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The Winter Orb is easily the biggest winner of this update. It received multiple impactful Buffs: simply higher base Damage, more base Projectiles, better Critical Strike Chance, and the Freeze is more reliable during the early progression. It is one of the few Skills remaining in the game that can still “shotgun” enemies with multiple Projectiles, so it is not just a bonus for your Clear Speed, but also a significant boost for your DPS against Bosses. With the common Mystic Refractor Wand, you can skip using the Multiple Projectile Support and pick a proper Damage boost. The Socket Color rework is also great here, since the bonus Quality for the Winter Orb grants additional stages for even higher DPS potential. Both Elementalist and Occultist are great picks. The Elementalist is a better option for the early progression, but the Occultist offers insane scaling in the endgame through Power Charges. 

For the full Guide, you can check: Winter Orb Elementalist/Occultist

The Critical Poison archetype continues to grow with each passing league. The Blade Vortex now receives slightly fewer bonuses from each additional stack of blades, but in return its Critical Strike Chance is nearly doubled, which makes reaching a Crit cap trivially easy. As an Assassin, your Poisons inflicted with critical hits deal 20% More Damage, receive a 75% extra Damage over Time Multiplier, and last significantly longer. Later on, you can switch to the Perfect Agony keystone to scale it even further with the very efficient sources of Critical Strike Multiplier. Your Clear Speed will be easily carried by the very cheap Obliteration Wand, which is also the best-in-slot weapon for your damage until you reach the very late Gear levels. The changes to the Assassin Ascendancy do not affect this build. The Bifurcated Criticals do not interact with the Perfect Agony keystone, so it is better to pick the usual Shadowed Blood notable for better defense. The Reflect modifier is much safer now, but having immunity to it for free is still quite beneficial, especially during the first atlas progression. 

For the Guide please check: Blade Vortex Poison Assassin

The Archmage playstyle remains a superior option for most Spells. By focusing on Mana, you will improve your DPS, survivability, and sustain at the same time. It adds slightly less Damage to your Spells now, but it is still a lot. The Shock Nova of Procession is the best Skill for this archetype due to its fastest Cast Time among all Spells, and the ability to hit multiple times per cast, but it can be easily replaced by other options of your preference. It is a Transfigured Spell, so you will have to progress through the Campaign with regular Skills, such as Arc or Crackling Lance. Since everyone has to complete their trials, the majority of Transfigured Gems remain cheap and accessible during the first few days. The addition of Enshrouded Unique items ensures the potential of this build is even higher than before, although you probably shouldn't worry about it too much during the first days of the League. 

Full Guide: Shock Nova of Procession Hierophant

The nerfs to Spell Totems and Buffs for all Spells balance each other to reach a net-neutral state in terms of DPS. However, the Freezing Pulse also received Additional Projectiles and Projectile Speed, which are all very valuable for your Damage and AoE Coverage. Skipping Greater Multiple Projectiles Support allows you to use yet another proper Damage Support Gem, while skipping the Rain of Splinters Jewel saves you a lot of Currency. The Totem playstyle is still much safer than regular handcasting, as it allows you to easily maneuver through your Enemies while the Totems fire your Spells for you. Furthermore, you can implement the new Crustacean's Call Staff, which turns your Totems into walking Crabs. Keep in mind, your Crab Totems are still limited by their Duration or Movement Speed, but it will definitely improve your Clear Speed and enjoyment of the Build.

Full Guide can be found here: Freezing Pulse Totem Hierophant Build 

The Penance Brand Ignite Elementalist returns as one of the strongest Ignite league starters in 3.29. The Elementalist remains the ideal Ascendancy thanks to an insane power spike during the Campaign granted by Golems, while the Shaper of Flames enables easy progression into pure Ignite Setup. Golems also benefit heavily from the Socket changes, thanks to the bonus Quality they will grant you stronger Buffs. Brand mechanics let you attach the Brand and keep moving while massive Ignites spread through entire packs, resulting in excellent clear speed and comfortable boss encounters. Unfortunately, the new Ignite-themed Keystone is very bad and should be avoided. The build also requires very little gear to get started, and can use several cheap Unique Items to greatly boost its performance further, such as Nycta's Lantern. Once you accumulate enough Currency, you can pivot to the Herald-stacking approach to unlock the pinnacle of Clear Speed without having to level up a new character.

Full Guide can be found here: Penance Brand Ignite Elementalist

If you are a fan of Minion Builds, you should definitely check out the Animated Weapon of Ranged Arms Necromancer, as it is easily the strongest representative of that archetype. The build benefits from the global improvements to Minion attack behaviour, while the Abyss rework makes farming powerful Ghastly Eye Jewels much more enjoyable than before. The playstyle is simple: cast Bladefall to create lingering weapons, then summon them with Animate Weapon of Ranged Arms, creating an army of ranged Minions that rapidly clears entire screens from a safe distance. Your Minions persist through different instances now, but are still limited by quite lengthy Duration. The Necromancer remains the obvious Ascendancy choice thanks to its powerful offensive bonuses for your Minions and insane defensive benefits for yourself, making early progression extremely comfortable on a minimal budget. Keep in mind, this Build requires the Transfigured variant of your main gem, but you can easily level up with the very similar Raging Spirits or Absolution Minions until you obtain it, since most Minions follow very similar Passive Tree progression.

Full Guide: Animated Weapon of Ranged Arms Necromancer

Lightning Arrow Deadeye remains one of the fastest League Starters in the game thanks to its unmatched clear speed and smooth Atlas progression. The new Socket Color system makes optimizing your links much easier without relying on expensive crafting, but aside from that, the build plays almost exactly the same as before. Deadeye continues to be the best Ascendancy for the archetype, providing massive bonuses to Projectiles, Mark effectiveness, and mobility, allowing you to fly through maps from the very beginning of the League. The Lightning Arrow offers amazing AoE coverage and powerful Shocks, while Artillery Ballista provides excellent single-target damage against tougher bosses. Thanks to the Spell rework, the demand for the usual Attack-focused Unique Items will be much lower, allowing you to get your precious upgrades faster. If your goal is to rush Atlas completion, farm Currency efficiently, and blast through maps at incredible speed, Lightning Arrow Deadeye remains one of the safest and most reliable choices.

Full Guide: Lightning Arrow Deadeye

Elemental Hit Slayer received minor Damage and AoE nerfs, but this build was incredibly strong before, so this change does not come close to hindering the Skill. It still offers massive Clear Speed, excellent sustain, and remains a fantastic League Starter capable of rushing through the Campaign extremely quickly. One of its biggest advantages is that it does not require constant Weapon upgrades like many other melee builds, making early progression much smoother. Since the build relies heavily on Unique items, it can greatly benefit from the Legion changes and the introduction of new Vestigial Unique Items, creating even more opportunities for powerful and affordable upgrades. The slight nerf may also discourage many players from choosing this build, which could lower the demand for its core items and make gearing significantly cheaper. With accessible upgrades and more than enough power to compensate for the damage reduction, Elemental Hit Slayer remains an excellent choice for the Allflame League.

Full Guide can be found here: Elemental Hit Slayer

The Physical Damage over Time Archetype also received plenty of Buffs. Firstly, Reap and Corrupting Fever deal 20% More Damage across the board, but that is not all. The Vaal Reap deals more Damage for a longer time, and you can store two uses, which is very useful against Bosses. You can also use two new Pacts for maximum Damage potential. On top of that, you can now also use the new Transfigured Reap of Butchering, which deals less Damage with Hits, but applies a significantly stronger Damage over Time effect compared to the regular version, which is the main focus of this Setup. Finally, your DoTs are applied mostly via Kinetic Blast and Spell Slinger Setups, and ignore Temporal Shields and Block, making it a top-tier Build for fast Clear Speed. The Damage against Bosses is still not great, but it is definitely sufficient enough for comfortable progression. 

Full Guide can be found here: Reap Elementalist

Icicle Mine Deadeye continues to be an excellent mapping starter in the 3.29 update, offering exceptional clear speed with very little gear investment. It avoided any Buffs and nerfs alike, remaining a very solid and heavily underused pick. The Deadeye is rather unusual Ascendency for the Spell or Mine Archetype, but it suits the Icicle Mine perfectly thanks to its additional Projectiles, Tailwind, and free Chaining, allowing you to fly through maps at incredible speed. The build is also exceptionally comfortable and safe to play, constantly Chilling and Freezing entire packs before they have a chance to fight back. This Setup can also utilise various cheap and powerful Uniques, such as the March of the Legion Boots for 5 additional Skill Levels, or later on a Victario's Influence with multiple viable Corrupted Implicits. The final variant uses Transfigured Icicle Mine of Fanning, but you can easily progress with the regular Icicle Mine as soon as you unlock this Skill. 

Full Guide: Icicle Mine Deadeye

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