Welcome to Big Ducks's Toxic Rain Raider build guide. Toxic Rain Raider is one of the fastest builds in Path of Exile. This build is very powerful in leveling and, with this build, you can zoom through the game fast while killing everything in your path.
Clear: Ridiculously Fast
Bossing: Gear Dependent
Cost: Cheap but Scales
Difficulty: Easy
The initial cost of the gear is simply a Quill Rain, a Thief's Torment, and some random rares, and those gear are also all you need to farm Heist, which is a good way to get PoE currency early in the league.
Skills Used
Withering Step
Withering Step removes any existing Elusive buff before applying both Elusive and a buff that grants Phasing. While you have this buff, monsters that enter an area around you will be Withered. Using a skill or losing the Elusive buff ends this skill's effects. This skill shares a cooldown with other Blink skills.
Withering Step is potent for a single target, and it is required that you stand near the enemy and stack up these Withering Step stacks to get the most out of your damage.
Flame Dash
Flame Dash shares a Cooldown with Withering Step. However, the Raider is so fast that you don't need another movement ability.
The first cast on Flamedash is instant, but it'll have a cast time if you spam it. For that reason, you do not want to spam this ability.
Blood Rage
You don't have to use this skill, but it is quite a solid skill that gives you many attack speeds. Blood Rage also gives you the source of generating Frenzy Charges while you're clearing.
You can get an Alt quality of Blood Rage that will allow you to generate them on bosses. But it's pretty expensive, so don't expect to get that anytime soon.
Toxic Rain
Toxic Rain is your main ability, and you'll want to scale your damage over time. Also, you'll want to scale attack speed because you need to get as many of the spore pods on the ground, popping on top of enemies as you can.
The projectiles go in a random area, and about four of them will hit one target at a time, but when you use Concentrated Effect, it's a little easier. You can swap out Concentrated Effect for Efficacy, which is helpful for this build because it now grants 15-24% increased skill effect duration instead of spell damage.
Flesh and Stone
Make sure you are in the Stone Stance. It blinds nearby enemies and, while in Stone Stance, you take less damage from attacks from enemies that aren't nearby.
Malevolence
Malevolence casts an aura that multiplies damage over time and increases the skill effect duration of you and your allies.
Vitality
This build also uses a level-one Vitality because you are also using a Watcher's Eye, which has life gained for each enemy hit while effective by Vitality. This skill is very powerful but extremely expensive early in the league, so you can use a Thief's Torment instead.
Clarity
You'll want to level up the Clarity enough that it allows you to maintain your Mana.
Asenath's Chant
You'll also need an Asenath's Chant. This is a relatively expensive PoE item early on. But don't worry too much about this because you can continue to use a Ballista Totem setup for your Toxic Rain until you're able to swap over to the Asenath's Chant.
Once you have the Asenath's Chant, you use Greater Multiple Projectiles, Ball Lightning, and Slower Projectiles, which allow the Ball Lighting to hit consistently.
Despair
You are also using a Despair curse. Keep in mind that in PoE 3.15, triggered abilities will cost Mana, as long as you have minus Mana costs on all of your gear.
Vaal Haste
Vaal Haste is pretty good for going even faster than you were before.
You'll also want to use a Cast When Damage Taken, Immortal Call, Increased Duration, and Enfeeble. Remember that Cast When Damage Taken is also going to incur a Mana cost.
Skill Tree
Please watch Big Ducks's video for more information on the Skill Tree, and this part starts from 15:48.
No Clusters
Yes Clusters
Gear
Budget Gear
Weapon 1: Quill Rain
Weapon 2: Sharktooth Arrow Quiver
Helmet: Deicide Mask
Chest: Sadist Garb
Gloves: Murder Mitts
Boots: Dragonscale Boots
Amulet: Agate Amulet
Ring 1: Thief's Torment
Belt: Leather Belt
Mid-Tier Gear
Weapon 1: Crafted Bow
Weapon 2: Sharktooth Arrow Quiver
Helmet: Asenath's Chant
Chest: Kintsugi
Gloves: Soldier Gloves
Boots: Wyrmscale Boots
Amulet: Agate Amulet
Ring 1: Coral Ring
Ring 2: Coral Ring
Belt: Heavy Belt
Expensive Gear
Weapon 1: Thicket Bow
Weapon 2: Fire Arrow Quiver
Helmet: Asenath's Chant
Chest: Kintsugi
Gloves: Gripped Gloves
Boots: Two-Toned Boots
Amulet: Agate Amulet
Ring 1: Vermillion Ring
Ring 2: Vermillion Ring
Belt: Stygian Vise
Flasks
Budget Flasks
Flask 1: Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Staunching
Flask 2: Perpetual Silver Flask of Acceleration
Flask 3: Panicked Divine Life Flask of Staunching
Flask 4: Perpetual Quartz Flask of Heat
Flask 5: Experimenter's Jade Flask of Adrenaline
Mid-Tier+ Flasks
Flask 1: Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Staunching
Flask 2: Cinderswallow Urn Silver Flask
Flask 3: Dying Sun Ruby Flask
Flask 4: Experimenter's Quartz Flask of Acceleration
Flask 5: Experimenter's Jade Flask of Adrenaline
Jewels
Jewels - No Clusters
Jewels - Yes Clusters
Bandit: Kill All.
Pantheon: Brine King and Abberath.
Leveling Up
• Prioritize the gems you need immediately, Main Links > Movement > Auras > Utility. Check the "Skills" tab for which gems to grab.
• Levels 1 - Maps || Caustic Arrow/Toxic Rain Self Cast + Ballista
You will want to stick with this playstyle throughout the entirety of the game. Eventually, when you hit higher tier maps, you will drop the Ballista as it isn't worth keeping over having a larger aura set.
Tips
• Explosive Trap is a useful ability for Single Target up until you obtain Toxic Rain.
• Make ample use of Smoke Mine if you want to move faster through the acts, and you can make your life easier by putting Detonate Mine on the left click.
• Don't underestimate the new changes to Mana. They will potentially make Mana regen much more valuable. You should attempt to keep your Mana Flask updated at all times.
• The Toxic Rain Ballista Setup is powerful. Place as many of them as you can on the ground while keeping Caustic Arrow's debuff up, and then Spam self cast Toxic Rain. Your damage should be pretty good.
• The New Focused Ballista Support is good. However, I have not tested it. You can attempt to add it into the Toxic Rain Ballista Setup.
For more details about this Toxic Rain Raider build, please join Big Ducks's discord. If you enjoy the content, make sure to hit the Like button and subscribe to his YouTube channel. For more news and tips related to Path of Exile, you can also head over to our PoE news page on MmoGah – the best place to buy PoE currency PS4 and PoE Xbox currency.
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