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Intro & build description
Glacial Cascade is in a really great place now, be it mine build, self-cast or totems. In this build we are going to use Hierophant ascendancy which allows us to summon plenty of totems that do the job of monster killing for us. Build is a great league starter and can function in maps on a 4-link which everyone should be able to get.
Build Pros
- Can do literally every map mod
- Cheap to start but scales extremely well with currency investment
- Can do even the toughest bosses like Shaper, Uber Elder and Uber Atziri if you have the skill for it
- Quick movement using Whirling Blades
Build Cons
- Requires some flask management to remove curses inflicted by Soul Mantle
Passive tree(s) and Path of Building
[3.3] Skill TreeBandits
| Bandits Quest Choice |
| Help Alira |
Ascendancy skill points
| Labyrinths | Skill point choice |
|---|---|
| Labyrinth 1 | Pursuit of Faith |
| Labyrinth 2 | Ritual of Awakening |
| Labyrinth 3 | Conviction of Power |
| Endgame Labyrinth | Divine Guidance |
Skill gem setup
Helm
Cast When Damage Taken Support (Level 1)
Immortal Call (Level 3)
Enfeeble (Level 5)
Molten Shell (Level 10)
Body Armor
Glacial Cascade
Increased Critical Strikes Support
Controlled Destruction Support
Concentrated Effect Support
Cold Penetration Support
Faster Casting Support
Gloves
Summon Lightning Golem
Culling Strike Support
Minion Life Support
Flame Dash
Boots
2h Weapon
None
1h Weapon
Elemental Weakness
Arcane Surge Support (Level 10)
Increased Area of Effect Support
Offhand weapon / shield
Whirling Blades
Faster Attacks Support
Fortify Support
Build uniques / Example rare gear
Tip: Click on the item to view it on PoE Wiki or to view similar rare items in poe.tradeHelmet
Rare HelmetGet a generic rare helmet with high life and resistances.
In terms of enchant look for increased glacial cascade damage.
Body Armour
Soul MantleCore item of the build – try to get it as soon as possible. With 5-link you can easily go to red maps.
Soul Mantle also has a drawback – whenever your totem dies, you get random Level 20 curse inflicted on you. To counter that, you can use 2 Kikazaru rings or have flask with curse immunity rolled on them.
Gloves
Fingerless Silk GlovesBest option for our glove slot would be rare Fingerless Silk gloves with life and resistances. Extra energy shield is a good bonus.
Boots
Kaom's RootsKaom’s Roots are the boots of the choice for the build. They give us stun immunity and large chunk of life. Movement speed is not that important for this build as we use Whirling Blades to move around.
Left Ring
KikazaruKikazaru is a great option for situations when your flasks are down and you get inflicted with curses. Mana and health regen is pretty nice bonus as well.
Right Ring
Essence WormEssence Worm allows us to use Hatred aura without reserving the mana. That gives us more mana for Mind over Matter and also allows us to use Clear Mind jewel for lots of extra spell damage.
Amulet
Rare Shaper / Elder AmuletIdeally look for Elder amulet with “%Gain x% of Non-Chaos Damage as extra Chaos Damage” mod as it would provide huge dps boost.
You could also look for “Gain #% of Physical Damage as Extra Lightning / Cold / Fire Damage” mods on the amulet.
Other good mods would be increased global critical strike chance / multiplier, spell damage and life.
Belt
Stygian ViseLook for Stygian Vise with high life and resistances.
Energy shield is a good bonus.
1Hand Weapon
Rare DaggerAt the beginning, look for 2x Daggers with high spell critical strike chance and global critical strike multiplier and spell damage.
Later on when you can afford it, look for a daggers with these 2 mods: “Gain 35% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage” and “Gain 18% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage” on dagger.
Offhand
Rare DaggerPretty much the same as previously mentioned dagger, however you could also go for Sambar Scepter with “%of physical / elemental damage gained as extra damage” mods because of the elemental penetration implicit.
Jewel
Clear mindWe use Clear Mind because of the large chunk of Spell damage it gives us. Try to get one with as good rolls as possible.
Jewel
Jewel SetupOn jewels look for:
1.) %increased maximum life
2.) global critical strike chance / multiplier with cold / elemental skills
3.) increased area damage / increased damage etc
4.) any attributes or resistances if you are lacking
Hey, I like the idea of this build and I’m trying to follow it, but I’m having a few problems with it. First of all, you have both controlled destruction support as well as increased critical strike support on the chest piece/main attack. Isn’t that contradictory because controlled destruction prevents your attack from criting? Also, I would like to make this build so that my totems cast the glacial cascade. Do I just use spell totem support and leave out one of the other support gems from the chest piece? Thanks for your time! – Biggsby
Controlled Destruction doesn’t prevent you from critting, it just cuts your crit chance in half. Spell Totem support is built into chest, so you don’t have to socket it, just use the exact setup as described in guide and you will be good 🙂
Hey!
What kind of Abyss Jewels should one look for to put in the Stygian Vise?
Any life, crit chance or multiplier, spell damage mod works fine. Perhaps attributes or resistances if you are lacking any. Skip mods that contain “if you have killed recently”, because in actuality totems are doing the killing, not you.
You mention that this build can function in maps with only a 4link, which 2 gems would i drop from the chest to run with only 4?
Also does Spell Totem support need to be in the 6link somewhere? or does something else in the skill tree allow glacial cascade to be cast by a totem without it?
Soul Mantle allows that, you don’t need to link Spell Totem. For 4-link setup, drop Cold Pen and Faster Casting.