In a league where nearly 80% of casters rely on trigger setups, self-casting has been reduced to little more than a way to POE 2 Currency fuel meta gems. This build asks a simple question: why wait for delayed comet spam when everything could already be dead? The Ignite Archmage Infernalist is an endgame-focused Path of Exile 2 build designed to make every cast matter. Instead of chaining triggers, this setup aims to annihilate enemies in a single, devastating moment—trash mobs, Abyss rares, Rogue Exiles, and even the most juiced pinnacle bosses can fall within a single second of activity.

At its core, the build revolves around stacking several extremely powerful mechanics unique to Infernalist. The first pillar is mana stacking through Archmage combined with a Mind Over Matter setup. By heavily investing into maximum mana, Archmage converts that mana pool into massive added lightning damage for spells, often tripling base damage. Mind Over Matter simultaneously transforms this offensive investment into a defensive layer, allowing damage to be absorbed by mana before life, making the build surprisingly resilient for a high-damage caster.

The second major component is Bringer of Flame, which enables all damage types—including the enormous added lightning damage from Archmage—to contribute to ignite. This interaction is what truly breaks the damage ceiling. When paired with Comet, the build can roll absurdly powerful ignites that continue melting bosses long after the initial hit, trivializing encounters that would normally require prolonged mechanics and sustained damage.

Critical damage scaling pushes the build even further. Grinning Immolation grants 50% more critical damage bonus, and this is compounded by reserving 25% of life and equipping Coward’s Legacy. This belt ensures the character is always considered on low life, activating Pain Attunement for an additional 30% more critical damage. Combined, these bonuses result in roughly 95% more critical damage overall, unlocking an effective damage multiplier that can reach up to twelve times normal output when everything aligns.

For players with very high mana investment, the build can optionally incorporate the inexpensive unique item The Black Doubt. This provides substantial passive life recovery and enables the use of uncapped Demon Form. Demon Form adds a significant “more damage” modifier while also granting excellent mobility through enhanced dodge, making both mapping and bossing smoother and safer.

In practice, this scaling turns lightning-infused Arc into a powerful clearing tool capable of deleting packs instantly. Cold-infused Ice Nova can wipe entire Abysses with a single short cast. For bossing, however, fire-infused Comet is the star of the show, delivering some of the fastest time-to-kill performance currently available, with ignite DPS reaching into the tens of millions.

This is firmly an endgame build and requires moderate investment to feel smooth and functional. Mana stacking is not recommended for leveling. Newer players should instead level using a buy POE 2 Divine Orbs proven setup—such as Chaos Witch—and transition into the Ignite Archmage Infernalist around level 80–85 once the required gear and mana scaling pieces are in place.