Enki's Arc Witch Memorial Page & POE 2 Arc Summary

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WorderMostFoul schrieb:

Next, shore up block chance and push for 10k unreserved mana as much as possible.

Thanks a lot! Very practical and useful! I am not sure only about Arcane Swiftness, but flask rolls, % life vs % mana and Divergent Tempest Shield I plan to implement ASAP!

As to the second life flask - I keep it for "remove freeze and chill". Dont know where to get this if not on flask. And sometimes it is really useful (for Chests and in Delve).

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Ledanika schrieb:

As to the second life flask - I keep it for "remove freeze and chill". Dont know where to get this if not on flask. And sometimes it is really useful (for Chests and in Delve).

You might find you get more use/survivability out of a utility flask with the same roll, because if you're at (or close to) full life the freeze and chill immunity time will be short, when the flask stops so does the effect. If you're running with a quicksilver or phasing(?), something else, the effect will last until the flask run time expires.

Regards,
Cypr3ss.

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WorderMostFoul schrieb:

About the frenzy charges--do you have some way of generating them in the Sirus fight? Regular Blood Rage wouldn't, though this expensive variant should supposedly let us get frenzy charges against bosses.

As you can see from the video I posted, it works somewhat, but not completely, reliably against Sirus.

Thanks for that - I noticed you using an Anomalous Blood Rage a while ago and it was great to see the realistic uptime in the video you posted, as I had reservations on how often you'd generate a charge at 2%.

Without automatic generation it's a problem of losing damage and playing catch-up. If we stop casting Arc to generate a charge (weapon swap, Frenzy gem, etc.) you've lost damage by not casting Arc. The bonus damage that Frenzy gives would to have to catch up that loss and then overtake what your original Arc damage would have been without charges before you have to refresh them again or you're just constantly playing catch-up and never really gaining damage.

I did look into an Elegant Hubris (for Elegant Fervour's 10% chance to gain a frenzy charge on hit) but it'd be a 6 to 8 skill point commitment and you'd need a lucky roll to get a good placement of Eternal Fervour. Realistically, those 6 to 8 points likely could have been spent elsewhere to get more benefit than what Frenzy charges give.

Maybe Doedre's Elixir to help stabilise charges? As it's a mana flask so we'd regenerate charges from Essence Extraction, but it would only really help for refreshing charges on bosses.

I'm using Vaal Portal to open a breach when necessary on bosses to help maintain frenzy, alas this won't help on Sirus (could possibly add a Soul Ripper but you'd only get charges for a small duration of the fight).

I was thinking about upgrading my shield, there is no good Fossilized Spirit Shield in my budget chance. So I watched other shield types, this is somewhat affordable and has gain mana when you block.
https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Heist/b8q8nJLfL
The implicit bonus covers much or less the resistance loss and it has a prefix I can craft to get +# Life and +X Mana Regeneration or put other resistances when I swap my rings with other else.

Now, I wonder if the loss of the other bonus on my current shield are worth it.

This is my current shield:

Fossilized Spirit Shield
Item Level: 66
Quality: 20
Sockets: B-G-B

20% increased Spell Damage

+95 to maximum Life
Regenerate 12.7 Life per second
+49 to maximum Mana
+1 to Level of all Lightning Spell Skill Gems
+34% to Fire Resistance
+12% to Lightning Resistance

Sorry but I've no idea how to post a full image like you all do.

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ArionAthreides schrieb:

I was thinking about upgrading my shield, there is no good Fossilized Spirit Shield in my budget chance. So I watched other shield types, this is somewhat affordable and has gain mana when you block.
https://www.pathofexile.com/trade/search/Heist/b8q8nJLfL
The implicit bonus covers much or less the resistance loss and it has a prefix I can craft to get +# Life and +X Mana Regeneration or put other resistances when I swap my rings with other else.

Mana on block is a bit of a trap - technically you don't want to block, as if you did then you were hit - and you don't want to be hit; you can sustain your mana without it. It's a bit counter productive as the better you play, the lower the mana gain you get from that stat is. It's like punishment for playing better. If you need, or want, mana sustain on your shield then I would go with flat mana regeneration rate - and preferably a high roll of it, although a crafted roll would do.

Some of these shields might work for you, and all have a spare suffix open for a mana regeneration craft. I've set the search to 'any' rather than 'online' only as I'm not sure which of them will be online when you search, but there a bunch at or below 10c. You might want to run them through Path of Building before hand however to see how much of an affect the loss of +lightning skill gems is versus more spell damage.

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Zarasi schrieb:

Mana on block is a bit of a trap

I'm sorry but then why does the guide says:
Later on we want Recover #% of your maximum Mana when you Block, which gives us an additional layer of mana sustain while tanking stuff. Optionally we can also add Recover #% of Life when you Block to that, but the former has priority.
if getting Mana of Block is a trap?

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ArionAthreides schrieb:

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Zarasi schrieb:

Mana on block is a bit of a trap

I'm sorry but then why does the guide says:
Later on we want Recover #% of your maximum Mana when you Block, which gives us an additional layer of mana sustain while tanking stuff. Optionally we can also add Recover #% of Life when you Block to that, but the former has priority.
if getting Mana of Block is a trap?

You're kind of answering your own question - that's what the guide states, as it is a guide, not a specific set of rules on how you must play the build, and you're taking the guide as gospel. This is why some players are diverging from the guide while staying more-or-less true to the original design. In this instance, Enki is giving advice on how to sustain mana when tanking enemies. I'm stating that, realistically, as a build with a ranged spell, you should not be aiming to tank monsters where feasible, and 'block' is there to save you, not assist in mana sustain.

If you wish to get 'mana on block' on a shield, then by all means, feel free. Think about it however, if you go through a map, play really well, stay at range with a ranged spell, and never get hit at all - how much mana did you gain from 'mana on block'?

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Zarasi schrieb:

and you're taking the guide as gospel.

Then we having an issue with words here. A Guide where I live is something you are supposed to follow as gospel especially when you understand nothing on how this game work and you can't go past T9 maps without dying 6 times a run. When I follow a guide I'm expecting said guide to guide me to the end of the game not giving advice to me that everyone else thinks are bad. If I follow a Guide regarding Baldur Gate III, I expect to finish it by following the Guide as gospel especially since I know nothing about D&D 5e since Is topped playing it back in the 2Edition.

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Zarasi schrieb:

If you wish to get 'mana on block' on a shield, then, by all means, feel free. Think about it however, if you go through a map, play really well, stay at range with a ranged spell, and never get hit at all - how much mana did you gain from 'mana on block'?

I'm sorry but I don't think anything of what you said ever happened since I played this build ... I've yet to find an enemy that doesn't hit me especially since even a fist as a range longer than Arc and I try to outrun enemies when I open a strongbox but even with a quicksilver flask they always get me and kill me. Drox can kill me from the other side of the map, I know too well since I failed to kill his Awakened 3 version 3 times now and I trying to find a way to survive for the fourth time how I'm even supposed to not be ever hit? Then why investing so much in keeping Bone Offering up and going a Necro I'm not supposed to get hit. Why playing Arc? I'm quite sure better ranged spells exist.
Don't take me as confrontational or condescending or insulting or a troll but the more I ask for help and the more look like we are talking and playing this build not only completely different from the guide but as this whole build was meant to be played and I've no idea anymore on what I'm playing.
I don't want to die anymore, right now I die more than the portals in a map what is the best for that?

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Zarasi schrieb:

Mana on block is a bit of a trap - technically you don't want to block, as if you did then you were hit - and you don't want to be hit; you can sustain your mana without it. It's a bit counter productive as the better you play, the lower the mana gain you get from that stat is. It's like punishment for playing better. If you need, or want, mana sustain on your shield then I would go with increased mana regeneration rate - and preferably a high roll of it, although a crafted roll would do.

Completely seconded here, mana regen is useful 100% of the time. (Disclaimer: I changed "flat" to "increased" in the quote.) Especially if you want to run RF. ;)

I bought this last night for only 10c--absolute theft, if you ask me--and I'd gladly take it over the same thing with mana on block, which is way more expensive as an affix:


Zarasi, after dicking around in PoB, I do like your idea of Clear Mind without clarity; it's just going to take a minute to reshuffle my gear to cram more mana regen onto my gear while maintaining core stats. Still a little nervous Omeyocan's gonna try to stop the show, but no way to tell until I try!

During normal mapping indeed I don't find the mana recover on block quite noticeable. If the mob density goes up however you might block a lot. Especially for those who play this game on a laptop/potato desktop, the drop in FPS is enough to get you hit quite a few times. In Simulacrum for example I think the on block effect is more valuable. Otherwise, I agree it's okay to go with a DPS shield, or even shields with other defensive properties. (max res, etc)

One thing you can do to prevent one-shot is to get fortify(using shield charge for example). Don't bump into hard hitting mobs, just find some random guy in the corner to bump. That gives you around 6 seconds of 20% damage reduction. You then use the time window to escape to the next safe spot in heist, for example. I personally find it saving me many times, when mobs left me with very low HP in heists when fortify was up.

As people play the game they're constantly trying new stuff. Not necessarily for DPS, but just for fun. Following the guide verbatim will have no problem getting you to all the end game content, but then you can start being creative and think about all the interesting mechanics the game has to offer. There are some travel agencies when I was back in my home country that tells you what exactly to see and eat and buy when you travel. You'll probably be doing fine in terms of sceneries/food/souvenirs, but then you lose the rewarding feeling of discovery, and that is what travelling has to offer.