[3.14] Archmage Bladefall Blade Blast Trickster

Hello and welcome to the guide for my Archmage BF/BB Trickster!

The goal of this build was to use the great life and mana regen from Patient Reaper and Weave the Arcane to fuel the mechanics of Archmage support, The Agnostic keystone, Righteous Fire and Omeyocan boots.

Archmage and BF/BB brief explanation
Spoiler
If you're unfamiliar with how Archmage works, the basic concept is to stack a lot of mana to scale up the mana cost and thus the lightning damage of supported skills. The way Bladefall and Blade Blast works is you that cast Bladefall to leave lingering blades on the ground that you then blow up with Blade Blast.


Video Guide
https://youtu.be/p2ZMqfwREgs

PoB
https://pastebin.com/D99QtmWV

Raider seems to be the most popular choice for the Archmage BF/BB shell, but I thought Trickster seemed like it would be a great alternative with some interesting mechanics. Raider seems to be the more well-rounded choice but my aim for this build was to be a smooth and efficient mapper.

The biggest reason for going trickster is Patient Reaper, and the way we proc it through using a jewel with % chance to poison on hit. Killing enemies on burning ground from Flame Dash works aswell but is not nearly as reliable.


Although you can still defeat most of the bosses in the game, like Sirus 8 and Uber Elder, conquerors and guardians with this build. However mapping is the main focus and bossing with this is not super reliable, atleast not deathless.

It should also be noted that this probably isn't a great build for beginners, and does require some expensive items.

Uniques
Spoiler
Asenath's Gentle Touch is really key to the clear speed of this build, the explosions are hugely imporant and I probably wouldnt play this build without it.

Mantle of Defiance which gives Mind Over Matter with an additional 10% effect is also very important, but the build works without it. Although I would highly recommend having this as it is really strong for the build.

Essence Worm is necessary so that we don't have any mana reserved.

Omeyocan gives us pretty much permanent Onslaught and 20% Spell and Attack dodge which is really good.

Saffel's Frame is really good for mitigating the degen from Righteous Fire and a nice defensive boost for all elemental damage.

Atziri's Foible gives us huge mana and mana recovery.

Crown of the Inward Eye provides a lot of damage and life/mana.


Rares
Spoiler
On the rare slots is where we get almost all our resistances so that is what you should prioritize on the second ring slot and belt, along with life and mana. On the wand you're looking for mana, spell damage and cast speed mostly, as this build doesn't scale very well with +1 to gem levels


Flasks
Spoiler
Make sure to get Freeze and Curse immunity on flasks, and bleeding if you dont have a corrupted blood jewel but i highly recommend getting that.

You also want to get and Enduring mana flask so the effect doesn't end every time you hit full mana, which is almost all the time.


Jewels
Spoiler
You need to get a jewel with % chance to poison in order to proc Patient Reaper.

Clear mind is great for some spell damage and mana regeneration but is limited to 1

You want to put Unnatural instinct at the Jewel allocated near Scion for a some great stats like mana and area of effect and cast speed. This jewel is very expensive and not needed to make the build work but amazing if you can afford it.

For Watcher's Eye I recommend getting one with Lightning Penetration while affected by Wrath


Gem Links
Spoiler
If you are using a 5-link I would cut Elemental Focus

Use Sigil of Power for single target on bosses or in ultimatums

Righteous Fire requires a lot of regen to sustain, so make sure you have a good setup before using this, if you don't have all or most of your endgame gear you can skip this if you feel its hard to sustain for you. I also recommend not using it for bossing, as much of your sustain is dependent on actually killing mobs.

Arcane Cloak is a key part of the build and works very well with the Dynamo node on the tree to recouperate the mana you sacrifice with it. You can bind it on left click or try to use it more strategically, however keeping it on left click is no problem for Trickster as we don't really depend on it for sustaining mana, having high uptime on it is the most important part.

Use smoke mine for the movement speed buff and Flame Dash for general mobility.



Passive Tree

Bandits
Spoiler
You have 2 options, I went with helping Alira for the resistances and mana regeneration, but if you have really good resists without it you can kill all for 2 points.


Leveling
Spoiler
For leveling the build I personally used Arc all the way to maps, but you can start using BF/BB at level 28 if you want.

Archmage can be a bit of a pain to use during leveling if you dont have some twink gear like Atziri's Foible so you dont have to use that until later on.
Use Added Lightning, Controlled Destruction and Elemental Focus for your Arc instead.

For auras I used Clarity and Herald of Thunder and picked up Mind Over Matter on the tree.

For ascendancy I got Weave the Arcane first, followed by Swift Killer, Patient Reaper and lastly Harness the Void.

Some more leveling notes and a leveling tree is in the PoB


Let me know if you have any questions and ill be happy to answer them!
Last edited by Frost666 on May 9, 2021, 1:25:10 PM
Last bumped on May 25, 2021, 7:01:06 PM
In terms of Defense, How much does it change from BF/BB Raider Archmage

Gonna Try this bould with those gloves!
Last edited by Bqkq on May 22, 2021, 3:07:33 PM
"
Bqkq wrote:
In terms of Defense, How much does it change from BF/BB Raider Archmage

Gonna Try this bould with those gloves!
Raider version takes Wind Dancer so they are a bit more tanky vs 1 shots, but dodge chance is about the same since we get Omeyocan boots which they usually don't have enough regen to sustain. So in the end maybe Raider is a bit more defensive but its pretty close!
Last edited by Frost666 on May 25, 2021, 7:01:46 PM

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