How can i scale glacial cascade properly?

I was thinking about making a Glacial Cascade build, but the phys damage scaling on it throws me off a bunch. I was thinking of running Avatar of fire, with phys to lightning and cold to fire gems in order to balance the offset of phys damage.
Would it work?


Im thinking of using this skill tree: http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAMCAFWuRKuPph0U8WzsVUkbKo022CGwgsco-vJF_go64di9g9tVxjpYfIMsnAth6-4nLxo4kFVRdI7pppkFQq6zQZbQ9a-nj0bYJJ2u8B8Es6IABAeVIGsXVkg62NQH3I3fbWt6kPoXpMi_EzWFMuw4CPTAVLzqDF9TpRynZlQkqjbpFm_jaoIQpwhTUprgRZ0rUA3NHM7-VO_r0B_B86KjkStYd18EA3XvfJ_fPAXtPNWmxPbUfAYOCfZqQ4KbmjuFe1JTl_SXlUyz-egn7d-w1K8RLUGHtz5o8qyYr2y4kxzcjxoy0VXWgKRk5xcvRUdtGfrSxq49X8Bmr40AAA==

I haven't built for Glacial Cascade before. But full conversion sounds like way too much work.

I can imagine two ways to "optimize" for Glacial Cascade.

First is to seek generic. This would mean pursuing area damage and spell damage, but since there's a relative shortage of that on the tree, you'd probably need to build for crit. Maybe you could build defensively on the tree and rely on gear for damage. Honestly, I'm not so sure how well this would work (seek spell/area Jewels?)

Second is to focus on one element. You propose PtL, CtF, and AoF... you'd still lose 25% of your original Hit damage without any source of Lightning to Cold or Fire. You could slap on a Call of the Brotherhood, but that cuts into gearing a bit, and of course 2 gem slots are consumed with less than 100% efficient damage boosts. Worth a try, perhaps, if you've got the time. I would recommend prioritising Fire Damage in the tree in that case (I'm on mobile so I can't really read your tree) to make use of Ignite double dip but of course Cold and Fire nodes (Snowforged, I think it's called) would be perfect.

Personally, I would get Hrimsorrow (Hrimburn in Prophecy) and just basically ignore the phys portion when building passives. I would take generic wherever possible, of course (spell and area damage), but have no qualms about grabbing cold and I definitely wouldn't go out of my way for phys nodes.

I would use Hatred, Herald of Ice, or both, to skew the ratio in favour of Ice, and I would look for wands or daggers with cold damage added to spells.

Some good Support gems that would augment both physical and cold portions I would consider for use, even with a cold-focused strategy: Controlled Destruction, Spell Echo, Faster Casting, Hypothermia, Increased Area of Effect, Concentrated Effect.

I would also consider, for my cold focused version, Cold Penetration, Added Cold Damage, and Elemental Focus.

The skill is fundamentally flawed since it can't hit the whole screen at once.

However, if you really want to optimize for it, don't go full conversion, it's too much investment for too little gain. Take spell and AoE damage nodes. Take supports that scale AoE and spell damage. It'll go better if you work with the skill the way it is instead of trying to force it all to one damage type so you can scale that one type.

+1 for just sticking to spell damage, area damage, crits and cast speed.

glacial cascade doesn't hit the whole screen, but its probably one of the best spells for single target damage. its absolutely amazing and best in slot for any CoC build that wants some single target damage.

just since its aoe overlaps and hits multiple times makes this spell a killer, i love it. plus gore glacial cascade is badass