Path of Exile Pconc Pathfinder Build Guide
Why Choose the Pconc Pathfinder
The Pathfinder is an Ascendancy class of the Ranger, and it excels in using flasks to boost offense and defense while enhancing elemental and chaos damage. The Pconc build specifically focuses on poison stacking combined with fast attack speed, making it highly effective for both mapping and boss encounters.
Key advantages of the Pconc Pathfinder include:
Sustained Poison Damage: The build utilizes poison mechanics to inflict high damage over time, allowing you to gradually chip away at enemies while maintaining distance.
High Mobility: As a Ranger class, the Pathfinder can quickly reposition using movement skills like Dash or Blink Arrow, which is essential for dodging high-damage attacks in maps and bosses.
Flask Efficiency: Pathfinder Ascendancy nodes increase flask effect duration and efficacy, making it possible to maintain buffs and resistances without constant micromanagement.
Versatility in Damage Types: While primarily focused on chaos and poison, this build can scale with elemental damage conversions to amplify specific skill effects.
Core Skill Gems
The Pconc Pathfinder build revolves around skills that apply poison effectively and synergize with bow mechanics. The following are recommended core skill gems:
1. Caustic Arrow
Caustic Arrow is the centerpiece of the Pconc build. It applies a ground-effect poison that deals chaos damage over time. Its damage scales with chaos damage, attack speed, and poison stacks, making it ideal for both clearing large packs of enemies and sustained single-target damage.
Support Gems:
Vicious Projectiles - increases damage and poison chance.
Void Manipulation - boosts chaos damage for stronger poison stacks.
Swift Affliction - accelerates damage over time effects.
Greater Multiple Projectiles (GMP) - spreads the poison to multiple targets for efficient clearing.
2. Tornado Shot
While Caustic Arrow handles poison application, Tornado Shot provides excellent area-of-effect clearing. When linked with poison-supporting gems, Tornado Shot can spread poison across multiple enemies efficiently.
Support Gems:
Deadly Ailments - ensures poison applies reliably.
Elemental Damage with Attacks - enhances elemental conversion-based damage.
Mirage Archer - provides automatic projectile duplication for higher DPS.
3. Movement Skills
Mobility is essential in the Pconc Pathfinder build. Recommended movement skills include:
Dash - short-range movement with minimal downtime, allowing you to dodge attacks or reposition.
Blink Arrow - ideal for navigating maps quickly or escaping tight situations.
4. Aura and Utility Gems
Malevolence (Aura) - boosts damage over time effects, including poison.
Discipline (Aura) - optional for energy shield-based defense.
Vaal Haste or Vaal Grace - for temporary boosts in damage or survivability during boss fights.
Passive Skill Tree Planning
The passive skill tree for Pconc Pathfinder focuses on chaos damage, poison scaling, attack speed, and projectile damage. Key priorities include:
Poison Scaling Nodes: Increase chaos damage over time, duration, and chance to poison.
Projectile Damage and Attack Speed: Boosts damage per arrow and allows faster application of poison stacks.
Life and Evasion: Ensures survivability while maintaining mobility, crucial for avoiding high-damage hits.
Flask Effect Nodes: Increase the effectiveness and duration of flasks, synergizing with the Pathfinder Ascendancy.
Recommended Ascendancy Nodes:
Nature's Boon: Reduces flask charges used and increases flask effects.
Master Alchemist: Provides increased elemental and chaos damage when flasks are active.
Nature's Adrenaline: Enhances attack, cast, and movement speed while using flasks.
Master Surgeon: Optional but boosts critical strikes and damage if using crit-based poison scaling.
Gear Recommendations
Gear selection in a Pconc Pathfinder build prioritizes bow selection, chaos damage scaling, poison chance, and survivability.
1. Weapons
Bows: Look for high physical damage, increased attack speed, and added chaos damage. Unique bows with poison or chaos boosts are ideal, such as Death's Opus or crafted bows with +chaos damage modifiers.
Quivers: Enhance chaos damage, projectile speed, and critical strike chance.
2. Armor
Prioritize life and resistances, as chaos damage is effective but often requires survivability to maintain DPS uptime.
Evasion or energy shield hybrid gear works well for dodging and tanking occasional hits.
3. Accessories
Rings and Amulets: Seek chaos damage, increased poison chance, and life modifiers.
Belt: Stygian Vise with life and chaos damage mods can boost both survivability and damage output. You can buy Path of exile currency to get it.
Flasks
Flasks are central to the Pconc Pathfinder's performance. Key flasks include:
Life Flask: Instant recovery or instant bleed removal for survival.
Quicksilver Flask: Boosts movement speed to maintain mobility and dodge dangerous mechanics.
Diamond Flask: Optional for critical strike-focused builds.
Utility Flasks: Such as Basalt (armor boost) or Sapphire (cold resistance), depending on map mods.
Maximizing flask uptime is facilitated by Pathfinder ascendancy nodes, ensuring buffs remain active for the majority of combat encounters.
Gameplay Strategy
The Pconc Pathfinder excels at kiting enemies, spreading poison over time, and maintaining high mobility. Recommended gameplay tips include:
Kite and Stack Poison: Avoid engaging enemies in close range; instead, use movement to stay at a safe distance while continuously applying poison stacks.
Flask Management: Keep flasks active at all times for maximum offensive and defensive efficiency.
Positioning in Boss Fights: Use Blink Arrow or Dash to evade mechanics while allowing poison to whittle down the boss over time.
Map Clearing: Use Tornado Shot or multiple Caustic Arrows with GMP for rapid clearing of mobs while building poison stacks on higher-tier monsters.
Conclusion
The Pconc Pathfinder build in Path of Exile offers a versatile and highly effective approach for players who enjoy poison mechanics, mobility, and sustained damage. By combining powerful poison skills like Caustic Arrow, proper passive tree planning, optimized gear, and strategic flask usage, this build can dominate both mapping and boss encounters and get more Path of exile currency.
While the Pconc Pathfinder requires attention to positioning and flask management, the payoff is a highly efficient and rewarding playstyle that leverages the unique strengths of the Pathfinder class. With careful planning and practice, players can create a potent poison-focused powerhouse capable of taking on even the toughest challenges Wraeclast has to offer.