Lightning Arrow
Deadeye Build

Updated for Patch 3.24

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Lightning Arrow is one of the most popular skills among Deadeye characters. It can be played as a starter build and it's also SSF-viable. It's on the softcore side of the survivability spectrum, but it makes up for the low defense with one of the highest damage in the game. Lightning Arrow is an extremely basic Bow Attack - it fires an Arrow, that upon landing strikes the enemy with lightning damage that also hits adjacent targets. Enemies Shocked by this attack will take much more damage, and despite the damage conversion to Lightning, the main type of Damage dealt by Lightning Arrow is going to be Cold, Lightning, and Fire Damage sourced from a Bow and Mana-reserving Skills. A portion of Physical and Lightning Damage can be converted to Cold with some added Cold Damage from various sources, but it won't be necessary once you obtain a good weapon. Once your character is set up you can even start converting it into a magic find character. Lightning Arrow Deadeye is the most popular archetype for a MF build due to its damage and speed.

The build is Life-based with a lot of Evasion Rating and Spell Suppression Chance. The Health pool looks really poor, around 4k of Maximum Life, and even when taken into account the other defenses, it can be safely assumed that it is a glass cannon build. The best way to survive is to kill anything that pops on the screen instantly. Using Bow often allows you to have two six-linked setups. The one with Ballistas will be used for single targets, and the other for fast clearing. Deadeye ascendancy specializes in Bow Attacks so it's an easy choice, It is recommended to take Far Shot and Endless Munition. Far Shot is great with Returning Projectiles Support Gem, it will massively increase your damage. Other Ascendancy Keystones worth considering are Gathering Winds and Focal Point. There are no Uniques that are necessary, but a lot of them are immensely helpful, some of which can be somewhat expensive.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

It's a simple bow build, you shoot enemies with Lightning Arrow while trying to stay at a safe distance. Use one setup for clearing, and the other one with ballista totems for single targets. The build is so flexible that you could even swap Lightning Arrow for Ice Shot on your single target setup, but the main difference will be in Support Gems such as Barrage Support for focused fire. Sniper's Mark Curse will be applied automatically. Herald of Ice, Anger, and Precision will increase your damage. Grace will increase your Evasion Rating. As a movement Skill use Dash or Flame Dash. Immortal Call combined with Cast when Damage Taken is a good choice for a Guard Spell, but you can also set up Steelskin as your movement key. Additionally, use Blood Rage for more Attack Speed, Life Leech, and to gain Frenzy Charges. If you can generate Rage, use Berserk.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Use our Ranger Leveling Guide for PoE - Classic Bow version. It's an in-depth guide to level a build that deals any Elemental Hit Damage with Bows.

Bandits:

KIlling all three Bandits for two Passive Skill Points is the best option, but you can also Help Alira for more Mana Regen, Crit Multiplier, and Elemental Resistances

Leveling Skill Trees:

35 Points Skill Tree
Allocate Finesse, Heart of Oak, Ballistics, Primal Spirit, Aspect of the Eagle, and Winter Spirit. Then, go for the large Bow Cluster

69 Points Skill Tree
Get more Maximum Life, Accuracy, Projectile, Cold, Bow Damage, and Point Blank Keystone if you prefer it over Far Shot.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

113 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels nor Intuitive Leap)
121 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Gathering Winds
2. Far Shot
3. Endless Munitions
4. Focal Point

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Lightning Arrow setup
	Lightning Arrow - Lightning Arrow is an Attack that you can use with Bow to strike opponents. It hits enemies near the Target and has a chance to Shock. We recommend the Vaal version as it boosts your damage during boss fights.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - It simply increases your Elemental Damage with Attacks, you won't deal any Chaos or Physical Damage so it's the best choice here.
	Inspiration Support - Reduces Mana Cost of the linked skills, it also increases Critical Strike Chance and Elemental Damage making it one of the most useful Support Gems.
	Mirage Archer Support - After attacking you have a Mirage Archer following you. He uses the same setup, be it with lower damage and attack speed.
	Trinity Support - If you can consistently deal a lot of Elemental Damage of at least two different types, it creates Resonances, which in turn grants you more Elemental Damage.
	Returning Projectiles Support - Projectiles Return to you after being fired, but the damage of the returning ones is much lower. It's still good as it allows you to hit twice with each arrow. In some cases, it can be replaced with  Increased Critical Damage Support, if your Crit Chance is 100% or if you use Nimis for example.

[DPS] Artillery Ballsita setup
	Artillery Ballista - It's a Ballista Totem that uses your Bow to fire Arrows at the enemies. We recommend using this one, it's better than Shrapnel or Siege Ballistas. Set them up in the boss's room.
	Focused Ballista Support - Ballistas fire at the same rate as your character does, so much faster.
	Elemental Focus Support - More Elemental Damage, and inability to cause Elemental Ailments. You can still apply these with Lightning Arrow.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
	Inspiration Support
	Added Cold Damage Support - Adds Cold Damage to Attacks for more DPS. Alternatively, use  Increased Critical Damage if your Crit chance is high enough.

[UTILITY] Sniper's Mark setup
	Mark on Hit Support - Applies Sniper's Mark on Hit against Rare and Unique enemies.
	Sniper's Mark - A Curse that increases the damage enemies take from Projectiles, recovers your Life Flask Charges, and Projectiles that hit cursed enemies Split to hit four additional targets.

[UTILITY] Mana Reservation setup
	Anger - Anger simply Adds Fire Damage to your Attacks.
	Herald of Ice - Grants you more Cold Damage and Shatters Frozen enemies on kill. Replace it with Precision in this spot if it reserves more Mana.
	Enlighten Support - lowers the cost of linked Mana-reserving skills.
	Grace - Grace adds and increases Evasion Rating, which makes your character more likely to avoid Attacks.

[UTILITY] Precision
	Precision - Use it to increase your Critical Strike Chance and for additional Accuracy Rating. It might not be possible to level it up all the way to level 20 due to Mana issues. You can also obtain it from Hyrri's Truth.

[UTILITY] Blood Rage, Steelskin, and Dash setup
	Blood Rage - a temporary buff that increases your Attack Speed, grants you Life Leech, and a chance to gain Frenzy Charge upon killing opponents, however, it makes you take Physical DoT.
	Dash - Use Dash to quickly maneuver around obstacles and dangerous enemies. You can of course use other dash-like skills. You may not need it at all.
	Steelskin - Prevents a portion of incoming damage and stops bleeding. You can use it as your movement key, but it's optional.

[UTILITY] Manaforged Frenzy
	Frenzy - Grants you a Frenzy Charge on Hit, which is great, but you can still generate them via Blood Rage, Mark Mastery, and Way of the Poacher Forbidden Jewels combo.
	Power Charge on Critical Support - Frenzy has a chance of granting you a Power Charge on Critical Strike, which grants increased Crit Chance.
	Manaforged Arrow Support - Frenzy will be fired automatically after spending a certain amount of Mana.

[UTILITY] Berserk
	Berserk - If you can generate Range, by using for example Kaom's Spirit, include Berserk in your build and activate it during boss fights to enhance your performance for a short while.

5. Gear Setup

Although you can use only Rare Gear, it is not recommended. Unique Items listed here will significantly elevate your damage and survivability. The general principle to follow when gearing is really simple because it's a painfully generic Elemental-Attack-Crit build. Cap your Elemental Resistances, get as much Maximum Life as possible, and increase your damage by looking for mods such as Fire/Lightning/Elemental/Cold/Projectile Damage with Bows/Attacks and increased Critical Strike Chance/Multiplier. This version of the build uses Far Shot and Returning Projectiles. With the huge amount of unique items, the hardest part of gearing up might be to cap your Resistances and to get the necessary 80 Strength (155 for Steelskin or Berserk) and around 100 Intelligence.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS, Life, and ES to start mapping

(Helmet) Asenath's Mark - This allows you to trigger the socketed Spells every 0.3 seconds each time you attack, making it a great candidate for skills that would be impractical to cast constantly. You can put here Hydrosphere, Tornado, Lightning Warp, and other such Spells.

Trigger a Socketed Spell when you Attack with a Bow (10-15)% increased Attack Speed (10-15)% increased Cast Speed +(100-120) to maximum Energy Shield (30-40)% increased Stun and Block Recovery 30% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 5% increased Movement Speed

(Helmet) Starkonja's Head - This is a budget option. It's very likely better than a Rare Helmet due to the bonuses to Maximum Life, Evasion, Crit Chance, and Attack Speed. Replace it later with Voll's Vision or Asenath's Mark.

+(50-70) to Dexterity 50% reduced Damage when on Low Life 10% increased Attack Speed 25% increased Global Critical Strike Chance (100-130)% increased Evasion Rating +(80-100) to maximum Life 150% increased Global Evasion Rating when on Low Life

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - As of 3.24 it's the best option. You can find here a lot of Life, Resistances, and even Accuracy if it's needed. Craft the Prefix to take some of the Physical Damage as Fire. For Eldritch mods, find one that reduces Mana Cost of Attacks and one for increased Mana Reservation Efficiency, or to take even more Physical Damage as Elemental.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life #% of Physical Damage taken as Fire Damage (crafted) 40% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Intelligence Strength increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills

(Weapon) Rare Bow - Your best option is a rare bow. Seek mainly added Cold, Fire, and Lightning Damage. Include a bonus to Attack Speed as well. Critical Strike modifiers are immensely good too.

Min. requirements: 8% Base Critical Strike Chance 800+ Elemental DPS  Optional affixes: Bow Attacks fire 2 additional Arrows Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Damage Penetrates #% Elemental Resistances Chance to deal Double Damage increased Attack Speed Critical Strike Multiplier

(Quiver) Voidfletcher - Budget Quiver. It adds a lot of Cold Damage to Attacks, some mana on kill, and a decent amount of Cold Resistance and Projectile Speed. The Void Shots are a nice addition to your DPS as well.

Arrows Pierce an additional Target Consumes a Void Charge to Trigger Level 20 Void Shot when you fire Arrows with a Non-Triggered Skill Adds (30-40) to (80-100) Cold Damage to Attacks +(80-120) to maximum Energy Shield +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance +(20-40) Mana gained on Kill 30% increased Projectile Speed 5 Maximum Void Charges Gain a Void Charge every 0.5 seconds

(Quiver) Rare Quiver - We recommend a Rare Quiver with Maximum Life, extra Arrow, and added Fire, Cold, or Lightning Damage to Attacks. There are a lot of other defensive and offensive modifiers to look for.

Min. requirements: +50 to maximum Life Adds Elemental Damage to Attacks Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Accuracy Rating increased Attack Speed increased Damage with Bow Skills increased Projectile Speed

(Body Armour) Hyrri's Ire - It may be the best option for Body Armour. It grants you no Life, so that you can allocate a proper Life Mastery for 15% increased Maximum Life. It is a huge bonus to your Evasion Rating and Spell Suppression Chance. On top of that, the flat Cold Damage it provides is really high.

+(40-50) to Dexterity (140-220)% increased Evasion Rating 25% increased Chill Duration on Enemies (105-145) to (160-200) Added Cold Damage with Bow Attacks +30% chance to Suppress Spell Damage

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - If you decide to equip a Rare Armour, it's probably because of the potentially huge Maximum Life increase and Hunter's or Eldritch implicit mods - additional Curse, increased base Critical Strike Chance, or increased effect of Auras are all great additions. Non-influenced Armour should have Eldritch mods to increase the effect of your Auras.

Min. requirements: 90 Maximum Life 40% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Spell Suppression Chance Chaos Resistance increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills #% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Fire and Lightning Damage (crafted)

(Boots) Rare Boots - Maximum Life, a decent Movement Speed bonus, and Elemental Resistances are all that's necessary. You can additionally craft some Intelligence and Strength if you have an open Suffix slot.

Min. requirements: 70 Maximum Life 25% Increased Movement Speed 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistances chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike Intelligence/Strenght (crafted)

Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances are the most important here. Gripped Gloves are the best base for this build - they increase your Projectile damage. You can craft some Attributes as Suffixes. For Eldtritch mods get Rage on Hit and Spell Suppresssion.

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attack Speed Accuracy Increased Damage with Hits against Chilled enemies Adds # to # Cold Damage Intelligence/Strenght (crafted)

(Belt) Rare Belt - Look for a Stygian Vise with high defensive stats. At least 100 Maximum Life and 100% Total Elemental Resistances. Hunter's influence can grant you even more Maximum Life.

Min. requirements: 100 Maximum Life 100% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: #% increased maximum Life increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Strength and Intelligence (crafted) increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies

(Amulet) Yoke of Suffering - If you're using The Taming unique Ring, this is the Amulet you probably should consider - you can stack three types of Elemental Ailments. it grants you a lot of Elemental Resistances, but no Maximum Life.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(10-20)% to Fire Resistance +(10-20)% to Cold Resistance +(20-40)% to Lightning Resistance 30% reduced Duration of Ailments on Enemies (5-10)% chance to Shock Enemies take (5-10)% increased Damage for each type of Ailment you have inflicted on them Your Elemental Damage can Shock

(Amulet) Hyrri's Truth - Another great Amulet. It's particularly good if you lack Reservation Efficiency, Accuracy, or Crit Chance, as it provides you with a powerful Precision Skill. The Dexterity Bonus is also welcome, this Amulet has a lot of it.

+(20-30) to Dexterity Grants Level 30 Precision Skill +(40-80) to Dexterity +(25-50)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Bow Attacks have Culling Strike Precision has 100% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency

Recommended Anointments: Throatseeker Assassination Marked for Death Sovereignty

(Ring) The Taming - The ring that grants you a lot of Elemental Resistances,  Elemental Damage, and a chance to Freeze, Shock, and Ignite, making it one of the best choices for builds such as this one.

+(8-10)% to all Elemental Resistances 20% increased Damage with Hits and Ailments per Freeze, Shock or Ignite on Enemy +(20-30)% to all Elemental Resistances 30% increased Elemental Damage 10% chance to Freeze, Shock and Ignite 30% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Ring) Mark of the Elder - it's yet another unique item that adds a lot of Cold Damage to Attacks. It has a chance to trigger Tentacle Whip on Kill, increases your Maximum Life, and if you have your other Ring Shaper-Influenced - it increases your Attack Damage by 80% or makes you immune to Stuns if it's Elder-Influenced (unique items can be influenced too).

Adds (3-4) to (10-14) Physical Damage to Attacks 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Tentacle Whip on Kill Adds (26-32) to (42-48) Cold Damage to Attacks (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Attack Damage if your other Ring is a Shaper Item Cannot be Stunned by Attacks if your other Ring is an Elder Item

(Ring) Nimis - It makes hitting a particular target more difficult, but the Returning Projectiles are great, especially as your Arrows cover much of the screen anyway.

+(20-30)% to Lightning Resistance +(30-50) to Dexterity (25-35)% increased Projectile Damage Projectiles Return to you Projectiles are fired in random directions

(Ring) Rare Ring - Rare Ring is a great option too, especially when you're using Mark of the Elder. You can then easily have a Shaper Ring with some mods unique to this influence. Rare Rings can provide you with the most Life and additional Attributes.

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life 50% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance Adds # to # Cold Damage to Spells and Attacks increased Cold Damage increased Attack Speed Intelligence and Strength

(Jewel) Abyss Jewels - You can put one Searching Eye Jewel in your Stygian Vise if you're using it. Look for Maximum Life and some offensive mods if you stumble upon those.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Optional affixes: chance to gain Phasing on Kill Critical Strike Multiplier Accuracy added Cold Damage with Bow Attacks added Attack/Elemental/Cold Damage

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Maximum Life increased by 6 or 7% is a really valuable mod to have on your jewel. Other useful affixes, mostly Critical Strike-related ones, can be found most commonly on Viridian Jewels.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Optional affixes: Critical Strike Multiplier Elemental Resistances increased Attack/Elemental/Cold Damage Strength or Intelligence

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - There are a lot of possible upgrades here. Bow Cluster or Elemental Cluster would be the best ones. Seek passives like Martial Prowess, Fuel the Fight, Feed the Fury, Arcing Shot, Prismatic Heart, Sadist, or Disorienting Display.

Recommended Notables: 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess 1 Added Passive Skill is Fuel the Fight 1 Added Passive Skill is Feed the Fury 1 Added Passive Skill is Arcing Shot 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Sadist 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - An expensive, but one of the best Jewel that there is. You should aim for mods that correspond to the Auras you're using. These are Anger, Precision, and Grace.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura modifiers: +(20-30)% to Critical Strike Multiplier while affected by Precision (10-15)% increased Attack Speed while affected by Precision (40-60)% increased Attack Damage while affected by Precision

(Jewel) Lethal Pride - It can easily get you tons of Strength, which is needed one way or another. Socket it in a place surrounded by a lot of allocated passives. It may upgrade Notables in range in various ways.

Commanded leadership over (10000-18000) warriors under (Akoya-Kaom-Rakiata) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Karui Historic

(Flask) Bottled Faith - An expensive Sulphur Flask that you can use for more damage, it's especially good on Crit builds.

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (20-40)% increased Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Flask effect

(Flask) Dying Sun - Dying Sun can be used for additional Projectiles. It is extremely good if you lack clear speed or take too much fire damage.

+50% to Fire Resistance 20% less Fire Damage taken (125-150)% increased Charges used (40-60)% reduced Duration (10-20)% increased Area of Effect during Flask Effect Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles during Flask Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Life Flask with bleed immunity Silver Flask with increased Attack Speed Jade or Quartz Flask with increased Evasion Rating Diamond Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.