Lightning Arrow
Deadeye Build

Updated for Patch 3.17

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Lightning Arrow is a recently buffed, popular skill among Deadeye characters, it can be played as a starter build and it's also SSF-viable. It's rather on a 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 struck the enemy with lightning damage that also hit 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 Damage. A portion of Physical and Lightning Damage will be converted to Cold with some added Cold Damage from various sources. The use of a Hydrosphere will increase damage by drenching enemies - hitting it will also deal damage to nearby enemies so it's good to have one constantly moving.

The build is Life-based with a lot of Evasion Rating and Chance to Dodge Spells and Attacks. The Health pool looks really poor, even when taken into account the other defenses, it can be safely assumed that it is a glass cannon build, and 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. One 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 Richochet and Endless Munition. Richochet combined with Hydrosphere allows your Arrow to bounce an additional time. Other Ascendancy Keystones worth considering are Far Shot, 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 (unless you have Point Blank). Use one setup for clearing, and the other 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. Asenath's Chant is a Unique Helmet that casts socketed Spells when you Attack with a Bow - it is commonly used to cast Curses, Wave of Conviction, or Hydrosphere. If you don't have it, cast Hydrosphere manually. Herald of Ice, Hatred, and Precision will increase and convert your damage to Cold. For Curse use Sniper's Mark and as a movement Skill use Dash or Flame Dash. Immortal Call combined with Cast when Damage Taken is a great choice for a Guard Spell. Additionally, use Blood Rage for more Attack Speed, Life Leech, and to gain Frenzy Charges.

This video was recorded on a level 94 Deadeye on Standard League. We decided to keep the defenses at a more respectable level with at least 3,000 Life as most of the Expedition build it as complete glass cannon with approx 2,500 Life, however, that should be for you to decide how you want to keep the balance between offense and defense

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Before level 12 you can use any Bow Attack, after that Lightning Arrow will be granted upon entering the Caverns in act 1. As you will notice, you will deal mostly Lightning Damage for now. Conversion to Cold Damage is taking place after you get some of the recommended Unique Items which add Cold Damage to Attacks, for example, Void Fletcher, Mark of the Elder, The Pandemonius, Hyrri's Ire, or Hyrri's Demise. You could keep your Lightning Damage for the endgame, but it's just not recommended. Before you're able to equip such items, use mostly rares that add Physical or Elemental Damage to your Attacks, also Additional Arrows are the best mods to look for on your Bow.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Lightning Arrow setup
	Lightning Arrow - Lightning Arrow can be used from the start, it's an attack that fires Projectiles and converts half your Physical Damage to Lightning
	Mirage Archer Support - creates a Mirage Archer that repeats your attacks increasing your overall damage
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds more Lightning Damage to your Attacks
	Inspiration Support - lowers the Mana Cost of your Skills, grants you increased Critical Strike Chance and Elemental Damage

Dash, Hydrosphere, and Curse setup
	Dash - Dash is the main mobility skill used in this build
	Hydrosphere - after the first Lab is completed take Ricochet and combine it with Hydrosphere for a great damage boost
	Sniper's Mark - cursed enemies take more damage from Projectile Hits and projectiles will additionally split upon hitting them

Blood Rage, Auras, and Heralds setup
	Herald of Thunder - before you convert most of your damage to Cold use this Herald for more damage and AoE
	Wrath - an Aura that adds Lightning Damage to your Attacks
	Precision - increases your Critical Strike Chance and Accuracy Rating
	Blood Rage - with Blood Rage active, your Attack Speed is Higher, you gain Life Leech and Frenzy Charges

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, Winter Spirit then go for the large Bow Cluster

67 Points Skill Tree
Get more Maximum Life, Projectile, Cold, Bow Damage, and Point Blank Keystone,

Recommended leveling items:

Goldrim - a Helmet with a lot of Elemental Resistances that is commonly used for leveling

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Tabula Rasa - Tabula is one of the best items for leveling, it has six white sockets, all linked

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

Quill Rain - It's cheap and available early in the game, it grants a lot of damage, Attack Speed, Mana sustain, and Accuracy Rating

+(10-20) to Dexterity 100% increased Physical Damage 100% increased Attack Speed +2 Mana gained for each Enemy hit by Attacks (50-100)% increased Projectile Speed +(25-50) to Accuracy Rating 30% less Damage

Death's Harp - a huge bonus to Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier, it grants more Attack Speed, Physical Damage, and an additional Arrow

(30-50)% increased Critical Strike Chance (100-125)% increased Physical Damage 10% increased Attack Speed +50% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Bow Attacks fire an additional Arrow

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Ricochet
2. Endless Munitions
3. Gathering Winds
4. Focal Point

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Ryslatha Life Flasks gain 3 Charges every 3 seconds if you haven't used a Life Flask Recently

5. Final Gems links

[Single-Target DPS] Lightning Arrow setup
	Lightning Arrow - Lightning Arrow is an Attack that you can use with Bow to strike opponents with Lightning Damage that's converted from your Physical Damage. It hit enemies near the Target and has a chance to Shock. You can later convert Lightning Damage to Cold Damage due to Cold Damage being after the Lightning and Physical Damage in the line of Damage Conversion Flow.
	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
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds flat and increased Cold Damage to your Lightning Arrow
	Barrage Support - instead of spread fire, your projectiles now fires in a sequence, one after the other making it perfect for killing one enemy
	Cold Penetration Support - since your damage is mostly Cold, the best choice to increase your damage even further is Cold Penetration Support

[AoE DPS] Lightning Arrow setup
	Lightning Arrow - in this setup this Attack is designed to cover as much of the area as possible to quickly kill small enemies spread across the screen
	Fork Support - Projectiles will Fork after hitting an enemy or Hydrosphere, splitting into two Projectiles, if you can Pierce an enemy, it will first Pierce, then Fork. Each time the forked Projectile hits something, it once again hits nearby enemies with lightning bolts.
	Mirage Archer Support - after you hit an enemy, an apparition will be summoned, and while attached to you it will repeat your Attacks with lower Attack Speed and Damage
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support
	Inspiration Support
	Added Cold Damage Support

[UTILITY] Hydrosphere, Sniper's Mark, and Creeping Frost setup (preferably socketed in Asenath's Chant Unique Helmet)
	Hydrosphere - You can summon and control the placement of this sphere of water, it's a Spell that deals Physical Damage that is converted to Cold or Lightning. You can hit it like it's an enemy and make it pulse lowering Elemental Resistance by Applying Cold and Lightning Exposure.
	Bonechill Support - increases the effectiveness of Chill you create with linked Skills, it works really well with Creeping Frost
	Sniper's Mark - a Curse that increases the damage enemies take from Projectiles, recovers your Life Flask Charges, and Projectiles that hits cursed enemies Split to hit four additional targets
	Creeping Frost - a spell that fires a projectile that then creates Chilled Ground after it hits an enemy, it then spreads further covering more and more area. If you don't have Asenath's Chant yet, replace this Support Gem with  Hextouch Support.

[UTILITY] Mana Reservation setup
	Hatred - converts a quarter of your Physical Damage to Cold Damage and increases your Cold Damage from all sources
	Herald of Ice - Grants you more Cold Damage and makes Shattering enemies explode dealing damage around them. You can Shatter an enemy by Freezing and Killing it.
	Enlighten Support - lowers the cost of linked Mana-reserving skills
	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.

[UTILITY] Blood Rage, Immortal Call, 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 the obstacles and dangerous enemies
	Cast when Damage Taken - keep it at level 1 so it will trigger as often as possible, the only skill that has to be linked with it is Immortal Call, but if that's your preference, Blood Rage can also be automatically activated
	Immortal Call - Level 3 is the highest to have it triggered by level 1 CwDT. It reduces Physical and Elemental Damage you take for a short time.

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 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 Physical/Elemental/Cold/Projectile Damage with Bows/AoE/Attacks and increased Critical Strike Chance/Multiplier. This version of the build uses Point Blank and Chin Sol for a close-distance style of combat. 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 Strenght and 155 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 Chant - 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. Hydrosphere and Sniper's Mark are the best options.

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 enchantments: Lightning Arrow enchantments

(Weapon) Chin Sol - The best choice for a Bow when using Point Blank Keystone, which this build does. It increases your Damage, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Chance, and Knocksbacks enemies with even more damage that happens to be in your melee range.

+(15-25)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier +(10-20) to Dexterity (200-260)% increased Physical Damage Adds 25 to 50 Fire Damage (10-14)% increased Attack Speed 50% More Damage with Arrow Hits at Close Range Bow Knockback at Close Range

(Weapon) Rare Bow - if you prefer to kill enemies while keeping a safe distance, your best option is a rare bow. If you decide to do so, adjust your Passive Skill Tree - take Long Shot instead of Adjacent Animosity, dislocate Point Blank and take Far Shot on your Ascendancy Skill Tree instead of Focal Point. Death's Opus is a bow with stats similar to what you're looking for so you might as well just take it.

Min. requirements: Bow Attack fire 2 additional Arrows Adds 80 to 150 Cold Damage 100% increased Physical Damage Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Attack Speed increased Critical Strike Chance Attack with this Weapon Penetrate #% Elemental Resistances

(Quiver) Voidfletcher - One of the best Quivers, 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) Hyrri's Demise - If you have a lot of Dexterity it can easily outmatch any other Quiver in terms of added Cold Damage, but besides that and some minor stats it doesn't add much.

+(3-4) Life gained for each Enemy hit by your Attacks +(15-30) to all Attributes (7-10)% increased Attack Speed +(2-3) Life gained for each Enemy hit by your Attacks 10% increased Area of Effect Adds 1 to 2 Cold Damage to Attacks per 10 Dexterity Adds 1 to 2 Fire Damage to Attacks per 10 Strength Adds 0 to 3 Lightning Damage to Attacks per 10 Intelligence

(Body Armour) Hyrri's Ire - By far the best option for a Body Armour, it grants you no Life but a huge bonus to your Evasion Rating and Chance to Dodge instead. 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 Adds (105-145) to (160-200) Cold Damage to Bow Attacks 10% chance to Dodge Attack Hits 10% chance to Dodge Spell Hits

(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 mods - additional Curse and increased base Critical Strike Chance

Min. requirements: 70 Maximum Life 30% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attacks Have +#% to Critical Strike Chance you can apply an additional Curse chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Hit

(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 Strenght 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. As with boots, you can craft some Attributes.

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attack Speed 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 Strength and Intelligence (crafted) increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies

(Amulet) The Pandemonius - The Amulet that grants you a lot of Cold Damage and Cold Penetration, in addition, it Blinds Chilled Enemies on Hit.

+(20-30) to Dexterity (20-30)% increased Cold Damage +(35-40)% to Cold Resistance Chill Enemy for 1 second when Hit, reducing their Action Speed by 30% Blind Chilled Enemies on Hit Damage Penetrates 20% Cold Resistance 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% increased Damage for each type of Ailment you have inflicted on them Your Elemental Damage can Shock

Recommended Anointments: Vengeant Cascade Heart of Ice Throatseeker| Divine Fervour

(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 build 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) 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. If you're using Rare Armour that allows you to cast additional Curse on the enemy, you can look for Redeemer's Frostbite Curse on Hit. 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 Curse Enemies with Frostbite on Hit 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 added Cold Damage with Bow Attacks added Attack/Elemental/Cold Damage

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Maximum Life increased by 7% is really valuable mod to increase your Maximum Life, other useful affixes can be found most commonly on Viridian Jewel.

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

(Jewel) Intuitive Leap - After putting it next to Fervour it allows you to allocate Survivalist, Hearseeker, Acuity, and Herbalism. It's really expensive and you shouldn't strive for it unless your build is already almost finished.

Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree

(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.

(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 Adds (58-70) to (88-104) Cold Damage while affected by Hatred Damage Penetrates (10-15)% Cold Resistance while affected by Hatred

(Jewel) Mantra of Flames - It adds Fire Damage to your Attacks per Buff on you, it includes the Gale Force buffs, Tailwind, Herald, and Auras resulting in a noticeable damage increase

Adds (3-5) to (8-12) Fire Attack Damage per Buff on you Adds (2-3) to (5-8) Fire Spell Damage per Buff on you

(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) Cinderswallow Urn - one of the best Onslaught-granting Flasks, and if you're using The Taming unique Ring, you'll deal even more damage

Onslaught +90 to Maximum Charges Recharges 5 Charges when you Consume an Ignited corpse (175-200)% increased Charges used Enemies Ignited by you during Flask Effect take (7-10)% increased Damage Recover (1-3)% of Life when you Kill an Enemy during Flask Effect

(Flask) Dying Sun - use it for more AoE and additional Projectiles, these stats are extremely good and it'd be foolish not to take this Flask.

+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: Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline (increased Movement Speed) Bubbling Life Flask of Heat (immunity to Chill and Freeze for 1 second if used while afflicted)

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.