Notable Passives:

1. Steady Hand [8/8] - +8 Dexterity and +40 Health; A good way to start off the build. 
2. Guile [1/8] - 10 Dodge Rating and +5% Poison Resistance. If you're lacking Poison Resistance, you can invest more points here (you can take points of Thiefguard to do so). 
3. Evasion [5/5] - -25% Damage Taken While Moving and 25% Increased Dodge Rating. With this, our Marksman will be much more resilient while relocating. Also, we have some Dodge synergies which make this passive even better. 
4. Agility [5/5] - 25% chance to gain Haste for 1 second on hit and 1% Damage Increase for each 1% of Increased Movement Speed. Haste increases Movement Speed by 30%, so this Passive alone provides a 30% Damage increase for 1 second when it activates (at it can get even better - with it, Boots with +Movement Speed become a solid offensive power boost). 
5. Dodge and Parry [5/5] - +30 Dodge Rating and 15% Glancing Blow Chance (Glancing Blows deal 35% Less Damage). Dodge and Glancing Blow are solid defensive modifiers, especially when stacked, so we stack them as our primary defensive measures. 
6. Sapping Strikes [1/4] - +4 Health and +2 Mana when we use a Skill that costs 0 Mana and hit an enemy with it. This is taken to unlock Coated Blades. 
7. Thiefguard [4/8] - +24 Health and 16 Health gained each time we receive a Glancing Blow. With over 70% chance for a Glancing Blow, this is simply amazing. 
8. Coated Blades [8/8] - Melee and Bow Attacks that cost Mana drain 40 Additional Mana to deal 80% Increased Damage. This bonus is multiplicative.

This Skill Tree offers very simple and yet very powerful passive effects. The most interesting (and the most synergistic) one is, by far, offered by Thiefguard. With it, stacking "Chance for a Glancing Blow" becomes a higher priority. The other interesting passive from the Rogue Tree is Agility; with it, we are able to turn Increased Movement Speed into Damage which opens up some very interesting choices for passives, skills, and gear.  

Marksman Skill Tree (68 Points)

Notable Passives:

1. Focus Fire [8/8] - +8 Dexterity. When we Hit a Rare or Boss-type enemy, we deduce its Dodge Rating by 32% for 8 Seconds. This makes all subsequent attacks against Rares and Bosses more effective (as they are much less likely to be avoided). 
2. Assassin's Quiver [1/5] - +1 Physical Bow Damage and 8% Increased Crit Chance. This lets us get to Heightened Senses. 
3. Elemental Arrows [8/8] - While Moving, we get 1 Elemental Arrow per Second, for a maximum of 3. When we use a Bow Attack, we expend an Elemental Arrow to deal +24 Fire and +24 Lightning Damage. This build benefits from constant movement, and this passive incentivizes us to keep moving even more. 
4. Concentration [1/8] - This gives us the Concentration buff that increases Damage Dealt by 15%. When we get hit by an enemy within 4 meters (so more or less melee range), we lose Concentration for 4 seconds. This synergizes with Dodge as Dodge allows us to avoid being Hit. 
5. Storm Fletcher [1/8] - 7% Increased Elemental Damage and 7% Increased Elemental Arrow generation Rate. 
6. Prolonged Demise [1/10] - 1% Less Damage Over Time Taken and 7% Increased Damage Over Time While Wielding a Bow. This is a not mandatory offensively-focused passive for this build. You can either keep it at 1, skip it, or take points of Thiefguard/Guile to add more to it. 
7. Wound Maker [1/10] - +10% Critical Woulnerability Chance. This basically provides us with a 10% Chance to increase our Crit Chance against an Enemy by 5% and reduce its Crit Avoidance by 10%. 
8. Siege Quiver [3/3] - Maximum number of Elemental Arrows increased by 3 and +3% Elemental Resistance per Arrow. With this, we'll deal even more Damage after a downtime. 
9. Meditation [8/8] - +200 Dodge Rating and -40% to Cooldown of Concentration. 
10. Elemental Barrage [2/2] - Bow Attacks now consume up to 3 Elemental Arrows instead of 1. If our attack consumes 3 Elemental Arrows, our Shock and Ignite chance is increased by 200%. 
11. Reflection [5/5] - 20% Increased Dodge Rating and 10% Increased Movement Speed while Concentration is active. 
12. Heightened Senses [5/5] - +35% Critical Strike Avoidance and +25% Bow Crit Multiplier. This is an amazing all-around passive. 
13. Arrow Storm [1/6] - This gives us stacks of Arrow Storm, which increase our Attack Speed with a Bow. 
14. Thief's Quiver [10/10] - +80 Health and 5% Bow Damage Leeched as Health. This is top-tier survivability passive and a must-have for pretty much every Marksman build. 
15. Covering Fire [1/10] - Procing Arrowstorm now also gives us Silver Shroud stacks. Silver Shroud is a buff that gives us a 100% chance to dodge the next hit. Dodging with Silver Shroud active will consume all of its stacks and give us 100 Ward per stack (so, 100, as we will gain a max of 1 stack with 1/10 points). 
16. Ethereal Arrows [10/10] - 20% Increased Mana, 20% Increased Mana Regen, Bows deal increased Damage equal to a portion of their Mana Cost. with 10/10 Mana cost to increased damage conversion ratio is 500%. 
17. Master Archer [2/2] - +4 Multishor Arrows, +40% to Detonating Arrow Explosion Area, 40% increased Hail of Arrows Area. We're interested in the last part of this. 

Marksman Skill tree offers a great mix of defensive and offensive modifiers that allow us to create a universal ranged damage dealer. Thanks to Dodge synergies and Life Leech gained via Marksman Passives, we sort out our defensive needs and thus are able to choose more offensively-focused equipment. Thanks to Ethereal Arrows, Elemental Arrows (and their synergies), and Master Archer, we are able to take Hail of Arrows to a completely new level. 

Notable Passives:

1. Cloak of Shadows [8/8] - +8 Dexterity and +16% Chance to receive a Glancing Blow. 

If you have some spare points, you can spend them on Cloak of Shadows, from this Tree, to increase survivability and gain some additional Dexterity which will make your character better all-around. 

Hail of Arrows - This skill allows us to cover an area with a rain of arrows that deals consistent damage over a period of time. Added Bow Damage is applied at 300% effectiveness to this skill. The featured setup of HoA revolves around maximizing its duration and AoE to maximize efficiency. It also adds a chance to freeze enemies in place so they remain in its Area of Influence for longer and thus receive much more damage. To maximize HoA's effectiveness, you should try to lure all nearby enemies to its AoE. This Build's HoA combo is: Retrieve a Black Arrow from Dark Quiver ⇒ Use Smoke Bomb ⇒ Use Shift ⇒ Use Hail of Arrows once 3 Shadows are Created. 

1. Volley [4/4] - 100% increased Area of Effect. With this, Hail of Arrows covers a much larger portion of the screen. 
2. Focus [3/5] - +24% Damage, multiplicative with other modifiers. 
3. Pin Down [2/5] - 40% chance to Slow Enemies each second. This is a guaranteed slow (or chill, with Crystal Arrows), basically. Slowed enemies will stay in HoA's AoE for longer and thus receive more damage, so this is a must-have. 
4. Crystal Arrows [1/1] - Turns HoA's Damage Type to Cold, changes a chance to Slow into a chance to Chill, and adds 60 Freeze Rate. With this, Hail of Arrows will scale with bonuses to Cold Damage. 
5. Steady [4/4] - Hail of Arrows lasts 40% longer. 
6. Nowhere to Hide [5/5] - Hail of Arrows deals +20% more Bow Damage with each passing Second, up to a maximum bonus of +80%. This works very well with Crystal Arrows' chill/freeze chance. 
7. The Hunt [1/1] - 40% increased Hail of Arrows duration, but only one Hail of Arrows can be active at a time. 

Decoy - This Support Skill allows us to place a Decoy that will taunt enemies around it for a duration before exploding. With the featured setup, Decoy will last longer. Moreover, it will also debuff enemies and buff us. The last part is especially important, as Haste granted by Decoys synergizes with the Agility passive, providing us with a very healthy Damage increase! 

1. Embedded Spikes [4/5] - Decoy now also reflects 40% of damage received to attackers. 
2. Backup Buddy [1/1] - +1 maximum Decoy Charges. This ensures that we have a Decoy ready to be deployed more often. 
3. Lasting Presence [5/5] - This passive makes Decoys last 50% longer and deal 50% more damage with the Final Explosion, but it also increases the Cooldown by 50%. 
4. Into the Shadows [1/4] - +50 Dodge Rating while a Decoy is Active. This works well with Increased Duration and basically offers a constant bonus to Dodge Rating. 
5. Efficient Construction [3/3] - +90% mana Efficiency. This should help alleviate the build's mana-related problems a bit. 
6. Sonic Detonation [3/3] - Decoy now emits a Sonic Wave when it appears, inflicting Frailty and Armor Shred to all nearby enemies. Frailty causes enemies to deal 6% reduced damage per stack for 4 seconds. With 3/3, Decoys will apply up to 3 stacks of Armor Shred and 3 stacks of Frailty. 
7. Warning Sound [3/5] - Sonic Wave emitted by Decoys now also grants us Haste for 3 seconds. This is actually a powerful offensive synergy thanks to the Agility passive from the Rogue Tree (30% movement speed from Haste = 30% increased Damage for the duration). 

Shift - A movement Skill that allows us to Teleport a short fixed distance in the target direction. Thanks to the Shadowslip mod, Shift gives us invulnerability frames that increase our survivability. With the featured Setup, Shifting will also create a Shadow that will mimic some of our Skills (this part is very important as we want to have 3 Shadows to consume for a DPS boost from a Black Arrow). Moreover, thanks to Velocity, Head Trauma, and Baraskula's Hesitation, Shift also buffs the Damage of the first non-channeled offensive Skill used after Shifting. This is our damage support Skill; you should use it after Smoke Bomb, before using Hail of Arrows to maximize DPS. 

1. Velocity [4/4] - After using a Shift, our next damaging non-channeled Skill will deal 100% increased Damage. This works with Hail of Arrows as it is not a channeled skill. 
2. Momentum [3/3] - 50% increased movement speed for 1.5 seconds after using Shift. This is just a nice mobility (and damage - thanks to Agility) boost. 
3. Swift Recovery [3/4] - With this, Shifting will restore 12 Mana on Use (or 36 when used at below Half Health). 
4. Shadowslip [1/1] - This grants us invulnerability while Shifting. Being able to avoid all incoming Damage while retreating is simply amazing. 
5. Lasting Presence [1/1] - This makes us create a Shadow at the place we Shifted from. 
6. Head Trauma [5/5] - 75% Increased Damage and 150% Increased Stun Chance with the first damaging non-channeled skill used after Shifting. This offers a solid damage boost to our Hail of Arrows. 
7. Braskula's Hesitation [3/3] - 30% reduced Travel Distance with Shift, but the Damage of the first damaging non-channeled skill used after Shifting is increased by a further 150%. 

Smoke Bomb - Creates a Smoke Cloud at our feet to conceal ourselves from enemies. This is our main synergy skill. It creates Shadows each second (and we need 3 for our Hail of Arrows to deal its maximum possible Damage). It also increases our survivability by providing us with Silver Shroud and by reducing enemies' combat effectiveness. 

1. Lingering Fumes [5/5] - 50% increased Smoke Bomb Duration. This is important for our synergies. 
2. Smoke Blades [1/5] - This adds a stacking buff that takes effect when you remain in Smoke Bomb's AoE. 
3. Umbral Assault [4/4] - Gives Smoke Bomb a chance to create a Shadow each second at a random location inside the Smoke Cloud. With 4/4 this has a 100% chance to create a Shadow each second. With this, we are guaranteed to have 3 Shadows to consume after 2 seconds of casting Smoke Bomb (2 from Smoke Bomb itself and 1 from Shift). 
4. Thick Smoke [1/1] - With this, Smoke Bomb will also Slow enemies affected by it. 
5. Impending Gloom [1/4] - Increases Smoke Bomb's Radius and Growth Speed by 10%. 
6. Shrouded in Darkness [1/1] - This Grants us a stack of Dusk Shroud each second for 2 seconds while we remain in the Smoke Cloud. Dusk Shroud gives us +50 to Dodge Rating and a +5% Chance to Receive a Glancing Blow. 
7. Rapid Concealment [4/4] - Increases Dusk Shroud's application frequency by 100%. 
8. Generosity [1/5] - With this, Smoke Bomb will create a 20% bigger Smoke Cloud. This does not affect the final size of Smoke Cloud. 
9. Enfeeblement [1/4] - Initial Smoke Bomb burst now also applies Frailty to enemies, causing them to deal reduced damage. 
10. Moonlight Bomb [1/3] - With this, Smoke Bomb also grants us stacks of Silver Shroud. 

Dark Quiver - Summons 7 Black Arrows that rain from the sky over 4 seconds. Picking up Black Arrow grants 100% increased Damage for your next Bow Attack. Thanks to Archer's Focus and especially Umbral Resolution, this Skill offers a tremendous Damage increase to our Hail of Arrows. To maximize DPS, remember to retrieve a Black Arrow and create 3 Shadows before using HoA! 

1. Heavy Arrows [4/4] - Using a Black Arrow grants +20 Additional Physical Damage to our next attack. 
2. Archer's Focus [4/4] - Black Arrow grants even more Damage (+48%) to our next Bow Attack, but our next Bow Attack consumes 20 more Mana. 
3. Resolve [1/4] - This makes us gain 2 Mana when we pick up a Black Arrow. 
4. Umbral Resolution [4/4] - Using a Black Arrow now consumes all active SHadows to grant our next attack more Damage per Shadow consumed. Consuming at least 3 Shadows grants a significantly higher Damage Boost (+100%, multiplicative with other bonuses). This is the reason why we always want to generate 3 Shadows before using our Hail of Arrows. 
5. Mending [1/3] - Picking up Black Arrows now also restores 20 Health. 
6. Nightfall [5/5] - Picking up a Black Arrow also grants us a stack of Dusk Shroud for 4 seconds. Dusk Shroud increases our Dodge Rating and gives us a chance to receive a Glancing Blow. 

Stat priority:

This build's Damage mainly comes from its Skill Synergies. Because of this, we can mainly focus on increasing survivability when choosing our gear. Despite this, some offensive bonuses are still extremely important to have. These include Increased Damage over Time, Increased Bow Damage, Increased Hail of Arrows Duration, and Increased Hail of Arrows Damage. For defenses, we recommend Dodge Rating, Dexterity, Health, and Resistances. 

1. Increased Damage over Time 
2. Increased Bow Damage 
3. Increased Hail of Arrows Duration, and Increased Hail of Arrows Damage 
4. Dodge Rating 
5. Health and Health % 
6. Dexterity 
7. Resistances 

Recommended Unique Items: 

+(30-50) Bow Cold Damage  +(30-50) Spell Cold Damage  +(5-9)% Cold Penetration  (23-28)% Chance to cast Icicle on Bow Hit (Cast a shard of ice in the direction of your bow attack)  +(10-15) Attunement

Reign of Winter - This is an excellent Bow choice for the build as we're utilizing the Crystal Arrows mod for Hail of Arrows. It offers the highest possible boost to our DPS, which makes it hard to skip. We'd go as far as to say that this is a must-have if you're serious about the Hail of Arrows Marksman Build. 
 

+(11-15)% Endurance  (6-18)% increased Attack and Cast Speed  +(20-60)% Ward Retention  If damage leaves you below 30% health and doesn't kill you, you are restored to full health, you gain ward equal to the health restored, all nearby enemies are slowed, and you gain haste for (3-6) seconds. This effect has a 20-second cooldown

Aurora's Time Glass - Use this amulet if you want to be extra safe. It will reduce the chance of death to a minimum (which is nice in a build that revolves around Dodge, as Dodge is a bit RNG-based). Also, with Aurora's Time Glass you'll be able to play much more aggressively, which should appeal to you if you like speed-clearing.  

(2-4)% increased Health  (2-4)% of Overkill Damage Leeched as Health  (20-40)% increased Damage Leeched as Health  (20-40)% Increased Leech Rate  +100% Critical Strike Avoidance

Woven Flesh - For a build that deals high individual hits, this Unique Gladiator Armor is simply irreplaceable (when it comes to increasing survivability, that is). It not only takes the build's Health Leeching capabilities to a whole new level but also adds whopping +100% Critical Strike Avoidance! If you want to make sure that your character won't ever die, consider equipping this amazing piece of kit. 

(30-50)% Chance to receive a Glancing Blow when hit  +(30-50) Armor  (30-50)% increased Armor

Arrowguard - This defensively-oriented Quiver synergizes extremely well with the Thiefguard passive from Rogue Tree. If you're after boosting survivability out of proportion, it's an excellent choice. 

+(100-175) Dodge Rating  (5-10)% increased Movement Speed  +(30-50) Ward gained when you Dodge

Ward Trail - This Unique Belt synergizes very well with the build as both Dodge Rating and Movement Speed affect various selected modifiers. Its Movement Speed increase boosts our Damage, thanks to the Agility passive. Ward Gained on Dodge is also very nice as Silver Shroud guarantees that we dodge attacks very often. Overall, this is a solid all-around choice. 

+(100-300) Dodge Rating if you have been hit recently  (10-20)% increased Dodge Rating  +(3-5) Dexterity  (5-10)% increased Movement Speed  5% less Damage Taken While Moving

Lessons of the Metropolis - These well-rounded boots will not only boost our survivability but also increase our DPS by a bit (that Agility passive again). Less Damage Taken while Moving is especially nice, as we already have some of it from our passives. 

Gain a stack of Void Barrier every 5 seconds while above your endurance threshold  Void Barrier stacks up to 3 times. You take 5% less damage per stack (multiplicative with other modifiers)  Dropping below your endurance threshold doubles all stacks of Void Barrier for 3 seconds, allowing you to exceed the normal maximum. After that, all stacks of Void Barrier are converted to Mimic Feast.  Time Rot deals void damage over time for 3 seconds and increases the duration of stuns you receive  Each stack of Mimic Feast deals Void Damage over Time to you and disables Void Barrier generation and Health Leech  Mimic Hunger is an Ailment that lasts 15 seconds and can be cleansed by effects that cleanse negative ailments  (15-10)% less Void Damage Taken  (10-15)% of Physical Damage Taken as Void  +(60-100) Endurance Threshold

Ravenous Void - These amazing Unique Gloves give us Void Barrier, a stacking buff that reduces damage taken by 5% per stack (up to 3 stacks). Stacks are doubled when we are taken below our Endurance threshold, but it comes at a cost of receiving Void Damage over time for 15 seconds after the effect ends. Using these gloves on top of all other survivability-focused gear and modifiers might be considered overkill, but better safe than sorry. 

Idols:

Idols should be used to increase the offensive and defensive capabilities of the build (the former, mostly, as our gear is already defensively-focused). Stacking Large Shadow Idols with Increased Bow Damage and Increased Hail of Arrows Duration is generally the best option - you can fit up to 4 of these. The remaining slots can be filled with Stout Lagonian Idols with +Health/Health % and +Resistances, depending on your needs. 

Recommended Blessings:

• The Black Sun: Dodge Rating and Leech Rate are both solid options from this timeline. Increased Health can also be used in a pinch. 
• The Age of Winter: This timeline offers a range of solid defensive passives. You should choose one that will give you what you're lacking the most. In our case it's Physical Resistance. 
• Spirits of Fire: Dodge Rating, Fire Resistance, and Endurance are the only contestants in this timeline. We prefer Dodge Rating as it's the most synergistic. 
• Reign of Dragons: All Resistances or Critical Strike Avoidance are both solid options. Choose one of them, depending on your needs. 
• Ending the Storm: Not many useful things here, so either grab Lightning Resistance or Mana

END NOTE

This is the beta version of our Hail of Arrows Marksman build for Last Epoch. Our tests have shown that it's fully capable of clearing the hardest content Last Epoch has to offer. The only thing it lacks is... popularity, so don't hesitate to give it a try! Obviously, as the game gets new content updates, we will be updating this guide regularly, though it may be impossible to be done after each Patch.