Rapid Shot + Pod Warden (V0.91)

Overview

Guide to Rapid Shot + Pod Warden

Introduction

Hello my name is Sooni. I created this guide since this has been my most enjoyable build on Warden so far. My current knowledge about the game and mechanics aren’t as in-depth as others/veterans, but I hope it’s good enough to the point where I can explain the mechanics of the build. I have gotten a lot of help from the comments down below, past questions, and other people’s guide to maximize the build’s potential. There may be some things I have overlooked for this build and there may be some changes in the future. I hope you enjoy.

The build is a mixture between a Bleed (Highranger set) + Wind (Highcaller set) Warden with a hint of Poison. We use Rapid Shot as our main damage input. Pod and Everspring set then channel/amplify the damage into Poison DOTs and Whirlwinds. Our main damage elements are Physical and Poison. More will be explained in the build mechanics.

The build is aim more towards endgame players or players with the resources only because I made this build when I already had a decent amount of resources to upstart it. However, you are more than free to try it out early to mid game. I’m just unsure how viable it is early to mid game.

Update & WIP Log

• 3/10/19 | Patch V0.90.3: Released Guide
• 3/15/19 | Patch V0.91: Revamped Build/Re-release

• 3/15/19 | Patch V0.91: This patch did not affect the build in anyway as I can see.

• [] Revise Guide
• [] Rune Section
• [] Detailing the guide more

Video

Maybe more videos in the future.

Elite Mythic XV Run: [link]

Build Mechanics & Drawback

I’ll try my best to explain the important mechanics skills used in this build, I will put note if something is unconfirmed or I’m not sure of. Feel free to correct me.

Note: Keep in mind I will only be talking about skills I use in the build mechanic. While other skills may work with Pods, I will state the skills I use to hopefully make it more understanding.
Ex. “Damage is based on Rapid Shot’s final damage * Pod’s Impact Damage.”

Special thanks to Amavonal, Rahalence, Devs, and Discord for helping me understand the mechanics a lot more.

• Pod Proc chance is based off of Splinter Procs
• Damage is based on Rapid Shot’s final damage * Pod’s Impact Damage.
• Player’s Critical Damage/Chance does NOT affect Pod’s DOT since Rapid Shot is already affected by Critical Damage/Chance from the player.
• Pod’s Burst Proc chance may be increased by certain equipment such as Everspring Set, runes such as Bramble Burst, and mastery skill such as Spring Pods. More on this later.
• Pod’s Burst damage is based on Pod’s DOT damage. Everspring set will modify this effect.
• Pod’s DOT and Burst has a set interval/tick. You cannot make them tick faster. To be more specific for Pod’s Burst, despite possibly maybe procing it multiple times, only 1 line will ever come out at a set interval. Again for Pod’s Burst, Everspring set will modify this effect.
• Spider Companion can proc Pods.
• Anything that can stack Pods can proc Pod’s Burst.

• Based on Amavanol’s comment and others, 12 Attacks per second or 600% Attack Speed would be the cap for Attack Speed.
• To find our Stat Attack Speed needed to cap:
  • Formula: 600% (Cap) = (Stat Attack Speed) * Base Attack Speed * Rapid Shot * (1 + Unique Item/Enchant Attack Speed) provided by Rahlence
    • “Unique Item/Enchant” are specific values that are not additive towards Stat Attack Speed, they are multiplicative and hidden. In other words, they do not show up visually in the Stat Window.
    • Solve for Stat Attack Speed
    • Example based on my stats:
      • Variables:
        • Base Attack Speed = 1
        • Rapid Shot = 2
        • Enrage = 0.4
      • 600% = Stat Attack Speed * 1 * 2 * (1 + 0.4)
      • 600% = Stat Attack Speed * 2.8
      • 600% / 2.8 = Stat Attack Speed
      • Stat Attack Speed = 214% (Rounded)
      • 214% Stat Attack Speed is needed to reach attack speed cap. I have a total of 220% Stat Attack Speed in my build, so I hit cap.
• I believe hitting cap is essential as not only does it affects the character, but also the Treant which I will talk about later.
• Harp Rune allows Rapid Shot to shoot X amount of arrows based on rank of Multishot (Level 5 Multishot = 4 in total)
• Multishot Rune additionally adds up to 5 arrows. With Harp Rune, Rapid Shot shoots a total of 9 arrows.

• Enables Pod’s DOT damage to stack infinitely. (Damage you have done before will not be overwritten, it will however stack now)
• Increases Pod’s Burst proc chance by X%
• Pod’s Burst will now turn into Whirlwinds when Burst procs (One of our main damage outputs)
• Whirlwinds are their own entity. This allows Pod’s Burst to hit multiple times based on the amount of Whirlwinds you have out rather than just once. Whirlwinds still have their own set interval of damage tick just like Pod’s Burst. The amount of Whirlwinds you can have out is based off of how often you proc Pod’s Burst until it disappears. I believe there is no limit otherwise
• Whirlwinds has an AOE, I believe based on Pod’s Burst AOE (Unconfirmed)
• Doubles Proc chance of Bloom

• Additionally adds all the other % elemental damage into the same element as your skill in the first skill slot. (Ex. If Rapid Shot is in our first skill slot and a modifier such as “25% to All Damage Elements” this would add 100% to Physical Damage % in the stat window)
• Our main tool in increasing Physical Damage % for Rapid Shot while still boosting Poison Damage with “% to All Damage Elements”

• Treant is mainly used for taunt and damage input/output.
• The rune allows us to have both Treant companions rather than 1. Only the Treant Guard can taunt despite having both out and using the Treant Guard skill.
• Another important thing is the mastery skill “Splinter Bark”. This allows Splinter to also proc from our Treant location. Having two means double the output of Splinters on top of ours as each Treant is their own entity. This allows us to double the output of Pod DOT/Burst on top of ours. Pod damage from Treant is still the same as stated in the Pod section.
• Referring back to Attack Speed in Rapid Shot section, the faster you attack and proc Splinter not only affects you, but also the Treants. So it’s a big damage boost

• Mainly used for procing Pod’s Burst/Whirlwind with the skill and rune in an AOE fashion.
• Assuming the Rune is an additive towards Pod’s Burst proc chance, it would be a total of 95% chance when using Bramble Vine to proc Pod’s Burst.

• Mainly used for procing Pod’s Burst/Whirlwind, but more at a single target level.
• Each Spiderling has a chance of procing Pod’s Burst/Whirlwind

• There are multiple drawback of this build:
  • One is the delay of damage since it has to build up damage and whirlwinds. It’s dependent on the amount of mobs and the amount of whirlwinds you have out. More mobs = more whirlwinds = more damage. With about 1.5 seconds per Bramble Vine Cast the delay of damage is noticeable on a small pack of crowned monsters. That’s why it’s better to mob up and DPS. It’s slower to kill 1 mob pack at a time.
  • Two is the issue of not having the 100% piercing/overdraw effect so monsters may body block some of your Rapid Shot. This results in loss of damage from Rapid Shot, potential pod stack, and potential whirlwinds. We have about 65% chance to proc Overdraw in this build assuming you take the Mastery that boosts Overdraw trigger rate by 30% (which I recommend).
  • Three is not having 100% Splinter proc chance without a sacrifice (You can obtain 100% Splinter proc chance, but your Overdraw will be at about 30% proc chance). We only have 70% chance to proc Splinter in this build. We lose out on about 30% of potential Pod stacks which results in a loss of damage.
  • Fourth, a decent portion of the damage spike also comes from your Treants. You can somewhat control them through active skill and Commander from Mastery. Though they may not be in the spot you’re aiming at sometimes.
• So if any buffs in the future that affects these drawbacks more favorably for us. The build will become stronger.
• There can also be other changes that can buff/nerf directly or indirectly this build. These drawbacks aren’t the only thing.

Skills & Mastery

We do not use anything from Storm Caller Tree. I’ll add in more detail in the future. Hopefully it’s straight forward enough as is.

• Spider Companion can be put on an unused key. We don’t need to use the skill. They are there to auto attack and provide the Antivenom buff. Note that they have to be in the skill bar to gain the Antivenom buff.

• Important things to get:
• All of Wind Ranger Row
• All of Druid Row
• Mastery Row 1/2/3 = At least 65 Points in 2 Rows, 85 Points in the last (To max Elemental Power), last point in the last column. Whatever order you do it in does not matter.
• Storm Caller Row = Max column 1
• Winter Herald Row = Up to the 4th column where you get the resistant. It’s important you max it for Mythic XV assuming you are following the guide else you’ll be a bit short on resistant. Also note you do not need to max the 2nd column to get to the 4th column. I maxed it to put point beyond the 4th column.
• Everything else are luxury points.

Gear

Follow the enchant modifiers a bit closely.

• Three 30% Poison Resistant (Armor, Boots, Offhand) to cap out resist for Mythic XV. Make sure it’s Poison Resistant since we use Antivenom.
• Three Attack Speed Enchant (Accessory, Ring, Amulet) to achieve a total of 600% Attack Speed
• Unique Enchant = Kill Damage (Ring or Amulet), Enrage (Bow), Kill Haste (Boots), Damage Reduction (Armor)

• For faster map clear, you can go for Kill Explode enchant rather than Crown Damage enchant. Crown Damage enchant is useful for both clearing and bossing.

• Soul Warp: Our mobility skill that allows us to teleport every 2 seconds
• Healing Touch: Our backup heal. Allows us to tank for a bit to dish out more DPS or heal when we’re in trouble

Based on the gear above

Runes (WIP)

Refer to the Gear Section for now. I’ll finish this part soon.

Q & A

Feel free to leave a question in the comment. I’ll add it on the list if it’s something that may be debatable or possibly a FAQ.

• Q: Why Leaf Wind and not Storm Meander?
• A: It costs a total of 19 points to max the whole line out. Which I could not fit in the build. There may be enough points to just max out Storm Meander, but even then it’s 9 skill points to get there. The filler skills aren’t useful to us in any way, so I went with Leaf Wind and put the extra points else where that can benefit us in some way.

Special Thanks

• Rahlence: Allowing me to use his rune images from his Rahlence’s Rune Guide as well as providing information regarding mechanics of the game.
• Jon_12345/Jon1245: Inspired me to play Rapid Shot Warden, to create this build and guide.
• Developers: For creating this enjoyable game and providing information
• Amavanol: Big thanks to Amavanol for contributing a lot of valuable information and suggestions for the build
• Discord Channel People: Helping answer some of my concerns with parts of the build