Build Request: Simple Arcanist

[HerrDave]

Howdy folks

I've been perusing the builds on Grimtools and the Crate forums for an Arcanist build that isn't piano-oriented, but I haven't been able to find anything that uses any less than 7 active abilities.

Is it even possible to create an Arcanist that uses only around ~3-4 active abilities and still be playable at end-game?

I've been trying to make an AAR Spellbinder work, but I've hit a wall around level 70 with Act II in Elite difficulty.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

trozan
AAR
callidor
PRM
all can be made low buttoney
Mirror is really the only "mandatory" button on the arcanist side (tho with v1.2 Nullifcation might grow extra in utility)
which means you can pair the above with any other "passive" or otherwise low buttoney secondary class

or alternatively you ofc just use arcanist as buffbitch and its the passive (with again just mirror as probably main mandatory "active" utility)

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

Originally posted by HerrDave:

I've been trying to make an AAR Spellbinder work, but I've hit a wall around level 70 with Act II in Elite difficulty.

lmao, somehow totally missed this
without seeing your actual build i couldn't say what's up "exactly", so would need a grimtools link for that
as for AAR binder tho, what i can say is
AAR, Mirror, Ill Omen/Ravenous Earth, + a movement rune
that's really the max you need, rest you can trim down,
tho Nullification def can be useful and some might crucify me for dare suggest to leave it out, but imo (atleast until v1.2) it's only really mandatory for Ravager fight,
and Mark of torment is definitely good and should probably be considered even if Nulli isn't

[HerrDave]

Here you go man :)

https://www.grimtools.com/calc/RZRKy5BN

It plays like this:
- I fire up all 4 of my passives and pick a place to head off to
- When I find a pack of mobs I'll cut them down with AAR and use Rift Tear to hop away if I get cornered or surrounded
- I almost never use Siphon Souls as it does virtually no damage, but I've heard it's good
- I fire off Mirror of Ereoctes and drink a Tonic in a single panicked button-smack when I get whacked for more health than the Pulsing Shard can recover

I levelled up to about 40 using Skeletons, Blight Fiend and a weakened AAR until the Skeletons and Blight Fiend became helplessly squishy, then respecced out of them to buff up AAR

I have some mana problems right now, and Cronley's Murderers can 1-shot me with their knife throw, but I can sort that out with resistance sockets and a devotion change I'm sure.

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

just quickly/"so to not completely dismantle it" (yet),
your resist are a mess, barely using components, which also mean slow armour absorbs,
combined with a couple items being on the lower level which adds additional less armour
devos not being bound means they aren't being applied/utilized
disintegration is not maxed so your main dmg sources isn't even topped off

[HerrDave]

I was messing with my devotions earlier today trying to mimic another build I saw, but couldn't figure out how he got the constellations he had

9 devotion points floating around unspent is an anomaly;
sorry you had to see that

I don't have a good excuse for lack of components though

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

as a comparison here is a current (warlock) of mine on similar levelhttps://www.grimtools.com/calc/RZRKyk4N

[gNuff!~©~gNom3™]

while this doesn't fix your pierce res, you'd need an item change from that https://www.grimtools.com/calc/q2MvRa7V, i'd say it's the bare minimum in the proper direction
getting scales (once levelled a bit atleast) will totally void mana issues
not really sure why you had ghoul? you don't benefit from global lifesteal, so the proc is less useful to you
you didn't have bat/widow bound to active skills - and imo bat should be on AAR (tho should also consider getting PV belt to max capitalize on it
^even tho i didn't assign widow to a skill, obviously you should do so, personal preference of mine is a 4sec leap skill, but you can use ill omen or even siphon souls if you wish (tho they aren't the best proccers "technically")

ex of an endgame setup (stole from crate forum): https://www.grimtools.com/calc/dVboJXYZ
you can cut out Haunt and Reap spirit, (specially during levelling ofc), tho it would also mean a slight devo devo change (unless you used atleast 1 skill) since short a devo trigger
ex being dryad i like to have on my movement rune and then pair it with a 3sec rush rune type, whcih means i get healed as i'm hauling ass
phoenix could ex be triggered with devastation if you don't wanna cast reap spirit as often (this setup ofc uses reap spirit because of that specific set, which is also why it's not mandatory)

[HerrDave]

It required a bit of crafting, but those components made a huge difference!

Synced my devotions up to yours as best I could -- came short 1 point so I missed the 3rd point in Scales of Ulcama

Ended up also respeccing out of Siphon Souls for Callidor's Tepest with Wrath of Agrivix and Inferno, tying the Widow devotion to it.

[volek]

That's an interesting question.

The only 6-button Arcanist I got on my roster is a Fire RF Templar, and the only 5-button one is a Fire Pets Warlock who doesn't use mirror and null (but ends up as a 7-button build again if you count summoning pets as active skills).

All my other Arcanist combos use 7+ buttons. But I will challenge myself to make an Arcanist build with 5 or less active skills (including mirror and null). I never tried pure Arcanist on Ultimate, I will start with that and see how it goes.

[HerrDave]

Originally posted by volek:

That's an interesting question.

The only 6-button Arcanist I got on my roster is a Fire RF Templar, and the only 5-button one is a Fire Pets Warlock who doesn't use mirror and null (but ends up as a 7-button build again if you count summoning pets as active skills).

All my other Arcanist combos use 7+ buttons. But I will challenge myself to make an Arcanist build with 5 or less active skills (including mirror and null). I never tried pure Arcanist on Ultimate, I will start with that and see how it goes.

Thanks man, I'm really looking forward to hearing how it goes!

I've got mine up to level 75 now, but boy oh boy do I have to be careful not to be rushed down or run out of mana

[volek]

Originally posted by HerrDave:

Thanks man, I'm really looking forward to hearing how it goes!

I've got mine up to level 75 now, but boy oh boy do I have to be careful not to be rushed down or run out of mana

I decided to not go the pure arcanist route (didn't sound too promising anyway) but instead try another build idea I had for a while.
I wanted to make a War Cry build, so I rolled a Battlemage using the Messenger's Blaze Cannon and a few other MIs that buff War Cry.
The only other attack skills in this build are the Korvan Swiftness leap from the movement rune and Stormfire from the weapon component. Leap into a mob, use War Cry, spam Stormfire until leap cooldown is over, rinse and repeat.

So far the build has been very easy and fun to play. Great AOE damage, infinite energy, only downside is a lack of strong single target damage against some heroes and bosses but often I can use Nullify to soften them up a bit.

I'm level 80 on Ultimate now, just arrived in Act 2 Broken Hills. Not sure how it will hold up later on, but so far it works fine, even killed Moosilauke with ease (made sure to keep my distance though). This is the current setup:
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/q2MvRO4V

edit: forgot to mention, this is on the v1.2 playtest.

[volek]

The build at level 100: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/r2BRMJK2

Still uses only 5 buttons total, I only replaced the leap rune with a dash rune for better mobility, also switched out some devotions for more damage.

Took it to SR50 which went well, but it probably won't be too good in much deeper shards.
Yet I'll say the experiment has been successful, it's doing well enough for such a simple build.

To anyone who wants to try this out: the rifle, helmet and medal are kinda mandatory since this is a War Cry build, the rest is interchangeable. Look out for affixes with Burn damage and bonuses to Cunning & Physique to meet the gear requirements, so you can put as many attribute points into Spirit as possible.