













Introduction: If any of you remember Open Beta, Lightning arrow used to be "the build", and was as popular as low life spectral throw is now. Since the changes to wrath and anger being percentage auras, LA has somewhat fallen out of flavor. I hope that this guide will demonstrate that LA is still one of the strongest builds, and is a great option. If this guide does not convince you, tell me! If you follow my guide, I will work with you and help you.



About the build: The build uses the skill Lightning Arrow, coupled with Lesser Multiple Projectiles, and Chain to deliver an damage to an insanely large area of effect. Lightning arrow has implicit chaining to the gem, which is awesome because the Chain support gem has further synergy. Essentially, you will shoot 3 lightning arrows. These will chain two times. Each time that one of these arrows hits an enemy, Lightning arrow will hit up to 3 enemies near the target. This means that with these supports, Lightning arrow will deliver 27 hits per attack against a 3 monster mob (the ideal mob size is equal to the number of arrows you fire. More enemies = more damage!). Since the sacrifice of the vaal expansion was implemented, there has been an extremely large potential for end game scaling of the build that has been mostly unexplored. You are now able to corrupt +1 arrow onto a quiver, meaning that you can push lightning arrow to hit 36 times per attack instead of 27 (4 arrows vs 3 arrows).







Pros:



* Crazy AoE Damage



* Solid Single Target Damage



* Ability to do any map mod



* Very Survivable after acquiring Lightning Coil



* Functional defensively with only a tabula rasa and cwdt links



* Excellent Party Utility through Shock stacks and strong auras



* Can eventually do normal atziri once geared



* Resilient against spells through high resistances and spell dodge



Cons:



* Needs a 6 link in order to use Lightning arrow. Split arrow is a great budget 5l option, and I have included more information about that. Tabula Rasa is a great budget choice for a cheap 6l, and the build is made to work with just the tabula.



* Elemental Damage Gear can be pricey due to other popular builds using it



* Mana cost for lightning arrow is ridiculous. It will eventually have to be supported by blood magic. You may need to use split arrow while leveling.



* Does not have space for a curse without corrupted gloves



* Somewhat low health. Can be adapted for hardcore, however.



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The Skill Tree : Spoiler Spoiler http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAnEEswW1DH0OSBB_EZYTnhRNFm8XLxmFGYoaOBpsGo8dFB2qHhoi6iSqJLAmlSj6KlsvbzBxMok26TpCPI5GcUt4UEJRR1M1VUtVxlXWV8lX4l_hYqxk52aeZ71rJG1sb55wu3flgKSDCYbRjDaNfY2_j0aQVZuhm7WdqqIAoi6kkacIp4Sqf6q4tAy0OLVIuJPAGsM6xp7GospKzerPZdDQ0hnUI9ad1tHZE9rd3ajhiONq5Rno1uq66-7sOO5v8B_z3fba-tL7Cf-T



This tree is for level 85, which is an achievable end game goal.



The max level skill tree: Spoiler http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgYAAnEEswW1DH0M8g5IEH8RlhOeFE0WbxcvGYUZiho4Gmwajx0UHaoeGiLqJKoksCaVKPoqWy9vMHEyATKJNuk6QjyOPs9GcUt4UEJRR1M1VUtVxlXWV8lX4lnzW_Rf4WKsZOdmnme9ayRtbG-ecLtyqXflfNmApILHgwmG0Yw2jX2Nv49GkFWV6Zsmm6GbtZ2qogCiLqSRpcunCKeEqn-quKyqshm0DLQ4tUi4k73mwBrDOsaexqLKSs3qz2XPetDQ0hnUI9ad1tHZE92o4YjjauUZ6Nbquuvu7Djub_Af89322vno-tL7Cf-T



Bandits:



* Normal - Oak

* Cruel - Kraityn

* Merciless - Kraityn

This tree is for level 85, which is an achievable end game goal.The max level skill tree:Note: I grab resolute technique, because in extremely high levels it should be a goal to grab a stronger bow than lioneyes, such as a mirror bow or something close to it. Lioneyes is better than bows up until they are 400 pdps (so long as they have high attack speed)Bandits:* Normal - Oak* Cruel - Kraityn* Merciless - Kraityn



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Some End Game Numbers: Spoiler



Defense: Spoiler



Lightning Arrow (Lightning arrow, Lesser Multiple Projectiles, Blood Magic, Chain, Weapon Elemental Damage, Life Gain on Hit) : Spoiler



Budget Split arrow 5l option (Split Arrow, Blood Magic, Weapon Elemental Damage, Chain, Life Gain On Hit): Spoiler



Frenzy Single Target on 5 link (Frenzy, Faster attacks, Blood Magic, Weapon Elemental Damage, Life Leech): Spoiler



Frenzy on 4 link (Frenzy, Life Leech, Blood Magic, Weapon elemental damage : Spoiler



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My Gear : Spoiler Spoiler





My gear is not perfect, and I am still working on improving it. It, however, is still good and somewhat expensive. The build functions without gear this good. I included DPS figures of a 5l budget option for split arrow to demonstrate that. A 6l is necessary in order to utilize LA, though split arrow is another viable option. The gems are not yet 20/20, and I have much room to improve. Single target will peak at around 35k once I grab all of my frenzy charges. As you can see, the budget split arrow option still does respectable damage with only a 5 link. This is a great option for players with less money, and will allow the player to be functional in maps while he/she farms for a 6 link. Lioneyes is the best reasonably affordable bow for the build. It offers high dps (300+), and high attacks per second (actually higher than what thickets can get), in addition to built in resolute technique (saves 4 points on the passive tree). If you cannot afford lioneyes, I would suggest grabbing resolute technique and using a thicket bow. Spec out of damage somewhere, because life is already somewhat sparse. Farming a tabula is more important than the lioneyes, though they are both important pieces of the build. For jewelry/accessories, you ideally want adequate resists, life, weapon elemental damage %, and flat elemental damage. % elemental damage adds the most damage. Rustic sashes with weapon elemental damage and life and resists are the ideal belts (Mine is very good), though they can get expensive. Leather belts with resists are fine too. For the gloves, you want to have dexterity, life, and resists. If you can get attack speed, that is awesome too. Thunderfists are an awesome option for the build, because they offer 100% shock duration, which makes your shocks significantly longer versus rare and magic monsters. Alpha's howl is the ideal helmet, though there are budget options with Geoffrey's Crest. You want to have resists, life, and movespeed on boots.



My gear is not perfect, and I am still working on improving it. It, however, is still good and somewhat expensive. The build functions without gear this good. I included DPS figures of a 5l budget option for split arrow to demonstrate that. A 6l is necessary in order to utilize LA, though split arrow is another viable option. The gems are not yet 20/20, and I have much room to improve. Single target will peak at around 35k once I grab all of my frenzy charges. As you can see, the budget split arrow option still does respectable damage with only a 5 link. This is a great option for players with less money, and will allow the player to be functional in maps while he/she farms for a 6 link. Lioneyes is the best reasonably affordable bow for the build. It offers high dps (300+), and high attacks per second (actually higher than what thickets can get), in addition to built in resolute technique (saves 4 points on the passive tree). If you cannot afford lioneyes, I would suggest grabbing resolute technique and using a thicket bow. Spec out of damage somewhere, because life is already somewhat sparse. Farming a tabula is more important than the lioneyes, though they are both important pieces of the build. For jewelry/accessories, you ideally want adequate resists, life, weapon elemental damage %, and flat elemental damage. % elemental damage adds the most damage. Rustic sashes with weapon elemental damage and life and resists are the ideal belts (Mine is very good), though they can get expensive. Leather belts with resists are fine too. For the gloves, you want to have dexterity, life, and resists. If you can get attack speed, that is awesome too. Thunderfists are an awesome option for the build, because they offer 100% shock duration, which makes your shocks significantly longer versus rare and magic monsters. Alpha's howl is the ideal helmet, though there are budget options with Geoffrey's Crest. You want to have resists, life, and movespeed on boots.

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The gem setups: Spoiler



Helmet: Reduced Mana, Wrath, Anger, Haste. If you have a level 21 purity of lightning, replace haste with it.



Chest: Frenzy, Blood Magic, Weapon elemental damage, Life Leech, (Faster attacks), (Added Fire/Added Lightning)



*Bow: Lightning arrow, LMP, Chain, Blood Magic, Weapon elemental damage, Life Gain on Hit.

If you cannot afford a 6l, or do not have tabula rasa, use: Split Arrow, Chain, Life gain on hit, weapon elemental damage, blood magic.



Gloves: Reduced Mana, Purity of Fire, Purity of Lightning, Vaal Haste/Grace. The vaal haste/grace isn't very important. Use what you like there.



Boots: Cast When Damage taken (Level 4) , Enduring Cry (Level 7), Immortal call (level 5), Increased duration (As high of a level as you can)







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Detailed Explanations Spoiler Lightning arrow currently costs 202 life per attack. I attack close to 4 times each second. This totals up to 800 life lost every second just by attacking. Sounds bad? It isn't. At all. As I mentioned in the introduction, I am hitting 27 times per attack with Lightning Arrow. Life Gain on Hit returns 44 life back per hit at level 20, meaning that I regenerate 1,118 life per attack. This nets 988 life per attack. With 4 attacks per second, you are able to regenerate back to full life in a second. If you have a corrupted arrow, you hit 36 times per volley. This nets you 1,382 life per attack. This gives you insane instant leech without ever needing something like vaal pact. This, coupled with immortal call and cast when damage taken makes you almost impossible to kill if there are sufficiently large packs.



Auras : Auras are an important part of the build. I run 5 of them: Wrath, Anger, Hatred/Haste, Purity of Fire, Purity of Lightning. Within the tree, I grab a total of 94% increased effect of Auras + buffs. This makes them scale very well. Haste offers slightly less dps than hatred, but it offers movespeed too. This greatly increases your mobility and speed in farming. I prefer it over hatred. If you have access to a mirror worthy bow and use resolute technique instead of lioneyes, I would predict that hatred would be a bit better.



Outline on Defenses : The build picks up acrobatics, which gives 40% chance to dodge attacks and 30% chance to dodge spells. The build is not entirely focused on evasion, though. I also use the unique item Lightning Coil to mitigate damage from physical attacks. This unique converts 40% of incoming damage to lightning damage. Because you will run purity of lightning and eventually elemental adaptation, you will have up to 84% lightning resist. Lightning Coil effectively grants you 33.6% physical damage mitigation. This is useful in many ways that armor is not, because the mitigation is not down scaled if the monster does large hits. The downside (-60 max resists) is also mitigated by purity of lightning and aura effect nodes. Eventually, the build will obtain 84 Fire res, 77 cold res, and 84 lightning resist.



A big question I get all of the time about the build: How the hell do you survive reflect?!?!? First of all, I use Lioneyes Glare. This item gives me a 100% chance to hit. this also means that I am unable to evade my own reflect, in cases of both physical and elemental reflect. However, I use the unique quiver Blackgleam, which converts 50% of the physical damage I deal to fire damage. Lightning arrow also converts 50% of the damage to lightning damage. This means that I deal 0% physical damage (If the blackgleam is perfect). Thus, phys reflect is a non-issue. As mentioned above, my resists are quite high. This helps greatly with mitigating elemental reflect. Additionally, since I have 40% chance to dodge, I am able to dodge my own reflect. This is a different mechanic from evade, and allows me to dodge, even though lioneyes has 100% chance to hit (Accuracy and Evasion are completely independent mechanics from dodge, if you do not believe me, check the wiki). Lastly, I also have life gain on hit. As mentioned above, I gain a net 988 life back per attack. Essentially, I don't care about reflect at all.







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Leveling : Because the mana cost is very high for Lightning arrow, it is not viable or safe to use it while leveling (200 life per cast when you only have 1,000 or 2,000 is quite dangerous). I suggest using Split arrow, as the mana cost is much cheaper. Since the build is shadow start, you do not get many of the necessary gems through quests. It is worthwhile to create a Marauder or Ranger in order to gather up the necessary gems (Anger from Marauder, as well as Life gain on hit; Split arrow or Rain of Arrows from Ranger). Split arrow and fork is fine to use until you can gain access to chain at level 31. Rain of Arrows works too. Because you gain a bunch of damage from your auras, your actual weapon does not matter very much.





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Videos :



Difficult Shrine Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE0NmTBHK5A&feature=youtube



Video Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZCrdQLON4E&feature=youtu.be



Budget Guide + Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Vq4AFgubU&feature=youtu.be







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IGN: Harry_Truman_Primate. I have leveled this build to level 92 in Ambush with a duelist version, and since then have adapted it to a less expensive shadow version. It is a very strong build. I leveled with self found gear up until level 60. I had 10 deaths by then. I am level 81 now with 19 deaths.



If you have any questions, please ask.





I am currently still updating this guide. Hey Guys! I'm Harry Truman.If any of you remember Open Beta, Lightning arrow used to be "the build", and was as popular as low life spectral throw is now. Since the changes to wrath and anger being percentage auras, LA has somewhat fallen out of flavor. I hope that this guide will demonstrate that LA is still one of the strongest builds, and is a great option. If this guide does not convince you, tell me! If you follow my guide, I will work with you and help you.About the build: The build uses the skill, coupled with, andto deliver an damage to an insanely large area of effect. Lightning arrow has implicit chaining to the gem, which is awesome because the Chain support gem has further synergy. Essentially, you will shoot 3 lightning arrows. These will chain two times. Each time that one of these arrows hits an enemy, Lightning arrow will hit up to 3 enemies near the target. This means that with these supports, Lightning arrow will deliver 27 hits per attack against a 3 monster mob (the ideal mob size is equal to the number of arrows you fire. More enemies = more damage!). Since the sacrifice of the vaal expansion was implemented, there has been an extremely large potential for end game scaling of the build that has been mostly unexplored. You are now able to corrupt +1 arrow onto a quiver, meaning that you can push lightning arrow to hit 36 times per attack instead of 27 (4 arrows vs 3 arrows).Pros:Cons:------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: Because the mana cost is very high for Lightning arrow, it is not viable or safe to use it while leveling (200 life per cast when you only have 1,000 or 2,000 is quite dangerous). I suggest using Split arrow, as the mana cost is much cheaper. Since the build is shadow start, you do not get many of the necessary gems through quests. It is worthwhile to create a Marauder or Ranger in order to gather up the necessary gems (Anger from Marauder, as well as Life gain on hit; Split arrow or Rain of Arrows from Ranger). Split arrow and fork is fine to use until you can gain access to chain at level 31. Rain of Arrows works too. Because you gain a bunch of damage from your auras, your actual weapon does not matter very much.---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Difficult Shrine Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE0NmTBHK5A&feature=youtubeVideo Guide: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pZCrdQLON4E&feature=youtu.beBudget Guide + Map: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1Vq4AFgubU&feature=youtu.be---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------IGN: Harry_Truman_Primate. I have leveled this build to level 92 in Ambush with a duelist version, and since then have adapted it to a less expensive shadow version. It is a very strong build. I leveled with self found gear up until level 60. I had 10 deaths by then. I am level 81 now with 19 deaths.If you have any questions, please ask.I am currently still updating this guide. Last edited by ChaseMeadows on Jul 2, 2014, 4:53:21 AM