S-TIER | BUILD SORCIÈRE S-TIER | BUILD SORCIÈRE GRIM PILLARS (@TEMPOH) | RUNES OF ALDUR (@Pohx) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

This Infernalist Grim Pillars build leverages one of the most striking spells of the new Aldur league: Grim Pillars, which summons a forest of ice pillars all around you. The key trick of the build is to place this spell inside a Spell Totem (Spell Totem): not only does the totem cast the spell continuously in your place, but it also completely cancels the Ward cost of Grim Pillars. Where the spell would normally require a Ward pool you simply don’t have, the totem makes it literally free. This is what unlocks the full potential of this skill.

The core gameplay revolves around an explosion loop: you place the totems to sprout the ice pillars, then cast Entangle with the Mórrigan’s Insight support (or notable Biting Frost) to detonate all those ice crystals simultaneously. The result is a rain of explosions covering a wide area, while also behaving like a true shotgun: on a boss or a centered pack, all explosions converge on the same target. That is why the build is just as deadly in AoE as it is in single target, despite the skill appearing to be purely zone-based.

On the scaling side, the build relies on Archmage: the Witch class converts her massive mana pool into damage. Combined with Mana Remnants for colossal mana sustain and the Infernalist ascendancy — which provides a near-free multiplicative critical strike bonus and exceptional survivability — you get a war machine capable of clearing fully-modified Tier 16 maps on a very reasonable starter budget.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 1 progression step from leveling to the final build. Select a step to view the corresponding gem setup.

Endgame

Endgame

9 skills • 34 gemmes

Totem incantateurSpell Totem

EnchevêtrementEntangle

Globe galvanisantGalvanic Field

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

ComèteComet

ArchimageArchmage

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

DisciplineDiscipline

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

Recommended Equipment

The interactive equipment grid below details each item in the build. Here are the key priorities highlighted by the author:

• Wand: nothing special here — a very cheap piece (~5 divines) is enough to get started.
• Helmet & Sceptre: the most expensive pieces in the build, but still accessible (~10 divines for the helmet). The sceptre absolutely must be a high-Spirit Soul Scepter — it’s the best base, with mana and intelligence as bonuses.
• Amulet: ideally self-crafted, with Spirit and « all levels of spells », then worked with a spell/mana catalyst before a slam.
• Cloak of Defiance (body armour): the core defensive piece — it grants « damage taken from mana before life », the foundation of the build’s survivability.
• Belt: the optimised build uses the unique Coward’s Legacy, which grants the Mind Over Matter keyword — the cornerstone of the « damage taken from mana before life » system. While waiting to find one, a cheap 1-exalt base that you corrupt for missing resistances works very well in early game.
• Mana everywhere: stack mana on every piece (gloves, boots), except on pieces with high Energy Shield where ES scales better.
• Jewels: prioritise « damage taken from mana before life » on each jewel, along with critical bonus. The Dimensional Weakfoot jewel gives a 15% chance to apply a Rakiyata’s-type effect on each hit — devastating given the build’s hit count.
• Charms: prepare charms against slow, freeze, and stun, along with good flasks.

Gameplay Tips

• Place your totems on the target: against a boss or during a ritual, drop the totems directly on what you want to kill to maximise concentrated explosions.
• A single Entangle is enough: once the ice pillars are in place, a single Entangle triggers a perpetual explosion of the pillars. No need to spam.
• Save your totems: in clear, a single totem often wipes an entire pack — keep moving and drop a new one as you go rather than placing several at once.
• Level up Grim Pillars: gem level matters a lot. Aim for at least Level 20 (buy on the trade site by searching « Grim Pillars« ).
• Watch your mana: it is your offensive AND defensive resource. Choose your Entangle supports (Kaoms Madness vs ricochet) based on your current mana budget.
• Maximise chaos resistance: the Infernalist converts 20% of physical damage to chaos, so cap your chaos resistance.

Spell Totem: the secret engine behind Grim Pillars

The entire ingenuity of the build lies in the interaction between Spell Totem and Grim Pillars. Normally, Grim Pillars is a spell that costs Ward on each cast — a resource this build does not have. By socketing the spell into a Spell Totem, the totem becomes the caster: it pays no Ward cost, making the spell entirely free.

Totems do, however, reserve Spirit. You will notice your Spirit gauge refills as soon as a totem expires, then drops again each time a new totem is placed. This reserve mechanic naturally limits the number of active totems. By removing Archmage and freeing up Spirit, you can reach up to six simultaneous totems and multiply damage — but the author prefers to keep Archmage for consistency. Extra tip: you can now move while placing your totems, with only a slight movement penalty.

The explosion loop: Entangle, Galvanic Field and the ice pillars

Once the ice pillars have sprouted around the totems, they need to be detonated. That is the role of Entangle paired with the support Mórrigan’s Insight (or notable Biting Frost): it shatters the ice crystals, triggering massive chain explosions. A single Entangle is enough to trigger a perpetual detonation of the pillars.

Galvanic Field reinforces this loop by helping destroy the totems and ice pillars, while Living Lightning adds extra procs. The synergy is such that you sometimes do not even need to refresh Entangle: simply placing new totems as you move is enough to chain the explosions and clear packs continuously. Feel free to experiment between the Kaoms Madness variant and the ricochet (Branching Fissures) depending on your mana comfort level.

Archmage over Energy Shield: the Aldur league gamble

With the Energy Shield nerf this league, the author chose to run Archmage. The logic is straightforward: a high-end ES build now requires massive evasion and enormous investment (think Mageblood). By contrast, Archmage converts your mana pool directly into damage, with Lightning Mastery and Clarity I as supports.

The cornerstone of this system is Mana Remnants: it is your largest source of mana sustain and is essential to the build functioning. Level it as high as possible, because the higher its level, the more mana you regenerate. Discipline adds maximum ES which, indirectly, also inflates your mana pool — a detail that can amount to several hundred mana points.

Why Infernalist: free crit and survivability

The Infernalist ascendancy is simply broken for this build. On the offensive side, it provides 50% multiplicative crit bonus essentially for free: every point of crit bonus you gain is immediately worth 50% more. The author is already running 686 crit bonus and is aiming for close to 2000 with the right jewels.

On the defensive side, Infernalist keeps you permanently under an ignite. Under normal circumstances, with such low life, that ignite would be lethal. But because the build has no Energy Shield, runs on mana, and applies damage taken from mana before life (amplified by fire resistance), the ignite dot simply does not affect you. You therefore gain an overpowered node entirely for free, on top of 20% of physical damage converted to chaos for defense.

Skill Tree