[POE] Arc Witch Elementalist Build Guide - Path of Exile

==================== = = = VIDEO GUIDE = = = ==================== The detailed video guide can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVnliH9fLNU ---------------------------------------- ==================== = = = HOW TO USE = = = ==================== - Navigate to "Tree" tab then choose a passive tree in the bottom-left dropdown menu (next to "About"), according to your progress. - Adjust your current character level at the top - Put on and edit example gear or import your own stuff with the Import/Export Build feature. - Adjust gem levels and quality, and enable optional gems if used. - Configure anything relevant in the Configuration tab. Important notes: - All example rare gear pieces use the most recommended affixes for that slot with average rolls. - Mastercrafts are placeholders and signify that it makes sense to add any of them if not present already. - Lightning Resistance and Dexterity are symbolic for each resistance or attribute that you may add. - Enchantments and corruptions aren't included, add the ones you plan to use manually. - Activate Flasks to see their impact on DPS or defense. - Gems that don't need quality or need to stay at a certain level are shown like that, all others are defaulted at 20/20. - The 3L/4L Gem Setups can be put anywhere, their gear assignment is only relevant for Shaper mods and corruptions. - Chill isn't activated by default, change that in Configuration tab if you use Hypothermia and have a way to reliably chill. - The Shock option in Configuration tab always uses the maximum 50% damage increase regardless of your total shock effect. - With less than 150% shock effect, use this formula to calculate your shock damage increase: damage * (1 + (0.2 * (1 + shock effect))) = final damage. - Path of Building currently doesn't show the damage increases and increased Golem Buff Effect from Liege of the Primordial. - Spiritual Aid applies "Minions deal #% increased Damage" to us, after taking the node you should go through Lord of the Dead in Witch area. ==================== = = = GEMS = = = ==================== NOTE: the acquisition of the gems from vendors is based on the class of the build. If you have alts or chars that have already completed Act 6, then you can use them to buy the missing gems. For example: Leap Slam can be acquired by a Marauder after finishing the quest "The Caged Brute" (Act 1), but the same is not available for a Witch. NOTE #2: if a quest's reward has multiple gems that you need, just pick one and then you can buy the other(s) from the NPC that sells gems in that act. Arcane Surge - Level 1 - found on the beach or from vendor after killing Hillock (Act 1) Decoy Totem - Level 4 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) Added Lightning Damage - Level 8 - The Caged Brute (Act 1) Clarity - Level 10 - The Caged Brute (Act 1) Flame Dash - Level 10 - The Caged Brute (Act 1) Leap Slam - Level 10 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) Whirling Blades - Level 10 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) Arc - Level 12 - Siren's Cadence (Act 1) Storm Brand - Level 12 - Siren's Cadence (Act 1) Cold Snap - Level 16 - Intruders in Black (Act 2) Controlled Destruction - Level 18 - Sharp and Cruel (Act 2) Faster Attacks - Level 18 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) Enfeeble - Level 24 - Lost in Love (Act 3) Wrath - Level 24 - Lost in Love (Act 3) Hypothermia - Level 31 - A Fixture of Fate (Act 3) Lightning Penetration - Level 31 - A Fixture of Fate (Act 3) Mana Leech - Level 31 - A Fixture of Fate (Act 3) Fortify - Level 31 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) Increased Duration - Level 31 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) Immortal Call - Level 34 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) Summon Lightning Golem - Level 34 - Breaking the Seal (Act 4) Summon Flame Golem - Level 34 - Breaking the Seal (Act 4) Spell Echo - Level 38 - The Eternal Nightmare (Act 4) Unleash - Level 38 - The Eternal Nightmare (Act 4) Cast When Damage Taken - Level 38 - purchased from Siosa after completing the "Four Golden Pages" quest in the Library (Act 3) ==================== = = = GEAR = = = ==================== **Detailed gear advice along with POE Trade search links: ======= WEAPONS ======= Basic Sceptre: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/n62DMRt0 Basic Dagger: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/8VW8MVIV Important stats: Lightning Spell Damage (pseudo) > Cast Speed > Lightning Damage added to Spells (flat X to X) > Cold Damage added to Spells (flat X to X) Other useful stats: Attack Speed, Maximum Mana, Mana Regen, Atributes, Resistances NOTE: flat cold damage added to spells will allow you to chill with Arc and make Hypothermia more effective. The value doesn't matter, even lowest roll is fine, but the more the better. It is not mandatory to get it on a weapon, but you need it somewhere on your gear (rings, amulet, jewels, etc.) High-Budget Sceptre: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/2X27qjFk High-Budget Dagger: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/G47LpYhb ** Important stats: Damage Penetrates x% Elemental Resistance > Gain x% of Elemental Damage as extra Chaos Damage > Lightning Spell Damage (pseudo) > Cast Speed > Lightning Damage added to Spells (flat X to X) ======= BODY ARMOUR ======= The Queen's Hunger -- a very decent option - it comes with strong Life and Cast Speed and will automatically casts one of three Offering skills every 5 seconds if there's any nearby corpses, that apply to us at slightly reduced effect. Bone Offering is especially helpful, providing a good amount of Block- & Spell Block Chance. Loreweave -- a great allrounder for almost any lifebased build, making it a solid investment for multiple chars. Its biggest strength is "Your Maximum Resistances are #%", and you should always aim for 80%. After that, the important stats for this build are the elemental damage and max life. Inpulsa's Broken Heart -- is an absolute beast for this build and clearly BiS. Shocked enemies that you kill explode dealing 5% of their max life as lightning damage. These explosions can be scaled through Lightning Damage %, Elemental Damage % and Damage %, but not Spell Damage % ! Prioritize high Life and Shock effect rolls. NOTE: Loreweave got quite a significant nerf in 3.6, which makes it considerably less desirable than Inpulsa. However it also means it will be much cheaper as well, so it could be a good intermediate investment. ======= HELMET ======= Basic Helmet: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/PZ6kYqiL High-Budget Helmet: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Blight/PPKolJkFL For the basic helmet aim for at least 60+ Life, some Mana and Resistances. At higher budgets you can look for "Adds x to x Lightning Damage to Spells" and/or "x% increased Effect of Shock". NOTE: Bone helmets are an excellent option as the "Minions deal #% increased Damage" implicit. While bone helmets were nerfed in 3.6 from max 40% damage to 20% damage, enchats now have their dedicated affix slot, thus no longer competing with items implicits. ENCHANTS: "Arc Chains an additional time" > "150% increased Effect of the Buff granted by your Lightning Golems" > 40% increased Arc damage ======= GLOVES ======= Basic Gloves: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Blight/epWOzWiL High-Budget Gloves: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Blight/LgeK6OYtn Basic gloves should have 60+ Life, Resistances and Attack Speed (for mobility skills). Higher budget should be Shaper ones with "Socketed Gems have #% more Attack and Cast Speed" for a mobility- and DPS gain OR Socketed Gems are supported by Mana Leech/Faster Casting/Blind to buff Storm Brand and gain utility/DPS. Round up the affixes with Life / Cast Speed / Resistances. NOTE: "Command of the Pit" unique allows you to have a Lv1 Arcane Surge up pretty much all the time and grant 1-2 additional Abyss Jewel Sockets, at the cost of potential attack speed or utility (e.g. blind) from this slot. You won't need to link Arcane Surge and Increased Duration to Storm Brand with these gloves. ENCHANTS: of Light, ..of the Tempest or ..of Thunder. ======= BOOTS ======= Basic Boots: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/r6B874tQ High-Budget Boots: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/XpdgDJFP For the basic boots, focus on 60+ Life, Resistances and Movement Speed with optionally Mana. You might even be able to squeeze in some Chaos Resistance as well in up to 5-10 Chaos budget. The higher budget ones are just more of the same: more life, more resists, more mana. ENCHANTS: "Damage Penetrates x% of Elemental Resistances" or "Adds 1 to x Lightning Damage if you haven't Killed Recentl"y for bossfights, "x% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently" is a decent mapping speed boost and "x% of Damage leeched as Life/Mana" is a cheap way to help mana sustain. ======= BELT ======= Basic Belt: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/7qpbq7F5 High-Budget Belt: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/qw7DPWtg For a basic belt, aim for 70+ Life and "% Increased Flask Effect Duration", with the remaining suffixes filled with Resistances and/or Mana. The higher budget belt should be a Stygian Vise with Increased Lightning Damage/Elemental Damage, Life and Resistances. The socket itself can be worth about 5-7k DPS + 100 HP with a good Abyss Jewel. ======= AMULET ======= Basic Amulet: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/b7QrvLfL High-Budget Amulet: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Blight/EBG4DZZC5 A decent basic amulet with 40+ Life, Spell/Lightning Damage and optionally Cast Speed, Mana or Mana Regeneration Rate is a solid start. If you can, try to squeeze in some extra Resistances or, if needed, Attributes. Great additions for higher budgets are "Damage Penetrates x% Elemental Resistances", "Gain x% of non-Chaos Damage as extra Chaos Damage" for DPS and "x% additional Physical Damage Reduction", "x% increased Movement Speed" or "x% increased Attack Speed" for utility or defense. ======= RINGS ======= One of the rings should be the unique "Essence Worm" with "Wrath" aura socketed in. It is by far the best DPS option and also enables you to make use of powerful Watcher's Eye Wrath mods. For the other ring, go with a rare one as following: Basic Ring: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/W3Kbnzcm High-Budget Ring: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/v6vdnJtE The basic ones should have 40+ Life, Mana and Resistances, optionally with Mana Regeneration Rate, Cast Speed or Lightning Damage % . Mix and match these according to your needs for resistances/defenses or more DPS, respectively. For the higher budget, endgame, rings you shoud look for "Adds x to x Lightning Damage to Spells and Attacks" or "Adds x to x Lightning Damage against shocked Enemies" in addition to a mix of the above. ======= JEWELS ======= There are broadly two choices here: regular jewels or Abyss jewels. Regular ones are better at boosting mobility and have overall more relevant damage modifiers, while Abyss ones are an easy source of shock effect and can add additional defenses through things such as 30% Hinder slowing. IMPORTANT: if you don't have this covered by other gear you need to use an Abyss jewel with Cold Damage to Spells (or -while dual wielding). Apart from that, for regular jewels, priority order is: Attack & Cast Speed > Lightning/Minion/Spell Damage > Life > Cast Speed > other Defenses For Abyss jewels, priority order is: Shock Effect > Life > Lightning Damage > Hinder > Cast Speed > Penetration > other Defenses Regular Jewels: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Blight/wvp08LRUb Abyss Jewels: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Blight/EBG4mBLC5 Watcher's Eye: https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Betrayal/Ool7z0iE A Watcher's Eye with x% of Lightning Damage leeched as Mana while affected by Wrath is recommended for great endgame mana sustain in combination with Essence Worm + Wrath. This allows you to switch Mana Leech in your Storm Brand setup with Culling Strike, Blind or Onslaught. If you can afford, good additional mods for a Watcher's Eye are: x% of Damage taken from Mana before Life while affected by Clarity x% increased Mana Recovery Rate while affected by Clarity x% chance to recover 10% of Maximum Mana when you use a Skill while affected by Clarity x% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit while affected by Clarity x% increased Lightning Damage while affected by Wrath Damage Penetrates x% Lightning Resistance while affected by Wrath ======= FLASKS ======= Apart from the unique flasks, you need to ensure you cover Curse (Warding suffix), Freeze/Chill (Heat suffix) immunities as well as Bleed removal (Staunching suffix) on the rest of the flasks. Suggested setup: > Seething + Divine Life Flask + of Staunching > Enduring + Eternal Mana Flask + of Warding / of Heat > Chemist's / Ample + Basalt Flask + of Warding / of Heat > Atziri's Promise - provides extra Damage, some Leech and lots of Chaos Resistance. > Wise Oak - provides offense and defense, but requires some juggling with resistances. Uncapped Resistance refers to the value inside brackets in your characters defense tab. You will need Lightning resistance to be your highest or, ideally, equal for all three elements.