[2.6] Rey's LHC Freezing Pulse Inquisitor Miniguide as requested.

Disclaimer:

As stated on my stream, I'm not looking to create anything fancy here. This is mostly to give you guys an idea on how to get started, options you may have, as well as some tips that helped me on my way to level 100 in the Legacy Hardcore League.
I will - most likely - not update this for future patches, so this summary is made for the Legacy Hardcore League (of course you can play this in Softcore too, but it may not be optimized towards it).


Getting started & Leveling up:

Note: You can absolutely level up as Freezing Pulse, but if you don't have any budget at all and want to level up smoother, without any of the following items - then I'd recommend you to play Flameblast Totems and respec to Freezing Pulse at a later time (probably when you've accumulated a budget of roughly 150c).

Spoiler
Top Priority: Try to pickup a Freezing Pulse gem with ideally 20% Quality on it, the projectile speed provided by it is absolutely essential.
Pickup two "First Snow" Threshold Jewels and rush towards the jewel slots between Templar&Witch as well as one in the Witch tree, giving you a free LMP and soon after GMP without the "less damage" multiplier of those gems.

I would also recommend any kind of twink items that you may be able to afford, basic things such as "Karui Ward/Lifesprig/Wanderlust/Tabula/Goldrim" will make the leveling a lot quicker, but are not necessary.

2x Tulborn Wands for level 24 are going to make your leveling experience an absolute joke at a cost of ~1c each, with those you will destroy anything up to and including Merciless Dried Lake, as long as you have your power charges up. For single target just put in an "Orb of Storms" with "Power Charge on Crit" (Orb of Storms is obtainable in Act 1 and PCoC will be found in Act 2), though if you have a Tabula, you probably won't even need it.

Speedleveling tips: Put in a Brightbeak Hammer with a shield of your choice into your Offset and swap between packs/areas that you want to rush through with "Shield Charge - Faster Attacks". Later on you can add Fortify as it becomes available.

Pickup 1-2 Quicksilver Flasks or mix it with a Silver Flask to rush up quicker.


Bandits:
Spoiler

Normal: Kill

Cruel: Kraitlyn or Kill, personally I've helped Kraitlyn to improve my clear speed.
Alira's Cast Speed is not worth it.

Merciless: Alira


Passive Tree Progression:

12 Points - First Threshold Jewel & Mind over Matter for survivability:
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUAAAmqHNwy0UVHhTKLjI8awGbAmtn86-753Q==


27 Points - If you have two Tulborn Wands, pickup the power charge after the second Threshold Jewel for more Cold Damage added to spells, which will carry you towards & after Merciless Dried Lake:
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUAAAVCCaoRLRhdHNwgbiycMtFBlkVHTLNQMHyDhTKLjI8arfGus8BmwJrQH9D12fzbXuvu7-v53Q==


Important Note from here on: Take as many life nodes as you feel like that are needed, personally I play very greedy with a low hp pool for racing purposes, relying mostly on my Flasks & MoM to keep my alive. The "Alchemist" cluster is optional until later, I just enjoy having stronger Flasks, specifically a stronger Quicksilver Flask for extra mobility.

62 Points - Pickup Power Charge #5 (specifically for the Tublorn Wands) while moving towards Coordination for some extra Strength and Dexterity.
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUAAASzBUII9AmqDdEOSA5cES0Rlha_GF0c3B_HIG4i9CaVKgsreCycLYsy0UGWRUdFfkyzUDBVS13yYeJjQ2pDavpsC20ZcFJ8g3_GgpuFMonTi4yMNo8akyeaO6IArfGus8BUwGbAmtAf0PXVptn8217hc-OE6-7tPO_r-d0=


81 Points (pre CI) - Merciless Dried Lake time, time to pickup Ghost Reaver + Vaal pact and the Life Leech gem as a link, so that you are safe in dried lake (careful of Chaos Snakes, they can end you quickly while being hybrid).
From this point on prepare to respec into CI as soon as you accumulate gear that allows you to break 4000 up to 6000 ES, this depends on how comfortable you feel with a low ES pool.
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUAAAMeBLMFQgceCPQJqg3RDkgOXA-rES0RLxGWFr8YXRzcH0EfxyBuIvQkiyaVKgsqOCsKK3gsnC2LMtFBlkVHRX5JUUyzUDBVS13yX2ph4mNDakNq-mwLbRlwUnyDf8aCm4UyidOLjIw2jxqP-pMnlS6aO6IArfGus7mTwFTAZsCawwnDOtAf0NDQ9dWm2fzbXuFz44Tr7uv17Tzv6_DV8h353Q==


91 Points (CI) - Pickup EE and some more ES while working towards flask and projectile speed nodes, time to drop MoM as it does not work with ES.
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUAAAMeBUIJqg18DdEOSA5cEHsRLREvEVARlhXXGF0c3B1PH0EgbiLqIvQo-ioLKjgrCiycLL8tHzLRNbk870GWRUdFfklRSbFMs1AwVmNXyV3yX2pjQ2jyavpsC20ZbWxwUnyDf8aGronTi4yMNo8aj_qTJ5itpyut8a6ztUi4k7mTvjrAZsCawQDBxcMJwzrQH9DQ0PXXz9n82xrbXuOE53TrY-vu6_XsGO-I7-vw1fId9Uv5N_nd


111 Points
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUBAAKWAx4FQgmqDFINfA3RDkgOXBB7ES0RLxFQEZYV1xhdGYobJRzcHU8fQSBuIuoi9CSdKPoqCyo4KwosnCy_LR8y0TOSNbk870GWQxNEDUVHRX5JUUmxS65Ms1AwVmNXyV3yX2piWmNDaPJq-mwLbRltbHBSfIN_xoGshq6J04uMjDaPGo_6km6TJ5cGmK2ce6Evpyuoua3xrrO1SLiTuZO8Vr46vorAZsCawQDBxcMJwzrEosjw0B_Q0ND10nzTftfP2VvZ_Nsa217fmOOE53TpAutj6-7r9ewY7WHuDu9674jv6_DV8h31S_k3-d0=


121 Points (Discipline + Herald of Ice + Arctic Armor)
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUBAAKWAx4FQgmqCpsMUg18DdEOSA5cEHsRLREvEVARlhXXGF0ZihslHNwdTx9BIG4i6iL0JJ0o-ioLKjgrCiycLL8tHzLRM5I1uTzvQZZDE0QNRUdFfklRSbFLrkyzUDBWY1fJXfJfamJaY0No8mr6bAttGW1scFJ8g3_GgayBr4TFhq6J04uMjDaPGo_6km6TJ5cGmK2btZx7nsShL6a-pyuoua3xrrOxBbVIuJO40LmTvFa-Or6KwGbAmsEAwcXDCcM6xKLI8NAf0NDQ9dJ8037Xz9lb2fzaOtsa217fmOOE5wrndOkC62Pr7uv17BjtYe4O73rviO_r8NXyHfVL-Tf53Q==


121 Points (Discipline + Herald of Ice + Haste) for speedrunning Strands/Shores etc, requires the "Charisma" cluster. Edit for non Skyforth user: May require the extra 4% reduced mana Reservation node from the Influence Cluster if it feels clunky to you, depending on the rest of your items).
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUBAQKWAx4FQgmqCpsMUg18DdEOSA5cEHsRLREvEVARlhXXGF0ZihqPGyUc3B1PH0EgbiLqIvQknSj6KgsqOCsKLJwsvy0fMtEzkjW5PO9BlkMTRA1FR0V-SVFJsUuuTLNQMFZjV8ld8l9qYlpjQ2jyavpsC20ZbWxwUnjrfIN_xoGshMWGronTi4yMNo8aj_qSbpMnlwaYrZu1nHuexKEvpr6nK6i5rfGus7VIuJO5k7xWvjq-isBmwJrBAMHFwwnDOsSiyPDQH9DQ0PXSfNN-18_ZW9n82xrbXt-Y44TnCud06QLrY-vu6_XsGO1h7g7veu-I7-vw1fId9Uv22vk3-d37CQ==


Ascendancy Points Order:

Spoiler
You have two options, if you want to speed up your progression through the content with a Brightbeak Hammer, then rush Normal Lab as soon as you feel comfortable and pickup "Instruments of Virtue".
This will make your shield charges even faster and provide you with some neat Cast Speed at the same time.
If you do so, you will not need to pickup Cruel Lab before you can chain it with Merciless Lab right afterwards, in order to get the DPS boost of "Inevitable Judgement".

The other option applies if you wish to get a DPS boost right away and/or don't utilize a Brightbeak Hammer to speed through the content. In this case you should do two labs back-to-back to pickup Inevitable Judgement as soon as you feel comfortable.

That being said, you are perfectly fine in Merciless Dried Lake without any Ascendancy at all, but it will give you an immense DPS boost.

A very important note: If you decide to pickup "Inevitable Judgement" early, then make sure your cold resistance is looking good, otherwise you will destroy yourself on reflect while progressing.
So if you have poor cold resistance, just delay your Lab runs until it looks better.

Summary:
Option 1: Speed progress with a Brightbeak Hammer, Rush Normal Lab for "Instruments of Virtue" and delay Cruel Lab until you are ready for Merciless Lab to push out "Inevitable Judgement".

Option 2: Delay Normal Lab until you can chain it together with Cruel Lab for "Inevitable Judgement" for a massive DPS boost. Make sure your cold resistance is looking good.

Whether you choose Option 1 or 2, your Uber Lab points will be "Augury of Penitence".


Gear Recommendations:
Spoiler
Weapon: Doryani's Catalyst

Shield: Stat Priority Critical Strike Chance for Spells > ES > Elemental Resistances = Spell Damage

Chest: Anything with High ES or the underused "Incandescent Heart" which is quite good if you can afford the ES loss.

Helmet: Any high ES hubris, ideally with the "Freezing Pulse Projectile Speed" uber lab enchant. The Gull is also quite neat and I have been running it for quite a while.

Gloves: Hrimburn (This item can only be obtained by completing the Fire and Ice prophecy, so just buy it from PoE trade if available)

Boots: 30% MS > ES > Resistances. Unique Choices: Brinerot Whalers / Skyforth.

Amulet: Low Budget = Eye of Chayula - Medium Budget = Victarios Acuity - High Budget = Eye of the Storm + Skyforth

Ring 1: High Resistances + ES + %ES elreon craft later on (Ideally an Opal Ring if you get lucky)

Ring 2: If Chayula, few options: Berek's Respite, Dream Fragments to use Taste of Hate or another good rare ring.
If Victario's Acuity: Valyrium
If Voice of the Storm(ideally with Skyforth): Dream Fragments, Berek's Respite or another good rare ring.

Berek's Respite should be very good with this build, however I couldn't pass on my oldschool favorite ring Dream Fragments - especially now that it got buffed - so that I didn't get to test it.

To see my current gear (gems may differ) check out my profile and look up the character called "NoPantsFreezeDong" in the Legacy Hardcore League.


Flasks:
Spoiler
Basalt/Silver/Diamond + Vinktar/Sapphire or Vinktar/Taste of Hate if you are using Dream Fragments, Kiara's Flask is also a decent option, though I opted against it.

Roll "Anti Bleed/Anti Curse/Anti Shock/Anti Freeze (if you are not using Dream Fragments or Kiara's)



Gem Links:
Spoiler
6L: Freezing Pulse - Increased Critical Strikes - Faster Projectiles - Life Leech - Increased Critical Damage - Controlled Destruction
While leveling up you should replace "Increased Critical Damage" with "Added Cold Damage or Added Lightning Damage" depending if you have the socket flexibility of a Tabula or not.

4L1: Herald of Ice - Curse on Hit - *Curse - Discipline

4L2: Cast when Damage Taken (level 1) - Immortal Call - Warlord's Mark (or Enfeeble if you prefer it) - Arctic Armor/Haste until you can drop Vaal Clarity, in which case you can put in a Tempest Shield in here and move that Aura elsewhere.

4L3: Blade Vortex - Mana Leech (for hexproof / no regen maps) - Power Charge on Crit (to keep up charges in longer fights) - Flame Dash

3L1: Shield Charge - Faster Attacks - Fortify

3L2: Vaal Clarity - Increased Duration - Vaal Haste(for speedrunning maps) or Vaal Detonate Dead(if you are playing a lot of Beyond+Breach, Bameth's Vaal Detonate Dead can be lethal inside breaches)

With my gear I was able to drop Vaal Clarity while Speedrunning as my Vinktar was up almost permanently to sustain my mana. This way I was able to keep the security of Vaal Detonate Dead for the potential Bameth Breach Vaal Detonate Dead combo, as well as chain Vaal Haste for clearspeed.

*You can choose between Poacher's Mark (advised if you are using the Voice of the Storm Amulet), Warlord's Mark (advised if you are using the Victario's Acuity amulet) and Assassin's Mark (advised if you are using the Eye of Chayula amulet).


Gem options depending on situation:

Spoiler
Speedrunning: Swap out Vaal Clarity for Vaal Haste + Vaal Detonate Dead while playing Beyond+Breach maps, won't work well until you get a Vinktar's Flask to solve your mana issues.

Uber Lab: Use Hypothermia instead of Faster Projectiles for any boss that is not chill immune (Izaro is one of them), shield charge through Izaro with Arctic Armor to place "Chilled Ground" on top of him to proc Hypothermia and melt him with your amplified ignite.

Argus: Ailment immunity makes it quite rough, usually a decoy totem helps vs his enrage (even if it is just level 12/13 due to the lack of Strength this build has), facetanking while he is not enraged is not an issue, though I have tanked him during the enrage which can get sketchy if you get stunned through Valyrium.


Map mods:

Spoiler
I would highly advise not running the following four map mods:

"Elemental Reflect" is a No-Go.
"No Leech" is a big No-No
"-Max" (Reflect will eventually kill you, but if you decide to run it anyways - drop Controlled Destruction and play the map in a 5 Link)
"Status Ailment avoidance", even though you have the damage for it and can do it, it is quite sketchy and quite a bit slower to clear.

The remaining mods are pretty much fine.


Tips:

Spoiler
Reflect:
First of all, always have your Sapphire Flask up before shooting into reflect.
Other than that, best way to deal with it, is to utilize your ignite.
Casting a Point Blank Freezing Pulse will probably one-shot the reflect mob, but it will also deals significant amount of damage to you and may put you at risk of dying, if you can not hit any other mobs to top yourself.

The better way is to step away towards mid range, hit is decently hard for about 50% of the target's HP and let your ignite kill it off, assuming you've crit the target.

Trust your ignites:
Once you get your Doryani's Catalyst mace as well as some more damage overall, you will realize that your ignites start dealing significant amount of damage.
At this point, you can tag-n-run monsters while letting your ignite finish them off which results in a faster map clear.



FAQ while I was streaming:

Spoiler
Q: Why do you use Elemental Equilibrium, you are ignoring resistances as an Inquisitor anyways?
A: Because it amplifies your ignite damage without hurting your Cold Damage at all while critting.

Q: Would this build work as an Elementalist for the proliferation?
A: Technically yes, though at a much higher cost of getting it to perform as good. If you want prolif, I'd suggest trying out Berek's Respite which should outperform an Elementalist.

Q: Why Faster Projectiles instead of Slower Projectiles or Hypothermia for map clearing?
A: You simply don't need it, you are already one-shotting whites/blues and usually one tap burn down the rares. The longer your range is, the faster your clear will be. On top of everything, Hypothermia only works on chilled targets, meaning you would have to shoot twice to get the effect. It is great for bosses, but too slow for map clearing, so just swap Faster Projectiles for it on bosses that can be chilled.

Regarding Slower projectiles, it is great if you are confident Point Blank dpsing the boss, especially on Guardians and possibly Shaper, since you can't Chill those.
If you are not at Point Blank dpsing, then simply use Faster Projectiles. It will do more damage and keep you safer.

Q: How does this build compare to VSpark/Cospris Discharge or other top builds?
A: In my honest opinion, I don't feel like this build is comparable to them. It is decent and will get you to level 100 quite safely while still quick, but I don't consider it faster or better by any means.
That being said, I've enjoyed leveling the build to level 100 and do believe it is good enough to be shared, especially since some of you have requested me to write about it.

Q: What is your stats priority?
A: I have not min-maxed trying to figure out the stat values, however the generic guideline that I've followed was (in order of importance):
Spellcrit > Elemental Damage > Crit Multi > Attack Speed (for mobility) > Spell Damage > Cast Speed.

Inquisitors deal close to no damage when they don't crit, so get as much as possible.
Elemental Damage scales your Ignite, while Spell Damage does not. Skip Spell Damage in favor of Elemental Damage wherever you can.

Q: Why Doryani's Catalyst instead of a Dagger?
A: Doryani's Catalayst's Elemental Damage is essential to make your ignites decent. If you decide to play without the Ignite of Hrimburn, then a good caster dagger will outperform the sceptre.

Q: Why don't you X Y or Z?
A: Because I haven't bothered with in-depth testing to find the best solutions to everything, please feel free to adapt and/or improve the build if you find better solutions. I was never happy about using Blade Vortex to sustain mana in longer fights such as guardians, but I haven't found a better solution to it.
Unless you want to stack several Vaal Clarities for the different boss phases, for which I was too lazy.
Running Blade Vortex, Curse on Hit, Warlord's Mark would also give decent amount of sustain, but can be countered by Hexproof, so that I prefer the more reliable Mana Leech gem.

Q: Is the Leech Enchant on your boots needed?
A: Not needed, but well worth having for the extra mana sustain. Specifically noticable on no regen maps where you rely on your Vinktar's / Vaal Clarity.
I was able to drop Vaal Clarity for speedrunning later on while relying on my Vinktar being up through the majority of the map.

Q: Is the build Uber Lab / Shaper / Uber Atziri viable?
A: It is quite good for Uber Izaro, the Ignite melts him quickly and shield charging through him with Arctic Armor will keep him chilled and activate Hypothermia. I have been farming Uber Lab for a while this league, including full key runs. The build is not optimized for Speedrunning Uber Lab though, so the runs won't be fast.

Regarding Shaper/Uber Atziri, I have only done the Hydra Guardian about 5 times successfully before I even had Skyforth (Victario's Acuity + Valyrium + Brinerot Whalers). I think it might be able to do Shaper, but there are certainly better and safer builds to do so with.

Keep in mind that a big portion of your damage comes from igniting and that the Phoenix Guardian as well as Atziri are immune to ignites, making those fights last a lot longer and therefore riskier.


Videos/Showcase/Stream Link:
Spoiler
Check out my recent VoDs on my stream at www.twitch.tv/reyontv before they get automatically deleted later on. You should find some decent showcasing of mapping and if you're lucky, you can find a couple of Abaxoths too.
I'll refrain from recording youtube videos, since this was only supposed to be a generic guideline instead of a full guide.


Kind regards,

Rey
Last edited by Reyonlol on Apr 1, 2017, 9:49:13 AM
Last bumped on Apr 29, 2017, 2:36:05 AM
Hey, cool guide gonna try it out! I noticed the 81 points pre-CI tree is broken however if you wouldn't mind fixing it :)
"
Enoran wrote:
Hey, cool guide gonna try it out! I noticed the 81 points pre-CI tree is broken however if you wouldn't mind fixing it :)


Thanks for pointing it out, should be fixed now :).
Really strong build, playing it myself
Great guide! About to hit 90 with this build.

Question though. I just picked up the Charisma cluster and am having a hard time being able to run haste+HOI+discipline. I just picked up vinktars so I literally just have enough for one cast..feels clunky.

Am I missing something? thanks!
"
Aurious wrote:
Great guide! About to hit 90 with this build.

Question though. I just picked up the Charisma cluster and am having a hard time being able to run haste+HOI+discipline. I just picked up vinktars so I literally just have enough for one cast..feels clunky.

Am I missing something? thanks!


Good question, the difference in my case is that I also had 110+ flat mana and little bit less mana reserved from Skyforth, as well as 20% increased max mana from Dream Fragments and another 20% from my Voice of the Storm amulet - together - putting me at 1900+ total mana.
That mix - even without the Dream Fragments(in case you prefer a different ring for example) - allowed me to have a pretty smooth gameplay with the leech from Vinktar's.

In your case, you could try include the 4% mana reservation right next to CI (the influence cluster) and see if that helps you at all. Try it out with "https://poe.mikelat.com" and see if it would make sense or not, otherwise just use a regret orb to test it.
I've never been put into that situation before, so not sure if it will be enough without any % increase in mana.
Though as I've said - I've played without Haste, but with Arctic Armor prior to getting Skyforth.
Last edited by Reyonlol on Mar 26, 2017, 10:14:42 AM
"
Reyonlol wrote:
"
Aurious wrote:
Great guide! About to hit 90 with this build.

Question though. I just picked up the Charisma cluster and am having a hard time being able to run haste+HOI+discipline. I just picked up vinktars so I literally just have enough for one cast..feels clunky.

Am I missing something? thanks!


Good question, the difference in my case is that I also had 110+ flat mana and little bit less mana reserved from Skyforth, as well as 20% increased max mana from Dream Fragments and another 20% from my Voice of the Storm amulet - together - putting me at 1900+ total mana.
That mix - even without the Dream Fragments(in case you prefer a different ring for example) - allowed me to have a pretty smooth gameplay with the leech from Vinktar's.

In your case, you could try include the 4% mana reservation right next to CI (the influence cluster) and see if that helps you at all. Try it out with "https://poe.mikelat.com" and see if it would make sense or not, otherwise just use a regret orb to test it.
I've never been put into that situation before, so not sure if it will be enough without any % increase in mana.
Though as I've said - I've played without Haste, but with Arctic Armor prior to getting Skyforth.


I'll give that a shot! If that doesn't work I'll try mind drinker or soul siphon with it and test it out. I do have some flat mana from gear but not a lot, would definitely love to run haste for speed strands.

Edit: Worked! Left me with 96 mana (41 per cast) was able to sustain with vinktars up! Cheers!
Last edited by Aurious on Mar 26, 2017, 3:04:44 PM
Do you think spell echo would be better than faster projectiles? My range is already really far, and I kill off screen without faster projectiles, although I do sometimes hate the 'cast lock' from echo, and am considering using faster casting to help keep bosses frozen
"
CrunCherTime wrote:
Do you think spell echo would be better than faster projectiles? My range is already really far, and I kill off screen without faster projectiles, although I do sometimes hate the 'cast lock' from echo, and am considering using faster casting to help keep bosses frozen


The only times I felt like Faster Casting could have been a neat addition, was while playing Temp Chain maps. Personally I've opted against Faster Casting mostly because I ended up swapping in Haste, which made my Shield Charges a lot better while improving my Cast Speed to the point that it felt unnecessary.

Spell Echo is completely against what this build is trying to achieve, not only the "cast locking" that you've mentioned, but more importantly the fact that you have a "less damage" multiplier in it.
Any type of "less damage" is going to destroy your ignite damage.
The goal all along was to stack "more damage" multipliers while avoiding the "less damage multipliers" like a plague to one-tap most of the content.

I was able to permanently freeze almost anything below the t16 guardians after getting my 6 link and a 20/20 Freezing Pulse, unless it was stacked on monster life/boss life/enfeeble/temp chains, in which case my dps was too low to reliably perma freeze.
That being said, the only danger I've felt was being randomly stunned through Valyrium/Skyforth to interrupt the consistency of my leech, or getting a poor streak of crits to avoid topping myself against a damage stacked shaped t15 Quay Boss, which can happen during enfeeble/temp chain maps, especially if twinned.
Add monster and/or boss life to that and you might feel like you aren't perma freezing during these moments, in which cases I have opted towards skipping the boss before.
Lets be honest though, if you run triple damage or double damage + vul maps, then you're asking to get deleted eventually.
If you are running a ridiculous amount of anti dps + monster and boss life stacked maps, then yeah... The boss will get to "play the game" :D.
how necessary is life leech gem if we have vinktar's?

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