Cast Speed Arcer

This is the second character I have made in this game and it is working out wonderfully for me. I have had several people in game ask me where I got my build from and when I tell them that I don't use builds, they have asked for help trying to make a similar build. This post is mainly for them but please feel free to try it out for yourself.

A little background on the inspiration for making this build. I periodically get those annoying lag spikes where the game stops moving for a few moments and then suddenly does everything you tried to do insanely fast and one day I was like you know, I wonder if I can get my attacks be that fast in real time. Thus began my journey to attain that level on insanity.

This build relies on cast speed and lightning damage very heavily. In the very early levels my main focus was getting spell damage first then circling back to grab the cast speed. I built up towards that top lightning node first and then worked my way over the the lightning and cast speed nodes on the right. After that I worked my way over to get some of the mana reserved reduction node on the far left.

Here is my passive tree as of now

Here is the link to the image if you want to see it a bit closer up
https://postimg.org/image/pfmqnkzgt/

Onto my current gear/skill setup.

Head:

Notes:
I am currently working on getting the Enlighten support gem. I have left that slot empty as to not increase the mana reserved costs of Herald of Thunder and Haste. I generally don't run Haste at the moment due to the reserved cost but once I get Enlighten it will be more viable. I have it in my gear to allow it to level. Since my primary damage spell is Arc, Herald of Thunder is pretty much always proc'ing which is awesome. Lightning warp I mainly use to bypass traps and such.

Overall I'm not really committed to this headgear item itself. The % shield increase and % chaos resist are what kept me using it but I have been keeping an eye out for something better.

L Hand Weapon:

Notes:
As for the item itself, it has built in cast speed increase, spell damage increase and lightning damage increase. All 3 things you want for this build in 1 item.

For the skill gems Vaal Summon Skeletons is great. With this build you rack up souls really fast and since I am in Breach, Vaal Summon Skeletons is a godsend for keeping breaches open longer. It is also a great "panic" button if you get into trouble or for fighting bosses. Just spawn an army on the boss, stand back and fire you arcs at them. Supporting that skill with Minion Life Support and Minion Speed support just makes sense. Keep them alive longer and let them hit more.

R Hand Weapon:

Notes:
65% Increased spell damage along with 9% increased lightning damage makes for a powerful asset. The only thing I wish it had was some more cast speed. Overall very happy with the item.

Ah the skill gems. You might notice I have the identical gems in this item as I do for my L hand weapon. What began as an experiment when I found another Vaal Summon Skeleton gem payed off big time. Yes it takes a slightly longer time to charge them in an area initially but when you have not 1 but 2 armies ready at any time you are a force to be reckoned with. That extra charge always being ready during breaches is wonderful. I have made it work for me. Overall I feel this is the one area that could be changed the most if you had something you were dying to include in this build.

Necklace:

Notes:
I love this thing. 9% increased spell damage along with 45% mana regen. The most important stat for the necklace is going to be mana regen. Get the most of it that you can in your necklace. I kept picking up blank necklaces and either orb of chance'd them or alch'd them. I usually don't have much luck finding rare/unique necklaces for some reason so that was the better route for me.

Armor:

Notes:
For the item itself, I like the % armor and energy shield increase as well as the increases to strength and intelligence. 5 linked sockets is very useful. I gave up trying to 6L it for now and have no real use for that empty socket at this point.

Arc. This is the bread and butter of this build. When you get Arc try to get cast speed support first, then spell echo, then culling strike and lastly iron will. As you level your Arc gem you will see huge damage spikes whenever it adds another chain. I currently have 5 chains in my Arc. Combining that with the double cast of Spell Echo you are a nuke. Add culling strike and you are a master of death. With all the cast speed I have accumulated I have a .24 cast speed. It is amazing. Your two true enemy will be elemental reflect enemies and corrupted blood enemies. Just keep an eye out when spamming your spell and you should be ok. Use your skeletons/totem/golems to handle those enemies.

Left Ring:

Notes:
Quite frankly, I hate this one. I had it because I kept having issues not having enough strength to level gems/use some items. I am actively searching for a better ring now that I have invested some strength in my passive tree.

Right Ring:

Notes:
I have no qualms with this ring. 7% cast speed increase along with 20% lightning and fire resist. A very lucky early find. I usually don't see cast speed on rings so I recommend looking for strong resistances on rings.

Belt:

Notes:
Energy shield % increase as well as strength or dexterity increase have been what I look for in a belt. Live longer and use better items/level gems.

Gloves:

Notes:
I needed the Dexterity increase very badly (I run into issues with Dex quite often). The 19% cold resist is lovely as well as the Word of Thunder enchant I got on it make it quite an asset. I see Word of Thunder going off all the time as things die fast (also for some reason breaking vases/barrels/crates count as a kill for the terms of making Word of Thunder proc).

In regards to the gems, Spark makes a great totem. I usually throw the totem into a room and back out quickly if I want to weaken the enemies or I see an ele reflect or corrupted blood enemy. Point blank is nice because a lot of enemies will try to mob the totem, thus sealing their fate. Culling strike is more or less there just because. I mean it kills enemies a bit faster but I really don't have many green support gems and didn't want to sacrifice damage for more projectiles.

Boots:

Notes:
Movement speed. That is the most important stat for boots in my opinion for this build. You are not a tank. Yes, most things you can insta-gib, but those times that you cannot, or for bosses, you need to be able to move and move fast. Get the most move speed you can.

For the gems, I have Summon Lightning Golem and Summon Flame Golem because I went Elementalist ascend class and grabbed the passive to have 2 golems summoned at the same time. Start with a Lightning Golem until you ascend. It grants cast speed. Once you ascend grab a Flame Golem as it grants you % increased damage. Support them with Minion Speed or Minion Life. Ideally I want to have them supported by both but I haven't gotten the sockets to be the right colors yet. Culling strike is just a filler at the moment.

I didn't include my alternate weapon because I just use that slot to level gems I might want to use.


In regards to potions, I highly recommend that you have 1 that removes frozen status and 1 that removes ignited statue. It wouldn't hurt to find one that gets rid of bleeding but it isn't the end of the world. I like having 1 that grants instant recovery while low life and 1 mana potion. I don't run out often, but at lower levels I did have 2 for a time. Generally, I pick up any blue or higher potions just to identify to make sure they are not better than what I have.

So there you have it, my Cast Speed Arcer. If you have questions feel free to ask or if you think there is something I can improve on let me know. Good luck out there and have fun!

Update #1

Got the Enlighten Gem.

New Right Hand Weapon:

Notes:
Wow what a big one! 67% increased Spell damage, 20% increased Lightning Damage and 10% increased cast speed! The other stats are neat too but those 3 are MAJOR improvements! With this I now have over 8.5K DPS with Arc.