Templar - 2.5 ice crash guardian of the heralds - Forum

Hello all and welcome to this ice crash guardian of the heralds guide.
The main focus of this build is to combine ice crash with all the effects of the herald skill gems.

Let's get started quickly with the pros and cons of this build.

pros:
-reasonably cheap
-tanky
-starter viable
-decent resistance
-full spectrum of elemental damage
-easy to play

cons:
-can become expensive
-no block chance against spells
-lower clear speed
-not fully tested
-not really exciting

Bandits:
normal:kill all
cruel:kill all
merc: endurance charge

Must have items.
Due to it's nature of this build there are some items that you absolutely must have to life up to it's name and allow for full use of it, it's however possible to have your own variations and still get the desired effect.

Gems.

Spoiler

This is our starting gem that we will use while leveling up for ice crash which requires level 28 to equip.
you can acquire this gem from act 1, Nessa for 1 identification scroll or for free from Tarkleigh for free after killing hillock.

These gems are key in our build if you want to live up to it's name, all of them can be bought from Yeena (act 2) after destroying the tree, you can claim a free one by finishing the "intruders in black" quest(act 2) on normal.
The best thing about these gems is that you are able to use all three of them at the same time, while leaving enough mana left for an extra aura after mana reserve reductions. They increase your damage without costing you any links.

Our main damage gem, this will replace lightning tendrils once we can use it.
you can claim it for free after completing "sever the right hand" on normal (act 3)

this is a nice gem to boost our defences in combat, allowing us to absorb more damage while increasing damage dealt.

Equipment

Spoiler

ofcourse there is also equipment involved in this build, it's not much but it's highly recommended to take these items.

Our end-game weapon of choice, it allows us for high damage output and fast attacks, while leveling towards this any one handed mace will do, I would personally pick anything that's an improvement on DPS.
it costs around 1 alchemy orb on standard.

the perfect item in my eyes for the herald gems, it boosts their level and gives us pretty decent defences across the board, including against chaos damage.
it costs 1 alchemy orb on standard.

more block chance is always nice to have, it costs us attack speed, but that doesn't matter considering that we are running with a very small amount of mana.

Just like geofri's crown this is a nice boost to our allround defences, including the received endurance charge on crit taken is a nice additional bonus

Jewel slot:
Conqueror's efficiency

This gem is a must due to it reducing reserved mana.

Gem Link priority
Since it's not always able to have all gems linked to our damage gem, this is the priority that I would take.
-Ice crash
1link: Fortify
2links: Fortify and concentrated effect or increased area of effect
3links: fortify, increased elemental damage and concentrated effect or increased are of effect
4 links: fortify, increased elemental damage, concentrated effect and increased area of effect
5 links(body linked): fortify, increased elemental damage, concentrated effect, increased area of effect and something to your own liking, did not appoint this slot yet.

Passive tree

26 points

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUDAASzGF08BUqYV-JmVGjyd-V8S35sgOCCm4V7i4yUXJZ0mjubMJ_fogCt8baGwGbMZtdq7DjtIO988B_53Q==?accountName=HelIraiser&characterName=sttemplardsa

50 points

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUDAASzFy8YXRo4KU88BUbXSphV1lcpV-JZ82TnZlRmnmjycYVyD3Kpd-V8S3zZfmyApIDggpuFe4uMjHaQVZRclnSaO5swnjyf36IArKqt8bFCtoa3McBmxPbMZtdq7DjtIO988B_zEfcy-d360g==?accountName=HelIraiser&characterName=sttemplardsa

75 points

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUDAASzDc0XLxhdGjgczigqKU8rUDs7PAVBP0bXSphQR1HmVdZXKVfiWfNk52ZUZp5o8nGFcg9yqXasd1N35XxLfNl-bICkgOCCm4VShXuLT4uMjHaQVZRclIeWdJd5mjubMJtqnjyexZ_fogCsqq2NrfGvp7FCtoa3McBmxPbMZs9-12rZYd-y5FHqGOw47SDvDu988B_zEfcy-d360v5U?accountName=HelIraiser&characterName=sttemplardsa

current(89 points) skill tree, slightly different due to me missing a node after the passive reset.

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUDAAHcBLMUIBZvFy8YXRo4Gj4oKilPOzs8BUE_RtdHfkqYUEdR5lXWVylX4lnzXz9k52VNZlRmnmjycYVyD3Kpdqx3U3fjd-V5OXlofEt82X5sfuKApIDggpuE2YVShXuLT4uMjHaQVZRclIeWdJd5mjubMJtqnjyexZ_fogCpbqyqrY2t8a-nsUK2hrcxvTa-p8BmwQTE9sxmz37Xatlh37LjauRR6hjsOO0g7w7vfPAf8i_zEfcy-d360g==?accountName=HelIraiser&characterName=sttemplardsa

100 point build(target)

Spoiler

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUDAAHcBLMNzRQgFm8XLxhdGjgaPhzOKCopTytQNZI7OzwFQT9G10d-SphQR1HmVdZXKVfiWfNfP2TnZU1mVGaeaPJvO3GFcg9yqXasd1N343fleA15OXlofEt82X5sfuKApIDggpuE2YVShXuLT4uMjHaQVZRclIeWdJd5mjubMJtqnjyexZ_fogCpbqyqrY2t8a-nsUK18raGtzG9Nr6nwBrAZsEExPbMZs9-12rYvdlh37LjauRR6dXqGOw47SDvDu988B_yL_MR9zL53frS_lQ=?accountName=HelIraiser&characterName=sttemplardsa

Personal equipment at the moment

Spoiler