ULTIMATE Frost blades guide

Mechanics

Frost blades is а "Riddle". At first look it got only one unique bonus: +14 weapon range.
But it has another hidden one: homing projectiles pretty restricted in direction though. So obviously you want to increase aoe, 3 proj is not enough.

And this is when fork is coming on stage. This gem is very situational because of the way projectiles spread. But in the FB case they are homing in the fixed degree area. Now you think: "Great I need only fork to make it work!"

No. You are wrong. Cause projectiles are low range like ethereal knives. And you will need more projectile speed to make them find another target!

So why to use this skill?

+Animation and sound are great, also freezing and shattering packs!
+Pretty good AoE with smart positioning and enough projectile speed.
+Can be used like hit and run to kite mobs

-Without fork skill is useless, don't even try to level without it.
-Not a single target option

Which gems to use?

After linking fork the main rule to follow: don't link less damage supports like chain, LMP, GMP they are complete garbage. You need more damage for both projectiles and melee attack. So I recommend to take a look at gems like this: There is a great synergy between them and hatred aura if you can afford it.

Special note about multistrike:
This support is great! You get rid of stupid melee targeting system. You never feel slow or clunky. But from my 100+ hours experience I can tell it's the best choice when you are melting through packs not when you struggle and have only 4L desperately seeking for more damage supports. So my opinion: you need at least 5L to use it. Also sometimes you need to target particular mob in pack like necro or to aim forking projectiles properly. With MS you can't do it.

Hypotermia is another gem of choice for FB for obvious reasons. But ask yourself how often you will need this boost and how able you are to chill stronger targets like magic packs? I recommend to test this one. Another great support is phys projectile damage. You will get this bonus 100% of the time on the first hit with no downsides. That's why I recommend it over hypotermia. Or you can get both if you are lucky.

Passives and classes

So we talked about gems and you think: "Haha get gud you forget projectile speed you are screwed". Nope. This is not EK pre 2.0 and I'm not Scrublord to waste 1 gem slot.


That's why I get projectile speed from the tree. You ever wonder why flash freeze node exist? Today you find out. So about Projectile speed. You want as much as possible and trust me it still will be not enough you will be addicted to this shit like I am you will leave your work and your family to get more and shot mobs offscreen laughing like crazy.

To other key stats: melee phys damage is useless, but phys damage with %weapon type name% is the King! It boosts both melee and projectile damage.

And the most important part! You need crit, mostly crit chance. Like... Badly, same thing like with projectile speed. Pre 2.0 patch I would say 2h FB is not possible because of this.
HAHAHA NICE JOKE LOOK AT THIS AND LAUGH:

2H Crit build is a real thing now. But it is always your choice.

The thing about crit it's not only about dps. By linking fork you are dealing with AoE lack. But trust me it's not enough. What you gonna do with 30 little beetles? Thats why you need herald of ice. It's the key herald and I can say absolutely for sure: you can't play FB without it! As you know crit is required to get bonus AoE damage. Mystery solved. Without this I would probably think about going RT or other tricky stuff. But no it's the only way to go here.

Also pick up good stuff like frenzy charges. Remember what I wrote about support gems? So why you still don't want to get +more all damage? Huh?

Here we go. So classes. Which one you will pick up? Let's conclude, you need:

1) Projectile speed
2) Crit chance
3) Phys damage with %weapon name%

Marauder? No you will struggle with accuracy.
Duelist. GOOD
Scion. GOOD
Ranger. GOOD
Shadow. GOOD

I recommend to choose from these 4. Which one doesn't matter at all. Except... 1 little thing. If you are going OP dagger oneshot everything with mirrored weapon go shadow or ranger. Scion and duelist probably will be better for 2H build with more life nodes and some 2h based one.

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Guys leave requests what do you want me to cover in videos. Particular map, supports etc.

If only this was written properly and not like so teen wannabe gangster would probably write a guide. Still kind of informative!

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Woodfist wrote:

If only this was written properly and not like so teen wannabe gangster would probably write a guide. Still kind of informative!

English is not my native language and I learned it from films mostly. Maybe that's why.

Skilling Iron Grip worth it?

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Greyback wrote:

Skilling Iron Grip worth it?

For me it's 47% increased phys projectile damage.
But I need to spend 5 points to get it. Obviously not worth. If you are passing by it's a must!

You could include a tree for both scion and duelist. I would include different trees throughout the leveling phase. Also I think you should upload a gameplay vid so people can see how it looks before trying the build. I would also post all your gem links and current gear. That's usually the basics guides have. I'm curious to see this in action if you do post a video.

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jconaspree wrote:

You could include a tree for both scion and duelist. I would include different trees throughout the leveling phase. Also I think you should upload a gameplay vid so people can see how it looks before trying the build. I would also post all your gem links and current gear. That's usually the basics guides have. I'm curious to see this in action if you do post a video.

I think you are right. I wanted to wait till I complete this build. But one guide on youtube pissed me off so I had no choice lol.
I will link my tree and links on primary skills. If I see requests for duelist, shadow or ranger maybe I add it. BUT I don't want to. The reason why this guide exists: I spend 40 hours playing around and thinking about this skill. Not like I logged in at standard and played it for 15 min.

So I doubt claw, dagger, or any 1h build will be as detailed as this one. And still I think my 2h version is far from perfect. My main point I wanted to achieve here is not even a build but a skill guide to explain people how to make builds around it.

Interactions with frost wall and chain? :) the only thing frost blade lacks IMO is single target damage. If the blades chain of the frost walls it might be epic to run CoC frost wall voll's protector with this ;)

Edit: I am going in game and starting a new char to test this :)

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwIAAF4DhwUtBWYF-QYgCC4LwRR1FI4V8Bc-GYoZjhqPHaoj9ipNMHEwfDGwMgEzkjWSOd06Qj8nQxNDMUPnRnFJD0rIS3hM_02STipRTFO7VP5W-leXWHVaGluvXkVfsGBBY3BlTWeAbbRuqm-edKB07XfXfVt9dYGsgwmExYTvjX2Nv49gkAqS85VmlcyXBpsmm42btaOKpMKoB6iiqvisR7IZtfK74702vea-p7_VwHbBScHYwzPDOsSiyMzI3MpKy_XPetN-1CPUUtZY1y3YYNi92sHcvd2o32_hiOcP7T_tg-4O74_v4_ba-WP66_sJ_h3-Sf66

This is the tree I have in mind using Frost Blades on a Ranger with 2 Dreamfeathers, Queen of the Forest, Alpha Howl, and The Blood Dance: Like in this build

Do you have any ideas for improvement?

I noticed you went for more projectile damage than weapon damage on the tree, but I thought you recommended getting modifiers that work on both parts of the skill, what gives?

Also, considering how futile Frost Blades seems to be for single target, what single target skill would you recommend? Frenzy, like your character seems to use, seems like a good option considering the investment in Frenzy charges on my build idea, but the mana might be constrictive if I'm using Grace, Hatred, AND Herald of Ice.