Quad Frostbolt
Totem Hierophant Build

Updated for Patch 3.10

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Estimated budget: low

Hierophant is currently the most popular Totem-class in Path of Exile. It offers very high bonuses to Totem Damage which allows various Starter and budget-friendly builds to be based on this Class. Our Quad Frostbolt Totem Hierophant is no different. This build offers very solid clear speed, decent single-target damage, and multi-layer defenses based on Life, Energy Shield, and greatly enhanced Mind over Matter Passive. 

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

1. Gameplay

Totems provide a specific playstyle. You are summoning Totems which deal the damage for you, while focusing on supporting them with Auras, applying Curses, and staying alive. This playing a Totem character may not seem like the most exciting thing, it surely is one of the most beginner and budget-friendly type of builds. If you plan to play Special Event League or participate in a race, Totems are nearly always a viable choice.

Our Hierophant build focuses on defenses, which will allow you to farm high Tier maps and possibly end-game Bosses with comfort. The hybrid version gives you approximately 4,500 Life and 2,000 Energy Shield with Mind over Matter and additional Damage reduction from Hierophant's Ascendancy Passives.

0:06 Tier 16 Pit of the Chimera 0:37 Tier 16 Lair of the Hydra 1:12 Tier 16 Forge of the Phoenix 1:55 Tier 16 The Purifier 2:28 Tier 17 Shaper This video was recorded on a level 88 Hierophant. This character was using Cloak of Defiance and random Rares. Shortly after publishing the video, Uber Elder went down, though it took quite some time because of the limited budget and our mediocre single-target damage. This video was recorded in Patch 3.8 - we should be able to update it in the following days, stay tuned

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Leveling with Totems is very easy. They deal very high damage, allowing you to play safe from a more significant range, and also tank some of the damage. Regarding recommended gear, you should mainly focus on Mana Regeneration, Spell Damage, and Movement Speed bonuses, while all the other items can be random Rares with Life and Elemental Resistances (you don't precisely focus stats related to Critical Strikes and Energy Shield early on). 

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Freezing Pulse setup
	Freezing Pulse - the recommended Spell until you get the Frozen Trail and Ancestral Bond Passive. While you use Freezing Pulse remember to level up Frostbolt simultaneously in one of the empty sockets
	Added Cold Damage Support - adds Cold Damage to Supported Skills
	Added Lightning Damage Support - adds Lightning Damage to Supported Skills

Frostbolt Spell Totem setup
	Frostbolt - your primary Spell in this build, which is cast by your Spell Totems
	Spell Totem Support - mandatory Support Gem. It allows you to summon Totems that cast supported spells
	Added Cold Damage Support
	Added Lightning Damage Support

Utility Gems
	Lightning Golem - increases your Attack and Cast Speed healing out greatly in terms of clear speed
	Clarity - grants increased Mana Regenerated per second
	Projectile Weakness - recommended Curse for this build

Bandits:

We recommend helping Alira for the Critical Strike Multiplier, Mana Regeneration, and Elemental Resistances

Leveling Skill Trees:

30 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Retribution 2) Light of Divinity 3) Devotion 5) Ancestral Bond

65 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Shaman's Dominion 2) Annihilation 3) Frost Walker 4) Heart of Ice 5) Heart and Soul

Recommended leveling items:

Lochtonial Caress - great leveling pair of Gloves. It greatly increases your Cast Speed, and they have no level requirement
(10-15)% increased Attack Speed (10-15)% increased Cast Speed +(20-30) to maximum Life (15-10)% reduced maximum Mana 10% chance to gain a Power, Frenzy or Endurance Charge on Kill Conduit

Victario's Flight - on top of high Movement Speed, these boots provide good Mana Recovery mechanic
+(20-30) to Strength Adds (5-7) to (13-15) Cold Damage to Spells and Attacks +(40-50) to Evasion Rating +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance 50% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage Reflects 10 Cold Damage to Melee Attackers

Karui Ward - grants high DPS bonus and increased Movement Speed
+(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Strength +100 to Accuracy Rating 30% increased Projectile Speed 10% increased Movement Speed 30% increased Projectile Damage

Lifesprig - a very solid leveling Wand, which can be used since level 1. It grants a lot of Spell Damage and Cast Speed. It can also be dual-wielded
(8-12)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Spell Gems (20-28)% increased Spell Damage (5-8)% increased Cast Speed +(15-20) to maximum Life +(15-20) to maximum Mana Regenerate (6-8) Life over 1 second when you Cast a Spell

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

115 Points Final Skill Tree
115 Points Path of Building(PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Pursuit of Faith
2. Divine Guidance
3. Conviction of Power
4. Ritual of Awakening

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Solaris 6% Physical Damage Reduction if there is only one nearby Enemy; 20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits

Minor God: Soul of Garukhan +5% chance to Evade Attacks if you've taken a Savage Hit recently

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Frostbolt Spell Totem
	Frostbolt - your primary DPS. It is cast by your Spell Totems
	Spell Totem Support - allows you to summon two additional Totems and makes you plant two Totems instead of one
	Elemental Focus Support - greatly increases your Elemental Damage but makes Frostbolt unable to Chill and Freeze
	Controlled Destruction Support - increases Spell Damage at the cost of reduced Critical Strike Chance
	Hypothermia Support - increases Damage with hits against chilled enemies and grants a higher chance to Freeze
	Cold Penetration Support - makes Frostbolt penetrate a portion of your target's Cold Resistance

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash
	Flame Dash - the best Mobility Spell that can be used in this build. On top of increasing your mobility, it grants you Arcane Surge buff with each cast
	Faster Casting Support
	Arcane Surge Support - grants Arcane Surge buff after you spend a certain amount of Mana on Supported Spell. Make sure to keep this Gem at level 7 to proc it with each Flame Dash (you can upgrade it to level 9 if you are using the Voidbringer Gloves)

[AURAS] Clarity and Zealotry
	Clarity - grants Increased Mana Regenerated per second
	Zealotry - increases your Spell Damage and Crit. Chance. You could possibly use Discipline in its place if you need more defenses, but it's much less effective
	Summon Skitterbots - summon two Minions to help you Chill enemies so that you benefit from Hypothermia, but also Shocks them to increase your DPS output
	Enlighten Support - reduces Mana Reservation of Supported Spells

[UTILITY] Steelskin and Golem setup
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - keep it at level 12 in this setup
	Summon Lightning Golem - do not upgrade the Golem above level 14
	Steelskin - grants a defensive shield that absorbs some of the incoming damage. Match this Gem's level requirement with that of Cast when Damage Taken

[UTILITY] Frost Bomb
	Frost Bomb - it is an AoE/Duration Spell which reduces affected monsters' resistance to Cold by applying Cold Exposure
	Faster Casting Support
	Bonechill Support - increases effect of Chill and Cold Damage taken by affected enemies
	Increased Area of Effect Support

[UTILITY] Frostbolt/Curse
	Cast when Damage Taken Support - will auto-cast low-level Frostbolts to apply Curse and Chill enemies. Use a level 1 CwDT Gem
	Frostbolt - use a low-level Gem as well to match Cast when Damage Taken Gem's level
	Curse on Hit Support - will make Frostbolts apply your linked Curse
	Assassin's Mark - recommended Curse for this build. It increases your Crit. Chance and generates Power Charges (for even more Crit. Chance)

5. Gear Setup

Below you will find all the recommended gear for this build. Since we have decided to focus on creating a Starter build, there are no specific unique items required; all of the items on the list can be replaced with rares with similar stats. Also, because of the high number of rares in the build, you should feel free to alter the stats on each of the items, depending on what you can find on the market. 

Are you looking for cheap POE currency? We would like to use this opportunity to invite you to visit our PoE marketplace. It can be accessed via the main menu on top of this page.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - preferably Energy Shield base

Min. requirements: 60 maximum Life 50 maximum Mana 25% Fire Resistance 30% Cold Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance

Helmet enchantment: 40% increased Frostbolt Damage

(Weapon) Divinarius - a decent and inexpensive Spell Dagger

30% increased Global Critical Strike Chance (50-70)% increased Spell Damage (80-100)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells +10 Life gained on Kill +5 Mana gained on Kill 10% increased Area of Effect

(Weapon) Rare Wand - with similar stats to Divinarius. Depending on their values, rare Wands can get very expensive, but good rolled one is the BiS option

Min. requirements: 60% increased Spell Damage 90% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells Optional affixes: Added Cold Damage to Spells Critical Strike Multiplier Increased Cast Speed

(Shield) Rare Shield - a Shaped Shield with +1 to the maximum number of summoned Totems is a must-have

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 45 Spell Damage +1 to the maximum number of summoned Totems Optional affixes: Critical Strike Chance for Spells maximum Mana Elemental Resistances

(Body Armour) Cloak of Defiance - is a great pick for this build. It provides the highest maximum Mana bonus out of all items in Path of Exile and also gives us an extra Passive Point which doesn't have to be allocated for Mind over Matter

3% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden) (110-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(100-150) to maximum Mana 1% of Mana Regenerated per second 10% of Damage is taken from Mana before Life Mind Over Matter

(Boots) Rare Boots - defensive stats should be greatly prioritized here

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 25% Movement Speed 25% Fire Resistance 25% Lightning Resistance 25% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: high Energy Shield

Boot enchantment: 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently Adds 45 to 68 Cold Damage if you've been Hit Recently

(Belt) Rare Belt - again, try to get the highest defensive stats you can afford

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 30 maximum Energy Shield 28% Fire Resistance 28% Lightning Resistance 28% Cold Resistance Optional affixes: increased Damage Abyssal Socket (Stygian Vise)

(Amulet) Rare Amulet

Min. requirements: 40 Dexterity 60 maximum Life 40 maximum Mana 15% All Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Global Critical Strike Multiplier

Recommended Anointments: Prodigal Perfection Heartseeker True Strike Constitution

(Ring) Rare Rings

Min. requirements: 50 maximum Life 30 maximum Mana 75% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes (Dexterity mainly)

(Ring) Mark of the Shaper - grants insane amounts of bonus Spell Damage if you manage to get a decent Elder Ring in your other slot

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Summon Volatile Anomaly on Kill Adds (13-18) to (50-56) Lightning Damage to Spells (6-10)% increased maximum Energy Shield (6-10)% increased maximum Life (60-80)% increased Spell Damage if your other Ring is an Elder Item Cannot be Stunned by Spells if your other Ring is a Shaper Item

(Gloves) Voidbringer - will grant very high DPS bonus at the cost of increased Mana Cost of skills

+1 to Level of Socketed Elemental Gems (125-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells (180-250)% increased Energy Shield (80-40)% increased Mana Cost of Skills +(15-20) Energy Shield gained on Kill

Glove enchantment: Commandment of Frost

(Jewel) Frozen Trail - mandatory Jewels for this build. Use two of those for the best effect

(7-10)% increased Projectile Damage With at least 40 Intelligence in Radius, Frostbolt Projectiles gain 40% increased Projectile Speed per second With at least 40 Intelligence in Radius, Frostbolt fires 2 additional Projectiles

(Jewel) Rare Abyssaj Jewel - use one for the Hinder on Spell Hit effect

Recommended affixes: maximum Life maximum Mana added Cold Damage to Spells chance to Hinder on Spell Hit Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier if you have killed recently

(Jewel) Rare Jewels

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life increased maximum Mana increased Spell/Cold/Projectile Damage Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Multiplier

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - grants additional Chaos Damage and Life Leech

+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) The Wise Oak - will grant 10% additional Cold Damage penetration as long as your highest uncapped resistance is Cold

+35% to all Elemental Resistances During Flask Effect, 10% reduced Damage taken of each Element for which your Uncapped Elemental Resistance is lowest During Flask Effect, Damage Penetrates (10-15)% Resistance of each Element for which your Uncapped Elemental Resistance is highest

Other suggested Flasks: Bubbling Divine Life Flask of Staunching (immunity to Bleeding) Ample Diamond Flask of Heat (immunity to Freeze) Experimenter's Quicksilver Flask of Adrenaline or Warding (either better Mobility or Curse Immunity)

If you have any other build requests, please leave that in the comments below.

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