S-TIER | BUILD WITCH BLOOD MAGE COC ARCHMAGE COMET (@Iva Markova) | SEASON 4

Build Overview

This Blood Mage build revolves around an extremely powerful damage loop combining Cast on Crit and Archmage. The concept is simple: you cast Elemental Weakness, which triggers the Doedre’s Annihilation support gem to deal massive chaos damage, which then procs Comet via Cast on Crit. Combined with Spell Cascade and Ritualistic Curse, each activation covers a massive area of the screen.

The Blood Mage synergy is at the heart of the build. Thanks to the Vitality passive Siphon, Elemental Weakness costs no mana with Lifetap, and the keystone Mind Over Matter provides solid defense with no downside since you are always at full mana. Eldritch Battery converts your energy shield into mana, again with no downside since all your spells cost life. Result: your mana IS your life, and your life is the « spender ».

Archmage massively amplifies the raw damage of your spells, while Atalui’s Bloodletting makes Cast on Crit and Comet cost life, adding even more damage. The build can clear entire maps with a single button and deal massive damage to Bosses, all on an accessible budget.

Build Strengths

• Gigantic AoE: With the 4.7m radius breakpoint on Elemental Weakness and Spell Cascade, the build covers virtually the entire screen and each explosion hits enemies multiple times.
• Massive Boss damage: The Cast on Crit + Comet + Doedre’s Annihilation loop generates an extreme number of procs, capable of destroying T3 Bosses in seconds.
• One-button gameplay: Simply cast Elemental Weakness and the chain reaction triggers automatically, making the build very comfortable to play.
• Budget-friendly: The build works with affordable starter gear and progressively improves with investment.
• Solid defenses: Mind Over Matter with 2500-3000 mana provides a very effective defensive layer, with no downside thanks to the Blood Mage mechanic.

Build Weaknesses

• Limited movement speed: The build is somewhat slow in pure movement, which can be felt on very large maps.
• Weak against leech-resistant enemies: Certain enemies with life leech resistance mechanics can be problematic, as the build relies heavily on instant life/mana leech.
• Watch out for Faster Curse Activation: Exceeding 100% Faster Curse Activation « bricks » the build and prevents Elemental Weakness from casting. You need to balance precisely with 12-14% gems.

Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 11 progression steps from leveling to the final build. Select a step to see the corresponding gem setup.

10 Divine budget Leveling 3-5 Divine Budget 20-25 Divine Budget 100 divine budget INFINITE LOOPER High END 100d Budget Headhunter + AOE CAP High END Rathpith + Vertex mask 40-50 Divine budget SCEPTRE version SELF CHILL GIGA SPEED BLINK SPAM NO TEMPORALIS Final SETUP COC Infinite LOOP

10 Divine budget

6 skills • 26 gems

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Projection de sortilègesSpellslinger

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

ArchimageArchmage

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Leveling

3 skills • 16 gems

EnchevêtrementEntangle

OrageThunderstorm

Lianes cinglantesThrashing Vines

3-5 Divine Budget

8 skills • 27 gems

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Siphon de pouvoirPower Siphon

Sceau de pouvoirSigil of Power

Bombe de givreFrost Bomb

ArchimageArchmage

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

20-25 Divine Budget

6 skills • 24 gems

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Sceau de pouvoirSigil of Power

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

ArchimageArchmage

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

100 divine budget INFINITE LOOPER

8 skills • 33 gems

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Sceau de pouvoirSigil of Power

ArchimageArchmage

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

Déclenchement lors d'Altérations élémentairesCast on Elemental Ailment

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Œil de l'hiverEye of Winter

ÉtincelleSpark

High END 100d Budget Headhunter + AOE CAP

6 skills • 26 gems

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Projection de sortilègesSpellslinger

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

ArchimageArchmage

High END Rathpith + Vertex mask

6 skills • 26 gems

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Projection de sortilègesSpellslinger

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

ArchimageArchmage

40-50 Divine budget SCEPTRE version

10 skills • 42 gems

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Guerrier squelettiqueSkeletal Warrior

Sceau de pouvoirSigil of Power

ArchimageArchmage

Offrande de l'âmeSoul Offering

Clercs squelettiquesSkeletal Cleric

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Déclenchement lors d'Altérations élémentairesCast on Elemental Ailment

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

SELF CHILL GIGA SPEED

7 skills • 29 gems

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Projection de sortilègesSpellslinger

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Sceau de pouvoirSigil of Power

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

ArchimageArchmage

BLINK SPAM NO TEMPORALIS

9 skills • 40 gems

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Projection de sortilègesSpellslinger

TransfertBlink

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Armure arctiqueArctic Armour

Siphonnage des élémentsSiphon Elements

ArchimageArchmage

Final SETUP COC Infinite LOOP

10 skills • 41 gems

ÉtincelleSpark

Déclenchement lors d'Altérations élémentairesCast on Elemental Ailment

Déclenchement lors de CritiquesCast on Critical

Projection de sortilègesSpellslinger

Reliquats de VieLife Remnants

Œil de l'hiverEye of Winter

Reliquats de ManaMana Remnants

Conflux élémentaireElemental Conflux

DisciplineDiscipline

ArchimageArchmage

Recommended Equipment

• Weapon : Dueling Wand is the optimal choice as it grants access to Spellslinger, which allows you to socket Living Bomb to infuse Comet with fire and double the damage.
• Shield : Sunsplinter in early progression, then Rathpith Globe once you have 3000+ mana and 2000+ life. The « Non-Channelling Spells have 3% increased Critical Hit Chance per 100 maximum Mana » corruption on Rathpith Globe pushes your critical hit chance close to 100%.
• Helmet : Alpha’s Howl to cover the 212 Spirit required by the build.
• Gloves : Atziri’s Acuity for instant Life/Mana Leech, essential to keep the loop stable. Can be replaced by rare gloves with ES/Mana/Life once you obtain a Heart of the Well with 8%+ instant Life/Mana Leech.
• Boots : Windscream in early progression. Once you can obtain 2 jewels with 12-15% Faster Curse Activation and the Impending Doom nodes, switch to rare boots with 30-35% movement speed and ES/Mana stats.
• Amulet : Aim for an amulet with +2 to all skills and the Fast Metabolism anointment to permanently stay at full life thanks to instant Life/Mana Leech.
• Special Jewel : Tecrod’s Gaze in the gloves to reduce the life cost of spells. A significant investment but it solves all life issues.
• Armour (endgame) : Atziri’s Splendour allows you to remove Lifetap and Atalui’s Bloodletting, converting 100% of life cost to mana cost via Heart of the Well. Requires corrupted gems.
• Mana Flask : Lavianga’s Spirits (note: current bug that disables the effect on death, requires re-equipping the flask).
• Weapon Swap : The Whispering Ice with Icestorm for bossing if you lack damage, supported by Zarokh’s Chant, Lifetap, Potent Exposure and Efficiency II.

Gameplay Tips

• Manage your Faster Curse Activation : NEVER exceed 100% Faster Curse Activation. Use exactly 2 jewels of 12-14% to stay under the cap. Exceeding this threshold prevents Elemental Weakness from being cast and Renders the build unusable.
• Watch Comet’s life cost : If Comet costs more than 1000 life and you have around 2000 life, you will skip Comet casts. It’s better to keep Comet at a lower level to maintain a stable loop. As a last resort, replace a support gem with Efficiency II.
• Prioritize critical hit chance : Aim for 100% critical hit chance. This is the most important stat for the Cast on Critical loop to run smoothly. Invest in critical nodes and critical multiplier.
• Think about Spellslinger : If you use Dueling Wand, you can link Living Bomb to Spellslinger to infuse Comet with fire. You can also socket Living Bomb directly in your Cast on Critical if you don’t have the budget for Dueling Wand (keep Living Bomb at level 4 maximum).
• Aim for 2500-3000 mana : This mana pool is your primary defensive layer via Mind Over Matter. Look for % Cast Speed on rings and the amulet.
• Recommended quest rewards : Act 3 flask = Stun Threshold, Act 4 tattoo = Full Resistances, Pylon = 5% elemental resistances or 2% movement speed depending on your needs.

The 4.7m Breakpoint: Key to the Build

The 4.7 metre radius breakpoint on Elemental Weakness is what transforms this build from a simple CoC into a destruction machine. At this threshold, each circle created by Doedre’s Dismissal is treated as a separate explosion, meaning the enemy is hit multiple times with a single keypress. With Spell Cascade, you multiply your chaos damage by 3 to 5 times.

To reach this breakpoint, you need to combine several elements: raise Elemental Weakness to level 28 (remember it’s a cold gem, so your wand increases it by +4 or +5 and the amulet by +2), take the Roil node and the small AoE nodes leading to it, obtain a jewel with 10% curse AoE, and take Zone of Control. Once you have the budget, Time-Lost Sapphire is a major upgrade as it provides the necessary stats without needing to path toward AoE nodes.

The Infinite Loop: How It Works

The core of the build relies on a self-sustaining damage loop. You cast Elemental Weakness, which triggers Doedre’s Dismissal for massive chaos damage. These hits then proc Comet via Cast on Critical, and the whole thing repeats in a loop. The key to making this loop work is having enough Energy Gain and a high critical hit chance.

If your Comet doesn’t proc, check that you have taken the Energy Gain nodes in the passive tree and that the life cost of Comet isn’t too high relative to your total life. If the cost exceeds half your life, you will skip casts, which breaks the loop.

Spellslinger and Living Bomb: The Damage Multiplier

Dueling Wand grants access to Spellslinger, which allows you to socket Living Bomb. The interaction is powerful: Living Bomb infuses your Comet with fire, doubling the damage of each hit. Here is how it works: when you cast Elemental Weakness, you generate energy for Spellslinger, and when you have enough, you can trigger it to cast Living Bomb.

If you don’t have the budget for Dueling Wand, you can directly socket Living Bomb in your Cast on Critical with Comet. You lose a support gem slot, but the fire Infusion damage from Living Bomb far exceeds what any support gem would offer. Keep Living Bomb at level 4, no higher. For Spellslinger supports, use Efficiency II, Lifetap and Harmonic Remnants II.

Equipment Progression: From Budget to Endgame

The build evolves through investment tiers. Initially, Sunsplinter as a shield, Atziri’s Acuity in the gloves and Windscream in the boots form the foundation. Rathpith Globe replaces Sunsplinter as soon as you have 3000+ mana and 2000+ life, and with the « 3% crit chance per 100 maximum mana » corruption, it pushes your critical chance close to 100% for just one Divine.

The next step is replacing Atziri’s Acuity with rare gloves once you obtain Heart of the Well with 8%+ instant Life/Mana Leech. The Windscream boots can be replaced when you obtain 2 jewels with Faster Curse Activation and the Impending Doom nodes, freeing up a slot for boots with 30-35% movement speed.

The final step is Atziri’s Splendour, which allows you to remove Lifetap and Atalui’s Bloodletting by converting 100% of life cost to mana via Blood Transfusion and Heart of the Well. This armour requires corrupted gems and a copy with 600+ ES, preferably with the helmet soulcore mod.

Advanced Support Gems

Once you have reached the 4.7m breakpoint, you can add Ixchel’s Torment to your Cast on Critical. This support gem is somewhat random in how it works, but the damage it provides is considerable and its % recovery works with Fast Metabolism and Life/Mana Leech. If Ixchel’s Torment is too expensive, Fluke fills the same role for less.

For spell life cost issues, you can replace Ritualistic Curse with Efficiency II (you lose AoE but solve survival issues), or add Idol of Eeshta in your helmet. The definitive solution remains Tecrod’s Gaze with 60% effect in gloves, but this jewel is a significant investment. You can farm it yourself via Abyss tablets (20% chance to lead to Abyssal Depths) combined with Overseer tablets (20% item quantity from Bosses).

Passive Tree