The Gluttonous Tide is one of the most exciting and unique bows in Path of Exile, offering a dynamic playstyle that appeals to players who enjoy high attack speed and powerful burst potential. With its distinct mechanic of building up stages and unleashing a flurry of arrows upon reaching full charge, the Gluttonous Tide opens up various possibilities for creative builds. Whether you are aiming for speed mapping, bossing, or a hybrid approach, crafting the right Gluttonous Tide build can elevate your PoE experience and bring out the bow’s full potential. This guide will walk you through everything you need to know to build around the Gluttonous Tide effectively.
Understanding the Gluttonous Tide
Core Mechanics
The Gluttonous Tide is a unique spine bow that rewards players for consistent attacking. Its defining feature is the stacking mechanic: each non-critical strike adds a stage to the weapon, and when a critical strike is triggered, all stored stages are consumed to release a barrage of additional arrows. This makes it a high-reward weapon for players who can reliably stack attacks while balancing their critical strike chance.
Key Stats and Properties
Some of the notable stats of the Gluttonous Tide include:
- High base attack speed
- Up to 6% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on crit
- Converts stored stages into multiple additional arrows on critical hit
- Increased critical strike chance and accuracy rating
This combination supports a rapid-fire bow build that thrives on fast hits and stage buildup, followed by critical-triggered devastation.
Ascendancy Classes for Gluttonous Tide
Deadeye
Deadeye is often the go-to ascendancy class for a Gluttonous Tide build due to its strong synergy with projectile and bow skills. Key notable passives include:
- Gathering Winds: Grants Gale Force stacks for movement speed and attack speed
- Endless Munitions: Adds one additional projectile and boosts area coverage
- Far Shot: Increases damage based on distance from target, excellent for ranged bow builds
Raider
Raider is another viable option, offering great Frenzy Charge generation, onslaught uptime, and movement bonuses. This makes it a strong choice for builds that prioritize mapping speed and mobility.
Skill Gem Choices
Main Skill – Tornado Shot
Tornado Shot is a popular choice when paired with the Gluttonous Tide. Its natural projectile spread complements the burst nature of the bow, creating deadly area coverage especially when stages are consumed on a critical strike.
Alternative Skills
Other effective skills that pair well with Gluttonous Tide include:
- Lightning Arrow: Chain-based damage with great clear speed
- Galvanic Arrow: Scales well with added elemental damage
- Ice Shot: Provides slowing utility and powerful AoE with strong scaling
Support Gems
To maximize the damage and utility of your main skill, consider the following support gems:
- Greater Multiple Projectiles (GMP)
- Inspiration Support
- Elemental Damage with Attacks
- Increased Critical Strikes
- Added Lightning or Cold Damage
Critical Strike Optimization
Balancing Crit Chance
Since the Gluttonous Tide activates its burst effect on critical strike, it’s essential to fine-tune your critical strike chance. You want to avoid triggering the crit too early before enough stages are stacked. Ideally, you should aim for moderate critical strike chance around 30-40% to allow stacking time while still triggering often enough to be impactful.
Using Precision and Gear
Consider using the Precision aura to boost accuracy and crit chance. Additionally, look for gear with modifiers such as:
- Increased Critical Strike Chance for Attacks
- Global Critical Multiplier
- +1 to Level of Socketed Bow Gems (on the bow)
Gear and Stat Priorities
Weapon – The Gluttonous Tide
This build centers around the unique bow itself. Prioritize one with good rolls on attack speed and critical bonuses. Corrupted implicits that add arrow projectiles or elemental penetration can be a major bonus.
Helmet, Gloves, and Boots
- Helmet: Look for life, resistances, and accuracy. Enchantments that benefit your main skill can also be useful.
- Gloves: Aim for attack speed, life, and elemental damage with attacks.
- Boots: Movement speed, life, and resistances. Elusive or Tailwind modifiers are ideal.
Body Armour
Use a rare armor with increased maximum life and elemental resistances. You can also consider armor that grants frenzy charge generation or dodge chance. Unique options like Hyrri’s Ire provide strong evasion and elemental scaling.
Jewelry and Flasks
- Rings: Elemental damage with attack skills, accuracy, and resistances
- Amulet: Crit multiplier, life, and +1 to Dexterity or Skill Gems
- Flasks: Diamond Flask for crit consistency, Quicksilver for speed, and Jade for evasion
Passive Tree and Jewels
Tree Focus
Your passive tree should emphasize:
- Projectile Damage
- Critical Strike Multiplier
- Attack Speed
- Life and Evasion
Clusters like Master Fletcher, Ballistic Mastery, and Lethality are all valuable nodes. Don’t forget to invest in Frenzy Charge nodes if using Raider or gearing for frenzy generation.
Cluster Jewels
Large clusters with Added Small Passive Skills grant Bow Damage and notables like Fuel the Fight or Repeater can amplify your build. Use medium and small cluster jewels to further stack attack speed or crit.
Mapping and Bossing Tips
Clear Speed
The Gluttonous Tide excels at clearing due to its bursty projectile nature. Skills like Tornado Shot or Lightning Arrow, combined with GMP and Deadeye’s additional projectile bonuses, allow for efficient room-wide clears. Make sure to maintain attack speed and movement speed for optimal performance.
Boss Fights
For bossing, you may need to swap GMP for Slower Projectiles or Elemental Focus to boost single-target damage. It’s also important to manage your crit chance and ensure your stages are properly stacked before attempting to deal burst damage. Consider using Vaal skills or damage-boosting flasks before critical shots.
Bandits, Pantheon, and Additional Tips
Bandit Choice
Kill all bandits for the +2 passive skill points, giving more flexibility for tree optimization.
Pantheon Powers
- Major: Soul of Lunaris – Provides evasion and movement benefits
- Minor: Soul of Garukhan – Extra evasion and reduced movement penalties
Leveling Strategy
Leveling with bows can be smooth. Start with Rain of Arrows or Split Arrow, then transition to Tornado Shot around level 28. Use rare bows with high physical damage or elemental scaling early on before equipping the Gluttonous Tide at the appropriate level.
The Gluttonous Tide offers an engaging and rewarding playstyle for bow users in Path of Exile. With its stacking mechanic and crit-triggered burst, it adds a unique rhythm to combat that rewards smart build planning and reactive gameplay. By carefully balancing crit chance, investing in attack speed, and choosing the right passive and gear synergies, you can craft a Gluttonous Tide build that excels in both mapping and bossing. Whether you favor raw power or strategic execution, this build opens the door to explosive and efficient gameplay in the ever-expanding world of Wraeclast.