[1.2] "The Sorceress" - Freezing Pulse + Cold Snap Boss Freezer [Videos coming. Updated 9/19]

Peering down into the color-shifting orb that sat encased atop the golden device, she ran a hand along the square socket that allowed entrance to realms unknown. A large fire pit sat off to her left, burning goals becoming black and chilled as shards of ice formed themselves around her feet idly, chilling the room.

Blanketed in books, the Loremaster’s hideout had proven a wealth of knowledge for her, though many of those tomes had been destroyed upon her arrival with one of the other ‘Masters’, as they called themselves, as her captive. Fools, she thought, children playing where Sorceresses tread. She turned her head, peering through what once was Tal Rasha’s mask, to look down on her prisoner. Zana was her name. Useless. Cowering against a corner where two bookshelves met, the woman appeared frightened. I still have use for her. She should know I will not hurt her. Zana’s eyes, such a pale blue they could almost be white, widened from her attention. Clutching at her once pretty blouse, only her eyes moved as she glanced at her companion’s black-armoured body lying across from her. The man’s daggers were still gripped hard in hand, frozen but still glowing in his death grip. Surprise was the only reaction he had time for after his daggers had been too slow to pierce her coat of arctic frost; an incantation she'd learned in this realm. He could not have known she had another layer of frozen armor beneath it - the people here seemed unaware of the depths of the magics they threw at each other.

You're an intruder here. You don't belong here. No. No, she had to be here. The Archangel promised she had been sent here. Is that what I am now? An invader, a demon? Like...Him? The Sorceress saw herself in her mind's eye, when she first began her journey to fight back against evil, so many years ago. The Zann Esu sorceress clan was her home before knowledge of demons and angels, and the subsequent war, tore her life apart. She'd been young and good nature'd before that time, but that had long since been culled out of her. But if she could un-do what had been done...if she could save her...

Though her mask didn’t change, the invader's face underneath it slowly contorted in rage while she recalled memories of venturing into what she could only describe as Hell. Channeling her magic into one of the five dark purple souls floating around the now black Guardianship armor she wore, the invader called forth a frozen, clawed hand from the depths of that same Hell, frozen runes imprinting themselves on the floor in a circle around it. Holding it here in this realm took some of her strength, but she needed to see it. To be reminded why she was here. After the kidnapping of her only daughter, even the fires of Hell withered and died in the face of her frozen rage. Deciding against slaying the beast of the underworld outright, the Sorceress instead enslaved his soul, binding it to her armor using ancient magic of the Horadrim. She released the hand, watching it rush back through its runic bonds to return to Hell. You are mine. Never forget that.

"Child,” she said to her prisoner, “come and read this inscription. You will tell me if this is a place your device has taken us before.”

The prisoner did not move on the instant. Perhaps my voice was too harsh. Anger flowed through her, impatience and frustration blending with it to form rage. Shards of ice began to grow further around her as she channeled to bring forth her near-frozen armour, a radiating column of bone-chilling water around her. The sharp, bladed ends of her staff emanated a soft white glow across its frozen metal length. The witch Taryn had proven a worthy adversary, even in the face of unprovoked, unbridled violence. Perhaps she needs to be given motivation. Icy cold ran across her body as she prepared herself to unleash a tempest of whirling crystallized blades; its icy heart began to form in the air in front of her.

“Wait! Wait, please. Don’t. Please…please.” The prisoner Zana stood then, the tears falling from her face freezing on their way down to make soft plinking sounds as they hit the wooden floor. As Zana made her way to the golden device, she stopped herself twice from looking back at her companion.

Vorici. The prisoner had screamed his name, Vorici, before a pulse of frost separated his head him from the rest of him.

Watching her from beneath her hood, the invader placed a gloved hand on Zana’s shoulder, ignoring the pained look the woman gave as the shoulder of her blouse froze. I stopped my frozen orb from obliterating what's left of her. She should be grateful. Why isn't she grateful? “Read it, Master Zana.” She tried to keep contempt out of her voice. And anger. It flooded through her, a searing cold. “Do not keep me waiting. You and I, we are travelers until I find where He has hidden my daughter.” The image flashed through her mind of a burning Hell, of the horned, red demon’s face. The Lone Wanderer’s defeated spirit made flesh. You will pay for this, Wanderer. Your soul is mine, but I have not yet taught you the meaning of pain.

The pretty red-haired woman gave her a look of sheer terror and quickly reached down to hold the sides of the leathery map apart, her lips moving as she read the black lettered inscription. If terror was on her face before, it was compounded with a panicked fear that overrode her sense of safety. Turning to stand in front of her, Zana looked pleadingly into her mask, even reaching out before stopping herself. She decided to wring her hands instead. “Please, Sorceress, do not. Do not go here, this is not where you belong. This is not where anyone belongs!”

The Sorceress took one step back, her fists tightening in her gloves. The frosty blue glow of her eyes went dark as she closed them. Channeling her essence, her magic, her power, she called upon the strength of her Discipline to turn her pool of mana into a vast ocean of potential. But she did not stop there. She shifted into a mental state of Clarity, strengthening her ability to draw upon her sorceries. The souls that swirled around her, captives to her, began to move faster, circling her as she called upon new spells she had learned in this Wraeclast. Spells that further attuned her to the frozen elements, enchantments that distorted time itself to allow her to move and think faster. Opening her eyes, she looked down at her hands. Flexing them briefly, she channeled one of those new sorceries and a crackling sound, like branches, or perhaps bones, cracking in the dead of winter sprang out from everywhere and nowhere at once, leaving behind an icy white glow surrounding her gloved fists.

Looking back to the disheveled and bloodied Master of portals, the Sorceress’ lips cracked painfully as she smiled. “So we have not been here. Activate it, girl. I will find her.”

“Nothing survives…no one returns." For all her beauty, Zana the Master was grating on her nerves. "No one has ever returned. Kaom, Daresso, Victario, Voll…”

The Sorceress’ patience wore thin. Raising a hand, she opened her palm toward the Master and channeled. A five-foot wide blade of ice formed instantaneously, permeating a chill so potent that Zana began shivering as soon as it was present, hugging her arms around herself tighter as the moments stretched on. Only the smallest sliver of restraint held back the embodiment of the Sorceress’ displeasure.

Teeth chattering, the prisoner continued on. “It is the Hall of Grandmasters, Sorceress. I’m begging you, kill me here, do not take me with you!”

Holding the ice for a moment longer before letting it dissipate, the invader, the Sorceress, shook her hooded head slowly. “No, young one. I still need you. You are safe from harm so long as I do. Be calm, and open this gate. I will not ask you again, and you will suffer far longer than the Armoursmith should you refuse.”

A shivering, sobbing Zana held the map into place in the square socket below the glowing orb. Somehow, for reasons the Sorceress had been yet unable to decipher, the map suddenly began to shape itself to grooves in the square socket that had not previously been there, the glowing orb sitting atop it all glowing a violent reddish purple.

Portals sprang up around the device, six of them in total; fiery gates that reminded her of the portal to Hell. I will find you, daughter. I'll put an end to this nightmare.

-Screen-distance & off-screen mass AOE freeze for long periods of time
-Easy to level, simple progression
-Can deal with Reflect maps and 50% less regeneration maps
-Leapers can be reacted to and frozen mid-air with ease
-Concentrated burst fire vs single targets
-Awareness of your surroundings is required
-Does not require godlike gear
-People in your party will love you
-Easily attainable items for League play

-Zero passive life regen - healing only through flasks and damage
-Uses a 2H weapon, so 18% block is the highest it will get
-On the medium-low end of the life pool range, ~2-2.2k
-Awareness of your surroundings is required

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQj6ZEq1WuLJwQWAVCK3ivm0GWH8eVBK6z0PVMs0V-UDAOXNteavoRD0wtrJgUsBdU99c6WHRVgh6fAY48m6FVxl8qiELbC9HkVkqPRsHFjYKeoVtZHRR_xuwYU9QigZ-0-tIRlqKjj_pwu1iuZp4XLzbpDkgPxOv12RMWQGTn42pjQ13yO3xkncMJL2-FfVXWcNVCw7jK8h25k4CkidPfhHBSAv4qC4w2VUth4iaVFr8Pq1M1m7UZii2D-wmXBvbaxKIajxzckyelxA==

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQj6ZEq1WuLJwQWAVCK3ivm0GWH8eVBK6z0PVMs0V-UDAOXNteavoRD0wtrJgUsBdU99c6WHRVgh6fAY48m6FVxl8qiELbC9HkVkqPRsHFjYKeoVtZHRR_xuwYU9QigZ-0-tIRlqKjj_pwu1iuZp4XLzbpDkgPxOv12RMWQGTn42pjQ13yO3xkncMJL2-FfVXWcNVCw7jK8h25k4CkidPfhHBSAv4qC4w2VUth4iaVFr8Pq1M1m7UZii2D-wmXBvbaxKIajxzckyelxClP5CKOZPemtvrAGpBVp4QaOPPq8NVJUQcelS4=

This build runs 4 auras + Herald of Ice + Arctic Armor. This is done through the keystone passive Eldritch Battery, converting 100% Energy Shield to mana along with increased % mana regeneration from rares and passives. My build runs:
Discipline
Clarity
Haste
Purity of Ice
Herald of Ice

Sidenote: This build supports any achievable level of Arctic Armour at 262 mana regen.

Freezing Pulse:

This spell is your primary damage dealer.

For leveling, I recommend getting Lesser Multiple Projectiles as soon as possible, as well as a Spell Echo. Faster Casting works until you can get a Spell Echo. Added Cold Damage and Cold Penetration is a great way to round out your 4 link for leveling.

Later on, when you can afford it via mana regen, I would recommend switching over to: Greater Multiple Projectiles + Cold Penetration + 20% Freezing Pulse (quality is critical here) + Spell Echo + Power Charge on Critical. Once 6-Linked, add in Added Cold Damage for a massive DPS increase and additional freezing power.

You really want quality on Greater Multiple Projectiles as well for extra cast speed, but it can be lived without. I can't recommend quality on Freezing Pulse enough.

Base stats for Freezing Pulse @ 84 with zero Power charges:

9.6k tooltip DPS
40.3% Chance to Crit
375% Critical Multiplier
23% Additional Freeze chance
3.8 Casts per second
Freeze Duration +40%

With max (7) Power charges:

~10,000 Tooltip DPS (11.8k with Atziri's active)
61% Chance to Crit

Notice in my passive tree I went for Ballistic Mastery. This is for multiple reasons: It's on the way from Charisma which you'll get anyway, and the Projectile Speed is a huge effective DPS increase for Freezing Pulse. You'll also need the Dexterity bonus for running high level Haste.

Freezing Pulse in this build has 80% increased projectile speed, meaning I can freeze monsters with it effectively at ~3/4 screen distance. You'll generally use Coldsnap for mobs further away, but being able to throw Freezing Pulse this far allows for you to stop Charging/Leaping enemies before they hit you. For anyone who may not know who's reading this guide: Freezing Pulse's damage and chance to freeze lessens the further away it gets. Increasing its projectile speed increases the distance it travels, allowing for greater distances at which you can damage enemies with it effectively.

Freezing Pulse with Power Charge on Critical is also one of two ways this build creates Power Charges. The other is via Assassin's Mark, covered below.

Sidenote: With GMP, it's important to remember that you're firing 5 projectiles. The DPS on your tooltip doesn't register the fact that you are most likely going to be hitting monsters with more than 1 pulse at a time, up to 5x more. Keep this in mind when reviewing tooltip damage and multiply accordingly..

Sidenote2: Level 20 or 21 Greater Multiple Projectiles might be worthwhile. I'm leveling up a GMP now to test this and will update this guide as I find out more.

Coldsnap

Coldsnap is your screen-controller. When it crits, which it should have ~40% of doing, it hits so hard that it causes significant freeze time against every boss I've fought (including Merc Dominus - haven't tested against Map Dominus yet). On non-crits it will freeze large groups of mobs at once. The strategy with Coldsnap is to target the mobs with the highest HP so that Elemental Proliferation can do its jobs.

Links: Coldsnap - Elemental Proliferation - Concentrated Effect - Spell Echo - Cold Penetration

Coldsnap stays as a 5-link in this setup, in your armor, so that you have room for Arctic Armour.

Some stats on Coldsnap:

Without Charges:

7,600 average damage (3564-5289 at level 19)
26% Chance to crit
53% Chance to freeze
Freeze Duration +84%
Chill Duration +162%

With max (7) Power Charges:

9,890 average damage (3788-5621 at 19)
40% Chance to crit

Let's talk gear.



Taryn's Shiver. When I create builds, it's generally around a weapon. While Taryn's isn't the perfect, most-optimized damage dealer for cold casters, it's still pretty freaking good and is perfect for Coldsnap. For this build in particular, as I do get passive increased chances to freeze, the additional 8% to freeze helps immensely in ensuring non-crits still freeze. 20% increased damage from all sources is a great boost for party play, and solo play.

Gems in this item (listed in order, last gem is for 6th link): Freezing Pulse - Spell Echo - Cold Penetration - Lesser Multiple Projectiles - Power Charge on Critical - Added Cold Damage. 6th Link Possibility: High level Empower - I haven't been able to test yet which is more powerful, level 3 Empower vs 20/20 Added Cold Damage, but it's possible Empower would win out. I'll update this guide when I know.

Sidenote: I know my Taryn's is not 5L - I'm currently saving to buy a 6L and I'm just keeping my Freezing Pulse in my armor and Coldsnap in my staff. Laziness on my part.



Voidbringer...so sexy. Massive increased critical chance with the downside of increasing mana costs by 80%. This item is why you have Eldritch Battery. With a 250 mana pool leftover after Auras and Herald and ~260 mana regeneration per second, a 6Linked Freezing Pulse cast at any speed this build can achieve. Sidenote: I think the fastest cast this build could get is .24 on Freezing Pulse.

Sidenote2: You get massive swag points for using Voidbringer.

Gems in this item: Increased Duration, Cast When Damage Taken, Immortal Call, Frost Wall.
Why: This build does not generate Endurance Charges, but with Increased Duration you can get 1 second of physical immunity every 440 damage you take which can be the difference between life and death if you find yourself against mobs that can actually hit back. It's your job to be aware enough to not get 1-shot. Frost wall is a fairly epic crowd control spell when linked with CWDT - it not only alerts you to where enemies are that are actually damaging you (whether ranged, or melee's stealth-desync'd up next to you) but it also blocks projectiles for you and lasts for ~3 seconds. Say goodbye to 285 Chromes, unless you think you're lucky enough to strike 3 off-colors!



Alpha's Howl for what are obvious reasons for most of you. Cannot be frozen is huge (and thematically awesome due to my character's backstory), as well as 8% extra reduced mana and equally important +2 levels to Haste, Discipline, and Purity of Ice. You want to achieve as high a Cold resistance as possible. With a Sapphire flask and level 20 Purity of Ice on you can expect to achieve 94% cold resistance.

Gems in this item: Reduced Mana - Purity of Ice - Haste - Discipline

Sidenote: You can swap Clarity in with Discipline if you want. I wanted a slightly bigger mana pool, which also increases my mana regen a little bit, while Clarity only increases mana regen.



I thought a lot about this character's armor. Not only is Carcass Jack thematically fitting, it synergizes perfectly with the build - life, all resist, increased AOE (to counteract Concentrated Effect on Coldsnap) and increased AOE damage. The increased damage isn't a ton, but it does add up.

Gems in this item: Coldsnap - Elemental Proliferation - Concentrated Effect - Spell Echo - Cold Penetration.

Sidenote: Cold Pen, not Added Cold Damage? Yes - While Added Cold damage is a nice DPS boost according to the tooltip, 35% lowered max resistances against enemies adds far more damage.



Doryani's is an obvious choice. Strength, resists, cold damage and leech, extra freeze on Flask...it's a no brainer. Nothing else comes close.

Rares are where you're getting most of your resistances on this character. My rares are not perfect yet, as you'll see, but they give the jist of what you'll need:



Mass resists, mana regeneration, life, and stats. This character has a ton of Int...but lacks in the Str/Dex department. This is pretty easily made up by rares. In total, my jewelry here cost me maybe 20 chaos, which is pretty easy to farm up. The jewelry itself is relatively easy to obtain if you are aware of poe.xyz.is.

Gems in your boots: Reduced Mana - Herald of Ice - Clarity - Assassin's Mark

On swap: Brightbeak! Mobility is your friend. Leapslam + Faster Attacks. You could also link Endurance Charge on Melee stun if you like.

I chose Assassin's Mark for an additional 9% crit chance and 39% more extra damage from crits. More extra damage. That means take your critical hit damage (375% in this case of the original hit) and add 39% more to that. If I get the last of the crit multipliers in the passive tree, it should be ~400%. This is an insane damage boost and what allows you to freeze bosses while you melt hem.

My suggested (and current) Flasks:



Obviously not optimized - 160 alts down and still no Seething of Staunching 20% Divine Flask, and no quality on my anti-freeze flask - but other than that, this is pretty much what I would recommend. You can't be frozen, but you can be chilled - it's nice to be able to de-chill. Surgeon's mod on both the Sapphire and Ruby flasks for obvious reasons, and Atziri's for the sheer damage boost and additional leech. Pretty straight forward and I doubt I would change this flask setup. Maybe if I found Divination Distillate.

Sidenote: You do get the Flask passives, making these flasks even more powerful.

I've received this question from a couple of people, so let me outline how this character survives.

First and foremost, the reason we have massive mana regeneration in this build is twofold: To be able to cast at .25 cast speed with 100% uptime, and, equally importantly, to be able to run Arctic Armour at high levels. Level 20 Arctic Armour reduces Physical and Fire damage hits by 189 flat. This may not sound like a lot, but it's huge. I can't tell you the exact math, but I can tell you that this comes out to an effective 50% extra damage reduction against physical and fire hits. Considering this build has 3% base physical reduction, Arctic Armour is an effective means of bypassing the need for massive armor.

Sidenote: This isn't to say that Arctic Armour on armor-based characters isn't super effective...because it is.

Self-cast Coldsnap: You can use Freezing Pulse for a large portion of situations. However, self-cast Coldsnap allows you extra utility in areas where there are pillars or doorways or other obstructions that inherently dampen the effect of your GMP Freezing Pulse. Not only this, but a Spell Echo'd Coldsnap has 2 chances to inflict its Elemental Proliferating AOE freeze. That's right! While it's true that Echo'd spells share the same crit properties (if the first one crits, the second will crit, likewise if the first one doesn't crit) however Coldsnap's freeze chance gets 2 rolls. Considering how much damage this spell is doing in this build, and the speed of its cast (.34 currently on my setup), I haven't found a situation yet where I couldn't freeze what I wanted to freeze.

The third major piece of survival has to do with Reflect. Anyone can do a ton of damage with elemental spells - the hard part is surviving reflect. Greater Multiple Projectiles is a huge boon in this regard. By spreading out your damaging pulses to 5 separate projectiles, you deal less damage per projectile. This is a good thing, because you'll generally be hitting bosses and mobs with at least 3 of them, if not 5. Overall, you're dealing far more damage than with Lesser Multiple Projectiles. But, since you're dealing less damage on each pulse, you also reflect less damage back to yourself. It becomes much harder to Echo-crit yourself to death. When I first wrote this guide, I was using LMP. Switching to GMP has made elemental reflect at least 50% more manageable - not nearly as scary, even with a measly 2k life pool.

Lastly, the survival in this build is highly dependent on your brain. You must be paying attention a little bit to the monster types around you - aiming Coldsnap at rares so the proliferation stays around for awhile (it will destroy normal mobs, and freeze doesn't proliferate on corpses) - using flasks for extra freeze when needed - freezing bosses with Coldsnap and then using whichever flask you have with speed on it to run up and shotgun blast it to chain freeze and melt them...this kind of thing. A little tactics and strategy goes a long, long way in this build. And anyone you play with will thank you for keeping the entire screen frozen and taking 20% more damage from all attacks. Not to mention 9% more flat crit chance and extra crit damage.

Please feel free to post any thoughts about any of this. This is my first guide and, as a Fantasy writer, I couldn't help but whip up a little something story-wise for the character. Hope you all enjoy it!

Sidenote: Arcane Armour + Arctic Effect are mandatory for this build. Sorry! :)