[2019] New Bow Skills in Path of Exile: Conquerors of the Atlas

As part of the Conquerors of the Atlas expansion, we're doing a full review of Bow skills and other mechanics that influence Bow balance. Ranged Attack Totems have been under-utilised for a while, and we've made some significant changes to their core mechanics as well as adding some interesting new abilities which are unique to the archetype.

We've made a number of changes to Ranged Attack Totems:

• Ranged Attack Totem skills are now called Ballistas, with the existing support gem being renamed to Ballista Totem Support.


• All Ballista skills start with 3 maximum totems, as does Ballista Totem Support.


• Ballista Totems place much faster than other totems, letting you quickly deploy your full power.


• Ballistas are all placed quite close to your character now. This makes your positioning important, however it isn't a large disadvantage as most of the Ballistas have a long firing range.


• New passives have been added to the passive tree specific to Ballistas and other Attack totems, letting you gain additional Ballista totems.

Shrapnel Ballista is the new low-level Bow Totem. It fires three projectiles at once, and an enemy can be hit by multiple projectiles from a single shot. This makes the skill deadly when up close to enemies. The skill has a small amount of Added Physical damage, making the skill more reliable while leveling. Additional projectiles further multiply the damage. Use it to take down a boss quickly, or place multiple to create a line of defence that destroys any enemy that approaches.

Artillery Ballista is a new Level 28 skill. It fires up a series of arrows that rain down in a line, with all damage converted to fire. The skill has a similar damage pattern to Glacial Cascade, but unlike Glacial Cascade, the line isn't directly away from the totem. Instead, it looks at the positions of nearby monsters, and intelligently rains down its arrows in a diagonal line that would hit as many enemies as possible, making it very efficient at clearing spread out enemies, as well as dealing multiple hits to targets.

Ensnaring Arrow is a new bow utility skill that fires a single arrow. When it hits and doesn't pass through an enemy, a rope shoots into the ground, pinning that monster to that point. If they try to move from the point, they're greatly slowed. An enemy can have up to three ropes attached to it, each applying a separate speed multiplier.

In addition to the slow, it also increases projectile attack damage taken, and makes enemies always count as moving. Use Puncture on an Ensnared enemy to guarantee a full force bleed. Additional Projectiles let you pin multiple enemies at once, while Ballista Totem Support lets you create a totem that repeatedly ensnares enemies while you kill them with your other abilities. Check out new skill gems in action below:



We've also added three new Support Gems that can be used with Bow skills, and have made some significant changes to some skills, including Explosive Arrow. We'll talk more about these in the weeks leading up to the release of Conquerors of the Atlas. Stay tuned!