[3.11] Gryph's BRAND new VD -- Arcanist Brand/Archmage -Theorycraft
 Hey everybody! Let's introduce my planned 3.11 starter Volatile Dead build. And OMG it's NOT Spellslinger :D Volatile Dead Archmage with Arcanist Brand Desecrate
Spoiler
When I heard about Arcanist Brand my first thought was abusing it with a Corpse Consuming Skill (VD) and Necromancer's Corpse Pact. Corpse pact would boost activation frequency exponentially and go into an insane loop of balls and explosions... (Un)fortunately, GGG saw that and put a 200% cast speed limit on Corpse Pact. Lul. 
What is Arcanist Brand Exactly?
  The original idea was to Link Desecrate and Volatile Dead in the same links so that they properly interchange with each activation. And due to corpse pact, the activations would become faster....and faster...AND FASTER (capped at 200% increased cast speed). So that was the basic idea! And then someone pointed out that Arcanist Brand and Archmage Support don't mix as Archamge cannot support triggered skills...*facepalm*
Archmage, Can we make it usable?
Archmage Support as we know it is dead. That does not mean that we, the NECROMANCER, cannot bring it back to LIFE! Make it *ahem* UNdead. :P Now, in order to utilize Archmage Support we cannot have VD on Arcanist Brand (sad). BUUUT we *can* use Arcanist Brand for Desecrate and (possibly) Unearth while we self cast Volatile Dead. With this setup we'll want increased duration on the brands and then we can happily recall them and recast as needed while our massive cast speed and VD AOE coverage takes care of the rest. Now naturally, it's not going to be as busted as it was in 3.10 with all of the mana cost boosting items. Buuuut if we have a massive mana pool and SOME increased mana cost (tree and new Fevered mind) we can still get very respectable damage from it. It is still the top damage support for big mana builds. And yes, we'll be able to support the 2k+ mana cost.
All The Pieces
Rather than try to explain it all, I'm just gonna put it out here:      Basically, we have a TON of mana and mana sustain. This let's us easily sustain Righteous Fire as well as have superb Life Recovery in place.
POB Starter Pack
https://pastebin.com/uM8ZvS7t
Using some pretty unrealistic Triple T1 Mana+Life+Mana Regen rings, but it does give you an idea of the absolute best you can get on this. Everything is an experiment. This is far from perfect and will need to be tested. I plan to test it. If it ends up sucking I'll switch to Spellslinger. Lol.
Update
So arcanist brand was a bust for spawning corpses. I have converted this build into a very similar Cremation Archmage Necromancer.
The guide for which can be found Here. Last edited by Gryphenprey on Jun 22, 2020, 11:26:12 PM Last bumped on Jun 23, 2020, 8:38:00 AM
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This is looking quite promising, i was looking to start as something similar. Using the agnostic and stubborn student passives is a very nice idea. Can't wait to see how this plays out.
Do you think it may be a good idea to trigger desecrate elsewhere for an extra link for VD? Last edited by Karriane on Jun 18, 2020, 1:15:14 AM
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Would it be possible to have Desecrate on a different Arcanist Brand than VD? It's a bit more button mashing but VD would do more damage. The penalty on Arcanist Brand is pretty severe, and you can't have more than 10 corpses out at a time with Desecrate (though I imagine not all the brands will cast Desecrate at the same time).
Edit: With the new Undertaker Notable, 1 Arcanist Brand - Desecrate - Spell Cascade would spawn 12 corpses, enough to fuel 4 VD Arcanist Brands. That is, if you can have 2 different Arcanist Brands. We'll have to see. In any case, very interesting build concept with a lot of potential silliness! Will try it out! Last edited by Flameseeker_Mage on Jun 18, 2020, 2:42:15 AM
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Arcanist Brand triggers spells. Archmage doesn't work on triggered spells so any aspect of damage scaling through mana is gone. Though your survivability will still be great.
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" Oh well ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Indigon would work in that case, though it likely won't reach the same amount of deeps |
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" This is something that I *want* to work, but in practice on single target you can only have two brands attached at a time to a boss and you'd lose a lot of damage as a result. Also that's a LOT of micromanaging, though I do get the thought process behind it. " Hmmm, yeah boo. You're right. For some reason I just figured that you're sill "casting" the brand and it'd work. Yeah so back to Indigon + Arcane Cloak for damage. Lul. Main reason I didn't stick with Indigon before as a concept was that it'd be too clunky with with Archmage. But it combos very nicely with Arcane Cloak and a big mana pool. Edit, a thought: What if we self cast Volatile Dead and let brands cast unearth+Desecrate? Kinda like mini unkillable totems. This would let me still use Archmage Support for damage. Will be something to test. This also takes care of damage woes. gets upwards of 2k mana cost with over 8k regen. Seems fine to me. Last edited by Gryphenprey on Jun 18, 2020, 4:06:55 AM
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Looks interesting, I was planning on going spellslinger VD this league, but as the console is (nearly) a week later than the PC, I'll keep an eye on how this pans out and make a decision closer to console release!
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" Yes! Spellslinger VD is going to be how I level until I get to finish Merc Lab most likely. Will also be my backup if this flops hard. haha. |
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Good idea! And I am gonna do this with my Hiero lol
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Eldrich Battery ? The use of the 8% Mana / 8% Energy Shield Regen per Corpse / MoM
Last edited by SPYDER680 on Jun 18, 2020, 9:39:23 AM
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