup includes a single-target 6-Link, so you don’t need to trade any gems. But I couldn’t adapt Frenzy in this setting, so you need to change Mark Masteries to Frenzy on hit.
Passive Tree
We have leveling trees and level 75 and 93 trees here. You can level up in LA. At level 75, you will choose LA or TS. The difference between LA and TS is getting Chain or Pierce in Ascendancy and Passive. LA uses Pierce instead of Chain.
Items
Next, let’s talk about the items required for both builds. There are some rare items that are easy to craft.
- Bow: You can use Essences of Wrath for better flat Cold and crafted flat Fire. Since we’re using Galesight to apply Brittle, we don’t need crit on Bow.
- Quiver: You can use Essence of Torment to get multiple critical hits and create life. Galesight can be expensive, so if you can’t afford it, it’s better to use Asenath for a non-berserk setup.
- Gloves: Tanu Ahi can get you Adrenaline and Onslaught, but this can also be expensive at the start of the league.
- Amulet: Hyrri’s Truth provides you with Precision, Crit Multi, Culling, and most importantly, Preservation Efficiency.
These are the ones that must buy unique items. This is the case with low-budget POB. Items other than Galesight are worth 1-2 Divine Orbs, and Galesight is probably 1 Divine Orb, so the total is about 3 Divines.
Outro
LA/TS League starter is a powerful mapper, but also a character that can be killed at any time. However, it’s been a starter in the meta-league for the past two years, so there’s no doubt about it.
Returning this season, Ultimatum is indeed hard to beat. If you’re not interested in Ultimatum and want to start the map from scratch, I recommend this.
But please note that it is not suitable for beginners. I hope you’ll give LA/TS League Starter a try. Thanks to the new Gem Quality, it’s even more comfortable and powerful in the early stages of the game!
