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Updated for Patch 3.8
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Estimated budget: medium
| Guide notes |
| September 25, 2019 -Updated for Patch 3.8 |
In Patch 3.5 many Cold skills got reworked and also Cast on Critical Gem's cooldown was lowered 0.5s to 0.15s, letting it proc up to 7 times per second! This change made Cast on Critical Strike based builds one of the strongest in the game. This build is focused mainly on triggering Ice Nova and Frostbolt with Cyclone, but it fits all kind of Cold spells really well, so if you prefer to play Glacial Cascade or Freezing Pulse, you don't need to change anything except the desired Spell Gems. The only required, and the most expensive item in this build is Cospri's Malice, the rest is focused on stacking as much Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier as possible.
You can also find our other Path of Exile builds right over here: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List
Gameplay is pretty straightforward - you Cyclone into packs of monsters and trigger all your socketed Cold Spells. The more monsters, the more spell casts per second. It's one of the most satisfying and fastest map-clearing builds in the game, thanks to cold explosions and ice projectiles flying all over the screen. Getting high Attack Speed is critical versus Bosses, as you increase the number of Hits per second, and trigger your Spells more frequently.
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This build feels really good, when you have all gear required for it and leveling Cast on Critical strike might be hard, that's why we recommend using Frost Blades for leveling, until you hit level 68, when you can wear all the required unique items. During leveling focus on upgrading your weapon to the highest Elemental/Physical DPS you can find.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
| Frost Blades setup | |
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Frost Blades - your primary DPS source. We are using it for the entire leveling process |
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Added Cold Damage Support - a lot of additional Cold damage |
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Ancestral Call Support - it will hit two additional nearby enemies with Frost Blades, which helps a lot with clearing packs |
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Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - increases Elemental Damage |
| Utility Gems | |
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Ancestral Warchief - great totem, that deals a lot of damage against Single targets but also increases Melee Damage |
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Herald of Ash - grants increased Burning Damage and causes slain monsters to Ignite nearby monsters for a percentage of the overkill damage |
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Herald of Ice - additional Cold Damage and Ice Explosions that shatters whole packs of monsters |
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Whirling Blades - your primary mobility skill |
Bandits:
We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passives Points or helping Alira if you prefer additional Mana Regeneration and making it easier to cap Elemental Resistances
Leveling Skill Trees:
34 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Blood Siphon 2) Coldhearted Calculation 3) Blood Drinker 3) Throatseeker
62 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Acrobatics 2) Heartseeker 3) Herbalism 4) Frost Walker
Recommended leveling items:
 Wake of Destruction - definitely best-leveling boots for attack based builds, provides a lot of flat Lightning damage to attacks |
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| Adds 1 to 120 Lightning Damage to Attacks (20-60)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(10-20) Life gained on Kill 10% chance to Cause Monsters to Flee 15% increased Movement Speed |
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 Karui Charge- amazing amulet, that increases Attack Speed and Damage for your Frost Blades and your Movement Speed, making leveling faster and smoother |
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| +(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Strength (5-10)% increased Attack Speed +100 to Accuracy Rating 30% increased Projectile Speed 10% increased Movement Speed 30% increased Projectile Damage |
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 Goldrim - amazing leveling Helmet which covers up all your needs for Elemental Resistances during early levels |
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| +(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden) |
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 Belt of the Deceiver - all Resistances and additional Life are amazing during leveling, on top of that we have little DPS boost |
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| (15-25)% increased Global 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 |
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 Redbeak - perfect sword for early game, that you can use it since level 1 |
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| 100% increased Damage when on Low Life 50% increased Physical Damage Adds 2 to 6 Physical Damage 10% increased Attack Speed +(20-30) to maximum Life +2 Life gained for each Enemy hit by Attacks |
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 The Tempestuous Steel - this will be perfect for full conversion to Elemental Damage leveling build because all attacks with this weapon Penetrate enemies Resistances |
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| Adds (5-8) to (15-20) Physical Damage (8-14)% increased Attack Speed Hits can't be Evaded Attacks with this Weapon Penetrate 30% Elemental Resistances Gain 15% of Physical Attack Damage as Extra Lightning Damage Gain 15% of Physical Attack Damage as Extra Fire Damage |
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| +(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 |
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Final Skill Tree:
116 Points Skill Tree
116 Points Path of Building (PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order:
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of Solaris 6% Physical Damage Reduction if there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits
Minor God: Soul of Garukhan +5% chance to Evade Attacks if you've taken a Savage Hit recently
| [DPS] Cyclone (Body Armour) |
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Cyclone - this is our main skill gem, that will cast linked Sells and Spells socketed into Cospri's Malice on Critical Strikes |
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Ice Nova - this is our main Damage dealing spell. It has great both single target and AoE damage |
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Hypothermia Support - since we are dealing mainly Cold Damage this will grant the best Damage multiplier from all gems. It also increases the chance to Freeze enemies |
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Cast on Critical Strike Support - the most important gem in this setup. It will cast linked spells on Critical Strikes dealt by Cyclone |
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Controlled Destruction Support - insane DPS boost at the exchange of lower Crit. Chance which is negligible in this build |
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Cold Penetration Support - this Gem will let our Ice Nova penetrate through enemies' Cold Resistance |
| [DPS] Frostbolt (Cospri's Malice) |
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Frostbolt - Frostbolts are recommended for this build since they greatly increases our clear speed and radius of Spells triggered by Cospri's Malive |
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Elemental Focus Support - greatly increase Elemental Damage but makes Frostbolts unable to Freeze or Chill |
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Cold Penetration Support |
| [MOBILITY] Flame Dash (1-link) |
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Flame Dash - recommended Movement/Blink Spell which increases your mobility and gives you a decent kiting/avoidance mechanic |
| [AURAS] Herald of Ice, Hatred, Precision (Gloves) |
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Herald of Ice - provides additional Cold Damage and huge Ice explosions, making your clear speed insanely fast |
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Hatred - increases Cold Damage you deal with Skills |
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Precision - increases your Accuracy Rating and Critical Strike Chance. Keep this Gem between level 10-14 depending on your maximum Mana pool |
| [UTILITY] Immortal Call and Withering Step (Shield) |
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Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast Immortal Call after a certain amount of damage is taken. Keep this Gem at level 1 |
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Immortal Call - grants brief Physical Damage immunity. Keep this Gem at level 1 |
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Withering Step - resets your Elusive buff increasing its effect. Use this Gem at level 8 |
| [UTILITY] Frost Bomb (Boots) |
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Frost Bomb - grants increased Attack and Cast Speed |
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Vaal Grace - grants extra Dodge whenever you use the Vaal part of this Skill |
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Increased Duration Support - increases the Duration of Supported Spells and Arcane Surge's buff |
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Arcane Surge Support - keep this Gem at level 6 so that all casts of Frost Bomb will give you Arcane Surge buff for extra Spell Damage and Mana Regen. |
| [UTILITY] Curse (Helmet) |
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Temporal Chains - the recommended Curse for this build if you are using Solstice's Vigil. It greatly slows down all enemies around your character. If you don't have the Vigil, just use it in a low-level Cast when Damage Taken setup |
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Blasphemy Support - allows you to use Temporal Chains as an Aura around you |
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Enhance Support - increases the Quality of Supported Gems, hence increasing the slow effect from Temporal Chains |
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Below you will find all the recommended and required items for this build. As usual, all required stats are listed (items are also included in the PoB link). This is a rather inexpensive build, which should not cost more than a few Exalted Orbs, but you can increase it's power immensely by investing in more powerful uniques.
At this point, we would love to invite you to visit our Path of Exile Marketplace where you can buy cheap PoE Currency in case you are unable to complete your build.
Our recommended items will:
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Stat priorities on items:
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 (Helmet) Rat's Nest - great and inexpensive pick for this build, however, it grants no defensive Utility |
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15% increased Attack Speed |
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 (Helmet) Rare Helmet - look for a Shaper piece with Added Cold Damage to Spells |
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| Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 25% Fire Resistance 25% Cold Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: Added Cold Damage to Spells maximum Mana |
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| Helmet enchantments: Ice Nova deals 40% increased Damage |
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 (Weapon) Cospri's Malice - mandatory item for this build, which is based on this weapon. Try to get highest Attack Speed and flat Cold Damage to Spells as possible |
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| No Physical Damage Adds (80-100) to (160-200) Cold Damage Adds (40-60) to (90-110) Cold Damage to Spells (8-14)% increased Attack Speed +257 Intelligence Requirement 60% increased Critical Strike Chance against Chilled Enemies Trigger a Socketed Cold Spell on Melee Critical Strike |
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 (Weapon) Lycosidae - mandatory item for this build, because it fixes all your Accuracy problems, making you hit with every attack |
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| +(120-160) to Armour +(30-40) to maximum Life Your hits can't be Evaded +(3-5)% Chance to Block Adds 250 to 300 Cold Damage to Counterattacks |
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 (Body Armour) Tabula Rasa - cheap and leveling option which should easy carry you through low and mid-tier Maps |
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| 3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) |
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 (Body Armour) Loreweave - our top recommendation for the Body Armour slot, however, it will be quite hard to get all the right sockets. You can try to get it to 3 Green/3 Blue and swap Cold Penetration with Increased Critical Damage Support Gem |
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| Has 6 Sockets +(8-24) to all Attributes Adds (4-10) to (14-36) Physical Damage to Attacks (20-60)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(15-50) to maximum Energy Shield +(20-60) to maximum Life +(20-50) to maximum Mana (6-30)% increased Rarity of Items found (15-50)% increased Elemental Damage Your Maximum Resistances are (76-78)% |
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 (Body Armour) Carcass Jack - solid Body Armour which grants all the essential Stats and makes it easy to hit the right Socket Colors |
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| (120-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(50-70) to maximum Life +(9-12)% to all Elemental Resistances (40-50)% increased Area of Effect (40-50)% increased Area Damage Extra gore |
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 (Boots) Rare Boots |
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| Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 29% Fire Resistance 29% Cold Resistance 29% Lightning Resistance 25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: maximum Mana |
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| Boot enchantment: Adds 45 to 68 Cold Damage if you've been Hit Recently |
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 (Belt) Rare Belt |
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Min. requirements: |
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 (Belt) Rare Stygian Vise - with the same stat as the regular belt. Will grant Abyss socket and allow you to use one more jewel |
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| Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 29% Fire Resistance 29% Cold Resistance 29% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: Strength or Dexterity for meeting attributes requirements |
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 (Amulet) The Pandemonius - a nice alternative to endgame Critical Rare Amulet. This one provides more damage and Cold Resistance Penetration |
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| (20-30)% increased Cold Damage +(35-40)% to Cold Resistance Chill Enemy for 1 second when Hit, slowing them by 30% Blind Chilled Enemies on Hit Damage Penetrates 20% Cold Resistance against Chilled Enemies |
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 (Amulet) Solstice's Vigil - allows us to use "free" Temporal Chains Aura, and grants solid DPS and defensive utility |
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| +(10-16) to all Attributes (20-25)% increased Damage +(50-70) to maximum Life Regenerate (2-3) Mana per second Temporal Chains has 100% reduced Mana Reservation Gain Shaper's Presence for 10 seconds when you kill a Rare or Unique Enemy |
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 (Amulet) Rare Amulet - just grab a mixture of DPS and Utility stats until you can afford any of the above |
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| Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 30% Critical Strike Multiplier 60% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes |
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 (Ring) Rare Ring - Diamond Rings are quite good option as they can increases your Critical Strike Chance. You can also try to get an Elder Ring to go with Mark of the Shaper |
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Min. requirements: |
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 (Ring) Gifts from Above - if you can afford to lose some Resistances, it's also a viable option, providing a ton of Critical Strike Chance and Damage increase |
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| (20-30)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance Trigger Level 10 Consecrate when you deal a Critical Strike (30-35)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance (10-15)% increased Light Radius (40-50)% increased Rarity of Items Dropped by Enemies killed with a Critical Strike 50% increased Damage while on Consecrated Ground +5% Chance to Block Attack Damage while on Consecrated Ground |
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 (Ring) Mark of the Shaper - one of the best choices for the Ring slot, as long as, your other Ring is an Elder item |
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| (15-25)% increased Elemental Damage 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Summon Volatile Anomaly on Kill Adds (13-18) to (50-56) Lightning Damage to Spells (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Spell Damage if your other Ring is an Elder Item Cannot be Stunned by Spells if your other Ring is a Shaper Item |
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 (Gloves) Rare Gloves - preferably Fingerless Silk Gloves but most other types are also viable |
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| Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 30% Fire Resistance 30% Cold Resistance 30% Lightning Resistance Optional affixes: Maximum Mana Attack Speed |
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| Glove enchantment: Commandment of Frost |
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 (Jewels) Rare Jewels - all Jewels should provide extra Life and at least one Damage amplification mod |
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| Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased Critical Strike Multiplier Optional affixes: increased Attack Speed increased Cold Damage increased Spell Damage |
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 (Jewels) Abyss Jewels - priority is maximum Life and flat damage to Spells |
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| Recommended affixes: maximum Life added Elemental Damage to Spells Optional affixes: increased Critical Strike Multiplier |
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 (Flask) Atziri's Promise - grants very high bonus DPS and Life Leech which comes in handy during Boss fights |
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| +35% to Chaos Resistance 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 |
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Other suggested Flasks:
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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.
Hrimmsorrow - great Gloves, providing additional Damage and Physical Conversion to Cold, which scales with Elemental/Cold Damage nodes on the skill tree