
Introduction
The Empress's Grace Arcanist is a high mobility and high damage class with low survivability. This class mainly focuses on the Combat Stat Specialization to increase the damage dealt by your Awakening Deathbound and Ruin Skills.
Arcanist has 3 different categories of skills in her arsenal. Normal Skills deal solid damage and fill up the Deck Meter faster. Filling up the Deck Meter or triggering the Quick Draw Tripod of a Normal Skill pulls a random card from Arcanist's Card Deck.
Stacking Skills provide buffs, mobility and add at least one Stack to the targets hit by the skill.
Ruin Skills should be only used once you applied 4 Stacks to your target by using Stacking Skills. Ruin Skills usually consume all Stacks applied on the target and deal high damage based on the Stack count.
Arcanist, overall, is a versatile class that requires a lot of micromanagement since the cards you pull from your Card Deck have various effects. These cards will need to be used at the correct moment to increase your damage or survivability.
Empress's Grace
Grudge
This build guide assumesyou have a Character at Level 50 before transitioning to it. Check out the Arcanist Levelingand 1-50 Leveling guides to reach Level 50.
Check out the Order of the Emperor Arcanist build for an alternative Arcanist play style.
Check out the Guardian Raids, Abyssal Dungeons and Legion Raids guides for an introduction to their content.

Difficulty
High
Mobility
High
Survivability
Low
Back Attack
Optional
Raid Skill Build
- If you choose to play with Raid Captain instead of Barricade, you can replace Quadra Accelerate with Dealer's Flip for more Movement Speed buff uptime. This build provides more Deck Meter gain, since you can replace Protection with Wealth.
- The alternative 341 build uses Serendipity instead of Call of Destiny. On top of additional Deck Meter gain, this build also benefits more from Cull & Judgment combo. At the same time, you need high level CDR Gems for this build.
- Return and/or Serendipity are your Counter Skills.
Gameplay & Skill Rotation
The Gameplay of an Empress's Grace Arcanist revolves around their Skill Rotation and Identity Card usage, which needs to be managed simultaneously to maximize their damage output and survivability.
Make sure that your Crit and Movement Speed (if you use Raid Captain) buffs are always active before you use your Main Damaging skills.
Four of a Kind Skill Animation can be cancelled by moving while casting. This makes it easier to utilize the Judgment window.
Check video below!
Awakening Opener:
To increase the damage of your Awakening Skill Deathbound, use the rotation down below. This will guarantee that the damage is amplified by the effect of Barricade. To do so, it is mandatory to have Protection on Celestial Rain.
- Use Scratch Dealer
- Call of Destiny
- Use Deathbound and use “Spacebar” to cancel the animation.
- Use Celestial Rain.
Skill Rotation:
- Scratch Dealer
- Call of Destiny
- Celestial Rain
- Quadra Accelerate
- Spiral Edge (first usage)
- Return
- Secret Garden
- Spiral Edge (second usage)
- Call of Destiny
- Four of a Kind
Since you want to stay in “Boundless MP” state with your Nightmare Flower Set effect, avoid having long downtimes if possible. If unavoidable, use Four of a Kind with only 2 Ruin Stacks to keep your Mana low.
Identity Cards & Combos:
Every time you fill up your Deck Meter or trigger Quick Draw, you draw a random card from your Identity Card Deck. You can draw and hold up to 2 Identity Cards in your hand. Below is a list of all available Identity Cards.
- Corrosion
- Mayhem
- Three-Headed Snake
- Twisted Fate
- Balance
- Cull
- Ghost
- Clown
- Judgment
- Moon
- Royal
- Star
- Emperor
- Wheel of Fortune
- Joy
Try to memorize the usage and combos of the most important Identity Cards listed below, to maximize your damage output.
- Corrosion, Mayhem, Three-Headed Snake, Balance, Ghost and Royal can be activated as soon as you pull those, since these cards provide you with a long duration buff which is beneficial for the fight.
- In the case of Three-Headed Snake, use some Auto Attacks in between your Stacking Skills to apply on your target the maximum Stack of 4 sooner.
- Cull is one of the best cards to multiply your damage output. You should combine it with the cards listed below to maximize its efficiency of it.
- Judgment allows you to maximize the damage of all your Ruin Skill cards regardless of how many Stacks are applied on the target. Debuff your target and buff yourself first. Afterwards, use all your Ruin Skill cards within the 4 seconds time frame of the Judgment card's buff. You can use the following rotation to maximize your Damage.
- Four of a Kind
- Celestial Rain
- Four of a Kind
- Secret Garden
- Four of a Kind
- After activating Wheel of Fortune, the next skill you use will have its Cooldown reset. This includes your Awakening skills. So make sure to use it before you use your awakening, which allows you to use your awakening twice in a row. If your Awakening is already on Cooldown, use it to reset Celestial Rain.
- Use Twisted Fate before you use your Ruin Skills, since it has a chance to increase your damage by 40% for 4 seconds.
- Judgment allows you to maximize the damage of all your Ruin Skill cards regardless of how many Stacks are applied on the target. Debuff your target and buff yourself first. Afterwards, use all your Ruin Skill cards within the 4 seconds time frame of the Judgment card's buff. You can use the following rotation to maximize your Damage.
- Use Joy while Celestial Rain and your other Ruin Skills are on Cooldown.
- Moon should be used before you use your main Damage skills.
- Clown is great to copy the following cards: Cull, Judgment, Wheel of Fortune or Twisted Fate.
- Use Star only if you expect a huge downtime on skills before a major boss mechanic or if you are about to use a high Damage combo. Since you want to stay in “Boundless MP” state with your Nightmare Flower Set effect, avoid using this card incorrectly.
Stats Priority
The Empress's Grace Arcanist build mainly focuses on Specialization, which increases the damage of your Ruin Skills/Awakening and also increases the Deck Meter gain. You need Crit only on your necklace, since Arcanist has several buffs that increase Crit Chance and Damage.
Bracelet
Bracelets provide beneficial effects to yourself or to your party members depending on the rolls.
Note: Bracelets should not be your top priority to optimize since it'll be much more efficient to optimize your other gear first. Bracelets are costly! So slowly build towards a Main Stat and a Sub Stat. Anything else is extra!
Check out theBracelet Guidefor more details.
Possible Special Effects to Roll:
Optimal
Main Stat Increase
Sub Stat Increase
Circulate
Fervor
Hammer
Wedge
Alternatives
Precise
Raid
Superiority
Sawtooth Blade
Weapon Power
Harvest
Expose Weakness
Dagger
Engravings
Class Engravings provide powerful benefits that can significantly change play style. Battle Engravings are generally used to increase damage. Below are the recommended Engravings for this build.
Check out the Engraving Guide for more details.
Starter Engravings
- Empress's Grace increases the damage dealt by your Ruin Skills and restores mana.
- Barricade synergizes well with all your Ruin Skills once they have the Protection attached to them.
Add-On Endgame Engravings
- Adrenaline increases your Attack Power and Crit Rate and can be easily kept at max stack with the low Cooldown skills of Arcanist.
- Hit Master is great for Arcanist, since the damage of all Ruin Skills is separated into normal damage and stack damage. Your main damage comes from triggering the stacks (stack damage), which doesn't rely on Back or Front Attack.
- Raid Captain benefits from the various Movement Speed buffs you gain as an Arcanist and increases your Damage accordingly.
Advanced Engravings
Note: The Advanced Engravings are the Best in Slot setup for Tier 3 content. The penalties attached to these can be hard to overcome for new players. Only use the following engravings if you are experienced with the boss fight!
- Grudge* increases damage done while also increasing damage received. The engraving is a highly effective damage increase that does not require specific positioning, making it worthwhile even with the penalty.
- Cursed Doll* provides a significant Attack Power increase at the cost of 25% healing penalty. The healing penalty can be punishing for inexperienced players not familiar with boss mechanics.
(*)These Engravings should only be used at Engraving Level 3.
Optimal Setups
Engravings are listed in order of priority from left to right.
Standard
Empress's Grace
Grudge
Hit Master
Adrenaline
Barricade
Empress's Grace
Grudge
Hit Master
Adrenaline
Raid Captain
Alternative
Empress's Grace
Grudge
Hit Master
Cursed Doll
Raid Captain
Empress's Grace
Grudge
Hit Master
Cursed Doll
Barricade
Gear Sets
These are the specific gear sets for each tier.
Check out the Gear Set Guide for more details.
Notes :
- If speedrunning your alts, you can skip Abyss Dungeon Gear up to 1370 gearscore by just honing Chaos Dungeon Gear.
- If you're close to 1445 gearscore and were already doing Valtan/Vykas Normal Mode, you can skip crafting the Legendary Legion Raid Gears.
- If you have already crafted Relic Gears, hold onto them because once you unlock the Gear Set Conversion feature, you will be able to freely swap between Relic Legion Raid Sets.
"Play at your own pace" Route
Tier 1
340 gearscore
Seraphic Oath Set
460 gearscore
Boisterous Elemental Set
Tier 2
840 gearscore
Marvelous Earth Set
960 gearscore
Unyielding Will Set
Early Tier 3
1302 - 1370 gearscore
Twisted Dimensional Set
Tier 3 Argos Set
1370 - 1415 gearscore
Preordained Diligence Set
Tier 3 Legion Raid Set
1415 - 1444 gearscore
Preordained Diligence 2 Piece Set
Demon Beast Strength 4 Piece Set
1445+ gearscore
Nightmare Flower Set
Runes
Runes enhance Skills with extra bonuses. All Rune drops are account bound and have limited availability, so placement of Runes on the correct Skills is important. Below are the recommended pairings.
Check the Rune Guide for more details.
Skills | Runes |
Call of Destiny | Bleed |
Return | Rage |
Quadra Accelerate | Galewind |
Scratch Dealer | Galewind |
Spiral Edge | Galewind |
Celestial Rain | Protection |
Four of a Kind | Protection |
Secret Garden | Protection |
- At early levels, you can use Conviction & Judgment combo on Quadra Accelerate and Scratch Dealer to counter the early game mana issues.
- Purify is needed in specific contents like in Phase 1 Valtan. In this case, use it on Return.
Gear Skill Tree
While Gems add benefits to skills, you can also increase the effects of Skill Tree themselves. Skill Tree levels go up to 5 and each level can increase the damage, cooldown reduction or buff that they provide.
For more information on how to add equipment Skill Tree and how to get them, please visit our Skill Tree System Guide.
Celestial Rain | Vital Point Hit Enhanced Strike Weak Point Detection |
Secret Garden | Vital Point Hit Perfect Secret Secret Chance |
Four of a Kind | Swift Preparation Card Enhancement Full House |
Call of Destiny | Nimble Movement Dark Destiny Fake Flip |
Return | Exposed Darkness |
Quadra Accelerate | Nimble Movement Card Draw Accelerate Concentration |
Scratch Dealer | Safety Device |
Spiral Edge | Quick Prep |
If you use Dealer's Flip, you can level up additional Skill Trees of Scratch Dealer and Spiral Edge. Hover over the skills to see which Skill Trees you should level up.
Gems
Gems grant bonus damage and cooldown reduction to specific skills. You can only equip 11 of these Gems at a time so it is recommended that you prioritize the Gems for your most important skills.
Please visit our Gem System Guide for more information on how to create higher tier Gems.
Attack Gems
Celestial Rain
Secret Garden
Four of a Kind
Cooldown Gems
Celestial Rain
Secret Garden
Four of a Kind
Quadra Accelerate
Scratch Dealer
Spiral Edge
Call of Destiny
Return
Card Sets
Cards are an endgame system for maximizing your character. Below are the recommended sets for this class.
Check out the Card Guide for more details on how to obtain them.
Budget Card Set
Optimal Damage Card Set
Summary
- The Arcanist is a high mobility and damage class with low survivability.
- Specialization is the main Combat Stat of the Empress's Grace Arcanist.
- Normal Skills deal solid damage and fill up the Deck Meter faster.
- Stacking Skills provide useful buffs, mobility and add at least one Stack to the targets hit the skill.
- Ruin Skills consume all Stacks applied on the target and deal high damage based on the Stack count.
- Skill Rotation and Identity Cards usage, need to be managed simultaneously to maximize the damage output and survivability of Arcanist.
Credits
Written by Perciculum & Phiska
Reviewed by Starlast
Changelog
Nov 22nd 2022
Article updated after the Nov 16th Balance Patch.
Jul 17th 2022
Article Published
Feb 18th 2023
Bracelet options added.