[3.15]Archmage Ball Lightning Hierophant, will it work in Expedition?

Pledge staff is soo expensive now damn

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Spattergroit wrote:

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presqueschierke wrote:

Having similar experience with this build as a league starter: Ultimatum is really painful for our build; and it's a good source of chaos :(.

Decided to using all my saving: buy and annoint Atziri's Foible, Agnerod, 5 links chest, Clear mind anid Essence worm and can't still get past Ultimatum in wave 4 in Tier 4 map even. Really need help here.

Ultimatum is painful as hell for sure.

For your build, take out CWDT-Immortal Call. IC triggers a short cooldown on Arcane Cloak when it pops since they are both guard skills, not worth it.

For Ultimatums specifically, link Void Sphere/Sigil of Power/Inc AOE/Inc Duration. Void Sphere is very helpful and you have links to spare in this build rn.

Spec out of Cursed Concoction, imo. To reach that node you have to spend 9 points to gain 31% inc mana. You can gain at least that much by picking up the jewel slots on your tree, especially the one by Shaper which has max mana travel nodes to reach it. If you can afford it, socket a Clear Mind in one of those jewel sockets for good dmg and regen. You could also finish up grabbing the staff block nodes you started picking up.

If you can re-socket your gear, fitting in Arcanist Brand/Wave of Conviction/Sniper's Mark is a nice boost for bosses.

Thank you. Will try when I can log in. It's so sad to see our core items going too expensive this league lol.

Anyone has any explication? I don't think it's because this build is that popular. All recommend starter builds aren't using these items (expect Enki maybe?)

So hum, wanted to try this build as a starter on this league.


Been reading a couple posts from you guys, now I have a bad feeling about it lol.

I've been doing this as league starter and I've been having a lot better time than most of the commenters. Just wanted to say that the build is definitely possible. I've been doing white maps with self acquired gear since I got a decent 5-link staff (same dps as agnerod) from an ultimatum. But agnerods go for 1 chaos so anyone can get that.

I think what a lot of people are missing is that this build needs mana for both offense and defense. If you spend all your mana casting ball lightning then you're going to get one-shot. Just play without archmage until about 3rd lab so your mana regen is enough for it. And even then you gotta watch your mana so you always have some left.

To help with mana regen I took the mana/life regen nodes near templar start instead of the int-nodes. Also didn't go to Cursed Concoction at all and instead just been picking mana/regen nodes closer by. Also just put Arcane cloak on left-click so it will cast when ever it is ready and gives you a ton of mana and guard (with Arcane Blessing and Arcane Capacitor). And the mind drinker anoint is very good for map clearing mana sustain, it costs just couple of chaos to buy the oils if you didn't find them already.

Today was lucky enough to find the Atziri's foible (couldn't afford to buy one) which allowed me to finally get Agnostic and now I can max out the ultimatums in white maps (haven't got to yellows yet).

Oh and pinpoint support on any staff feels good for clear. Don't need sire of shards for anything imho. Trying to save up for the pledge next, essence worm and clear mind were pretty cheap so got those out of the way first.

Current pob: https://pastebin.com/vCWaFKJv. All items on it are pretty cheap (10 chaos or less I think) except the foible.

People seem to missing the point of Cursed Concoction group. You go there when you have Curse on Hit ring as then it gives you 2% mana on kill and 30% mana regen. Those rings are pretty cheap if you are just looking for the Conductivity. It also opens up the cluster jewel node with %max mana nodes.

For me this build had some nice progression steps and each of them felt more rewarding, although I will admit that the first impression when I looked at the prices for certain items was "I will never be able to make this build work on budget".

Personal progression steps:

Random rare wands -> 5L Sire of Shards - helped a lot with the clear and as it's a staff, you get to use staff nodes as well as block chance -> mana regen node.

Amulet with max mana and mana regen (just get an affordable rare if you can't get the Atziri's Foible) - this gave a ton of mana regen and was the turning point where I started considering The Agnostic node. Also, anoint the Mind Drinker, that also helps a ton with regen.

Essence worm with wrath is a nice damage boost.

I have always looked at Curse on Hit items as an afterthought or "rich player stuff". In this case it's both cheap and gives you very needed mana regen and damage boost.

I am currently saving up for the cloak, but even with these 4 (5L SoS (~2-10c), Anointed regen amulet (~10c + anoint), essence worm (~7c) and curse on hit ring (~10-20c), totaling less than ~40c) key pieces (and res capped, of course) I am feeling pretty comfortable to full clear Ultimatums in white maps.

There is still a long way to go, but currently the build feels rewarding proportional to upgrades you put into it, just need to remember to get more mana on items.

Still love the build. In the past I jumped back to it after my initial choice did not pan out. Therefore had plenty of currency after selling gear to get all the main items. That being said, I am going blue collar on this league. Farming the chaos recipe and working on map/maven/conqueror progression. Not even touching Ultimatums at this time. Not worth the loss of XP. Got the Legion up in Glennach (i believe), Harbinger in Valdo's and Ritual in Haewark (i think). Sure, I will not win any races getting PoH, but that is my next objective. Also, don't forget about Heist. You can get your team up to level 2 or 3 and just run the map without getting the item at the end and setting off alarm. I just grab the large loot chest then go to the end and make my way back opening up all the small chest until alarm sounds and make a dash for the door. It has been profitable for me. Ran my Precision, Agility, and Lockpicking with Karst and found enough for my Atziri's.


BTW... My friend found this gem early on that I just replaced with Atziri's. Anyone who wants it can message me in game and let me know you saw my post. Its not a gamechanger but it was a help to me early on.

For people having mana issues while leveling, I recommend using and leveling clarity. It's super helpful early on if you don't have a clear mind and you won't have supreme ego yet so you can have more than 1 aura skill. Moreover, clarity's mana reserved is tiny compared to the mana we get so it's not too burdensome. Still looking for a nice amulet to put mind drinker in but I've been coping so far without it.

So, i got Atziri's Foible and some itens with maximum mana, and the ring with the curse as well. This was a HUGE improvement for my character, now i can do maps to farm my PoH and Cloak of Defiance. Let's go bois, we can do it.

It does feel better after some changes; void sphere is indeed a game changer in Ultimatum. Currently in T9 T10 maps, sometimes I can do all waves, depend on the map mods.

Just got my 6 link POH, and now the build really came online.

Personally I'm running a 4-link Vigilant Strike (linked with Ancestral Call, Faster Attacks and Fortify Support) which gives a ~16 sec Fortify on hit. It feels a bit clunky to use but I think it's a great addition for the close combat Ultimatum encounters and for bossing in general.