Overview
This build turns Arc into a totem-driven boss deleter by leaning on Gemling Legionnaire’s chain scaling. Every remaining chain on the projectile adds damage, and with Dominus Grasp pushing the count to roughly 28 chains, single-target output against pinnacle targets climbs far past what a standard Arc setup produces. The creator opens the update by taking down the stronger version of the Arbiter of Divinity to show where the ceiling now sits.
The chassis is a mana-stacking archmage totem setup: four Spell Totems carry Arc while the character stays back and layers curses and exposure. Clear speed was tested on a fully modded T16 with a completed Atlas, an Irradiated tablet for +1 monster level and extra monster effectiveness on top, and the totems handled the juiced pack density without trouble.
The current revision leans on three upgrades over the previous version: a Split Personality jewel that lets the tree start from the Warrior side and saves a large chunk of passive points, an amulet with Paragon allocated on it for roughly a 50% damage gain, and gloves with +2 to projectile skills.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Chain scaling through Gemling Legionnaire produces very high single-target damage against pinnacle bosses
- Totems do the work while the player stays at range, so positioning risk is low
- Clears fully juiced T16 maps with monster-level and effectiveness modifiers stacked on
- Split Personality opens a much more point-efficient tree route from the Warrior start
- Gear path is well-defined — the target mods on every slot are known rather than guesswork
Cons
- Heavily gear-gated: the +2 projectile skills gloves alone are worth around 120 divines, and Mageblood is the ideal belt
- The amulet needs +4 to all spell skills plus enough spirit for four totems, which is a narrow and expensive roll
- Wand upgrades (higher crit chance, an extra socket for +2 all spell skills) are priced out at this stage of the league
- Totem playstyle means damage is not instant on demand — placement timing matters against fast bosses
Key Skills
- Arc — the totem payload; level 21 minimum, 23 quality if the budget allows
- Spell Totem — hosts Arc; four totems is the target once spirit is sorted
- Dominus Grasp — pushes chain count to ~28, which is where the Gemling damage scaling lives
- Elemental Weakness — the boss curse, running Hindered Curse, Cursed Ground and Efficiency
- Mana Remnants — with Remnant Potency and Harmonic Remnants to sustain the archmage mana cost
Gear & Anointments
Weapon is a crit-focused wand backed by a scepter rolled purely for spirit, mana and mana regeneration. Rings should be Mnemonic base for the maximum mana, with flat mana prefix, increased maximum mana as an augment, then mana regen and resistances. The amulet is the keystone piece: +4 to all spell skills, enough spirit for four totems, and Paragon allocated on it. Helmet and body armour both want high energy shield plus soul core sockets; chaos resistance is the main gap the creator flags on both.
Gloves are the expensive slot — Vaal gloves for the highest base energy shield, +2 projectile skills, then mana, energy shield and projectile damage on prefixes with crit damage bonus and crit chance on suffixes. The creator crafts a pair on camera for around 30 divines: level 81 normal base with two augmentable sockets, Hunt rune, then transmute-annul-augment cycles fishing for the projectile skills roll, escalating to regal, desecrate, fracture and chaos spam if the early rolls miss. Belt is Mageblood with crit chance where possible, otherwise mana and resistances. Jewels cover Split Personality, Prism of Disbelief for Arc levels, and generic crit chance / crit damage rolls.
Endgame Notes
Two weapon skill sets are used so curses and Frostbomb sit on set two while the totems stay on set one, giving more curse magnitude and exposure. Atziri’s Communion added to Archmage saves roughly 100 spirit, which frees a slot for an additional totem and an extra aura — that is the next planned upgrade rather than a current part of the setup.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Barczi POE2. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: THIS ARC TOTEM BUILD IS BROKEN! | Gemling Legionnaire | PoE 2 0.5.5.