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 3.24 nerf 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 Raider (Ranger)
The Elemental Hit Of The Spectrum Raider has a higher damage ceiling and better defenses than the Deadeye version.
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 Raider is new this season and is competitive against Tornado Shot for first place. The Raider version has a higher damage ceiling once you have excellent equipment and the Deadeye version is better when built on a budget. If you are interested in trying out this build as a Raider with a higher damage ceiling you can find a guide for it here Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Raider Guide. You can also start out as a Deadeye if you don't have excellent equipment with preferably two additional arrows here Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye Guide.
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3. Scourge Arrow & Caustic Arrow Pathfinder (Ranger)
The Scourge Arrow of Menace and Caustic Arrow of Poison Pathfinder is the strongest poison bow build in the game.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 10/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
The Scourge Arrow of Menace and Caustic Arrow of Poison Pathfinder build is ranked third place on the list and was added last season with the release of transfigured gems. This build deals higher damage than the standard Scourge Arrow and Caustic Arrow builds on both single target encounters and groups of enemies. The Scourge Arrow of Menace and Caustic Arrow of Poison Pathfinder is also one of the best starter builds and can be built on a budget. If you are interested in trying out this build you can find a guide for it here Scourge Arrow of Menace/Caustic Arrow of Poison Pathfinder.
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4. Lightning Arrow Deadeye (Ranger)
One of the highest damage Ranger builds in the game is the Lightning Arrow Deadeye which takes the number four 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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5. Toxic Rain Trickster (Shadow)
The Toxic Rain Trickster is one of the strongest Shadow builds and has very strong defensive ascendancies.
Mapping: 9/10 Delve: 10/10 Heist: 8/10 Damage: 9/10 Safety: 9/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
This build requires you to channel Toxic Rain which rains down area of effect chaos damage over time spores. The faster you attack the more spores you will create which makes attack speed very important. If you are interested in trying out the Toxic Rain Trickster build you can find a guide for the build here Toxic Rain Trickster Guide. This build can also be done well as a Raider (Ranger) which has less defensive ascendancies than the Trickster (Shadow) variation. If you would prefer to play Toxic Rain as a Raider a guide for it can be found here Toxic Rain Raider 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 high cold damage and/or cold damage per dexterity. 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 out 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 one of the strongest Shadow builds with great defensive layers.
Mapping: 8/10 Delve: 9/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 7/10 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. Elemental Hit Raider (Ranger)
The Elemental Hit Raider is a strong starter build and can scale to fairly high damage with excellent equipment.
Mapping: 10/10 Delve: 7/10 Heist: 7/10 Damage: 8/10 Safety: 8/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
Elemental Hit doesn't require a high physical damage bow with bells and whistles to deal great damage. It thrives on dealing top tier damage on a minimal budget. You can also use this build until you have the more expensive equipment that's needed to transition into the new Elemental Hit of the Spectrum build. If you are interested in trying out the Elemental Hit Raider build you can find a guide for it here Elemental Hit Raider Guide.
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HM2. Split Arrow & Puncture Bleed Gladiator (Duelist)
The second honorable mention was nerfed heavily in a previous patch and is no longer recommended for a viable build.
Mapping: 8/10 Delve: 7/10 Heist: 4/10 Damage: 5/10 Safety: 6/10 Bosses: 7/10
Build Guide
The Split Arrow & Puncture Bleed Bow Gladiator ascendancy causes Bleeding enemies to explode on death which gives great clearing against large groups of normal enemies. However the build can be somewhat weak against multiple stronger enemies. Puncture is used as a strong single target skill on the other hand and its damage can get very high for a bow build on 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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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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