Path of Exile Chaoscloud Shadow Archer Build Guide
Path of Exile Chaoscloud Shadow Archer Build Guide by lavaKudzu
Notice: Alternate Shadow Elemental Bow Build is available here
Hello!
Welcome to my archer Shadow build! The concept came to me as I was thinking of a build that would allow me to play a build that would focus on superb kiting with variable options of laying waste to groups of enemies.
I elected to create a build that would promote synergy with Poison Arrow -L- Lesser Multiple Projectiles and Burning Arrow for Direct DMG. My variation also uses ice spells, but this much would be up to you.
When you link LMP with Poison Arrow, accuracy matters less and with two shots, you can place a poison cloud on the ground that will cover a thick line across the screen. This is incredibly efficient for taking out groups and is useful if a monster is immune to fire.
As with any build, it’s a good idea to start from the concept and then think of which ‘class’ has the best starting position to accomplish your goal. As a range kiter, the primary hubs put me at ranger or witch – and since I was looking for flexibility, the hybrid classes of Shadow and Duelist were open.
The purpose of this guide is to give a brief overview of a core build for an AOE kite build. This was constructed in default league and may or may not be as successful in hardcore.
I would classify the Difficulty: MEDIUM. You’ll have some problems with Rhoas, Fetid Pools and Flicker Strike in the beginning.
Always remember that you can grind an area for an extra level or two before proceeding!
I. The passives
IA. Passive Selection Order
Start: Attack Speed (On Hub)
2nd: Dexterity (southeast)
3rd: Intelligence (SE)
4-6th: Accuracy hub
7th: Dexterity (E)
Continue this path until you claim Heavy Draw. Once you have it, go back and hit Deep Thoughts to secure mana for the spells and skills you’ll be using.
After this, you’ll be looking to race Mind Drinker. MD will allow you to more easily spam your spells, and with only a few intelligence and mana pool additive passives, you’ll rarely need to drink your blue pots.
20th: Spell Damage (On Hub)
21st: Intelligence* (North)
22-26th: Spell Damage – Mental Accuity
27-33rd: Fire Damage – Mind Drinker
You will want to drop Intelligence (21st) when you pick up Mental Accuity.
These are the primary skills – ‘engine’ – needed for spamming the chaosclouds and burning arrows. Afterwards, look to take the Archer passives:
– Perfect Aim
– Heartpierce
– Deadly Draw
– King of the Hill
– Heartseeker
You should also keep an eye open for increasing a few utility stats such as movement speed, accuracy, resistances, cast speed and added life; however, your primary focus should always be Damage.
I would recommend about three to four hubs of each of the above utilities and a minimum of 25% movement speed (from items if needed).
II. The Skills
Poison Arrow -L- LM Projectiles, Burning Arrow, Temporal Chains, Cold Snap, Ice Nova.
Look for support gems: Added Chaos Damage, Chance to Ignite, Faster Projectiles, LM Projectiles, and Increased Critical Damage.
At the beginning you may wish to use cold snap and ice nova, even if you won’t end up with them in your final build, because the cold damage helps your kiting until you hit level 19 and can socket Temporal Chains.
I’ve noticed that Cold Snap is still a very handy nuke to cut corners, but Ice Nova isn’t ‘quite’ what I’m looking for, so I may drop it.
Update
I thought I’d give a brief update, as it’s been a few days and this has way more views than I thought it’d receive.
As of today, my CC shadow is just shy of 40. I haven’t had a lot of time to level, but I absolutely plan to reach 60 on him before we see .9.11 (Maps).
Also, after this build I have decided to run to King of the Hill (Knockback on Crit) and now I plan to go towards improved crit damage and chance.
I’ve noticed that this is far more effective than I initially considered in the context of fighting ranged mobs and in dungeons. The CC lingers around and if you can LoS the mobs, they’ll walk in the poison and die.
Tune in when they announce the .11 release, because I’ll be back with an updated Skill Tree.
Thanks and good luck with your builds ;) ~
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