Winter Orb and Totem?

Trying to come up something for next season. I want to try Winter Orb but need another skill for more dps.

Some questions.

1. Does Totem channel Winter Orb on its own starting from Stack 1 or it inherits from my current Winter Orb stack? Say I have 10 stack and I cast Totem, does it get my 10 stack as well?

2. If Totem gets my 10 stack, does it lose 10 stack if I didn't maintain winter orb stack somehow? I think Winter Orb stack lasts 6s? Say I have 10 stack but only 2s left and I cast Totem. Does my Totem only get 2s of 10 stack or the totem enjoys the full stack for the remaining of its totem duration?


3. Any other things I need to know about Winter Orb and Totem?

Each totem has its own Winter Orb stacks and starts at 1.

It does not depend on your Winter Orb stacks at all, so you can run around as you like.

The totems will permanently benefit from the increased frequency while channelling though (although I do not know if they continue channelling if there is no enemy in range).

I tried that build when Winter Orb was released, but honestly it just takes ages for the totems to actually build up their damage. In theory they should have high dps when they reach max stages, but the time to get there is the problem, and when a totem expires or dies, you need to place a new one that starts over from 1.

Ok. I see they buffed Winter Orb base channeling frequency this patch. I am not going to be a full totem build. I will be a hybrid I think.

I see Totems may take 2-3s to gain full stack?

If I have Deadeye as Scion and get +1 projectile, does my Totem get +1 projectile as well?


Thanks for the answer.

Yes, totems use your skills and thus your offensive stats, including extra projectiles. You can even use Rain of Splinters and get two extra projectiles for the totems with a relatively small demerit, but I do not know whether that would be worth a jewel slot on a build that mainly scales self-cast Winter Orb.

In general I am somewhat skeptical regarding the power of totems on a build that does not focus on them, but it might be some additional dps against bosses. The downside is that you need two setups which also means a lot more sockets and a significant loss of defences for not equipping a shield unless you get pseudo link items which are fairly expensive.

One thing to consider is that if your build mainly scales your own damage, you will probably not invest much into totem defences, which means they will die more frequently and thus lose some dps while also making you stop channelling to replace them.

You will have to analyse whether this opportunity cost is actually worth it.

Good point. I wonder what's another good way to add dps to winter orb.