One-Shot All Content Arc Totem Gemling | 0.5.5

This is my endgame Arc Totem Gemling Legionnaire for PoE2 0.5.5, built around extremely comfortable, low-input mapping while still having enough damage to destroy endgame bosses.

The gameplay is very simple. We place six Spell Totem, they automatically cast Arc, and we keep moving while the totems clear everything around us. There is no complicated skill rotation or constant button spam, making normal mapping essentially a one-button playstyle.

The core of the build is the interaction between Arc, Spell Totem and Gemling Legionnaire. Gemling's additional quality scaling is especially powerful here because it improves both parts of our main setup. Arc gains more damage based on its remaining chains, while Spell Totem gains additional cast speed for each summoned totem. We then use Dominus' Grasp to massively increase Arc's available chains, pushing that interaction even further.

Mana is the second major engine of the build. We stack a large mana pool and use it for both damage and defence. Archmage converts that investment into additional Lightning damage, Mind Over Matter makes mana our primary defensive pool, and Eldritch Battery converts Energy Shield from our equipment into additional maximum mana.

The build also stays permanently on Low Life. Rather than enabling a single bonus, Low Life is used by several parts of the setup, including Pain Attunement, Final Barrage and Execute III, giving us additional critical damage, cast speed and damage.

The result is a build where several different systems feed into each other: skill levels, quality, chains, mana, cast speed and critical scaling all contribute to the same Arc Totem setup, while the actual gameplay remains extremely simple.

What to expect

• Six automated Arc Totems
• One-button normal gameplay
• Excellent mapping and screen coverage
• Extremely high single-target damage
• Heavy Arc and Spell Totem quality scaling
• Mana functioning as both offence and defence
• Permanent Low Life with several overlapping benefits
• Strong scaling through skill levels, mana, cast speed and critical damage

This guide covers the current high-investment 0.5.5 character I am actually playing and testing. The following sections break down how each of these mechanics works and, more importantly, why the individual pieces are used together.

The playstyle is extremely simple: place your Spell Totems ahead of you and keep moving.

For normal mapping, you don't need to wait around for enemies to die. Drop a few totems in front of your path and let [Arc] do the work while you continue through the map. The totems automatically target enemies, while Arc's chaining and Sione's Temper provide enough coverage to clean up packs around them.

You also don't need to constantly replace all six totems while clearing. Place them as you move and refresh them further ahead whenever needed. With [Urgent Totems III] and our cast-speed investment, dropping new totems is very fast.

For tougher rares or map bosses, simply place all six totems and let them focus the target. There is no additional damage rotation to maintain.

Pinnacle Bosses work the same way: place all six totems, keep yourself safe and let them cast. The current setup has enough single-target damage that many boss fights are extremely short once all six totems are attacking.

Your other skills are mostly there to support the build passively. You do not need to manually cast Spark, Profane Ritual, Contagion or the other Intelligence skills used for the Mote setup.

In practice, the build boils down to:

Place Totems → Move → Place Totems → Move.

That's it. No piano required

The build works by stacking several systems that multiply each other: Totem count, Arc chains, quality, mana, Low Life, cast speed and critical scaling.

Six Arc Totems

Our main damage comes from Arc socketed into Spell Totem.

The important breakpoint is reaching six active totems. Ancestral Bond is a core part of reaching that number, while Efficient Inscriptions and our Spirit investment reduce the reservation enough to actually sustain all six.

In the current setup, each totem reserves 54 Spirit. With our 213 Spirit sceptre and additional Spirit from gear, all six fit alongside the rest of the setup.

Once all six are active, we have six separate totems continuously casting Arc for us.

Why Arc Quality Is So Strong

This is one of the most important interactions in the build.

Arc's additional quality scaling gives more damage for each remaining chain. On the current setup this reaches 6% more damage per remaining chain.

Then we add Dominus' Grasp, which makes Arc chain 100% more times.

So Dominus' Grasp isn't here only to make Arc clear better. More available chains also means Arc can have more remaining chains, which directly feeds its quality-based damage multiplier.

This is why skill quality is so valuable on this build.

Spell Totem Quality

Quality also scales the other half of the main setup.

Spell Totem's additional quality effect provides Cast Speed per summoned Totem. Since we're running six totems, increasing its quality gives us a large amount of additional cast speed when everything is active.

Gemling's Advanced Thaumaturgy increases the effect of skill quality, which means we're simultaneously improving:

Arc quality → more damage from remaining chains

and

Spell Totem quality → more cast speed from our summoned totems

That's one of the main reasons Gemling is so strong for this setup.

Mana Is Both Damage and Defence

The second half of the build revolves around mana.

We stack a huge amount of maximum Mana, reaching around 6,672 Mana on the showcased character.

Eldritch Battery allows the Energy Shield on our equipment to contribute toward our mana pool, which is why high-ES gear is valuable even though this isn't an Energy Shield build in the traditional sense.

That mana then gets used twice.

Archmage turns our huge mana investment into additional Lightning damage.

At the same time, [Mind Over Matter] makes mana our primary defensive resource by taking incoming damage from Mana before Life.

So increasing our mana doesn't force us to choose between offence and defence. The same investment improves both.

Mana Recovery & Overflow

Having a giant mana pool isn't enough if we can't recover it.

The build has roughly 1,000 Mana Regeneration per second while moving, with several sources of regeneration throughout the character.

We also use Mana Remnants, which can restore mana and allow us to overflow above our normal maximum.

That overflow is particularly useful with Mind Over Matter, because the extra mana effectively gives us an additional buffer against incoming damage.

Permanent Low Life

The build intentionally stays on Low Life.

Archmage is supported by Atziri's Communion, moving its reservation to Life instead of Spirit. We then use the additional reservation in that setup to push ourselves into Low Life permanently.

And we're not doing this just for one passive.

Being on Low Life activates several bonuses at once:

Pain Attunement gives more Critical Damage Bonus.

Final Barrage gives increased Cast Speed, which also benefits our totems.

Execute III gives our main damage setup more Hit damage while we are Low Life.

Our Crossroads Gaze rune also gives additional Movement Speed while Low Life.

So Low Life is effectively another engine running underneath the entire character.

Automatic Power Charges & Critical Scaling

We use Raven Touch on our helmet to allocate Thaumaturgic Generator, giving us automatic Power Charge generation.

Those Power Charges then interact with Charge Regulation, increasing our Critical Hit Chance without requiring another skill or rotation.

Combined with the Critical Hit Chance and Critical Damage investment on the passive tree and jewels, the showcased character sits at roughly 37% Critical Hit Chance and 900% Critical Damage Bonus unbuffed, with Critical Hit Chance usually reaching around 50% while mapping.

Motes & Mana Regeneration

Several skills that look completely useless at first glance are actually there for a reason.

Skills such as Profane Ritual, Spark, Detonate and Contagion are Intelligence skills used to increase our available Motes through Gemling's setup.

The important benefit for us is Mana Regeneration.

We don't care much about the Life regeneration side of the mechanic. We stack these Intelligence skills because the additional Motes contribute to the mana recovery that keeps our Mind Over Matter pool healthy.

You do not need to actively cast these skills.

The Whole Engine

Put everything together and the build becomes:

6 Totems
→ six Arc casters

Arc Quality + Dominus' Grasp
→ huge remaining-chain damage scaling

Spell Totem Quality
→ large Cast Speed scaling from having six totems

Maximum Mana + Archmage
→ more Lightning damage

Maximum Mana + Mind Over Matter
→ larger defensive pool

Mana Regeneration + Mana Remnants + Motes
→ keeps that defensive pool filled

Permanent Low Life
→ Pain Attunement + Final Barrage + Execute III + Movement Speed

Automatic Power Charges + Charge Regulation
→ additional Critical Hit Chance

The end result is why the build can have very simple gameplay while still having a surprisingly complicated engine underneath it. We basically assemble the machine once, then gameplay is just dropping six totems and walking away. ⚡

Changelog

0.5.5 - Current Version

• Updated the guide to match my current endgame Arc Totem Gemling setup.
• Updated gear, skill gems, passive tree and jewels.
• Switched to the current Low Life + Atziri's Communion setup.
• Updated to the six Totem setup.
• Added the current [From Nothing], Split Personality and Time-Lost Sapphire setups.
• Updated Spirit reservation and mana scaling.
• Added current mapping, bossing and quality-scaling explanations.

Q&A

Is this a league starter?

No. This guide is for my current high-investment endgame version of Arc Totem Gemling.

There are cheaper ways to play Arc Totems, but I would not recommend trying to copy this exact setup on a small budget.

How many Totems do we use?

Six Spell Totems.

Ancestral Bond doubles our Totem Limit, while Spirit and reservation efficiency allow us to actually reserve all six. Ancestral Bond currently makes Totems reserve 75 Spirit before our reservation scaling.

Why is Arc so strong with Gemling?

Because Gemling gets exceptional value from quality on both Arc and Spell Totem.

Arc gains more damage for each remaining chain, while Spell Totem gains Cast Speed from summoned Totems. Dominus' Grasp then gives Arc 100% more chains, massively increasing the value of Arc's quality scaling.

So we're effectively scaling both the damage of each Arc and how quickly our Totems cast it.

Why do we stay on Low Life?

Low Life activates several bonuses simultaneously.

We use Atziri's Communion with [Archmage] to reserve Life and maintain Low Life, which then benefits Pain Attunement, Final Barrage, Execute III and our Low-Life Movement Speed from Crossroads Gaze.

It's an intentional part of the build, not something we're trying to avoid.

Why do we stack so much Mana?

Because Mana does several jobs at once.

Maximum Mana increases our damage through Archmage, while Mind Over Matter turns that same Mana into our primary defensive pool.

This is why Mana, Mana Regeneration and Energy Shield that gets converted through Eldritch Battery are so valuable.

Do I need to cast all those extra skills?

No.

Spark, Profane Ritual, Detonate and Contagion are primarily there as Intelligence skills for our Mote setup and Mana Regeneration.

Normal gameplay is still essentially just placing Totems and moving.

Do I need Her Declaration?

No.

Her Declaration is an optional way to push the setup further, but I'm not using it in the current version because the build already has more than enough damage.

Why Temporal Chains instead of another curse?

Comfort.

Temporal Chains slows enemies around us and fits the entire purpose of this version of the build: extremely relaxed mapping.

You can use Enfeeble instead if you prefer.

Headhunter or Mageblood?

Both are viable.

I currently use Headhunter because I personally enjoy it for mapping. Mageblood is also an excellent option, so the belt choice isn't fundamental to making the Arc Totem engine work.

Why does my version have fewer than six Totems?

Check these first:

Spell Totem level → Ancestral Bond → total Spirit → reservation efficiency.

The current character gets each Totem down to 54 Spirit reservation, so simply copying the skill gems without matching the Spirit setup may leave you unable to fit all six.

What should I upgrade first?

Once the build is functioning correctly, prioritize the things that strengthen its main scaling engines:

Arc/Spell levels and quality → maximum Mana → Spirit/reservation requirements → Cast Speed → Critical scaling.

Don't sacrifice the Spirit or Mana requirements just to chase a tooltip damage increase.

Can this kill Pinnacle Bosses?

Yes.

Although I built this version primarily for comfortable mapping, the current character has enough single-target damage to kill Pinnacle Bosses extremely quickly.

What content does the build feel best in?

Open mapping layouts where you can freely place Totems ahead of yourself.

Tight corridors and small rooms are still completely playable, but placing six Totems becomes more awkward, which is the main gameplay weakness of the build.