Favorite Arcade Mode Build?

[Vilya]

Like the title says: Which is your favorite arcade mode build?

I personally tend to go for the Cloud Strike and Ice Nova, also known as the "I'll just run away from everything"-build

Whenever an enemy gets too close to me I use the ice nova and let the cloud do the rest of the job. All while I hide in a corner, shaking and crying!

Can't say I get many S-ranks, but at least I don't die that fast.. Usually. (And yes those bees get me too sometimes, but just wait til you come across some halloweeds..)

 

[Chris Soames]

I've been trying several different things out, and I too like to rely quite heavily on the cloud, but I'm quite liking Chain Lightning at the moment, but only if I get lucky with magic attack items on the first couple of floors. Blade Flurry has its merits too!

 

[KalmTraveler]

Chain Lightning/Cloud+Insect Swarm
Its also like i run from everything but way more DPS since the ICE Nova is by now way to weak to be on the same lvl as other skills in my opinion.

 

[Eriktion]

at the moment i do best with the flamethrower or the bladeflurry

 

[Own]

Spells are fun for story mode. In story mode you can run any build and do alright.

Arcade Mode is designed around pure efficiency.

That's why I run Shadowclone+Frosty Friend. Shadowclone adds some DPS and a bit of stunlock against smaller enemies, Frosty Friend gives you some breathing room to work with. If I can afford it after they're both silver charge, I'll toss in a rank of cloud, if there is any energy left. Or the skill that gives +Defense or +AtkSpeed, since they help against the current final Arcade boss.

A Build of Ice and Fire is also nice. Slow your enemy down, stack on the DoT and hit and run everything.

 

[GarlicJelly]

Shadow Clone and when I get spare points at lvl 7 I go for the Cloud Strike (just because I don't want to waste my points). Normal Attacks FTW!

 

[Aurophobia]

2H + Spin to Win
I end up putting all my points into Whirlwind and then put the remaining bronze skill points into Support Shield.
First time I tried it, got me to Sky Temple. Attack Cancelling => Shield / Whirlwind = OP

 

[Tylerthedragon]

I've tried alot of things, But I usually just go with weapon skills, but I do think that me trying Ice Nova from seeing gameplay from a youtuber (IHeartPie) would be a good idea, as well as swarm.

 

[d_nlo]

Skills:

1. Flamethrower Lv. 1
2. Frosty Friend Lv. 1
3. Flamethrower Lv. 5
4. Frosty Friend Lv. 5
5. Protect Lv. 5
6. Haste Lv. x

Talents:

1. Surgeon Lv. 5
2. Manaburn Lv. 3
3. Endurance Lv. 5
4. Tenacious Lv. x / Arcane Collar Lv. x

I've started using Frosty Friend after reading a tip from Own, since I thought that it was useless.
He actually allows me to take no damage at all in almost every room.
The fact that the pet's health restore after every room (which is short) is what makes it more viable on Arcade than on Story.

 

[Own]

You might want to swap Endurance for Intelligence and Tenacious/Collar for +CritDMG.

You heavily benefit from a low max EP with that build, and +10% HP largely isn't worth it for 5 talent points in Arcade. +30-40 HP on floor 12 is a little weak, it essentially protects you from one ice fist or two ice spikes. Given the choice of Living Longer vs Killing Faster, I always go for killing.

 

[d_nlo]

Having low Max EP would make harder for me to trigger Manaburn, since Silver Charge Frosty Friend eats 50 Max EP, I would have to be at 25EP or lower to trigger the passive effect.
That is why I get +15 EP from Endurance, +15 from that blue amulet and +20 from the green mage hat if it is on shop, so I'll need to lose only 50 EP.

But I will place some points on Crit DMG+ instead of Tenacious or Arcane Collar.

 

[GarlicJelly]

Having low Max EP would make harder for me to trigger Manaburn, since Silver Charge Frosty Friend eats 50 Max EP, I would have to be at 25EP or lower to trigger the passive effect.
That is why I get +15 EP from Endurance, +15 from that blue amulet and +20 from the green mage hat if it is on shop, so I'll need to lose only 50 EP.

But I will place some points on Crit DMG+ instead of Tenacious or Arcane Collar.

I'm not sure if that's how it works. I think it blocks out EP but it doesn't reduce your Max EP so Frosty Friend would make it so you're always using Manaburn. Not 100% sure though.

 

[d_nlo]

I double checked that, the blocked energy does reduce your max EP and that take into account for the proc on Manaburn.
But I'll also try to beat arcade without foccusing on EP.

 

[Haxial]

What I've found the most success with so far:
Skills
-Cloud
-Frosty friend
-Meteor

Talents:
-Last stand (max right away)

As for other talents, I'm still playing around with what works the best but I usually throw points into MATK+ talents at least one point into increase chance to apply debuffs. Anything that increased dmg of meteor, really. This build seems to get me the farthest when I'm soloing and appears to play great with a team, too. I can kite enemies (cloud), snipe enemies (Meteor), and take agro (Frosty). Even take some hits (Last stand).

From time to time I will try out other builds but I don't survive nearly as well with most melee builds. I would love some more skills that supported a tankier style of gameplay w/ low dps. I don't necessarily mean the traditional non killable tank but a player, that when playing right, is rewarded with increased survivability. Such as a passive skill that rewards a player for perf blocking by healing them slightly (e.g. +2% [per level] hp gained per perf block). This way the skill is still required but this player can be more survivable and serve an important team function of storing. I feel like having a "tank" is crucial for team play. Right now I'm using frosty friend to fill that void but I hope to see that support tree allow for this style of playing in the future.

I have had some success with shadow clone + frosty friend + cloud, too. I haven't tried the whirlslash build so I'll have to give that a try.