Here is the Widowhail Toxic Rain Pathfinder build for POE 3.23.

This build presents a departure from the conventional approach of focusing on gem level stacking to maximize the level of Caustic Arrow or Toxic Rain. Instead, it leverages items such as Widowhail and The Adorned to amplify the modifiers present on other POE Items utilized within the build. It boasts a substantial life pool exceeding 7,000, offering the necessary damage output, clearing speed, and resilience required for safe progression up to level 100.

Throughout this guide, I will provide an overview of the endgame configuration as well as present several medium budget and early game setups. Let us commence with the discussion.

The Mechanics Of The Build

The mechanics of this build revolve around utilizing a Toxic Rain setup. This skill fires projectiles upward, which descend upon enemies, inflicting chaos damage and leaving behind spore pods that persist for a specified duration.

While these spore pods remain on the ground, they continuously deal chaos damage over time to nearby foes, with the potential for this damage effect to accumulate. By saturating the area with spore pods, the build capitalizes on Toxic Rain's stacking damage over time effect, which forms the foundation of its single-target damage output.

To effectively clear expansive areas teeming with monsters, Caustic Arrow comes into play, providing broad coverage across the screen. When linked with Arrow Nova Support, the skill disperses projectiles in all directions, blanketing the entire screen with caustic ground.

A notable aspect of this particular build is its synergy with The Adorned unique Jewel, enabling significant life stacking within the life pool. This substantial life reservoir greatly contributes to a player's longevity and progression potential, facilitating advancement towards level 100.

Different Gem Setups

In the primary skill setup, Toxic Rain should be linked with Efficacy, Empower, Awakened Vicious Projectiles, Awakened Void Manipulation, and Mirage Archer.

A medium-budget alternative to this setup would utilize regular support gems instead of Awakened ones, with Cruelty Support replacing Empower.

On a low-budget 4-link configuration, I recommend linking Toxic Rain to Vicious Projectiles, Efficacy, and Mirage Archer. Prioritizing Mirage Archer increases the total number of pods spawned around enemies, thereby enhancing single-target damage.

Also Read: What Content From Affliction League Can We Expect In POE 3.24 Or Later Expansions? - My Personal Speculation

For the Caustic Arrow setup, link Caustic Arrow with Awakened Arrow Nova, Empower, Awakened Void Manipulation, Awakened Vicious Projectiles, and Awakened Swift Affliction.

In a medium-budget version of this setup, substitute regular support gems for the Awakened ones, and also use Cruelty Support instead of Empower.

Note that while Cruelty Support may not be the most effective support, it serves as a convenient placeholder in a red socket before transitioning to Empower.

For a low-budget four-link setup, link Caustic Arrow with Vicious Projectiles, Swift Affliction, and Arrow Nova.

In the aura gem setup, this build reserves Grace and Malevolence on its Mana pool. Grace provides significant evasion, while Malevolence enhances damage by scaling both damage over time multiplier and skill effect duration, prolonging the duration of Toxic Rain pods and Caustic Arrow's caustic ground. Additionally, Haste Aura is linked to Divine Blessing and Inspiration Support. If Mana is insufficient for casting Haste Aura, running a level one Divine Blessing reduces Mana cost, and acquiring Mana efficiency nodes on the passive tree increases available Mana.

For Utility Gems, Toxic Rain of Withering is linked to Mana, Forge Arrows, and Culling Strike to maintain wither stacks on resilient enemies and dispatch bosses with less than 10% health. Despair further reduces the chaos resistance of cursed enemies, while a level 3 Immortal Call linked to Cast When Damage Taken provides an additional layer of defense.

Grab These Masteries

The masteries that this build will want to grab in its endgame setup will include:

• 20% Increased AoE while wielding a bow
• Recover 4% life when you use a flask
• Prevent an additional 3% of suppressed spell damage
• + 50 to maximum life

For earlier progressions of this build, useful masteries to have early on will include:

• +12% Mana Reservation Efficiency
• 8% Increased damage per Aura/Herald affecting you
• Auras have a 10% increased effect on you
• +15% spell suppression while your helmet, body armor, gloves, and boots have evasion rating

Ascendancy Passives

The ascendancy passives for this build will be acquired in the following sequence: Nature's Reprisal, Nature's Adrenaline, Master Surgeon, and finally Nature's Boon.

Once the build attains a sufficient level of resilience, there is an option to forego Master Surgeon and reallocate a point to a smaller ascendancy node for increased flask effectiveness.

Bow

For the bow, you'll first want a bow to start with a four-link bow with high attack speed and any damage over time modifiers.

Subsequently, aim to acquire a low-cost corrupted six-link bow, preferably with damage over time modifiers.

In the mid-range budget category, consider crafting or procuring a Thicket Bow with a +3 modifier, coupled with attack speed and a damage over time multiplier.

Lastly, as the final upgrade, invest in a well-rolled Widowhail once you have obtained the endgame quiver. The Widowhail offers significant multipliers to the modifiers present on your quiver.

Quiver

For the quiver, you'll ideally want to start with a broad head quiver for some attack speed and use this item slot to fulfill any stat attribute requirements or elemental resistances early on.

You'll eventually want to upgrade this item to something that has at least 2 damage modifiers on it, such as damage over time multiplier or increased damage with bow skills.

Finally, a hunter influence quiver (Drgon Arrow) with high life, multi-movement speed, and attack speed will serve as the basis for the endgame setup with Widowhail. With a 246 Widowhail, a quiver like this will provide a total of 276 max life, 76% attack speed, 27% movement speed, and 152% damage over time multiplier.

So, there's incredible upside potential for running with a Widowhail setup.

Helmet

For the helmet, you'll likely start with one that fulfills life stat attributes and elemental resistances.

You want to upgrade this to a helmet with similar stats but on a better item base and with eldritch implicits that provide 6% physical damage shift and 20% reduced mana cost of attacks.

Once you're able to fix your resistances with 100% uptime from flasks, you'll want a helmet with high life, high resistance modifiers, fire spell suppression, more physical damage shift, and +2 to socketed area of effect. This will both increase the overlapping of pods shot by Toxic Rain as well as the gem level of skills like Despair, which will be socketed in the helmet.

Body Armor

For the body armor, early gearing options will include items like a Tabula Rasa, a six-link corrupted body armor, or anything with high life and elemental resistances.

Once resistances are fixed by your flask setup, you'll want to opt for a Lightning Coil, which greatly improves the build's physical max hit. An endgame version will incorporate vaal implicits like +1 to socketed gems.

Gloves

For the gloves, you want to start with a pair that has high life and elemental resistances.

You'll eventually want to upgrade this to a better item base and also roll eldritch implicits that provide chaos damage over time multiplier and spell suppression.

Once you've capped your spell suppression, you can instead opt for Pierce on the implicits for more clear speed. The endgame version of this will look very similar to the helmet with high life and resistances, high suppression, +2 to area of effect, and increased damage during flask effect.

Boots

For the boots, the main modifiers you'll want to prioritize early are movement speed and elemental resistances.

An easy upgrade for this socket will be a pair of boots with high life, high movement speed, high resistances, and Eldritch Implicits that provide action speed and Elemental Ailment Avoidance.

The final version of the boots will have a high chance to avoid shock, high spell suppression, high life, movement speed, and onslaught on kill.

Belt

Initially, the belt slot serves to meet stat attribute and elemental resistance needs with a sturdy belt.

Over time, the aim is to transition to a Stygian Vise equipped with life and resistance, allowing for the addition of an Abyss Jewel with life and phasing on kill.

The ultimate belt configuration entails a Hunter influence Stygian Vise boasting high life percentage, increased flask effect, and a 20% reduction in flask charges used. This reduction in flask charges is essential for maintaining 100% flask uptime, a critical aspect of the build’s functionality.

Regarding the rings, they primarily serve to address stat attribute and resistance requirements while other gear pieces are upgraded.

It’s advisable to prioritize high stats or resistances in these slots to maintain flexibility elsewhere in the build. Once all other gear pieces are upgraded and finalized, the ideal modifiers for these rings include high life, damage over time multiplier, increased chaos damage, and reduced mana cost for non-channeling skills.

Amulet

The amulet is also another socket that remains fairly flexible in terms of modifiers you can roll.

Useful modifiers early on will include things like life, resistances, stat attributes, and damage over time modifiers.

However, to make this build truly invincible against small attacks, a Defiance of Destiny will eventually be used. This item allows you to regain missing life before every hit is calculated. Starting with a low roll of Defiance of Destiny and gradually upgrading to higher rolls would be my recommended path of progression for this item slot.

Cluster Jewels

Cluster jewels play a crucial role in maximizing the build’s efficiency in clearing speed, damage output, and access to jewel sockets, particularly significant upon obtaining The Adorned jewel.

Incorporating 3 medium cluster jewels called Luminous Shrine, this build highlights Wicked Pall, Touch of Cruelty, and Unspeakable Gifts. Notably, Touch of Cruelty remains unallocated within the build, relying solely on Wicked Pall and Unspeakable Gifts. These notable modifiers greatly enhance the build's chaos damage output and facilitate enemy explosions, causing a quarter of their life to be dealt as chaos damage. It's the explosions triggered by Unspeakable Gifts that drive this build's exceptional clearing speed during mapping endeavors.

As for the medium cluster jewels, there are 3 Dragon Curio featuring Shrieking Bolts and Repeater for heightened projectile damage, alongside one Pandemonium Scar cluster jewel housing Peak Vigour and Spiked Concoction. Peak Vigour enhances maximum life by 8%, while Spiked Concoction provides both attack speed and Alchemist’s Genius upon flask usage. The Alchemist’s Genius buff increases flask charges gained by 20% and flask effect by 10% during its duration, crucial for maintaining maximum flask uptime.

Jewels

For the jewels, common placeholders for jewel sockets will feature useful modifiers like percent max life or damage over time multiplier.

However, once an Adorned jewel is obtained, you’ll want to roll eight corrupted magic jewels each with 7% increased max life and 8% chaos damage over time multiplier. With a 129% Adorned jewel, this will grant a total of 128% increased max life and 146% chaos multi from the magic jewels alone.

In the final jewel socket near the Herbalism passive, a Lethal Pride will be used to gain some much-needed strength as well as another 10% physical damage from hits taken as fire damage.

Flasks

For the flasks, it is important to run a Ruby, Topaz, and Sapphire flask, which all have long durations that allow the build to sustain them permanently.

By keeping 100% uptime on these flasks, the build is able to take advantage of the resistances granted by the flask and will have an easier time upgrading gear pieces.

An important thing to note is that every magic flask will need the Flagellant’s prefix modifier. This modifier allows the flask to gain 3 charges when hit by enemies, which fills the flask quickly when being hit by multiple mobs.

A reduced Mana cost suffix will also need to be crafted on one of these magic flasks in order to lower Mana cost and allow the build to eventually drop Mana Reservation Efficiency nodes from the passive tree.

To finish things off, a Flagellant’s Quicksilver Flask Of The Cheetah and Progenesis will be the final flask in the build setup. Before upgrading to Progenesis, however, the build could run a bleed immunity life flask while it still has Master Surgeon allocated.