Pappie's 70K Arc (Life based - no Void battery) 1.3




Welcome to my arc guide. I have been playing POE since domination league and this is my first guide. I have been receiving lots of positive comments regarding my dps in maps and I haven’t seen any comparable guide on the forum so I decided to share my build with you.

This character was created in the 1 month torment league and it evolved to the crit arc, dual wand witch that I present you here.



The stats to prove the deeps

With 7 power charges and atziri’s promise – self buffed





Without power charges / without atziri flask




In town




Defense stats





Build summary
- Dual wand
- Crit based
- Life based
- Vaal pact
- Eldrich battery
- Mid budget (no shavs or void battery, but uses level 4 empower and 21/20 arc)


How it all started
I wanted to make a cheap, effective build for the 1 month torment league that wouldn’t be very gear dependent. I had played arc before in standard (non-crit), and I wasn’t so impressed with arc. I wanted to try something different. Lightning tendrils appeared to be OP from the start and I stuck with tendrils until I reached 70+ level. I also wanted to try ball lightning (because I liked the effect  ), and I levelled a ball lightning gem concurrently.

Lightning tendrils served me well and I was doing gg damage without gg gear until I reached 70+ maps in torment where I started dying often. Tendrils appeared to be good at medium/close range, but did not have enough range to shock/stun monsters from distance, letting them get too close to me. Frequent reeps followed.

I also tested ball lightning. It was doing less single target damage but had good range. Its disadvantage was that it was slow (it says it in the spell description: ‘fires a slow moving projectile’). Safer, yes, but slow clearing speed.

By the end of the torment league I was doing around 11k dps with ball lightning and 30/40k with tendrils (40k if I replaced increased area of effect with faster casting for better single target damage). I was playing mostly with ball lightning and was using tendrils for single target.
When the torment league ended, and I had access to better gear from my stash in standard, my tendrils/ball lightning dps increased about 25%.

I continued experimenting with ball lightning mainly and I replaced faster casting with slower projectiles. The damage from ball lightning became immense but the range diminished, so did the utility. As the slower projectiles gem levelled, the damage improved even more, but the short range became unbearable.

At that point, I decided to unspec from tendrils/ball lightning (from all the area of effect nodes) and put them to more dps nodes for arc. The damage difference from my old, non-crit arc was HUGE. In my non-crit arc I was doing around 30k dps, and after my respec, I was achieving 46k with power charges and atziri flask.

After a series of improvements, upgrading wands, using maligaro gloves, my old legacy crit amulet, and doing a second 9 point respec, I achieved the dps I have now.




The passive tree

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMABLMFQgceDkgPxBBYEQ8RlhOeFr8aOB0UJpUnLyj6KU8qOCycLR8y0TWSOlg7fEGHQZZEq0VHRZ1G10lRTLNQMFNSVUtVrlXGXfJh4mNDZJ1qQ2sXcFJw1XGFdhF-M36vf8aCEIIegpuCx4PbhX2J04w2jRmOZI9Gj6aP-pBVlSCVLpo7muCboaIAoqOkkacIqW6smK6zsUK18rb6tz64k7jKuZO86sAawFTAZsHzwwnMt9D11XXVpti92V_audsL217djN-w4BLhc-vu6_XsOO088B_w1fId96b31_no_go=




Bandits

- Oak
- Passive
- Alira




My gear




I have been hoarding many wands and had to opportunity to test dps with many different ones. I ended up with those you see above. Decent spell dmg, high cast speed, crit multi, spell crit is what you should be looking for (can’t have all usually).

Maligaro gloves are important for reaching high dps, you would be losing around 10k dps otherwise.
Voidbringer gloves are also viable with my setup despite the high mana cost. I will come back to that later when I discuss gem links

Amulet and rings: life is essential there, resistances of course, and cast speed. Note that a diamond ring will provide the same bonus as another type ring with cast speed. If you can find a diamond ring with cast speed, then you would get a good damage bonus.

Doryani’s invitation belt: Gives a good damage boost, resistances, and leech, although lacking life.

ES chest with life helps a lot the mana pool with eldritch battery. I am currently standing at 190 mana regen/second.

Note: You need to get some dexterity on gear as this build is low on base dexterity. In my case, dexterity attribute requirements are covered by my helmet, maligaro gloves, and amulet.





Gem links

Wand no.1 (RBB): Lightning warp – faster casting – reduced duration
Excellent for mobility, kind of sucks in tight spaces. Can’t have all…




Wand no.2 (RRB): CWDT(lvl 1) – frost wall (lvl 5)– decoy totem (lvl 8)
My first survivability setup. I really like frost wall as it can proc multiple times in short space of time, knocking back enemies. Decoy totem helps…. well, as a decoy. I decided against linking molten shell as it is effective at high level only. Immortal call would be viable in my setup too but it would work better with an increased duration gem and there is simply no space for it.




Helmet (BBRG): Reduced mana – clarity – purity of lightning – herald of ice
Clarity doesn’t need justification here. Herald of ice provides a good damage bonus and a great effect on kill that creates a chain reaction killing mobs super fast. Purity of lightning is also essential if you want to survive reflect.




Chest (BBBBRR): Arc – empower – spell echo – life leech – faster casting – power charge on critical
This setup may spark debate. I decided against using lightning penetration in favour of power charge on critical. Reason is when I had lightning penetration on chest, I had to run curse on hit from herald of thunder with assassin’s mark. In solo play it worked ok, but in party play I hardly ever got any power charges. I tested the damage of PCOC / lightning penetration in solo runs and the feeling was about the same. PCOC in my opinion has got an edge here as it is more effective vs bosses, keeping generating charges, and being more consistent overall considering that many bosses are resistance overcapped. - CORRECTED: Ligthning penetration does cut the max resistances of the target. It is possible to use lightning penetration on chest and assassin's mark on the curse on hit setup. Gaining power charges will be hard though when playing in groups. -





Boots (BBRR): Reduced mana – herald of thunder – curse on hit – warlords mark
Warlord’s mark is my curse of choice because: a) it gives endurance charges, b) extra life leech, c) mana leech (useful when your mana regen is lacking or when doing half regen maps). Assassin’s mark would boost dps a lot of course, but I prefer the more defensive option here. Endurance charges make immortal call viable in the CWDT setup, as well as voidbringer gloves, despite the heavy mana cost (provided you have sorted your dexterity requirements).





Gloves (BBRG): Vaal spark – spell echo – GMP – increased duration
Vaal spark is a kick ass vaal skill dealing immense damage to everything around you. Works better in small spaces so that spark can bounce and shotgun. If you and uber atziri were locked in a box together (thinking very creatively), this skill alone could bring her down in seconds!






Q & A

Q: Isn't lowlife stronger? I should go shavronnes instead
A: You can, but there are a number of problems. Certainly pain atunement will give you a good damage bonus but if you go with dual wand, your ES would be too low. If you go wand + shield, then your dps would suffer. You will also need to invest points to take unwavering stance. Maybe at very high character level you could see visible improvement. Too many compromises and high cost for not great improvement.


Q: Is this build reflect proof?
A: Can’t say it is reflect proof. I still pop topaz flask when hitting reflect mobs. Reflect has become more scary since I equipped my legacy crit amulet but I haven’t died from reflect since I started using purity of lightning. If you hit a reflect mob without flask, it won’t be an insta-death, or maybe not even a death (I haven’t played a reflect map yet). The solution to reflect this build has is vaal pact, life leech gem, warlord’s mark (more leech + endurance charges), and purity of lightning.


Q: Can I level safely with this build?
A: You need to be careful in general. This is not a tanky build. It only offers solutions to some problems, not all.


Q: What do you mean? How exactly can I die?
Examples: If some rhoas charge at you and chain stun you, even frost wall won’t help; if you warp around without knowing what’s around the corner, you may meet some unpleasant surprises, i.e. evangelists and their flameblasts; Piety’s ice form in shrine is risky too, you can reep easily there without flask. Porcupine beasts are also a huge issue as their spikes on death can kill you easily if you are not careful. I personally snipe them from distance.


Q. You noob, why you don’t use lightning penetration instead of PCOC?
A: See explanation provided in chest gem links. PCOC is more consistent and more useful vs bosses. The dps tooltip would have been higher if I had used lightning penetration on chest and assassin’s mark for the curse on hit setup. In party play though, I would rarely gain any power charges.


Q. Why you don’t use void battery?
A. I did test a high roll void battery and at max power charges there was only a marginal difference between void battery and an old wand of mine. It’s not worth the cost in my opinion. Having said that, a dual void battery should be able to outperform most rare wands as they would give 2 extra powercharges. I dislike fact that you get the full benefit from void battery at max power charges. Rare wands output their full power from the start.


Q. Have you tried other lightning spells since you spec into arc?
A: Yes, I tried both tendrils and ball lightning. There is a huge dps boost from the old spec. My ball lightning (20/20 gem) now reaches 26k dps with full charges and atziri flask. Despite the equally high dps, tendrils rather lost their utility since I unspec’d from the aoe nodes. I am also levelling a storm call gem for potential use on slow/stationary bosses but the like leech is not continuous like the arc.


I hope you like the guide. Feel free to ask any questions. My in game IGNs are OSIAAA / DBOSST

I will upload some videos when I figure out how to make them 
Last edited by Pappie1 on Jun 10, 2015, 3:36:39 PM
Very nice guide! Very helpful and you thoroughly explain everything!


-Koda
Last edited by koda1920 on May 14, 2015, 8:06:20 PM
That good Pavlos kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
so this my build
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMA37Dfikuu6QK9glcr_rNtGdlbH8ctiyt4LJzQ9UGWBUKusxEP215QMEyz3YzZX-ASjRl-r6yYXyp0VY9Gm6H318NtXGuESKcIna5-xxvx5YvkIhpsKU_VpoV97DiePIx2gpsWQPnogsco-uvuuJMNfFfJU1JFnZrgqW618jWS2L3-Crc-QYcqOKcrNbkRUC0fwfOVIFyKuMo7fA_EoqN_xg5IEZZjQ0cG8uFfatvnj_rQ0MMJ6_XyHbmTXfJwUonTcNWkkX4zjDYTnhXn8Gtzs5eXdhEQWNrde9dFfA==
Scion EK
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgAA8pdKyFpSqJqbXSo4qW618m6qtz7-Cti9NZIo-oLH-ehBhyTYhW3VgevutAzqug18V8l3B4cTnKRvnoMJRnG32WEGqTRLCsM6ykq4yjt8D8Sio3_GHNyTJyY8FvMvndD1QZaus0yzLR-VIMHzBUIsnAelAuNJslXGg9sEB18q6-TbC4IeXfIOSBGWcFKJ03DVtUjz6ioLH0EGIxa_Ax5h4iaVVUuMNmqMsNii2cgU9W8V5_Brc7Nknev1j_rsGMHFwwnyHbmTMZ6mV03j_o864fJFakPAVLzqaxcnqQ==
"
Climhazzard00 wrote:
That good Pavlos kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
so this my build
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMA37Dfikuu6QK9glcr_rNtGdlbH8ctiyt4LJzQ9UGWBUKusxEP215QMEyz3YzZX-ASjRl-r6yYXyp0VY9Gm6H318NtXGuESKcIna5-xxvx5YvkIhpsKU_VpoV97DiePIx2gpsWQPnogsco-uvuuJMNfFfJU1JFnZrgqW618jWS2L3-Crc-QYcqOKcrNbkRUC0fwfOVIFyKuMo7fA_EoqN_xg5IEZZjQ0cG8uFfatvnj_rQ0MMJ6_XyHbmTXfJwUonTcNWkkX4zjDYTnhXn8Gtzs5eXdhEQWNrde9dFfA==


Yo bro,

Try this tree for lowlife, specced for higher ES

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMA34pXK_6z6QJtGb2Cpys1uRFQHU9cisHzlSAtH7jKO3wPxKKj215QMEyz3YzZX-ASjRl-rxEPY0MOSBGWf8ZwUonTcNVd8qSRfjOMNhOey70HYxa_5oG2-vemjmQdFI9Gm6H316yYhX0WQGae-tIvb9kTcLvsGMHFPCicvg0fQYf56ILHKPrr7riTpwgNfFfJHarhiEZxtAzqulXWZOcXL4CkdweHE5ykb56DCa6z0PVBlgVC8h1knev1j_q5k8MJX2rb50cG8uF718aeEH8MfcNtXGuESBEvKwq29w==
"
Pappie1 wrote:
"
Climhazzard00 wrote:
That good Pavlos kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk
so this my build
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMA37Dfikuu6QK9glcr_rNtGdlbH8ctiyt4LJzQ9UGWBUKusxEP215QMEyz3YzZX-ASjRl-r6yYXyp0VY9Gm6H318NtXGuESKcIna5-xxvx5YvkIhpsKU_VpoV97DiePIx2gpsWQPnogsco-uvuuJMNfFfJU1JFnZrgqW618jWS2L3-Crc-QYcqOKcrNbkRUC0fwfOVIFyKuMo7fA_EoqN_xg5IEZZjQ0cG8uFfatvnj_rQ0MMJ6_XyHbmTXfJwUonTcNWkkX4zjDYTnhXn8Gtzs5eXdhEQWNrde9dFfA==


Yo bro,

Try this tree for lowlife, specced for higher ES

https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMA34pXK_6z6QJtGb2Cpys1uRFQHU9cisHzlSAtH7jKO3wPxKKj215QMEyz3YzZX-ASjRl-rxEPY0MOSBGWf8ZwUonTcNVd8qSRfjOMNhOey70HYxa_5oG2-vemjmQdFI9Gm6H316yYhX0WQGae-tIvb9kTcLvsGMHFPCicvg0fQYf56ILHKPrr7riTpwgNfFfJHarhiEZxtAzqulXWZOcXL4CkdweHE5ykb56DCa6z0PVBlgVC8h1knev1j_q5k8MJX2rb50cG8uF718aeEH8MfcNtXGuESBEvKwq29w==


Maybe not so viable afterall, still need vaal pact and unwavering stance. You will have to forego the nodes from the middle towards true strike
Hey Pav Gz mate!

Very well-written and explained guide, thanks!

:D~~~~~~~GOOD
It doesn't matter if a monster is overcapped since light pen cuts of the max res and their overcapped res doesn't matter
It's hard to remember what you have forgotten
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why are police looking for missing people? None of them were missing last time I saw them
I have one question about the passtive points. I see many Crit Arc builds adding "increased critical strike multiplier". Are these points for attack not spell, aren't? Why you add these?

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