[2.1/2.2 WIP]Belton's In Depth Hidden Potential Caustic Arrow Guide. 35k+ DPS Atziri/Ubers/HC Viable

hey, i never played PA/CA before and im wondering which subclass would you recommend when ascendancy launches? Still shadow?
("powerfull precision" from deadeye ranger with drillneck should be and extreme dps boost when playing close range style or "endless munitions" from deadeye ranger looks pretty attractive to me as well, if cloud damage can overlap? even if it cant it should be and amazing aoe boost due to a second arrow, and a third from a corrupted quiver even more sick then...)
Pls let me know your thoughts senpai! :3

and thx for this amazing summary!

€:
ok i looked into the CA mechanics, and multiple clouds doesnt stack the debuff/dmg. but wondering if deadeye would still the best choice compared to the better shadow tree, cause assasin shadow seems ok with the + dmg over time nodes but we woulnt get much from noxious strikes when im correct.

I'm also curious about the choices for Ascendancy Sub Class the shadow ones don't look to overwhelming

Trickster seems like the best bet to me for these 4 things. Then you would also have 2 points left over for who knows.

Any of the Ranger ones, or Occultist for PA... Shadow ones suck

Trickster would be "decent".
- +1 Frenzy
- 10% Frenzy on Kill
- 40% DMG over Time
- 5% Dodge and 5% Spell Dodge
- 16% Aspd

Compared to:

Deadeye:
- 20% incr AOE
- +1 Arrow
- 60% Projectile DMG
- 15% Aspd
(aka. 1x more multi in the gem setup without loosing so much aoe, but farshot doesnt work with the DoT)

Raider:
- +1 Frenzy
- 10% Frenzy on Kill
- 6% Dodge and 20% Chance Phasing on Kill (useless without the Phasing Points behind, and "on Kill" is imo shit for bosses) or 20% Chance for Onslaught on Kill (shit for bosses, otherwise could be Perma Onslaught in Meeps aka. 20% more Movement and Attackspeed)
- and the 3% Move+Attackspeed from Avatar of Frenzy per Frenzycharge (54% Movespeed with Blood Dance and 8 Charges and it would negate the reduced 3% Aspd per Frenzy from Blood Dance)

I will pick one of these cause Occultist would be bad traveling wise imo even when the -20% chaos resi sounds epic. (but it just "nearby", so idk.)

Trickster = Allrounder (Dodge+Spelldodge best Def Choice)
Deadeye = Best DPS (But Farshot doesnt work, so 1 completely useless Perk)
Raider = Best Mobility (the "on kill" thingys useless for bosses)

Hi, Pretty nice guide, gonna try this on Perandus League SC, and i have some questions since never played sometime like this:

- Class y Subclass? Im between Shadow Trickster or Ranger Deadeye

- 5k life seems to low for most high tier maps, maybe swapping the chest to a Kaoms Heart?

- For the magic items, you alteration them till you get 90+ life? then augmentation looking for Res?
It looks pretty expensive, what ilvl should i use?

Hey Belton, nice in depth guide, good work!

Any thoughts on 2.2, ascendancy classes and such?

Also, do you guys have ideas on how to level this until you can fully function as CA?

edit: Well, after looking into these subclasses i think either going

-Deadeye will give you most dmg
or
-Trickster some damage with good defence and regen choices.

Think trickster will do it for me as i play hardcore and having that extra regen, evasion, mov speed and such will make me feel safer. Deadeye would just be adding to my damage but nothing towards my survivability.

What do you think about using a scion with the occultist and Deadeye nodes? Deadeye gives you 50% pierce, projectile speed and an additional projectile and occultist gives you some ES and ES regen with -15% chaos res on cursed enemies + increased damage after killing a cursed enemy.

Hey guys! Thanks for all the great feedback and theorycrafting. I have been away for a couple of weeks so haven't had a chance to update the guide or work out a full build- however, I just started the new league as CA and will get to updating the guide for 2.2 as soon as I have something polished. In the meantime- feel free to share your experiences so far, and best of luck!

Edit: quick overview- at first glance scion with deadeye/trickster appears to be the optimal route so this is what I will test off the bat. I will likely start as MF to acquire some early currency, but will keep an HP set in the works for atziri over the upcoming days. Stay tuned.

"

Raider:
- +1 Frenzy
- 10% Frenzy on Kill
- 6% Dodge and 20% Chance Phasing on Kill (useless without the Phasing Points behind, and "on Kill" is imo shit for bosses) or 20% Chance for Onslaught on Kill (shit for bosses, otherwise could be Perma Onslaught in Meeps aka. 20% more Movement and Attackspeed)
- and the 3% Move+Attackspeed from Avatar of Frenzy per Frenzycharge (54% Movespeed with Blood Dance and 8 Charges and it would negate the reduced 3% Aspd per Frenzy from Blood Dance)

Playing Raider CA right now in the fresh Perandus League. I have decided to go "Avatar of the Veil" with the build and it is totaly amazing! Also i have taken the 10% chance to gain a frenzy charge on kill node, which results in more comfort and more clear speed over all since you don't have to use frenzy while clearing (frenzy is only needed for bosses to keep charges up).
Deadeye can't match the maping clear speed from Raider - Raider obviously has less damage than Deadeye but Raider can go faster and much more reckless due to phasing.

I have currently 66% attack dodge/75% spell dodge while phasing with Quartz Flask up and 20k Evasion - i can run "through" all mobs while attacking and they can't hit me at all which results in super high clear speed.
You are also immune to status aliments while phasing (you are phasing all the time while clearing a map; permanent uptime) which means you are immune to chilled and shocked ground and can ignore it completely which increases clear speed even further since you can do those maps perfectly fine.


And to the comment Raider is "useless" for bosses: Phasing is gained via Quartz flask which can last up to 10 seconds per use with investment in flask nodes and belt . The flask also can be used 3-4 times if you like to invest into charge use reduction. 30-40 seconds of perma phasing during a boss fight is enough to kill any boss with CA/Essence Drain - most bosses spawn mobs for flask refill too.
Combine phasing with a Stipnite Flask (blind) on a boss and you can just stand there and facetank him because he can't hit you at all :^).



Trickster is also great for CA and a solid choice over all so is Deadeye. Regardless i think Raider is the best option for CA if you want to have awsome defenses and high clear speed. For over all tooltip DPS only take one of the other two classes.

Early Efforts Paid off boys!

8/8 doctor