Burning Arrow of Vigour
Blood Magic Elementalist Build

Updated for Patch 3.23

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The Burning Arrow of Vigour is a very simple Attack - it adds Fire Damage based on 25% of your Maximum Life. To improve the build, get more Maximum Life and mix it with Burning Damage modifiers to deal more Damage with Ignite. As of 3.23, the best way to do it is by specializing in the Warlock's Crimson Power and acquiring multiple Jewels, improved with The Adorned Unique one. You will benefit from Energy Shield mods on your armour pieces, which come naturally in much higher quantities than Maximum Life which is also found there. The build should reach close to 20k of Maximum Life so that adds 5k of flat Fire Damage to your Burning Arrow. This unprecedented amount will be employed to reach the Damage over Time DPS cap - around 35mil. The Snipe Skill lets you Channel the Bow Skill linked to it, which takes a few seconds, but results in a much more powerful Attack. With each stage, you gain 82% more Damage with Ailments. Snipe can gain up to 8 stages with its Quality improved by Ashes of the Stars Amulet. It's a powerful Skill, but used pretty much only in Ignite Builds like this one, as Ignite cannot be stacked. The Ignite will last around 5 seconds, so you will have enough time to fully charge your next shot.

The Elementalist seems like the best candidate, as it is for most Ignite builds. Allocate Shaper of Flames for 100% Ignite Chance and more Ignite Damage, Mastermind of Discord for a much better Exposure, Heart of Destruction for more Elemental Damage, and Shaper of Storms to Shock your enemy and cause it to take increased Damage. The single-target Damage is high, but for clearing maps, you will use another setup with Burning Arrow of Vigour, Ignite Proliferation, and more Projectiles. This build has great durability on account of its vast Life Pool and high Life Recovery, provided by the Dissolution of the Flesh and Eternal Youth. It can get overwhelmed against a large number of especially tanky enemies, like in the late stages of Delirium.

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

1. Gameplay

You have one Burning Arrow of Vigour for bosses, one that's linked to Sinpe, and another one for everything else. The only other Skill you will have to use occasionally, besides your Movement Skills, is the Arcanist Brand which applies Curses and casts Flame Surge. The Infernal Cry is cast instantly thanks to Call to Arms and you can set it up as your movement key. Steelskin is triggered after taking damage. Your only Aura is Malevolence.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

See our Witch Leveling Guide using Ignite. Switch to this build after you're around level 90, you need a fully developed Passive Skill Tree to make this build any good.

Bandits:

We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

123 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link
 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Shaper of Flames
2. Mastermind of Discord
3. Heart of Destruction
4. Shaper of Storms

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 Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Burning Arrow of Vigour setup
	Snipe - Linked Bow Skill is a Channelling Attack that deals more Burning Damage for each Stage. 20% of added Quality increases Maximum Stages by one.
	Burning Arrow of Vigour - A Bow Attack with added Fire Damage equal to 25% of your Maximum Life. It deals more Damage with Ignite.
	Burning Damage Support - Grants you more Burning Damage.
	Deadly Ailments Support - Grants more Damage with Ailments such as Ignite, but lowers Hit Damage.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - More Elemental Damage results in more Burning Damage.
	Swift Affliction Support - Lowers the Ignite Duration, but grants much more Damage over Time. You can replace it with  Combustion if the Duration is too low for your liking.

[UTILITY] Burning Arrow of Vigour setup
	Burning Arrow of Vigour - This setup is used for clearing packs of enemies.
	Deadly Ailments Support
	Burning Damage Support
	Combustion Support - Ignited enemies have less Fire Resistance, and the Skill deals more Fire Damage.
	Ignite Proliferation Support - More Damage with Ignite, and Ignite Proliferation for a vastly improved clear speed.
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - Additional Projectiles are used to slay more enemies faster.

[UTILITY] Curse setup
	Flammability - Lowers Fire Resistance of your enemies.
	Elemental Weakness - Lowers all types of Elemental Resistances.
	Flame Surge - Creates a Burning Ground whose damage is based on the Ignite affecting the enemy. That's a 25% DPS increase on top of all your Ignite damage, but only against stationary enemies.
	Arcanist Brand - All linked Spells are triggered automatically, in sequence.

[UTILITY] various gems
	Frostblink - A simple blink Spell to travel faster.
	Blink Arrow - Additional Movement Spell for better mobility or to dodge attacks.
	Infernal Cry - Covers enemies in Ash so that they take increased Damage, and detonates them on kill. Set it up as your movement key.
	Enhance Support - Quality increases the Cooldown Recovery Rate for all linked Skills.

[UTILITY] Malevolence setup
	Malevolence - Your only Aura, it increases Skill Effect Duration and grants more Damage over Time.
	Eternal Blessing Support - Linked Aura Reserves no Mana or Life, but you cannot use other Reservation Skill that Reserve Mana. We don't plan to do that anyway as this build has no Mana.

[UTILITY] Steelskin setup
	Steelskin - A Guard Spell that reduces incoming Damage and stops Bleeding.
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - Steelskin Triggers on its own after taking a certain amount of Damage.

5. Gear Setup

Cap your Elemental Resistances and stack as much Maximum Life as you can afford. With Crimson Power allocated you shall also seek Energy Shield on your Armour Items, but not Jewelry. Look for Intelligence-oriented gear pieces with Prefixes for Energy Shield and one for Maximum Life. For Suffixes - Resistances. That's the drill for almost all of your Items. The Quiver is extremely important - its modifiers will be increased by up to 250% due to the Widowhail Bow. Other Unique items that are worth assembling are Ashes of the Stars and Dyadian Dawn. Jewels are extremely important - we have decided to use The Adorned with a multitude of Magic Jewels with increased Maximum Life and Burning Damage on them. The Adorned setups which require a lot of Cluster and Magic Jewels are known for being expensive but it is simply the best way to increase your performance.

If you are looking for cheap PoE Currency, we would love to invite you to visit our PoE Market section that can be accessed via the menu bar on top of the page.

The recommended items from our list will:

1. Help you cap your Elemental Resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - Seek Energy Shield, Maximum Life, and Resistances. For the Eldritch mods get increased Effect of Flammability Curse and a portion of Physical Damage taken as Fire.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life 250 Energy Shield 70% Total Resistances Optional affixes: more Resistances

(Weapon) Widowhail - Rare Bows are not as good as this Unique one, all the necessary modifiers are present on Quivers in high quantities.

(150-250)% increased bonuses gained from Equipped Quiver

(Off-hand) Rare Quiver - You will need Maximum Life with increased Damage with Bows for Prefixes, and Damage over Time Multiplier for Attacks with Burning Damage Multiplier with Attacks for Suffixes. The last one is a Hunter's Suffix.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life 40% increased Elemental Damage with Bow Skills +20% to Damage over Time Multiplier with Attack Skills Optional affixes: +#% to Fire Damage over Time Multiplier with Attack Skills (Huner's Suffix) Resistances

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Maximum Energy Shield and Resistances are the most important. You don't want any Life modifiers to benefit from a Life Mastery, which makes the item more affordable. The faster start of Energy Shield Recharge is very good with Eternal Youth.

Min. requirements: 600 Energy Shield 70% Total Resistances Optional affixes: faster start of Energy Shield Recharge more Resistances

(Amulet) Ashes of the Stars - Ashes increases the Quality of Snipe and Burning Arrow for more DPS, but all the other Gems have also their own utility virtues.

+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems

Recommended Anointments: Whispers of Doom

(Ring) Rare Ring - Maximum Life and Resistances are what you should aim for. You may craft the increased Elemental Damage with the Attack Skills mod, or Flammability/Elemental Weakness on Hit.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life 80% Total Resistances Optional affixes: +#% to Damage over Time Multiplier increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills (crafted) Attributes Curse on Hit

(Boots) Rare Boots - Maximum Life, Energy Shield, Movement Speed, and Resistances for Suffixes will be sufficient. For the Eldritch mods, get the one that makes your Ignite deal Damage faster, and some Resistance or Movement Speed.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life 100 Energy Shield 70% Total Resistances 25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Attributes more Resistances

(Belt) Dyadian Dawn - It causes your Ignited to deal Damage faster and by a lot, so it's hard to find a better Belt. It's tons of Life and Resistances - all you need.

+(25-35) to Strength +(70-85) to maximum Life +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance 1% of Attack Damage Leeched as Life against Chilled Enemies Ignites you inflict with Attacks deal Damage 35% faster Deal no Physical Damage

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Again, look for Energy Shield, Maximum Life, and Resistances here. For the Eldritch mods, seek Fire Exposure on Hit, and Ignite Proliferation. These two are very important.

Min. requirements: +80 to maximum Life 100 Energy Shield 70% Total Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes more Resistances

(Jewel) Magic Jewels - With The Adorned on, you will need only Magic, Corrupted Jewels with a Prefix for increased Life and a Suffix for increased Burning Damage. These have to be Corrupted. Their Implicits will be improved too - look for increased Damage or reduced effect/duration of Ailments on you. Abyss Jewels may roll the Prefixes for Ignite and Poison Avoidance - these are good with Dissolution of the Flesh. One such Prefix with The Adorned could make it 100%.

Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Life increased Burning Damage chance to Avoid being Ignited (Abyss Jewels only) chance to Avoid being Poisoned (Abyss Jewels only)

(Jewel) Dissolution of the Flesh - Use it for up to 30% more Maximum Life. You will rely mostly on Life Recharge from the Eternal Youth to recover Life, so it's important to avoid all types of Damage Over Time, these are very deadly with this Jewel. Maps with degen Ground can be off-limits.

Removes all Energy Shield Life that would be lost by taking Damage is instead Reserved until you take no Damage to Life for 2 seconds (20-30)% more Maximum Life

(Jewel) The Adorned - An expensive Jewel that improves all your other Magic Corrupted Jewels. Look for high rolls here.

(50-150)% increased Effect of Jewel Socket Passive Skills containing Corrupted Magic Jewels Corrupted

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Fire Damage Large Cluster Jewel lets you put on more regular Jewels. The best Cluster Jewels have no notables, but only a lot of small passives with Maximum Life, Fire Damage, and increased Effect.

Recommended affixes: Aded Small Passive Skills also grant: +(8–10) to Maximum Life Added Small Passive Skills have 35% increased Effect Added Small Passive Skills also grant: any Resistance Added Small Passive Skills also grant: any Attribute

(Flask) Cinderswallow Urn - It can be used to gain Life on Kill, which is not as great as in a build without Dissolution of the Flesh, but still nice in some situations. The more important is the 10% increased Damage Taken by enemies you've Ignited during the Flask's Effect.

+90 to Maximum Charges Recharges 5 Charges when you Consume an Ignited corpse (175-200)% increased Charges per use Enemies Ignited by you during Effect take (7-10)% increased Damage Veiled Suffix <One of the three modifiers>

Suggested Rare Flasks: Granite Flask with increased Armour Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed Silver Flask with increased Attack Speed Life Flask with Bleed Immunity

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.

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