This guide will explain a build intended for Arcade Mode. Due to its nature, it performs well for Arcade Rooms, but can lag behind other builds for Story Mode, or for some bosses in Arcade. Its main goal is to empower the player's simplest form of attack - the Basic Attack - and drive its destruction potential through the roof.

The result of this build - the "Singular Strike", is quick and deals high damage. Also, it is safer to use than Melee Skill casts, since Basic Attack animations can be interrupted to shield an incoming attack.

For maximum power, this build uses Two-Handed Melee weapons, since their Basic Attacks are the most damaging (125% of your ATK stat). Also, you want to use the Power Potion and Precision Potion for their damage and Critical Chance increasing buffs.

You should focus on getting these abilities first; they're the core of your damage output.

For this build, I consider Ice Nova to be the best ability, with Ice Spikes following closely. You can try to use other Magic Spells if you want, but you should probably stay away from Static Touch, Cloud Strike and Frosty Friend, since they don't interact well with the build's mechanics.


Notes
Your goal is to cast your Magic Spell at max charge, then use a Sudden Strike, Arcane Charge empowered Basic Attack to obliterate your foes.
Ice Nova (or Ice Spikes) also makes rooms easier to deal with. Chilled enemies are slower and easier to dodge, while Frozen ones are stunned and can't act.

Talent order is usually Arcane Charge, Sudden Strike, and Insult to Injury. From there, you can go with more damage, or opt for some utility talents.

Once you're done with the main stuff, you can try these abilities:

• Your Arcane Charge carries between rooms in Arcade, just like Potion buffs!
  Make sure to cast a max charge Magic Spell before entering a new room. This way, you will begin the room with an empowered Basic Attack which you can use right away.
  
  
• Support Skills (except Focus) also grant Arcane Charge of "level 1"
  You can try to use this to your advantage, but remember that they will override your previous Arcane Charge with the equivalent of an uncharged spell cast. This can prove annoying if it overrides Arcane Charge from silver or gold charge skills.
  
  
• You have +50% Critical Chance against Frozen enemies!
  Together with Precision Potion, this amounts to 71% Critical Chance on frozen enemies. Logical conclusion is that you should prioritize ATK items before Critical Chance items. Once you're maxed out on ATK, you can consider a Rabby Foot or Blindfold to make crits more consistent.
  
  Obviously, if it's something that increases your Critical Damage (such as Red Brooches), you should probably prioritize that instead.
  
  
• Perfect Guards are just as important as in regular builds!
  Perfect Guard, cast silver+ level Ice Nova, obliterate foe with Basic Attack.
  If you're lucky, the enemy will also be frozen and the Basic Attack will Crit for tremendous damage.
  
  Alternatively, Basic Attacks done right after a Perfect Guard are guaranteed to Critically Hit. You probably want to have Arcane Charge stored beforehand, though.
  
  
• Try to take out multiple enemies with your attacks
  Since your empowered Basic Attack is infrequent, you want to maximize its damage output by dealing damage to multiple enemies with one strike.
  In Ice Nova's case (or Ice Spikes), you want to chill and freeze multiple enemies.

This build has two important power spikes. The first one is when you gain a silver magic spell, and the second one is at the gold charge.
When you reach a power spike, you can charge one level higher for Arcane Charge damage.
Make sure you can hit those power spikes before any difficult rooms such as Gauntlets or Boss Fights.

Additionally, Gold Ice Nova's Chill reaches a 5x Critical Chance multiplier, which is very powerful.

• Don't sell all of your non-equipped gear!
  Selling gear you won't use is okay, but keep any gear that may be worth switching to later in the run.
  For example, you should keep your facegear (Blindfold or Spectacles), even if you have Pumpkin Mask. Once you get a hat that outclasses the Mask, you'll want to equip your facegear again for more stats.
  Another example is equipment with special effects: Frostling Shoes will prove useful in Seasonne and Temple of Seasons, but you'll want to switch to other shoes such as Rollerblades afterwards.

General Thoughts:

• Anything with ATK in it is good.
  If you have Knowledge is Power, you can try using MATK-granting items to improve both your Magic Spell and Basic Attack. Keep in mind that Maic is not your main damage dealer, so don't throw all of your ATK down the drain for MATK!
  
  
• Don't forget about defense!
  Even the best players get hit from time to time. Defense makes sure that you will not be obliterated from one single mistakes (and also improves your shield's effective HP). Don't throw heaps of cheap DEF for a meager damage bonus.
  
  
• Get a better shield ASAP.
  If you didn't start with Iron Shield, you want to buy a better shield as soon as you can.
  Later on, you'll want to swap your shield for something that has a special effect. Energy Shield or Winter's Guard are good for mitigating threats later on.
  
  
• Hybrid items are also good.
  Hybrid items empower both your Magic Spell and Basic Attack, especially if you have Knowledge is Power, so don't skip that Purple Garland!

Particular Items:

• Red Slime Hammer
  If you're on Frontline, and are lucky enough, the Red Slime Hammer is a very cheap damage boost that can be obtained early in the run.
  
  
• Green Slime Armor
  Good for any melee build, and easy enough to get due to being cheap. This will help you stay alive thanks to the huge DEF boost.
  
  
• Frostling Shoes
  A must-have for Seasonne and Temple of Seasons.
  If you are running the Big Brothers curse, this will also help with any Ice Slimes that will spawn in Flying Fortress.
  
  
• Strong Rings
  If you get them in a shop, it's worth it to buy two of them. They will offer a great early game ATK boost.
  
  
• Magic Battery
  Optional, but this should help with any EP problems you may have. Just keep in mind Ice Nova can't Crit by itself.

...And, for those who are Brave Enough:

• Blade of Echoes
  The Big Damage Weapon. Also the thing that will kill your run if you fail to utilize it correctly. Unlike regular melee builds, you have the big luxury of "interruptable animations", so use your shield to block the Echo's slash.
  
  Alternatively, since you can enter and exit combat much easier than other builds, you can use your Basic Attack, do something else for 1.5 seconds, then reposition and dodge the Echo's slash in the same move.

You know those things that keep appearing after you defeat a Boss, complete a Challenge Room, or smack one of those weird green creatures called "Pin Loods"? It turns out they have a use for our build too!

First of all, the Pins that are a huge upgrade to Singular Strike, and can make it rival classical Arcade Builds:

• Casting Any Skill That Costs EP Significantly Boosts The Damage of Your Next Basic Attack or Wand Projectile
  Arcane Charge - Pin Edition. Except this one can also trigger from skills other than Magic!
  
  Unlike Arcane charge, it doesn't matter what skill charge level you use. Bronze or Gold, you'll still gain 350% damage on your next Basic Attack!
  
  
• Firing an Arrow increases the damage of your next Basic Attack
  Arcane Charge - Pin Edition. Except this one happens when shooting your bow, granting +200% damage to your next Basic Attack!

Having both Pins during the same run allows for an insanely powerful combo during rooms:

1. Cast Gold Magic Spell, triggering the first Pin Effect and Arcane Charge
   
2. Fire an arrow, triggering the second Pin Effect
   
3. Basic Attack

With this combo, you can achieve up to 10K damage with one Critical Basic Attack.

You can also prepare Arcane Charge beforehand, and instead open up with a Melee Skill (Titan's Throw, for example), so you can gain the Pin Effect while not overriding your Arcane Charge buff.

Keep in mind that you can't transport Pin Buffs between rooms, so you'll have to activate them in the current room first.

• Spawns a strawman every Battle Room that absorbs Basic Attack and Wand Projectile damage. Taking Bow Damage detonates it
  Since most of your damage is from Basic Attacks, the strawman is an obvious pick. It stores 100% of the Basic Attack damage dealt to it, and damages all enemies in the room upon detonation.
  
  There's multiple ways to utilize it: you can either whack it at room start and shoot it to instakill weak enemies, or you can stack damage over multiple empowered Basic Attacks to take down tankier enemies.
  
  A good strategy is to damage both the strawman and tanky enemies near it for extra total damage on them. Also, for Gauntlets, you can save the strawman to instakill an enemy wave.
  
  
• Deal Significantly Increased Damage with Critical Hits
  +80% damage to your Critical Hits. A fitting pin for the "Singular Strike" build.
  
  
• If an Arrow hits a Full HP Enemy, Reaper's Blade will be cast
  Even by itself, it almost guarantees death for the enemies. Combined with the previous Bow Pin, it's frightening.
  
  
• Killing an Enemy casts Reaper's Blade on another
  A very strong pin for any build; it's easy to chain One-Hit kills with it, and decimate the whole room.
  
  
• Perfect Guards cast Reaper's Blade on your Attacker
  With enough Perfect Guards, this pin destroys anything which attacks you directly.
  
  
• Buff ATK and MATK Based On Your Gold (refreshes Every Room)
  This pin provides a solid damage boost that you can increase by selling all of your extra gear.
  
  
• Gain ATK / MATK / MaxEP / MaxHP every time you beat a Battle Room
  Gain a natural stat growth based on how many rooms you beat.
  These pins are great if you get them early on. However, if you're already at late floors (Seasonne+), you may want to swap these out for something else.
  
  If you decide to swap them out, you'll still keep any stats that you gained so far.
  
  
• Killing an Elite Enemy permanently increases your ATK and MATK, but Elites hurt you more
  Gain more damage with each Elite you kill.
  If you have More Elites curse enabled, this pin can be very, very strong, but keep in mind that all Elites will deal +50% damage against you!
  
  
• Upon Equipping This Pin, Gain 2 Silver Skill Points, 2 Gold Skill Points and 2 Talent Points (Sticky Pin)
  A very strong pin that will allow you to reach Gold tier faster. Generally a good pick for any build!

Like all builds, Singular Strike has its drawbacks, and could benefit from a bit less Singular Strikeiness at times.

In particular, starting with Temple of Seasons, you will find it hard to defeat some bosses. While Singular Strike has burst damage which works against squishy enemies, it can't deliver the sustained damage needed for bosses.

For Tai Ming, even regular enemies are tanky, so expect needing a few strikes to defeat them. You can imagine what will happen once Dragonbone Dunes and Lost Ship are added to Arcade...

This is why I suggest you keep a melee skill as backup to use:

• Heroic Slam has reliable high damage that you can use against bosses. Your Crits, Insult to Injury, and Ice Nova will come in handy, too.
  
• Titan's Throw can be tricky to use, and tends to fall short against bosses, but it's excellent at dealing with Temple of Seasons and Mount Bloom. I suggest you use it as an opener during those rooms to kill a few Mages, Shroomies, or whatever.
  
  Since Melee Skills don't affect Arcane Charge, you can use Titan's Throw at room start, and then use your empowered Basic Attack you prepared earlier. Keep in mind that you need to pick up your sword after a Throw to use it again.

• 24-May-2020: Published!
  
• 2-March-2021: Dusted off the sections, polished the build, and removed Herobrine.
  
• 19-March-2021: Added a bit of info about the strawman pin.