[3.1.3] Dual-Wielding 100% Crit Strike Frost Blades Raider - Deliver Pure Cold Pain Exquisite
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Original Link Below to SideFX's Frost Blades Build that this build was inspired by
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1848749 For those of you who may be interested, I have done Frost Blade builds for a while myself, even back with CI and Vaal Pact when they could work well. I missed the power that such a build offered, including the defense it had, but once CI got gutted along thanks to Vaal Pact and ES and Ghost Reaver taking hits...well...yeah. However, because I am one tenacious bastard who doesn't give up on an idea, even if I have to go through several iterations, I DID manage to find a variant on this build that very closely replicates the power I once had back in the day. It doesn't share the same tankiness and survivability of the original one I used, but the power is there and I've adapted to its different style. I will gladly share this variation with others, but I want to emphasize some EXTREMELY IMPORTANT POINTS! 1. This variant IS NOT...IS NOT...IS NOT HARDCORE VIABLE! While Frost Blades with good skill, positioning, and other things is very potent, the defenses I rely upon and the low amount of life I use will instantly turn off anyone wanting to take it to Hardcore. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean you can't use some concepts of it and try and work around it, but do so at your own risk. 2. This build uses gear and other things that I have spent A LONG time collecting on STANDARD! What gear you're seeing is very much NOT going to be something you'll likely be able to get in a league, much afford most of it. However, again, you can take the IDEAS behind my gear and run with it and adjust it as you see fit. I DO NOT CARE IF YOU COME TO ME WHINING ABOUT HOW EXPENSIVE THE GEAR IS! You have been warned already...you wanna play this variant, then you're gonna have to step up to the plate and pay up for it, as I did. Doesn't mean you need hundreds and hundreds of exalts of gear to make this work...again, use your brain, think, adapt...you CAN make it work, but I'm not holding your hand and spelling everything out for you. 3. As semi-stated above...DO NOT TRY AND COPY THIS EXACTLY...you'll likely not be able to do it. The important thing to emphasize here is that my IDEAS behind this showcase and 'guide' (if you will) is that they are to be used as such. IT IS UP TO YOU to balance, reorganize, and THINK about modifications IF you decide you want to try this out for yourself. 4. This IS NOT trying to achieve the absolute pinnacle of DPS...this is first and foremost a playstyle of Frost Blades that I liked and wanted to pursue to the end, and managed to achieve it. I am nowhere near at the pinnacle of power that my idea could theoretically do, so keep that in mind. While I do have some very powerful gear, it's still not the most optimal overall, but to get it as optimal as possible would be insanely, insanely expensive...even more so than it is already. 5. I WILL NOT be answering questions to information that has been covered in this guide and I WILL NOT BE DOING things like, "Can you please check my gear out?" or "Why is my DPS not the same as yours?" or "My tree is 'identical' to yours and I'm not doing nearly what you are...what am I doing wrong?" These are things that YOU, the person who asked them, can do RESEARCH on and READ THE GUIDE and use it as such. There's tons of informaiton out there on this game like at the poewiki site and others. Use Google, or whatever search engine you use, rub some neurons together, AND USE YOUR BRAIN! 6. Let's get this out of the way right now...this build can pretty much do all maps and almost all of the content in the game from Tier 1 to Tier 15 maps (barring map mod exceptions). However, I know there are people who just have to know if this build can do Atziri, Uber Atiziri, Guardians, SHaper, Elder, etc, etc. Let's list it now: -- Atziri/uber Atziri -> They CAN be done, but they require positioning (Atziri split phase is nasty if you hit the mirror mob), fast reaction, and PRACTICE. -- Guardians/Shaper -> These can be done as well with practice, and if you're not confident using this build, then practice on another build to learn the fight mechanics well, and adapt to them. Map mods will play a big part in how you handle the Guardians (if you want, do blue maps on them) and Shaper is a DPS check as well as a mechanics check. -- Elder -> I personally have not done the Elder (working towards it), but he should be doable just like the above once you learn the mechanics, but again, watch the maps in which he spawns in. I am not going to teach you how to do the fights...plenty of resources out there...use them and learn that way. Dual-Wield Frost Blades Raider - 100% Critical Strike Balls To The Wall Damage Maybe a silly title, but I have loved Frost Blades for a long time, and I love crit-style builds. However, as many crit builds as I have played, I never tried to make one that could go to 100% Critical Strike Chance all the time (or at least 95% of the time...there are always exceptions), and finally I decided to see if it was possible. At first in times past the build COULD THEORETICALLY be done, but the sheet amount of investment into it was just not worth it, and the amount of sacrifices needed to be either meant that you were getting insane gear, or losing so many other stats (like life) that it wasn't worth doing. However, with the Abyss League and the introduction of the shaped Atlas and 'The Elder' and some of the goodies that he brings to the table, it is VERY POSSIBLE to at last make this dream come true. It took more than a few tries and a lot of messing around, but at this point I am very, very satisfied with my build and want to share it out. As stated above, what I am writing here is meant to be A GUIDE...NOT GOSPEL TRUTH! Don't feel that you have to follow everything to the letter...experiment...try stuff out on your own...use what you have available and make it work for you if you want. So, let's start off with some of the necessary information overview jargon... Overview of the Build - How It Works And How To Play It Like the base Frost Blades build that the topic creator made, this one also follows the path of Dual-Wielding, although it IS possible to do this with just one claw and a shield if you so desire. However, before we even go into any of that, we need to go into the basics of this variant and see what it does and how it works. So, let's start off with those: 1. This build relies on Critical Strike Chance to proc chilled/freezing on pretty much anything that it can touch. This serves not only as offense, but also the best and first line of DEFENSE the build has. After all, if your enemies are frozen solid and can't attack, how can they hit you? But even so, that doesn't mean you can completely rely on freezing everything and denying all damage to yourself...you're gonna take some hits or be in harm's way. So, that leads into the next portion. 2. Positioning for this build is absolutely VITAL and will be the second biggest form of defense you can muster against the hoards of mobs that want you dead. This build IS NOT designed to tank, nor is it designed to go headlong into the fray into a pack of monsters. Frost Blades in this case is best used by getting up to the edge of a pack, firing off the longer-range melee strike/s and letting the blades come out and clear out stuff. If you're used to playing something where you will get into the thick of it and let enemies smack you...better train yourself out of that for this build. 3. Our other defense is going to be a combination of Evasion, Dodge, and Spell Dodge to keep us as safe as possible. I'll go into more details on how we gear for that specifically, but suffice to say a lot of this is still reliant on RNG being nice. That's why, while these defenses do work and can get the job done, the upper points are where you actually will have most of your safety with. Again, more on this later. 4. Since this build is using the Ranger -> Raider Ascendancy, that means we're going to be getting a slew of other advantages and buffs that come along with it. Not only better movement speed, but Phasing to allow us to go through enemies, additional Dodge, and of course, the added damage and speed from the Frenzy Charges we get, too. 5. Vaal Pact is optional and not needed, but that means you'll have to pay more attention to how you move around and learn to disengage from a fight if it's going bad. Also, if you do want VP, you'll have to adjust the skill tree a bit to get it. A quick overview of the pros and cons of this variant: Pros -- Very powerful and can freeze pretty much anything it comes across. -- Highly mobile with Whirling Blades and no movement speed enhancing flasks needed -- Built well, this build can absolutely melt bosses in seconds, even multi-bosses -- Freeze and Shattering stuff everywhere is very satisfying. Cons -- NOT A CHEAP VARIANT! If you want something cheaper, use the original version linked above. -- Extremely fragile and low-life compared to what most may be used to playing...don't take this into Hardcore -- Positioning and situational awareness much higher for this build than others -- Bleeding will absolutely DESTROY you if you're not proactive with bleed removal and Vulnerability maps make it worse That's just a quick look at everything, but suffice to say this build is not for the faint-of-heart, or those who want something that is more towards the lines of hardcore viable, or 'safe'. This build requires a lot of awareness on your part, and to have good reflexes and to be able to spot treats quickly. As stated above, positioning is absolutely key to playing well, and also to keep in mind once again...YOU DO NOT TANK WITH THIS BUILD! Again bosses you may have to do a little hit-and-run, but with the speed and power you'll have, that isn't a bad thing. And if you build it right, you can melt bosses quite fast, and have very good map-clearing speed. This build IS NOT going to clear as insanely fast as some others out there that are more into the...meta...as it were, but with the right gear, it can easily hold its own. All right, enough here...let's move onto the next section in the next post. Last bumped on Jan 31, 2018, 7:26:53 AM
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Gearing Up For Your Critical Strike Frost Blades Raider (Part 1)
So, this is probably the meat and potatoes that most of you people reading this are going to be after. Let's jump right into it, but before we do, let me throw down some information your way. I will be trying my best to provide multiple options for gear, and the reason for this is that there is no real 'BIS' in my opinion. Mathematically there might be, but this is not something that will tell you that. This is first and foremost a GUIDE, and you as the player should use it as such. I'll explain my choices and reasons, but it's also up to you to do your own research, your own information-gathering beyond this here, and most of all...USE THE BRAIN IN YOUR HEAD! That's what it's there for...I'm not going to hold your hand and answer all of your 'Should I do this' or 'Should I do that' questions. Experiment...try stuff out...that's how I came up with this...do it yourself. That said, let's start from the head on down for the character...PLEASE EXCUSE ALL GEMS IN CURRENT GEAR!!! Head Gear/Helm
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This helmet right here is what makes this build not suitable for hardcore, but at the same time provides an insane amount of power that is very hard to pass up. The ultimate in 'high risk vs. high reward' piece of gear here and I don't think the stats need too much explaining. This is a legacy helm, so check for more current helms to see what the Critical Strike Multiplier range rolls as. However, what you do want to aim for is as low a roll as possible on the 'Increased Physical Damage Taken' mod, which I believe is 40%. The extra attributes can be quite helpful as well, although be aware the moderate Strength requirement to wear the helm in the first place. That said, even a non-legacy helm can give you a HUGE boost in your damage, but as far as colors, enchants, etc, etc...that's for a later time. If you cannot, or do not feel Abyssus is a good choice (sort of should be considering what this build is going after, then you have some alternatives...I won't link them all, but I'll name them. You can do the rest and look them up. An interesting helm with the added gem supports built into it...potentially something you can put Frost Blades into if you can't get a 6L. Also, the other stats on the helm are not bad at all, though the Evasion total isn't so hot...All Resists are definitely nice. Also to the Harbinger of Storms is immortal and will shock enemies, so not bad potential against bosses or tougher groups. Can also consider another skill in the helmet, or even supporting something like Ancestral Warchief in it, too. 1. Lightpoahcer (Great Crown) - There's plenty of videos floating around showing off the raw power of this helm, and as far as map-clearing goes, this helm pretty much has no equal. Indeed, it can outshine even a legacy Abyssus in that department, and even gives some nice All Resists, too. However, this build aims to be able to battle bosses, and that means this helm falls a bit short there...it won't give you the damage you need for single-target, but otherwise...if you can afford it...go for it. 2. Starkonja's Head (Silken Hood) - Excellent balance of everything except resists. You'll benefit from most of the stats here, and a good life roll can help out, too. While it doesn't have the huge CSM that Abyssus does, it's safer to wear and can still give your build a boost. 3. Rat's Nest (Ursine Pelt) - IMHO, inferior to Starkonja's overall, but if you can't nab one of the above then this is good to use. Stats are fine, but missing out on life or resists hurts it a lot, though the Evasion is nothing to sneeze at. 4. Devoto's Devotion - A very nice defensive.offensive mix helm here. The extra Movement Speed and Chaos Resists are very nice, and the Evasion is a solid number, though no life or resists might put some off. Even so, not a bad helm at all, and the extra Dexterity means more Accuracy as well...same to be said for Strakonja's. So as you can see, this build has a fair amount of options for helms if you're just looking at uniques. Abyssus will be the one to go after and you should strive to get it, but if all else fails...good ol' reliable Rare Evasion helm can work wonders. If you're lucky, might even score a nice Shaper/Elder one, too, but if not...go with regular life, high evasion, resists, and accuracy if you need it. Chest Piece/Body Armour
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This is the second main showcase of the build and what I personally run with. The unique traits of this armour are that it allows you to socket in the Arctic Armour gem and run it absolutely FREE...no mana reservation cost whatsoever. Second, it provides you the Phase Acrobatics Keystone without having to allocate it, so you're getting 30% Spell Dodge, even if you never go down the Acrobatics Keystone line. The chest has OK Evasion on it, and even decent life, but the biggest drawbacks to it are that it has no resists and even gives you a -30% Cold Resist penalty. That means, coming out of Act 10 without any resists, you'll be at -90% Cold Resist...Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr! >< So yes, the chest does provide some nice benefits (to say nothing of the % Dexterity Increase, and a bit extra %Evasion if you manage to get your Cold Resist above the 75% cap) but you will have to build around it. Still, IMHO, it is worth it and the chest that I would highly recommend as being the one you go for in this build. BUT...BUT...it's not the only one, and there's another one that others have their eyes on... With the new Abyss League comes all the Abyss uniques, and this one is definitely a great contender for a good body armour. With the built-in Level 20 Elemental Penetration (not specific to any element...works on all), that means you can get a 5-Link and keep one socket open for an Abyssal Jewel with whatever you want on it. This allows for some flat life, which the chest is lacking, as even the %Maximum Life you get won't do much unless it has flat life to scale. the shade form is unfortunately something you cannot control, and you'll likely trigger it so quickly when you don't need it that it won't be there when you wish you could have it. It also lacks the defenses of free Arctic Armour and Phase Acrobatics that TPF above offers, so if you want to compliment your Evasion with Dodge, then you might consider investing points into the whole Acro/Phase Acro line. That and the armour's overall lower Evasion total hurts it a bit as well, and the Energy Shield isn't much either. Even so, it's still a good choice to use and one you can consider as you'll be able to get some more offense from the Abyssal Jewel socket, and if you're sporting more AJs elsewhere, then you can scale the stats a bit more. The good ol' standby and faithful chest piece for many a life build, and it can shine here, too. I don't think there's much that needs to be said here that hasn't been said already about this one, so I'll quickly go over the points. The extra %life is a huge boost to this build, even if it doesn't get a lot of flat life, and of course the All Resists make up for the lack of resists that the build can have. Plus, the fact that it is an Armour/Evasion chest means that Red and Green sockets are very easy to get, and since this build uses only one blue socket...very easy to get what you want without needing Vorici's help. Only real downside is the low Evasion and the Armour that won't do much at all. Also, it's obviously not TPF, so no Arctic Armour or other things that chest brings, but this one is definitely worth it. And of course, the oldest standby...a good ol' rare chest. Again, not much to say here, though with the Shaper/Elder chests, there are more options available, though some might not be cheap. Still, worst comes to worst, something like this or an Assassin's Garb will do in a pinch, and the high Evasion will blend nicely with Acrobatics and the massive Evasion% Increases we get. Not much else to say about this here...worth it if you can get something good. Boots/Footwear
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Boots overall are very flexible when it comes to this build, but rares are probably your best bet out of everything. This will be where you'll have a chance to make up for a lot of resists, and Evasion is what you'll want to go after. Nothing really crazy here in terms of stats to go after...Evasion%, Life, Movement Speed, Resists...plain and simple. You COULD sacrifice the Movement Speed since this build uses Whirling Blades to get around for the most part, but the MS is nice for when you run 'Cannot Regen' maps and the like. However, still best just to go with the tried and true stuff here. Good life, high Evasion, nice Movement Speed, and the ability to dodge Spell Damage is never a bad thing. Combine these with TPF that gives us Phase Acrobatics, and you're sporting around 42-46% Spell Dodge...not bad at all. Of course, biggest downside here is the fact that there are no resists on the boots, so unless you can make those up elsewhere, this could be a deal-breaker for you. Otherwise, nothing else really to say here...straightforward and good boots. Not too hard to get, and if you can nab a pair with a +1 Frenzy Charge corruption, that is really going to add some damage and other good stuff to the build. Single resist is also not bad, though you will have to contend with lesser Frenzy Charge time and your movement speed tied directly to your charges since the boots have no inherent MS on them. That and the fact there is no flat life on the boots means your health will take a hit as well. But, again, if you can work around that, then these are not a bad choice at all. So...these might be unusual since they're Armour boots and this build really doesn't go after Endurance Charges much at all. However, the added Strength is not bad as this build is a bit Strength hungry at times for gems, and the Movement Speed and All Resists are nice, too. However, what these boots are REALLY nice for...Cannot Be Inflicted With Bleeding. Bleeding is EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY dangerous for this build, especially if you're running Abyssus and in a Vulnerability Map. Your life will drop like a stone when bleeding, and heaven forbid you get hit by a spike trap in the lab. By becoming bleed immune, this means that you can take that off your worry list, and you can also free up a flask affix for something else other than 'Removes Bleeding On Use'. Granted, these aren't easy to come by, but an option all the same. Gloves/Handy Handwear
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IMHO, Rare gloves are the way to go, and of course, Evasion-based. Life, resists, Evasion%, and Attack Speed are all good options, but not the only ones. You can do Essence-Crafted gloves, Shaper/Elder Gloves if you get lucky, or just do it ye-oldie way like these gloves were done. I got lucky on an Exalt use and hit the flat physical damage, but you can also go with flat Evasion, or Evasion/Life combo...rares will never do you wrong in this build. All right...odds are, most people looking at this will NOT have the legacy variant of these gloves like I do. BUT IF YOU DO...you can wear them and there's really nothing else that needs to be said about them. Sure, the fact they're Armour and not Evasion gloves hurts a tiny bit, but the life, the crit, the Intelligence, and the insta-life/mana leech on crit...yeah. Though to be fair, even the watered down version of these nowadays are still not that bad and can do pretty nicely if you want to wear them. Just watch out for the no resists, blah, blah, BLAH! Maybe not the first thing that comes to mind, but Shaper's Touch does offer some nice benefits. We will likely have close to 400 Dex, so that's 100 flat life right there, along with around 160 Int (close to it), so that's about 320 Accuracy right there. Strength won't be so high, but it gives us something, and some extra Evasion% and Melee Physical Damage, which is nice for the melee portion of Frost Blades. AGAIN...no resists, but...BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! Also to note, since these are relatively common, you can get a pair with "Level X Elemental Weakness Curse On Hit" implicit from a Vaal Corruption. Granted, you'll then have to lose Assassin's Mark as this will override it, but something to consider as an alternative. 1. Tombfist - These have already been linked in the thread, though I myself don't own a pair so I can't link them here. However, if you look at them, you can figure out why they're so nice. With 2 Abyssal Sockets, you can slot both a Murderous and Searching Eye Jewel into the sockets to not only get some nice boosts from the jewels, but both Maim and Intimidate on enemies. The Maim is 30% reduced Movement Speed on enemies, and Intimidate is 10% Increased Damage from attacks, but be aware that 'increased' is actually a MORE MULTIPLIER, so it's 10% MORE damage that enemies take...not bad at all. The downsides to the gloves are low Evasion, and giving up gem sockets so you might find yourself a little pressed for links. However, everything else makes up for that, but...again...no resists either, so watch it. I keep emphasizing this a lot, but it can really make a difference in the end if you're not paying attention to these. All-in-all...great gloves. 2. Oskarm - These are interesting gloves because they give you the ability to hit foes and immediately curse them with a Level 12 Assassin's Mark. That means, you don't need the curse as an aura, even though the aura form would be at a higher level and qualitied up. Still, these gloves do offer that, as well as a nice boost in Accuracy, and since this build sticks to the Dex areas of the tree, Accuracy will be up pretty high. Not only that, but higher Accuracy means more Critical Strike Chance for your attacks, so there's that to consider. The obvious downsides are lower life rolls, -Chaos Resists (can really hurt if you're not getting Chaos Resist elsewhere) and AGAIN, no elemental resists. However, if you can compensate for these, then they're worth a try. Belt/Waist-Squeezer
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Pretty much the best kind of belt base you can use right now. I don't think there's really much that needs to be said as to why...you can see for yourself. Another one that doesn't need much explanation, and one of the most highly sought after Uniques out there. While the lack of resists hurt, the benefits normally far outweigh that, though in this case, I would actually put this below the above belt in terms of necessity. This one is definitely fun to play around with and makes map-clearing even faster, and if you can hang onto the rare monster buffs going into a boss fight, you'll very likely smash bosses, too. An older belt that's been around for a bit, but the stats are not bad at all. No life on it, but the Strength overall is good, and since we deal all cold damage, the leech gets full benefit from that. The extra resists are good, but without Cold Resist on it, and if using TPF chest piece, then you might find yourself lacking it and OK in everything else! Now here's an interesting one. You might be intimidated by the 'Deal No Physical Damage' mod on it, but that's fine...this build converts all Physical Damage to Cold Damage, so that penalty on the belt doesn't affect us at all! All the rest of the mods are very solid, and the leech is nothing to sneeze at, especially since we're going to be chilling almost everything we attack. If you use this belt, be aware that maps with the 'x% Chance for Mobs to Avoid Elemental Ailments' will severely hamper the leech mod here. Otherwise, it's a great belt to use. Yup...plain ol' rare Leather Belt. Again, nothing much to say here...if you can't find a good Stygian Vise, or they're too expensive, then this is always a great standby to use. Pretty self-explanatory here. **Continued in next post** Last edited by Tanakeah#5640 on Jan 29, 2018, 8:20:54 PM
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Gearing Up For Your Critical Strike Frost Blades Raider (Part 2)
Amulet/Neck Choker
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Rare amulets are going to be your best bet, though you'll pretty much not find something like this with a legacy Crit Multi roll on it, and even in Standard they are very hard to find. Even so, the toned-down version of Crit Multi is more than fine, and overall you're looking for: Flat Physical, Life, and Elemental Damage With Attacks for prefixes, and Crit, Crit Multi, Accuracy for suffixes. BEAR IN MIND THOSE ARE IDEAL STATS! You can sub in other stats like All Resists, All Attributes, etc, etc...build what you need and don't think you NEED all of them. Onyx base is nice, but Strength/Int is good as well. 1. Carnage Heart - Excellent for the All Attributes, extra damage while leeching, and of course the All Resists. HOWEVER, the PHYSICAL DAMAGE LEECH on it is totally useless because we convert fully to Cold Damage and deal NO PHYSICAL DAMAGE! The extra life leech rate is also very nice...good neck piece as a placeholder until you get something better, IMHO. 2. Yoke Of Suffering - An interesting amulet that not only sports resists, but also allows your elemental damage to shock, and includes some Shock Chance on it, too. That includes your Cold Damage, so wearing this means you can have the option to shock enemies. Granted, it has no life, and no Critical Strike Chance, or Crit Multi, but an interesting piece to try out if you're brave. 3. The Pandemonius - No life, CSC, or Crit Multi, but it DOES offer the ability to blind chilled enemies, which is nice for defense, extra Cold Damage, and 20% Cold Penetration against chilled enemies. That in itself is a nice boost, and certainly worth using if you need a little extra oomph in that department. Rings/Shiny Things
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Once again, rare items are going to be your best bet for this slot. Ideally, Opal Rings will be what you should strive for, but Steel Rings are no slouches either, and the flat Physical Damage will help with scaling. You can also go for Prismatic Rings if you need more resists, or Diamond Rings to up your Crit...rings are probably the most flexible slots in this build. Dream stats would be something like: Life, %Increased Elemental Damage With Attack Skills, Flat Physical Damage for prefixes, and Accuracy, All Resist, Chaos Resist/Crit Multi. Again, use those stats as a guide and fill out what you need on your rings for your build. Very hard to find, but something you can use for sure. While it has no life, all the rest of the stats are pretty good and worth considering. Again, rare rings will handily beat this out, but if you have one lying around...can be helpful. To note, there are many other unique rings in the game, but honestly, I didn't see many of them working really well with this build. Rares are ultimately the way to go in this case and that's really all I can say here. Oh, ONE MORE THING...there is the possibility of getting a shaped ring that has the 'Curses Enemies With Level x Assassin's Mark On Hit modifier on it, so if you're ambitious and want to go after that, then it is an option. Granted, hard to get and won't be cheap especially if you're wanting specific stats on the ring aside from the CoH. Claws/Wolverine Wannabe
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Rare claws will be what you want to shoot for as they have the best potential for scaling in the endgame with physical damage getting converted to cold damage and the like. Now, OBVIOUSLY the claws linked here are insanely, insanely powerful, and odds are you are NOT going to get something like these easily at all. So, here are some general guidelines to shoot for when looking for rare claws: -- High %Increased Physical Damage -- High Flat Physical Damage -- Critical Strike Chance -- Crit Multi -- Attack Speed -- Accuracy -- Flat Cold Damage The best of the bunch here, but in terms of what to go after...here's the thing. People want to build on a budget and there are claws out there that will do what you want. BUT, if you want to push the build further, then you're going to have to invest in the gear, and your weapons, IMHO, are the most worthwhile to invest into. Shoot for total pDPS being around 375-400 if you're looking for something endgame that will last you for a very long time, but you may end up paying 30+ Exalts for each claw. Expensive, but again, this is a long-term investment. That said, what kind of claw base should you go after? There are three that you can look for, and I'll put them in order of what I think are the best, but in all honesty, they're so close it's almost up to you what you want. Here they are: 1. Imperial Claw - The fastest of the three at 1.60 base speed, and allows for around 2.00 APS base with a high local Attack Speed mod on the claw. Newer versions of the claw also sport an implicit of 46 Life Gained Per Each Enemy Hit by Attacks, which is nothing to sneeze at. It also sports a 6.00% Crit Base, so it will scale well with local Critical Strike to boost it. IMHO, this is the best of the claws offering all-round performance in every area and with good mods, it becomes a powerhouse of a weapon. 2. Gemini Claw - A newer claw base with 6.30% Crit, 1.50 base Attack Speed, and implicits of 38 LGoH and 16 Mana Gained On Hit (Attacks for both). This allows you to potentially run 'Cannot Leech' maps, since you won't have to worry about Mana, and won't need any MGoH from the tree or jewels either. Again, it's extremely close to the Imperial, and a great choice. 3. Vaal Claw - Its implicit of 2% Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Life is wasted here, but it does have the highest base damage range of the claws mentioned here. Not only that, but it has the highest crit base at 6.50% as well. The only issue...it's base attack speed is only 1.30, so it is overall slower, and elemental damage builds tend to favor attack speed much higher than other builds. It loses out in that department, but still a solid choice overall. Now, as far as unique claws...there's a fair amount out there, but I'll touch upon the ones most popular here: No surprises here. Really nothing needs to be said about these other than they're great starting claws. Good speed, great crit, around 270 pDPS if you get good rolls, and the chain effect makes the blade portion of Frost Blades extremely deadly to large packs. Of course, their biggest downfalls are that they aren't the strongest pDPS claws out there, and the not always freezing on crit means you have to take freeze% nodes on the tree, but that's not too bad. For starting claws, you really can't beat these. This is an interesting claw due to the special Increased Damage modifier it has as well as the Spirit Wolves it has a chance to summon when you kill enemies. By Dual-wielding, you're getting a total of 140% Increased Damage (not a more multiplier) and if you use any jewels that have Minion Damage on them, they also apply to you. The Spirit Wolves are also not bad and you'll likely have a small army of them up at any one point, which is nice. Their damage isn't spectacular...it's the fact that they act as meat shields and 'tanks' that mean you have additional safety and are far, far less likely to get hit. They might not stick around for bosses without adds, but even so, they're nice, and also to note...any Support Gems that work on Minions WILL WORK on the wolves depending on which claw procs a wolf spawn. This also includes Fortify, Faster Attacks, Minion Life, etc, etc. The claws have decent attack and Critical Strike Chance as well, so they are an option there, though in the end, probably not as good in terms of raw damage compared to ToA. But, again, they do give you more overall defense thanks to the wolves so it is your choice. Play around and see what you like. All right, that about does it for claws/weapons. I should make a note here (and will later on as well) that YOU DO NOT NEED TO LEVEL STRICTLY WITH CLAWS! You can use swords, axes, etc, etc, but by level 68 or so, you're going to be switching to claws full-time. Flasks/Chug-A-Lug Bottles
Spoiler
Flasks are a HUGE source of increasing damage in this build, but they're also very nice for defense, and we'll be using a mixture of both. Keep in mind that the flasks linked here have legacy values on them, so you may want to adjust accordingly for what they currently are now when making choices. There will also be more than 5, so you can pick and choose what you want depending on the situation...and speaking of that...don't be afraid to drop a damage flask if you're doing a map with a boss that does some nasty elemental damage (that isn't Cold). Better to be safe than die. Anyways...here...we...GO!
You probably knew this would be here, and for good reason. This not provides some nice physical and elemental defense, but the extra Cold Damage scales very nicely the more damage you have baseline. Thanks to our Ascendancy choice, the extra chill and freeze protection won't give us anything, but suffice to say...take a swig of this and watch stuff shatter even harder...if that's even possible. :P Thanks to Taste of Hate above, we'll pretty much always be guaranteed to get Cold Penetration from the flask, and if you can balance out your other resists to equal each other, then you'll benefit from the reduced elemental damage taken, too. Also, this is a Bismuth Flask, so the extra +All Resists is always appreciated and will help immensely in Elemental Weakness maps. So yeah...fantastic offensive and defensive flask...don't leave home without it. While this flask will not provide any benefit to the blade portion of FB, that's not what we use it for. Nor do we use it for the Armour buff it provides - that gets eaten up by the Acrobatics penalty - or the knockback, which is a bit more annoying than helpful. No, we use this flask because of the More Multiplier to melee damage, and this helps further turn our melee portion of Frost Blades into a boss-melting cold reach of death. I believe the current version of this flask still offers two charge uses, but only around 21-25% More Melee Damage, which is still a very big boost and well-worth getting. This is where things will start to get up into the air, but I should emphasize that the important mode here is the 'Immunity to/Removes Bleeding During Flask Effect'. No matter what your 4th flask is, you absolutely want Bleed Removal on it, unless you went the Death's Door route for boots, because Bleeds combined with the Increased Physical Damage taken from Abyssus will annihilate you, even when standing still. I'm still experimenting with this flask slot, but for now have settled on a Jade Flask, also because it has the legacy Surgeon's mod on it and the flat Evasion it provides scales very well with the %Evasion boosts we get. It gets me up to around 30,000 Evasion, which is more than enough needed (also extra scaling from ToH + Wise Oak and TPF chest piece Evasion modifier) for short bursts of defense against bosses or tougher trash, and it's easy to keep up. Again, same idea as above for bleeding, but combining this with ToH and Arctic Armour and Fortify, means that physical damage is reduced even further, which is more dangerous to this build than elemental damage. Still playing around with it and seeing whether or not this, the Jade, or the flask below are better choices. One Life Flask is really all I find that needs to be run and I don't use Seething on it. Granted, again, this is a legacy Surgeon's mod, so your mileage will vary on what you want. I like Curse Removal here since it's nice to get rid of them, and while this won't work well on curse maps, it's not primarily for that. It's for filling your life globe up and assisting with you leech when you get low on health. Pardon the lack of bleed mod here...haven't gotten around to rolling this one yet. Regardless, the flask does provide 100% Increased Evasion Rating as a base (adds onto whatever current Evasion% you have) and also creates a smoke cloud on use. This smoke cloud inflicts 'Blind', which reduces enemy hit chance by 50%, and also means that critical strike rolls against you will have a tougher time succeeding as well. You can check out the poewiki for more info on this, but suffice to say, this is a powerful debuff. However, be aware that the enemy must actually BE IN THE SMOKE CLOUD FOR THE BLIND EFFECT TO WORK (think Shrouded Shrine), so make sure you take that into account. The stibnite flask base, so take that into account when evaluating the flask for defensive purposes. Unholy Might adds 30% of your Physical Damage as extra Chaos Damage to attacks (cold conversion doesn't interfere with this), so you're getting a nice boost there. However, the first three flasks are extremely valuable and you'll likely not want to replace them, BUT...BUT...you can likely drop Lion's Roar for this one for general mapping. Lion's Roar is more a boss-killing flask anyway and this will work much better on trash. Plus, you can then preserve your utility flask slot with your Bleed Removal flask, so you don't die to Corrupting Blood and the like. Good ol' reliable...can never go wrong with this one. Leech is good, and the Chaos Resistance is always nice and something you can sub in for maps where that might be an issue, or specific bosses that you know can cause problems and need a little extra defense against them. Overall, won't be as big a damage booster, but if you need the extra leech and defense, then never a bad thing to keep it on hand in the inventory just in case. That pretty much covers all the flasks that you'll likely run into and need to make this build work. They're very powerful and you'll need to learn when it's best to use them and when to keep them on deck for those crucial moments. That comes with experience, but at least gives you some ideas of what to look for. Jewels/Not the Family Type
Spoiler
All right, now we're getting down to the end of it and the last real portion of the gear section. Now, jewels are a bit flexible in what stats you can get on them, but I'll give you a rundown of the ones you want to be on the lookout for:
-- Maximum Life% -- Critical Strike Multiplier (lots of variants here...use the in-game prefix/suffix checker or poe database to see which mods are prefixes/suffixes) -- Critical Strike Chance -- Attack Speed -- Attributes -- Resists Remember, it's NOT JUST ABOUT PUMPING NUMBERS FOR DPS! It's about using these slots for filling in what you might need, might be lacking, etc, etc. Don't just go by what the sheet DPS or Path Of Building says is 'best'. There's really not much else I can explain here about regular jewels, and Abyss Jewels are pretty much the same way. Look for Flat Life, Damage With Claws, Flat Physical Damage, etc, etc. The only special one is the Watcher's Eye, which I'll put in its own section below the regular jewels. Here's what I am currently using: And now...for the special one... Ok...now...first of all, I want to say something here. I know how expensive this jewel is, and for most people it is likely out of their budget range, but if you're trying this variant out, then you might have some extra currency to burn. That said, you DO NOT ABSOLUTELY NEED THIS JEWEL! You can adjust in other ways on gear (like using Diamond Rings), allocating nodes differently on the Passive Tree, etc, etc. That said, if you can get this jewel, it will make getting to 100% Crit a lot easier. Dream jewel would be something like these: -- x.xx% Critical Strike While Affected By Hatred/Cold Penetration -- x.xx% Critical Strike While Affected By Hatred/%Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage But that's extreme min-maxing, abhorrently expensive, and honestly, I wouldn't bother with it. So long as you get the CSC, whatever secondary you get is fine. Mine with Purity of Elements is actually rather nice since it means I can switch off Assassin's Mark on Blasphemy and run the aura and get a little extra resist. That, and it makes Elemental Weakness mods on maps completely trivial. Again, use what ya get. Also, you might have noticed that I am not using a single 'Fight For Survival' jewel, and there's a reason for that, which is in the next section. Suffice to say, though, these jewels are usable, and if you want them, then you can substitute them in for slots, but even then, I think having rare jewels is the better bet. And that should do it for all of the gear and the next post will include all of the gem selections and the like. In case anyone was curious...while I did have most of the gear I use already posted, I'll post it below again in one nice window for all to see. My Current Gear
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Last edited by Tanakeah#5640 on Jan 29, 2018, 8:21:42 PM
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Abilities, Gems, Links, Passive Tree/Ascendancy/Pantheon/Bandits, and Enchants
All right. So you have all of your gear now and you're ready to start slotting it with gems. Question is...what the heck goes where? Frost Blades is pretty obvious, but what else will the build use? Surely not just that one skill alone, and if you realized that, then you'd be correct. Now, as stated in the other sections, this is not set in stone, and you can play around with sockets and gems and other things as you see fit. This goes doubly for the Passive Tree as well, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's tackle the gem links and skills, since those are going to be the most important for the gear itself. Also to note...I am not going to specifically tell you where to put your 4-Link gem socket stuff because that will depend on hos you can get your gear colored to match. Frost Blades - 6L & 5L
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This will be your main setup for boss fighting. For regular trash clearing, sub out Multistrike for Ancestral Call. Now, you're probably already seeing a big divergence here compared to SideFX's setup, and what you're probably used to. WHy did I make some of the choices I did? I'll go into those now: -- You're probably wondering why am I not using Multistrike and Ancestral Call at the same time, and the reason is...I honestly find them to be a waste. That and the fact that I am using ICS, but mostly I find it to be a waste. The build already gets high enough Attack Speed as it is, and with good damage, most trash dies in one click of Frost Blades...two at the most. Plus, while Ancestral Call and Multistrike offer great range for trash clearing, you really only need Ancestral Call, especially if using Touch of Anguish Claws. The chaining will take care of everything else, and it doesn't leave you using two gems that both have relatively heavy Less Damage penalties on them. This build does much better with just using Ancestral Call for map clearing, and then sub in Multistrike for boss battles and leave it at that. Or just leave Multistrike in and play that way...slightly slower, but if you find the gem-switching to be annoying, there ya go. -- Cold Penetration and not Hypothermia? The short answer is...yes. The longer answer...I have tested both gems out and both of them seem to perform equally well for clearing trash (AKA...trash dies so fast, it doesn't matter) so the deciding factor comes down to bosses. Chilling for me and my gear is certainly not an issue and I am constantly chilling everything (bosses as well), but that's where the issue lies. Hypothermia is a great More Multiplier, but it has that condition that you must attack a chilled target, so your first hit will never gain benefit from the gem. All subsequent hits (assuming the chill effect is applied and sticks) will benefit from it, and of course, if your first hit kills the mobs in a one-shot then the gem's power is never applied. Cold Penetration on the other hand is a constant that is always 'ON' from the first hit until the last. This is made even more apparent with the boss life and ailment rework, which cuts into Hypothermia's effectiveness, even more so when you get to higher tier maps. That and map mods like enemies having additional Elemental Resists, more monster/boss life, xx% chance for mobs to avoid Status Ailments...they all make Hypothermia less effective. Cold Penetration...doesn't give two figs about any of that, even increased Elemental Resists. If an enemy has...say...150% Cold Resists thanks to map mods and the like, it doesn't matter. Cold Penetration looks at the mob and basically says: "You have 75% max Cold Resist, and I don't care about overcap. I will penetrate from that 75% value and whatever it is at the end, that's what your resists will be." So in this case, with Cold Pen + Wise Oak + potential penetration from the tree, it's very possible to set an enemy's Cold Resist close to 0%, or even slightly less, and IMHO, that's far better than Hypothermia's ailment requirement. Long and short of it...I prefer consistency over conditional, and even if it results in less DPS because that's what Path of Building is saying...I don't trust it. Again, PoB is not infallible and numbers aren't everything. Experience is showing me that Cold Penetration is better, so I use the gem. You are more than welcome to make changes based on your judgment, but I'm sticking to this. Also, using Cold Pen means we don't need 2x Fight For Survival Jewels and can use those extra jewel sockets for other nice rare jewels that will give much more dividends towards the build than they could. -- Faster Attacks is pretty self-explanatory...more speed means more hits, and elemental builds love Attack Speed. With the right investment and everything rolling, you can get up 10+ APS with Multistrike subbed in, and against bosses you're like an icy machine gun of death. -- WED/EDWA is pretty standard, and Increased Critical Strikes is for getting us to 100% Crit more easily. The flat Critical Strike is added onto the base Critical Strike your weapon/s have, and then the % multiplies that and adds to the base. Example -> Base Crit = 10.00% -> 10.00% + 1.9% = new base of 11.90% -> 11.90% * 1.08 = 12.85% -> 11.90% + 12.85% = 24.75% total crit chance with just ICS alone. -- No Elementals Focus? Correct...while EF is a very powerful More Multiplier, there's two problems. The first is socket colors, and even if you wanted to sub it in for ICS, that's not what this build is about. Also, EF has the BIG PROBLEM of making it so that our Frost Blades cannot chill or freeze, which cuts into its power and functionality both offense and defense. It COULD be used on maps with the 'Monsters have xxx% chacne to avoid status ailments' mod, but again we run into the socket color issue and that's not worth the hassle. Don't use this one. **NOTE** If you can only get a 5L, then drop Cold Pen and use everything else above. Main Damage Aura Setup
Spoiler
Hatred is a no-brainer and Blasphemy + Assassin's Mark is for getting out Crit Chance above the cap of 95%, and also helps with generating Power Charges. Frost Blades is nice in that its attack range is a little less than Blasphemy's aura range, so you'll always be with attack of mobs to make sure they get the AM curse on them. You don't NEED a level 4 Enlighten as a level 3 will work just fine...I use the level 4 for some extra mana, but again, not required. To note, if you're doing a particularly hard map, you CAN sub out AM for Enfeeble and give yourself some more defense at the cost of not being able to deliver 100% crits most of the time. Minion Gems and Potential Secondary Aura
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Unavailable Ice Golem for crit and accuracy, Ancestral Warchief for the More Melee Damage buff, and in my case, Purity of Elements thanks to my Watcher's Eye. This comes in handy on Elemental Weakness maps since I can completely negate the EW curse (curse removal flasks work as well, but you have to pop them constantly) at the cost of my Assassin's Mark + Blasphemy combo. Otherwise, all you might have here is just golem/totem and you can potentially tack on Minion Life + Reduced Mana if you want them to stuck around longer in fights and not have to recast them all the time. Immortal Call + Arctic Armour
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Arctic Armour can be placed anywhere you have a free slot since with The Perfect Form, the aura costs no mana whatsoever. I just put it here because I have the space for it. The other gems are ye standard CWDT + IC setup...can save you at times, but don't rely on it 100%. Whirling Blades
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Nothing special here...standard setup for Whirling Blades. Probably seen it plenty of time before, but this is the tried and true and it works. Vaal Skills
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Vaal Grace is the biggest of the bunch here because this compliments our defenses very nicely. With Acrobatics + Quartz Infusion in the Ascendancy tree, we get 70% Dodge chance for attacks whenever VG is up. Phase Acrobatics from The Perfect Form + Avatar of the Veil Ascendancy tree notable gives us 40% Spell Dodge chance...VG brings that up to 74%, just 1% shy of the 75% dodge cap. Needless to say, this is A LOT of defense, and with Increased Duration and good map clearing speed, you can pretty much keep this up for very long sections of time. Vaal Haste is only really needed for boss fights, IMHO, and unless you wanna clear at extremely high speeds on maps, then you'll likely not keep the buff up throughout. Again, use it for boss fights...that's its best use. That about covers the gems, although you might be asking why I didn't include something like Frost Bomb in the build. It's certainly usable, but IMHO, we're already going to be pressing a lot of buttons, especially for setup right before a boss fight, that it's really not worth it. On something like Shaper or Elder where there's some delay in the phases, then that can certainly be done, but for most other map bosses, it's not really needed. The amount of damage you'd do in the time it takes to setup Frost Bomb and get it going will far outweigh the advantages the extra penetration will give you. Passive Tree - Level 95
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This tree IS NOT set in stone and is by no means complete or the absolute pinnacle of min-max. This is just a guide for what I have my build at, and what I have found to be the best use of points FOR ME. Feel free to tweak and play around with it to suit your own needs.
Paste Bin Link -> https://pastebin.com/jZCCsSPP (paste this into PoB to bring up the build) The above is Path of Building and if you do not know what that is, here is a helpful link where you can read about it and download it -> https://github.com/Openarl/PathOfBuilding/releases Otherwise...the tree is pretty much as-is. I will not be explaining a leveling guide in this section, but will do so in a later section. For now, this is all that is needed. Pantheon
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Honestly, the Pantheon is very underwhelming overall for this build and there's no real clear-cut winner to use. I personally went with the major god 'Soul of Arakaali' with Armala because it helps against Chaos Resist, and minor god 'Shakari' w/'Terror of Infinite the Drifts' for poison immunity and more Chaos resist overall. Again, pick whatever suits you best and what you find you need the most.
Bandit Reward
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Alira is the go-to choice here for the All Resists and Crit Multi and the Mana Regen is a nice cherry on top. If you have great gear and your resists and Crit Multi are good, then you can drop her for two points on the tree and use them as you see fit.
Enchants
Spoiler
Enchants are really not a make-or-break thing for this build and there's only a few that really work for it. I'll list the ones I found to be worth using:
Gloves -- Commandment of Blades -- Commandment of Frost -- Commandment of Spite Boots -- 16% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you've Killed Recently -- Damage Penetrates 10% of Enemy Elemental Resistances if you haven't Killed Recently -- 0.6% of Damage Leeched as Life and Mana if you've Killed Recently -- 10% increased Movement Speed if you haven't been Hit Recently Helmet -- 40% increased Frost Blades Damage -- 150% increased Effect of the Buff granted by your Ice Golems Really the only big ones are the helmet enchants, and I'd go with the Ice Golem one. At 20/20 the base Accuracy and Critical Strike Chance the Golem provides is 30% each. Multiply that by 150% (2.5) and you get 75% Increased Accuracy and % Increased Critical Strike Chance...IMHO that far outweighs the Frost Blades damage, but both are very hard to get thanks to them being the Eternal Lab level enchants. Gloves and Boots you can get pretty much whatever you want from the lists and you'll do fine. That's really about all there is to say...get whatever you can, and remember that Enchants will not make or break this build, just enhance it. And that should cover everything for this section. Last edited by Tanakeah#5640 on Jan 29, 2018, 8:22:21 PM
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**NOTE** The final section will cover some potential One-handed + Shield possibilities if you don't want to go down the Dual-Wield route, but I am still working on that so that will be at a later date!! The final section will also cover a leveling guide, but I am still working on that, so please don't ask me questions about when it's coming or if I am working on it. It'll get done when it gets done. In the meantime, use your own judgment and knowledge to a plan a leveling tree out. But in the meantime, this is the bulk of the guide, and I will hopefully be around to answer questions other than the ones I WILL NOT ANSWER stated at the start of the guide.
Last edited by Tanakeah#5640 on Jan 29, 2018, 8:22:37 PM
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Can you show the tooltip of the build with your gear on or maybe throw a PoB link in the guide? Thanks
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" I will do my best to get those in there. I have an extremely busy work week the rest of the week, so I will see if I can get that in on the weekend. Also, will be reformatting the guide and tweaking it some, but at least for now I got what I wanted to get posted. I know it's not perfect and a bit wordy in places, but I'll slim it down where I can. |
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