[3.10] Ewpewww's Archmage BV | 9K EHP (up to 14K), >7M Shaper DPS | Fast mapper, Deathless AL8 Sirus

If you're looking for a build that can both speed clear and complete all end-game content (that is not herald guardian...), look no further!



Showcase videos
T16 Tower Speed Clear
AL8 Awakener Deathless kill

Introduction
Hi all! I am a casual POE player, and have been playing for 4-5 years now. Amidst the COVID crisis and with a new rig, I've decided to try out creating content and streaming for POE. If it works, I will do this more often.

I've always dreamt about playing video games for a living so please help make it a reality. Come support me by following me in the links below:
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More videos


Pros and cons
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Pros
- Can do almost all end-game content including AL8 (will try Uber Elder soon)
- Can comfortably do almost all map mods except ele reflect
- If min-max, can reach almost 10Mil Shaper DPS
- High survivability due to multiple defensive layers - 5k Arcane cloak shield on top of 9k EHP, 75/75 dodge
- Relatively cheap to get to end-game: I estimate ~5ex of investment to take this build to end-game
- Extremely fun playstyle!!

Cons
- Sometimes susceptible to one-shots due to difficulty in getting chaos resist. After all, it is a dodge character
- Not proven to be a league starter - this is my 2nd character this league
- Playstyle can be a little complex due to sequencing of skills, flask management, mana management


Build theory
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This is my interpretation of the Archmage BV build (first guide ever). It takes advantage of the recent updates to Mana as a resource in 3.10 for both offensive and defensive mechanics. Our main spell is Blade Vortex because (like Winter Orb) it allows us to consistently deal damage with a single cast of the spell. We consume as much mana as possible in a single cast to maximise damage from Archmage Support.

Key aspects of the build

Defensive mechanics
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- 9K EHP from:
- 3.8k life
- 58% Damage taken from Mana before life
- 5k Arcane cloak shield
- 75% attack dodge / 75% spell dodge
- >1k base mana regen per second
- 100% eternal mana flask up time to replenish mana (even in no regen maps)


Offensive mechanics
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- ~8M Shaper DPS through consuming ~50% of mana per BV cast and translating that to lightning damage through use of Archmage Support + Fevered Mind
- Extremely fast clear through explosions from 2xOblivions (on weapon swap) + Asenath's Gentle Touch


Required keystones
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- Mind Over Matter
- The Agnostic
- Acrobatics
- Phase Acrobatics



POB Link for the experienced players
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https://pastebin.com/GdjM0yDZ


Skill tree


Cluster jewels
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There are a few cluster jewel notables that are extremely beneficial for this build because it gives a lot of mana regen, mana recovery, and mana recovery from flask. Best one of all is Liquid Inspiration, which gives 15% max mana, 30% mana recovery from flasks, and 5% increased mana recovery during flask effect (which is permanent given 100% flask up time)

Our skill tree allows us to take 1 large cluster jewel socket.
- Large cluster jewel - Aim for lightning damage, 8 passives, and the following notables: Stormdrinker, Scintillating Idea, Widespread Destruction
- Medium cluster jewels - Aim for flask effect duration, 4-5 passives, and the following notables: Liquid Inspiration, Numbing Elixir
- Small cluster jewel (less important) - Aim for mana, 2 passives, and Liquid Inspiration or Openness



Ascendancy choice
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Ascendant (in following order):
- Ranger Ascendancy: Pathfinder
- Path of the Ranger
- Templar Ascendancy: Hierophant

Scion start
Gives access to:
- Duration nodes that are otherwise inefficient to access
- Jewel sockets for Fevered Mind

Pathfinder
- Gives 3 flask charges every 3 seconds, which is huge for 100% mana flask uptime
- Elemental penetration (which is always good)
- Additional movement speed during flask effect - which you will have permanently due to 100% mana flask uptime

Path of the Ranger
- Minimises pathing to key notables (Druidic Rite, Primal Spirit, Heart of Oak) as well as keystones (Acrobatics, Phase Acrobatics)

Hierophant
- Gives 25% increased maximum mana
- 8% of damage taken from mana before life
- Close to permanent arcane surge


Gear
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Strictly speaking, there are no required uniques but I've highlighted in green front the uniques that are most important for this build.

Clearing weapons
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Damage without weapon is sufficient to one-shot most mobs up to T16 maps so use two oblivions for the juicy explosions :D


Bossing weapons
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Ideally you want rare melee weapons (for fortify) that have the following stats:
- Mana
- Critical strike chance for spell damage
- Spell damage
- Lightning damage
- Critical strike multiplier
- (optional) Added fire damage to spells (low roll is fine) - to ignite enemies for synergies with Cinderswallow Flask


Helmet
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Crown of Inward Eye is BIS:
- Up to 21% increased maximum life and mana
- Transfiguration of Mind for increased spell damage



Body armour
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CLoak of Defiance is BIS:
- Free MoM (saves skill points)
- Additional 10% of damage taken from mana before life
- Tons of Mana


Gloves
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Asenath's gentle touch is not required. Could also use rare gloves with high life, mana and resist rolls (to cap out resists if required)


Boots
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Omeyocan is BIS:
- 20% attack and spell dodge
- Free onslaught
- Downside easily mitigated by our insane mana regen


Amulet
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Atziri's Foible / Rare amulet with high life / mana / % increased mana rolls. A well-rolled rare could with elemental penetration, #% of lightning added as chaos damage could potentially bring more DPS but I haven't tried.


Belt
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Rare Shaper/Redeemer-influenced Leather Belt with high rolls for:
- Mana recovery (huge for the build)
- Mana recovery from flasks (also very impt)
- Maximum life
- Maximum mana
All of these stats benefit from belt quality with Fertile Catalyst so be sure to quality it!


Rings
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Rare rings with high rolls for:
- Maximum life
- Maximum mana
- Mana regeneration
- Elemental resistances


Flasks
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- Eternal mana flask: Critical for mana regen, and with pathfinder ascendancy you can get 100% uptime even without killing monsters
- Diamond flask: For more crits as our base crit chance is not the highest
- Quartz flask: Required to cap dodge
- Quicksilver flask: To run faster!!!
- Cinderswallow flask: Need version with stun avoidance in order to get ~90% stun avoidance alongside 'Heart of Oak' notable. Also, makes enemies take 10% additional damage (which is HUGE) if they are ignited by us (we need added fire damage to spells on one of our gears - in my case, it's my sceptre)

Required suffix rolls for flasks:
- Bleed immunity
- Freeze immunity
- Curse immunity
- Ignite not required as 'The Agnostic' will usually allow us to out-regen any fire DoT



Jewels
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- Depending on how much mana regeneration you can sustain, you want up to 3 Fevered Minds
- If you can afford a Watcher's Eye, go for either Mana Recovery while affected by Clarity or % damage taken from mana before life while affected by Clarity. I prefer the latter because I have enough mana regeneration :)
- You need a Militant Faith to turn a keystone into 'The Agnostic'. Ideally, you want to aim for Militant Faith that adds elemental damage for devotion.




Gem links
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Main skill:
Blade vortex
Archmage
Unleash
Concentrated effect
Lightning penetration
Controlled destruction

Self-cast guard skill for more damage:
Arcane cloak
Increased duration
Second wind (for cooldown recovery)
Arcane surge

Movement skill:
Dash linked
Second wind

Power charge generation:
Storm brand (Level 1)
Cast when damage taken (Level 1)
Power charge on critical strike (Level 20)

In weapon for auto-trigger:
Wave of conviction - to reduce enemy resistance
Summon chaos golem - for phys damage reduction

Other skills:
Vaal Righteous Fire - for MORE spell damage
Clarity- for mana regen
Vigilant strike - for fortify when bossing



Pantheon, bandits, enchanments
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Bandits: Alira because we benefit from all three things: Mana regen, Crit multi, Elemental resists
Pantheons: Soul of Lunaris for phys damage reduction, attack & spell dodge; Soul of Shakari for poison immunity
Enchantments:
Helmet - Dash increased travel discuss for clear, Blade vortex crit multiplier for bossing
Gloves - Doesn't really matter
Boots - x% chance to Dodge Spell Hits if you've taken Spell Damage Recently or x% increased Mana Regeneration Rate if you've cast a Spell Recently


Play style
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Regular mapping:
- Always make sure mana flask is up
- Active RF for more spell damage
- Activate Arcane Cloak when on full mana to maximize damage and shield (typically i do that before i crash into new packs)
- Cast BV periodically and make sure you have a few stacks up

Bossing:
- Get to 10 stacks of BV (timing unleash cooldown) - you should maintain 10 stacks where possible
- Use Vigilant Strike for fortify
- Activate Arcane Cloak
- Activate Vaal RF
- Activate Vaal BV
- Run around boss
- Boss dead


Dealing with different map mods
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This build can handle >90% of map mods.. You just need to pay attention to the following:
- No regen or less recovery of life/ES: Don't turn on RF
- Ele reflect: Do only when you have anti-reflect sextant


Feedback
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This is my first build guide so please feel free to post any feedback as comments. Thank you!


Levelling
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You can level as either:
- Conventional BV - given easy access to duration nodes (unlike other classes)
- An arc miner - given easy access to mines

I chose to level as arc miner because I was initially considering going archmage ball lightning mine build.

Here are some low level skill trees to guide pathing:
28 Skill points
42 Skill points
55 Skill points
68 Skill points
80 Skill points

In terms of equipment and skill gems, you can follow any generic arc miner levelling guides (there are many out there :))


Credits
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- Started this build taking inspiration from Youtube videos of dsadsa sadsada. He did not have a proper build guide so I decided to write one. I also made slight changes to skill tree to incorporate cluster jewels.

Last edited by Ewpew on May 8, 2020, 11:34:55 PM
Last bumped on May 16, 2020, 2:47:02 PM
gonna try this build, do you have any advices on leveling? what uniqs/gems i should use to make it smoother
I levelled as an arc miner (only unique that I really used was a Tabula Rasa). The rest of my EQ were just rares that I kept from previous characters. I would make the switch to BV only if you have the required uniques for this build - e.g. Omeyocan, Cloak of Defiance at around level 70. I will try to update the build with levelling skill trees :) thanks for reading!
Hey mate, Looks like a nice build :), Would this build be able to push the tier 7-9 semi-juiced(4 scarabs non corrupted) Delirium in mapssemi-juiced(4 scarabs non corrupted) like tropical island, Burial chambers and promenade? Currently playing a lvl 93 necromancer, its like hitting a brick wall even though i invested like 70ex+ on it. I also want to try smth new, if not ill be playing a full spectre build next.
Hey mate, Looks like a nice build :), Would this build be able to push the tier 7-9 Delirium in maps semi-juiced(4 scarabs non corrupted) like tropical island, Burial chambers and promenade? Currently playing a lvl 93 necromancer, its like hitting a brick wall even though i invested like 70ex+ on it. I also want to try smth new, if not ill be playing a full spectre build next.

The Prev message had some overlap.
Hey, thanks a lot for the compliment!

You mean t7-9 maps? How many delirium orbs are you talking about? With this build, I have done up to t16 / 60% delirious with 3 scarabs (haven't spent time unlocking 5 slot map device..). Perhaps, I will try 80% delirious with 4 scarabs soon and post a video :) look forward to it!
Sorry, still learning how to use this forum. Posting my replies to your questions below.

"
rax4r wrote:
gonna try this build, do you have any advices on leveling? what uniqs/gems i should use to make it smoother


I levelled as an arc miner (only unique that I really used was a Tabula Rasa). The rest of my EQ were just rares that I kept from previous characters. I would make the switch to BV only if you have the required uniques for this build - e.g. Omeyocan, Cloak of Defiance at around level 70. I will try to update the build with levelling skill trees :) thanks for reading!

"
kugaan wrote:
Hey mate, Looks like a nice build :), Would this build be able to push the tier 7-9 semi-juiced(4 scarabs non corrupted) Delirium in mapssemi-juiced(4 scarabs non corrupted) like tropical island, Burial chambers and promenade? Currently playing a lvl 93 necromancer, its like hitting a brick wall even though i invested like 70ex+ on it. I also want to try smth new, if not ill be playing a full spectre build next.


Hey, thanks a lot for the compliment!

You mean t7-9 maps? How many delirium orbs are you talking about? With this build, I have done up to t16 / 60% delirious with 3 scarabs (haven't spent time unlocking 5 slot map device..). Perhaps, I will try 80% delirious with 4 scarabs soon and post a video :) look forward to it!

Thanks for the reply, but what i meant was T14 tropical island map(Chiseled and alched + 4 scarabs) When you hit the Delirium mirror, and kill monsters the rewards tier go up at the bottom of your screen, that tier 7-9 when mobs are extremely tanky and lethal. This method of farming is for simulacrum splinters so clear speed is extremely important to zoom through the map. I was curious if this build can do it when the mobs are extremely tanky.

100% delirious maps arnt too hard, they just take some time to clear though, you should give a go to see how far your build can push.

May i also check if there are gems that i can swap out for more clear speed dmg instead of boss dmg. THANKS! :)
So far build feels pretty good, i still need upgrade some of my gear but i'm already can clear t16 map at lvl78.
"
kugaan wrote:

Thanks for the reply, but what i meant was T14 tropical island map(Chiseled and alched + 4 scarabs) When you hit the Delirium mirror, and kill monsters the rewards tier go up at the bottom of your screen, that tier 7-9 when mobs are extremely tanky and lethal. This method of farming is for simulacrum splinters so clear speed is extremely important to zoom through the map. I was curious if this build can do it when the mobs are extremely tanky.

100% delirious maps arnt too hard, they just take some time to clear though, you should give a go to see how far your build can push.

May i also check if there are gems that i can swap out for more clear speed dmg instead of boss dmg. THANKS! :)


I haven't tried semi-juiced maps yet (can't afford the scarabs :D).. but on T14 Tropical Island, I have done delirium up to 7 counters and the build is fine - cleared boss before fog ended. Maybe i will try it later with 4 scarabs and let you know :) I'm trying to level my other character now haha

Personally, I don't like builds that involve gem swaps (i'm super lazy!).. this build doesn't need gem swaps for clear either - explosions from obliterations (on weapon swap, which is much easier) would do the trick!

Let me know how your character goes!

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