[3.22] Snipe-Burning Arrow SSF Elementalist

Introduction

Ignite Elementalist of whatever flavour has been pretty popular for a few leagues now, for delivering a safe DoT playstyle while scaling with all damage. However, some of the stronger builds like EK Elementalist require a fair bit of specific gear that may be hard to come across in SSF.

This is where Snipe-Burning Arrow comes in to net you pretty good damage with decent to great clear. Ever since bows became capable of rolling 2H weapon mods, they can reach pretty nutty base damage numbers. Elementalist takes all this base weapon damage and applies it towards Ignite, while Snipe grants a massive 480% more multiplier to damage at full channel. It’s possible to hit 1m DPS even on a really crappy bow, and you should be doing much better by the time you hit maps.

If you luck out, or are playing this in trade, you can pivot to other stronger ignite builds once you make enough currency. Or you can keep pushing it as well.

The additions to Ignite in the Marauder area for patch 3.22 also now make it viable to play this build with Armour instead. It doesn’t change much offensively, but it does make the build somewhat tankier with far better mapping recovery, at the cost of needing to scrounge a lot of Dexterity.

Pros and Cons

Pros:
– Decent to great clear, depending on whether you can get Berek’s Respite
– Fast movement speed for an Elementalist
– Good single target
– Strong mapping recovery

Cons:
– Snipe playstyle
– Combustion/added damage from Burning Arrow may be occasionally inconsistent
– Requires Berek’s Respite for full clear potential, and forces a socket colour swap after you get it
– May require gem swaps for major bossing

Mapping showcase

This is how the build handles a T16 Elder map, including Purifier at the very end:

Actually doing 1.5m DPS this time

POB

Evasion version: https://pobb.in/mTak3b_J19pb

This is the PoB for the character as shown mapping above. It’s not a “completed” build in that I still have some wasted sockets, but even then it’s still doing very decently.

However, I consider the evasion version strictly inferior to the PoBbed armour version below in 3.22. The character won’t play any differently offensively, so you’ll still get what you see above; it’s just a matter of defences and recovery.

Armour version: https://pobb.in/dah3zcz-bz04

The POB above is on terrible gear and it still hits roughly 1m DPS, especially once Convergence uptime is considered (it isn’t activated in the PoB above). Simple upgrades like added damage on quivers, gloves, and rings, a Dyadian Dawn, and a better bow will more than easily push the damage to the 2m range or more for very cheap.

It’ll also be faster than the build shown above because of Frostblink AoE tech and Phase Run.

Ascendancy

The ascendancy of choice is naturally Elementalist. Shaper of Flames is the entire reason why the build works in the first place, allowing you to use all base damage on your bow to ignite regardless of element. Mastermind of Discord is valuable damage and mana sustain, while Heart of Destruction gives good AoE QoL for Frostblink and a big damage boost on tough rares and uniques when you need it. Because Ignites snapshot, your effective uptime on Convergence will be more than 50%, making it better than just a 15% more modifier, and superior to Shaper of Storms in that regard. Lastly, Bastion of Elements provides some much needed defence, especially if you intend to be doing significant physical damage taken as elemental via things like Lightning Coil.

Shaper of Storms is less value for two reasons: Pyroshock Clasp isn’t as good compared to Dyadian Dawn, and you can get shock when it matters out of Skitterbots anyway. Shock investment on the tree was also fairly heavily nerfed quite recently. You can drop Bastion of Elements for Shaper of Storms if you wish, for more damage, but you are trading off survivability, and the build isn’t really starving for damage.

Gem setups

Main damage 6L: Snipe – Burning Arrow – Deadly Ailments – Swift Affliction – Burning Damage – Elemental Damage with Attacks (Greater Multiple Projectiles/Ignite Proliferation)

This is a pretty standard setup for a DoT build. The only thing is that gem and socket colour switches will be needed as the build progresses.

You will need to get a socket colour switch after you get Berek’s Respite, as Ignite Proliferation is pretty much necessary before that but there’s no good blue support to use in the endgame setup. The good news is that Ignite Proliferation comes with a decent boost to Ignite damage so you’re not complaining about leaving it on for bosses even before Berek’s Respite. This shouldn’t be a major problem unless you are using corrupted body armour that happened to give you the right 6L colours, for example.

The more annoying switch, especially if you hate gem swapping, is one of the green supports (Deadly Ailments or Swift Affliction) for Greater Multiple Projectiles while mapping. I tried the original BA Elementalist in 3.14/3.15 and without the additional coverage from multiple projectiles, the build really lacks that instant, screen-clearing oomph. In any case, the damage for the build should be good enough that the swap is only needed for major bosses.

Reservations: Wrath, Determination, Vaal Arctic Armour/Summon Skitterbots

Wrath and Determination don’t need explanations. With the amount of reservation efficiency you get from the tree alone, you cannot fit in another 50% aura (i.e. Malevolence) and still have mana to spare for casting. You can then choose between Vaal Arctic Armour and Summon Skitterbots, depending on whether you prefer an offensive or defensive reservation.

My choice is Vaal Arctic Armour, as long as you are running my recommended Frostblink setup. You can still Frostblink while under the effects of Vaal Arctic Armour, so what you basically get is near invulnerability while still retaining mobility.

Manaforged Arrows: Manaforged Arrows – Frenzy – Lifetap – Combustion

This tech works because Manaforged Arrows triggers once you spend mana on other bow skills that exceed the mana cost of the supported attacks. Guess what, because of Lifetap, the mana cost of the support attacks is now 0, so you will basically trigger Manaforged Arrows if it’s off cooldown once you spend any mana on other bow skills at all. Guess GGG hasn’t learnt from the Lifetap – Divine Blessing interaction.

Unfortunately you need to actually spend mana to trigger Manaforged Arrows, which at least retains some stylistic sense. I’ve tested this and spending ES won’t work, so Eldritch Battery is not compatible with Manaforged Arrows builds. In any case, Elementalist generally has no issues with attack mana costs because of Mastermind of Discord, so theres’s no supreme urgency to use Eldritch Battery, and it was going to be awkward without access to a shield anyway.

Debuffs: Arcanist Brand – Flammability – Flame Surge – Wave of Conviction

This is a standard early-maps setup for Ignite builds, providing you exposure, cursing, and Burning Ground all in one neat package. You’ll automate away Flammability and exposure later on with curse on hit rings and implicits respectively, opening up space for other intersting supports, but if you don’t Delve, curse on hit rings won’t be easy to come by early.

If you don’t use the freed-up sockets elsewhere, Culling Strike is a pretty decent support to fit in.

Defences: CWDT – Vaal Molten Shell – Enduring Cry – Infernal Cry

As an armour build, you have access to the CWDT – Vaal Molten Shell trick. It’s true that Vaal Molten Shell isn’t as good as it used to be, but it’s still the best guard skill for a tanky armour character that doesn’t have guaranteed Endurance Charge generation.

This build runs both Enduring Cry and Infernal Cry – the former for regen and endurance charge generation, and the latter for damage. If you can get the Covered in Ash debuff elsewhere (e.g. via the new Settling Ash, whether on the tree or as an anoint), you can dispense with Infernal Cry and pick up Call to Arms to make Enduring Cry instant. After all, you’re in the area.

(Sotto voce, I don’t think Settling Ash is that good if taken with passive points for a 4-pointer if you cannot move for 2 seconds. The wording is also different from the usual “if stationary” wording that Snipe + Frostblink could abuse, so I don’t know if teleports count. More testing is needed.)

Movement: Frostblink – Increased Area of Effect – Phase Run

After finding out the interaction between Frostblink and Increased AoE when testing the failed FR Traps build, I’m now etermined to use it wherever I can. With Elementalist also getting a huge AoE increase via Heart of Destruction, it seems a great place to use this new tech.

Phase Run is there to give you a boost to movement speed by consuming frenzy charges that you will generate as you map. Since you’ll automatically generate frenzy charges once you start channelling, spending them to get around the map faster seems like a pretty good deal to me.

Items

This section won’t be a detailed breakdown of every possibility, just some good options to take note of.

Weapons

Your BIS bow would be one with T1 tri-elemental flat rolls, attack speed, and two DoT multi rolls on the suffixes. The even more BIS bow would be using the Heist Solarine Bow basetype, which gets you even more added flat damage, at the cost of having lower attack speed than the Thicket Bow basetype. However, I would recommend you try out the effect of the Solarine Bow on your gameplay before committing to crafting a BIS Solarine Bow. One advantage of Snipe’s high attack speed multiplier combined with a Thicket Bow is that you can get a Burning Arrow to trigger just by tapping RMB; a slower attack may make this clunkier as you have to hold RMB just a bit longer before your Burning Arrow will trigger.

Until then, your bow of choice should be the Thicket Bow, as it has the highest attack speed of all the bows. Do not, however, get a 6L with The Porcupine divination card – you need the best flat damage rolls on the bow that you can get, and you lose access to the higher tiers if you are stuck with the ilvl 50 bow that The Porcupine gives you. You do not craft this bow the same way you do +3 gem bows for Toxic Rain or Caustic Arrow, even though it’s also for a DoT build.

As for the quiver, you want life, flat added damage, and DoT multiplier. The drawback with the armour version of this build is that you don’t path anywhere near Pierce on the tree, so you have to get it from gear. You want the Penetrating Arrow Quiver basetype, and you wouldn’t mind extra pierce from Hunter quivers.

Armour

With the build’s better than average elemental defences (78/77/77), Lightning Coil is even safer to use.

If you can, do Rituals early to try and snag the Blizzard Crown basetype. The added cold damage is massive, especially early on, while the drawback and opportunity cost is insignificant. You don’t really get good eldritch implicits on the helm slot other than Eater mana reservation efficiency (which you can get on jewels nowadays anyway), and you don’t care about enemy cold resistance either.

Here’s another neat trick I learned: while Blizzard Crown is an Evasion/ES basetype, it will count towards the “+1% to all max res” armour mastery if you craft flat armour on to it. Blizzard Crown will also give you a casual amount of ES to act as a buffer to your life, which will be recharged with Divine Shield.

Jewellery

The two big items to get here are Dyadian Dawn and Berek’s Respite. The former is a massive boost to damage, while the latter makes Ignite one of the best screen-clearers in the game. With the character in the video above, I was doing and full-clearing Abysses, Breaches, and Legions with ease.

Jewels

Nothing in particular that I can remember offhand to mention for jewels here – flat damage, life, or FDoT multi would always be nice.

Flasks

Apart from the usual combo of 2x defensive flasks, Gold and Silver flasks would be great to run in this build. You need the attack speed, and with the amount of clear you’re doing, you could get a lot of mileage out of a Gold flask.

Atziri’s Promise is a decent unique flask to run, and this build is also a great Atziri farmer, so you can very conceivably get yourself one in SSF.

Levelling

Because of the dexterity requirements involved, and because Witch doesn’t get Snipe in A4, you can’t actually run the build without a lucky drop until A6. That however gives you time to pick up the necessary dexterity notables and amulets, get to Resolute Technique obviating accuracy as a problem, and to find decent Thicket Bows, Penetrating Arrow Quivers, and a 4L to make your switch smooth. You need a 4L because you need Snipe, Burning Arrow, Ignite Proliferation, and a spare socket for either GMP or Deadly Ailments.

Until then, you can level a Witch however you want – Rolling Magma + Holy Flame Totem + Flame Wall does great damage early, and Wave of Conviction and Armageddon Brand are both good Ignite carriers from A3 onwards.

Atlas Progression

This build excels at Breach and Legion. Very few other builds do those mechanics as well on such a budget. That being said, your first order of business is to build your base for farming Berek’s Respite, or else Breach and Legion would be much less profitable. Reference can be had to sirgog’s Divination farming strategy, assuming Berek’s Respite’s Divination Card is reasonably farmable next league.

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