I'm at an impasse. I can now easily survive a GR70 as a Wizard, I just can't clear it in time. At some point I might manage to be ahead of the timer (just slightly tho), but then I just start falling behind despite not dying.
Is my problem that
the stuff I have isn't good enough (some items aren't good enough like the rose, I'm aware, but overall, do I need more ancient/better rolled items/upgrading those few ancients I have?), or that I simply suck because with that stuff one should be able to pull it off?
1.) Keep rolling gloves and hats. Not having Vit on your glove (or at least your hat) is unacceptable.
2.) Roll the explosive damage to area damage on that source.
3.) Pray for a better ring or farm enough mats to reforge a few times. Same with the Traveler's Pledge. But only reforge an extra one you have in your stash that isn't being used.
4.) Upgrade those gems. There's no reason for you to have 64 gems in use if you're trying to manage 70+ rifts. Those gems should all be 70 because you cleared 69 enough times to level all 3 to 70.
The unique burden of the Arcane Orb build is the challenge of clearing in time. It's a problem the twisted sword builds really don't have because it's easier to keep pack aggro as you scout ahead to draw in more density. What you'll need to learn to do in order to manage 70+ is to keep looking for density and grouping. Don't bother with packs smaller than 10 and be sure to scout around in any room to see if there are any more white or elites you can draw together to clear at once. Rifts with big open rooms full of white and elites are your friend. Rifts with long, sparsely populated corridors are there to fuck you over. Skip elite packs that like to run away from you (succubus and the squids in particular).
And ultimately you'll find out that there are some rifts that you simply can't complete. The Orb build needs density as a prerequisite for success. If you start on a level that has very poor density, you mine as well exit and start over in a new GR unless you want to just practice the theory of grouping.
Oh also, your follower is fucking you over. Remove that "your follower cannot die" token if you're using that Templar. He will cause you to lose aggro and will group things to him rather than to you where you need them to be (gathered around you). He might be good with that build if you're climbing with a Twisted Sword, but he's cancer for the Arcane Orbit build.
You can also try switching builds. I find that running triumvirate with furnace cubed and drop EB for magic weapon/deflection is a lot more consistent/fast for GR70s. Less micro managing too. You just watch the arcane dynamo and do AO when it hits 5.
I can't really support that recommendation, but no reason to not give it a try at least. AO build really doesn't have issues with killing elites. It's an area damage build. As long as you have proper density, everything will die in due time. And if you don't have proper density, that Furnace won't make up much ground. Note that most of the high leaderboard AO players are using OID and Triumvirate.