Lightning Arrow Deadeye Build Guide
If you enjoy a fast and ranged playstyle, that is capable of clearing screens, the Lightning Arrow Deadeye is unmatched. It is a bow build that shoots arrows which, on hit, arc lightning to nearby enemies, causing them to get be inflicted with freezes and shocks that trigger herald explosions, resulting in a fast and satisfying clear.
Lightning Arrow is your primary skill, used for safely clearing packs at range. Lightning Rod triggers Cast on Shock Ball Lightning for massive burst damage to quickly eliminate bosses and rares.
Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder provide a huge boost to the clearspeed. When your arrows kill shocked or frozen enemies Herald explosions trigger and chain off of each other.
The gear showcased features optimal affixes. Aim for these while maintaining 75% resistance caps.
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This guide assumes you are at least level 80 and have completed Act 3 Cruel, to learn more about the leveling process check out our Gas Arrow Leveling Guide.
Skills
- Lightning Arrow fires a fast lightning projectile that on contact with an enemy unleashes lightning beams that arc to up to three enemies within a 2.4 meter radius. Pierce allows the effect to proc multiple times per arrow, making it a very effective ability for clearing dense maps and breaches.
- Lightning Rod is your primary damage on single target. Fire it directly at bosses to apply multiple shocks to them. Modifiers to the number of arrows is a direct multiplier to the damage this ability. When triggered by a secondary lightning attack or spell they deal a lightning damage to any enemy in their area of effect.
- Cast on Shock enables you to automate the process of triggering your massive single target burst without pressing a secondary ability. This allows you to pay more attention to boss abilities than your rotation.
- Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice are passive buffs that trigger effects upon killing shocked and frozen enemies. They provide you with a massive amount of clear.
- Voltaic Mark provides a big boost to your shock chance against bosses, and increases the magnitude of those shocks making them take more damage.
- Wind Dancer is a passive aura that massively increases your evasion. Use Gemcutter's Prism on it as 20% quality gives you an additional stage.
- Grim Feast spawns remnants on enemy kills, which when collected provide energy shield which overflows. This allows you to gain a massive boost to your effective hit. Deactivate Grim Feast for Ghost Dance instead when fighting bosses.
Skill Rotation
Against Bosses, use Voltaic Mark, followed by Lightning Rod. They apply large shocks and build energy for Cast on Shock to trigger a Ball Lightning. When the Ball Lightning contacts the Lightning Rods on the boss, it unleashes a sudden large burst of lightning damage.
This is very costly on your mana and can only be solved by swapping to a Thief's Torment when fighting pinnacle bosses. It provides mana and life per enemy hit with attacks to sustain using Lightning Rod. To avoid gear swapping on regular map bosses, get a well-rolled Mana Flask.
- Use Barrage.
- Apply and Maintain Voltaic Mark.
- Fire Lightning Rod repeatedly.
- Cast on Shock triggersBall Lightning which in contact with Lightning Rods deal massive amounts of damage.
- Fire Fire Lightning Arrows at enemy packs.
- Shocks and freezes trigger both your Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder, creating a massive herald explosion.
- If you encounter a tanky rare use Barrage and Lightning Rod to burst them down.
- Use Voltaic Mark on bosses for additional damage.
Why Shock and Freezes are Important
Shocking and Freezing an enemy can be achieved with Lightning Arrow and Lightning Rod. Freezes are a massive added layer of safety while mapping and triggers Herald of ice, while shocks increase the damage enemies take and trigger Cast on Shock as well as Herald of Lightning. How long it takes to shock and freeze highly depends on the kind of enemy you're facing and how good your damage is. Once you achieve a shock, you can see a shock debuff under the enemy health bar, like this:
- Lightning Arrow and Lightning Rod are key for achieving both.
- Freezes provide a significant safety net during map clearing and trigger Herald of Ice.
- Shocks increase damage taken by enemies, trigger Herald of Thunder, and are essential for building energy for Cast on Shock to trigger Ball Lightning.
Shock Mechanics
- Default shock increases the damage that enemies take by 20%. You can increase this with increased Magnitude of Shock.
- Default shock has a duration of 4 seconds.
- Default shock has a chance to occur from any source of Lightning Damage and depends on how big the hit was. Chance to shock is a multiplier to this innate chance.
On bad gear, using Voltaic Mark at the start of the fight makes a huge difference.
Skill Leveling Priority
Make sure to constantly upgrade and quality your gems. This substantially increases the damage of some skills and the potency of others.
Passives
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- Passive nodes that provide Freeze Build up and Shock chance like Pressure Points and Flash Storm should be specced asap as they are necessary to trigger your Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder.
- Refer to the skill gem and gear section as you need to have sufficient cold damage for consistency.
- Instill Doomsayer for increased clear, it is cheap and makes a massive difference.
- Life from Death from the Monk starting zone provides great sustain for mapping and Mindful Awareness scales hybrid Energy Shield/Evasion gear.
Ascendancy
Learn how to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos to earn your first 2 Ascensions with our Ascension Guide!
- Gathering Winds grants a stacking buff that increases your Movement and Attack Speed while also giving you a huge boost to evasion.
- Far Shot substantially increases both your clearspeed and single target damage by making projectiles deal more damage to distant enemies.
- Endless Munitions grants an extra projectile to Lightning Arrow and Lightning Rod, increasing your single target and clear speed.
- Wind Ward comes at the perfect time when a large hit makes it through your evasion, reducing its damage by up to 30%. The reduction is based off of how many Gathering Winds stacks you own.
Gearing
When talking about Attributes in this section, this includes all of them: Dexterity/Strength/Intelligence. This is because even if you might need Intelligence, by getting Dexterity, you can now undo the Dexterity nodes on your Passive Tree and turn them into Intelligence, having the same effect! Knowing this fact makes your gearing a lot easier. However, keep in mind that you want as much Intelligence as possible as you gain a ton of flat damage from the Hand of Wisdom and Action unique. Spec Dex/Strength to satisfy gem attribute requirements , then put the rest into Intelligence.
Mana is a problem on this build. The way you solve this is by getting at least one Sapphire Jewel with Recover 2% of Mana on Kill and Gain #Mana per Enemy Killed on either your Quiver or Bow. For Pinnacle bosses ring swap to Thief's Torment for Gain #Mana per Enemy Hit with Attacks. Make sure to catalyse it with Reaver Catalysts.
Offensive Scaling
- Your Bow is everything. High physical damage and Elemental Damage roll on top makes or breaks your build
- Bow Attacks Fire an Additional Arrow
- +# to Level of all Projectile Gems
- #% increased damage
- +# to Intelligence/Dexterity
- # to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Physical damage to Attacks
- #% Global Physical Damage
- #% increased Projectile Speed
- % increased Attack Speed
- Gain % Damage as extra Fire, Cold, Lightning Damage
- % increased Chance to Shock
- % increased Mana gained per enemy Killed
Defensive Scaling
- Sufficient +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance to cap your Resistances
- +# to Maximum Life
- Evasion Rating is your main defensive layer.
- Energy Shield provided by your gear can overflow while mapping thanks to Grim Feast
- Chills and Freezes provide additional safety
- If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!
Your Bow is the most important source of damage. You are looking for a high physical DPS Expert Dualstring Bow. These are really expensive, especially if you're looking for additional arrows since these massively increase your clear and single target.
The Most important stats in this order:
- % increased Physical Damage
- Adds # to # Physical Damage
- Adds # to # Cold Damage
- % increased Attack Speed
- Bow Attacks Fire an Additional Arrow (higher priority on a non Dualstring Bow)
The quiver is also very important as you scale quiver effect through the passive skill tree and jewels, increasing the value of having high rolls in this slot. Primed Quiver and Volant Quiver are the best bases.
- Adds #to # Physical Damage to Attacks
- Adds #to # Cold damage to Attacks
- #% increased Projectile Speed
- +# to Level of all Projectile Skills
- #% increased Attack Speed
- Gain # Mana per Enemy Killed
- +# to Dexterity
A hybrid Energy Shield and Evasion Rating base provides you with a ton of scalable defences. The Expert Waxed Jacket is the best base.
- #% increased Energy Shield and Evasion
- +# to Spirit
- +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance
- +# to Maximum Life
- +# to Dexterity
The best item base for this slot is the Expert Feathered Tiara. It provides a ton of energy shield.
- #% increased Energy Shield
- +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance
- +# to Maximum Life
- +# to Dexterity
- #% increased Rarity of Items found (Luxury stat, do not prioritize)
Hand of Wisdom and Action is by far the strongest item for this slot. It provides damage per Intelligence and Attack Speed per Dexterity. note that after upgrading your bow, these are the best damage source for the build. If you cannot yet afford these look for gloves with the following stats:
Adds #to # Physical Damage to Attacks
Adds #to # Cold damage to Attacks
#% increased Energy Shield and Evasion
+#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance
+# to Maximum Life
+# to Dexterity/Intelligence
#% increased Rarity of Items found
This is the only item slot where you can get Movement Speed, look for as high of a roll as possible. The best base for this slot are Expert Hunting Shoes with the following stats:
- +#% to Movement Speed
- #% increased Energy Shield
- +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance
- +# to Maximum Life
- +# to Dexterity
- #% increased Rarity of Items found (Luxury stat, do not prioritize)
Rings are a huge source of damage. For min-max Breach Rings with Attribute or Attack Quality are very strong Remember you need a Thief's Torment for pinnacle bosses.
- Adds #to # Physical/Cold/Lightning Damage to Attacks
- +# to Intelligence/Dexterity
- +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance
- +# to Maximum Life
- #% increased Rarity of Items found (Luxury stat, do not prioritize)
- +# to Spirit
- +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance
- +# to Maximum Life
- +# to Level of all Projectile Skills
- +# to Intelligence/Desterity
- #% increased Rarity of Items found (Luxury stat, do not prioritize)
Instill: Doomsayer
The Ingenuity is best in slot. It boosts the bonuses gained from Rings, which can massively increase your damage and make getting resistances easier if paired with good rings. Don't worry though, a rare belt with the following modifiers is still a great choice.
- +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance
- +# to Maximum Life
- +# to Strength
Emerald Jewels are insane on this build. Every jewel must have the #% increased bonuses gained from Equipped Quiver stat since it gives a ton of damage when paired with a good quiver. Here's some other strong options to pair this with:
- #% increased Attack Speed with Bows
- #% increased Projectile Damage
- Projectiles have #% chance to Chain an additional time from terrain
- #% increased Movement Speed
- #% increased Elemental Damage
- #% increased Damage with Hits against Rare and Unique Enemies
- #% increased Damage with Bows
- #% increased Projectile Speed
- #% increased Attack Damage
- #% increased Evasion Rating
- #% increased Attack Speed
- #% increased Magnitude of Ailments you inflict
You need at least 1 Sapphire with the Recover 2% of Mana on Kill stat.
Jewel like the Against the Darkness can grant a huge damage boost if you tailor your passive skill tree around them. However due to their price and availability cannot be included in this guide, but if you have spare funds look to try to slot one of these and experiment with respeccing some skill points into its radius.
Atlas Passives
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- This build excels at both mapping and bossing, performing well in all mechanics. However, some skillful play is required, as you cannot facetank until later and must use the Thief's Torment ring for Mana sustain on Pinnacle Bosses.
- Avoid the following Waystone modifiers:
- Monsters have (50–59)% increased Ailment Threshold
- Area has patches of Burning Ground
- This Atlas passive skill tree grants significant Waystone sustain, while also enhancing the reward potential and number of rares in your maps.
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FAQ
On pinnacle bosses you need Thief's Torment to recover mana at the rate you spend it. For regular map bosses and mapping a good Mana Flask, a Sapphire Jewel with % of Mana on Kill and a source of Gain # Mana per Enemy Killed from either your bow or quiver smooth out any mana issues you have.
You need at least 170 spirit in total. Spec into Herald Reservation nodes near the Acrobatics keystone for less spirit reservation.
Deactivate Grim Feast for Ghost Dance on Pinnacle bosses target, and vice versa for mapping.
Make sure to refer to the skills section as it is crucial to have the correct support gems in order for your heralds to chain off of eachother. Instill Doomsayer to further improve your clear.
Sources of added Cold Damage to Attacks, Ice Bite and Essence of the Mountain are your sources of added cold damage. This is needed to deal enough cold damage to cause enemies to freeze and shatter. If you have the node specced and the Support Gem slotted into your Lightning Arrow links, then you are lacking added Cold Damage from quiver, rings or your bow.
Grim Feast is very nice while mapping, but completely useless on bosses. Swap it out for Ghost Dance, a buff that recovers Energy Shield based equal to 5% of your Evasion on hit, consuming a charge. This gives provides with energy shield sustain.
As you want to gain as much added damage and attack speed from Hand of Wisdom and Action you want to get as much dexterity as possible. However, you need some strength to equip Support Gems. The priority for stats is as follows:
- Support/Skill Gem Requirements
- Item Base Requirements
- Intelligence for Hand of Wisdom and Action
This build has a ton of Evasion gained from item bases, Wind Dancer and and Gathering Winds. Additionally Wind Ward provides damage reduction for when a large hit makes it past your Evasion. As sources of Life are very limited, hybrid Evasion/Energy shield bases in combination with Grim Feast provide a large amount of Energy Shield to prevent one shots. Ghost Dance is used instead on single pinnacle bosses.
- Relic: 15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks
- Venom Drought: #% Elemental Ailment Threshold
- Cruel Relic: 15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
- Cruel Venom Drought: #% to Chaos Resistance
NOTE: These bonuses are minor, if you picked something different for the Venom Draught, don't worry too much!
Summary
- Lightning Arrow fires projectiles that on hit arc beams to nearby targets, shotgunning maps and providing massive coverage.
- Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice trigger when you kill enemies frozen and shocked by your Lightning Arrow, causing a chain reaction of cold and lightning damage explosions.
- Lightning Rod and Cast on Shock Ball Lightning provide you with a way to burst down tanky enemies and pinnacle bosses.
- Solve mana with Thief's Torment and Mana Gained on Kill to sustain on bosses.
- Evasion and Energy Shield bases allow you to utilize Grim Feast and Ghost Dance to massively increase your hit pool