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Explosive ArrowAttack, Projectile, AoE, Duration, Fire, Bow
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (8-10) Mana
Projectile Speed: 3260
Radius: 15
Requires Level 28Fires an arrow which will stick into an enemy or wall, and then explode, dealing area damage around it, either after a duration or when the maximum number of arrows stuck to that target is reached. If an enemy has multiple Explosive Arrows stuck in them, the first one to explode will consume the others, adding their damage to its explosion.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent1% chance to Ignite enemies
1% increased Skill Effect Duration
3% increased Critical Strike ChanceMaximum 0.2 Explosive Arrows stuck in an Enemy
2% less Skill Effect Duration
Base duration is 1 seconds
+2 to Explosion Radius per Explosive Arrow on Target, up to +12
Explosion will have (47-522) to (71-783) added Fire Damage
Explosion deals 50% less Base Damage
Explosion deals 5% more Damage with Hits and Ailments per Explosive Arrow on Target
Maximum 20 Explosive Arrows stuck in an Enemy
Place into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
Explosive Arrow skill iconExplosive Arrow inventory icon
Acquisition
Area level: 28
Vendor Prices
Normal1x Orb of Chance
Vendor Offer
1x Scroll Fragment
Metadata
Item class: Active Skill Gems
Metadata ID: Metadata/Items/Gems/SkillGemExplosiveArrow

Explosive Arrow skill screenshot


Explosive Arrow is a bow attack skill that fires an arrow which sticks to an enemy or wall and detonates after a duration, dealing fire area of effect damage. Any additional arrows stuck to the enemy after the first one will add its damage to the explosion. Additional arrows on an enemy increases the hit damage, ignite damage, and area of effect of the explosion.

Skill functions and interactions[ | ]

Explosive Arrow has two separate damaging effects: an attack and an explosion.

Attack: The Explosive Arrow attack is an arrow which deals weapon damage based on the bow equipped. This component of the skill is affected by any modifiers to bow attacks. At the final destination of the arrow, one of three effects will occur:

  • If the arrow gets stuck on the terrain or on an obstacle, it will leave a single fuse charge that will explode after a duration.
  • If the arrow gets stuck on a target that does not yet have the debuff Hit by Explosive Arrow, it will apply that debuff with a single fuse charge, which creates an explosion when it expires after a duration.
  • If the arrow gets stuck on a target that already has the debuff Hit by Explosive Arrow, the arrow's intended explosion damage will get added to the final explosion. However, the debuff duration will NOT be refreshed.

If the arrow pierces or is evaded by a target, it will not leave a fuse charge on the target, but can still leave a fuse charge on the terrain behind it.

Chaining this projectile will only leave a Fuse Charge on the last target struck, and due to the speed of the initial projectile, can sometimes miss the intended target and collide with an object or terrain, placing a Fuse Charge on the location it hit.

Explosion: When the debuff Hit by Explosive Arrow, or a fuse stuck on terrain expires, it causes an explosion based on the number of fuse charges. This damage is area projectile fire damage, which is also considered bow damage and will scale with sources of weapon damage, bow damage, etc.

If the arrow that applied the Hit by Explosive Arrow debuff is a crit, the explosion will also crit. While subsequent arrows which have crit will apply its total damage to the explosion after critical strike modifiers, the explosion itself will not crit.

Duration: Modifiers to duration, such as from Less Duration Support inventory iconLess Duration SupportLess Duration SupportSupport, Duration
Icon: d
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%
Requires Level 31Supports any skill that has a duration.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% less Skill Effect DurationSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Attack and Cast SpeedBleeding inflicted by Supported Skills deals Damage 0.5% fasterSupported Skills have (40-49)% less Skill Effect Duration
Supported Skills deal (10-19)% more Damage
This is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
Less Duration Support inventory icon
, will affect the duration of the debuff when it is applied, as well as the duration of the fuse charge if it hits the terrain or an obstacle.

Totem: Ballista Totems will execute this attack until the targeted enemy dies, instantly triggering the explosion, or until the totem is destroyed, causing the applied Fuse Charges to last their remaining duration before exploding.

Gem level progression[ | ]

LevelRequired LevelRequired DexterityMana
Cost
Added
Fire
Damage
to Explosion
Exp.Total Exp.
12867847 to 7100
23173857 to 86199345199345
33479869 to 104285815485160
43785883 to 125401344886504
540929100 to 1495543791440883
642969112 to 1684774371918320
7441009126 to 1895837862502106
8461049141 to 2127103593212465
9481099158 to 23813555114567976
10501139177 to 26611388775706853
11521179198 to 29813682337075086
125412110222 to 33316383388713424
135612510247 to 371195664810670072
145813010276 to 414365518414325256
156013410307 to 461301732717342583
166213810342 to 513775999525102578
176414210381 to 5711513819340240771
186614610423 to 6352608382566324596
196815110470 to 70562620247128944843
207015510522 to 783211708088340652931
217215910579 to 868N/AN/A
2274N/A10642 to 963N/AN/A
2376N/A11711 to 1067N/AN/A
2478N/A11788 to 1181N/AN/A
2580N/A11872 to 1308N/AN/A
2682N/A11964 to 1447N/AN/A
2784N/A111067 to 1600N/AN/A
2886N/A121179 to 1768N/AN/A
2988N/A121302 to 1954N/AN/A
3090N/A121438 to 2157N/AN/A
3191N/A121511 to 2267N/AN/A
3292N/A121588 to 2382N/AN/A
3393N/A121668 to 2502N/AN/A
3494N/A121752 to 2628N/AN/A
3595N/A121840 to 2760N/AN/A
3696N/A121933 to 2899N/AN/A
3797N/A132030 to 3044N/AN/A
3898N/A132131 to 3197N/AN/A
3999N/A132238 to 3356N/AN/A
40100N/A132349 to 3524N/AN/A

Item acquisition
Questionmark

Upgrade paths

This item can be acquired through the following upgrade paths or vendor recipes:

AmountIngredientGeneral
Notes
Type
8Divination card inventory iconDying AnguishDying Anguish card artDivination card frameDying Anguish8Level 19 Gem
Alternative Quality: +19%
Moribund, he gazed upon the journey taken as blood trickled down his chin. His eye closed on the city ahead that he would never call home.
Divination card inventory icon
random level 19 gem with 19% alternative qualityAutomatic
1Gemcutter's Incubator inventory iconGemcutter's IncubatorGemcutter's IncubatorAdds an incubated Quality Gem item to an equippable item
Item drops after killing # monsters
Quality GemRight click this item then left click an item to apply it. The Incubated item drops after killing a specific number of monsters.
Gemcutter's Incubator inventory icon
random superior gemAutomatic
6Divination card inventory iconThe FoxThe Fox card artDivination card frameThe Fox6Level 20 Gem"Masters of wit, strength and cunning. To survive the harsh winters, you must be like the fox."
- Ezomyte Proverb
Divination card inventory icon
random level 20 gemAutomatic
3Divination card inventory iconGemcutter's PromiseGemcutter's Promise card artDivination card frameGemcutter's Promise3Superior Gem
Quality: +20%
"I swore to use my position to help the people. What good is power when it just accumulates on the already-powerful?" - Erasmus, Imperial Gemcutter
Divination card inventory icon
random superior gem with 20% qualityAutomatic
1Divination card inventory iconThe VoidThe Void card artDivination card frameThe Void1Reach into the Void and claim your prize.Divination card inventory iconrandom divination card set exchangeAutomatic

Vendor reward

This item can be bought at the listed NPC vendors, after completing the following quests:

Class →WitchShadowRangerDuelistMarauderTemplarScion
Quest ↓
A Fixture of Fate
Act 3
Siosa
Sever the Right Hand
Act 3
Clarissa
Fallen from Grace
Act 6
Lilly Roth

Related helmet enchantments

The following helmet enchantments affect Explosive Arrow.

NameFor generated item/monster modifiers the minimum item/monster level respectively. Some generation types may not require this condition to be met, however item level restrictions may be raised to 80% of this value.StatsSpawn Weighting
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Attack Speed 166Explosive Arrow has 10% increased Attack Speedhelmet 75
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Attack Speed 275Explosive Arrow has 15% increased Attack Speedhelmet 75
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Damage 166Explosive Arrow deals 25% increased Damagehelmet 75
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Damage 275Explosive Arrow deals 40% increased Damagehelmet 75
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Increased Duration 166Explosive Arrow has 25% increased Durationhelmet 50
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Increased Duration 275Explosive Arrow has 40% increased Durationhelmet 50
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Area Of Effect 166Explosive Arrow has 16% increased Area of Effecthelmet 75
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Area Of Effect 275Explosive Arrow has 24% increased Area of Effecthelmet 75
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Reduced Duration 166Explosive Arrow has 20% reduced Durationhelmet 50
default 0
Enchantment Explosive Arrow Reduced Duration 275Explosive Arrow has 30% reduced Durationhelmet 50
default 0

Alternate skill effects

Explosive Arrow has the following alternate skill effects:

ItemEffect(s)
Revenant Explosive Arrow EffectRevenant Explosive Arrow Effect inventory iconRevenant Explosive Arrow EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Explosive Arrow becomes a Revenant Explosive Arrow effectRevenant Explosive Arrow Effect inventory iconYour Explosive Arrow becomes a Revenant Explosive Arrow effect

Version history[ | ]

Version Changes
3.15.0
  • Explosion now deals 5% more Damage with Hits and Ailments per Explosive Arrow on Target (previously 3%).
3.10.0
  • Now gains +2 to Explosion Radius per Explosive Arrow on the target, up to +12 at all gem levels (previously scaled as the gem levelled up, from +10 at gem level 1, to +19 at 20).
  • You can now stick a maximum of 20 Explosive Arrows to an enemy (previously no limit).
  • Explosions now deal 3% more damage with Hits and Ailments per explosive arrow on the target (previously, this only applied to ignites).
3.9.0
  • Now costs 8 mana at gem level 1 (from 18), up to 10 at gem level 20 (from 27).
  • Arrows stick into the enemy or wall and explode after a duration. The duration no longer refreshes whenever a new arrow is attached (previously they were handled like "charges", which refresh their duration whenever a new one is gained).
  • If an enemy has multiple arrows stuck in them, the first one to explode will consume all other attached arrows, adding their damage to the first arrow's explosion.
  • On-hit effects such as Chance to Ignite or Critical Strikes are determined by the exploding arrow, however each arrow's damage is calculated with their independent critical strike chance taken into account. For example, if the exploding arrow did not successfully roll a critical strike or ignite, the explosion will not ignite. If two other arrows were also attached at the point of the explosion and they successfully rolled to critically strike, they will add their critical strike damage to the explosion, but it will not cause an ignite (or trigger any other on-critical-strike effects).
  • Explosions now deal 50% of base damage (previously weapon damage was not taken into account).
  • Explosions now also deal added fire damage based on gem level, up to 522 to 783 at gem level 20 (from 586 to 879).
  • Now inherits its base critical strike chance from your weapon (previously had a 6% base critical strike chance).
  • Now gains +2 to explosion radius up to a cap determined by gem level, up to +19 at gem level 20. Previously it naturally capped at +10 due to the charge limit.
  • Explosions now deal 3% more damage with Ignite per explosive arrow on the target.
1.1.1b
  • Fixed a bug that caused the first level of Explosive Arrow to have a greater mana cost than intended.
0.9.12m
0.9.12f
  • Fixed a client crash with Explosive Arrow.
0.9.12
  • Explosive Arrows now have their own arrow effect. If they miss and stick into terrain,
    they'll explode as normal after a short time.
  • Now does not explode each time it pierces through monsters.
0.9.8
  • Reduced the mana cost.
0.9.5
  • Made Explosive Arrow more powerful. The damage has been increased and the fuse time is now one second.
0.9.4
  • Increased the damage Explosive Arrow.
0.9.3g
  • Changed Explosive Arrow to not have the damage scaled by mods that affect Spell Damage.
0.9.3e
  • Increased damage by 15%.
0.9.2g
  • Fixed a server crash that would occasionally occur when using Explosive Arrow.
0.9.2f
  • Fixed a bug with Explosive Arrow not exploding serverside when the monster is killed by the arrow outright.
  • Fixed a bug with Explosive Arrow interacting badly with other buffs.
  • Fixed two server crashes that occured rarely when using Explosive Arrow.
0.9.2b
  • Updated the description to describe that the Area of effect of the explosion is proportional
    to the number of fuse charges.
0.9.2
  • Explosive Arrow has been added to the game.

References[ | ]

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