S-TIER | BUILD CHASSERESSE OIL BARRAGE AMAZON (@Peuget2) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

Here is a league starter preview of the Oil Barrage Huntress build for patch 0.5, powered by the brand-new Spirit Walker ascendancy (formerly Wyvern). Peuget2 presents here a pre-season version that, in his own words, has « way too much damage » — and he believes the developers made a mistake by not nerfing it before the league launch.

The build revolves around the Oil Barrage skill, a channeling ability that rains a swarm of projectiles on the targeted area. The build’s strength comes from a unique mechanic: as soon as you press Oil Barrage, the game takes a full snapshot of your stats (crit chance, crit damage, etc.) and applies it to ALL projectiles for the entire channeling duration. If the first Salvo crits, the entire barrage also crits — hence the importance of crit scaling.

With a full stack of Salvo (6 additional projectiles), 6 additional projectiles via Spirit Walker’s Primal Bounty notable, and 3 additional projectiles in empowered mode, that’s a total of 15 projectiles per shot that can chain, Fork and hit the same target multiple times. On the defensive side, the Spirit Walker ascendancy combined with Starkonjas Head (additional 50% damage reduction) and the Loyalty support (10% damage reduction) provides a total of 33% less damage taken through the companion that absorbs part of the hits. The build is designed to handle tier 16 mapping and all endgame bosses, including the Orbiter and the King of the Mist.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 5 progression steps from leveling to the final build. Select a step to see the corresponding skill gem setup.

Act 1 (before Rend) Act 1 (Rend Transition) Act 2-3 (before oil barrage) Act 3+ (oil barrage NO tier 4 support) Act 4+ (oil barrage final setup)

Acte 1 (before Rend)

4 skills • 9 gemmes

Flèche de foudreLightning Arrow

Flèche paratonnerreLightning Rod

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Acte 1 (Rend Transition)

4 skills • 10 gemmes

Déchirure

DévorationDevour

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Coup d'aileWing Blast

Acte 2-3 (before oil barrage)

4 skills • 10 gemmes

Déchirure

DévorationDevour

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

Coup d'aileWing Blast

Acte 3+ (oil barrage NO tier 4 support)

6 skills • 16 gemmes

Déchirure

DévorationDevour

Illusion persistanteLingering Illusion

Coup d'aileWing Blast

Tir de barrage Oil Barrage

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Acte 4+ (oil barrage final setup)

9 skills • 25 gemmes

Déchirure

DévorationDevour

Illusion persistanteLingering Illusion

Coup d'aileWing Blast

Tir de barrage Oil Barrage

Rugissement féroceFerocious Roar

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Recommended Equipment

• Helmet — Starkonjas Head (MANDATORY unique): 50% additional damage reduction when the companion takes hits. This is the defensive cornerstone of the build — farm or trade for it as soon as possible at league start.
• Support gem — Loyalty: link on the companion (Wild Protector / bear) for an additional 10% damage reduction.
• Spirit Gem — Lingering Illusion: new in 0.5 — leaves illusions behind you that die in one hit, generating a power charge on each death. A clean solution to avoid having to basic-attack a boss during its long roleplay phases.
• Priority stats — armor / accessories: Crit Chance, Critical Damage Multiplier, Stun Threshold (mandatory on T16+ maps), Spirit, Energy Shield, Evasion.
• +2 maximum power charges on the passive tree: essential to sustain the channeling of Empowered Oil Barrage.
• Defensive layer: Evasion + Energy Shield + Deflection Rating combo (the deflection system was buffed in 0.5).
• Companion: the bear via the Wild Protector notable. With the Trust in Kinship keystone rework granting 30% more reservation efficiency for companion skills, you can more easily fit other spirit gems.

Gameplay Tips

• Snapshot crit: before channeling Oil Barrage on a boss, make sure your crit buffs are active. A single crit roll at startup = all projectiles crit for the entire channeling duration.
• Rend for burst boost: use Rend occasionally — consumes a power charge and adds 50% extra damage as lightning. Link Prolonged Duration I to extend the buff during boss fights.
• Empowered Oil Barrage: adds 3 extra projectiles but consumes a power charge every 1.5s. Most bosses die before 2-3 charges are consumed.
• Lingering Illusion management: place the illusions before a long boss roleplay phase to ensure a steady Flow of power charges.
• notable Inspiring Ally notable: companion damage bonuses also apply to you — take it in the passive tree.
• Avoid stuns: stack stun threshold on your gear from mid-game onward. On T16+, without stun threshold, any stun during channeling will kill you instantly.
• Scaling crit > everything: don’t waste time on other offensive stats — crit (chance + multi) is the only efficient scaling for this build.

Oil Barrage Mechanic and Snapshot Crit

Oil Barrage is a unique channeling skill: the moment you trigger it, the game performs a full snapshot of all your offensive stats (crit chance, crit damage multiplier, increases, more multipliers) and locks them for the entire channeling duration. In practice, if the first salvo rolls a crit, all projectiles fired during the channel will automatically be crits — regardless of what happens in-game.

This mechanic explains why crit scaling is so dominant on this build. Rather than trying to scale various offensive stats (attack speed, projectile damage, generic damage), it is better to maximize the crit chance / crit multiplier pair. Note that with 15 projectiles that can chain, fork and hit the same target multiple times per second, even 7 projectiles hitting per second already produce an absurd damage per second output.

From Amazon (0.4) to Spirit Walker (0.5) — What the Ascendancy Brings

Spirit Walker (formerly Wyvern in 0.4) is the new Huntress ascendancy introduced in 0.5. It brings three central things to the build: tankiness via a companion, additional projectiles, and a keystone that changes spirit management.

The notable Wild Protector summons a companion (a bear) that absorbs part of the damage. Combined with Starkonjas Head (additional 50% damage reduction) and the support Loyalty (10% damage reduction), you reach a total of 33% less damage taken when hit, as the companion absorbs 33% of it. The notable Primal Bounty adds 6 additional projectiles as long as you have a full stack of oils — projectiles that are themselves carried throughout the entire channeling duration. Finally, the reworked keystone Trust in Kinship grants 30% more reservation efficiency on companions, freeing up spirit for other gems.

Power Charge Generation with Lingering Illusion

One of the interesting tech additions in this 0.5 preview is the use of Lingering Illusion, a spirit gem that leaves illusions of your character behind you. These illusions have very few HP, so they die in one hit — and each death generates a power charge.

The trick is particularly effective in two situations: (1) at the start of a map when you have no charges built up, and (2) on bosses with long roleplay phases. No more need to basic-attack a boss to stun until you can channel — Lingering Illusion does the work in the background. Note that this tech was suggested by a viewer during Peuget2’s stream and remains relatively unknown, which should help keep costs low at the start of the league.

Wild Protector and Companion Spirit Reservation

The bear companion from the Wild Protector notable comes with a constraint: it reserves spirit. That’s why the Trust in Kinship rework in 0.5 is so important for this build — 30% more reservation efficiency means the companion will take significantly less spirit, freeing up room for Lingering Illusion, Loyalty and other spirit gems.

Peuget2 mentions he also plans to take the notable Inspiring Ally notable: damage increases and reductions to your companion also apply to you. Combined with the many new companion nodes added around the Huntress area in 0.5, you can either push the companion’s damage (and therefore yours), or take a few nodes that reduce spirit reservation. The final build version can be adjusted based on the target content.

Skill Tree