Cold Snap Witch - Advice Needed

Thanks for showing me that forum, it's quite interesting. On the most recent page is a post by someone doing a similar build to mine with some success.

"

I am owning big packs in merciless no problem. Damage isnt as good as freeze pulse, but since I both damage and freeze mobs at the same time it doesnt matter, and if I have 5-7 power charges when i initiate the packs they always die before I run out of charges. I use freeze pulse to build charges and as a single target spell. The crazy good range also helps alot.

i have a lvl 69 cold snap witch atm

this is my passive tree
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAnEEBwSzB2MI9Ax9DkgQfxGWFE0WbxmFGjgabB8CJKomlSepKU8tHzGINsU74T1fRtdMs1AwUEJSU1VLVcZXK13GXfJgbWNDZk9tGW17cFJw1XkDf8aBSYIegziFfYhCi3qMNo5kj0aQVZeVnYCdo52uogCiLqKjpwinK6eEsji1BLb6uJPAVMHzxp7PZdDQ2CTbC93z4vfjhOQi5oHsOO988B_yHfem_Ks=

armor - 5l voll's protector unique armor for the power charge generation

weapon - it has everything i'm looking for other than cast speed // the crit chance is the most important part and the 10% radius is nice

helm - this is for the "single target" cold snap because this item is basically a 5l with concentrated effect

shield - +hp/crit chance are the only reasons i use this shield, if you fine one similar with resist and spell damage it'll be even more nice.

hands - crit chance and crit damage nothing else really. oh and dex

feet - good mana since i use EB and it's great for resist the spell block chance is nice but a rare boot with HP/MovSpd/tri resist would be prefered.

ammy - provides the dex so i can use my dagger.

rings/belt - just hp and some resist for to take hits.


i crit often enough where i only really need to use ice spear at the beginning of a mob pack
if you want i can post my 105 point build i have planned out for you guys to copy/edit/talk shit about if you want.

I 1 shot white mobs when I crit with cold snap + crit curse
I 3 shot blue mobs when I crit with cold snap + crit curse when they are NOT cold resist
I 5-8 shot yellow mobs when I crit with cold snap + crit curse when they are NOT cold resist.

I die to lightning thorns, arc, and flicker :(

pro about this build - different/freeze and slow everything/really good range/requires voll's
con about this build - no armor or evasion/oom time to time/1-2 yourself against magic reflect or lightning thorns/requires voll's

Wow that's almost my exact item setup, well future item setup! I was thinking about heartbreaker or a faster cast wand instead of a shield, but I am not sure how squishy that would make me.

What do you think about my passive tree?

you can save a point near the beginning of your starting position by taking the +10 int node that connected to the IF/HP cluster below the savant node.

and I feel you tree's focus is too spread out.

you tree's focus from what i see is...
1. Power charges
2. spell damage
3. crit chance
4. HP
5. increase radius

this resulted in average spell damage, crit chance and hp

I would suggest you take your tree's focus down to 1 defensive stat which in my case is HP pool and 1 offensive stat which in my case is crit chance. and also you do not need the +duration to power charge because you'll be expending and generating them on a constant bases.

going CI would be a good flavor because this way you can combat the mana cost with the use of mana flask. however if you go CI you will need unique item dream frag and chayula eye. Oh and without mana regen, mana does become an issue if you have a 5+ link coldsnap. I still have mana issue with a lvl15 clarity.

I'm not going to tell you how you should build your character because it should be a creation that you, yourself are proud of. if any more questions just ask

I'm level 46 now and doing cruel dock runs just fine. My end setup for gear is two Divinarius', volls, rime gaze, maligaros. I don't have the jewelery, belts, boots picked yet.

For my passive tree I am going to give up on es nodes as volls is pretty light on that front, instead ill focus on hp. I still want to get a good number of power charges, inc radius, spell dmg and crit chance. I might go lighter on crit chance and heavier on spell dmg.

I am having light mana issues still, but I'm using very mediocre gear. I basically have to use one mana potion every large battle. I rerolled my mana pots to generate charges on crits and they're pretty much always full.

Selrahc what's your crit chance on your aoe cold snap?

Level 49 now, new insights:

My original build was pretty squishy. I do great damage and can solo/group very well in most situations. However, on Piety in Cruel and versus the mages on Battlefront I had some issues. The range/power of those attacks and my lack of HP made for some short lifespans. Immediately following Piety, I was able to easily solo strand, mud flats, fetid pool, upper/lower depths in Merciless.

I Am going to start stacking HP now, and I think it will make a dramatic difference. I also have a huge power spike incoming at level 66 when I can use my helmet and weapons. So far I have been using heatshiver and some random level 20 wand/shield. :(

Update:

Started doing solo Ledge runs in Merciless at level 49. Was able to easily solo these runs for three levels. I had to skip Kudoku(sp?) because I'm not quite tanky enough to take him on safely right now. I'm working on that though.

Generally, I ice spear once or twice to initiate a mob pack and can easily pick up 5 charges (max for now). 5 charges plus an extra cold snap spell means I can get a total of 7-8 casts which is much more than enough. When I did play in groups I could take my time and just keep everything on the screen frozen. People seemed to like that :)

Once I get into the 60's I will post my current build and maybe transition this to an actual build post. Always open to suggestions on what to do next :)

"

Plan:
I plan to spam either lmp/gmp Freeze Spear to get crits and either use Power Charge on Crit or Volls to stack Power Charges. I want to then have two Cold Snaps which can be spammed, one is increased aoe for packs and another with concentrated effect, culling strike, item rarity for single targets or rares.

Any thoughts? Too squishy? Ways to optimize my build?

NOTE: AoE = Area of Effect

So, I'm a little to lazy to review your Passive Build right now. Having spent some time with Cold Snap myself though, I can offer you some more generic advice...

1. AoE is extremely core to the effectiveness of Cold Snap. Because of the 'rangeless' nature of the spell, you have increased control over where the center of the AoE is. Thus, you can center the AoE where it will be most effective with ease and at a safe distance. Increased AoE just amplifies the effect of the characteristics I just explained.

2. Elemental Proliferation, period. Though Cold Snap has a chance to freeze, it is not guaranteed to do so. This check is performed (90% sure) on each monster hit INDIVIDUALLY. You just can't count on freezing everyone. However, you can count on freezing some and the more you hit, the more likely this is. Elemental Proliferation Takes that "some" and turns it into ALL. Enough enemies will be frozen, that all enemies will be NEXT TO someone who is frozen, and thus, be frozen by Elemental Proliferation.

3. Relying on Cold Snap to crit is probably not a good idea. Crit is calculated at the level of the SPELL, not for each monster INDIVIDUALLY. This means that you will either crit on none, or all of the monsters. And, any bonuses to crit chance that you acquire will increase the crit chance based on a percentage of the original. The base for Cold Snap is 4%... so, a little quick math:

- Cold Snap(4% Base Crit Chance) w/ 100% Crit Chance:

4% + 4% * 1.00 = 8%

- FireBall(6% Base Crit Chance) w/ 100% Crit Chance:

6% + 6% * 1.00 = 12%

This effect is multiplicatively amplified the more crit chance you have. This is the reason why most crit builds center around 6% Base Crit Chance spells.

This also means that the more often you cast, the more bang you get out of the Power Charge on Crit support gem. Cold Snap cast speed is limited severely unless you have Power Charges to expend to refresh the spell. You see how this is circular?

Now, Vol's Protector works differently. You receive one Power Charge per enemy crit. We've established that when Cold Snap crits, it crits on everyone. Everyone will usually be more than enough to max your Power Charges. However, if you are unable to get another crit roll on Cold Snap before your Power Charges expire, you'll be back and square one - waiting on a low crit chance, long cooldown spell to crit.

4. Taryn's Shiver. It synergizes well with Cold Snap - It's strong chance of freezing nearly assures that you will receive that 20% increased damage bonus on frozen targets. It would also provide you with an additional 6L which could be extremely useful to you, especially if you're planning on running multiple Cold Snaps.

5. Casting Speed is relatively trivial. Though it's nice to be able to cast Cold Snap quickly, it cannot be re-casted immediately thereafter in most instances and when it cannot, most of your Casting Speed is wasted. Items that decrease cast speed but provide other bonuses are good choices.

In summary...

I do believe a Cold Snap build can be viable. However, a Cold Snap build that is crit driven almost certainly cannot (you may not die, but you wont be very effective). The three most important Cold Snap support gems are Increased AoE, Elemental Proliferation, and Cold Penetration. I would recommend you run 2 - 4 Cold Snaps.

If you opt for Taryn's Shiver, you would be able to run 2 6L Cold Snaps, or 4 5L Cold Snaps (2 Cold Snaps in each 6L). Alternately you could run 3 5L Cold Snaps and one other identically support cold spell, probably Ice Nova (2 Cold Snaps in one 6L and 'cold spell' and Cold Snap in the other). If you do not opt for Taryn's Shiver, I would definately run 2 5L Cold Snaps (2 Cold Snaps in your 6L). And, of course, you could always run 3 Cold Snaps in a 6L with the three most important support gems mentioned above.

Other things to think about - Fire Trap would work well with this build as everything is stationary and could be manipulated into a strong AoE pile before freezing. This also gives you a second damage type at minimal cost and is unharmed by the low amount of cast speed a Cold Snap build should have. Temporal Chains would both increase the length of your freeze, and that of any Burning done by your Fire Traps. Flame Totem would work well for the same reasons as Fire Trap (but be wary of the long cast time). In short, figure out what you want to be doing in between Cold Snap casts, you'll probably have some spare time.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

I would also like to add that concentrated effect is a MUST if you plan on using cold snap as the main damage spell. It is MULTIPLICATIVE. It will scale your damage to ridiculous levels if you can stick it in a 5L/6L. I'm playing my cold snap witch differently, going massive HP and pure damage. Not relying on crits at all. As someone mentioned earlier, cold snap's strength is not in critting (low base crit of 4%), but its extremely high base damage for a cold spell so I'm taking advantage of that and going damage. I run 3 cold snaps with concentrated effect and increased AoE on a 5L. I am lvl 51 in HC atm and do respectable damage (1-2 shot frostbite whites around my level). I'm wearing trash gear for the most part too.

Current Build at Lv 52:


Final build:


Gear:


If you were curious, my tooltip damage reads 618-927.

Oh if you see any improvements on how I can make my build stronger, please critique and let me know. Honestly, I think i should fit eldritch battery in.