Pure Arcanist - Rise of the Aetherphoenix

After a little warmup with my last guide of the Saboteur, I want you to introduce Alexia, my first and possibly strongest Arcanist at the moment.

I've decided to choose Aether and Fire as her main damage and some additional spells with Cold and Lightning damage. Some additional damages are Vitality and Chaos. The main attack of her is the Aether Ray with a dps of 10k, the weapon in the first hand is just for the stats.
This will just be a short guide for a pure Arcanist dealing mainly aether-damage. But I hope you like it!

Also check out my new guide for a truly badass poison assassin (Witch Hunter) dealing up to 28k damage atm!!
-> http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=653164739

At the beginning you have to face your enemies directly, either with a melee weapon or with your spells Callidor's Tempest or Olexra's Flash Freeze. Iskandra's Elemental Exchange will be very usefull for this time. After a while (maybe shortly after the flooded passage) you will get the spell Albrecht's Aether Ray and you will mainly use it against your enemies. Always search for a distant position and maybe a small passage like a door and kill there your enemies with your Aether Ray. Against great hordes of bosses you can also use Devastation and the spell Mirror of Ereoctes is a lifesaver for moments when you can't drink a health potion and you are about to die.
You can also play this character as a hit-and-run but I prefer the "You shall not pass" (or Kamehamehaaa) strategy. :D

This is my actual skilltree with Alexia on lvl 62:

And this is a little example how to level up:

At level 5:
http://grimcalc.com/build/EONFWb

At level 10:
http://grimcalc.com/build/3PDEok

At level 15:
http://grimcalc.com/build/edIPgS

At level 20:
http://grimcalc.com/build/kmf6W7

At level 25:
http://grimcalc.com/build/BjKwTC

At level 30:
http://grimcalc.com/build/zwQPOh

At level 35:
http://grimcalc.com/build/pYwx5E

At level 40:
http://grimcalc.com/build/khC7pv

At level 50:
http://grimcalc.com/build/E2gyDJ

At level 60:
http://grimcalc.com/build/tV6BG2

At level 70:
http://grimcalc.com/build/BENJ8m

At level 80:
http://grimcalc.com/build/4zTasn

At level 85:
http://grimcalc.com/build/YIb6V8

The Constellations I like to activate or complete are the following:

1. Imp
   
2. Wraith
   
3. Widow
   
4. Fiend
   
5. Scholar's Light
   
6. Bat
   
7. Magi
   
8. Spear of the Heavens

These are my actual constellations:

What are the criteria for choosing a constellation?
Well this kind of skill system makes your character very individuel. I decided for example to choose those constellations which on one side have a positive effect on my dealt damage (aether, fire, burn, vitality are great!) and on the other side help me to achieve better resistances (aether, chaos, elemental) and get more spirit and energy regeneration.

This is my actual equipment:

And the full view:

A list of addtional things that are nice to have in your own equipment for this char will follow...