Ultimate Bleed Bow Gladiator Build Guide (PoE Sentinel 3.18)

Out Of Date

March 5th, 2023, 14:59

Introduction

Due to the latest balancing changes, we do not recommend playing this build anymore, as it does not meet the high standards we apply to our guides in terms of fun and performance. We are leaving it up as a reference and it might be revived in a later patch.

The Bleed Bow Gladiator has become a community favorite and a powerhouse that can function at any level of gear. Gladiator is the perfect Ascendancy to facilitate this damage over time focused character, providing huge amounts of innate bleed chance, damage, and defense. All of this combines to make a character that is a capable all-rounder, with devastating single target damage and clear. Keep in mind with the changes in the past few leagues this build has gone towards more of a glass cannon build at higher budgets.

Sirus 8

If you haven’t played a bleed character before, virtually all of the damage comes from the bleed itself. We use tools like Ensnaring Arrow to ensure that we can take full advantage of this effect in any situation. This build can also make incredible use of some of those end-game influenced items, which gives you practically infinite room to optimize, craft, and upgrade.

Build Assessment

Pros

+ Good single target capability, requires low uptime as virtually all damage is from your bleed (allowing you to focus on mechanics)

+ Well rounded defenses and corpse removal from bleed explosion

+ Works on any level of budget and very SSF capable

+ Clear matches up well with top tier clear builds

Cons

– End game gear is specific and expensive or requires crafting knowledge

– Can’t deal with Physical Reflect

– Has a few gear breakpoints where it can plateau before the next big item is acquired

Path of Building

Path of Building for this build is available here

Included is the recommended set of Low Budget gear, High budget gear, a Multiple skill trees, and all the gem links needed to get the build to tick.

We use the Path of Building Community Fork for all of our builds, which is highly recommended. If you are encountering errors importing the build, please ensure you are using the Community Fork.

Playstyle and Build Mechanics

This Bleed Bow Gladiator uses a bow — the name is a dead giveaway — to apply lethal bleeds using Puncture and Split Arrow. Anyone who favors big and juicy damage over time effects is going to have an absolute riot with this style of ranged assassin. Very few things feel as satisfying as applying an eviscerating bleed to a beefy boss and watching its health drain smoothly down in a couple of seconds as you safely kite.

Enemies pop with a cathartic splatter via our Ascendancy, which sounds sweet and doubles as a defensive layer that prevents corpse reanimation or detonation. The build has a lot of malleability and most of your utility links can be adjusted to suit player taste. No matter how you configure your character, however, you’re always left with a reasonably tanky ranged reaper that can eviscerate virtually all available content without issue.

Passive Skill Tree and PoB’s

We go over the PoB’s and skill trees on our Skill Tree and Gem Links page

Passive Skill Tree and Gem Links

Gems

We go over all of the gem links this build uses in the end-game on our Gem Link page.

Gem Link Page

Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheon Powers

Our Ascendancy, Bandit, and Pantheon Power page goes into detail about all the choices you need to make in these regards.

Ascendancy, Bandits, Pantheons Page

Gear Summary / TL;DR

These items strike a balance between power and cost-effectiveness. If you want to explore more options for Gear (both budget and high-end), Flasks, or get more information on alternatives and specialty items, please ensure you read the “Gear, Jewels, and Flasks page thoroughly.

Our recommendation:

Item Slot	Item Name
Head	Rare Evasion Helmet or Assailum — Life/Resistances/Intelligence
Amulet	Rare Amulet ( Agate Amulet preferred) — Life/Physical Damage/DoT Multiplier
Chest	_Rare Armour/Evasion base _ — Life/Resistances/Evasion
Gloves	Rare Slink Gloves — Life/Resistances
Boots	Rare Boots — Life/Movement Speed/Resistances
Belt	Ryslatha's Coil
Rings	Rare Steel Rings
Weapon	Rare Bleed Bow

For in-depth recommendations for gear, flasks, jewels, and crafting advice be sure to read our Gear, Jewels, and Flasks page.

Gear, Jewels, and Flasks

Leveling

As a reminder, we have several guides to help you level up a character.

Our step-by-step leveling walkthrough, which allows even more experienced players to save time and speed through the leveling process.
Our guide to Unique Items for leveling, which helps you gear up your characters for the leveling process.
Our beginner leveling guide, which answers many of the questions new players might have and will set you on the right path.

Gem Progression

Using Tabula Rasa will allow you to have 6-Link gem setups early on, which is why we show such examples below. If you cannot get Tabula Rasa (or another item with a 6-Link), then simply prioritize the first gems in each link provided below.

In order to acquire gems that are not available to your class as a quest reward, simply ask a friend to buy them off vendors for you, or buy them yourself from Sioasa in The Library in Act III Library.

From level 1, you should use the following link.

At level 4, you should pick up Dash Dash for additional mobility.

By level 8, your Split Arrow link should look like this.

Split Arrow
Chance to Bleed Support
Pierce Support
###item:onslaught-support###

At this point you should also have single target Puncture setup.

At level 10, you should add Blink Arrow for additional mobility.

At level 16, you should add Flesh and Stone and Ensnaring Arrow.

By level 18, your Split Arrow and Puncture links should look like this.

Split Arrow

Puncture

At level 24, you can add Purity of Elements for additional defenses although it might reserve too much of your Mana, in which case you can wait until you have a reliable source source of Mana leech.

FAQ

What map mods are impossible to run?

You will one-shot yourself to Physical Reflect. No Regeneration and Cannot Leech are also very nasty. Monster have Chance to Avoid Bleeds also reduces your damage and clear speed by a considerable amount, although it is very manageable.

What anointment should we go for?

Dirty Techniques or Cleaving.

Check out the rest of the guide for any additional information:

Passive Skill Tree and Gem Links

Ascendancy, Bandits, and Pantheon Powers

Gear, Jewels, and Flasks