CoC Ice Spear with Indigon
Scion build

Updated for Patch 3.14

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Estimated budget: medium to high

The most common way to use Cast on Crit is to combine it with Cyclone - the rapidly attacking character is more likely to trigger Spells. Cospri's Malice is widely used in these types of builds as well for this Unique Sword trigger socketed Cold Spell on Critical Strike - making you able to cast a fair amount of Spells automatically when spinning through the map, given you have a high Critical Strike Chance. This build is able to reach close to a 100% Chance to Crit with each hit. Indigon provides you with more Spell Damage and makes your Skills more expensive the more mana you spend, increasing the damage with Ice Spears. Inquisitor Ascendancy gives your character more Elemental Damage - Cold in this case. Pathfinder Ascendancy has nice utility bonuses such as Attack and Movement Speed during Flask Effect, Life recovered on Flask usage, and better Flasks Charges recovery. Flasks are really helpful in this build.

Thie build uses Hatred on Essence Worm Ring so it reserves no Mana and grants more Level to the Skill Gem, the Mana will be needed because we use Agnostic Keystone and Arcane Cloak Guard Spell to quickly spend a lot of Mana and activate Indigon's Damage bonus. Precision and Clarity are two very useful Auras and luckily for us, the amount of mana reserved by these is not based on the percentage of the total Mana pool, but it is a fixed numerical value. It's good because this build is expected to store up a lot of Mana - around 5k. With MoM and Cloak of Defiance, 40% of the damage we take will be taken from Mana. We use Cold Damage due to Cospri's Malice requirements, but the damage coming from Arcane Cloak will add a solid portion of Lighting Damage as well. Why use Ice Spear? It's a Cold Spell so it suits the build well and it's more effective against enemies far away, for up-close enemies it's good to use Vortex.

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

1. Gameplay

As with every Cyclone build the gameplay is very smooth, all the Spells on Cospri's Malice and Cyconle will be cast automatically, the Spells being of course Ice Spear on the 6-link, another Ice Spear on one Sword, and Creeping Frost with Frost Bomb on the other. Use Arcane Cloak whenever you can so that your damage will stay up increased. Soul Siphon grants Mana on Kill so rapidly depleting Mana won't be an issue. Use Vortex as often as you find yourself surrounded by enemies for it increases the damage taken by enemies affected by using Curse and Bonechill. Dash is the Movement Spell, used to quickly dash in a certain direction.

This video was recorded on a level 94 Ascendant with slightly over 3k Life and 5k Maximum Mana. Overall, the build played extremely smoothly, but it could have been further improved by crafted gear with a chance to avoid getting Stunned which we didn't have on Standard at that time. The DPS was insane, and as shown in the video, allowed us to melt pretty much any Boss in the game

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

It's hard to level with Cast on Crit since it's a high-level Gem, available at level 38, and even then, the Critical Strike Chance of the character will be too low to use it as of now. Leveling can be extra tricky since the character of our choice is Scion, which doesn't have that impactful power spikes after ascensions and the starting location on the Passive Skill Tree gives Scion a terrible start. We recommend using Elemental Damage Spell so that we can reap the benefits of Inquisitor ascendancy, link it with Archmage Support and start gathering Mana from the Passive Skill Tree. Start using Essence worm as soon as you're able to, put Hatred there, and use a Cold spell, such as Frostbolt.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Frostbolt setup
	Frostbolt - simple, piercing, Cold Spell Projectile you can use as soon as you're  level 1
	Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support - more projectiles for better AoE, use Greater Multiple Projectiles Support after you'll be able to have one
	Archmage Support - as you will start picking up mana nodes early on, Archmage is a great option to boost your damage
	Elemental Focus Support - increases your Elemental Damage but you will no longer be able to Chill or Freeze with Frostbolt

Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - simple in nature Movement Skill that you can use
	Faster Casting Support - increases mobility effects of the Flame Dash

Utility Gems
	Frostbite - a Curse that increases Cold Damage your enemies take, before you can link it with Hextouch, cast it manually
	Hextouch - Frost Bomb will apply Frostbite on Hit
	Frost Bomb - use Frost Bomb to lower enemies regenerative abilities and apply Cold Exposure, lowering their Cold Resistance
	Arcane Surge Support - a buff that grants Cast Speed, Spell Damage, and Mana Regeneration.

Bandits:

You should kill all the Bandits and take two more Passive Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

31 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Agnostic 2) MoM

63 Points Skill Tree
take Prodigal Perfection and then Soul Siphon

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - a Ring with overall good stats, it gives you more Damage as well as Elemental Resistances
(10-30)% increased Damage +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Goldrim - one of the best unique leveling Helmets you can get due to 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 - it's really great to have one, especially if you're using Archmage Support and you want to increase the Mana Cost of Skills
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:

122 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't show Unique Jewels nor Cluster Jewels)
122 Points Path of Building(PoB) link 

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Inquisitor
2. Pathfinder
3. Path of the Ranger

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 25% reduced Physical Damage over Time Damage taken while moving; 25% chance to avoid Bleeding

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Ice Spear with Cyclone setup
	Ice Spear - Ice Spear will be cast upon landing a Critical Strike with Cyclone. It shoots an Ice projectile that pierces all the enemies and its effectiveness is much higher the further it travels.
	Cyclone - the skill that's used to land Critical Strikes and cast linked Spell. Cyclone gives you the advantage of mobility and very high Attacks Speed.
	Cast on Critical Strike Support - a Support Gem that will make you shoot Ice Spears as you hit enemies critically with Cyclone
	Hypothermia Support - More damage against chilled enemies. Although this setup cannot Chill, your other Spell can
	Inspiration Support - skill cost less Mana, deals more Elemental Damage, and has a higher Critical Strike Chance as you keep using it
	Elemental Focus Support - use this Support Gem to increase Elemental Damage by a lot and be unable to Chill or Freeze with linked Spells

[UTILITY] Vortex setup
	Vortex - Vortex can be used to Chill and Freeze enemies in a small radius around you, you can also curse them with the right setup
	Bonechill Support - increased Chill effect, more Cold Damage over Time and Cold Damage increased by Chill Effect
	Elemental Weakness - a Curse that lowers Elemental Damage of your opponents - Cold and Lightning are the types of damage you're dealing
	Hextouch Support - Elemental Weakness will be applied on Hit with Vortex

[UTILITY] Frost Bomb and Creeping Frost (on Cospri's Malice)
	Power Charge on Critical Support - use this Support gem to Gain Power Charges
	Creeping Frost - deals Cold Damage over Time in an Area that's Chilled created by it, useful utility Spell
	Frost Bomb - use Frost Bomb to lower enemies regenerative abilities and apply Cold Exposure, lowering their Cold Resistance

[UTILITY] Ice Spear (on Cospri's Malice)
	Ice Spear - another Ice Spear, this time linked with just Greater Multiple Projectiles and Elemental Focus
	Greater Multiple Projectiles Support - more projectiles cover more area, small enemies will die just from these low-damage Ice Spears
	Elemental Focus Support - use this Support Gem again, since it's the best one. It increases Elemental Damage by a lot.

[UTILITY] Hatred
	Hatred - Keep in on your Essence Worm Unique Ring for extra potency and no cost, it increases your Cold damage and converts part of your Physical damage to Cold damage.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Clarity - more Mana Regeneration, you can Level it up all the way, up to 20th Level for maximum Mana Regeneration
	Precision - same situation as with Clarity, it doesn't reserve much Mana so you can keep it at level 20 with no major drawbacks
	Empower Support - enhances the active Skill Gems by increasing their Gem Level, best Support Gem in slot
	Enlighten Support - linked Auras cost less Mana, extremely useful Gem to have, especially at Gem Level 4

[MOBILITY] Dash and Guard Spell setup
	Dash - use Dash to move around the locations, it's quick and reliable
	Second Wind Support - use this Support Gem - it allows you to use Dash more often by storing another usage that bypasses the cooldown of the Skill
	Arcane Surge Support - use it at such a low level so that one cast of Dash will trigger its effect
	Arcane Cloak - Arcane Cloak plays a major role in this build, it helps you spend a lot of your mana in a short amount of time, increasing the damage provided by Indigon

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find all the recommended and required gear for this build. Some of these items are absolutely mandatory and few are heavily recommended. It leaves us with not so many items to cap Elemental Resistances and to gather as much Maximum Life as possible.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS/Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Indigon - it's really important to have Indingon, it will accelerate your damage at the speed of Mana being spent on Skills, works really well with Arcane Cloak

(150-180)% increased Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Mana Recover (8-10)% of Life when you use a Mana Flask Non-instant Mana Recovery from Flasks is also Recovered as Life (50-60)% increased Mana Cost of Skills for each 200 total Mana you have Spent Recently (20-25)% increased Spell Damage for each 200 total Mana you have Spent Recently, up to 2000%

Helmet enchantments: Ice Spear travels 30% reduced distance before changing forms 15% Chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical Strike with Ice Spear 300% increased Ice Spear Critical Strike Chance in second form

(Weapon) Cospri's Malice - Another absolutely necessary item, two of them actually. These Swords are usually expensive but entirely worth the price. The Cold Damage bonuses, Attack Speed, and automatic trigger of more Spells are really good for this build.

+25% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Trigger a Socketed Cold Spell on Melee Critical Strike 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

(Body Armour) Cloak of Defiance - it grants you a lot of Mana, extra damage mitigation by redirecting it to Mana, and saves you a Passive Skill Point by allocating MoM

(300-400)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(100-150) to maximum Mana Regenerate 1% of Mana per second 10% of Damage is taken from Mana before Life Mind Over Matter

(Boots) Rare Boots - Look for Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances, and increased Movement Speed. Intelligence will be probably needed as well since Cospri's Malice has such high requirements.

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances 25% Movement Speed Optional affixes: Cannot be Frozen Attributes

Boot enchantment: 70% increased Mana Regeneration Rate if you've cast a Spell Recently

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Gloves are another good place to look for mainly defensive stats such as Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances. Use Gripped Gloves for more Projectile Damage.

Min. requirements: 90 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Critical Strike Chance Accuracy Rating Maximum Mana Spell Damage

(Belt) Rare Belt - Stygian Vise grants you an advantage over other belts in form of one Abyssal Socket, you can use it to gain the stats needed at the moment without changing the whole item. Focus on Maximum Life and Elemental Resistances

Min. requirements: 100 maximum Life 100% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: #% increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies increased Mana Recovery Rate Maximum Mana

(Amulet) The Pandemonius - Provides you with Dexterity, Cold Damage, and Cold Resistance. it Blinds also Chilled enemies, Chills them on hit, and your damage penetrates Cold Resistance most of the time. A great choice for an Amulet

+(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

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - Rare Amulet can give you more Mana, more Attributes, and definitely more Maximum Life so it's recommended to consider acquiring one.

Min. requirements: 90 maximum Life 100% Total Elemental Resistances Maximum Mana Optional affixes: Attributes increased Mana Regeneration Rate Global Critical Strike Multiplier

Recommended Anointments: Heartseeker Heart of Ice Arcane Capacitor

(Ring) Essence Worm - you should put your Hatred Aura here to elevate its Gem Level and make it reserve no Mana.

Has 1 Socket +2 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems Reserve No Mana 40% increased Mana Reserved

(Ring) Rare Ring - If you can apply an additional Curse, go for Assassin's Mark on Hit for it is the best option here. Mods such as Accuracy Rating that you can find mostly on Rings, Helmets, and Gloves are necessary for this build to work so you might as well look for them here.

Min. requirements: 60 to Maximum Life Trigger Level 8 Assassin's Mark when you Hit a Rare or Unique Enemy Optional affixes: Adds # to # Lightning Damage to Spells and Attacks Elemental Resistances Attributes Accuracy Rating Critical Strike Chance Maximum Mana increased Mana Regeneration Rate

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Look for Cold Damage and Critical Strike-related mods, but most importantly - Maximum Life. Immunity to Corrupted Blood is valuable implicit.

Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Life Elemental Resistances increased Cold Damage increased Spell Damage increased Global Critical Strike Chance increased Maximum Mana increased Accuracy Rating

(Jewel) Unnatural Instinct - place it right near to your starting location, at the center of the Skill Tree on the upper-right side for a variety of stats

Allocated Small Passive Skills in Radius grant nothing Grants all bonuses of Unallocated Small Passive Skills in Radius

(Jewel) Intuitive Leap - by placing it next to Fervour you can now allocate all the Notables in the range, except Fervour

Passives in Radius can be Allocated without being connected to your tree

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye -"+1.75% to Critical Strike Chance while affected by Hatred" and "20% of Damage taken while affected by Clarity Recouped as Mana" are probably the two best mods you can find on this powerful Jewel

(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 Jewel - we recommend getting one Large Cluster Jewel with either Spell or Elemental Damage bonuses. Blanketed Snow and Widespread Destruction are really impactful Notables here.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Practiced Cater 1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow 1 Added Passive Skill is Blizzard Caller 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Flask Duration Base or Curse Effect are recommended. One Master of Fear will increase your damage by 10% when fighting Cursed Enemies and one Wish of Death will grant you Culling Strike for boss fights. if you have space for more Medium Cluster Jewels - look for Liquid Inspiration.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Master of Fear 1 Added Passive Skill is Wish for Death 1 Added Passive Skill is Distilled Perfection 1 Added Passive Skill is Liquid Inspiration

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - a huge boost to your Damage by adding extra Choas Damage, and some Chaos Resistance for your character as well

+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

(Flask) Bottled Faith - One of the best and most expensive flasks. Increases Damage and Critical Strike Chance against enemies on Consecrated Ground

Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-50)% increased Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius +(1-2)% to Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies

(Flask) Dying Sun - more Projectiles, more Aoe, and less Fire Damage taken, Dying Sun is a Flask that suits this build very well.

+50% to Fire Resistance 20% less Fire Damage taken (-10-10)% increased Charges used Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles during Flask Effect (15-25)% increased Area of Effect during Flask Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Experimenter's Diamond Flask of Staunching (immunity to Bleeding) Experimenter's Mana Flask of Warding (Curse immunity)

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.