The Archmage

Overview

The Archmage is a spellblade mage that blends all elements into one devastating package. Where other builds might lean heavily into fire or frost, this one thrives on versatility—cycling through ice, lightning, and flame to exploit weaknesses and chain advantages. By late game, the Archon feels limitless: infinite spell chains, capped damage on core abilities, and sustain that keeps you standing no matter the encounter.

What makes the Archon stand out is how it scales. The early game is surprisingly smooth compared to most mages, thanks to reliable control from Frost Nova and consistent damage from Ice Blast. As the build matures, you unlock the Spellblade specialization, gaining Void Blade and Meteor, which combine with Ice Blast to form a three-spell rotation that can be looped endlessly once the right passives and gear come online. With Blast Efficiency, All-Mother’s Copse, and Garb of Kinship, the Archon transitions into a true elemental powerhouse that can trivialize Nightmare difficulty.

Early Game

Character creation offers a few strong options: Shadow Dragons for mana regeneration, Mourn Watch for affliction damage, or Veil Jumpers for added critical power. Shadow Dragons are the most comfortable choice, but all three are viable.

The early spell trio—Frost Nova, Ice Blast, and Chain Lightning—makes this one of the best mage starts in the game. Frost Nova locks down entire groups without costing mana, giving you breathing room to safely use staff autos or set up bombs. Ice Blast serves as your primary damage source, hitting multiple targets and applying chill or weaken to soften them up. Chain Lightning provides additional AoE, spreads overwhelm, and helps control long fights by staggering enemies. While damage is still slower than a rogue or warrior, this setup is far more manageable than the typical mage struggle.

For early passives, Spirit Blade is a handy tool if you prefer running Orb and Dagger. It allows you to detonate bombs from range with the final attack in your chain. Beyond that, most passives are filler until you start reaching deeper into the Spellblade tree.

Early Levels

Level	Spell/Passive
1	Mortal Concentration
2	Charging Spirit
3	Frost Nova
4	Frostbite
5	Fade Reflex
6	Providence
7	Clarity in Suffering
8	Ice Storm
9	Ice Blast
10	Improved Health
11	Fade Strike
12	Quick Recovery
13	Chain Lightning
14	Concentration
15	Energy Burst
16	Bulwark
17	Medium Armor Mastery
18	Deterioration
19	Imbued Reaction
20	Underestimated
21	Storm Surge
22	Shellbreaker
23	Spirit Blade
24	Thunderous End
25	Void Blade
26	Finale
27	Blast Efficiency
28	Deterioration
29	Downfall
30	Wall of Fire

Equipment

Item	Details
Primary Weapon Fadelight Location	Provides +15% bonus damage and additional status effects
Secondary Weapon Enchanted Athame Location	More then doubles your damage at the cost of additional mana
Staff Flamebranch Location	Additional fire damage and mana resource
Helmet Defiant Silence Location	Provides +30% damage from having all blast abilities and refunds 25% of mana cost on impact
Armor Garb of Kinship Location	The best armor piece in The Veilguard, provides longer advantage duration, +10% damage for EVERY advantage (you will typically always have 3+), makes the advantages more effective and most importantly heals you for +5% when gaining an advantage which will offset the self damage of Maw of the Black City
Ring 1 Maw of the Black City Location	Makes your abilities a guaranteed critical hit at the cost of our health, this issue is completely negated by Garb of Kinship & Twin Buckle Binding
Ring 2 Band of Smoke Location	Extra Fire Damage
Amulet All-Mother’s Copse Location	Significant boosts to our blast ability damage and returns our mana when critical hitting with blast abilities, working in perfect combination with Maw of the Black City
Belt Twin Buckle Binding Location	Extra healing and ability damage
Rune 1 Vivify Location	Ability cooldowns are refreshed and the next ability is free
Rune 2 Glaciate Location	Passive +10% Frost damage
Rune 3 Ascend Location	?

Equipment Overview

The Archmage thrives on equipment that amplifies crits and spell cycling. Defiant Silence serves as the ideal helmet, pumping up critical damage for a build that leans entirely on Ice Blast, Meteor, and Void Blade critting for absurd numbers. Garb of Kinship again is the centerpiece, patching up Maw of the Black City’s self-harm while fueling higher advantages for even more damage uptime. Accessories like the All-Mother’s Copse amulet and Maw of the Black City ring turn the kit into a machine—mana refunds on crits plus guaranteed crits on every spell. A second slot, such as Band of Smoke, pairs nicely with Ice Blast to push the damage cap even harder, while Twin Buckle Binding provides both damage and sustain through its passive healing.

For weapons, the loadout leans on passive synergy rather than actives. Fade Light helps deal with tanky enemies while giving sustain, Thorn of Misfortune adds reliable crit damage scaling into the late game, and Flame Branch boosts Meteor for consistent AoE devastation. Together they form a balanced kit that doesn’t require weapon attacks to function—the Archmage’s spells become their own weapons, with each passive feeding into the cycle of infinite blasting and advantage stacking.

How to Play Late Game

With the Spellblade specialization unlocked, the Archon’s rotation comes together. Void Blade gives you a second blast option early, and later Meteor joins Ice Blast to complete the tri-element setup. The goal is to constantly rotate between these three blasts, weaving in detonations when possible for added advantages. Ice Blast often becomes your highest damage-per-cast spell, frequently hitting the 99,999 damage cap. Meteor is your best AoE tool, especially against clustered darkspawn, and Void Blade provides flexibility and mobility.

The passive backbone is Blast Efficiency, which reduces the mana cost of blast spells and makes infinite chaining possible. From there, the advantage package (Flames of Inspiration, Resistant Blast, Zone of Destruction, and Imbued Duration) keeps you alive and supercharges your spells. Garb of Kinship makes these advantages even stronger, stacking healing and damage multipliers until you feel untouchable.

In combat, the playstyle is deceptively simple: rotate spells as soon as they’re available, always prioritize Ice Blast first, Meteor second, Void Blade third. Detonate a target early in fights to trigger Imbued Duration and ensure Shocking Weapons is active. With Maul of the Black City providing guaranteed crits and All-Mother’s Copse refunding mana, you’ll find that your resources never run dry. Use Vivify if your chain slips, and keep destructive light as your panic button ultimate—it offers invulnerability frames and resets your rhythm.

By the late game, the Archon turns every battlefield into an elemental storm. Frozen packs are shattered by meteors, darkspawn melt under waves of fire, and bosses fall to endless barrages of critical Ice Blasts. It’s the pinnacle of spellblade power—fast, efficient, and brutally effective across every enemy type in the game.

Final Levels

Level	Spell/Passive
31	Prolong
32	Return Fire
33	Providence
34	Resistant Blasts
35	Inner Focus
36	Wrath
37	Meteor
38	Desolate Malady
39	Flames of Inspiration
40	Ethereal
41	Zone of Destruction
42	Necessary Steps
43	Breathing Room
44	Shattering Control
45	Even the Odds
46	Arcane Defiance
47	Corrupted Ground
48	Enervation
49	Collateral Damage
50	Necessary Steps
51	Breathing Room
52	Imbued Duration
53	Degrade
54	Staggering Charge
55	Breacher
56	Frost Shield
57	Shellbreaker
58	Imbued Takedown
59	Desolate Malady
60	Dark Squall
61	Perfect Cast
62	Wrath
63	Reclamation
64	Enervation
65	Tempest

Every ability node is an extra 15% passive damage so we want to grab as many abilities as possible even if we are not using them

Build Snapshot

Related Builds

Support the Website

Thank you for choosing RPGael!
RPGael is kept ad-free so you can enjoy builds without distractions. If you’d like to support the site, you can donate through Ko-fi or check out the RedGael YouTube channel. Every bit of support helps keeps new content coming!