Loate's Nuclear Winter Build (2.3) (Arctic Breath - Remote Mine - Sire of Shards)

Stupid. Absolutely stupid. Please don't ever do this.

Atziri complete with inability to hit flasks at very end https://youtu.be/wByHwub5eyU
Springs Map with some mods https://youtu.be/kODMkuP9hUk
Overgrown Ruin map with some other mods https://youtu.be/xiqI8QyBBl0
Arid Lake because sure why not https://youtu.be/X_bttKzoqBs

I tried to warn you.

Well, as seen in the Funpocalype, Sire of Shards is an incredibly useful weapon when it comes to blowing everything around you the hell up. Now, normally the problem with Arctic Breath + Remote Mine is that it only shoots out one. Unless, of course, you socket GMP, and then your damage goes to crap, especially because you're going to be running Minefield, which already puts a less modifier in play.

Sire of Shards solves this problem, by vomiting out hellacious amounts of gibbering death skulls onto every nearby enemy while still preserving your damage (4 additional projectiles in a nova pattern is quite good when you run into the middle of a pack). In addition, Arctic Breath is one of the few remaining skills that can 'shotgun' an enemy (due to the overlapping explosions). In practice, this means if you drop a single cluster of mines (generally 3, sometimes 4 with Saboteur procs), there are going to be 15-20 frozen love missiles blasting out into the surrounding countryside, and if each one has a 9,200 tooltip DPS, well, that's 135,000-184,000 damage per mine drop (assuming you're between the mob and a wall).



You can drop 3 of these clusters at once. Oh, and the new patch is buffing Arctic Breath damage by 30% more. My loins are aflame.

It is. It really is. Clearly no one has considered doing this build before.

No, you don't, because Sire of Shards is that much better.

This thing is the goddamn Magikarp meme of Path of Exile. You want projectiles? Sire of Shards gives you a GMP equivalent ability that draws immediate comparison to Reach of the Council, but somehow has failed to excite even the bare minimum of attention, ALONG WITH A GAWLDANG 60-100% INCREASED PROJECTILE DAMAGE ON TOP. Oh, and that's not to mention the +all to stats (always useful for hitting gem requirements) sitting next to its friend Ele Resist all.

Oh, and some extra Light Radius, because it's obvious you're going to use this beatstick in a LL build.

Reach of the Council wishes it could be as overpowered as Sire of Shards.

Yes, though it depends. If you're going non-Shavs LL, which I'm currently doing because I lucked into a 900es chest off a floor drop, you'll probably want The Broken Crown, which does wonders for your Chaos Resist (and if you socket your Auras in it you also avoid the Cast on Death penalty). Alternatively, you can grab a Shavs and some baller ES/resist equipment. There's really no bad choice here. Either way, you'll want a Lori's Lantern in one of your ring slots, because "Enemies are Unlucky When Damaging You" is literally the best thing ever, an Eye of Chayula in your neck slot for stun immunity (unless you have a Skyforth's, in which case go f#$* yourself), and an Auxium for your belt. Pretty standard CI/LL necessities.

I mean, if you go balls out with the Level 4 Empower, Level 21 Arctic Breath, and 21/20 / 20/23 gems for all your other slots, yeah, it's gonna cost you some change. Fortunately, you can get by just fine with a 5L Sire of Shards (about an ex on Standard) and some decent ES gear with Chaos resist, though I would really recommend the 6L Sire to slot Empower in (usually 8ex for a 6L). The rest of the uniques might cost you an ex total.

Not too bad (though I don't think I'd recommend it for hardcore).



Level as something spell based, put your Sire of Shards and other uniques on when you can, grab some mine nodes, blow shit up. Probably switch over to LL around the mid 70's.

On Normal, Kraitlyn for resists, or Alira for mana if you have sweet gear. Passive points on Cruel and Merciless.

Link in the Sire of Shards should be Arctic Breath->Remote Mine->Minefield->Cold Penetration->Empower--Hypothermia

Put an Orb of Storms with Increased Crit somewhere to trigger Elemental Overload on bosses. Link a Spell Totem to Detonate Mines. Find a Vaal Clarity. This really isn't that complicated.

30% MORE DAMAGE. 30% MORE DAMAGE. 30 FRIGGIN PERCENT MORE DAMAGE.

Oh, and get some decent enchants I guess. I'm so lazy.