Path of Exile Top 7 Bow Builds
1. Tornado Shot Deadeye (Ranger)
The best bow build on the list goes to the Tornado Shot Deadeye which has amazing damage potential.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 9/10
Build Guide
Tornado Shot is the highest rated bow build in the game even after the nerf in 3.24 and really starts to shine with high end equipment. More arrows fired increases both your damage to groups of enemies and your single target damage. The guide listed below is provided as a mid level gear guide which is also great for seasonal play. If you are interested in trying out the Tornado Shot Deadeye build you can find a guide for Tornado Shot Deadeye here Tornado Shot Deadeye Guide.
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2. Elemental Hit Of The Spectrum Deadeye (Ranger)
The Elemental Hit Of The Spectrum Deadeye is now second place with the removal of the Raider ascendancy.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 8/10
Build Guide
The Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye is a strong build that's competitive with Tornado Shot for first place in our rankings. Elemental Hit of the Spectrum gives increased damage for each elemental ailment present on an enemy and it's possible to stack up to six elemental ailments with Secrets of Suffering which is explained in the guide below. If you are interested in trying out this build out you can find a guide for it here Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye Guide.
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3. Lightning Arrow Deadeye (Ranger)
One of the highest damage builds once optimized is the Lightning Arrow Deadeye which takes the number three spot.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 9/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10​​
Build Guide
The Lightning Arrow Deadeye is one of the strongest clear bow builds in the game and has projectiles that can splash high damage to multiple nearby enemies. Lightning Arrow also shocks enemies to increase the damage even further. With Lightning Arrow the physical damage on your bow will be added to your lightning damage with the physical to lightning conversion built into the gem. This build will excel if you have a very high physical damage bow. If you are interested in trying out the Lightning Arrow Deadeye build you can find a guide for the build here Lightning Arrow Deadeye Guide.
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4. Toxic Rain Trickster (Shadow)
The Toxic Rain Trickster is one of the strongest Shadow builds in the game and has very strong defensive ascendancies.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 10/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 9/10​​​​​​​
Build Guide
This build requires you to channel Toxic Rain which rains down area of effect chaos damage over time spores. This build is the strongest bow build to build on a budget and doesn't require mirror tier gear to be competitive with other builds. If you are interested in trying out the Toxic Rain Trickster build you can find a guide for it here Toxic Rain Trickster Guide.
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5. Split Arrow & Puncture Bleed Gladiator (Duelist)
The Split Arrow Bleed Gladiator was recently majorly buffed in 3.25 with changes to the Gladiator ascendancy.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 9/10 Heist: 8/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 8/10​​​​
Build Guide
The Split Arrow & Puncture Bleed Bow Gladiator was majorly buffed in 3.25. The Gladiator ascendancy causes Bleeding enemies to explode on death and counts enemies as moving for Bleed damage. Puncture is used as a single target skill and its damage can get very high for single target. If you are interested in trying out the Split Arrow & Puncture Bleed Bow Gladiator build you can find a guide for the build here Split Arrow & Puncture Bleed Bow Gladiator Guide.
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6. Ice Shot Deadeye (Ranger)
The sixth place spot goes to the Ice Shot Deadeye which has great damage potential with a freezing attack.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10​​
Build Guide
Ice Shot is a powerful bow build once geared with top tier items such as a high physical damage bow with added cold damage per dexterity which is an extremely rare modifier on high damage bows. It has a very high damage ceiling once fully optimized but a high physical damage bow with cold damage per dexterity can be extremely expensive. If you are interested in trying the Ice Shot Deadeye build you can find a guide for it here Ice Shot Deadeye Guide.
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7. Caustic Arrow Trickster (Shadow)
The Caustic Arrow Trickster is seventh place and is a strong Shadow build with great defensive layers.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 6/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
Caustic Arrow is the poison build brother to Scourge Arrow that doesn't require a charge up attack. Caustic Arrow plays like a typical bow build except that it creates chaos damage over time puddles on collision. It also adds some variety to your typical bow build playstyle by throwing poison damage into the build mix. If you are interested in trying out the Caustic Arrow Trickster build you can find a guide for the build here Caustic Arrow Trickster Guide.
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HM. Scourge Arrow Pathfinder (Ranger)
The Scourge Arrow Pathfinder is one of the best poison damage bow builds in the game and has strong clear and mobility.
Mapping: 8/10 Delve: 8/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 7/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 6/10​​​​​
Build Guide
The Scourge Arrow Pathfinder moved up to the honorable mention after Scourge Arrow of Menace and Caustic Arrow of Poison were nerfed in 3.25. Scourge Arrow attacks by charging up a high damage poison attack that is then released on enemies and spread to all nearby enemies with the Master Toxicist Pathfinder ascendancy. If you are interested in trying out the Scourge Arrow Pathfinder build a guide for it can be found here Scourge Arrow Pathfinder Guide.​​​
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HM2. Scourge Arrow & Caustic Arrow Pathfinder (Ranger)
The Scourge Arrow of Menace/Caustic Arrow of Poison Pathfinder was nerfed in 3.25 and is no longer recommended.
Mapping: 7/10 Delve: 6/10 Heist: 6/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 6/10
Build Guide
The Scourge Arrow of Menace and Caustic Arrow of Poison Pathfinder build dropped to the second honorable mention in our rankings after significant nerfs in 3.25. Scourge Arrow of Menace and Caustic Arrow of Poison both had their added chaos damage removed and only gained a slightly higher damage effectiveness. If you are still interested in trying out this poison bow build you can find a guide for it here Scourge Arrow of Menace/Caustic Arrow of Poison Pathfinder Guide.​​​
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That's all for the Top 7 Bow Builds! For more about Path of Exile you can view the endgame guide here Endgame Guide.
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