Stormweaver League Starter

This build is an Archmage Stormweaver Mana-Stacker. We make use of Archmage, Pure Power, Arcane Intensity, Force of Will and Mind Over Matter to get almost ridiculous mana-scaling.

Our Skill usage will transform throughout the playthrough but we will end up playing Spark as it is the skill with the best scaling.

This build is very simple to understand and also play. It mostly spams Spark, with Orb of Storms for added damage. The rest of the skills simply increase the damage of these two.

Mana Tempest should be used sparingly as Mind Over Matter makes our Mana Pool also our Life Pool. 20% Gem Quality makes the Mana Tempest effect last 1 second after moving out which we can use it, cast some Sparks while we move out of it, keep casting Sparks for 1 second and then re-cast Mana Tempest.

It is very important to note that because of Ether Flow we want to constantly be moving.

Blink on a weapon swap with Crest of Ardura, which provides Cooldown Reduction, is used for mobility. Don't forget to make your Spark and Orb of Storms Weapon Set 1 ONLY; that way as soon as you cast them you swap back to your combat Weapon Set.

On Bosses we want our weapon swap to be a Chiming Staff to cast Sigil of Power.

We can also cast Conductivity on bosses for more damage. Make sure to have it cast with your secondary Weapon Set.

The general flow of play is to teleport with Blink for mobility, drop down Orb of Storms, cast Mana Tempest and spam Spark while moving away from the Mana Tempest. We then repeat the process.

Leveling

Our leveling plan is to play Spark, which is given to us at the start of the game, and combine it with Flame Wall when we get our first Skill Gem soon after. This combination is especially potent as Flame Wall adds added Fire Damage to all projectiles that pass through it. We will support Spark with Acceleration and Persistence. Next we will add Arcane Tempo and Fortress to Flame Wall.

Whenever we get higher level Skill Gems we will increase the level of Spark followed by Flame Wall. Once we have both at level 2 we can unlock Orb of Storms for more damage. This is a principle that will apply all throughout your playthrough as you should almost always choose to buff the skills you're using rather than acquiring new ones. Huge powerspikes like Mana Tempest are the exception.

Our first buff of choice will be Grim Feast. There is no great first option and this will help with clear sustain. We will finally use Archmage once we get access to it and have enough Spirit to use it.

Mana Tempest will be an incredibly powerful skill to unlock and really unleash Spark's full potential. It is not necessary to stand inside it permanently as the cooldown is very low and the mana cost ramps up heavily.

Endgame

The unifying idea of this build in the endgame is making use of Archmage, Pure Power, Arcane Intensity, Force of Will and Mind Over Matter to make Mana and Intellect a dual source of offense and defense.

Ascendancy

Stormweaver is the perfect choice for an Archmage build because, not only is it genericly good with Strike Twice, Scouring Winds and Heart of the Storm, but more importantly it provides us with Constant Gale and Force of Will.

Archmage is an incredibly powerful multiplier that presents a problem builds have to solve to utilize it: how do I sustain the Mana Cost increase? The answer is Arcane Surge, provided by Constant Gale, and Force of Will, which plays perfectly into the build as we already want to stack Mana.

Lastly, the Stormweaver Ascendancy contains 4% Maximum Mana nodes which are very rare on the Passive Tree.

I recommend grabbing Constant Gale followed by Force of Will. We will then unlock Heart of the Storm and lastly, Scouring Winds.

Chaos Innoculation

Chaos Inoculation should ONLY be taken once you have 2500-3000+ ES, you will be too squishy if you take it earlier.

Prioritize getting a good ES Body Armor, Helmet and The Everlasting Gaze.

Mind Over Matter and Eldritch Battery

Mind Over Matter and Eldritch Battery should ONLY be taken once you have around 3k+ Mana, 3k+ ES with Eldritch Battery on and The Everlasting Gaze. If you don't have The Everlasting Gaze DO NOT use Mind Over Matter and Eldritch Battery as you will be far too squishy.

Gem Quality

Gem Quality, provided by Gemcutter Prisms, is incredibly powerful on this build.

Quality on Archmage increases the damage bonus it provides.
Quality on Spark increases the projectiles it casts.
Quality on Mana Tempest makes the very powerful effect last up to 1 second after leaving the area.

How to Use Blink + Archmage

To use both we must have a weapon swap with a shield, preferably Crest of Ardura to lower the cooldown of Blink. We will then keybind the Raise Shield associated with our second Weapon Set and make Blink activate on Weapon Set 2. Now when we use Raise Shield, followed by our Dodge Roll it will make us Blink. To swap back to our main Weapon Set automatically, we must make sure our Spark, Orb of Storms and Mana Tempest are Weapon Set 1 only.

01/08/2025
Sorry for the hiatus I had a nasty flu
Removed Magic Find
Updated Endgame
Updating Giga Endgame -> Pure Mana CoS


12/23/2024
Added Magic Find Variant

12/19/2024
Improved Text

12/17/2024
Added Variants

12/12/2024
Further edits and optimizations.

12/10/2024
Swapped Ball Lightning to Spark