Shock Nova of Procession

Shock Nova of Procession Hierophant at this tier is already fully committed to the build's defining engine: an Archmage-scaled lightning damage spell that fires five nova rings in a forward cone, converting a giant mana pool into per-hit damage. Archmage uptime is ~98% of the tier because the entire build is a mana-as-damage machine — Mindspiral grants 14% of Maximum Mana as Extra Energy Shield and forbids leech so recoup/regen carries sustain, Healthy Mind transforms life-in-radius into 200% mana, and Lavianga's Spirit flask gives skill-cost-free windows to burst. The body-armour 6-link runs Shock Nova of Procession + Archmage Support + Arcane Surge Support + Spell Echo Support + Lightning Penetration Support + Invert the Rules Support — a clean Archmage-crit staple.

Mind over Matter is on 87% of builds in tier and Elemental Overload on 78% — the pairing is the core identity: MoM routes 30% of damage into the fat mana pool, Elemental Overload gives 40% more lightning damage on any spell crit without needing stacked crit multiplier. Ascendancy runs Sanctuary of Thought, Divine Guidance, Arcane Blessing, and Conviction of Power — Conviction converts endurance into power charges and +1 min power charge, and Sanctuary of Thought removes mana reservation penalties so auras cost a fraction. Tree grabs Prodigal Perfection, Dreamer, Mental Rapidity, Crackling Speed, and Deep Thoughts as the mana-and-lightning ladder. Valako's Sign ring adds 40% increased damage against shocked enemies and self-shock chance, locking the ailment on every pack. Reference sheet reads 2.4M DPS at L83, which is well above the 997k median for tier — typical for a build that front-loads its identity.

Defence is pure Mind-over-Matter stacking. ~3.7k life + ~3.9k ES + a huge mana pool that absorbs 30% of incoming damage via Mind over Matter produces ~38k EHP. Mindspiral's 13% damage-taken recouped as mana refunds the MoM tax back into the shield layer. All elemental resistances sit capped at 75-76% with 75% chaos via Screams of the Desiccated equivalents or rare rolls. 4 endurance charges are on demand via Conviction of Power, which Hierophant auto-generates through power charges on the Conviction-of-Power loop. Spell crit is still low (19.8%) and 0% spell suppress — this tier lives off MoM, not suppress. A Granite Flask with Immunity to Shock covers the one ailment the build self-inflicts on reflect packs.

Stand-in-one-spot nova fountain. Shock Nova of Procession's five forward rings mean each cast plants a dense cone of overlapping waves — packs in corridors and Delirium lanes melt because 4-5 rings hit every target. Spell Echo Support doubles casts for free, Frostblink of Wintry Blast handles gap-closing, and the Lavianga's Spirit flask window gives 4 seconds of cost-free casting for elite packs. Single-target isn't the strong suit at this tier — rings spread outward, so point-blank bosses eat only the inner 1-2 rings — but Lightning Penetration Support and permanent shock keep things dying. Mana is the only resource; as long as the mana pool is visible, damage flows.

Shock Nova of Procession now runs in the chest as Archmage Support + Controlled Destruction Support + Inspiration Support + Intensify Support + Greater Spell Echo Support — Controlled Destruction Support replaces the hit-scaling support because the build now leans on Elemental Overload-style proc crit, not real spell crit (0.94% crit chance, 5.73 crit multi). Intensify Support stacks focus stages for +40% nova damage on sustained casting, and Inspiration Support cuts mana cost while adding elemental multiplier.

The curse stack is the real DPS multiplier: Kitava's Thirst at +2 to socketed curse gems auto-casts Elemental Weakness + Conductivity + Enfeeble + Punishment simultaneously on every 100-mana nova cast. Anathema carries 17% chance to gain a power charge on curse cast, and Conviction of Power converts that back into endurance + power charges. Tree grabs Arcane Guarding, Safeguard, Mystic Bulwark, and Sanctuary — a block-heavy shift made possible by a rare shield with 69% increased block chance + Scorch Enemies when you Block. Militant Faith Devotion scaling (4% ele damage per 10 Devotion) and The Light of Meaning radius jewel (6% increased lightning damage per passive) add ~25% raw damage each. Reference sits at 3.2M DPS / 62.9k EHP against a tier median 7.2M / 73k — the reference character is under-rolled on gear (no Watcher's Eye, no Wrath), but the skeleton is tier-standard.

Block becomes the headline layer: 62% attack block + 78% spell block from the rare shield plus Arcane Guarding, Safeguard, and Mystic Bulwark. Mind over Matter (via Cloak of Defiance) still routes 30% damage into mana, and the build pushes 1561 mana regen to keep the MoM pool topped between casts. Foulborn Kikazaru x2 or x1 plus Anathema gives 60% reduced effect of curses on you — hexproof-adjacent for map mods. Chaos res capped at 75, all elementals at 76%. The compromise is the life pool — only 2.4k life + 2.5k ES, with EHP carried almost entirely by the mana shell and block. Purity of Elements (run via Eternal Blessing Support for zero reservation) closes the ailment-immunity gap that the low life pool would otherwise expose.

Cast-heavy but far faster: 17.84 casts/s through Spell Echo Support (or Greater Spell Echo Support as the chest gem levels), each cast triggering the four-curse Kitava's Thirst bomb. Pack clear is explosive — a single nova + curse volley shreds screens because enemies take +50% lightning damage from Elemental Weakness + Conductivity stacking. Arcane Cloak on Automation Support auto-fires as a panic button, draining reserved mana into a guard shield. Frostblink of Wintry Blast remains the movement skill. Boss fights still suffer the nova-cone issue (rings spread past the target) but the curse-stack multiplier compensates — stand back, let rings overlap on the boss's hitbox.

At full power: ~14M DPS, 94k EHP, 52.65% crit chance, 5.22 crit multiplier, 75% attack block + 73% spell block. Shock Nova of Procession now links Archmage Support + Increased Critical Damage Support + Arcane Surge Support + Greater Spell Echo Support + Intensify Support — the support bundle moves from flat scaling to pure crit-damage scaling because Wrath + Watcher's Eye + tree crit pushes the base crit past 50%. The Watcher's Eye here carries 87% increased spell crit while affected by Wrath + 13% lightning penetration while affected by Wrath, the single biggest damage multiplier in the build.

Foulborn Kalisa's Grace gloves embed Level 18 Faster Casting support for free, saving a chest slot. Atziri's Foible amulet gives +119 max mana + 28% increased max mana + 99% increased mana regen — the mana-as-damage identity hits its natural ceiling. Militant Faith in the Templar cluster converts passives to Devotion nodes; the tree now runs Righteous Decree, Devotion, Arcane Will, and Disciple of the Forbidden. A Replica Reckless Defence cobalt adds +6% spell block + +6% attack block at the cost of +10% to be shocked/frozen/ignited — Purity of Elements neutralises the downside. The Eternal Youth keystone is transformed to Inner Conviction via Militant Faith, gating even more mana-based damage. Assassin's Mark on Arcanist Brand puts targeted power charges generation on bosses.

EHP 94k on a 2.1k life / 7.2k ES frame is the Hierophant block-and-mana-shell identity at its peak. 75% attack block + 73% spell block from the rare spirit shield (73% increased block, 13% spell block) + Arcane Guarding + Mystic Bulwark + Sanctuary produces a character that simply doesn't get hit by most damage. Mind over Matter (still via Cloak of Defiance variant or tree) routes 30% through the huge mana pool, and +2 max power charges from Mindspiral's corrupt version plus 5 power charges active deepens the shell. Chaos res 56% is the one soft spot — a 75% version would cost a ring slot the build can't spare. Arcane Cloak on Automation Support remains the reactive guard; Purity of Elements on Eternal Blessing Support gives full ailment immunity so the Replica Reckless Defence downside disappears. 4 endurance charges + 18% phys DR cover physical hits.

The apex Hierophant mana-caster fantasy: stand anywhere, cast once, delete the screen. 14.44 casts/s with Greater Spell Echo Support spawns cascading nova waves in a forward cone — packs die before reaching flask range. Wrath layered with Watcher's Eye penetration pushes effective damage against shocked/cursed mobs well past the sheet number because 13% lightning pen + Elemental Weakness + Assassin's Mark + shock magnitude stacks multiplicatively on the displayed DPS. Pinnacle bosses — Maven, Feared, Uber Exarch — take sustained nova cones to chunk down, but the 75/73 block + mana-shell + ailment-immunity stack lets the character stand still and tank telegraphs that kill crit archetypes. Frostblink of Wintry Blast + movement speed boots keep traversal clean. The only real failure mode is sustain on big chaos hits (56% chaos res) and the occasional off-screen phys one-shot — everything else is already solved.