Boltcaster / Rapier PvP Build
Season 8
I should have played bow a long long time ago.. The mobility is excellent and Boltcaster is so fucking strong. I felt so good on this build right from the start and would highly recommend it to anyone who likes a hard hitting ranged build that other people just can’t catch.
Check out a video guide with gameplay for this build!
Equipment / Attributes
I am running 100-150 CON in the footage and I really like this range of health but you have lots of freedom to go either higher or lower CON. If you want to go for 150 CON, I would recommend taking the points out of DEX. Even though bow does not benefit directly from the INT, the rapier does and Boltcaster gets a fat damage boost from the jump points thanks to it being elemental damage.
I went with Penetrating the Empowered as the final perk of my Boltcaster, I think Plagued Crits is just as good if not better of a perk choice.
My Narwhal Tusk is the perfect rapier to pair with Boltcaster. If you want to break the bank you could have penetrating backstab instead of penetrating the empowered, but that would require you to craft a 725 rapier! Having a lightning damage gem is a MUST for that huge damage bonus Boltcaster gives to both weapons light / heavy attacks!
My gear is simple, Refreshing + Shirking Heals. For the third perk I have Vital Synergy, Leeching Flurry, Hasted Vigor, and Shirking energy. This is the ideal perk setup for this build! Since both weapons have easy access to haste the Winged Leather shoes are perfect for the artifact, but you have freedom to experiment here too!
You 100% want to run runeglass of electrifying on the armor pieces. This build stacks a ton of empower with this, allowing the bow to easily achieve empower cap and the rapier to get pretty close too! (omnidirectional evade would be the missing piece here.)
The jewelry is perfect, with the secret healing tech from Endless Thirst being fantastic for keeping this build topped up on health as long as your switching between two different healing potions.
Use the best food you can find, Desert Sunrise, and Honing Stones. The two potions of choice for this build are the Regeneration and Burst Regeneration potions since they give the most healing value.
Active Skills
Bow Skills
Penetrating Shot is fantastic because it does big damage and can be used to ‘cancel’ the end of your heavy attack animation for a big damage stack.
I only took the first point of Explosive arrow here, simply put the AOE is super valuable for finishing opponents off and you loose lots of AOE if you invest any more points. Big thanks to Drask O’Malley for sharing his bow knowledge with me for this one!
I really like Rain of Arrows since its another huge AOE, does good damage and bleeds/cripples opponents. With all the haste bow has this cripple is crazy valuable for escaping things. This is sort of the flex skill for my bow tree so feel free to try other skills out here!
Rapier Skills
You will 100% need to have Leeching Flurry. It lets you trade with any opponent and with this setup deals massive amounts of damage. The healing is a huge plus too!
Evade is a must have for attacking and defending. You can cancel anything with this skill and it has a very high skill ceiling, so practice up your combos with it!
A build like this needs a gap closer to escape bad situations and Fleche is perfect since it allows you to move through opponents. Fleche can also do a TON of damage if you land those backstabs with it!