Glacial Cascade Miner
Shadow/Saboteur
Starter build

Updated for Patch 3.5

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Estimated budget: low

Glacial Cascade spell has received a significant boost with the 3.0 content update. It is a spell that creates several ice cascades in front of the player that shatter nearly instantly to deal area damage. It has a very similar effect to Ice Crash melee attack. With the most recent updates, Glacial Cascade is purely Physical damage spell with 60% of it converted into Cold. It has also been further enhanced by increasing its' damage by 33% at all levels. As of Patch 3.3, this remains one of the best Starter builds in the game, with insane DPS and very low item cost.

It has also become a very popular and powerful solution to link Glacial Cascades with Remote Mines support gem, and benefit from the extremely powerful Saboteur Ascendancy points.

For the full list of our Path of Exile builds you can visit the following article: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

The idea behind Remote miner builds is to plan mines that cast linked supported spells when detonated. Shadow tree has a lot of major mine nodes, and the entire Saboteur ascendancy class is built towards mines and trap damage. This provides extremely fun to play gameplay mechanics while allowing amazing damage with not much currency investments - most of the damage comes from the Skill tree, Ascendancy points, and inexpensive Tremor Rod unique staff.

0:06 Tier 16 Elder Ramparts 0:38 Tier 16 Elder Strand 1:01 Tier 16 Elder Beach 1:29 Shaper's Realm This video was recorded on a level 91 Saboteur on Delve Softcore. It's an end-game version of this build which uses two Shaped Daggers. We are currently working on a video guide for this version of the build, but the gameplay mechanic is very similar

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

The leveling phase with a Miner build is rather easy. You can start with physical damage melee attack available early on (for example Ethereal Knives) and use Fire traps for some additional damage during your first levels. At level 8 you can get the Remote Mine Support gem and link it to the Ethereal Knives. This will greatly increase the damage, and you should be able to boost it even further by taking the Saboteur node a couple of levels later. From this point onward getting to level 28 when you can start using Glacial Cascade should be a piece of cake. After you reach level 40, it's advised to get the Tremor Rod. You can start off by using as low as 3 or 4 links on it; it will still be more than enough to carry you to Act 10.

Suggested leveling gem setups:

Levels 1-28 recommended skills
	Ethereal Knives - one of the first spells available to the Shadow class. It is also a physical damage based spell which will benefit from the suggested passive skill nodes
	Remote Mine Support - gives you the ability to cast remote mines that will trigger Ethereal Knives spell. It provides the Detonate Spell as well
	Minefield Support - increases the maximum number of planted mines, increasing your overall DPS
	Trap and Mine Damage Support - grants additional DPS

Levels 28+
	Glacial Cascade - you can replace the Ethereal Knives gem with Glacial Cascade for some additional DPS
	Increased Area of Effect Support - great for leveling if you are going to use the Glacial Cascade spell instead

Bandits:

We recommend helping Alira for increased Mana Regeneration Rate, Crit. Multiplier and Resistances. Killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points is also a valid option

Leveling Skill Trees:

34 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Saboteur 2) Clever Construction 3) High Explosives

60 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) High Explosives 2) Volatile Mines 3) Blast Cascade

Recommended leveling items:

Belt of the Deceiver - great belt for both leveling (and possibly late-game too). It grants extra physical damage, Life, and Resistances
+(25-35) to Strength (15-25)% increased Physical Damage You take 30% reduced Extra Damage from Critical Strikes +(30-40) to maximum Life +(10-15)% to all Elemental Resistances Nearby Enemies are Intimidated

Praxis - great mana ring, that will help you with mana-management when casting your mines as low-level shadow
+(20-25) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana (3-6) Mana Regenerated per second -(8-4) to Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit

The Princess - this item will grant incredible DPS boost to both Ethereal Knives and Glacial Cascade spells
40% increased Accuracy Rating (20-50)% increased Physical Damage Adds (3-4) to (5-8) Physical Damage 15% increased Attack Speed Gain (25-30)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage 10% increased Damage taken from Skeletons 10% increased Damage taken from Ghosts

Hrimsorrow - another excellent leveling item that can boost your Spell DPS
+(20-30) to Strength Adds (5-7) to (13-15) Cold Damage to Spells and Attacks +(40-50) to Evasion Rating +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 50% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage Reflects 10 Cold Damage to Melee Attackers

Le Heup of All - this ring is extremely well-round for leveling. Provides everything except for added Life. Good rolled ones can be quite expensive though early in a League
Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks (10-30)% increased Damage +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

112 Points Skill Tree
112 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Bomb Specialist
2. Demolitions Specialist
3. Pyromaniac
4. Born in Shadows

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you've taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%

5. Final gems links

[DPS] Glacial Cascade Remote Mines (Tremor Rod)
	Glacial Cascade - your main DPS Spell. Its' damage can be increased by the following affixes: Increased Physical damage Increased Elemental damage Increased Area damage Increased Cold damage
	Mine and Trap Damage Support - a great DPS support gem
	Minefield Support - increases the number of maximum number of mines that can be planted at a time
	Spell Cascade Support - this new gem introduced in patch 3.1 repeats the supported spells twice, allowing it to affect areas both after and before the targeted location. It works in a smiliar way to Spell Echo (which will however not work in the Remote Mine setup), reapeting the spell two additional times, but instead of increasing their casting speed, it makes it cover a wider area
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - great dps buff
	Concentrated Effect Support - great for single target dps (bosses/rares)
	Increased Area of Effect Support - a good option for leveling and farming
	Remote Mine Support - this is the core Support Gem of the entire build. However, it is provided by the Tremor Rod

[AURA] Hatred in Essence Worm
	Hatred - the best dps aura for this build. We are using Essence Worm so that no extra mana is reserved and you have no problems managing it with the Mind over Matter passive

[UTILITY] Vaal Clarity and Detonate Mines
	[1 Link]Vaal Clarity - the only skill that will reserve some of your mana. It will however compensate it with greatly increased mana regeneration rate
	[2 Links]Cast when Damage Taken Support - will help you detonate your mines, and stay alive in various encounters. Keep this Gem at level 1
	[2 Links]Detonate Mines  - linked with CwDT Support gem will periodically help you detonate your mines

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - your main mobility skill. It can also be used to hop on cliffs and bypass walls/closed doors
	Faster Casting Support - grants faster "movement" with Flame Dash
	Arcane Surge Support - grants a buff that increases their Spell Damage and Mana Regeneration Rate. Always make sure what is your current Flame Dash's mana cost and upgrade Arcane Surge with accordance to it - you have to make sure to gain the buffs with every Flame Dash cast
	Increased Duration Support - used mainly to increase Flame Dash's Mana Cost, so that you can get the Arcane Surge buffs with every cast

[UTILITY] Frost Bomb setup
	Frost Bomb - is an AoE/Duration Spell that applies a debuff to monsters. It lowers their Resistance to Cold damage
	Faster Casting Support - increases the Casting Speed of Frost Bomb
	Increased Area of Effect Support - increases the radius of Frost Bomb
	Increased Duration Support - will make Frost Bomb last longer

[UTILITY] Utility Gems
	[1 Link]Ice Golem - our recommended Golem for this build, which increases your Crit. Chance
	[2 Links]Enfeeble - a decent defensive curse option. In this build, you have to apply it manually (hence linking it to Faster Casting Support is advised)
	[2Links]Faster Casting Support - makes your character cast Shield Charge faster - meaning you move faster
	[3 Links]Cast when Damage Taken Support - will periodically cast Immortal Call granting you brief immortality. Keep it at level 1
	[3 Links]Immortal Call - will grant brief immortality when you receive a certain amount of damage. Do not upgrade above level 3
	[3 Links]Increased Duration Support - used simply to extend Immortal Call duration

5. Gear Setup

This build is very budget-friendly. Tremor Rod is the only required unique that doesn't cost much if you want to start off with just three or four links on it (when you reach level 40 it is more than enough).

Using this opportunity, we would like to invite you to visit our PoE Currency Marketplace where you can buy cheap Orbs from other Path of Exile players.

The recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life/Mana to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - with additional maximum Mana

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 45 maximum Mana 22% Fire Resistance 22% Lightning Resistance 22% Cold Resistance

(Body Armour) Rare Armour

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 40% Fire Resistance 40% Lightning Resistance 40% Cold Resistance

(Weapon) Tremor Rod - amazing Staff for any remote miner's build. You can get it as early as level 40 and it will carry you till late game easily

18% Chance to Block Socketed Gems are Supported by level 10 Remote Mine 35% less Mine Damage (40-60)% increased Spell Damage (15-20)% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold (40-60)% increased Mine Laying Speed Mines can be Detonated an additional time

(Boots) Rare Boots - dual-res with with a minimum of 20% increased Movement Speed

Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 30% Fire Resistance 30% Cold Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed

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(Belt) Rare Belt - with the highest bonus Life you can afford

Min. requirements: 90 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Cold Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - grab one with the highest bonuses out of all selected stats. You can skip elemental resistances as they should be capped with the other equipment

Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 30 maximum Mana 20% Global Critical Strike Multiplier 50 Intelligence 50 Dexterity

(Ring) Rare Ring - which shouldn't be expensive, and will grant some extra DPS and defensive bonuses

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 10% Cold Damage Optional affixes: maximum Mana Attributes Elemental Resistanaces

(Ring) Berek's Grip - much better alternative to the Rare Ring, but comes at a much higher cost

+(12-16)% to Cold and Lightning Resistances (25-30)% increased Cold Damage Adds 1 to (50-70) Lightning Damage to Spells and Attacks +(30-40) to maximum Life 1% of Damage Leeched as Life against Shocked Enemies 1% of Damage Leeched as Mana against Frozen Enemies

(Ring) Essence Worm - use it to socket your Hatred Aura. It will not reserve any Mana

Has 1 Socket +2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems Reserve No Mana 40% increased Mana Reserved

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - which should cap your Resistances

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 50 maximum Mana 35% Fire Resistance 35% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: increased Spell Damage

(Jewel) The Long Winter - Glacial Cascade tresshold Jewels. They allow 100% damage conversion to Cold and maxime your DPS

(10-15)% increased Cold Damage With 40 Intelligence in Radius, Glacial Cascade has an additional Burst With 40 Intelligence in Radius, 20% of Glacial Cascade Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage

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(Jewels) Rare Jewels - Life is the most important bonus on all the Jewels

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Generic/Spell/Cold/Elemental/Area Damage Optional affixes: increased All Elemental Resistances increased Global Critical Strike Chance increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - pretty much the best offensive flask for this build. Also grants amazing Life leech bonus during flask effect, and it's very cheap

2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect Gain (15-20)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (10-15)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

(Flask) Lavianga's Spirit - great utility flask. Untill you can afford it replace it with any Mana flask

(30-50)% increased Amount Recovered 100% increased Recovery Speed Your Skills have no Mana Cost during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (Bleeding immunity) Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Heat (Freeze immunity) Any Mana Flask of Warding/Grounding

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.