Path of Exile Gems PoE Builds, PoE Currency guide and other guides
Intro & build description
Quite recently Ice Nova was considered a bottom tier skill that almost no one used. With 3.5 and some cold skill overhaul, it got buffed with quite an interesting interaction with Frostbolt. It works as follows: You cast Frostbolt and while it is traveling, you also cast Ice Nova. Instead of casting around you, Ice Nova will cast on top of the traveling Frostbolt(s) you shoot – you can see how the interaction works in the video in gameplay section on the bottom.
Build also utilizes Focus mechanic introduced in 3.5 for great damage boosts.
Build Pros
- 4 Curses for great defense/offense and Endurance charge generation from Warlord's Mark ring
- Huge AoE
- Doesn't require tons of expensive items to work
Build Cons
- Rare staff craft can be a bit tricky
Passive tree(s) and Path of Building
[3.6] Skill Tree [3.7] Skill Tree [3.8] Skill TreeBandits
| Bandits Quest Choice |
| Kill all bandits |
Ascendancy skill points
| Labyrinths | Skill point choice |
|---|---|
| Labyrinth 1 | Forbidden Power |
| Labyrinth 2 | Profane Bloom |
| Labyrinth 3 | Malediction |
| Endgame Labyrinth | Void Beacon |
Skill gem setup
Helm
Cast When Damage Taken Support (Level 9)
Immortal Call (Level 11)
Increased Duration Support (Level 20)
Poacher's Mark
Body Armor
Frostbolt
Greater Multiple Projectiles Support
Curse on Hit Support
Frostbite
Slower Projectiles Support
Faster Casting Support
Gloves
Flame Dash
Faster Casting Support
Less Duration Support
Arcane Surge Support
Boots
Herald of Ice
Curse on Hit Support
Elemental Weakness
Enfeeble / Temporal Chains
2h Weapon
Vaal Ice Nova
Spell Echo Support
Controlled Destruction Support
Faster Casting Support
Concentrated Effect Support
Hypothermia Support
1h Weapon
None
Offhand weapon / shield
None
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
Energy Shield HelmetLook for ES base helmet with life and -9% to cold res of nearby enemies and a resistance or 2.
It’s fairly easy to craft a helm like that with 2 Socket resonator and Pristine + Frigid fossil.
Body Armour
Carcass JackCarcass Jack is an ideal chest armour for this build – gives us a lot of AoE and area damage as well.
Gloves
Rare Gloves with Cast Speed while focussedLook for rare gloves with high life, some resistance and craft “x% increased Attack and Cast Speed while Focussed” mod on them.
Boots
Two-Toned bootsLook for generic rare Two-Toned boots with high life, 30% movement speed and a resistance or 2.
Left Ring
Mark of The ShaperReally great ring that synergyzes well with our other elder ring.
Until you can afford it, any rare ring with life and resistances will do just fine.
Right Ring
Elder Ring with Warlord's MarkLook for rare Elder ring with Warlord’s Mark on hit mod. Another good mods to have on this ring would be life, resistances, mana, attributes you are missing.
Amulet
Unique Amulet With +1 Curse CorruptionThe priority for the amulet is to get +1 Curse corruption.
Great starting option would be Atziri’s Foible or you could get rare amulets with life and critical strike multiplier to corrupt.
If you have a lot of currency, you could buy The Halcyon with +1 Curse corruption, but that will cost you a fortune.
Belt
Stygian ViseLook for rare Stygian Vise with life and resistances.
You could also craft increased damage mod on it using crafting bench.
2Hand Weapon
Rare Shaper Eclipse StaffStaff is really important for this build and it is going to cost a bit of currency to get going.
First we need a Shaper Eclipse staff for 100% crit implicit. Next we need to get “Socketed Gems are Supported by Level x Power Charge On Critical Strike” mod on this staff. That’s pretty easy to do with just orbs of Alteration. After you got that one mod, regal the staff and multimod it. You could also try to use Orb of Annulment before multimoding, but only do that if you have enough currency to reroll it in case power charge mod is removed.
Mods to craft on it using crafting bench after multimoding:
chance to deal double damage while focussed,
gain x% of non-chaos damage as extra chaos,
cold damage to spells,
cast speed,
spell damage.
Until you can afford to craft yourself a staff like that, Pledge of Hands is an exceptional staff to use for this build.
Jewel
Jewel SetupLook for a mix of abyss and regular jewels.
Mods for abyss jewels:
1.) Cold damage to spells
2.) Cold damage to spells while wielding a Two-Hand weapon
3.) To maximum life
4.) To maximum energy shield
5.) Resistances / Attributes if you are lacking any
Mods for regular jewels:
1.) Critical strike multiplier
2.) Critical strike multiplier with cold skills
3.) Critical strike multiplier with elemental skills
4.) Increased maximum life / energy shield
5.) Increased maximum mana / resistances / attributes
Flask
Flask Setup1.) Instant recovery Divine Life flask with bleed removal
2.) Experimenter’s Quicksilver flask of adrenaline
3.) Diamond Flask with freeze removal
4.) Atziri’s Promise / Lavianga’s Spirit (if having mana problems)
5.) The Wise Oak
Gameplay
Here you can see the Frostbolt / Ice Nova interaction.
Given the Warlord’s Mark nerf in 3.7, is this still viable? Thanks.
Probably viable, you could build hybrid ES and Life. Spec into few energy shield leech nodes or/and use Energy Leech Support – it would work quite well I think.