[1.3] 7D's Glacial Cascade Build Guide [Crit; Perma freeze; Vaal Pact; Easy Atziri] 67k*4 DPS

do you do ele reflect maps?

yeah i do, sometimes
have to turn of herald of ice and herald of thunder for it tho

I am considering to respect my shadow and start running this build since it looks realy nice. My only question is , what will happen if i run it w/o Carcass Jack . I mean is it a problem cuz of lost of some aoe ? I also have and another question , what are you thinking of droping conc. effect ?

conc. effect basically x1.7 your dmg... so i wouldn't drop it at any cost

i am running this toon since i took a look on the glacial cascade gem with its odd mix of physical damage, cold damage and aoe and rolled a slightly different build in poebuilder, and then i found the link on guild forum, its massive fun. the burst damage is awesome since all 4 hits crit if you roll a crit. ive never seen bosses go down so fast, damn fun! havent taken the additional power charge nodes yet but i am almost always at 2-3. sadly, conduit is too far away, would be a nice enhancement for group play.

also, i am a bit confused about tooltip dps. since it says "dps" you dont see single hit damage but damage per second?? so, its not 4 times the dps but you would actually have to calculate it. anyway, it pretty much "feels" alright - downing map bosses with 1-2 casts is awesome =)

looking forward to levelling those damn gems to deal some real damage. i was really wondering how to survive with a build that honestly speaking has no damage mitigation whatsoever.

op gear including goldrim with lvl 66:



is alphas howl really absolutely necessary? since it doesnt influence mana reserved for the herald and a maxed clarity gives you only 25 manareg (multiplied by passive nodes, ofc). so running a, say, lvl 8 clarity, discipline and using a helmet with +life +mana should boost your survivability AND you could use a doryani belt with cold damage multiplier. no clue if that works, i will try it out and post it.

anyway, thanks for the great guide (and thanks for the lack of "wall of text" XD)

cheers, ab

thx ab_
1. the "DPS" is calculated by
((min+max)/2+((critchance*((min+max)/2))*critdmg)-(critchance*(min+max)))*castspeed
example: ((10+20)/2+((0.37*((10+20)/2))*3.5)-(0.37*(10+20)))*4
explain:
10-20 your dmg per hit
0.37 (37% crit chanze)(don't forget that crit dosn't just add dmg, but replaces it)
3.5 (350% crit dmg)
4 (casts per second)

so why *4 the DPS? because it hits 4x per cast, so its baiscly not *4 but *16.
(((min+max)/2+((critchance*((min+max)/2))*critdmg)-(critchance*(min+max)))*castspeed)*hitspercast

2. Damage mitigation:
Arctic armor, 4.2k hp (not high, but not too low either)
movement speed and positioning: actually playing and not facerolling like mjölner/discharger
Lifesaver: Alpha's howl, cannot be frozen
and i have a Taste of hate (phys mitigation and cold res)

3. i like alpha's howl not only for the auras, but also for the "cannot be frozen" part.
for uber i would switch out alpha's howl and go for a high eva+es helmet
and use a purity instead of haste.

thanks for the answers man, appreciated

the calculation is clear, i was just confused about the part that the deeps are shown per single glacial cascade hit and not per cast, in a way

Re-spec'd into this build (RIP FB), just wondering, at the start of the shadow tree there are 2 paths with 3 nodes that give 30% elemental damage or 12% cast speed, I am currently spec'd into the 30% ele damage, just wondering if I should drop the 3 and change into cast speed as I have no cast speed on rings/ammy. Currently lvl 85, 3.3 casts per second with 15k tooltip after auras.

you surely can do that, i prefer 12% castspeed tho, since you cannot get any PURE 4% castpeed notes anywhere else. (pure-> 4% per note, there are 3,3,6 notes which adds up to 12)
and more castspeed means less time u are locked in the echo motion

alright, running mid/high level maps now

one problem that occurred to me: the toon is extremely vulnerable to (phys/chaos) projectiles, like the barrage chimeras, for instance, or hasted spitting snakes. especially since you dont have unwavering stance. also, storm herald/map piety lightning storm (stunlock/shock/dead). there is no real way to mitigate either. i have yet to be stunlocked to death but the danger feels very real - how do you deal with that? i crafted myself



for the physical stuff and a topaz for piety, yet a storm herald can be extremely effective against this build =).

the barrage chimeras do a surprising amount of damage. maybe i play the toon wrong, just as a warning =)