Archmage CoC Rage Vortex
Hierophant Build

Created for Patch 3.24

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The Rage Vortex of Berserking is probably the best Skill to use with the Cast on Critical Strike Support, but it requires a very specific setup to work. It attaches the Rage Vortex to your character, continuously Hitting nearby enemies until you run out of Rage. After using it once you can use other Skills, such as Shield Charge for Movement, or cast various Buffs and Debuffs. Exerting this Attack will apply bonuses for its whole duration, so you can use the Ambush Skill to guarantee Critical Strikes, but you will still need some investments for your Spell Critical Strike Chance. The most problematic part of such a setup is sustaining the Rage Cost itself. 

To achieve that we will use the newly introduced Ravenous Passion Helmet. It converts Rage bonuses to apply to Spells instead and grants you Rage when you spend enough Mana. Since you will spend a lot of Mana with the CoC setup, you will endlessly sustain your Rage Vortex as long as you are in combat. Since you will need a lot of Mana, the obvious choice to scale your Damage is the Archmage Support, which grants you additional Lightning Damage based on your Unreserved Mana. It also serves as a defensive layer, as you will redirect 50% of Damage to be taken from Mana before Life. 

Since most of your Damage comes from Archmage Support, you could pair it with any Spell to your liking, but the Vortex of Projection is simply the best Skill to use in this Setup. This Transifgured Skill can target up to 5 Frostbolt Projectiles to consume them and explode in their place instead, dealing More Damage, and causing overlaps. It has a quite low base Damage, but great Effectiveness of Added Damage, which is very important for Archmage Support. To get enough Frostbolts you will use the Cospri's Malice which Triggers any Cold Spell on Hit. 

Thanks to the Sanctuary of Though and Glorious Vanity you will have large amounts of Energy Shield sourced from your Life and Mana. With the Corrupted Soul Keystone, you will split incoming Damage into Energy Shield, Life, and Mana. That way you can Recover all 3 resources at once, utilising them fully. You will also use the Petrified Blood, which further delays Damage dealt to your Life, and grants you 30% more Damage with the Pain Attunement Keystone. 

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1. Gameplay

You will start the loop with Divine Blessing or Arcane Cloak to gain initial Rage, followed by Ambush to exert your Attack. After that, you can use the Rage Vortex of Berserking. To move around use the Shield Charge and Frostblink. The Assassin's Mark will be applied automatically. Place the Sigil of Power to improve your Damage and weaken your Enemies. The Zealotry and Arcane Cloak greatly improve your DPS, use them when facing powerful opponents. 

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

The final setup requires the Ravenous Helmet Helmet, so for leveling, we recommend leveling a usual Spell Caster with Archmage Support. For more tips, you can visit our Templar Leveling Guide for PoE using Lightning Spells.

Bandits:

Killing all Bandits for 2 bonus Skill Points is the best option, although you can help Alira to get Resistance, Mana Regeneration, and Critical Strike Multiplier boost in the early game. 

Leveling Skill Trees:
37 Points Passive Tree

Take Damage and Life Notables first. The Archmage Support is available in Act 3, which is when you should start investing in Mana.

72 Points Passive Tree
Pick up even more Life, Mana, and Spell Damage. A bit of Cast Speed will make a noticeable difference too. 

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in the order:

1. Arcane Blessing
2. Divine Guidance
3. Sanctuary of Thought 
4. Conviction of Power

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time; +40% Chaos Resistance against Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Ralakesh: 25% reduced Physical Damage over Time taken while moving; Moving while Bleeding doesn't cause you to take extra Damage

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Rage Vortex of Berserking setup
	Rage Vortex of Berserking - attaches the Rage Vortex to your character until you run out of Rage. The Rage cost accelerates over time.
	Vortex of Projection - deals Cold Damage in big Areas. It can be used with Frostbolts to create more explosions, with a bonus to its Damage and Area.
	Cast on Critical Strike Support - triggers linked Spell when you deal a Critical Hit with an Attack.
	Archmage Support - grants a large amount of Lightning Damage based on your Unreserved Mana.
	Increased Critical Damage Support - grants you a large amount of Critical Strike Multiplier.
	Lightning Penetration Support - allows you to Penetrate the Lightning Resistance of your Enemies. The Awakened version also grants you Lightning Exposure.

[UTILITY] Frostbolt setup Socket in the Cospri's Malice
	Frostbolt - creates a Cold Projectile. It doesn't deal that much Damage on its own, but it can be consumed by the Vortex to create even more explosions.
	Greater Volley Support - adds extra Projectiles to your Frostbolt and sends them tighter patterns.
	Slower Projectiles Support - makes your Projectile slower, so they don't travel too far before exploding. If you have a very good Trigger Rate on your Vortex, use the Greater Multiple Projectiles Support instead.

[UTILITY] Auras setup Socket in the Prism Guardian
	Petrified Blood - delays the Damage you take directly to your Life, making your Leech more effective.
	Arctic Armour - grants you immunity to Freeze and extra Physical Damage mitigation if you are Stationary. With some adjustments, you can also use Discipline, but it is not that good for this setup.
	Precision - improves your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance.

[UTILITY] Mark setup
	Assassin's Mark - greatly improves your Damage by increasing your Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier.
	Mark on Hit Support - you will automatically apply the Assassin's Mark when you Hit an Enemy with any of your Attacks.

[UTILITY] Blessing setup
	Zealotry - an offensive Aura that greatly improves your Damage and Critical Strike Chance with Spells.
	Divine Blessing Support - changes your Aura into a temporary Buff. Using it costs a large amount of Mana, which grants you instantly lots of Rage. You can also make adjustments to use Eternal Blessing Support instead, but it makes Rage Vortex harder to sustain between packs.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Clarity - if you are using Divine Blessing, you can Reserve a bit of your Mana to greatly improve your Mana Regeneration. It also enables many useful Watcher's Eye modifiers. You can swap it around with the Precision, depending on the Reservation cost.

[UTILITY] Movement setup
	Shield Charge - it is your main Movement Skill, it performs a quick Charge towards the targeted location.
	Faster Attacks Support - greatly improves the speed of your Shield Charge.
	Frostblink - an instant teleport that leaves Chilling Ground in both locations. Use it to supplement Shield Charge.

[UTILITY] Various Utility Skills
	Ambush - exerts your next Attack, adding a massive amount of flat Critical Strike Chance. It will be applied to the whole duration of the Rage Vortex.
	Arcane Cloak - a Guard Skill that absorbs a large amount of Damage, and improves your Damage during its duration.
	Sigil of Power - creates a mark on the ground that improves your Damage and weakens your Enemies. You will have to spend Mana while standing in the circle to empower it.
	Enhance Support - increases the Quality of linked Skills, which usually empowers their effects.

5. Gear Setup

You will need a few Unique Items for this Setup. The Ravenous Passion is a necessary Item to use the Rage Vortex of Berserking at all. The Cospris Malice is also needed if you want to use the Vortex of Projections, but you might use a different Rare Weapon if you want Trigger a different Spell. The rest of the Unique Items are important for scaling your Damage, but not for the basic functionality. On your Rare Gear, you should aim mostly for the bonuses to your maximum Life, Mana and its Regeneration, and Energy Shield. You will also need to cap your Resistances and Attribute Requirements. To optimize your Trigger Rate you will need at least 14% Cooldown Recovery Rate, Accuracy Rate, and plenty of Attack Speed. Remember that Rage no longer affects your Attack Speed. 

(Helmet) Ravenous Passion - thanks to this Helmet you will generate insane amounts of Rage. With a higher Trigger Rate on your CoC Setup, you will generate Rage faster, allowing you to sustain Rage Vortex for a longer time.

+(30-50) to Strength (80-120)% increased Armour and Energy Shield Gain (10-15) Rage after Spending a total of 200 Mana Rage grants Cast Speed instead of Attack Speed Rage grants Spell Damage instead of Attack Damage

(Weapon) Cospri's Malice - this Sword Triggers your Frostbolts on Hit and improves your Damage slightly. You can get a Corrupted Implicit that generates Frenzy Charges when you spend Mana, which will help with your Attack Speed.

+25% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Trigger a Socketed Cold Spell on Melee Critical Strike, with a 0.25 second Cooldown No Physical Damage Adds (80-100) to (160-200) Cold Damage Adds (40-60) to (90-110) Cold Damage to Spells (8-14)% increased Attack Speed +257 Intelligence Requirement 60% increased Critical Strike Chance against Chilled Enemies

Recommended Implicits:  Gain a Frenzy Charge after Spending a total of 200 Mana Damage Penetrates (8-10)% Elemental Resistances

(Weapon) Rare Weapon - if you want to use a different Spell, you can use a Rare Sword that improves your Spell Damage, and its Hits Cannot be Evaded. It will require you to get less Dexterity, Accuracy, and Attack Speed on your remaining Gear.

Min. requirements: 80% increased Spell Damage (Essence of Woe) Hits can't be Evaded Optional affixes: % increased Attack Speed % chance to deal Double Damage

(Weapon) Prism Guardian - causes Socketed Auras to Reserve Life instead of Mana, but without the massive penalty of the Arrogance Support. It also grants a decent amount of Dexterity and Elemental Resistances.

+12% to all Elemental Resistances +2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems Cost and Reserve Life instead of Mana Socketed Gems have 30% increased Reservation Efficiency +(20-30) to Dexterity +25% to all Elemental Resistances

(Body Armour) The Beast Fur Shawl - at first you can use this Armour to gain a large amount of Energy Shield and double its Recovery rate. It is not very good, so should be replaced by proper Rare rather quickly.

40% increased Spell Damage (120-160)% increased Energy Shield 10% increased Area of Effect 10% increased Damage taken (50-100)% increased Energy Shield Recovery rate

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - look for Rare Armour that boosts your Energy Shield and Mana. You can avoid Life modifiers to lower the Cost and get the Life Mastery instead. It should be a Shaper-influenced with a modifier that improves the Critical Strike Chance of your Spells.

Min. requirements: +350 total Energy Shield 1% to Spell Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: % of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Elemental Damage Mana  Resistance

(Amulet) Atziri's Foible - this Amulet greatly improves your maximum Mana and your Mana Recovery. It also lowers your Attribute Requirements, which is quite useful. You can Anoint the Essence Sap Notable if you struggle with Mana Recovery, otherwise, use the Arcane Capacitor.

(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +100 to maximum Mana (16-24)% increased maximum Mana (80-100)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate Items and Gems have 25% reduced Attribute Requirements

Recommended anoint:  Arcane Capacitor Essence Sap

(Boots) Rare Boots - use a pair of Rare Boots that boost your Life, Mana, Movement Speed, and Resistance. You will need a total of 14% Cooldown Recovery Rate, which can be split between Boots, Abyss Jewel, and Belt, or provided solely by one of each Item, at a much greater Cost.

Min. requirements: 20% Movement Speed +70 to maximum Life +50 to maximum Mana +50% total Resistance 5% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate (Eater of Worlds) Optional affixes: % chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill Attributes +14% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate (Shaper/Crusader)

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - on your Gloves, you should seek the usual Life, Mana, and Resistance Combo, but it can also greatly improve your Damage via Accuracy Rating, Attack Speed, or bonuses to your Damage. Use the Eldritch Influence for powerful bonuses.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life +50 to maximum Mana 60% total Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: % increased Attack Speed Accuracy Rating % chance to Unnerve Enemies on Hit % of Lightning Damage Leeched as Life % increased Damage while Leeching

(Belt) Rare Belt - on your Belt you should aim for high maximum Life, Mana, and Resistance bonuses. Flask modifiers are also very useful to have. use Stygian Vise to get an additional Abyss Jewel Socket. You can Craft the Cooldown Recovery Rate via the Crafting Bench.

Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life +50 to maximum Mana 60% total Resistance 12% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate Optional affixes: % increased Flask Charges gained % reduced Flask Charged used

(Ring) Rare Ring - on your regular Rare Rings you should mainly focus on Life, Mana and its Regeneration, and Chaos Resistances. Elemental Resistance, Accuracy Rating, and Dexterity can also be useful.

Min. requirements: +50 to Maximum Life +40 to Maximum Mana 70% total Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes Accuracy Rating Critical Strike Multiplier

(Jewel) Glorious Vanity - grants you the Corrupted Soul Keystone and converts nearby Notables. Try to get one that provides Energy Shield Leech. It can also grant you bonuses to Energy Shield, or Lightning Spell Damage.

Bathed in the blood of (100-8000) sacrificed in the name of Doryani Passives in radius are Conquered by the Vaal Historic

(Jewel) Healthy Mind - you can use this Jewel to greatly improve your Mana, at the cost of lowering your Life. It can be used if you have vastly more Life than Mana, otherwise it might lower your survivability.

(15-20)% increased maximum Mana Increases and Reductions to Life in Radius are Transformed to apply to Mana at 200% of their value

(Jewel) Abyss Jewel - the extra Ayss Jewel socketed in your Belt can be used to improve your maximum Life and Mana. It can also provide a lot of useful modifiers in the form of Cooldown Recovery Rate, Accuracy Rating, Attack Speed, Critical Strike Multiplier, or Phasing.

Min. requirements: +30 to maximum Life +20 to maximum Mana Optional affixes: % chance to gain Phasing for 4 seconds on Kill Global Critical Strike Multiplier Cooldown Recovery Rate Attack Speed Elemental and Chaos Resistance Attributes

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - on your Rare Jewels you should try to get bonuses to your maximum Life and Mana. It can also boost your Attack Speed, Accuracy Rating, or Critical Strike Multiplier.

Recommended affixes: Global Critical Strike Multiplier % increased Attack Speed % increased maximum Life % increased maximum Mana Elemental Resistances Attributes

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - there are many useful modifiers available on this Jewel. You can also alter your Aura setup to include different bonuses, such as Energy Shield on Hit from Discipline Aura.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended modifiers:  Critical Strikes Penetrate (8-10)% of Enemy Elemental Resistances while affected by Zealotry Gain (6-10)% of Maximum Mana as Extra Maximum Energy Shield while affected by Clarity Gain (20-30) Energy Shield per Enemy Hit while affected by Discipline Gain a Flask Charge when you deal a Critical Strike while affected by Precision

(Flask) Bottled Faith - this Flask will greatly improve your Damage and Critical Strike Chance against Enemies standing on the Consecrated Ground. You can enchant it to Trigger when you Hit a Rare Enemy.

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

(Flask) The Sorrow of the Divine  - with this Flask you can Recover your Energy Shield more efficiently. Combine it with a Life Flask that grants more healing when you are on Low Life, as it is your default state.

(25-50)% increased Duration Zealot's Oath during Effect Life Recovery from Flasks also applies to Energy Shield during Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding Removal Quicksilver Flask with Critical Strike Chance bonus Diamond Flask with Attack Speed bonus

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