Ice Shot
Deadeye Build

Updated for Path of Exile 2 Early Access

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

This one is a rather rudimentary Bow build that specializes in Cold Damage. It uses Ice Shot, Ice Shot fired by Mirage Deadeye, and Ice Shot fired by Mirage Archers, improved with Herald of Ice, Ice-tipped Arrows, Barrage, and Tornado Shot to quickly dispose of all kinds of enemies. It uses Snipe, which deals additional damage against Frozen enemies, and Freezing Mark to enhance damage against tough opponents. Freezing, the Ailment characteristic of Cold Damage, is a big survivability layer in here, as once unable to move, enemies pose no threat to us. You can carefully time Snipe or unleash Barrage-powered Shots continuously, without having to worry about getting killed. Such a setup requires a Bow, so going with Deadeye is a good option. Deadeye will be great due to their aforementioned Mirage Deadeye combined with Tailwind, Point Blank, and Endless Munitions. It improves damage, clear speed, Evasion, and mobility in a major way.

Defensively, the build relies on Evasion with Maximum Life, and in its later iteration, you can supplement it with Energy Shield, because with passives such as Subterfuge Mask and Spectral Ward you are encouraged to take advantage of both. You could then swap Wind Dancer for a Ghost Dance to have a way of recovering missing ES. The Damage may be further improved with very expensive gear, most of which will be Rare. There is nothing complex about this build once you get it up and running. Mechanically, it has just a few buttons to press, but you can stay with just Ice Shot for mapping.

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1. Gameplay

Ice Shot is the most used ability. It's for killing most enemies and Freezing bosses. When surrounded by more enemies than you wish, fire the Tornado Shot to improve your clear speed. Against bosses, you must first Freeze the enemy, so start by casting Freeze Mark, and then, after they're Frozen, Snipe them down. Stay close to them to maximize damage; you have Point Blank allocated. Barrage and Ice-Tipped Arrows are for Ice Shots to improve your DPS. Your passive skills are Mirage Archer, Mirage Deadeye, Combat Frenzy, Herald of Ice, and Ghost Dance or Wind Dancer.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

There is nothing complex about levelling; just start with Ice Shot, invest in Freeze buildup with basic Cold/Physical Damage, and detonate enemies with Snipe. It's exactly like the finished version, so the change is gradual. Remember to upgrade your bow often when in Acts. Critical Hit and Energy Shield are late-game upgrades.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

Click on the image to open the Passive Tree preview in a new window Or import the build into PoB: Path of Building 2 code

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Gathering Winds
2. Point Blank
3. Endless Munitions
4. Mirage Deadeye

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Ice Shot setup
	Ice Shot - A simple Ice Shot that deals Cold Damage. It's for killing enemies and Freezing bosses.
	Ice Bite
	Fork
	Elemental Armament
	Rapid Attacks
	Cold Attunement

[UTILITY] Herald of Ice setup
	Herald of Ice - Herald Buff for Shattering Frozen enemies on kill, which improves clear speed big time.
	Elemental Focus
	Longshot
	Elemental Armament
	Cold Attunement
	Magnified Area

[UTILITY] Ice-Tipped Arrows setup
	Ice-Tipped Arrows - You can use it to empower your next four Attacks and cause them to Trigger Ice Fragments on Hit. They are simple Cold Projectiles.
	Short Fuse
	Magnified Area
	Longshot
	Elemental Armament
	Deliberation

[DPS] Snipe setup
	Snipe - Snipe is for damaging bosses. You have to perfectly time it, and the target has to be Frozen; the damage is low otherwise.
	Concentrated Area
	Window of Opportunity
	Elemental Armament
	Elemental Focus
	Inexorable Critical

[UTILITY] Freezing Mark setup
	Freezing Mark - Cast it on tough enemies to Freeze them quicker and gain tons of extra Cold Damage upon Freezing them for the next 10 seconds.
	Eternal Mark
	Prolonged Duration
	Charged Mark
	Mark of Siphoning

[UTILITY] Tornado Shot setup
	Tornado Shot - Creates a Tornado that multiplies your Ice Shots and fires them in random directions, but lowers the damage of each Projectile consumed. Use it to boost your area coverage.
	Overabundance
	Durability
	Blind
	Prolonged Duration
	Rapid Attacks

[DPS] Mirage Archer setup
	Mirage Archer - A passive skill that will use the Attack it's hooked up to upon dodge-rolling. It has a 10-second Cooldown, and the Mirage lasts 7 seconds.
	Ice Shot
	Deliberation
	Elemental Armament
	Cooldown Recovery
	Rapid Attacks

[DPS] Mirage Deadeye setup
	Mirage Deadeye - It's a very similar skill to Mirage Archer, but this one is Triggered upon firing any Projectile, and lasts 6 seconds. Use it for the same Ice Shot setup.
	Ice Shot
	Deliberation
	Elemental Armament
	Cooldown Recovery
	Rapid Attacks

[UTILITY] Barrage setup
	Barrage - Spend Frenzy Charges to get a Buff that repeats your next Attack, where the repetitions deal less damage.
	Perpetual Charge
	Cooldown Recovery
	Rapid Casting

[UTILITY] Ghost Dance setup
	Ghost Dance - Ghost Dance is the best Energy Shield recovery tool for characters with high Evasion, which matches this build. It grants ES when Hit by consuming a Ghost Shroud.
	Cooldown Recovery

[UTILITY] Combat Frenzy setup
	Combat Frenzy - Grants a Frenzy Charge upon Freezing an enemy to be later spent on Barrage.
	Charge Profusion

6. Gear Setup

You deal Converted Cold Damage, so Physical and Cold Damage will both do. Attack Speed is great, but your main damaging ability is Snipe, which doesn't really benefit from that. Look for Critical Hit mods and Projectile Gem Level whenever you can. Cold Penetration is also of the essence if you don't have the Rakiata's Flow; that can be commonly found on Jewels. Mana and Life recovery can be troublesome, so search for Life or Mana on Kill to fix it. Defensively, the build relies heavily on Evasion, but you can easily get a considerable amount of Energy Shield from items combined with selected notables on the Skill Tree. Deflection Rating is also commonly found on Evasion Items, so try to acquire it. No additional Spirit will be needed. The build also heavily favors Rare Items, with only a few exceptions such as Cadiro's Gambit being a good choice for a Quiver, or a Headhunter, of course.

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - On a Helmet, try to get lots of Energy Shield, because it grants Evasion with Subterfuge Mask notable. Besides that, it's Resistances, Maximum Life, and Critical Hit Chance.

Min. requirements: 300 Energy Shield +40% total Resistance Optional affixes: increased Critical Hit Chance Accuracy Rating

(Weapon) Rare Bow - Get a Bow with added and increased Physical Damage. Prioritize Critical Hit mods over Attack Speed, and seek Projectile Skill Levels.

Min. requirements: +3 to Level of all Projectile Skills high Physical DPS Critical Hit Chance Optional affixes: Critical Damage Bonus Added Cold Damage increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Gain #% of Damage as Extra Cold Damage (Essence Prefix)

(Off-hand) Cadiro's Gambit - Upgrades your arrows in a random way. It's one of the best Quivers for mapping.

(7-10)% increased Attack Speed Each Arrow fired is a Crescendo, Splinter, Reversing, Diamond, Covetous, or Blunt Arrow

(Off-hand) Rare Quiver - You could swap to a strong Quiver for boss fights. It has to have Gem Level, Added Damage, and Crit mods - it should share similarities with the Bow in short.

Min. requirements: Adds # Physical or Cold Damage to Attacks +1 to Level of all Projectile Skills increased Attack Speed increased Damage with Bow Skills Optional affixes: Accuracy Rating increased Critical Hit Chance for Attacks increased Critical Damage Bonus for Attack Damage

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - You're looking for Gloves with Added Damage, Crit Chance, Attack Speed, and Chance for an Additional Projectile, which is a Kolr's Hunt Suffix. Add Maximum Life if you have space for it.

Min. requirements: Adds # Physical or Cold Damage to Attacks increased Attack Speed +80 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Resistances Surpassing chance to fire an additional Projectile (Kolr's Hunt Suffix) increased Critical Damage Bonus for Attack Damage

(Boots) Rare Boots - On Boots focus on Movement Speed, Resistances, and Maximum Life. There is not much space for Evasion or ES.

Min. requirements: +80 to Maximum Life +40% total Resistance 30% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: Evasion Rating Gain Deflection Rating equal to #% of Evasion Rating

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - On Amulets, seek Gem Level for Projectile Skills, Critical hit mods, Maximum Life, and Resistances or other defences like Evasion or ES.

Min. requirements: +80 to Maximum Life +3 to Level of all Projectile Skills Optional affixes: Resistance increased Critical Hit Chance for Attacks increased Critical Damage Bonus Maximum Energy Shield increased Evasion Spirit Anointment: Serrated Edges Zarok's Gift

(Ring) Rare Ring - You should get some Added Cold and Physical Damage on your Rings alongside Maximum Life, Resistances, and Attributes. You can find Mana and Life on Kill here if needed.

Min. requirements: +80% total Resistance +80 to Maximum Life Adds # Physical or Cold Damage to Attacks Optional affixes: Attributes Accuracy Rating Life or Mana on Kill increased Cold Damage

(Belt) Rare Belt - On a Belt you will find Maximum Life, Resistances, and Strength. If your other items already supply that, get yourself a  Headhunter.

Min. requirements: +80% total Resistance +80 to Maximum Life Strength Optional affixes: Charm slots Charm modifiers

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - The best option for a Chest piece is one approaching 3000 Evasion with some Deflection Rating, or maybe even Spirit or Resistances. This Evasion will grant ES via the Spectral Ward notable.

Min. requirements: 2000 Evasion Rating +40% total Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Maximum Life Gain Deflection Rating equal to #% of Evasion Rating Spirit

(Body Armour) Hyrri's Ire - Hyrri's Ire is always a good choice with great offensive/utility modifiers and even Dexterity, and is definitely worth considering if you value that over raw durability.

(30-40)% increased Elemental Ailment Threshold (100-150)% increased Evasion Rating Gain (10-20)% of Damage as Extra Cold Damage +(30-40) to Dexterity 25% increased Freeze Duration on Enemies Evasion Rating is doubled if you have not been Hit Recently

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Sapphires have the best mod pool; you can find Cold Penetration Critical Hit mods, increased Cold Damage, and Maximum ES here.

Optional affixes: increased Energy Shield increased Critical Hit Chance increased Critical Damage Bonus Cold Penetration increased Elemental Damage increased Cold Damage

(Jewel) Against the Darkness - You can socket this Radius Jewel to improve nearby passives. Look for Extra Damage as Cold or other Element.

<2 random radius jewel modifiers>

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