Overview
This build runs Arc through Spell Totems on a Gemling Legionnaire, leaning hard into the ascendancy’s gem-quality scaling to push a lightning chaining spell to absurd numbers. Six totems do the casting while the player largely holds a single button, with off-screen, auto-targeting clears that the creator describes as extremely low-input. The core engine stacks chain count and cast speed: Arc’s Gemling quality grants more damage per remaining chain, and with roughly fifteen chains doubled by Dominus’s Grasp the totems fire with a huge damage multiplier. Spell Totem quality piles on cast speed for every totem summoned, so a full set of six pushes the casting rate into the thousands of percent.
Management of resources is built around mana rather than life. Energy shield on gear is converted into mana, Archmage feeds spell damage off that large mana pool, and Eldritch Battery routes the energy shield into the same reservoir. The Ancestral Bond keystone removes totem charge requirements and instead reserves spirit, which the build offsets with reservation-efficiency nodes like Efficient Inscriptions and a body-armour spirit-reservation suffix to squeeze in that sixth totem. The creator notes the character is only partway built out and still performing well, so it scales further with investment.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Very low input in maps, often just placing Arc totems and moving on
- Off-screen, auto-targeting clear that feels smooth and visually clean
- Light on system performance, runs well even on weak hardware
- Strong damage multipliers from stacking chains and cast speed
- Flexible gear; most slots want energy shield, mana, spirit and resistances
Cons
- Totem playstyle is hands-off and may feel passive to some players
- Spirit budget is tight and depends on reservation-efficiency sources
- Relies on layered mechanics (Archmage, Eldritch Battery, gem-quality scaling) that take time to understand
- Single-target requires a manual setup of totems, frost bomb, curse and Mana Tempest
- Several gear pieces are crafted, so copying the high-end versions is involved
Key Skills
- Arc (Spell Totem) - the primary skill, cast by the totems; scales through chain count (boosted by Dominus’s Grasp) and the Gemling per-chain damage quality.
- Archmage - converts the large mana pool into spell damage and applies to the totems’ casts, a central damage multiplier.
- Frost Bomb - applies exposure for single-target windows, supported for area and spell echo alongside cascade and exposure supports.
- Mana Tempest - layered for extra lightning damage; usable in maps for a long-lasting buff and as part of the boss rotation.
- Elemental Weakness - a curse on the second weapon set, supported for heightened curse and tied into the exposure and doom passive cluster.
Gear & Anointments
Gearing centres on mana, energy shield, spirit and resistances rather than life, with several slots crafted by the creator at medium budget. The wand wants high levels of lightning spell skills plus elemental or lightning damage, while the scepter is best on a purity base so support gems socketed into it cost no extra spirit, letting the build stack auras like clarity for mana regeneration. The body armour prioritises spirit, energy shield and resistances, later adding a spirit-reservation-efficiency desecration to fit an extra totem.
- Helmet - energy shield to convert into mana, plus a socketed Cargoyle’s Gaze so life-regen reductions also apply to mana regen, double-dipping on the ascendancy’s regen motes.
- Amulet - levels to all spell skills, spirit and mana, with a desecration for spell-skill quality.
- Ring - a mana-focused base using a perfect essence of the mind for increased maximum mana.
- Boots - any base with movement speed, mana or energy shield, then an essence of horror gamble and a Vaal for an extra socket to save crafting cost.
- Belt - a Darkness Enthroned variant slotting Rune of the Blossom for spirit and a quality idol.
- Jewels - spell damage, lightning damage, crit and cast speed, plus a Split Personality with a Templar starting point to reposition the tree’s anchor.
Gear and specific uniques to be confirmed against the source video.
Endgame Notes
Mapping is as simple as dropping Arc totems and moving, with Mana Tempest available for an extra layer of lightning damage on tougher or higher-delirium content. Bossing switches to a deliberate rotation: lay down the totems, apply Frost Bomb and the curse, then fire Mana Tempest. Ascendancy progression runs Virtuous Barrier, then the storm node, Neurological Implants and finally Gem Studded, the last of which rewards balancing strength and intelligence support-gem requirements for both a cost reduction and crit-damage mitigation.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Ky - Path of Exile. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: Arc Totem Gemling Legionnaire Build Guide.