Introduction
Battlemage (Soldier + Arcanist) is a class available since base game. It’s considered one of the weakest, Arcanist and Soldier don’t have much natural synergy and both classes miss - resistance reduction. BUT there’s one item, which can make for very fun and strong build - Lucius Blade Arc Sword, farmed from Lucius. That and target farmable Krieg set makes for pretty good build 2H build for beginners.
- Blade Arc vs Cadence vs Forcewave
For this build we will combine the aether power of Arcanist class + Soldier’s attack suitable for 2H weapons. The thing is Soldier have three options. To me Blade Arc is the best possible option, since you have green medal and amulet for farming and it’s strong both for end game and for leveling. Cadence is possilbe strictly for end game but requires specific conduit (amulet) with Cadence affix, so it’s worse. Forcewave is good skill for leveling but endgame will be inferior to Blade Arc. So my choice is Blade Arc - start as physical and switch to aether, when Lucius Sword is available.
Main Build
- pic with permanent buffs only, damage is for Blade Arc
GRIM TOOLS 
https://www.grimtools.com/calc/r2BvG3B2
Skills
Blade Arc - Our main damage dealer, should max main skill and ASAP. laceration is also fine, especially early on, when build is primary physical. It scales with attack speed and benefits both from flat and % damage.
Blitz - Movement skill, 1 point both main node and Blindside for most of the game. With Krieg set you can invest more points in main skill, since it’s nice nuke.
War Cry - Damage reduction from first node is really helpful defensively should go 9/12 or 12/12 eventually. Second node can provide flat physical resistance reduction but for aether build is one pointer only.
Mirror of Ereoctes So called panic button, it’s meant to save you from tough and sticky situations. Put one point early on, for end game 7/12 or 12/12 is recommended.
Nullfication Decent skill worth one or few points. Cast it on you to remove enemy’s debuffs or cast it on heroes to remove their auras.
Passive skills for maxing (put as many points as possible) are: Reckless power as exclusive skill, Field Command, Maiven’s Sphere of Protection , Fabric of Reality, Inner Focus.
Skill for softcap (like 12/12, 10/10, etc.) Squad Tactics, Military Conditioning, Fighting Spirit, Overload.
Conversion scales well up until 6/10, rest of passive skills are one pointer - Arcane Will, Veterancy, Decorated Soldier, Iskandra and Elemental Balance.
Gear
Key is Krieg set. It’s target farmed from Valaxterria, Terrnox and Fleshwarped Krieg. They have same drop chance in Elite as in Ultimate if they are level 94 or higher. Click on each item to see more information. Krieg set pieces
Other mandatory item is Lucius weapon, you need aether prefix, so you can convert physical damage to aether. Cheapest possible combinations are Warped of Alacrity or Warped of the Aether. Best possible affixes are Aetherfire and Shattered Reality. Here’s my farming run on elite: VIDEO:
Rest are:
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Rings - 1x Cronley ring for +3 Laceration and Wendigo Warped ring from Barrowhlom. Best duo for endgame is 1x Eternal Haunt for aether resistance reduction and 1x Albrecht’s Duality for chaos to aether conversion and OA.
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Amulet - For Blade Arc Mogara is very good, if you want to play arther Cadence, you need the aether Cadence Soldier’s conduit.
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Medal - I’ve used Balthazar crest from Nicholas Balthazar, info click
For Blade Arc good option is also Mark of Consumption. For Cadence I would go Mark of Anathema or Dreadblade.
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Belt - Udgenbog Girdle with +1 Soldier skills, they drop quite often in act 5. This belt is good for both leveling and end game. For Cadence version (or DW) I would go with purple Violent Decay belt.
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Relic - Haunt. Very nice low level aether relic, craft when you farm Lucius Sword in normal difficulty. Only end game relic, which is worth it is Agrivix’s Malic Malice.
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Pants - Solael MI pants are good, since they can help you with resistances covering. For end game build you can go with suitable purples. For Cadence especially very good are Arcane Currents.
Attrributes
You need 1035 (before Veterancy) physique to wear Krieg set, so most of the points should go there. Rest are siphoned into spirit. For leveling you can put points in cunning. Problem is you need Tonic of Reshaping CLICK to reset attributes, so be careful!
Devotions
For a build you need devotion with - RR, in this case Widow, also flat RR - Revenant. Also Kraken is very good for any 2H build. For top tier devotion, I’ve selected the combo of Spear+Korvaak. Here’s my devotion route for leveling. Note, if you have level 100 character, don’t take Assasins mark!
- Yellow crossroad affinity point
- Assassins Mark, assign the proc to Blade Arc
- remove yellow
- Red
- Ghoul, assign the proc to permanent aura like Field Command
- remove yellow
- Green
- Spider, remove green
- Blue
- Sailor’s Guide, remove blue
- Kraken
- after farming Lucius weapon take yellow
- remove Assassins Mark
- remove yellow
- Widow, assign it to Blade Arc
- Aetherfire, assign to Haunt
- Jackal
- Revenant, assign it to Blitz or proper movement skill
- Eel
- Spear of Heavens, assign proc to permanent aura like Maiven
- Green
- Korvaak, assign proc to Aether Corruption
Performance
Build can do with ease 65 and with decent success 75 with aggro abuse. Crucible times are between 6:20 and 7. I have videos, but youtube won’t process them for some reason. I will upload them if it’s corrected.
Leveling
- I will show you how I leveled this character, it’s not mandatory to follow it, but you can see which skill/stats to prioritize.
For the purpose of this guide I leveled self found only, without Lokarr set, which grants huge boost for XP. My preferred difficulty to start the game is normal. I started the game with Physical Blade Arc and made the switch to aether when I was able to use Lucius sword. Realistically this will happen between levels 45-55. Then just buy back Oleron’s Rage and then 10 points from Soldier’s mastery bar via spirit guide and put them in Arcanist mastery + Reckless Power. If you need more points, buy back from different skills, so you can put at least one point in Reckless Power immediately after you can use Lucius weapon. Also use Haunt relic and attack the granted skill to Imp devotion’s proc.
- In GT links click on upper left corner to change difficulty.
1-10
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Start with Soldier’ s mastery bar. Start maxing Blade Arc skill, also put 1 point in Blitz for movement and 1 point in passive skills. Use whatever 2H you find. Your first devotion points will go to yellow crossroad affinity and Assassin’s Blade, assign it to Blade Arc.
10-20
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At level 10 select the Arcanist class, if you are sure you want Battlemage. Put a point in Inner Focus and Iskadra, that will help you with increasing energy cost of Blade Arc. Continue with Soldier maxing Blade Arc and Laceration. Next priority is to invest points in Field Command. Try to have all of your slots with items and put components in them.
20-40
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After Field Command is time to put some points in Squad Tactics for attack speed. Most of points should go to Solder’s mastery bar though, so you can reach the end and max your first exclusive skill - Oleron’s rage. Also look for good 2H weapons, ideally ones WITHOUT physical to x conversion. I crafted Great Axe with Angrim, there’s also few decent green monster infrequent weapons. Rovers Elder’s quest gives you opportunity for you first relic - Bone Talisman. Also you can drop Mogara’s amulet or Balthazar’s medal if you’re lucky.
40-60
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GT 50 physical - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/dVbq4y32
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GT 52 aether - https://www.grimtools.com/calc/YVWvqB72
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Before switching to aether start to invest points in Arcanist mastery bar like crazy. Put 1 points in Maiven, Mirror and rest of passive skills. After making transition to aether with weapon and Widow devotion, remove Oleron and 10 mastery points, free up some more if needed and reach the end of Arcanist mastery bar and take Reckless Power. Next priority is to max it. Also one point in Fabric of Reality.
60-80
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Since we don’t have top put more points in mastery bar, is time to max skills, which are sitting at one point only - Fabric of Reality and Maiven Sphere of Protection. Gear try reaching revered status with Outcast and Devil’s Crossing, so you can use their augments - Potent Outcast’s Wrath for weapon and Survivor’s Ingenuity for jewels. Also at level 70 you can put armor augments to cover resistances. For items you can look factions, especially Oucast and try using items with % aether damage and +skills.
80+
- Toughest period for this build is in ultimate before farming Krieg set. Hopefully you can drop some good gear :D. I compiled build before Krieg set with only low level of components, besides Corruption.
Factions selection
I suggest to side with Outcast and Barrowholm, Kymon or Death’s Vigil is irrelevant but Vigil have slightly better gear. Same for Witch God factions, maybe Dreeg is slightly better choice.
Leveling tips, problems, FAQ
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Stats priority is, first to cover your resistances. Then try get some OA early on to trigger Assasin’s mark. For aether build is good to have both % and flat aether damage. Try using gloves with attack speed, since Blade Arc Scales with it. Also if you happen to find gear with physical resistances or crowd control resistances, the better.
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Bosses/heroes are too slow? First few levels might be the case, later most of them will die quickly. Dealing physical damage make sure your OA is decent in order to trigger Assassins mark against bosses, since they have high DA. Also worth saying some bosses might be crazy resistant to your damage type, if you see aetherial enemy, it will proably have high aether resistance.
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I have problem with specific boss? You should check what damage the boss deals. You probably missing resistance against it. Also is worth to try learning bosses mechanics and try avoid the most dangerous attacks, usually they are telegraphed and predictable. And also do you have enough life steal? For melee build is important for your survival.
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When to start elite/ultimate. Since you have resistances penalties, -25% upper row on elite and further -25% on ultimate. So cover your resistances. I personally start elite at 65 and ultimate at 85.
End Game Builds
You can stick with Blade Arc and upgrade it with purple gear. Here’s GT from @Safarel build: CLICK ME
Or go with my Aether Cadence BM, which will be updated: [1.1.7.2] Lucius/Krieg deadly tag team! 2H Melee Aether Battlemage
