HC Arcane Mage Challenge

[Nokid]

I'm thinking of trying not just the HC Challenge as a Arcane Mage, but attempting also the "Arcanist" challenge where you can only use Arcane spells, no frost or Fire spells allowed, seems super hard, has anyone attempted this here on TW?

[Mativh]

Yes I've had a pure arcane mage, I was experimenting with the following idea:
- gear focused only on spirit
- mana shield
- first arcane missiles
- then wand
- watch my mana ("health") restore quickly in combat, sometimes faster than the absorbed damage

But since then I've perfected an unorthodox mage build that I've never seen before, and works wonders on hardcore in terms of survivability and aoe damage, later I'll write about it in detail.