Frost Blades
Berserker Build

Updated for Patch 3.24

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Frost Blades is a Melee Strike Attack that deals Cold Damage via Projectiles it releases upon using it. All your Physical Damage will be converted to Cold after allocating Cold Mastery. It's one of the most devastating builds - with the Berserker Ascendancy, your Critical Strike Chance and Damage, Blitz Charges, and Aspect of Carnage will elevate the build to the highest damage tier. Your character will wield two one-handed swords, but the build is flexible and it doesn't require you to - there are no core items or some specific niche synergy between inconspicuous game mechanics; the foundation of the build is simple as it's just accumulating damage. Paradoxica or The Saviour are some good choices for a weapon; you can also craft or buy a Rare Foil.

The build's strong side is its damage - you can stack Rage and Blitz Charges while your Auras, Ancestral Totems, Warcries, Curses, Berserk Skill, and Duration Spells add up leaving you with millions of DPS. Your high maximum Life, Fortify, and Armour are the defensive layers, you should be able to have 4 to 6k of Maximum Life, and instant Enduring Cry to recover it quickly. The weakness of this character are Spells and DoT, avoid them at all costs. We're also not running Determination to squeeze out all the damage from other Auras.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Use Frostblades as your only DPS skill, its damage is more than enough for most of the content in the game. Before boss fights, you can activate your Ancestral Protector and Warchief Totems for further damage increase, activate your Berserk Ability and cast Hydrosphere - you can attack it to gain more Rage and jump into a fight with a lot of it stored up, additionally, it inflicts Exposure for Cold Resistance Penetration. Your Guard Spell is Immortal Call cast automatically via CwDM and your Movement skill is Leap Slam. Be sure to have Blod Rage on at all times, and for your Auras use Precision, Hatred, Herald of Ice, and Defiance Banner. One of your Rings should apply a Curse on Hit - preferably Assassin's Mark. Finally - your Enduring Cry can be used instantly to recover a portion of your Life over time.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Start with Frost Blades as a Skill and Sword as a Weapon - quickly convert the rest of your Physical Damage to Cold Damage via Cold Mastery or a Unique Item. Get Fortify Mastery to have a Fortify on Hit and Call to Arms for instant Warcry uses. After allocating Blitz in your Ascendancy Skill Tree start focusing more on your Critical Strike Chance - you can get it from Sword Cluster, Sword Mastery, other passives, and gear. You won't have to respec many points, you will level from the start till the end with the same skill, using the same type of damage.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Frost Blades setup
	Frost Blades - you can start using this Attack from level 1 and it's really good even during the first acts
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds some additional Cold Damage to your Attacks
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - increases Elemental Damage you deal with your Attacks, at the point which you can use it all your damage should be converted to Cold
	Inspiration Support - lowers the Mana Cost, increases Elemental Damage, and Critical Strike Chance

Auras setup
	Hatred - increases Cold Damage and adds extra Cold Damage based on your Physical Damage
	Herald of Ice - adds and increases Cold Damage, additionally Frozen enemies explode on kill

Curse and Leap Slam setup
	Frostbite - a Curse to lower the Cold Resistance of your opponents
	Leap Slam - a movement Attack that allows you to jump
	Lifetap Support - you spend Life instead of Mana on linked Skills

Bandits:

Kill all three bandits and be rewarded with two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

38 Points Passive Tree
Rush for the Cold Mastery to convert your Physical Damage to Cold Damage. Allocate Tribal Fury and Reservation Efficiency nodes.
 

77 Points Passive Tree
Get some more damage and Maximum Life with Accuracy and Crit Chance.

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - adds Damage, Attributes and increases Elemental Resistances

Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Hrimsorrow - with these gloves all your Physical Damage will be converted to Cold Damage when using Frost Blades

+(20-30) to Strength +(40-50) to Evasion Rating +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 100% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage Reflects 100 Cold Damage to Melee Attackers

The Halcyon - an amulet to increase your Cold Damage and Resistance, additionally granting Freeze bonuses

+(20-30) to Dexterity (10-20)% increased Cold Damage +(35-40)% to Cold Resistance 30% increased Freeze Duration on Enemies 10% chance to Freeze 60% increased Damage if you've Frozen an Enemy Recently

Goldrim - drastically increases your Elemental Resistances

+(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)

Tabula Rasa - a Body Armour that allows you to link any six gems from the start

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

108 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
122 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Crave the Slaughter
2. Flawless Savagery
3. Blitz
4. Aspect of Carnage

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris: 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Ralakesh: Moving while Bleeding doesn't cause you to take extra Damage; 25% reduced Physical Damage over Time Damage taken while moving

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Frost Blades setup
	Frost Blades - Frost Blades are used as the main source of DPS, it's a Strike Skill with a huge Melee Strike Range and one that creates Projectiles on use so it's a really efficient Attack
	Cold Penetration Support - Your skills Penetrate Cold Resistance resulting in increased Cold Damage. Get the Awakened version for Cold Exposure on Hit.
	Ruthless Support - Every third strike is much more powerful.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - The Elemental Damage of your Attacks is increased, including Cold Damage
	Increased Critical Damage Support - Increases Critical Damage. Requires already high Critical Strike Chance.
	Multistrike Support - supported Attacks repeat additional times in quick succession which increases your DPS

[UTILITY] Mana-reserving Spells setup
	Precision - to save some Mana, keep it at a low level, it increases your Critical Strike Chance and Accuracy Rating
	Hatred - increases Cold Damage and adds extra Cold Damage based on your Physical Damage
	Herald of Ice - adds and increases Cold Damage, additionally Frozen enemies explode on kill
	Defiance Banner - increases Armour, reduces Critical Strike Chance for the nearby enemies, and upon placing it Taunts them while increasing your AoE

[UTILITY] Various gems
	Berserk - consumes Rage to grant a temporary bonus to Attack Speed, Attack Damage, Movement Speed, and less Damage taken
	Blood Rage - increases Attack Speed, Life Leech and generates Frenzy Charges on Kill while draining your Life
	Automation Support - Triggers linked instant Spells whenever they're off-cooldown.
	Enhance Support - Quality increases the Damage of Berserk and the Attack Speed of Blood Rage

[UTILITY] Various gems
	Leap Slam - one of the best movement Attacks that allows you to quickly jump over obstacles
	Hydrosphere - Hydrosphere applies Exposure Debuff on enemies reducing their Cold Resistance, and you can Hit it to generate Rage. It doesn't have to be linked to anything here
	Assassin's Mark - Increases Critical Strike Chance and Damage against marked enemy.

[UTILITY] Ancestral Totems and Ice Golem setup
	Ancestral Warchief - a Totem that increases your Melee Damage
	Ancestral Protector - a Totem that increases your Attack Speed
	Multiple Totems - you're able to summon both Ancestral Totems to gain buffs from both of them

[UTILITY] Immortal Call and Enduring Cry setup
	Immortal Call - keep it at level 3 so it will trigger more often, it reduces the damage you take for a short time
	Cast when Damage Taken - it should be level 1 to activate Immortal Call automatically when you take damage
	Call to Arms Support - It will trigger linked Warcy whenever it's off-cooldown.
	Enduring Cry - Recovers Life on use, and grats damage reduction if you're using Endurance Charges. It can be replaced with  Ancestral Cry.

6. Gear Setup

To run this build you won't need any Unique Items, except the two Jewels which are one of the cheapest ones. After capping Elemental Resistances and gaining enough Maximum Life to comfortably run t16 maps focus on damage. The most important part of the build that'd increase your PDS is Critical Strike Chance, added and increased Cold, Elemental, or Physical Damage, Attack Speed, and Critical Strike Multiplier. You gain Blitz Charges on Critical Strike which increases your Attack Speed, but reduces Crit Chance, so to balance it out you will need more Crit Chance than would be usually enough. Be sure to have enough Accuracy Rating, a source of Mana, and Life Leech. You shouldn't have a problem with getting enough Attributes like Intelligence as your Hydrosphere does not need to be leveled all the way up to level 20. If you're using Taste of Hate or have other sources of extra Cold Damage based on your Physical Damage prioritize Physical Damage bonuses over Cold Damage - all your Physical Damage will be converted anyway.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - Blizzard Crown might be a good option for a base as it adds a significant amount of Cold Damage to your Attacks, try to get one that lowers Cold Resistance for your Opponents

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life Nearby Enemies have -9% to Cold Resistance +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Armour Global Critical Strike Multiplier

Helmet enchantments: Frost Blades enchantment mods

(Weapon) Rare Foil - a good one-handed thrusting Sword is extremely expensive, but with some specific affixes it can outperform any other Unique weapon in the game

Min. requirements: 400 Physical DSP Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating Attack Speed Global Critical Strike Multiplier

(Weapon) Paradoxica - the best mods you can hope for are: Attacks with this Weapon Penetrate Elemental Resistances, increased Cold Damage with the chance to Freeze, Attack Speed, and increased Physical Damage

+25% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Attacks with this Weapon deal Double Damage Veiled Prefix Veiled Suffix

(Weapon) The Saviour - it's one of the best Unique Swords in the game, it creates up to two mirages that use Frost Blades with halved damage in a similar fashion to Mirage Archer increasing your DPS drastically

40% increased Global Accuracy Rating Triggers Level 20 Reflection when Equipped (40-50)% increased Physical Damage Adds (16-22) to (40-45) Physical Damage (8-12)% increased Attack Speed (8-12)% increased Critical Strike Chance

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - besides Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, aim for added Critical Strike Chance for Attacks. For eldritch mods get increased Hatred and Aura Effect or Melee Hits have a chance to Fortify,

Min. requirements: +80 to Maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances Attacks have +1% to Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: You can apply an additional Curse Enemies you Kill have a #% chance to Explode, dealing a tenth of their Maximum  increased Area of Effect increased Maximum Life

(Boots) Rare Boots - you will need a pair of boots with Elemental Resistances, Movement Speed, Maximum Life, and some additional offensive mods. For eldritch mods get the Brittle, Scorched Ground effect, or Action Speed with Extra Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage.

Min. requirements: +50 to maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed +50% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: chance to gain Onslaught o Kill You have Tailwind if you have dealt a Critical Strike Recently chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Maximum Life and Resistances are a must-have, but one of the most expensive and useful mods is the one to allow your Strike Skills to target additional enemies for even better clear speed. For Eldritch mods get Rage on Hit or increased Herald of Ice Buff Effect with increased Effect of your Marks.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Critical Strike Chance Attack Speed Adds Cold or Physical Damage Accuracy Rating Strike Skills target 1 or 2 additional nearby Enemy increased Damage with Hits against Chilled/Burning/Shocked Enemies

(Belt) Rare Belt - Stygian Vise with Life, Resistances, and increased Elemental Damage with Attacks is the best pick for the build

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances 40% increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Skills Optional affixes: Attributes increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - Life, Resistances, and at least two of the mods from the list are obligatory, Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage might be the best Affix to seek

Min. requirements: 80 Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills Adds Physical or Cold Damage to Attacks Damage penetrates Elemental Resistances increased Global Critical Strike Chance Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage Attributes

(Amulet) The Pandemonius - It's great for these Cold Damage builds, it increases damage and Chills enemies.

+(20-30) to Dexterity (20-30)% increased Cold Damage +(35-40)% to Cold Resistance Chill Enemy for 1 second when Hit, reducing their Action Speed by 30% Blind Chilled Enemies on Hit Damage Penetrates 20% Cold Resistance against Chilled Enemies

Recommended Anointments: Disemboweling Panopticon

(Ring) Rare Ring - a Ring with default defenses and a Curse on Hit should be sufficient, you can additionally look for many other mods to further increase your DPS

Min. requirements: +60% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Adds Cold Damage to Attacks Curse on Hit - Frostbite Attack Speed Accuracy Rating Global Critical Strike Chance increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted)

(Ring) Circle of Fear - Upgrade your Herald of Ice to deal more Cold Damge, or get increased Reservation Efficiency for this Skill.

<One to three random Synthesis implicit modifiers> +(20-30) to Dexterity Adds (20-25) to (26-35) Cold Damage +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance <Two Random Herald of Ice modifiers>

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - you can fix your Elemental Resistances and Attributes if needed, but try to prioritize Maximum Life

Recommended affixes: 7% Maximum Life Elemental Resistances Critical Strike Chance Optional affixes: increased Attack Speed or Damage with Swords or One-Handed Weapons Melee Critical Strike Chance or Multiplier Attributes

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - your Auras are Hatred and Precision, try to get a Watcher's Eye with the affixes for increased Critical Strike Chance while affected by these Auras

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels - regular Large Cluster Jewels with a base of Attack Damage or Cold Damage should have some great Notable Passives for the build

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Drive the Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Calamitous 1 Added Passive Skill is Martial Prowess 1 Added Passive Skill is Fuel the Fight 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson 1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow

(Flask) Taste of Hate - Taste of Hate is a great Flask, you take less damage, you gain extra Cold Damage from your Physical Damage, and Cold Ailments Avoidance

+50% to Cold Resistance 20% less Cold Damage taken (10-15)% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Cold Damage during Flask effect Gain (10-15)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage during effect 30% chance to Avoid being Chilled during Flask effect 30% chance to Avoid being Frozen during Flask effect

(Flask) Bottled Faith - more Damage, more Critical Strike Chance, and the bonuses of Consecrated Ground make this flask one of the best of its kind in the game

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Flask effect

Other suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Freeze immunity/removal Diamond Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Quicksilver Flask with random ailment removal or increased Movement Speed

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

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