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

Short update for 2.0:
I probably won't be playing a cold witch in 2.0 so this is based on my experience in the closed beta. This also meeas that it is unlikly that i will fully update the guide.

Tree:
Life based tree lvl 85
Due to the increased monster damage i felt compelled to look for some additional defense. I went for Acrobatics which also means that there ar not enough points left to go for the templar area.

CI: Don't as beginner or on the first char in a temp league.

Spell setup on a 4L with no additional projetile speed:
Freezing Pulse - spell echo - cold penetration - faster projectiles

With enough projectile speed replace faster projectiles with hypothermia.

Spell setup on a 5L with enough projectile speed:
Freezing Pulse - spell echo - cold penetration - hypothermia - life leech

On a 6L add increased critical damage, ice bite (if the higher cast rate is sustainable) or faster projectiles.

Ice spear is no longer viable as main spell imo.

Auras/heralds:
Clarity, Herald of Thunder, Herald of Ice
Purity auras versus specific bosses

Curses:
Frostbite at the beginning, Assassin's Mark with enough base crit and increased critical damage of 200+%. A Herald of Thunder - curse on hit - curse setup still works well.

Other stuff:
Chaos Golem + minion life
Cwdt no longer that useful. One can try cwdt(lvl1) - frost wall - temporal chains curse. Frost wall can be tricky though as one can trap oneself into a corner with it. Temp chains interferes with the other curse one is using.

Can you add also CI based tree for 2.0? please, i really need it :(

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zakraj8 wrote:

Can you add also CI based tree for 2.0? please, i really need it :(

I haven't played CI in closed beta so you have to take that with a grain of salt:
https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwMB34rpAkuuGyXZW20ZEVA1uacrHU8tH5UgwfOIQsHFHdlDVPRx7BgsvxXXhq5WY4_66_VknfIdwwm5k9DQX2rw1UlRlS4HHhGWDkhd8nDVidNwUioL8-q1SAYjH0Gio1F0jummmX_Gkye-iqEvytO0DEZxgwlvnpykhxN3B-q6DXwsppDWN2Y0CkyzBAfr5F8qykpfsJu1wzoqOITFGYr7CfbaGo9wux8CNsWLegFv4veESFxrw22us0GW0PUFQt-wLJwPxDt8uMpCw9-EAv6MNrb3KwoRLw==

Essence Surge might not be needed depending on your playstyle. If you facetank for the most part and sustain your ES with leech instead of relying on a fast recharge you can spend those 5 points elsewhere.
Dreamer if you need more mana/manareg; Mental Rapidity or Nimbleness if you can sustain the higher cast speed; Ballistic Mastery if you need more projectile speed or just some spell/elemental damage nodes.

the new tree looks pretty much prefect bada bing.

(All info here confirmed, just completed act 4 + tested on maps under lvl 70 and above it)

Life leech is so low now due to huge nerf, impossible to facetank anything, when fighting with single boss i get around 30-50 ES per hit only. On tooltip dps i have around 21,2k dmg.

Without any problem and using iir and iiq gem i can farm now only maps under lvl 70 :( Before update i could handle without problem lvl 78 maps.

I guess it's time for me to abandon CI build and go soon for life since it's almost impossible to play with it even with great end game gear :/ (Died like over 100 times at act 4 boss)

Was wondering what you think of this variation to your build.

Going for Reflexes, Path of Hunter, & Sentinel would be added at the end of build. Not sure how I feel about Charisma as I've been told it won't work well even with herald of thunder & herald of ice.



You can find the thread posts here: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1141071/page/17

I also, feel that Heart & Soul doesn't really give enough to be worth it & the evasion/ES nodes you can get for the same amount of skill points more than compensates for it (I could be wrong though).

Also, for the Intruders in Black (Act 2) mission, which reward do you recommend taking, Arctic Armor, Herald of Ice, or Herald of Thunder? I guess what I'm asking is which one is harder to get outside of the mission reward?

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Sibyll9 wrote:

Also, for the Intruders in Black (Act 2) mission, which reward do you recommend taking, Arctic Armor, Herald of Ice, or Herald of Thunder? I guess what I'm asking is which one is harder to get outside of the mission reward?

You can buy every reward from the vendor too for little currency. I'ld take one of the heralds as arctic armour ain't helpful while leveling (too high investment for little return).


As for your tree:
If you want to boost evasion better take Survivalist instead of Nullification. I also wouldn't take anything "south" of Reflexes (all the 12%evasion/dex/Sentinel): too little return for all the points spent.

Charisma is only needed if you want to squeeze in an additional aura or AA late game. Clarity and 2 heralds can be run without reduced mana reservation.
Heart&Soul: 20% life + 28% mana are absolutly worth investing 5 points imo.

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Bada_Bing wrote:

As for your tree:
If you want to boost evasion better take Survivalist instead of Nullification. I also wouldn't take anything "south" of Reflexes (all the 12%evasion/dex/Sentinel): too little return for all the points spent.

Charisma is only needed if you want to squeeze in an additional aura or AA late game. Clarity and 2 heralds can be run without reduced mana reservation.
Heart&Soul: 20% life + 28% mana are absolutly worth investing 5 points imo.

Thanks, that helps a lot. Totally didn't see survivalist at all.
Should I keep path of the hunter & just pick it up from the top 3 evasion nodes or no?
Do you ever run in to cast stunning in act 3 onwards? Wondering if I should pick up Practical Application in middle of witch area.

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Sibyll9 wrote:

Should I keep path of the hunter & just pick it up from the top 3 evasion nodes or no?
Do you ever run in to cast stunning in act 3 onwards? Wondering if I should pick up Practical Application in middle of witch area.

You don't take path of the hunter at all. Not worth the investment. If you really want to boost eva you can take Reflexes for 2 points but that's it.

With enough life stunning ain't a problem. Practical Application is useful for CI that isn't using eye of chayula, low life builds or spellcasters that have to stand in one place and cast uninterrupted with a channeling spell (incinerate, flame blast).