Without hundreds of millions budget only option is mediocre DPS weapon with LS ?
LS from weapon up to 3% on 1h, 6% from 2h, and another 1.5% from Blood Magic rune of Magic Weapon. It costs a bit extra for LS on weapon but you can still get reasonable prices on mid range weapons, like around 1k dps weapons with LS and socket for 1-10 mil. I don't consider those mediocre weapons but that's just my opinion. a 1070 dps weapon is good enough to get me over 200k dps with appropriate gear.
Again, while LS is the best option for Archon, with high LOH a close second, many people forget that LAK (life after kill) is another route to go. It's not as reliable, but if you're fighting a troublesome Reflect mob, all you need to do is shift to the side, stomp a bunch of trash mobs to instant heal, and continue fighting the Reflect mob.
When you run archon spec, you have to kill monsters fast, in order to keep up archon time. This means lots health globes, which in my opinion makes Life after Kill close to worthless for this build.
Have you even tried life after kill before making that statement? As I've said, it's not as reliable as LS or high LoH, but it's still a workable alternative for people unable to find or unable to buy LS/LoH weapons. I've personally ran about 2,000 LAK in the past when I didn't have my LS Echoing Fury and it worked wonders for my perma-Archon build against Reflect and other troublesome mobs.
I have found that RoF with Meteor can get me back to archon quicker than anything else i have found lately using power of the storm passive. Actually its quite a fun build! not sure how it would go in higher mp levels as I only really play on mp5-6.
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May the heroes rise from the pit of despair and the bards sing of the day of death renewed to everlasting immortality....awaiting your return to the lands of Sanctuary may peace be with you on this day...your day of birth.
When you run archon spec, you have to kill monsters fast, in order to keep up archon time. This means lots health globes, which in my opinion makes Life after Kill close to worthless for this build.
There are three reasons why Life After Kill is worthwhile.
The first is that it's cheap. Its basically a throwaway stat for the majority of people.
The second is that it is not limited by not having +pickup radius on gear. Your Archon beam weapon has a significantly farther range than trying to pick up orbs.
The third is that it works even when you are trapped by wallers, jailers, surrounded by illusionists, etc etc. The Archon beam passes through all of it, and can kill a group of crawlers even while you are trapped on top of a desecration.
Your argument is even less valid when you consider Life Steal. You already point out that Archon is based on killing hordes of monsters, creating a lot of health orbs. With so many health orbs, why even have Life Steal, or Life on Hit? When you're fighting a reflect damage mob, why can't you just run over a little bit and pick up the orb left from the last mob you killed?
Nearly every single one of my deaths has occurred while there are health globes on the screen, but for some reason I wasn't able to get them.
Couple Archon Wizard questions (I enjoy this build much more then CM-SC)
Does Shocking Aspect work with Disintegrate?
Why is is Prismatic Armor prefered over Force Armor?
and finally, Reflect damage is mitigated by Armor AND Arcane Resist, correct? It seems like the only practical way to defend against it is to equip a weapon with ~3.00 Lifesteal and Blood Magic PLUS Diamond Shell, although Archon cancels it/cannot cast it yet.
Couple Archon Wizard questions (I enjoy this build much more then CM-SC)
Does Shocking Aspect work with Disintegrate?
Why is is Prismatic Armor prefered over Force Armor?
and finally, Reflect damage is mitigated by Armor AND Arcane Resist, correct? It seems like the only practical way to defend against it is to equip a weapon with ~3.00 Lifesteal and Blood Magic PLUS Diamond Shell, although Archon cancels it/cannot cast it yet.
Shocking Aspect should work with Disintegrate.
PA is used over FA when your EHP is high enough in Archon form that you don't get hit for more than 35% of your health with most attacks. Even if you get hit for around 40%, PA is prefered because it helps with damage reflect mobs. At higher MP levels though, FA would likely be used unless you have very high EHP.
Reflect damage is mitigated by physical resist, in addition to armor. DS Is a great tool against damage reflect mobs, and some Archon builds use that over teleport, cancel Archon, hit DS, then reactivate Archon or just tackle the mob out of archon form. LS weapon with blood magic is usually sufficient in Archon form as long as you're not pushing the MP level too high, so that you can kill the elites before they do much to you. Even with up to 4.5% life steal, if your armor and resists are low you the reflect mobs can hurt a lot.
I'd also be interested in this - the answer I mainly got was: there is none. One of the main reasons people still run act 3 is because monster density is just much much higher, especially if you look at Keep level 2 (I sometimes get out of there with 3-4m on my Archon).
As a solution, I take Jaetch's hybrid build that he initially created for MP10, but I found that it works quite well across almost all MP and gear levels. Whenever Archon drops, I usually only need one group to get Archon back. Of course, it's just one of maaaaany ways you can use to waste your time during Archon cooldown; some use WW or Spectral Blades, for example. I sometimes use Arcane Orbs, which are really fun but drain a lot of arcane power; others like Hydra, Meteor or similar stuff.
Edit: actually, in act 2 what you can do is to run the Vault of the Assassin - there are usually 7-11 elite packs! Just make sure that you have the checkpoint and log out without going any further. The other nice area in act 2 are Zoltun Kulle's archives, but if you go there after the Vault you'll lose the checkpoint (and searching for the Vault in the Desolate Sands is a pain in the ass). You can add the oasis to get a chance for a key drop, though. I use teleport+wormhole+CM to skim the oasis; it's tough (though not impossible) to keep Archon up there, plus I find the mobs very annoying. Anyways, this is definitely not extremely rewarding in terms of XP/loot, because on average you get 10 elite packs which means only half of the time you get the full NV5 bonus.
Maybe a silly question but is there way to refresh skills like magic weapon or the armor skills while under archon? I switched to archon for leveling runs and I keep it up the entire time so my skills run out.
Maybe a silly question but is there way to refresh skills like magic weapon or the armor skills while under archon? I switched to archon for leveling runs and I keep it up the entire time so my skills run out.
You have to manually cancel the Archon buff to refresh abilities. If you time it right, you can cancel your buff right after you port to save a few seconds on the other hand, if you don't time it right, it will cancel your port action...
Thanks for the responses. I built her as a cm wiz from the start so have no exp with archon. Her gear is also fully focused on cmww (3aps) but works reasonably well with archon at low mp leveling. Makes the leveling process so much faster and less tedious.
LS from weapon up to 3% on 1h, 6% from 2h, and another 1.5% from Blood Magic rune of Magic Weapon. It costs a bit extra for LS on weapon but you can still get reasonable prices on mid range weapons, like around 1k dps weapons with LS and socket for 1-10 mil. I don't consider those mediocre weapons but that's just my opinion. a 1070 dps weapon is good enough to get me over 200k dps with appropriate gear.
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
Have you even tried life after kill before making that statement? As I've said, it's not as reliable as LS or high LoH, but it's still a workable alternative for people unable to find or unable to buy LS/LoH weapons. I've personally ran about 2,000 LAK in the past when I didn't have my LS Echoing Fury and it worked wonders for my perma-Archon build against Reflect and other troublesome mobs.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
immortality....awaiting your return to the lands of Sanctuary may peace be with you on this day...your day of birth.
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There are three reasons why Life After Kill is worthwhile.
The first is that it's cheap. Its basically a throwaway stat for the majority of people.
The second is that it is not limited by not having +pickup radius on gear. Your Archon beam weapon has a significantly farther range than trying to pick up orbs.
The third is that it works even when you are trapped by wallers, jailers, surrounded by illusionists, etc etc. The Archon beam passes through all of it, and can kill a group of crawlers even while you are trapped on top of a desecration.
Your argument is even less valid when you consider Life Steal. You already point out that Archon is based on killing hordes of monsters, creating a lot of health orbs. With so many health orbs, why even have Life Steal, or Life on Hit? When you're fighting a reflect damage mob, why can't you just run over a little bit and pick up the orb left from the last mob you killed?
Nearly every single one of my deaths has occurred while there are health globes on the screen, but for some reason I wasn't able to get them.
Does Shocking Aspect work with Disintegrate?
Why is is Prismatic Armor prefered over Force Armor?
and finally, Reflect damage is mitigated by Armor AND Arcane Resist, correct? It seems like the only practical way to defend against it is to equip a weapon with ~3.00 Lifesteal and Blood Magic PLUS Diamond Shell, although Archon cancels it/cannot cast it yet.
Shocking Aspect should work with Disintegrate.
PA is used over FA when your EHP is high enough in Archon form that you don't get hit for more than 35% of your health with most attacks. Even if you get hit for around 40%, PA is prefered because it helps with damage reflect mobs. At higher MP levels though, FA would likely be used unless you have very high EHP.
Reflect damage is mitigated by physical resist, in addition to armor. DS Is a great tool against damage reflect mobs, and some Archon builds use that over teleport, cancel Archon, hit DS, then reactivate Archon or just tackle the mob out of archon form. LS weapon with blood magic is usually sufficient in Archon form as long as you're not pushing the MP level too high, so that you can kill the elites before they do much to you. Even with up to 4.5% life steal, if your armor and resists are low you the reflect mobs can hurt a lot.
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard
As a solution, I take Jaetch's hybrid build that he initially created for MP10, but I found that it works quite well across almost all MP and gear levels. Whenever Archon drops, I usually only need one group to get Archon back. Of course, it's just one of maaaaany ways you can use to waste your time during Archon cooldown; some use WW or Spectral Blades, for example. I sometimes use Arcane Orbs, which are really fun but drain a lot of arcane power; others like Hydra, Meteor or similar stuff.
Edit: actually, in act 2 what you can do is to run the Vault of the Assassin - there are usually 7-11 elite packs! Just make sure that you have the checkpoint and log out without going any further. The other nice area in act 2 are Zoltun Kulle's archives, but if you go there after the Vault you'll lose the checkpoint (and searching for the Vault in the Desolate Sands is a pain in the ass). You can add the oasis to get a chance for a key drop, though. I use teleport+wormhole+CM to skim the oasis; it's tough (though not impossible) to keep Archon up there, plus I find the mobs very annoying. Anyways, this is definitely not extremely rewarding in terms of XP/loot, because on average you get 10 elite packs which means only half of the time you get the full NV5 bonus.
Act 2 - Vault of the Assassin, the Ruins (sometimes), the Realms in Kulle's archives are some usable areas.
But those are just simply not ideal. Maybe if you run Teleport Archon with max movement speed and a few lucky Fleeting Shrines can aid in the uptime.
Armory | YouTube | Twitter | Clan Site
You have to manually cancel the Archon buff to refresh abilities. If you time it right, you can cancel your buff right after you port to save a few seconds on the other hand, if you don't time it right, it will cancel your port action...
Crusader DPS and EHP Spreadsheet, meant for Crusaders
My Wizard