First time poster here. Thanks in advance for any help, let me know if I’m doing something wrong, etc. etc. etc.
My Arcanist is level 55, just started in on Elite mode yesterday, and I haven’t yet chosen a secondary class. I’ve heard that there are some new classes coming up in the future, and I was hoping to keep my options open for when that drops. Choosing a secondary class right now would solve some problems for me, but I honestly don’t know if I should do it, or which one to choose.
I had considered taking Soldier secondary for the passives, as survivability is a real problem for me right now, but I just don’t know if I want to do it.
For context, my Arcanist has a pretty typical glass cannon build with Aether Ray, Maiven’s, Iskandra’s, and all passives. My DPS was definitely high enough to handle anything in Normal Mode, and so far in Elite Mode its OK, if not stellar.
So the question, then, is this: Should I take a secondary class now to give me some survivability and stats, or should I wait for the new classes to drop? If I do choose a secondary now, which one should I take, considering that I need more survivability, and not necessarily more DPS?
A) Inquisitor might help you, with AAR*, but from what’s been seen so far of Necromancer, I don’t think that will be any use. Generally I’d say pick a secondary now, as I don’t think Inquisitor will offer anything other than maybe some damage, and we’ve got that covered. See below.
B) For damage and AAR, most people choose Demolitionist. Many people swear that there is no better option for your secondary in an AAR build. Personally, I’m a bit of a heretic in this regard… Personally I feel you can use only Arcanist, take Demolitionist, or take either Shaman or Soldier for the excellent defenses both offer you. Yes, I am crazy enough to say that using ONLY Arcanist is viable. It’s squishy, and it takes more micromanagement that way, but it can be done if you want to. Some people like to have a lot of buttons to hit, and you can do that, if you’d like.
Generally, I don’t think AAR needs more damage. Yes, more damage is always nice, but I tend to put defenses first. I can’t do any damage while dead, after all. Shaman has Mogdrogen’s Pact, and in fact my current AAR character uses Shaman ONLY for that aura line. Fully maxed it’s helping with my health pool, my energy regen, and my pierce resistance, while also giving me a significant boost to health regen. I’ve made a Soldier version in the past, but frankly I just didn’t care for it. It worked, and when I tried using Fighting Spirit and Arcane Will at max, it was certainly interesting… But in the end, Soldier’s best defenses are very far down the tree, and I just didn’t want to go that far to get them. If I had tried a Shield version, Soldier would’ve been the clear choice, but I don’t enjoy shields, so… Shrug.
So my suggestion is, depending on your playstyle, you can either stay pure Arcanist, and micromanage your defenses with a maxed Nullification, Mirror, and Olexra’s. You can get more damage with Demolitionist, by grabbing Flame Touched, most likely Vindictive Flame, and Flashbang’s two parts for damage increase and some handy defense. You can go Shaman, and take as much of Mogdrogen’s Pact as you please, or you can go Soldier, giving you a lot of extra physique, a %health bonus, and if you go far enough down, some handy stun resistance and things.
Sorry for the over-explanation… There’s multiple options, and I like to be clear about them. And OFC, this is all based on my assumption that your build is FOCUSING on Albrecht’s Aether Ray, so if you aren’t, things will change. Uh, and technically, if you wanted to, you COULD go Occultist, and use the Tainted Power transmuter to make the Chaos AAR variant, but that usually requires either the Black Flame set, or the Blood Orb of Chthon and some good gear, to really work as well as regular AAR. It does make the beam look cool and purple/pink when you take the transmuter though, so it’s certainly an option.
*Albrecht’s Aether Ray. It’s just easier to shorten it, nobody wants to have to spell Albrecht every time.
Demo is great for damage but defensively lacking. Flashbang increases your crit rate and has some unreliable damage mitigation through fumble and confuse. Flame touched increases OA and fire damage. Blast shield gives a short boost to survival in dire straits.
Soldier is good for more health and the resists(elemental and bleeding)/CC (slow stun freeze) resists at high levels, plus gives you blitz for repositioning yourself. Also lots of physique.
Shaman gives you lots and lots of health plus resists (pierce) and the wendigo totem for heals.
Nightblade gives you…stuff? Shadow strike to reposition, pneumatic burst for heals and dodges, phantasmal armor for armor and pierce resist. I’ve never tried a spellbreaker as an AAR build.
Occultist gives you resists (poison and vitality) plus flat damage reduction if you go for possession and opens up the possibility of using the chaos transmuter on AAR. Curse of frailty for debuff and slow, blood of dreeg for heal.
I like soldier personally but having a heal you control is also really nice.
Thanks for the detailed response. Believe it or not, I actually had a level 58 Arcanist with Demolitionist secondary, and I deleted her because I hated having a secondary that wasn’t useful to my playing style. I remade the character, and we all know how that’s going for me. That said, Demolitionist is pretty much the one secondary that’s off the table, so far as I’m concerned. I find it funny that most people seem to like it as a first choice. Life’s little ironies.
I do have a question, in light of your comments on AAR’s Aether vs. Chaos. I have been using the Chaos variant of AAR, and I have loads of +% buffs to it - probably in the neighborhood of 300% - and it has been working for me. What does Occultist have that would benefit Chaos damage, and do you think it’d be worth it for me to go that route, as opposed to Soldier?
I’m thinking, based on all this new info, that Soldier is going to be the best option for me. I need 40 - 150 more Physique in order to utilize the Epic/Legendary gear that I have saved from my other Arcanist, and the passives would give me some much-needed survivability and resistances.
Thanks for the info. Right now, its looking like its going to be either Soldier or Occultist.
I’ve been using the Chaos variant of AAR, with lots of +% buffs to Chaos Dmg - probably around 300% in total. What does Occultist offer to benefit Chaos Dmg? Considering that I need lots of Physique and survivability, should I just go Soldier and have done with it? If I go Soldier, should I drop Chaos from AAR and go for Aether damage, instead?
If you aren’t going Occultist, then you’ll find that the gear you get tends to be oddly mismatched, for epics and legendaries. Generally anything Chaos, AAR or not, goes Occultist for Possession, and Solael’s Witchfire. Doombolt is also handy in these situations for devotion triggering, or a nuke for heroes, and Blood Of Dreeg, though I don’t personally care for it, is a handy self heal and self buff if you can keep it up 100% of the time. Occultist also gives you Vitality, which AAR has on the second part. Generally if you go Tainted Power you focus Chaos/Vitality, and indeed the Black Flame Set is made specifically for Occultist/Arcanist, Chaos AAR, and converts most of the fire damage. If you aren’t going Tainted Power, you mostly ignore the Vitality and focus on Aether/Fire, often more Aether than Fire because of the Arcane Shard of Agrivix being so handy for a neck in that setup. You certainly CAN go Tainted Power without Occultist, it just means that your blues/purples will be a little weird, and you might need to farm for greens for a while.
FTR, however… 300% is small overall. You’re usually looking for 1500% to your main damage type. Or higher, if possible, of course. That’s by 75 or so, when you can usually put on the top end gear, both in legendaries and in green drops. You said you were into Elite, you should preferably be around 750% or so. That said, grabbing Occultist and maxing Possession and Solael’s would get you 220% more chaos right there, and some Vitality/Vitality Decay. Plus a little flat damage as well, which is handy. I would suggest, even if you don’t have it, taking a look at the Black Flame Set pieces and set bonuses, just to have a general idea of where Chaos AAR usually goes. You don’t have to have the set, or do it that way, but generally it’s a good way to do it, so…Might as well take a look.
Or, OFC, you could spec out of the transmuter, pick up Reckless Power, and just go Aether/Fire. The FIRE part is also why Demolitionist is usually seen as the best. You go a short way into Demo, and you get Flame Touched, both parts, adding offense and defense. Flashbang, same thing. And then if you want, Vindictive Flame adds more offense. All only a short way into the mastery tree, saving you points. In comparison, Soldier and Shaman offer better defenses… if you go further down the tree.
Wow, a lot to consider. So, Occultist allows for more Chaos damage, Demolitionist allows for more Fire damage, while Shaman and Soldier allow for more survivability.
God dammit, I wish I could undo my spec if I’m unhappy with it. At this point, I’m sure that no matter what I do I’m going to regret my choice for one reason or another. I’m going to have to think this over a bit.
Well… Two things. One, Grim Defiler will allow you to undo Attribute and Mastery Bar points, as well as your class choices. Personally, I think the game should offer this itself, so I don’t feel at all bad about it. Just be careful if you’re using it to change the name of your character, it can get wonky doing that.
Two, and more fun… You COULD just do an AAR character in every variety. That is, Aether/Fire AAR with Demo, Shaman, and Soldier. Chaos/Vitality with Occultist, Shaman, and Soldier. And Aether heavy with the Arcane Shard of Agrivix, with Demo, Shaman, and Soldier, or Occultist for that one, if you wanted to focus more Vit with your Aether. And that’s just generically… I’ve already mentioned the Black Flame Set, and the Arcane Shard of Agrivix… But then there’s also the Blood Orb Of Chthon, which offers some variety to your options as well, and the Tome of the Arcane Wastes, which offers a granted skill similar to AAR. It’s a piercing channeled beam, that does elemental damage. It’s less damaging and less energy hungry compared to AAR, but it can also make use of Elemental damage bonuses of all kinds. Many choose to use that with the sword that converts Cold to Fire, Warpfire I think? And then focus Fire/Lightning with Demolitionist, as Demo supports that well. Or you can remain pure, or Shaman/Soldier, and focus Elemental boosts, along with things like the Elemental Seekers from the Blind Sage constellation.
That’s the joy of the game, really. SO many ways to do so many things, you really have a hard time running out of things to do. Some people have sunk more than 2K hours into this game and are still going strong.
Arcanist is the only class ATM with affinity to Aether damage. If you want to focus on it, indeed, it’s hard to choose.
But among 2 new classes coming soon, one will have affinity for Aether damage as well (Necromancer).
Demo has the best resist reduction alternatives and good bonuses to fire damage, compared to Soldier and Shaman, which makes it a particularly strong choice if you have access to high end gear that can make your character a “tough cannon”, instead of a “glass cannon.”
If you’re a bit more gear-poor, then soldier has a lot to recommend it. Squad tactics means you can boost all damage at once. Fighting spirit means you can crit much more often, once it’s built up, especially along with field command. Fighting spirit kicks in when you’re getting hit more often, which is exactly when you’d like a “power up” skill. Since OA and crits offer a non-linear progression in character damage, the amount that Fighting spirit can add to your AAR character is quite substantial. War cry can also help with crowds and with mobs that have tons of hit points, which can otherwise sometimes prove bothersome. So, while Soldier offers toughness, it’s not just toughness that might draw you into picking it.
I think the biggest drawback to soldier is the relative paucity of energy management tools, compared to Shaman. If energy management seems particularly bothersome, then a Shaman secondary can make playing your AAR character noticeably easier.
Edit & PSS: Here’s an Arcanist / Soldier grimcalc that might be helpful …
If you are just looking for better survivability and less skill synergy.
Soldier and Nightblade can be a good options for you.
Soldier Passives will make you tanky (HP, HP Regen, DA and Circuit Breaker skill)
Nightblade offers you actives will save your life:
Pnuematic Burst (HP Regen, DA)
Blade Barrier (3 secs invulnerability)
Veil of Shadow (reduction to enemy OA, reduction to cold resist).
You can pretty much be a “pure arcanist” in terms of offense and just have these utility skills.
Well… Two things. One, Grim Defiler will allow you to undo Attribute and Mastery Bar points, as well as your class choices. Personally, I think the game should offer this itself, so I don’t feel at all bad about it. Just be careful if you’re using it to change the name of your character, it can get wonky doing that.
Also with gender… Male > Female will give you a Tranny toon (female body with a male face); pretty funny actually.
Occultist for chaos laser and Demolitionist for regular laser. Gear for the chaos laser synergizes with Occultist, and Demolitionist just has the greatest set of passives (Blast Shield, Flametouched, Flashbang) to suit the laser build.
Male > Female will give you a Tranny toon (female body with a male face); pretty funny actually.