The Arcanist has two more action points than anybody else and the smallest health pool in the game. They turn a clear line of sight into a death sentence — provided they never let their opponent get within five tiles.
Those 14 AP do not come from a passive: they are part of the class stats. Two extra AP a turn is a free Blink in every attacking turn.
The farther the target, the harder you hit: +5% damage per tile beyond 2, up to +40% at 10 tiles. In melee, no bonus. Only the direct damage of your spells benefits: neither Blaze’s burn nor the Ignite explosion. And all your spells of range 2 or more reach 1 tile farther.
The second effect is the one people forget: Fire bolt actually reaches 9 tiles, Blast 8, Comet 9, Blink 4. With Mage’s eye, count two more tiles again.
The first effect dictates your position. At 2 tiles you hit like everybody else; at 8 tiles you hit 30% harder. A decent Arcanist does not back off to survive, they back off because that is where their damage is.
16 to 24 damage, and above all an Ignite mark that lasts 3 turns. On the third mark, the target explodes: 38 to 54 damage on itself and on enemies on the adjacent tiles, and the marks start again from zero. Since you can only cast two Fire bolts per turn, the third mark always lands on the following turn — it is an appointment your opponent can plan for, and so can you.
21 to 30 damage on the target tile and the four adjacent tiles, your allies included. It targets a tile, not an enemy: along with Comet, it is your way to hit an invisible Shade, and the spell that punishes a hero standing next to their summon.
No immediate damage: the target burns for 17 to 25 at the start of each of its next 2 turns. Once applied, the burn ignores distance, line of sight and walls, and it goes through armour and resistances — which makes it the best spell to cast just before breaking out of melee and disappearing around a corner. In return, it gets no damage bonus: no Focus, no Mage’s eye, no critical hit.
23 to 33 damage to everything within 2 tiles of the target point, your allies included. The widest area in the class, and the one that most easily reaches a hero and their summons at once. Minimum range 3: it can never be cast on someone who has just closed on you.
A short teleport, with no cooldown: you have it every turn. Two AP to get out of melee, find a line of sight again, or cross the void. It needs a line of sight to the arrival tile: it goes over no obstacle, not even a low one. It is the most important spell in the class, and the one beginners spend too early.
+2 range on all your spells and +20% damage, this turn and the next. Fire bolt then reaches 11 tiles: enough to strike from an angle where your opponent simply cannot reach you in one turn.
For 2 turns, half the damage you take is also dealt to whoever hits you — you still take it, and poison and burns are not reflected. It is an answer to melee, not a protection: against a Warrior chaining two Lunges it returns more than any shield in the class, which has none.
Summons an elemental with 130 health and 4 MP, which you play on its own turn, right after yours. It spits embers at 5 tiles (26 to 38 damage, 5 AP) and breathes in a straight line to push back 2 tiles (12 to 18 damage, 3 AP). It plays 4 turns, then vanishes at the start of its 5th. Beyond the damage, it blocks a tile: placed in a corridor, it buys you the turn you need.
The elemental, on its own turn — you play it like a second hero.
Every spell slot has a second version, and so does the passive: before the fight, in the grimoire, you pick one version per slot. The Arcanist’s variants heal, grant AP and poison; her base kit doesn’t change. A heal cast on an enemy hurts it. The choice is locked when the fight starts, and your opponent sees it. All of them are available, in every mode.
Replaces Focus.
Each heal from your Soothing chant on an ally also restores to you 10% of the HP healed. The farther the healed ally, the stronger that heal: +5% per tile beyond 2, up to +25% at 7 tiles. Even without an ally, the passive works: the heals you give yourself are 15% stronger (Soothing chant, Featherstep, Great canticle placed on yourself). The bunny’s Cuddle, Great canticle placed on an ally and Venom chant’s lifesteal do not benefit.
Two of the school’s heals hurt, Soothing chant and the bunny’s Cuddle: an enemy hit by one of them takes 150% of its value as damage — direct damage like any other, reduced by armour and resistances, raised by a critical hit and dodgeable by a Shade. The heal given to an ally does not change.
Replaces Fire bolt.
A word that wounds an enemy: 12 to 18 damage, plus an echo for 2 turns: every heal you or an ally receive in that time, wherever it comes from (chant, bunny, lifesteal, turret, regeneration), deals as much damage to them, in two halves, at the start of their next 2 turns. Their armour and resistances reduce this damage.
Tip. Little damage up front: its worth is the echo. Mark the enemy, then heal — every heal given during the echo hurts them for as much. Cast it before Great canticle or Soothing chant. Its catch: with no heal behind it, it is your weakest shot.
Replaces Blast.
Heals allies on the targeted tile and the 4 adjacent tiles (yourself included): 9 to 13 HP each. Enemies in the area are hurt: 14 to 20 damage (150% of the heal), a direct hit that can be dodged. No cooldown and no limit per turn: as many times as your AP allow.
Tip. A group heal that hurts at the same time: aim at the tile that reaches both your allies and the enemy next to them. In a duel, next to your opponent, it heals you and hits them in a single cast. Its catch: far from any enemy, it is a small heal for its cost.
Replaces Blaze.
A poison that eats at an enemy at the start of each of their next 3 turns (18 to 24) and restores to you half of the damage it actually deals. It cannot be dodged and goes through armour. It stops as soon as a healing spell touches the target; lifesteal or regeneration does not stop it.
Tip. Damage spread over several turns for a single cast, and a share of each bite comes back to you as HP: apply it early, then back off. It keeps eating away while you heal or run, and goes straight through armour. Its catch: a healing spell on the target stops it dead — of little use against an opponent who has a heal. Lifesteal or regeneration do not stop it.
Replaces Comet.
Your allies on the targeted tile and the 4 adjacent tiles (yourself included, if you are there) have 2 more AP for their next 2 turns.
Tip. The team spell par excellence: your allies in the area play their next turns with more AP, and so do you if you stand in it. Cast it before the decisive turn of your hardest-hitting ally. Its catch: a long cooldown, and it takes the slot of Comet, your biggest area spell.
Replaces Blink.
A short jump to a free tile in sight, up to 2 tiles away (3 with Focus); on landing, you recover 8 to 12 HP. Every other turn.
Tip. A shorter jump than Blink, but one that heals you on landing — and that heal counts for the echo of Keen chant, if you were wounded. Its catch: every other turn only, and too short to escape a determined melee.
Replaces Mage’s eye.
An ally (or yourself) gains 8% max HP — and as much HP — for 3 turns. At the end, max HP returns to normal; the excess HP is lost.
Tip. A temporary health cushion: cast it before the enemy’s big hit, on yourself or on the targeted ally. Its catch: the extra HP vanish at the end — it is a respite, not a heal.
Replaces Arcane mirror.
A protective chant on an ally (or yourself), until the start of your next turn: each time they take damage, they immediately recover half of the damage actually taken (after armour and resistances) — hits, areas, poison, pushes, glyphs and traps. A killing blow kills: the heal does not happen. Every other turn: the chant has worn off by the time you can cast it again. Does not stack: another Arcanist’s on the same target only renews the duration.
Tip. It does not heal on the spot: it gives back a share of every hit taken while it lasts. Cast it BEFORE taking damage, on whoever the opponent is about to target — usually you. Under the echo of Keen chant, every HP it restores falls back on the marked enemy. Its catch: it drops at the start of your next turn and can only be recast every other turn — so it covers only one enemy turn out of two; if nobody hits its target, the AP are wasted, and a killing blow still kills.
Replaces Flame elemental.
Summons a healer bunny (140 HP, 4 MP) that you control on its turn: once per turn, it heals an ally, you or itself up to 4 tiles away (16 to 21 HP), or wounds an enemy (24 to 32 damage). It plays 3 turns, the first right after yours, then leaves at the start of its 4th.
Tip. A healer that plays on its own turn and leaves your AP for everything else. Place it behind an obstacle, within range of those it must heal. With nobody to heal, its heal cast on an enemy hurts them. Its catch: it is fragile and only stays a few turns — an opponent who targets it kills it fast, and its cooldown is long.
The variants change the Arcanist’s job: they heal, strengthen their allies and wear the opponent down instead of burning them from afar. In two versus two, that makes a complete support; in a duel, their heals double as attacks, since a heal cast on an enemy hurts them.
Heals received during the echo come back as damage, in halves, at the start of the enemy’s next turns. Only HP actually restored count: healing someone at full health yields nothing. Great canticle, for its part, only gives back if its target gets hit.
The poison stops as soon as a healing spell reaches the target: keep it for opponents who have no heal.
4 AP are left — one Blink and 2 AP of margin. On the next turn, the first Fire bolt sets off the explosion for 38–54 on the target and the enemies next to it.
Every AP is spent. The Blink at the end of the turn is not a luxury: it is what decides the distance your opponent’s turn will start at, and therefore your damage on the following turn.
These lines are the ones that come up most often, and pay off most, across several thousand training matches played by the game’s automatic opponents at their best level. For each one: the spells in order, what you need, what you get out of it, the most common follow-up, and when to do without it. A sequence missing from this list is not necessarily a bad one.
Blink (2 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Blast (5 AP)
Blink (2 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Comet (6 AP)
Mage’s eye (3 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Blast (5 AP)
Blink (2 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Blaze (4 AP)
Great canticle (6 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Fire bolt (3 AP)
Against the Warrior and the Brute, count their closing tools before you pick your tile: a Charge reaches 7 tiles in a straight line, a Leap 5. Ending a turn 6 tiles away in a clear corridor is handing them melee. Break the line, keep the Blink.
Against the Shade, Blast or Comet on an empty tile are your answers to invisibility. Against the Artificer, Comet chips away at several charges at once before they arm. Against the Clockmaker, beware of the Automatons: each one is a foothold to teleport you away from your ideal distance.
The variants shift your bearings. Against a Shade who gambles, do not plan around her average damage: keep enough to survive a turn where everything succeeds, and Chant of vigour for that turn. Against the Brute’s pack, Soothing chant hurts every beast next to your allies. Against the Warrior, Burning glyph burns whoever starts their turn in it: get out before the end of yours, on foot or with Featherstep. Against the Clockmaker’s rifts, your spells go through them too, and their shots come out of them: do not end your turn in line with a rift.
The Arcanist is played by holding distance: every tile past 2 is worth 5% damage to them, up to +40% at 10 tiles. Their 14 AP allow two Fire bolts and a Blink in the same turn. Blink, 2 AP and no cooldown, is saved for the end of the turn: it is what decides the distance your opponent’s turn will start at.
The Arcanist has 700 health, the smallest pool in the game along with the Shade and the Artificer. In exchange they get 14 action points — two more than every other class — and 6 movement points. They have neither armour nor class resistance.
Every Fire bolt lays an Ignite mark that lasts 3 turns, and on the third mark the target explodes for 38 to 54 damage on itself and on enemies on the adjacent tiles. Since Fire bolt can only be cast twice per turn, the third mark always lands on the following turn. It is an appointment your opponent can plan for, and so can you.
Blink, even though it deals no damage: 2 AP, no cooldown, available every turn to get out of melee or find a line of sight again. For raw damage it is Comet: 6 AP, 23 to 33 damage in a circle of 2 tiles, range 3 to 8 and a 3-turn cooldown.
By sticking to them. In melee, their Focus pays nothing any more, and their 700 health has neither armour nor class resistance to protect it. Anything that drags them towards their opponent — Taunt, Charge, Quake, Intimidate — cancels their passive, and their Blink can only be used once a turn.
Yes. With the variants, a heal cast on an enemy deals 150% of its value as damage, reduced by armour and resistances like any other hit. Soothing chant therefore works both ways: healing an ally, or hitting an opponent. Great canticle, for its part, can only be cast on an ally or on yourself.
The Arcanist teaches the most useful lesson in the game: distance is a resource, just like AP.
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