SSF Bow Druid

[Wulf]

Very nice guide Wulf, and beautiful. One addition that might help bow dudus on their journey into late game is instruction on upgrading

Void-Touched

Void-Touched
Maple Bow (Sacred)
(Druid Only)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 3000
Item Level: 120
Innate Fire Damage: (62.0% of Dexterity)
+5% Innate Elemental Damage per Character Level above 137
15% Chance to cast level 1 Corrupted Vines on Death Blow
Adds 250-350 Fire Damage
-20% to Enemy Fire Resistance
Physical Resist 10%
50% Magic Find
Requirements +400%
Hunter Only Upgrade:
Must have at least 3000 Dexterity
Survive the Edge of Nothingness battle for 11 minutes
Transmute in the Horadric Cube to Upgrade
Socketed (6)

. I know this is SSF but because this bow is mentioned, I think some guidance here is critical.

► Show Spoiler

Getting to the fight requires the Pulsating Worldstone Crystal: cube the Pulsating Worldstone Shard (rare drop from Hell Baal) until it stops changing, then combine in cube with Assur's Bane, Ring of Virtue, Ghost Trance, Glorious Book of Median, and Neutrality Pact. Cubing PWC with a Taha Rune and Greater Signet of Learning gets you 1 ticket to Sam.

Surviving Samael for 11 minutes requires 90% max cold and light res (you might get away with only 85% cold as only worms do cold damage), 20K+ life, high %PR and a good source of sustain. Socket On runes in weapon and Perfect Onyxes/Perfect Ambers in armors to 90% res, the rest can be On runes or %dex sockets to reach 3000.

Something sadly not mentioned anywhere in-game or in docs is that the poison skill Harvest regenerates more life the more hard points you put into it-- ~20% life per second at high levels, which is enormously helpful here and with the Witch uber in particular. Spam this skill anytime you take damage to get back up to full HP quick.

The easiest (albeit cheeky) strategy in this fight is to stand over in whichever corner is furthest from Samael and wait. About every 30 seconds a glowing red glyph will appear on the ground near you, which gives you immunity to the blast damage that goes off 3 or so seconds later. Stand in the glyph until the blast goes off and then return to your safe space. Watch out for bone spears, and death strikes that appear at your feet. Samael will eventually notice you and teleport onto you and cast his flame circle nuke-- teleport away and sprint out of the circle to an opposite corner to continue skillfully standing in place. Playing keepaway drastically limits the number of cold worms Samael summons and makes for a relatively serene, yet butthole-clenching 11 minutes. Helpful items:

Witchhunter's Hood

Witchhunter's Hood
Cap (Sacred)
Defense: (2136 - 2611) to (2161 - 2642)
Required Level: 90
Required Strength: 250
Item Level: 1
+(80 to 120)% Enhanced Defense
10% to Strength
10% to Dexterity
Maximum Elemental Resists +2%
Elemental Resists +(31 to 40)%
Physical Resist 5%
(16 to 20)% Bonus to Defense
Requirements -50%
Socketed (4)

Witchhunter's Attire
(Assassin Claw Set)

,

Lincos

Lincos
Druid Staves
'RhalTaha'
Runeword Level: 100
+(9 to 11) to Druid Skill Levels
-40% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
+(45 to 48) to Arcane Torrent
(41 to 50)% to Energy
Regenerate Mana +(31 to 50)%
Maximum Elemental Resists +2%
Fire Resist +40%
+(25 to 50) Mana after each Kill

,

Chillstring

Chillstring
Hunter's Bow (Sacred)
Two-Hand Damage: (140 - 168) to (147 - 177)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 425
Item Level: 105
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Gematria
(Bonus per Socketed Great/Elemental Runes)
Adds 10-15 Damage
-10% to Enemy Cold Resist
Adds 100-200 Cold Damage
7% Chance to cast level 45 Ice Lance on Striking
+(150 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
Maximum Lightning Resist +(1 to 2)%
Maximum Cold Resist +(1 to 2)%
+(1 to 4) Life on Striking
Cannot Be Frozen
5% Reanimate as: Random Monster
Socketed (6)

,

Stormpick

Stormpick
Flail (Sacred)
One-Hand Damage: (108 - 122) to (129 - 145)
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 486
Item Level: 120
Strength Damage Bonus: (0.11 per Strength)%
+1% Lightning Spell Damage per 2% Gold Find
25% Cast Speed
+50% Damage to Undead
Adds 375-625 Lightning Damage
+(131 to 160)% Enhanced Damage
Maximum Lightning Resist +(2 to 4)%
Physical Resist (6 to 15)%
+100 Life after each Kill
Socketed (6)

,

Shield of Hakan II

Shield of Hakan II
Gothic Shield (Sacred)
Defense: (6995 - 7994) to (9190 - 10428)
Chance to Block: 1% + Class%
Required Level: 100
Required Strength: 600
Required Dexterity: 619
Item Level: 105
1% Base Block Chance
-25% Cast Speed
-50% to Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by 25%
+(150 to 200)% Enhanced Defense
+(2000 to 3000) Defense
Maximum Life +(3 to 5)%
Maximum Elemental Resists +(0 to 2)%
Physical Resist 5%
Socketed (4)

,

Eye of the Storm

Eye of the Storm
Mystic Orb

Right-Click to Apply
1% Chance to cast level 50 Supernova on Melee Attack
+5% to Lightning Spell Damage
+12 to Energy
+10 Required Level

(SSU),

Henchmen Trophies

Henchmen Trophies
(Legendary Set)

Bilefroth Skin
Blackskull's Horns
Doomcloud Spine
Stareye's Claws
Fangskin Scales

Set Bonus with 2 or more set items:
+2 to All Skills
15% to All Attributes

Set Bonus with 3 or more set items:
-25% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
Elemental Resists +25%

Set Bonus with 4 or more set items:
5% Deadly Strike
Physical Resist 10%

Set Bonus with complete set:
1% Base Block Chance
50% Movement Speed
+35% to Spell Damage
+1500 Defense
Elemental Resists +30%
+150 Life after each Kill

glove and belt (very rare)

Note: you must be a Druid and have 3000 dex to upgrade the bow, but you don't have to be wearing it during the fight. It can sit in your cube.

This is a very nice block of text. Well written, clear, and SSF friendly

2 questions:

• Who wrote it? I'll ask the author if I can put it in the guide (and also mention who wrote it)
• the poison skill Harvest regenerates more life the more hard points you put into it-- ~20% life per second at high level
  What do you mean exactly by that? Hard points into Harvest (not Harvesters) give passive hp% regen, like symbiosis, or you have to cast the spell? I'm confused.

Lacuni Cowl was not bad in lab, but it requires umos to outperform other choices so you may be right in ssf play.

Yeah with UMOs then Lacuni would be very strong. I dislike suggesting items that only get strong paired with UMOs because guides, I think, are meant solely to help new players. It's a hard thing for a new player to make a lot of TG to afford a bunch of UMOs at 25-60 TG each.

I prefer teaching players to make do and clear hard content with budget gear.

All that said, I haven't delved into labs yet so I know little on the matter. But I don't think fire build would be ideal in labs because it'd be hard to get 90max res, high dex, -170efr and 260 stacked resists. It sounds easier to do on a physical build where pierce isn't needed and where you can have 20% avoid from elvensong (fire build is more skill point starved than phys).

[mortimer_85]

...
What do you mean exactly by that? Hard points into Harvest (not Harvesters) give passive hp% regen, like symbiosis, or you have to cast the spell? I'm confused ...

You have to cast Harvest to trigger the healing and it heals at the given rate (5% + (baselvl-1)/2) % for one second after the cast.
Since you only really need max light and cold res and even can go Bear Morph you can use super cheap gear. The modifier % max HP is big on Druid - especially on Bear and with Bear Morph you only need 120 cast rate for 6 frames.
You can even use TUs (

Topspin

Topspin
Skull Cap (4)
Defense: (76 - 83) to (115 - 125)
Required Level: 3
Required Strength: 28
Item Level: 1
5% Attack Speed
+(31 to 50)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 50) Defense
(3 to 5)% to Dexterity
(3 to 5)% to Energy
Maximum Elemental Resists +1%
10% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (1)
Defense: (277 - 301) to (365 - 397)
Required Level: 20
Required Strength: 55
Item Level: 31
15% Attack Speed
+(61 to 80)% Enhanced Defense
+(71 to 100) Defense
(6 to 8)% to Dexterity
(6 to 8)% to Energy
Maximum Elemental Resists +1%
20% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (3)
Defense: (704 - 760) to (876 - 943)
Required Level: 37
Required Strength: 192
Item Level: 51
25% Attack Speed
+(91 to 110)% Enhanced Defense
+(151 to 200) Defense
(9 to 11)% to Dexterity
(9 to 11)% to Energy
Maximum Elemental Resists +2%
30% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (4)
Defense: (1182 - 1258) to (1471 - 1564)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 384
Item Level: 77
30% Attack Speed
+(121 to 140)% Enhanced Defense
+(301 to 400) Defense
(12 to 14)% to Dexterity
(12 to 14)% to Energy
Maximum Elemental Resists +2%
40% Bonus to Defense
Socketed (4)

,

Dubhdroiacht

,

Robe of Leaves

Robe of Leaves
Scale Mail (4)
Defense: (127 - 147) to (254 - 293)
Required Level: 4
Required Strength: 27 to 28
Item Level: 10
+5% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(2 to 3)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(2 to 3)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(2 to 3)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(24 to 43)% Enhanced Defense
+10 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(2 to 3)%
Poison Resist +(21 to 25)%
Requirements -(3 to 5)%
Socketed (2)
Defense: (452 - 505) to (816 - 911)
Required Level: 21
Required Strength: 52 to 54
Item Level: 31
+10% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(5 to 8)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(5 to 8)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(5 to 8)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(64 to 83)% Enhanced Defense
+20 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(3 to 4)%
Poison Resist +(31 to 35)%
Requirements -(6 to 10)%
Socketed (4)
Defense: (1166 - 1275) to (2031 - 2221)
Required Level: 39
Required Strength: 171 to 179
Item Level: 51
+15% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(10 to 13)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(10 to 13)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(10 to 13)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(104 to 123)% Enhanced Defense
+35 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(4 to 5)%
Poison Resist +(41 to 45)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (5)
Defense: (1738 - 1885) to (3030 - 3287)
Required Level: 47
Required Strength: 322 to 338
Item Level: 77
+20% Bonus Elemental Damage to Mark of the Wild
-(15 to 18)% to Enemy Fire Resistance
-(15 to 18)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
-(15 to 18)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
+(124 to 143)% Enhanced Defense
+50 Life Regenerated per Second
Maximum Life +(5 to 6)%
Poison Resist +(46 to 50)%
Requirements -(16 to 20)%
Socketed (6)

) and crafts + 4 On Runes in Weapon + Pambers + Ponyxes in Armor slots. to get over 30k HP super easy. 35 cast rate from charms + 20 from crafted Gloves + 30 from MOs on Weapon + 20 from rare Amulet (any Lottoed Amu would open up socket space for ONs or Ix Runes) and 30 from

Aerin Orbiter

Aerin Orbiter
Belt (4)
Defense: (88 - 96) to (121 - 132)
Required Level: 5
Required Strength: 28
Item Level: 10
5% Cast Speed
+(4 to 5)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(4 to 5)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(4 to 5)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(18 to 29)% Enhanced Defense
+(11 to 15) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(3 to 5)%
Elemental/Magic Damage Reduced by (3 to 5)
Socketed (1)
Defense: (310 - 334) to (389 - 419)
Required Level: 22
Required Strength: 56
Item Level: 31
15% Cast Speed
+(8 to 9)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(8 to 9)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(8 to 9)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(41 to 52)% Enhanced Defense
+(21 to 25) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(9 to 11)%
Elemental/Magic Damage Reduced by (9 to 11)
Socketed (2)
Defense: (754 - 805) to (938 - 1001)
Required Level: 40
Required Strength: 201
Item Level: 51
25% Cast Speed
+(12 to 13)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(12 to 13)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(12 to 13)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(64 to 75)% Enhanced Defense
+(31 to 35) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(15 to 17)%
Elemental/Magic Damage Reduced by (15 to 17)
Socketed (2)
Defense: (1104 - 1173) to (1358 - 1443)
Required Level: 48
Required Strength: 402
Item Level: 77
30% Cast Speed
+(14 to 15)% to Fire Spell Damage
+(14 to 15)% to Lightning Spell Damage
+(14 to 15)% to Cold Spell Damage
+(75 to 86)% Enhanced Defense
+(36 to 40) to Energy
Elemental Resists +(18 to 20)%
Elemental/Magic Damage Reduced by (18 to 20)
Socketed (2)

easily gets you to 120 cast rate.

...
Something sadly not mentioned anywhere in-game or in docs is that the poison skill Harvest regenerates more life the more hard points you put into it-- ~20% life per second at high levels, which is enormously helpful here and with the Witch uber in particular. Spam this skill anytime you take damage to get back up to full HP quick.
...

It was written in patch Notes but they forgot to put it under Synergies in skill description.

[aguni]

^Ohh, I must have missed that. Nice tips with the bear morph and cast speed too. @wulf I wrote that spoiler text, feel free to use or modify it as you please.

[Memory]

hello. What kind of mercenary do you use and what kind of equipment does he have?

[Scalewinged]

"4) Nature's Vigil (Set Light Belt): Amazing piece if you already have the belt (set 2piece: 20efr and 50aa)."
Light belt?.. What?.

"Hopefully you have found your sacred Quilted Armor/Maple Bow/Druid Helm by now: Turn them magic with a blue oil→ turn rare with Charsi imbue quest"
Charsi umbuet only white items, not magic.

PS: Respec advice for Witch is also very useful for Yshari boss, it's both incredibly easy in bear morph (paired with max Harvest as pointed above).

[Wulf]

hello. What kind of mercenary do you use and what kind of equipment does he have?

I like the A1 priestess because she heals everyone by hp% (caps at 15k but she recasts it a lot). I just gave her pr and max res gear.

Webspinner

Webspinner
Short War Bow (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (10 - 12) to (26 - 32)
Required Level: 8
Required Dexterity: 73 to 77
Item Level: 19
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
5% Chance to cast level 5 Arachnomancy on Kill
3% Chance to cast level 4 Miasma on Striking
+(11 to 15) to Maximum Damage
+(18 to 35)% Enhanced Damage
+(2 to 3)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (6 to 10)%
Maximum Life +(2 to 3)%
Requirements -(11 to 15)%
Socketed (2)
Two-Hand Damage: (33 - 37) to (61 - 75)
Required Level: 28
Required Dexterity: 95 to 100
Item Level: 40
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
6% Chance to cast level 10 Arachnomancy on Kill
4% Chance to cast level 10 Miasma on Striking
+(16 to 25) to Maximum Damage
+(52 to 69)% Enhanced Damage
+(5 to 6)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (11 to 15)%
Maximum Life +(3 to 4)%
Requirements -(21 to 25)%
Socketed (4)
Two-Hand Damage: (76 - 83) to (135 - 153)
Required Level: 47
Required Dexterity: 161 to 171
Item Level: 59
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
7% Chance to cast level 14 Arachnomancy on Kill
5% Chance to cast level 16 Miasma on Striking
+(31 to 40) to Maximum Damage
+(87 to 103)% Enhanced Damage
+(8 to 9)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (21 to 25)%
Maximum Life +(4 to 5)%
Requirements -(31 to 35)%
Socketed (5)
Two-Hand Damage: (102 - 110) to (179 - 199)
Required Level: 54
Required Dexterity: 294 to 313
Item Level: 85
Dexterity Damage Bonus: (0.13 per Dexterity)%
Miasma Haunt Duration Increased by 2 seconds
8% Chance to cast level 18 Arachnomancy on Kill
6% Chance to cast level 19 Miasma on Striking
+(41 to 50) to Maximum Damage
+(104 to 120)% Enhanced Damage
+(9 to 10)% to Poison Spell Damage
Slows Attacker by (31 to 35)%
Maximum Life +(5 to 6)%
Requirements -(36 to 40)%
Socketed (6)

is amazing too. bowzon

Pantheon

Pantheon
(Amazon Bow Set)

Earth
Fire
Frost
Water

Set Bonus with 2 or more set items:
50% Attack Speed
Elemental Resists +50%

Set Bonus with 3 or more set items:
Weapon Physical Damage +60%
+150 to Life

Set Bonus with complete set:
3% Chance to cast level 40 Trinity Nova on Kill
5% Chance to cast level 11 Time Strike on Striking
Adds 63-125 Damage
-45% to Enemy Elemental Resistances
Weapon Physical Damage +60%
+200 to Dexterity

set is also decent.

I'd just make sure to give her 15pr (she has innate 35 at lvl 140), capped atk speed (use speed calc), slow target at 25%, and as much max resist and dex as possible. the dmg is not relevant, you just want her to reduce dmg sent your way.

i recommend taking a look at Cube's amazing merc guide here, he goes into much more depths: viewtopic.php?f=40&t=58753

"4) Nature's Vigil (Set Light Belt): Amazing piece if you already have the belt (set 2piece: 20efr and 50aa)."
Light belt?.. What?.

"Hopefully you have found your sacred Quilted Armor/Maple Bow/Druid Helm by now: Turn them magic with a blue oil→ turn rare with Charsi imbue quest"
Charsi umbuet only white items, not magic.

PS: Respec advice for Witch is also very useful for Yshari boss, it's both incredibly easy in bear morph (paired with max Harvest as pointed above).

Set (or green-colored) Light Belt is the piece for nature belt. what confuses you? :O
1) my bad i just saw what you meant. edited main post, ty and good catch!

2) ty for charsi rectification

3) agreed, i think they're close enough together in the progression list to change the progression order to benefit from that respec as well.

ty for your 2cents.

[budda]

Good build and good alternative for nerfed bow amazon. After this guide and testing it myself at least i start understand what is "innate elemental dmg" and what is doing. No aoe autoaim skills but dmg really good and not hard to do it.

[hung9a91]

Excellent guide you've got there! I haven't really tested the phys variant, so can you tell me if the damage output changes drastically upon switching from Fire to Phys?

[Wulf]

Excellent guide you've got there! I haven't really tested the phys variant, so can you tell me if the damage output changes drastically upon switching from Fire to Phys?

Well it's tricky to only compare the dmg between fire and phys. fire sheet dmg is display-bugged with spell dmg, and phys dmg doesnt have pierce (its multiplier is ds instead). so in a way, in both cases, you cant just look at your sheet numbers to figure out whats best. but with mid-game gear, i did test dmg output against some bosses/mobs.

to give you specifics:

dunc mob fire: 2-3 arrows to kill
dunc mob phys: 6-7 arrows to kill

kabraxis fire: 45 seconds to kill
kabraxis phys: 60 seconds to kill

I would say its pretty drastic for regular mobbing, but not as much for bossing. but in both cases, fire dmg output was better. this test was done with basic midgame gear.

this tendency will change in the very lategame when you start slapping more and more xis-runewords into your phys build. its hard to get more dmg as fire build once you reach capped efr. think of fire has "reaches high dmg fast", and phys as "takes slower to build dmg, but achieves higher".

[notforkeeps]

Wulf have you thought thru a Labs setup for gear yet?