Updated for Path of Exile 2 Early Access
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Guide notes |
September 1, 2025 - Created for Early Access. |
Build Overview | |||
Tags: [ATTACK] [ELEMENTAL] [HYBRID] | |||
Budget: Defenses: |
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Boss DPS: AoE: |
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Hollow Palm Technique is a Keystone with which you'll scale up your unarmed damage with Gem Level, Evasion, and Energy Shield from the gear pieces. You can still use Quarterstaff Skills, which we will take advantage of with Ice Strike. It's a basic Cold Damage Attack. Lightning Damage Skills can be used too, and it won't even change the build in a major way, but here we've picked the Ice Strike route. "I am the Blizzard" will increase your damage and create Chilled Ground on Freeze. "Sunder my Enemies" causes all your Elemental Damage with Critical Strikes to ignore enemies' Resistances; that's why we won't need Curses, Exposure, and all that. "Lead me through Grace" is by far the most important passive, and the reason we picked Invoker. It grants you Spirit from ES and Evasion on a Body Armour, the thing you need anyway to increase your damage. As your last passive, allocate "I am the Thunder" for even more Elemental Damage.
The build's biggest advantages are the elimination of the need for a weapon, which is often expensive, and the ability to scale your offensive stats through your defensive stats. You can comfortably get enough damage to take down end-game bosses this way. Evasion can be paired up with Deflection to reduce damage taken. Walker of the Wilds Keystone will Leech Life and Mana from your Elemental Damage. Other than Ice Strike, you will utilise skills like Charged Staff and Shattering Palm, upgraded with Tempest Bell. This Lightning Damage will allow you to Shock. Thunderfist Gloves is another, rather expensive, upgrade.
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Ice Strike is your primary damaging ability. If you spot a pack of enemies, you may dash into them with Shattering Palm to slay them much faster. Charge up your weapon with Charged Staff and place down the Tempest Bell for a big damage boost. Herald of Ice, Wind Dancer, Ghost Dance, and Combat Frenzy are your passive skills. With enough Spirit, you may upgrade them with Support Gems that cost Spirit, or include Herald of Thunder.
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PROS |
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CONS |
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Allocate Hollow Palm Technique as soon as possible; it can do great damage if you remember to constantly upgrade your gear pieces. From this point, you may start slowly assembling the build as it is described.
Final Skill Tree:
Click on the image to open the Passive Tree preview in a new window Or import the build into PoB: |
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in this order:
[DPS] Ice Strike setup | |
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Ice Strike - Your primary damaging ability. Deals Converted Cold Damage with an ability to perform a powerful third strike. |
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Elemental Armament - More Elemental Damage. |
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Close Combat - More Damage at close range. The bonus is at its strongest within 1 metre of the enemy. |
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Ice Bite - 25% of Damage as Cold Damage for 5 seconds after Freezing an enemy with Ice Strike. |
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Rapid Attacks - More Attack Speed. |
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Cold Attunement - Less Fire and Lightning Damage, which you don't deal with this skill, and 25% of Damage as Cold Damage. |
[UTILITY] Tempest Bell setup | |
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Tempest Bell - You can Hit it to create a shockwave. It deals partially converted Elemental Damage. Free DPS on bosses and rares, but requires Combo to use. |
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Close Combat |
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Heavy Swing - More Melee Physical Damage with no downside. |
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Heft - More Maximum Physical Damage. |
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Overabundance - You can place one more Bell, but their duration is reduced. It's okay, they also terminate after 10 hits, which you can perform in this shortened span of time. |
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Elemental Armament - You can replace it with Mana Leech if you need that more than just damage. |
[UTILITY] Herald of Ice setup | |
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Herald of Ice - Shattered enemies explode on kill. That improves your clear speed. |
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Elemental Armament |
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Overreach - Deals more damage to enemies far away. |
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Cold Attunement |
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Magnified Area - More Area of Effect for Herald's explosions. |
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Deadly Herald - 30% more Damage for the linked Herald. |
[UTILITY] Charged Staff setup | |
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Charged Staff - Additional Lightning Damage and powerful Shockwaves for all your Attacks. It adds more damage and lasts longer the more Frenzy Charges it has consumed. |
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Prolonged Duration - more Skill Effect Duration. |
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Perpetual Charge - 25% chance to not remove Charges but still count as consuming them. |
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Innervate - 25% of Damage as Lightning Damage for 5 seconds after Freezing an enemy with Charged Staff's Shockwave. |
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Shock - 100% more chance to Shock. |
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Elemental Armament |
[UTILITY] Shattering Palm setup | |
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Shattering Palm - Dash into a pack of enemies with this skill to attach Shards to them. These shards will explode, initiating a chain reaction with Herald of Ice. |
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Freeze - 50% more Freeze Buildup. |
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Magnified Area |
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Cold Attunement |
[UTILITY] Combat Frenzy setup | |
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Combat Frenzy - Will grant you a Power Charge (after allocating the Resonance Keystone) when you Freeze or Shock. |
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Charge Profusion - Chance for an additional Charge. |
[UTILITY] Wind Dancer setup | |
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Wind Dancer - More Evasion Rating until you get Hit; it then creates a shockwave around you. |
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Blind - Blinds enemies that break the Wind Ward. |
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Magnified Area |
[DPS] Ghost Dance setup | |
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Ghost Dance - Grants Shrouds. Consume them when you get Hit to revoer ES based on your Evasion. |
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Compressed Duration - Causes you to gain Shrouds faster. |
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Most of your gear pieces should have high Evasion and Energy Shield since that's how you scale up the damage. Gem Level for Ice Strike is also crucial. It's a hybrid build; Maximum Life will be important, although not as much as ES. The mixed Evasion-ES gear can roll Deflection, which you should aim for. At least some Spirit will be needed. You can find it on a Body Armour or an Amulet. Level to Melee Gems is often present on an Amulet and Gloves. For offence, seek Physical Damage, Cold Damage, Attack Speed, and Critical Strike modifiers. Remember to cap your Resistances. Elemental Penetration is not important once you allocate Sunder my Enemies, and your Crit Chance is high.
Stat priorities on items:
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Min. requirements: Maximum Energy Shield Evasion Rating Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental and Chaos Resistance Deflection Rating |
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Min. requirements: Maximum Energy Shield Evasion Rating Maximum Life Level of all Melee Skills Optional affixes: Elemental and Chaos Resistance Deflection Rating |
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Grants Skill: Crackling Palm (1–111)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield (1–11)% increased Attack Speed +(1–33)% to Lightning Resistance Adds 1 to (77–111) Lightning Damage to Unarmed Melee Hits +(0.1–1.1)% to Unarmed Melee Attack Critical Hit Chance |
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Min. requirements: Maximum Energy Shield Evasion Rating Maximum Life increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Elemental and Chaos Resistance Deflection Rating |
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Min. requirements: Spirit Level of all Melee Skills Optional affixes: Attributes Maximum Energy Shield Elemental and Chaos Resistance Evasion Rating Maximum Life |
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Min. requirements: Elemental and Chaos Resistance Adds Physical Damage to Attacks Maximum Life Optional affixes: Attributes Adds Cold Damage to Attacks |
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+(20–30)% to Cold Resistance (20–30)% increased Cold Damage +(40–60) to maximum Mana +(10–15) to Strength Enemies Chilled by your Hits can be Shattered as though Frozen |
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Min. requirements: Maximum Life Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Charm or Flask modifiers Strength |
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Min. requirements: Maximum Energy Shield Evasion Rating Maximum Life Optional affixes: Elemental and Chaos Resistance Deflection Rating Spirit |
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Optional affixes: increased Elemental Damage Critical Strike modifiers Life or Mana Recovery on Kill Elemental Penetration |
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+(1-3) to Level of all <Random skill> Skills |
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If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.
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