It's better damage-wise and you gain lots of mana sustain, but will lose a bit of ES from losing Agnerods int.
@FeelsTerribleMan
Cast Speed for Arc, Attack Speed for Leap Slam and AoE for Herald of Ice, it's pretty good for 3 nodes.
@NameMerken
I've added Oskarm, thanks for the suggestion.
@Chibiwong
I've replaced Efficacy with WoC in the Arcane Surge proc 4L.
@AethGorr
In addition to what NameMerken wrote, the ignites are good to get Cinderswallow Urns damage buff in a higher end setup.
@Chronos69
I've improved the leveling section in that regard. Xirgil's Crank is a very nice leveling staff.
@jenesuispasbavard
It's definitely more possible now with the new setup. Someone around the point where 3.9 update comments began was doing a Lowlife version, maybe you can get some ideas there.
@Glend
If you're in SSF, you can add white Golden Mask's to your filter and chance them. In trade league simply just buy one.
@nsantos06
Assassin's Mark, we want the crits.
@rebelriot
I assume you talk about the Lightning Damage to Spells recipe? Make sure the weapon is magic rarity and a wand, sceptre or dagger.
Won't it deal more cold damage than anything else (especially with HoI once we're done leveling), thus not consistently, or at all, lowering the target's lightning resistance?
Other than that, chugging along nicely with the build.
Easy way to get free dmg and help with single target :
As soon as you get 4 socket gear set up: Orb of Lightning - Curse on Hit - Conductivity (or Assassin's Mark)- Critical Strike (or some gem for More damage).
Great for tougher Meta encounters/bosses and Rares in general.
Not exactly sure how to calculate the exact damage of Orb of Storms due to mechanics of this spell but it seems like it makes quite a difference.
Also Steelskin - Arcane Surge - Increased Duration is a must imo again for free damage and very significant defense. Do not wait too long to set this one up.
It's better damage-wise and you gain lots of mana sustain, but will lose a bit of ES from losing Agnerods int.
@FeelsTerribleMan
Cast Speed for Arc, Attack Speed for Leap Slam and AoE for Herald of Ice, it's pretty good for 3 nodes.
@NameMerken
I've added Oskarm, thanks for the suggestion.
@Chibiwong
I've replaced Efficacy with WoC in the Arcane Surge proc 4L.
@AethGorr
In addition to what NameMerken wrote, the ignites are good to get Cinderswallow Urns damage buff in a higher end setup.
@Chronos69
I've improved the leveling section in that regard. Xirgil's Crank is a very nice leveling staff.
@jenesuispasbavard
It's definitely more possible now with the new setup. Someone around the point where 3.9 update comments began was doing a Lowlife version, maybe you can get some ideas there.
@Glend
If you're in SSF, you can add white Golden Mask's to your filter and chance them. In trade league simply just buy one.
@nsantos06
Assassin's Mark, we want the crits.
@rebelriot
I assume you talk about the Lightning Damage to Spells recipe? Make sure the weapon is magic rarity and a wand, sceptre or dagger.
Ah I forgot to make the weapon magic, thank you! Havent played in a while so I was getting really frustrated lol
Love the guide. I played this build a long time ago and I'm using it again for Metamorph.
Any suggestions on how to spend/use an Exalted Orb that just dropped for me? I'm level 46 in Act 5 and not in any big rush. I usually end up with a couple of characters around level 88 every league.
With this guide I want to provide a simple & balanced caster build for beginners and veterans
that is fun and easy to play, scales well into endgame and has as few restrictions as possible.
It's not the strongest caster build out there, but it perfectly fits the niche I want it to be in.
Instead of just showcasing a build, this guide is made to be a comprehensive learning experience.
There's many indepth explanations and links to various wiki pages for new players to understand.
I've tried to keep it short, but some things just can't be explained properly with only a few words.
Questions and Discussion about the current build version start at Page 1259.
If you have a question, please check from that page onwards first if someone already asked it!
For questions about your setup, please make your character tab public - it's hidden by default!
Massively improved the leveling progression and did a small gem change for endgame.
PoB-Setup is also updated with these new changes.
The gear section will very likely see some additions once we know all the new influence modifiers, and maybe they even enable some stuff like a Mastermind of Discord setup.
Art done by sk_gunoo! _________________________________________________________________________
I know that some people jump straight to the PoB without ever reading the guide, which often leads to failure and is then blamed on the build. Don't be that person!
I've invested lots of time into this guide and find it very rude when people just disregard that
and ask about things that are already well explained. This unfortunately keeps happening.
+ cheap & fully SSF-capable + smooth gameplay & progression + fully immune to reflected damage + capable to do all mapbosses & mapmods - not as high DPS potential as some other builds - Lightning has inconsistent damage output - not a deep-delving (depth 1k+) build
Main Mechanics in this Build
‣ Chaining: Arc is a lightning-based spell with the ability to chain from monsters and destroyable objects, even around corners and out of your line of sight! Each time it chains, it will also split to
a second nearby enemy from where it can't chain further. The amount of times Arc can chain depends on its gem level and can be increased by enchantments.
‣ Crit: An effective way to increase damage which consists of two parts, Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Multiplier. The former decides if your hit crits or not, the latter decides by how much its damage is amplified. Crits also have a 100% chance to apply Elemental Status Ailments if all other conditions are met.
‣ Freeze: An Elemental Status Ailment which prevents enemies from moving or using skills and makes them shatter on death, which disables most on-death effects. Freeze Duration is based on the amount of Cold Damage dealt in a single hit relative to the enemies Ailment Treshold.
For this build we use an item that enables our Lightning Damage to freeze instead.
‣ Block: A defensive layer which can prevent all damage caused by hits, but may stun you.
Block comes in two forms, Chance to Block Attack Damage and Chance to Block Spell Damage, each being capped at 75% by default.
‣ Hybrid Hitpool: In context of hitpools, Hybrid refers to combining Life and Energy Shield.
This allows us to reach a respectable hitpool while staying in the upper part of the passive tree and layer the stun resilience of Life with Energy Shields inherent 50% chance to avoid stuns.
Why it's not the strongest Arc Build
Even though many veterans including myself enjoy this build, the main focus is still on providing new players an approachable build without many restrictions, and that comes with a compromise.
So with all that said, please stop rating Selfcast Arcs viability based on this build when it's not even meant to be the most minmaxed highend Selfcast Arc build to begin with.
Besides, I don't think it's healthy for the game to force the most broken meta upon new players. All that does is creating a false sense of this game and lots of disappointment about other builds.
Here's a small collection of generic advice for newer players:
‣ Information: Knowledge is a strong skill in Path of Exile, and it helps to know where to find it. First there's the ingame Help Panel, which you can reach through its icon next to your skillbar.
The Path of Exile Wiki should be your first stop for further information, poedb for plain data.
Lastly, Engineering Eternity is a youtube channel with lots of informative videos.
‣ Lootfilter: You will soon realize that there's lots of redundant loot in this game, a good Lootfilter reduces screen clutter and highlights potentially valuable or important drops. Neversink's Filter is always a good start and you can further customize it at Filterblade.
‣ Flasks: Unlike most ARPG's, this game is directly balanced around using all your flasks.
This goes beyond the typical life & mana flasks that you're probably used to from other games, during your act progression you'll gain access to various utility flasks which grant powerful buffs. Flasks can also be crafted, but it's not needed until maps so i've kept it for their own flask section. For now, focus on keeping your life & mana flasks updated, get all utility flasks from quests when mentioned and try to get a feeling for your flask usage.
‣ Crafting: Gear can be enhanced in various ways through crafting and recipes, while the latter can also create currency used for crafting. You outlevel gear pretty quickly during act progression, so it's not advised to invest too much at this point. Limit it to Orbs of Transmutation, Orbs of Augmentation, Orbs of Alteration, Chromatic Orbs and various Essences you can find for now,
use Jeweller's Orbs and Orbs of Fusing only on useful gear you've looted. Try to focus on intelligence-based gear for additional defense and an easier time to get the right colors.
‣ Crafting Bench: After unlocking your first hideout, you'll gain access to the Crafting Bench.
This can be used to craft a targeted affix on gear, if it isn't already there and has a slot available. Use it to craft any damage affixes, Life, Attributes or Elemental Resistances missing on your gear.
Recipes need to be found first, the Crafting Bench tells you all undiscovered recipe locations.
‣ Trading: You can freely trade with other players if you have a Lv25+ char and aren't in SSF. Path of Exile's own trading site is good for buying gear, currency.poe.trade and poemap are convenient for bulk currency- and map trades. If you want to sell something, you either need premium stash tabs, set up a shop in the trade subforums or use Acquisition. For pricechecks, look for similar stuff on the trade site, check poe.ninja or use the trade macro (ctrl + alt + d).
‣ Stash Tabs: The default stash space is pretty limited, if you like the game and are able to, consider buying more stash tabs. Getting a Currency- and Map Tab is highly recommended, Premium Tabs make trading easier and if you want, a Quad Tab makes a good dump tab.
Purchased tabs are account-wide, you won't lose them when temporary leagues end.
There's also a stash tab sale weekend each month, wait for that if you're not in a rush.
Full Leveling Section
Your journey through the ten acts can be seen as an extensive tutorial, slowly confronting you with the majority of game mechanics and increasingly more difficult enemies to learn to counter.
This section will help you while playing through the ten acts and shows the recommended
passive tree progression, gem setups, quest progression and exp farming zone for each act.
Keep in mind that it may also include some major storyline spoilers, if you care about that.
If you want to explore zones or do quests not mentioned here, or even want to level with
a completely different skill then do that, this section is just an aid.
The passive tree goals are just a pointer, it's not a big deal if you're over- or underleveled.
‣ Kill the Zombie, pick up Fireball and switch left-click to move-only
‣ Get Arcane Surge (keep it Lv1!) from Large Chest and kill Hillock
‣ Buy Spark from Nessa, link it with Arcane Surge and throw away Fireball
‣ Check vendors for Boots with Movement Speed and a second Wand
‣ Get the Coast Waypoint, kill Hailrake on Tidal Island and get Quicksilver Flask in town
‣ Finish your quest in Mud Flats and Enter Submerged Passage
‣ Get the Waypoint, look for Flooded Depths and kill the Dweller of the Deep
‣ Get Orb of Storms, Frostblink and Passive Skillpoint in town
‣ Set Orb of Storms to "attack without moving" (left-click icon in skillbar)
‣ Enter Prison, get Added Lightning Damage and link it to Spark + Arcane Surge
‣ Check vendors for any item with 3-linked blue sockets
‣ Craft both wands with the following recipe: Magic Wand + Topaz Ring + Orb of Alteration
‣ If needed, the recipe for Topaz Rings is Iron Ring + Green Skill Gem
‣ Start looking out for 2x Sapphire Rings
‣ If needed, the recipe for Sapphire Rings is Iron Ring + Blue Skill Gem
‣ Complete Trial of Ascendancy in Lower Prison
‣ Kill Brutus, then get Clarity and Flame Dash in town
‣ Replace Frostblink with Flame Dash and set it to "attack without moving"
‣ Progress to Ship Graveyard and get the Waypoint
‣ Look for Ship Graveyard Cave, get Allflame then get Cavern of Wrath Waypoint
‣ Travel to Ship Graveyard Waypoint and kill Fairgraves
‣ Go to town to get Passive Skillpoint and Arc
‣ Replace Spark with Arc and set it to "attack without moving"
‣ Get Increased Critical Strikes and optionally 4x Arc gems for your secondary weapon slots Gems in secondary weapon slots get experience. Increased Critical Strike is for endgame,
the Arc gems are for corrupting once they hit Lv20. The last slot is empty for now on purpose.
‣ Equip Sapphire Rings and kill Merveil
‣ Once in town, enter the Old Fields first
‣ Start looking out for 2x Topaz Rings
‣ If needed, the recipe for Topaz Rings is Iron Ring + Green Skill Gem
‣ Look for the Den, kill Great White Beast and get second Quicksilver in town
‣ Continue to Crossroads and get Waypoint
‣ Enter Chamber of Sins, complete Trial of Ascendancy on Level 2 and kill Fidelitas
‣ Get Wave of Conviction in town, use this skill to temporarily debuff boss resistance
‣ Optionally get Herald of Thunder for some extra damage
‣ Get Herald of Ice aswell and put it in your secondary weapon slots Equip a Jade Amulet if you lack Dexterity!
‣ Go back to Crossroads, enter Broken Bridge and kill Kraityn
‣ Back to Crossroads once more, enter Fellshrine Ruins and Crypt
‣ Complete Trial of Ascendancy in Crypt
‣ Back to town, enter Riverways and get the Waypoint
‣ Follow the path opposite of Riverways Waypoint until you reach Wetlands
‣ Kill Oak, get Wetlands Waypoint and go back to Riverways
‣ Go to Western Forest, get Waypoint, Help Alira and kill Captain Arteri
‣ Look for Weaver's Chambers and kill Weaver
‣ Enter Lioneye's Watch and get Passive Skillpoint
‣ Make your way to the Ancient Pyramid, equip Topaz Rings and kill Vaal Oversoul
‣ Start looking out for 4-linked Intelligence-based gear
‣ Focus on having 75% Cold-, Fire- and Lightning Resistance from now on
‣ Kill the Blackguards in City of Sarn and enter town
‣ Go to Slums, enter Crematorium, finish Trial of Ascendancy and kill Piety
‣ Get Sewer Key and Zealotry in town and replace Herald of Thunder if used
‣ Go back to Slums, enter Sewers, get Waypoint, find three busts and get skillpoint in town
‣ Get Marketplace Waypoint and finish Trial of Ascendancy in Catacombs
‣ Enter Battlefront, get Waypoint and kill Captain Aurelianus
‣ Go to Docks and get Thaumetic Sulphite
‣ Back to Battlefront, enter Solaris Temple and talk to Lady Dialla
‣ Destroy the Undying Blockade in Sewers
‣ Enter Ebony Barracks, get Waypoint and kill General Gravicius
‣ Enter Lunaris Temple, kill Piety and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Imperial Gardens Waypoint and finish Trial of Ascendancy
‣ Go to Library and finish Siosa's quest
‣ You can now buy all unlocked gems at Siosa (currency needs to be in bag!)
‣ Get Lightning Penetration & Energy Leech, take off Arcane Surge and link them to Arc
‣ Get Steelskin & Increased Duration and link Arcane Surge with them
‣ Throw away Orb of Storms unless you have enough sockets
‣ Enter the Sceptre of God and kill Dominus
‣ Enter the Dried Lake, kill Voll and enter the Mines
‣ Free Deshret's Spirit in Mines Level 2, progress to Crystal Veins and get Waypoint
‣ Get Passive Skillpoint, Summon Lightning Golem and Summon Flame Golem in town
‣ Go back to Act 3, get Meat Shield and link it to your golems
‣ Hold CTRL and put your golems into the secondary skillbar
‣ Complete the first Labyrinth, you can enter it through the Sarn Encampment
‣ Read up on the Lord's Labyrinth and Izaro to get an idea what's going on
‣ After finishing the Labyrinth, ascend to Elementalist and get Liege of the Primordial
‣ Go back to Crystal Veins, enter Kaom's Dream and kill Kaom
‣ Now enter Daresso's Dream and kill Daresso
‣ Get Spell Echo in town and replace Added Lightning Damage in your Arc Setup with it
‣ If you don't have a 4L for your Arc Setup yet, focus on this before continuing
‣ Get Curse on Hit in Act 4 and Conductivity in Act 3 and link them to Wave of Conviction
‣ Kill Piety in Belly of the Beast, and finally Malachai in the Harvest
‣ Kill Overseer Krow and enter town
‣ Start looking out for a Staff (not Warstaff) with Spellcaster affixes A good unique option is Xirgil's Crank.
‣ Once you got one, get Leap Slam & Faster Attacks in Act 3 and replace Flame Dash Leap Slam is still slow at this point, don't worry it gets better with more Attack Speed!
‣ Find the Miasmeter in Control Blocks and kill Justicar Casticus
‣ Get Silver Flask and Skillpoint in town
‣ Replace a Life Flask with Silver Flask and try to roll of Staunching on it
‣ Make your way to Templar Courts, kill Avarius and get any unique jewel in town
‣ Get Ruined Square Waypoint and optionally kill Utula
‣ Finish the quest in Reliquary and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Look for the Sign of Purity in Ossuary
‣ Kill Kitava on Cathedral Rooftop
‣ You will suffer a permanent -30% resistance penalty after this fight
‣ Clear the Twilight Strand to unlock Lilly as Skillgem Vendor
‣ Get to Mud Flats and kill the Dishonored Queen
‣ Enter Karui Fortress, kill Tukohama and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Use Soul of Tukohama for now
‣ Finish Trial of Ascendancy in Prison and kill Shavronne
‣ Enter Prisoner's Gate, kill Abberath and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Riverways Waypoint
‣ Enter Wetlands, kill Puppet Mistress and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Light the Beacon and kill the Brine King
‣ Use Soul of the Brine King for now
‣ Find the Silver Locket in Broken Bridge and get Diamond Flask in town
‣ Replace a Quicksilver Flask with Diamond Flask
‣ Enter Crossroads, get Waypoint then enter Crypt through Fellshrine Ruins
‣ Finish Trial of Ascendancy and find Maligaro's Map
‣ Go back to Crossroads and enter Chamber of Sins
‣ Kill Maligaro in Maligaro's Sanctum
‣ Finish Trial of Ascendancy in Chamber of Sins Level 2 and enter the Den
‣ Make your way to Ashen Fields and kill Greust, then get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Northern Forest Waypoint and enter Dread Thicket
‣ Collect all Fireflies and kill Gruthkul, then get Skillpoint in town
‣ Use Soul of Gruthkul
‣ Find Kishara's Star in Causeway and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get the Vaal City Waypoint, enter Temple of Decay and go back to town
‣ Finish the second Labyrinth and get Elemancer
‣ Go to Act 4 and get Summon Chaos Golems, then link it to your golems
‣ Get back to the Temple of Decay and kill Arakaali
‣ Enter the Toxic Conduits and kill Doedre
‣ Go for Quay first, find Ankh of Eternity, kill Tolman and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Kill the Gemling Legionnaires in Grain Gate and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Enter Solaris Temple, get Sun Orb then enter Solaris Concourse and get Waypoint
‣ Go back to Doedre's Cesspool and go for the Grand Promenade now
‣ Get Bath House Waypoint and finish Trial of Ascendancy
‣ Enter High Gardens, kill Yugul and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Enter Lunaris Temple through Lunaris Concourse and get Moon Orb
‣ Go to Harbour Bridge and kill Solaris & Lunaris
‣ Use Soul of Lunaris
‣ Find the Storm Blade in Vastiri Desert and speak to Petarus & Vanja in town
‣ Look for a blocked entrance in Vastiri Desert
‣ Go to town, talk to Sin and then to Petarus & Vanja
‣ Kill Shakari and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Get Foothills Waypoint, enter Boiling Lake and get Basilisk Acid
‣ Enter the Tunnel and finish Trial of Ascendancy
‣ Get Quarry Waypoint, enter Refinery and get Trarthan Powder
‣ Go back to Quarry and kill Garukhan and get Sekhema Feather
‣ Go to town and give the feather to either Tasuni or Irasha, get Skillpoint
‣ Enter Belly of the Beast and kill the Depraved Trinity
‣ Go left on Cathedral Rooftop and kill Plaguewing
‣ Now go right, enter the Ravaged Square and go south
‣ Enter the Control Blocks, kill Vilenta and get Skillpoint in town
‣ Optionally find the Teardrop in Reliquary
‣ Go back to Ravaged Square and get its Waypoint in the upper part
‣ Enter Ossuary, complete Trial of Ascendancy and get Elixir of Allure
‣ Get to Desecrated Chamber through Torched Courts and kill Avarius
‣ Finish the third Labyrinth and get Paragon of Calamity, if this is too hard keep it for later
‣ Enter the Canals and make your way to the final bossfight
‣ You will suffer another permanent -30% resistance penalty after this fight
‣ Talk to Lani for two Skillpoints and find Zana
‣ That's it, you've reached maps! Now gear up and switch to the endgame gem setup
‣ If you lack currency, run Currency Delve nodes and/or start doing the Chaos Orb recipe
