[3.2] How to clear 157/157 maps w/ Frostbolt Inquisitor [Updated for Bestiary league]



Welcome to my very first guide.

Why am I doing this? At the start of Abyss league I was looking for a build, that could clear all content in the game. It should be cheap, but also endgame viable and since I couldn't find one, I made one myself. Now I want to share my knowledge. Look below to see the changes for Bestiary league.

What changed in 3.2?
Inquisitor is just as good as always, but it looks like abyss jewels are much harder to get than expected, so I reworked the whole build.


About me
I'm a fairly new player with 1k hours playtime, that started playing in Prophecy League. Usually I get around 24-36 Challenges per League, playing exclusively Softcore.


Build Description
Most of the time, you cast your Frostbolts and use Whirling Blades to follow them. Thanks to the great range, you don't get damaged at all. If you do get damaged, you leech your Life and Mana back. Mind over Matter makes the build pretty tanky.
I started as Freezing Pulse, but Frostbolt is infinite times better. Bosses below Tier 16 are dead in seconds, so you don't really care about freeze. Also for the fight with guardians and shaper, you really want to keep your distance.


Pros & Cons
+ cheap
+ 1Mill DPS
+ 8k+ eHP
+ fairly safe & fast play style
+ easy to aim skill
+ league starter & endgame viable
+ clears literally all content in the game

- reflect maps are a pain
- proximity shields are annoying


Gear
Weapons:

You want spell damage, crit chance for spells and crit multiplier. Adds damage to spells and attack speed are nice to have, but not necessary. Divinarius is a nice budget dagger.
As a shield you can you use Rathpith Globe, if you can cap your resistances. If not use a rare shield with hp, resistances and one of the following damage affixes: spell damage, cast speed, crit chance for spells.


Armour:

Ideally you get a Skin of the Loyal or a +1 corrupted tabula with an Empower lvl. 3. A rare chest with hp and resistances is also fine, mana is optional.
Starkonja's head provides nice damage, hp, dexterity and is easy to get with an enchantment.
Winds of Change provides damage, hp and projectile speed. Makes mapping smoother.
Mutewind Whispersteps are fairly cheap and increase your damage by quite a bit.


Jewellery:

Use a rare belt with hp and resistances.
As an amulet try to get one with life, resistances, one or two damage affixes (crit multiplier, cast speed, spell damage). Optional: mana, dexterity, intelligence, strength.
For rings get diamond rings with cast speed (or cold damage), hp, resistances, mana.
If possible use an elder ring with warlord's mark on hit. A blasphemy setup is fine as well. Important: get at least one form of life/mana sustain!


Flasks:

You need a bleed flask, a silver flask for the cast speed and the diamond flask is huge.
Atziri's Promise is a nice dps boost, provides leech, if you have no elder ring.
Rumi's Concoction as a defensive option.


Secondary weapon set:

Balefire is used to kill max block characters in the hall of grandmasters.
Heartbreaker provides culling strike for spells and is socketed with a free portal.


Gems
Body Armour:
Leveling setup:
Frostbolt, Spell Echo, Hypothermia, Ice Bite, Increased Critical Strikes, Controlled Destruction

End game setup:
Frostbolt, Spell Echo, Elemental Focus, Cold to Fire, Controlled Destruction, Inc. Critical Strikes

Empower setup (with Skin of the Loyal):
Frostbolt, Spell Echo, Elemental Focus, Cold to Fire, Controlled Destruction, Empower (lvl. 3+)

Shield:
Summon Lightning Golem, Flame Dash, Minion and Totem Elemental Resistance
(or Summon Lightning Golem, Warlord's Mark, Blasphemy)

Gloves:
Orb of Storms, Arcane Surge (lvl. 8), Power Charge On Critical, Increased Duration

Dagger:
Vaal Haste, Vaal Lightning Trap, Increased Duration

Helmet:
Whirling Blades, Faster Attacks, Fortify, Culling Strike

Boots:
Immortal Call, Cast when Damage Taken, Increased Duration, Molten Shell

Balefire:
Burning Damage, Elemental Focus, Efficacy

Heartbreaker:
Portal, Faster Casting, Enhance


Jewels
We use two Frozen Trail to gain four additional projectiles.

Try to get rare jewels with crit multi, cast speed or spell damage and hp.

You can also get The Green Dream to generate frenzy charges.


Pantheon & Enchantments
Pantheon:
I prefer Soul of Solaris and Tukohama for survivability.

Enchantments:
The glove enchantment "-of spite" is useful for kiting.
Boot enchantment is pretty flexible, if you use warlord's mark. If not: leech.
Cast speed for head enchantment.


Bandits & Ascendancy
Bandits: Alira.

Ascendancy:
Righteous Providence > Inevitable Judgement > Instruments of Virtue > Augury of Penitence

(You can also get Instruments of Virtue first, if you prefer faster clearing over boss dps.)


Leveling
Passive Skill Tree:
1. Jewel Sockets with Frozen Trail
2. Crit Chance, Crit Multi, Spell Damage
3. Life
4. Mind Over Matter, Mana
5. Remaining Jewel Sockets

Useful Gems:
- Freezing Pulse, Onslaught, Added Lightning
- Frost Bomb, Arcane Surge
- Clarity, Flame Dash

Items:
- Quicksilver Flask
- Lifesprig
- Atziri's Foible
- Maligaro's Virtuosity

Other advice:
- put Frostbolt gems in your secondary weapon slot and vaal them at lvl. 20 for a solid chance to get a lvl. 21 Frostbolt
- the life & mana leech on kill enchantment is quite handy early on (0.4% from cruel lab is enough)
- pay attention to the level of your arcane surge, cast when damage taken gems etc..
- the current state of the build is tweaked to be effective end game, you might want to try a hypothermia + ice bite setup until you reach red maps


Tooltip & Stats


(With Charges, Flasks, lvl. 8 Arcane Surge & lvl. 16 Vaal Haste.)



Passive Skill Tree & PoB Code


Videos


F.A.Q.
Q: Why are you not using *insert random item*?
A: Not worth it. Either too expensive, low dmg or no hp.

Q: How much mana do I need?
A: Your hp * (3/7) = how much mana you need.

Q: Hardcore viable?
A: Probably.

Q: Why do use say 'it's cheap', when you're using *insert random endgame item*?
A: I cleared corrupted maps up to tier 15 on 1c gear. Until then you should've some currency to get decent gear. It's still relatively cheap, considering that you can clear all endgame bosses.

Q: How's the single target?
A: There's no difference between bossing and mapping in terms of damage. We are not using GMP or any on kill effects. Frenzies and Vaal Haste are optional and meant to increase your mapping speed, since the damage is already more than enough.
We use uniques and abyss jewels to get this damage output.

Q: Why do you use Elemental Focus?
A: Originally I was playing with a Hypothermia + Ice Bite setup, but it felt inconsistent after tier 15. So i tried Elemental Focus + Cold to Fire, which resulted in a much higher damage output.
Also you don't freeze bosses after tier 15 anyway.

Q: Why am I struggling at higher content?
A: Usually you're lacking sustain, since the damage output from inquisitor should be good enough. Check your resistances, mana pool and if you're using some form of life/mana sustain. You absolutely need either an elder ring with warlord's mark or a blasphemy setup. The life and mana leech on kill boot enchantment won't help you with bosses.

Q: Where can I see the previous version of the build?
A: Check out my character InquisitorOutOfTen.


Changelog
18.03.2018: reworked build.
12.03.2018: added Gems section.
06.03.2018: updated F.A.Q. section.
04.03.2018: updated build.
03.03.2018: updated Leveling section.
01.03.2018: added Leveling section.
27.02.2018: updated for bestiary league.
01.02.2018: added leveling uniques.
18.01.2018: added videos.
15.01.2018: updated F.A.Q. section.
14.01.2018: added Bandits & Ascendancy section.
14.01.2018: guide created.
Last edited by amstafff on Mar 20, 2018, 10:18:50 AM
Last bumped on May 31, 2018, 11:08:44 AM
Am i retarded? I can't find your ascendency options. D:
"
Am i retarded? I can't find your ascendency options. D:


My bad. Added Bandits & Ascendancy section.
Last edited by amstafff on Jan 14, 2018, 7:05:10 PM
Thanks for the guide, I'm already buying the necessary items :)
How's the single target?
"
astrartea wrote:
How's the single target?


Just as good as the AoE damage. 800k shaper dps without frenzies and still around 500k consistent dps with flasks being down. Check the PoB Code for more information.

Edit: Updated F.A.Q. section.
Last edited by amstafff on Jan 15, 2018, 6:35:16 AM
I played a lot of with the Frostbolt totem (3 Totems)...clear speed was amazing, but single-target was not good enough for T14+ and tough bosses. I'm curious about transitioning to your character. hope you're going to do a video.
"
Pacificator77 wrote:
I played a lot of with the Frostbolt totem (3 Totems)...clear speed was amazing, but single-target was not good enough for T14+ and tough bosses. I'm curious about transitioning to your character. hope you're going to do a video.


Not sure yet about videos, since I'm mechanically garbage (which speaks for the effectiveness of the build).
I mean it's not on a level with Bladeflurry dps, but still really good, safe and consistent dps.
I could clear literally all content in the game (ueber atziri, chayula, shaper, elder, grandmasters etc..).
No need to show any mechanically intensive fight, just a t15 clear or something like that would be enough to gauge the single target potential.
"
astrartea wrote:
How's the single target?


I played the build, and I did not like the single target. Survival also found it weak, the char movement is not good, at least on t13 maps, probably on low level maps should be better.

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