Summary
- Witch Advantages: Both the Infernalist and Bloodmage ascendancies offer powerful mechanics that synergize uniquely with the Spell Totem archetype.
- Mechanic Interactions: Spell Totems bypass many character-based drawbacks; they allow for the use of “no-cost” skills via Ancestral Bond and enable the use of nodes that would normally be detrimental to the player (e.g., Grinning Emulation).
- Sustain Strategy: Mana and Life Remnants work with the “on-hit” effects of totems, solving the common totem issue of lacking effective leech.
- Early vs. Late Game: Infernalist is positioned as an early-game powerhouse due to mobility and innate spirit, while Bloodmage offers superior late-game scaling potential through hybrid life/mana pooling.
- Bug Awareness: Known interactions, such as the Burden of Shadows staff damage stacking and Arc’s lightning infusion scaling, are acknowledged but will not be the foundation for league-start recommendations.
Current Known Bugged Interactions
- Burden of Shadows: A known issue exists where stacking life costs via this staff scales damage infinitely.
- Arc Infusion: Arc currently deals 200% more damage while lightning-infused. While powerful, it remains only slightly better than Spark, suggesting it is not the only viable endgame option.
- Totem Infusion: Interestingly, totems do not currently interact with infusions. It remains unclear if this is intended or if other skills are bugged.
Infernalist Ascendancy: The Early-Game Powerhouse
- Demon Form: Provides significant damage increases and cast speed. The “dodge roll” associated with this form improves overall mobility and leveling speed.
- Low-Life Utility: By utilizing Coward’s Legacy (a Tier 3 unique), players can maintain “low life” status (75% or below) to activate:
- Pain Attunement: For increased spell damage.
- Execute 3: Provides a 30% more damage multiplier.
- Movement Speed: 10% bonus from the corresponding boot rune.
- Archmage Synergy: The build utilizes Archmage for massive lightning damage. Because Ancestral Bond removes costs for totems, the downside of Archmage (increased mana cost) is effectively nullified.
- Grinning Emulation: This node provides ~35% more damage. Because totems are treated as separate entities, the player does not take the fire damage-over-time penalty associated with this node.
Mana & Life Remnants for Sustain
- Mana and Life Remnants function via the “on-hit” component of totems.
- While the “on-kill” effect does not trigger from totems, the “on-hit” benefit provides necessary sustain for a playstyle that cannot rely on traditional leech.
Bloodmage Ascendancy: Endgame Scaling
- No Life/Mana Cost: Like the Infernalist, Bloodmage benefits from Ancestral Bond removing the life costs usually associated with this archetype.
- Hybrid Pooling: By utilizing both Eldritch Battery (for mana) and Crimson Power (for life), the build can achieve massive health and mana pools simultaneously.
- Crimson Power: Grants max life equal to 100% of the Energy Shield on the body armor.
- Eldritch Battery: Converts Energy Shield to mana.
- Positioning: Bloodmage is better suited for the endgame because it lacks the innate spirit bonuses found in other ascendancies, making it harder to gear during the initial league-start phase.
Key References