[1.3]Cold Witch guide for beginners (Lvl 1 to Atziri)

Level 62 - following the tree mostly with picking up power charge node.

I have about 2500 HP, 1100 mana

Resists: 70-75% in merc with all but Chaos is -40%.

5link FP > Spell Echo > GMP > Added Lightning > Crit Damage ... this gives me about 26k shotgun, with power charges about 30-31k shotgun damage.

I'm using herald of lighting, herald of frost + clarity - curse on hit with assassins mark

with the curse on hit + herald lightning + added light damage i am able to proc herald of lightning / assassins curse on hit.

Right now I am shredded merc docks with ease - and handle most rare/normal mobs on 66-70 maps easily, uniques and leapers are destroying me.

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CrownOfThorns wrote:

Level 62 - following the tree mostly with picking up power charge node.

I have about 2500 HP, 1100 mana

Resists: 70-75% in merc with all but Chaos is -40%.

5link FP > Spell Echo > GMP > Added Lightning > Crit Damage ... this gives me about 26k shotgun, with power charges about 30-31k shotgun damage.

I'm using herald of lighting, herald of frost + clarity - curse on hit with assassins mark

with the curse on hit + herald lightning + added light damage i am able to proc herald of lightning / assassins curse on hit.

Right now I am shredded merc docks with ease - and handle most rare/normal mobs on 66-70 maps easily, uniques and leapers are destroying me.

2.5k life is a bit low imo. Should be above 3k, aiming for 4+k for endgame content. You should be looking to improve your gear, get more and better rolled life mods. With 2.5k getting stunned by hard hitting mobs (frogs, charging stuff) is probably one of the main reasons you get killed.
So.. stack more life. You could also try using spell totem - summon skeletons in places with frogs/goatmen and versus bosses.

Try using cold penetration instead of added lightning. Don't let the tooltip fool you. Cold penetration gives 35% more damage (versus enemies with zero resists) up to 240%(!) more damage versus enemies wirh capped resists. It also considerably improves your ability to freeze which helps versus jumping stuff (you can freeze them midair).

Use reduced mana on your auras/heralds. This frees up some mana for your cloak of defiance.

Hey Bada,

I love your build and I'm at level 90. Now 80% of my deaths are caused by reflec rares. Have you got any good way to handle this? I dontwant to mouse over any rare to check its mods.
I was thiking aout speccing into vaal pact, I read that the instant life would help you survive reflection. Think that might be a way since I often get killed by the second crit caused by spell echo. Heve you got any experience with vaal pact?

Furthermore I have problems with atziri, especially during the mirror phase, there is too much dmg coming in. I have 4,2k life and 19kdps per ice spear with lmp. Is this ok for atziri? Would vaal pact help with atziri, also taken the extra life nodes on the way into account?

Would also be great to get a feedback on my gear. For atziri i run purity of fire and have saffels, stone of lazwar and rainbow strides





many thanks

I haven't played with VP as the point investment is too high for my liking. I rather reroll elemental reflect maps.
But yeah, if it bothers you (skipping that mod or constantly paying attention) then go for VP. If you are not killed on the first hit now, VP should work.
You probably have to spec out of some nodes (Celestial Punishment cluster for example) to get to VP.


Life/damage should be ok for atziri. There are several things you have to pay attention to during the fight:
1) Lookout for the clone that holds a mirror up. If you cast into it you are dead even with VP as it has 100% reflect.
2) Be on the move. Cast-move-cast-move. The flameblast comes with a delay, meaning it'll be cast at the place you already moved away from. Learning those cast patterns and how to move best requires some experience. After a few trys this fight will become much easier.
Try replacing spell echo with faster casting so you aren't locked into a place too long.
3) Use spell totem - enfeeble during the fight. Skeletons are of no use and direct cursing is a nogo because of curse reflect.

Hi, i'm using your CI build, it's pretty much great, nothing can kill me currently but i have problem with low damage. With cast rate over 4 per second + 3 frenzy charges i get 2,5k DPS only :/ Any way to increase it to atleast 5k DPS? Also should i change something from my gear? (I have ~30% over max lvl all resists so i can sacrifice it for some other stats but don't know for what should i look)

Tooltip dps is always a bit misleading. With LMP you are doing triple that damage, as the tooltip only shows the damage of one projectile.
Your gems are also only lvl 15. Leveling fp to lvl 20 alone gives a 70% damage increase.

Your gear ain't bad for lvl 63. You will have to replace the chest in the long run. I wouldn't recommend anything with less than 400 ES if you want to do higher lvl maps. You can buy a 5L with 400-450 ES for 15-25 chaos.
Use poe.trade; there are several listed. You can use http://poemods.com/ to check what mods can still be crafted on those chests.

Thanks, i did as you said, bought better armor and found also 2 unique items (helmet and belt)
Are there any other uniques that would be OP for CI Fp build? (Now i have finally pretty big budget, farming ~1-2ex per day :D)

Currently i have about 5600 energy shield (Discipline still not maxed so probably i will get over 6000), is this enough for lvl 70+ maps? (i would like to go for more damage in passive tree for higher ES leech but don't know if it will kill me in end game maps)

I would also like to leave here a tree for Standard league based on the thread maker PT. Thanks for this mate, have fun!

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMA37DfioIQ6QIHpf6zAuNXK0myvYIsnG0ZBUIQWAj0QZavm8BUrrPQ9ZUEakO86jI0axcfApUgNsUEB8Hz2CTr5IPboqOCHqcIXypVxn_G2wva3Z2uj0YnqX5ZEZYabOWLHRQOSAceNunkIvnbjmRd8pUuJKrVpn7H96ZCw3DV8NUWb-08tvrfhInTSVGP-uNqmjsC_nBS6_Xhc4KbjDYqC2SdogDsOAdjVUvz6vIdBLMnL8u9YeLAZpBVJpUaOBa_wBoDHnGFH0FXKUbXMJc5irFC

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zakraj8 wrote:

Thanks, i did as you said, bought better armor and found also 2 unique items (helmet and belt)
Are there any other uniques that would be OP for CI Fp build?

No. Usually you are better off with good rolled rare pieces. The only unique i would consider bis is dual wielding void batterys for a max power charges build (take power charge from bandits too). But that is niche because it is rather expensive (30-35 exalts a piece).

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zakraj8 wrote:

Currently i have about 5600 energy shield (Discipline still not maxed so probably i will get over 6000), is this enough for lvl 70+ maps? (i would like to go for more damage in passive tree for higher ES leech but don't know if it will kill me in end game maps)

Usually one would aim at more than 6000 ES. But you said it yourself, your tree/gem levels ain't finished yet. Find out for yourself what maps you are comfortable running. It not only depends on the map level but in large part on the boss you are facing and the mods the map has. A lvl72 jungle valley has a very difficult boss that i don't recommend facing unless you are overleveled, wheras a lvl 74 gorge is easy imo and can be done with a lower level.
Lyralei's Map Management Resource is good place to inform yourself on the difficulty level of the different maps.

Welcome and thanks for the great guide Bada! I started this character long time ago on Ambush league. Then I have a break and get back few days before Awakening. Still love it!


I hope this guide will have an upgrade, for the new expansion.

My stats, self found. Nothing fancy I only bought Divinarius for few chaos orbs.

LvL 77
HP 3.8k
Res: fire 59, chaos -40, rest cap. I Dont run with purity, etc.
DPS Ice Spear - 8.2k with 3pc +1.1k

Running with HoT, HoI, Clarity, AA.

My Gear: