Arc / Storm Brand Archmage Scion
Warning: A Mana Stacker Build, similar to other stacking builds, is a high budget build costing in excess of 100 Divine Orbs. This guide assumes that you already reached Path of Exiles endgame and have enough Currency to gear your character as the guide recommends.
The Arc / Storm Brand Archmage Scion is a well-rounded character, that excels in defences but is still able to do all content, including all Uber Pinnacle Bosses.
For mapping, the Arc play style is one of the best Path of Exile has to offer. There's simply nothing more exciting than pressing Vaal Arc and watching the entire Screen disappear, regardless of mob count, due to its built in chaining potential. For bossing, it is recommended to use Storm Brand, due to the high Mana cost of Arc and therefore having less damage uptime.
Sneak Peek
Build Rating
Skills & Showcase
Arc
Arc is our primary mapping and all-around skill. It is a Lightning Damage based Spell that Chains off targets. It also has a built-in single target aspect: Arc deals 15% more Damage for each remaining Chain, making it a solid skill to use. To improve the clearing aspect, we are using the alternate quality Anomalous Arc to increase the Chaining range as well as Awakened Chain Support, which also increases our single target damage as mentioned above.
Ascendancy Breakdown
The Scion / Ascendant is our character of choice as it offers Mana and Mind Over Matter enhancements as well as Pathfinder for almost permanent Flask uptime.
Scion is in a bit of an awkward state where the first Labyrinth doesn't provide us with a great power spike like other Ascendancies do. Instead, we get an additional Skill Point and some Stats that help with meeting Attribute requirements.
After Cruel Lab we can allocate:
- Hierophant offers 25% increased maximum Mana, 8% Mind Over Matter effect and an empowered Arcane Surge.
Completing the Merciless Labyrinth provides us with:
- Pathfinder gives us increased Movement Speed during Flask Effect and increased Flask Charge generation.
- Raider grants Spell Suppression, Movement Speed, Frenzy Charge generation and Onslaught while on maximum Frenzy Charges.
The decision to either take Pathfinder or Raider is based on the market prices of Forbidden Flame & Forbidden Flesh. Buy whatever combination is cheaper and allocate the other on the Ascendancy Passive Tree.
Once the Uber Labyrinth is completed, we can allocate the Path of the Ranger to generate an additional starting point in the Passive Skill Tree. This allows us to remove certain travel nodes and provides a better pathing.