Arc
Elementalist Build

Updated for Patch 3.20

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Patch 3.17 reinvigorated self-casters, Spell Hits deals now more damage and there are new Cast Speed modifiers. This build explores the Elementalis version of a self-cast Arc - more specifically a Golemancer. With four or five Golems and the increased effect of Buffs they grant, it's safe to assume this is one of the most viable builds based on that ascendancy in the current version of the game. Arc is great for clearing, but due to the nature of the build, it can be swapped for any Lightning Spell, for example, a Ball Lightning. It's a Life build that uses Life and some Energy Shield that inevitably is gathered from Items and Intelligence. With a Staff, you also have some Block Chance that you can later expand on.

Golem's Buffs increases your offense and defense. Each of the summoned Golems will grant you Increased Damage, Cast Speed, Physical Damage Reduction, Critical Strike Chance, and Life Regeneration. You can Summon all the Golems thanks to your Ascendancy, Golem Commander Notable, and The Anima Stone (which is expensive and optional). The best part of it is that you won't need to resummon them after they die, they'll do it automatically after 4 seconds, so it's comparable to how Auras works - you just don't need to reserve Mana. Your Golem's Skill Gems should be of Anomalous Quality as you need them only for their powerful buffs.

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1. Gameplay

The Skill of your choice is Arc - it's excellent for clearing maps, you just need to aim in the general direction of an enemy and it clears the whole screen. Arc linked with generic Spell Support Gems will be used to kill bosses as well as small games. Using a Staff brings you the advantage of another 6-link. It's where you can put your Orb of Storms granting you miscellaneous buffs. For passive skills use Auras like Wrath, Zealotry, Herald of Thunder, and various Golems. Flame Dash or Lightning Warp can be used as a mobility tool, and for Guard Spell use Molten Shell.

This video was recorded on a level 94 Elementalist with a level 24 Vaal Arc in total, and approximately 4kk fully buffed DPS against Shaper (this doesn't include the multiplier for remaining chains that should work against single-target)

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can start using Arc right from the start, in act 3 you'll be able to link it with Archmage Support. We recommend crafting a weapon with added Lightning Damage to Spells using Vendor Recipe: Magic Wand or Sceptre, Topaz Ring, and Orb of Alteration. Start with stats such as Life and Lighting Damage, then specialize in Block Chance, Critical Strike Chance, and Multiplier. Lightning, Ice, and Fire Golems give you more DPS, Chaos, and Stone Golems are defensive-oriented ones that one of which you'll summon after you can afford The Anime Stone. There is not much more to say, the leveling process is pretty simple and does not differ too much from the mapping.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Arc setup
	Arc - A fine Spell if you value clear speed and user-friendliness.
	Inspiration Support - Immensely beneficial Gem, it grants you Crit. Chance, Elemental Damage, and lowers Mana Cost of the Arc.
	Lightning Penetration Support - Makes Arc penetrate some Lightning Resistance, it's better against more durable monsters later in the game.
	Added Lightning Damage Support - Another huge bonus to DPS.
	Spell Echo Support - In Act 4 you can equip this to Cast at a higher rate.
	Faster Casting Support - You may want to have an increased Cast Speed.

Golems setup
	Summon Ice Golem - Increases your Critical Strike Chance and Accuracy Rating (the latter being irrelevant).
	Summon Flame Golem - Increases your Damage directly.
	Summon Lightning Golem - This Golem increases your Attack and Cast Speed, effectively boosting your DPS.
	Summon Chaos Golem - For more Physical Damage Reduction.

various Gems
	Molten Shell - A Guard Spell that presents a portion of the damage.
	Conductivity - Lowers the Lightning Resistance of cursed enemies.
	Flame Dash - Travel Spell that increases your mobility.
	Wrath - Start using Wrath early for more Lightning Damage.

Bandits:

Killing all Bandits for two additional Passive Points is the best option

Leveling Skill Trees:

33 Points Skill Tree
Go get the Maximum Life, Lightning, and Spell Damage nodes

69 Points Skill Tree
Take Golem Commander, find more Maximum Life, Sovereignty, and Critical Strike nodes nearby

Recommended leveling items:

Dream Fragments - For more Mana and Cold Resistance and Cold Ailments immunity.

+(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 20% increased maximum Mana 50% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(30-40)% to Cold Resistance Cannot be Chilled Cannot be Frozen

Praxis - For more Mana and lower Mana cost of Skills.

+(20-30) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana Regenerate (3-6) Mana per second -(8-4) to Total Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit

Lifesprig - Level-1 Wand that's quite good for Spell Casters.

(8-12)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Spell Gems (20-28)% increased Spell Damage (5-8)% increased Cast Speed +(15-20) to maximum Life +(15-20) to maximum Mana Regenerate (6-8) Life over 1 second when you Cast a Spell

Goldrim - A helmet that's good for leveling most of the builds, this build is no exception.

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Tabula Rasa - Allows you to link any six Gems from the start.

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

123 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Liege of the Primordial
2. Elemenacer
3. Shaper of Storms
4. Mastermind of Discord

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Solaris: 6% additional Physical Damage Reduction while there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits

Minor God: Soul of Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you, Cannot be Blinded, You cannot be Maimed

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Arc setup
	Arc - A Chaining Lightning Spell that automatically Hits multiple enemies and doesn't require aiming.
	Inspiration Support - Lowered Mana Cost, increased Critical Strike Chance, and Elemental Damage are all very important stats.
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - It would be hard to reach 100% Crit Chance without this Gem, but if you managed to, definitely switch it for  Increased Critical Damage Support.
	Spell Echo Support - Spell is repeated with increased Cast Speed and slightly lower damage, but to Cast a Spell faster is to deal more Damage.
	Lightning Penetration Support - Use to penetrate the Lightning Resistance of your opponents.
	Added Lightning Damage Support - For additional Lightning Damage.

[UTILITY] Orb of Storms
	Orb of Storms - It's a static Orb that repeatedly and rapidly Hits enemies in its radius.
	Arcane Surge Support - Don't level up this gem too much, a single Cast of Orb of Storms should activate it.
	Power Charge on Critical Support - Generates Power Charges which increase your Critical Strike Chance.
	Culling Strike Support - Makes it actually possible to kill enemies with Orb of Storms, it's extra useful against bosses with less than 10% of Maximum Life because it kills them.
	Onslaught Support - When you kill an enemy or Hit a Unique one you have a chance to gain Onslaught.

[UTILITY] various gems
	Flame Dash - Flame Dash is a great movement skill, it holds up to three charges allowing to you dash three times in rapid succession.
	Molten Shell -  One of the best Guard Spells given that you have at least 10k of Armour.
	Vaal Righteous Fire - The Vaal variant grants more Spell Damage.
	Wave of Conviction - Applies Exposure on Hit which reduces Elemental Resistance.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Wrath - It's an additional and increased Lighting Damage for your Spells.
	Determination - Determination adds and increases Armour.
	Zealotry - Increased Spell Damage and Critical Strike Chance for Spells, allows you to create a Consecrated Ground during Boss Fights.
	Enlighten Support - Lowers the Reservation Cost of linked Spells.

[UTILITY] Golems Note: Golems do not require any links
	Summon Ice Golem - summons Ice Golem that increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance (the first one is irrelevant for this build)
	Summon Flame Golem - summons Flame Golem that increases your Global Damage
	Summon Chaos Golem - summons Chaos Golem that grants a very high Physical Damage mitigation bonus
	Summon Lightning Golem - summons Lightning Golem that increases your Attack and Cast Speed
	Summon Stone Golem - Stone Golem grants high Life Regeneration

[UTILITY] Conductivity
	Conductivity - Conductivity reduces the Lightning Resistance of your enemies, find a way to apply it automatically for example via Ring Affix.

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark
	Assassin's Mark - It's better than Conductivity in most cases, but if you can apply a second Curse with the easily-accessible Whispers of Doom notable pick both.

6. Gear Setup

It can be played as a Starter build so it doesn't require any Unique Items. Inpulsa's Broken Heart is definitely one of the Body Armour that's great to have later on. Look for Critical Strike modifiers, increased and added Lightning Damage with Spells, increased Gem Level of Arc, and Cast Speed to increase your Damage. For defenses firstly cap your Elemental Resistances, get Maximum Life, and then seek Armour and Block Chance. You should also find a source of Life and ES Leech (on a Passive Skill tree you can pick Elemental Mastery or Light Eater for ES Leech). Here we've decided to use a Staff, but if you have two powerful Wands, Sceptres, or Daggers that would increase the Gem Level of Arc by two each, use them.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - Get more Life, Resistances, and later as you can afford more sophisticated gear, Crusader's "Nearby Enemies have -9% to Lightning Resistance".

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Nearby Enemies have -9% to Lightning Resistance Chaos Resistance

Helmet enchantments: 40% increased Arc Damage Arc deals 12% increased Damage for each time it has Chained Arc Chains an additional time

(Weapon) Rare Staff - It's a currency sink for the build and its most important part, the abundance of useful mods is overwhelming, and there always will be a better Staff you can either buy or craft. Focus on increased or added Spell Lightning Damage and Critical Strike Chance.

Min. requirements: 25% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells 100% increased Spell Damage Adds (3–9) to (109–115) Lightning Damage to Spells Optional affixes: increased Lightning Damage increased Cast Speed Adds Lightning Damage to Spells +% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier +3 to Level of all Lightning Spell Skill Gems

(Weapon) The Annihilating Light - An extremely good Staff for its price, it triples your Elemental Damage but reduces Elemental Resistances.

+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff (70-60)% reduced Elemental Resistances Deal Triple Damage with Elemental Skills

(Body Armour) Inpulsa's Broken Heart - a Unique Item that makes clearing maps noticeably faster, but it lacks Elemental Resistances

+(60-80) to maximum Life (20-50)% increased Damage if you have Shocked an Enemy Recently (15-25)% increased Effect of Shock Shocked Enemies you Kill Explode, dealing 5% of their Life as Lightning Damage which cannot Shock Unaffected by Shock

(Body Armour) Skin of the Lords - It increases the level of socketed Gems by two, increases Armour, and Energy Shield. You may want to socket your Arc here.

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Sockets cannot be modified +2 to Level of Socketed Gems 100% increased Global Defences You can only Socket Corrupted Gems in this item Item has 6 Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) <Random Keystone>

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Besides Life and Resistances try to get a mod with more Spell Crit. Chance for Spells - it's "more", not "increased", which is much better.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances +1% to Spell Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Dexterity Energy Shield You can apply an additional Curse increased maximum Life

(Boots) Rare Boots - Life, Resistances, and Movement Speed are the mods to look for here.

Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed +50% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently Cannot be Frozen (crafted)

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - After you have enough defensive mods start looking for an increased Global Critical Strike Chance affix.

Min. requirements: +50 to maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance Dexterity Spell Damage/Damage while Leeching

(Belt) Rare Belt - Life, Strength, and Resistances are the only affordable mods worth looking for on a Belt.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances Strength Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage Maximum Energy Shield increased Damage increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - Amulets offer a huge variety of mods, but you should be the most interested in Life, Resistances, increased Crit. Chance and Multiplier, Lightning Spell Damage, and increased Gem Level for your Arc.

Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances 30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: Global Critical Strike Multiplier +1 to Level of all Intelligence Skill Gems +1 to Level of all Lightning Skill Gems Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted)

(Amulet) Ashes of the Stars - Ashes is great for such builds, where you need the extra Gem Level, Reservation Efficiency, Attributes, and even Quality for Gems.

+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems (10-20)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems

Recommended Anointments: Counterweight Storm Weaver Breath of Lightning Assassination Heartseeker

(Ring) Rare Ring - One of your Rings should Curse enemies in Hit with a Conductivity Curse, also try to get the defensive stats and some of the offensive ones as was the case with Amulet.

Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Curse Enemies with Conductivity on Hit Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance Non-channeling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Added Lightning Damage to Spells

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - These should provide extra Life and some other various stats.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Elemental Resistances Attributes Increases Lightning Damage Increases Critical Strike Multiplier

(Jewel) Primordial Eminence - Golems grant you increased Buff Effect which is the main reason you use them.

Golems have (16-20)% increased Attack and Cast Speed 30% increased Effect of Buffs granted by your Golems Golems have +(800-1000) to Armour Primordial

(Jewel) Primordial Might - If one of your Golems dies and is then re-summoned, you deal increased Damage for the next 8 seconds.

(25-30)% increased Damage if you Summoned a Golem in the past 8 seconds Golems Summoned in the past 8 seconds deal (35-45)% increased Damage Golems have (18-22)% increased Maximum Life Summoned Golems are Aggressive Primordial

(Jewel) Thread of Hope - You can later get a copy of this Jewel with a Medium-sized ring and put it next to Instability, this way you can allocate Heart of Thunder, Breath of Lightning, and Golem Commander.

Only affects Passives in Medium Ring Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree -(20-10)% to all Elemental Resistances

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - one of the best Jewels in the game which can grant powerful Wrath Aura modifiers to boost your damage. It also grants extra Life, Mana, and Energy Shield

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura modifiers: Damage Penetrates (10-15)% Lightning Resistance while affected by Wrath (70-100)% increased Critical Strike Chance while affected by Wrath

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - One Large Cluster Jewel is more than enough. Look for the mods listed below, Doryani's Lesson is a great source of Life Leech

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Overshock

(Flask) Bottled Faith - The Critical Stike Chance and Consecrated Ground effect are extremely good in almost every build.

40% increased Damage Requires Level 35 Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - One of the best defensive flasks, keeps your Armour and Block Chance high.

+1500 to Armour +(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Life Flask of Staunching for Bleed removal Diamond Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance Quicksilver Flask with increased Cast Speed Mana Flask with random ailment removal

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.