Ragnarok: The New World – Kanos Arcanist (Glacier Burst) Build Guide

Kanos Arcanist (Glacier Burst) / Druid Guide

The Kanos Arcanist is a Druid build focused on high AoE magic damage through rapid spell casting. It utilizes Earth, Frost, Storm, and Neutral elements while also being able to convert certain skills into Fire using elemental converters. The build revolves around repeatedly casting Force of Nature to trigger powerful secondary effects from Kanos skills.

• Build Type: AoE Magic DPS
• Weapon: Staff
• Best Content: PvE Farming, Dungeons, AoE Content

Build Overview

The build emphasizes both Magic Damage and Cast Speed. Several Kanos skills activate after casting a certain number of spells, making Variable Cast Time reduction just as important as raw damage.

Force of Nature is the core skill of the build, activating multiple Kanos mechanics simultaneously while serving as your primary source of sustained damage.

Stat Allocation

DEX (Highest Priority)

Increase DEX until reaching 100% Variable Cast Time Reduction.

Reaching the cast time cap is more important than maximizing INT.

INT (Second Priority)

After reaching the Variable Cast Time cap, invest remaining points into INT to increase overall magic damage.

VIT (Optional)

Invest only if additional survivability is needed.

STR / AGI / LUK

Leave at base value.

Skill Build

Druid

• Nature’s Shield Lv.5
• Nature’s Truth Lv.5
• Frozen Totem Lv.10
• Gale Blade Lv.10
• Blooming Splendor Lv.10

Kanos

• Force of Nature Lv.10
• Glacier Monolith Lv.10
• Overload Lv.5
• Earthen Sprout Lv.5
• Nature’s Vigor Lv.10

Skill Mechanics

Force of Nature

Force of Nature is simultaneously considered:

• Storm
• Frost
• Earth

However, its default damage element is Neutral.

The skill adopts the element of the elemental converter active when cast, allowing it to become:

• Fire
• Frost
• Storm
• Earth

This enables the build to counter enemy elemental weaknesses while simultaneously triggering all Kanos spell interactions.

Equipment

Weapon

• Penitence Staff

The Penitence Staff allows Glacier Monolith to pulse twice, making it the core weapon for this build.

Off-Hand

• Any preferred shield

Armor

• Sprint Mail

Cape

• Rider Insignia

Shoes

• Sprint Shoes

These pieces provide the Sprint Set bonus while helping maximize DEX and Variable Cast Time Reduction.

Accessories

• 2× Scarf Belt

Recommended Special Skills

Prioritize these three Special Skills.

Nature’s Truth

Craftable at Lv.25–39.

• Increases Frost, Storm, and Earth skill damage.

Majestic Glacier

Craftable at Lv.40–54.

• Expands Glacier Monolith’s eruption radius.
• Increases Frost damage inside its area.

Surge Current

Craftable at Lv.40–54.

• Increases Storm damage after Overload activates.

Crafting Tip

Craft your accessories before your weapon whenever possible.

Accessory molds are generally more limited than weapon molds.

Only one instance of the same Special Skill is active, regardless of whether it is equipped on your weapon or accessories.

Recommended Pets

Variable Cast Time Reduction

Highest priority.

• Squidgitte (SR)
• Marina (R)

Magic Damage Buffs

Secondary priority.

• Dawn (SSR)
• Sohee (SR)
• Rocker (N)

Rune Engine

Prioritize the following Rune Traits:

• Layered Blade
• Fortune’s Favor
• AoE Amplification

Elemental Resonance

Recommended:

• Wind Resonance
• Water Resonance

Gameplay

The build relies on rapidly casting Force of Nature.

Every cast contributes toward activating:

• Glacier Monolith
• Overload
• Earthen Sprout

Because these skills trigger based on the number of spells cast, increasing cast speed directly increases overall DPS.

At 100% Variable Cast Time Reduction, all offensive skills—including Force of Nature—have a total cast time of 0.5 seconds.

Elemental Converters

Since Force of Nature adopts the element of your active converter, use elemental converters to exploit enemy weaknesses.

Supported converters include:

• Red Blood (Fire)
• Crystal Blue (Water/Frost)
• Wind of Verdure (Storm)
• Green Live (Earth)

Why Penitence Staff?

The Penitence Staff causes Glacier Monolith to pulse twice.

Since Force of Nature rapidly activates Glacier Monolith, the additional pulse provides a substantial increase in sustained DPS.

Why These Special Skills?

• Nature’s Truth provides a constant increase to Frost, Storm, and Earth skill damage, all of which apply to Force of Nature.
• Majestic Glacier significantly improves Glacier Monolith’s effectiveness.
• Surge Current offers a consistent damage increase after Overload activates, making it more reliable than Earth Mastery for this build.

Skill Rotation

1. Use an elemental converter if the target has an exploitable elemental weakness.
2. Cast Nature’s Shield.
3. Cast Nature’s Truth.
4. Place Glacier Monolith beneath the target.
5. Spam Force of Nature until the target is defeated.