Whispering Ice Icestorm
Assassin Build

Updated for Patch 3.30

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Icestorm is a peculiar Skill, accessible only by equipping The Whispering Ice Staff. The Skill is a simple one, very similar to Firestorm, but instead of Fire, it deals Cold Damage. Another property of it is that it deals more base Cold Damage and has increased duration the more Intelligence you have, making it exceptionally good on an Intelligence-stacking build. The recent buffs upgraded its limit to 8 active Icestorms at the same time. The Duration of this Skill starts very low, but improves with your Intelligence, so reaching the limit is quite easy in the endgame. Another upside of this Skill, besides its high base damage, is the ability to support it with six Support Gems that don't have to be even linked. Icestorm, however, is not very good at clearing. It has a short delay, and if you want to get the most out of it, you probably should get another Whispering Ice on a weapon swap and link it up with Cyclone and Cast while Channelling Support. The damage should still be enough for clearing maps.

For a Spell-casting Intelligence-stacking Character, it's best to select one from the upper part of the Skill Tree. We've picked Assassin for its powerful Bifurcated Critical Strikes, which means they will double your Critical Strike Multiplier if your Crit Chance is high enough. Your defense is sourced primarly for high Energy Shield, which in turn is sourced mostly from your Intelligence - you will have barely any Nodes on the Passive Tree for ES, and yet you can reach over 10k Energy Shield with endgame gear. You will also have very high chance to Block both Spell and Attack, and doing so will automatically apply most of your Curses via Hextouch Setup. Lastly, you will Leech your Energy Shield very fast, as 5% of your Leech is Instant, which works very well with multi-hit Skills such as Icestorm.

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1. Gameplay

for mapping you should use a Cast while Channeling Setup, which means you only need to hold your Cyclone and enjoy the ride. Against Pinnacle Bosses, you should take advantage of Weapon Swap to Cast Icestorm manually. Try to remain stationary to get the Intensify stacks quicker.  

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

To level up efficiently, use our Shadow/Saboteur leveling guide. Leveling up with Traps is good, but as a Assassin, you can quite literally use any other Skill. Traps are usually very accessible for Shadows as you can grab a lot of nodes for this type of playstyle from your Skill Tree. To transition into Icestorm you will need a gear with a lot of Intelligence already. The Staff itself requires Level 33, but we don't recommend equipping it so early. Buy Cheap Items with tons of Intelligence already first.

Bandits:

Kill all three bandits and be rewarded with one additional Skill Point. 

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

112 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
119 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Knife in the Back
2. Opportunistic
3. Unstable Infusion
4. Mystical Infusion

Pantheon:

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

Minor God: Soul of Tukohama: 3% additional Physical Damage Reduction per second you've been stationary, up to a maximum of 9%

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Single-target Icestorm setup socketed in The Whispering Ice Staff
	Icestorm - Icestorm is a skill that comes with The Whispering Ice Staff. All the Support Gems in it don't have to be linked.
	Arcane Surge Support
	Increased Critical Damage Support
	Intensify Support
	Concentrated Effect Support
	Cold Penetration Support
	Hypothermia Support

[DPS] Channelling Icestorm setup socketed in The Whispering Ice Staff (on weapon swap)
	Icestorm - you can use a second Staff to quickly swap your Setups around. This one will be used for Mapping.
	Cyclone - This setup requires you to use Cyclone. It slows you down if you're not wearing The Stampede.
	Cast While Channelling Support
	Hypothermia Support
	Arcane Surge Support
	Cold Penetration Support
	Increased Critical Damage Support

[UTILITY] Frostblink setup
	Frostblink - A mobility Spell that leaves Chilled Ground at the initial and terminal place of blink.
	Arcane Surge Support - Use a low-level Arcane Surge Support to upkeep the Buff duration during downtime.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Clarity - With over 2k of Intelligence, Clarity will reserve a relatively small portion of your Mana Pool while still being very useful, as Mana Regeneration may be an issue in this build.
	Zealotry - It's used for more Spell Damage.
	Purity of Elements - It will be hard to get enough Elemental Resistances. Use it for the additional immunity to all Elemental Ailments.
	Enlighten Support

[UTILITY] Curses setup
	Frostbite - Lowers Cold Resistance of the affected enemy which in turn increases your Cold Damage.
	Elemental Weakness - Lowers all types of Elemental Resistances, Cold Resistance included.
	Punishment - This would substantially increase your damage against enemies on low life.
	Enfeeble - Use it to lower the Damage dealt by enemies.
	Mana-Infused Staff - lowers your Mana Costs, improves your Block Chance, always Reserves 30% of your maximum Mana, and releases a nova upon blocking a hit.
	Hextouch Support

[UTILITY] Immortal Call setup
	Immortal Call - Use a low-level Immortal Call. It makes you take less Elemental and Physical Damage for a short while.
	Cast when Damage Taken - Immortal Call will be activated after taking a certain amount of damage. Keep it at a low level too.

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark setup
	Assassin's Mark - Hits against enemies Cursed with Assassin's Mark have a much higher Crit Chance and Crit Multiplier.
	Mark on Hit Support - you can use it to automate the Mark application, but keep in mind your Accuracy is rather low.

[UTILITY] Other utility Spells
	Frost Shield - it creates a dome that reduces damage taken while inside of it. It also significantly boosts your Spell Critical Strike Chance.
	Summon Lightning Golem - improves your Mana Regeneration and Cast Speed.

6. Gear Setup

Intelligence is your priority, making it harder to get the necessary Dexterity, Strength, and Elemental Resistances. At first you can settle for the regular modifiers, but later on you should include special Influenced mods that increase your Intelligence or all Attributes by certain %. There are two core unique items - The Whispering Ice and Anathema Ring. Other Uniques are much less important and can be replaced with Rare Items if needed - especially if you need more Resistances or Attributes. You can pick a bit of Critical Damage Multiplier on your Jewels, but most of it is sourced from the Passive Tree. For defense you will need a large amount of flat Energy Shield. It will be greatly increased based on your Intelligence. 

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - We heavily recommend a Hunter-influenced Helmet which can increase your Intelligence by 10%, 12% if the mod is Elevated. Add to that the generic Intelligence bonus and Energy Shield.

Min. requirements: 300 Energy Shield 8% increased Intelligence 30 Intelligence Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills Spell Suppression Chance Attributes

(Weapon) The Whispering Ice - The core element of the build. It grants the Icestorm Skill which will be supported by socketed Gems. Look for the high Intelligence roll. Get two of these weapons.

+20% Chance to Block Attack Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Support Gems Grants Level 1 Icestorm Skill Plays Whispering Ice sound on killing a rare Monster (Hidden) (14-18)% increased Intelligence (8-12)% increased Cast Speed 1% increased Spell Damage per 10 Intelligence

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - its your biggest source of Energy Shield, but you can't skip Intelligence. Try to get an empty Suffix to add % Attributes via Crafting Bench.

Min. requirements: 700+ Energy Shield +50 to Intelligence 6% increased Attributes (crafted) Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances

(Boots) The Stampede - Stampede are great with Cyclone. These Boots also grant a lot of Evasion and ES, fixed Movement Speed, Mana Regeneration Rate, and you can even Anoint them.

(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

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - gloves are very basic, but Eldritch mods are great to apply Cold Exposure and Unnerve Enemies on Hit.

Min. requirements: +50 tp Intelligence 100+ Energy Shield Inflict Cold Exposure on Hit, applying -#% to Cold Resistance (Eater) % chance to Unnerve Enemies for 4 seconds on Hit (Exarch) +40% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance

(Belt) Rare Belt - you will need Hunter-influenced Belt, ideally Stygian Vise for extra Jewel socket. Furthermore, Intelligence can only be obtained via Essence. Make sure to Quality it up afterwards.

Min. requirements: 10% increased Intelligence 60 Intelligence +40% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: increased Damage Strength and Dexterity

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - an endgame Amulet uses both Shaper and Crusader special modifiers. Ideally, it should be an Simplex Base, which already makes it very expensive.

Min. requirements: 10% increased Intelligence 10% increased Attributes Optional affixes: Global Critical Strike Multiplier +# to Intelligence 1% increased Damage per 15 Intelligence

(Amulet) Astramentis - A very cheap budget option that grants you tons of Attributes. Replace it later on for a better one, but make sure to get enough Strength and Dexterity from other sources.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(80-100) to all Attributes -4 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

Recommended Anointments: Tranquility Charisma Counterweight

(Ring) Rare Ring - use a Cogwork Ring to improve the Suffixes, and look for both Intelligence and All Attributes modifier. It should also imporve your Resistances.

Min. requirements: +60 to Intelligence +20 to all Attributes Optional affixes: Increased mana Regeneration Rate Elemental Resistances

(Ring) Anathema - Your Skill tree will allow you to get the three additional Maximum Power Charges, extending your Curse Limit to 6. The Ring also gets you some Intelligence.

+(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

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Try to get a Jewel with Intelligence or other required Attributes, Elemental Resistances, or Critical Strike modifiers.

Recommended affixes: Intelligence Attributes Elemental Resistances Critical Strike Chance Critical Strike Multiplier

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Cold to the Core and Blanketed Snow are best Notables here, pair it with any useful 3rd Notable you can find. The Disorienting Display allows you to evade Attacks easier despite having low amount of Evasion rating.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Cold to the Core 1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display

(Jewel) Split Personality - The Skill Tree is constructed specifically to accommodate two Split Personality Jewels. Get ones with extra Intelligence and Energy Shield.

This Jewel's Socket has 25% increased effect per Allocated Passive Skill between it and your Class' starting location <Two random modifiers>

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - try to get at least two modifiers for Zealotry, which is your only offensive Aura. If you struggle with Mana, the Clarity modifiers are quite useful too.

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

(Flask) Bottled Faith - It increases Damage and Crit Chance making it great for nearly all builds making use of Critical Strikes.

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - grants a bit of armour and improves your Block Chance.

+(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Jade Flask with increased Evasion Diamond Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance Quartz Flask with Stun Avoidance

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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