[1.1.6.2] I Can't Believe It's Not AAR! - A collection of Tome of the Arcane Wastes builds (Elemental Deceiver, Aether Mage Hunter, Vitality Cabalist)

Grim Dawn Classes, Skills and Builds
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After taking a break I’ve returned with no less than three builds showcasing an underutilised item. Tome of the Arcane Wastes gives you your very own AAR without the hassle of spending skill points and being an Arcanist. It even has huge flat RR attached to it. The huge downside is it has no adcth or %WD, so finding other ways to survive (Bat) is crucial. So without further ado, here’s the builds.

Elemental Deceiver

The first one is an evolution of my very first build. It’s the weakest of the lot, and very fragile but it’s still quite powerful.

GT: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/1NXXx0PN

Word of Pain and Storm Box put in most of the work here with lots of powerful procs to supplement the AoE cocktail. The build relies on Bat and Hyrian’s Glare to survive, if you find yourself struggling you can drop Leviathan for Ghoul and/or invest more into physique. Craft for slow resist.

PNG
Screenshot with permanent buffs and WoR/BoD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_wPuZFpaJg
I couldn’t quite get under 5 minutes but it’s certainly possible. Average run is closer to 5:30

Aether Mage Hunter

Moving up the chain we have what I like to call fake AAR. It’s stronger than the deceiver and also more survivable due to being an Arcanist with Mirror/Maiven’s. It’s still quite fragile though so be play around your cooldowns carefully.

GT: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/Q2zyE0kN

Once again WoP and Storm Box are doing most of the work. Box in particular is very beefy here with the transmuter. Affixes on the greens are flexible, just try to get something that patches your resists. Once again more points in physique can help if you’re struggling to survive. Craft for Stun resist or %Physique

PNG
Screenshot with permanent buffs and WoR

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtfSIQiSELI
My fastest run, I think it can go under 4:45 though. The average is around 5:15

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41yz5vcfbyo
A run from last patch built more aggressively with Fantasy greens. The nerf to Aether Corruption and Dying God hurt a lot though.

Vitality Cabalist

The last of the lot is quite easily the strongest. Obliteration and Vitality damage is a match made in heaven. Vitality easily covers Obliteration’s weakness of adcth, while Obliteration fills the hole many Vitality builds have of a strong filler as well as having huge flat RR.

Thanks to @mad_lee for reminding me this amulet exists.

GT: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/JVlaLp5Z
Budget GT: https://www.grimtools.com/calc/0V0bdkyN

Normally you don’t want an AAR build to be such a piano, but here Obliteration is just a filler between your cooldowns. RE puts in a ton of work here and is the real strength behind this build. I’ve built this very aggressively to pump as much damage as possible out of it. Fevered Rage obviously makes the build a lot more fragile but it speeds times up by a lot. If you want to tank it up and be unkillable for SR or whatever you can drop Fevered Rage, add more Physique and maybe use the Sigil Conduit. Craft for Slow Resist.

I added the budget version because Magi Rings are ridiculous to farm. It ends up being 30-45 seconds slower but it still totally works.

PNG
Screenshot with permanent buffs and BoD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeyPuQqCYhc
My fastest run, with potential for going under 4:30. I think this is by far the fastest vitality build and really showcases the strength of RE.

Feedback

These results are quite impressive but I don’t think it warrants any sort of nerf to Obliteration or the Tome. It has clear weaknesses that really hold it back, namely survivability. The first two builds really struggle to survive if not played well and honestly most of the power doesn’t actually come from Obliteration. It’s mostly just a supplement. The vitality build is an exception with the root cause being RE and to a lesser extent Dark One’s set.

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Welcome back, man, those are some impressive builds, especially the Vitality one, because it seems like a real deal consistent endgame farmer. Deceiver looks too thin.

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These builds are sick. Especially the vitality one. But seriously, between SoC, Pox, RE, CoF, how do you find time to laser?

Also, shouldn’t ritualist be better here since you’re not even using Possession? Both Totems for SoC and Pox?

Well, one purple MI instead of two…:wink:

…the very fact your name’s on it warrants a nerf. But maybe it’s the season of “many builds use it so just remove it” kinda nerfs? Like maybe make Scaled Hide unequippable on pants already? :joy: (just trying to make fun of the fact that you just buried Dark One and Arcane Wastes in one swing)

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You don’t laser that much against trash because they just melt, you laser a bit against nems and really you only need to hit them for a split second to get the benefit of rr.

When I originally thought of the build a couple of months ago it started as a ritualist. It felt more awkward to play and wasn’t really any faster so I changed it. CoF > Devouring Swarm. I might try it again at some point though.

What happens if I get everything nerfed?

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#deadgame :put_litter_in_its_place:

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I tried a lot of spam skill for my dark one cabalist but havent even thought using tome of arcane waste.
Love the dark one one, loving the devo which utilize full elemental conversion and very aggressive due to no flat RR needed… Congrats plasmo…!

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This is awesome man. I love it whenever a build can succeed maintaining granted skills from items as its primary single target damage/boss killing technique!

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Here is my version of the Deciever https://www.grimtools.com/calc/gZwjrd8V
I have Pyran set and big life regen. Build does SR 65 easily and I never go further with my builds, but it could.
It has more DA, life, life regen, mana regen. Less phys res but still ok. And more armor.
When all buffs are up, I have more OA as well.

I also have an elemental Mage Hunter. SR 65 is a piece of cake for him as well. Based on WoP, Devastation and ray from the tome. https://www.grimtools.com/calc/q2mrLY5V

That cabalist of yours looks mighty fine.

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I just tested my Deceiver in SR and I cleared SR80 without dying. Your version is seriously lacking in damage from devotions. I don’t think Pyran’s is a good idea, especially if your intent is to be tankier. Horns of Korvaak is just way too good with this build and Fateweaver’s Raiment gives you a ton of defenses.

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No, I disagree. Mine is a lot sturdier. And damage output is not a problem. Your build is made for good pilots (low health). Mine is for bad pilots because I am a bad one :smiley: Mine has 1900 Hp/s regen and when giant is up, it is 3300 Hp/s + seal and bat. More life also.

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Sorry, man, I think Plasmo’s Deciever is a bit tankier. He has a lot more physical resist which is more important than armor for a caster, some additional leech in form of Hyrian proc and he dispatches of monsters much faster. Plus some impaired aim from Word of Pain.

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When I look at that low DA and life… Maybe for a superb pilot it is true. But I would get massacred with such a build. With bad mutator of -100 DA he must be critted a lot in SR and with that life…

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3 in 1 better than coffee :smile:

Really sick builds, vitality one is star of the show. Not Oblivion or BBlades but Arcane Tome. And the conversion :ok_hand:

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Plasmo’s deceiver has 0% stun res at default and only 30% with auras and procs active. Isn’t this a huge risk for a tank?

I’m not an expert on endgame stuff but just from playing the game I know your build can be solid as hell, but that lack of stun res can screw you over cant it?

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he has 30% stun res, it’s a enough for a build like that from my experience. Of course 50% would be better for SR, but 30% is enough.

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Is 30% stun res enough for a build like that because the damage output will neutralize most threats before the low stun res presents any real problems?

Is this what Plasmo means to reference when saying Duchy’s version is seriously lacking in damage from Devotions, and that Pyrans is a bad choice? Maybe less damage means less tankiness despite the tanky numbers looking good with Pyrans on paper?

I could see that… I know at any rate HP regen and total HP aren’t great frames of reference for build survivability on their own, as gorgeous and fun as they are… and armor rating/absorption as well. Gotta be able to put out damage otherwise it becomes a war of attrition, so the real challenge is to find that perfect middle ground of damage and defense…

Maybe that’s why Plasmos build is tankier, though it may not appear to seem that way on paper to the noobier pilots like Duchy and myself. So maybe not entirely a matter of literal piloting, but rather a matter of understanding the mechanics and all their interactions…

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With 0% Stun resist you can be forever chained by enemies. 30% usually prevents that. Plus stun reduced the duration only, it’s different not only from standard resistances but even from slow’s mechanics.

In Crucible Ulo buff covers your stun. In SR non boss waves stun and other CC are common. But little bit of a skill can make you avoid it. Or of course nuke everything :wink:

I like Duchy’s idea of Pyran, although Mage Hunter with Devastation will be better fit. Maybe even Sorc. Wait I am going off-track.

Speaking of defense, both builds are somewhat squishy. Plasmo tactic is to have better offense leading to defense. Bat and Hyran, Seal and 2 Heals are actually pretty decent. If you add Ghoul that’s even more solid. Health regen is working mainly on shield builds(tanks), where you can’t have much life steal but you mitigate lots of damage. I use health regen as main survival stat at my BwC spammer. But without compromising the damage. That’s the important part if you are using regen.

Speaking of skills, Plasmo is amazing pilot, so you can count on him to time his skills and play what will be impossible for some players :slightly_smiling_face:

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I see, well thank you for that. It was very informative. I am glad to hear that a significant element is the piloting, but still, at least with me even after all this time, I still realize there is more to learn especially about Stun res. I have been improperly evaluating my own builds based on Stun res under 60%, no matter reduced duration or not.

I need to pay better attention to that pesky stat!

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I love the Vitality Cabalist one! I would probably set mine up like this. A bad pilot needs his Ghoul!

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30% is enough for crucible, if you want more for SR the boots can easily be swapped for ill omens (they might be better anyway actually).

Health regen generally isn’t good enough for staying alive in crucible or high shards, better to rely on physical resist, armor and most importantly adcth. Something like Ghoul is great, Behemoth not so much.

As for Pyran’s, it’s a very fragile set which seems to be at odds with his goal. Fateweaver’s Raiment offers so many defenses it’s just too good to pass up.

I’ll fully admit it’s a fragile build that’s designed for crucible and not for SR, but I don’t think going for health regen and giving up all the damage procs is a good idea. Ghoul, Phoenix and maybe even Scales are devotion options to improve survivability a bit.

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