Ignite Frostblink
Elementalist Build

Updated for Patch 3.24

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

This build uses Frostblink to Ignite. By using a Cold Movement Spell we are able to benefit from Bronn's Lithe and two Cold Iron Point Daggers to massively increase Frostblink's Gem Level, which in turn grants more damage. To ignite with Cold Damage you could use Shaper of Flames, and you will, but the Cold Damage has to be Converted to Fire anyway, as the weapons won't allow you to deal any Cold Damage. This can be done with Cold to Fire Support Gem and Pyre Ring. On top of the high Gem Level, the build uses Eye of Malice and reduces the Fire Resistance of enemies to nearly the negative -200% cap. It can be done thanks to two Curses, Combustion, Fire Mastery, Snowforged notable, and a powerful Exposure from Scorching Ray, cast via Totem and enhanced with Mastermind of Discord. This way you can reach 20mil Ignite DPS with a single Forstblink. Add to that Burning Ground from Alchemist's Mark for an additional few million DPS.

These powerful Ignites will last for around 3 seconds, less than the default 4 seconds as you can pick some stats that speed up burning. It's an immensely powerful addition as Ignites, unlike Posions, cannot be stacked indefinitely. Only up to 1 Ignite (by default) can be applied to a single enemy. To make Ignite deal damage faster, allocate Dirty Techniques, Searing Heat, as many Blowback or Wasting Afflciton notables from a Medium Custer Jewel as you can afford, Rare Jewels with a specific modifier, and Swift Affliction Support. Frostblink has a Cooldown, but it's less than one second when you fight bosses. When clearing maps its Cooldown is also low because it scales down with enemies near you. We have used The Stampede Boots to lower it to a satisfactory level.

The build's weak point is its durability. We've tried to make it as tanky as reasonably possible, and it's good against Elemental Ailments and Elemental or Spell Damage on account of its Solipsism, Elemental Aegis, and Spell Suppression, but Physical Damage, especially Attack Damage, can be a problem. The builds' high damage, great Frostblink range, and around 20k of Evasion should be enough to clear maps comfortably. Reducing nearby enemies' Accuracy with debuffs like Blind may be a good idea.

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

1. Gameplay

Use Frostblink to move and kill. Against bosses, activate the Arcanist Brand that will cast three Curses, and deploy Scorching Ray Totem which will apply a powerful Fire Exposire. Malevolence is a temporary Aura that you will use when in need of damage. Your regular Auras are Hatred, Grace, Vitality, and Defiance Banner. Infernal Cry is triggered automatically. Steelskin is your Guard Spell.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Use our Witch Leveling Guide using Ignite. It's the most efficient way to level up an Ignite build. Switch to this version after you're able to equip the necessary items.

Bandits:

We recommend killing all Bandits for two additional Passive Points

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

99 Points Final Skill Tree (does not include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
121 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Shaper of Flames
2. Mastermind of Discord
3. Heart of Destruction
4. Bastion of Elements

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Frostblink setup
	Frostblink - We have to use a Movement Spell with high base damage. Frostblink seems like the best option. It deals Cold Damage, later Converted to Fire.
	Cold to Fire Support - With Replica Cold Iron Point the Cold Damage has to be Converted, preferably to Fire. Use Cold to Fire and Pyre to do so.
	Burning Damage Support - More Burning Damage, the main type of damage in this build.
	Swift Affliction Support - Less Ignite Duration, but much more Damage over Time. Ignite can't be stacked so it's a great tradeoff.
	Deadly Ailments Support - More Damage over Time, but less Hit Damage, which is not important anyway.
	Combustion Support - More Fire Damage and reduced Fire Resistance of enemies you've Ignited. Reducing Fire Resistance is a crucial part of this build.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Hatred - Hatred grants more Cold Damage. Even if you Convert it to Fire, it still counts towards Ignite DPS.
	Vitality - DoT builds often struggle with Life Recovery. Here we rely mostly on Regeneration gained with Vitality, items, and passives.
	Grace - More and increased Evasion. Specializing in Evasion seems better than stacking Armour, as we could not gain any meaningful amount of it anyway.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana.

[UTILITY] Curse setup
	Flammability - Reduces Fire Resistance so that you can deal more Fire Damage.
	Elemental Weakness - Reduces all Elemental Resistances, including Fire.
	Alchemist's Mark - Creates a Burning Ground underneath the Marked enemy you've ignited. Its damage is based on the Ignite Damage, making it a great addition to Ignite builds.
	Arcanist Brand - Casts all linked to its Spells in sequence while attached to an enemy. It saves you buttons to press.

[UTILITY] Malevolence setup
	Malevolence - Causes you to deal more Damage over Time and increases Skill Effect Duration.
	Divine Blessing Support - With Eldritch Battery and some extra ES from items you can afford to cast Malevelonce temporarily.
	Inspiration Support - Malevolence costs less Mana.

[UTILITY] Scorching Ray setup
	Scorching Ray - Although we can apply Fire Exposure with Eye of Malice already, Scoring Ray's Exposure is more powerful, so we will use it during boss fights.
	Spell Totem Support - Standing Still and Channelling isn't safe, so do it by proxy with this Totem.
	Faster Casting Support - The Scorching Ray has to reach its maximum power to apply Exposure and to reach the maximum stage faster you can increase its Cast Speed.

[UTILITY] Various Gems
	Call to Arms - Triggers Infernal Cry automatically.
	Infernal Cry - Its primary role is to cover the enemy in Ash so that it takes increased Fire Damage.
	Defiance Banner - Defiance Banner increases Evasion Rating and reduces nearby enemies' Critical Strike Chance.
	Steelskin - You have to use it manually. It removes Bleeding and absorbs some of the incoming damage. You could automate it with CwDT or Automation, but then you'd have to remove Call to Arms and use Infernal Cry manually.

5. Gear Setup

It's an Ignite Spell build, meaning the Gem Level of your main damaging skills will be important, alongside Fire Damage, Burning Damage, and DoT Multiplier. Remember that Ignite cannot Penetrate Resistances, but you will immensely benefit from the reductions to enemies' Fire Resistance - it's 50% more effective due to the Unique Helmet. The build deals only Fire Damage Converted from Cold, so increases to Cold Damage will benefit you even slightly more than increases to Fire Damage, but you won't look for either of these in particular. Your focus is on Elemental and Chaos Resistances, Spell Suppression, and a bit of Energy Shield to be able to cast Malevolence. Life Regeneration is quite valuable. Attributes are not needed at all as you have Supreme Ostentation. This means you can allocate Solipsism and Tattoo over your whole Skill Tree with no consequences - some of the best blue Tattoos are the ones for Chaos Resistance, Energy Shield, Lightning Resistance, reduced Crit Damage taken, reduced effect of Shock, and Curses. With Solipsism and some other mods that reduce the duration of Elemental Ailments on you, you can probably reach 100% immunity to Ailments that have a Duration. We have used a lot of Uniques since they're very fitting. A lot of them are abundant in Elemental Resistances, but you will have to patch yourself up with Rare Gloves, Belt, and Jewels or Tattoos.

The recommended items from our list will:

1. Help you cap your Elemental Resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Eye of Malice - The enemy has their Resistance reduced with Combustion, Curses, passives, and Exposure. This adds to a negative 149% Resistance in the best-case scenario. Even if their Resistance is at 90%, it's still negative, so Eye of Malice will increase this value by half. It results in even more negative Resistance. Elemental Resistance can go as low as -200%.

(400-500)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance 25% chance to inflict Cold Exposure on Hit 25% chance to inflict Fire Exposure on Hit Nearby Enemies have 50% increased Fire and Cold Resistances

(Weapon) Replica Cold Iron Point - Increases the Gem Level of Frostblink. Use two of these. You won't be able to deal Cold Damage, but you can easily Convert 98% of it to Fire, which is good enough. Its Implicit is pointless, so you may Corrupt it for a chance for an "Increased Damage over Time" mod.

30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +3 to Level of all Cold Spell Skill Gems Deal no Cold Damage

(Body Armour) Bronn's Lithe - Grants 5 more Levels to Frostblinkm which is a lot. You may Corrupt it for a chance for an additional 2, or even double-corrupt it for 4 extra Levels - that could get you a level 39 Frostblink. It increases Evasion Rating and Damage.

+5 to Level of Socketed Movement Gems 10% increased Attack Speed (60-100)% increased Damage with Movement Skills (200-250)% increased Evasion Rating 10% increased Movement Speed

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Gloves should provide you with Maximum Life and Elemental or Chaos Resistances. Energy Shield will probably needed too to be able to cast divinely-blessed Malevolence. For the Eldritch mods, you must have Ignite proliferation and Suppression Chance or increased Effect of your Makrs.

Recommended affixes: some Energy Shield 70% Total Resistances +80 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: more Resistances Spell Suppression Chance

(Boots) The Stampede - Used mainly for the massively increased Cooldown Recovery Rate of Travel Skills and decent Movement Speed. You can also Anoint it which is great.

(100-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield (30-40)% increased Stun and Block Recovery (50-80)% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate of Travel Skills (30-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate while moving Your Movement Speed is 150% of its base value

(Belt) Rare Belt - Mostly Maximum Life and Resistances are needed on a Blet. Energy Shield, Life Regeneration, and various Flask modifiers are available here too.

Recommended affixes: +80 to Maximum Life 70% Total Resistances Optional affixes: Flask modifiers Energy Shield Life Regeneration increased Maximum Life (Hunter's Prefix)

(Amulet) Replica Dragonfang's Flight - The Gem Level of Frostblink on this Amulet may be expensive, but it's a good way to gain more DPS. It has Reservation Efficiency and Resistances too.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +3 to Level of all <Random Skill> Gems +(5-10)% to all Elemental Resistances (5-10)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills Items and Gems have (10-5)% reduced Attribute Requirements

(Amulet) Uul-Netol's Vow - It grants more damage than Replica Dragonfang's Flight since we're way past Gem Level 30. Socket  Cruelty Support here, and look for a copy with Resistances if you can afford it.

Has 1 Socket Socketed Support Gems can also Support Skills from Equipped Body Armour +(-30-30)% to Fire Resistance +(-30-30)% to Cold Resistance +(-30-30)% to Lightning Resistance +(-23-23)% to Chaos Resistance

(Amulet) Defiance of Destiny - It's the best defensive option. With your poor Life Regeneration, it will often save you by instantly Recovering a big portion of your missing Life before you get Hit, but it does not address the build's weak point - being one-shotted by big Physical Hits.

(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(60-80) to maximum Life +(10-40)% to Fire Resistance +(10-40)% to Cold Resistance +(10-40)% to Lightning Resistance Gain (25-35)% of Missing Unreserved Life before being Hit by an Enemy

Recommended Anointments: Dirty Techniques Arsonist Cleansed Thoughts Some of the notables affected by Elegant Hubris

(Ring) Anathema - You want to apply 3 Curses instead of one. These are Flammability, Elemental Weakness, and Alchemist's Mark. This Ring will allow you to do so.

+(15-25) to maximum Energy Shield +(30-40) to Intelligence (10-15)% increased Cast Speed (10-20)% chance to gain a Power Charge when you Cast a Curse Spell Your Curse Limit is equal to your maximum Power Charges

(Ring) Pyre - Use Elemental Catalysts to increase its Quality and make it convert 48% of Cold Damage to Fire. It will also increase the Burning Damage bonus. Look for a copy with high rolls.

+(20-30)% to Cold Resistance +(25-35)% to Fire Resistance (60-80)% increased Burning Damage 40% of Cold Damage Converted to Fire Damage 10% increased Light Radius Ignited Enemies Killed by your Hits are destroyed

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - You will use 4 Rare Jewels. Look for Maximum Life, faster ignite, and Burning Damage. Cold Damage or generic Elemental/DoT mods are good too. Even Energy Shield or Resistances can be found here if you really need them.

Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Life increased Maximum Energy Shield Damaging Ailments deal damage faster Fire Damage over Time Multiplier increased Damage over Time increased Fire Damage increased Burning Damage

(Jewels) Large Cluster Jewel - We've used two Fire-oriented Large Cluster Jewels. Burning Bright and Prismatic Heart notables are good for Damage, while Smoking Remains creates a cloud which Blinds enemies. Disorienting Display can Blind foes too.

Recommended Affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Burning Bright 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Smoking Remains

(Jewels) Medium Cluster Jewel - These are extremely powerful because of the Blowback notable that causes your Ignite to deal damage faster. You will use 3 or maybe even 4 of these Medium Cluster Jewels. Other notables listed here are too extremely potent.

Recommended Affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Blowback 1 Added Passive Skill is Wasting Affliction 1 Added Passive Skill is Student of Decay 1 Added Passive Skill is Cooked Alive 1 Added Passive Skill is Smoking Remains

(Jewels) Elegant Hubris - We have used the Supreme Ostentation from Caspiro's variant to ignore Attribute requirements. It makes gearing up much easier. This maneuver costs us 5 Skill Points if you place it near Mind over Matter, but you can spend some more Points on nearby notables that suit you, such as Elemental or Chaos Resistances, Spell Suppression, increased Flask Effect Duration, increased Maximum Life, increased effect of Auras, or chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments. You can also Anoint these notables onto your Boots as well as Amulet.

Commissioned (2000-160000) coins to commemorate (Cadiro-Caspiro-Victario) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Eternal Empire Historic

(Jewels) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Frigid Wake is great. It makes you immune to Chill and Freeze and grants 15% more Damage.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame

(Jewels) Watcher's Eye - You're using Grace, Vitality, Malevolence, and Hatred. Additional Damage over Time Multiplier from Malevolence is the best mod damage-wise. Grace may get you some Spell Suppression, Hatred - damage, Vitality - Life Recovery.

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

Suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleed Immunity Jade Flask with increased Evasion Rating Stibnite Flask with increased Cast Speed Quartz Flask with reduced effect of Curses on you Sulphur Flask with reduced effect of Shock on you or Life Regeneration (crafted)

If you have any other build requests please leave them 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.