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

I'm very new to PoE.
I decided to use this build as it was promised to be noobfriendly. Either I'm doing something terribly wrong, getting horrible gear or dont understand some ideas here, but I die A LOT! (I'm lvl 52 and I've died 103 times already lol).

Would someone be awesome enough to help me out?
I'm a complete retard when it comes to decide if that item is good for me or not. I need a coach.

Here's a link to what I've got so far.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAuMEBwdjCPQRUBGWFVAZhRpsHwIkPCSqJ6kpTyycLR8xiDbFNuk62DvhRKtG10lRSbJMs03YVa5XK1ptXcZgbWvbbRlzU3kDfll_xoKbhX2IQot6jHaPpp2Ana6io6cIpyunXLUEu9bAVMHFwfPYJNrd3fPi9-Nq5CLsOPId

"

Simsung wrote:

I'm very new to PoE.
I decided to use this build as it was promised to be noobfriendly. Either I'm doing something terribly wrong, getting horrible gear or dont understand some ideas here, but I die A LOT! (I'm lvl 52 and I've died 103 times already lol).

Would someone be awesome enough to help me out?
I'm a complete retard when it comes to decide if that item is good for me or not. I need a coach.

Here's a link to what I've got so far.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAAuMEBwdjCPQRUBGWFVAZhRpsHwIkPCSqJ6kpTyycLR8xiDbFNuk62DvhRKtG10lRSbJMs03YVa5XK1ptXcZgbWvbbRlzU3kDfll_xoKbhX2IQot6jHaPpp2Ana6io6cIpyunXLUEu9bAVMHFwfPYJNrd3fPi9-Nq5CLsOPId

It's not the tree but probably your gear. Post it so i can have a look at it (just left click your character icon in the upper left when writing a post, then click on your gear and close the char window. Your gear will then be linked into your post)
Are you using spell totem + summon skeleton? If not: use it; it really improves survivability.

i have a question regarding chaos inoculation and ghost reaver-

when it says: life leech applies to energy shield instead of life -
does that mean that also the rate (20% of max life per second)at which u gain the es - applies to your maximum es instead?

e.g.
at 1000 es i would hypothetically be able to gain 200 es per second?

because i have been told the necessity of taking vaal pact in that build lies in the regen rate that still depends on your max hp (which would be 1 with ci) and is therefore awfully low (0.2 es per second max!)

thx =)

"

chaosmaedchen wrote:

i have a question regarding chaos inoculation and ghost reaver-

when it says: life leech applies to energy shield instead of life -
does that mean that also the rate (20% of max life per second)at which u gain the es - applies to your maximum es instead?

e.g.
at 1000 es i would hypothetically be able to gain 200 es per second?

because i have been told the necessity of taking vaal pact in that build lies in the regen rate that still depends on your max hp (which would be 1 with ci) and is therefore awfully low (0.2 es per second max!)

thx =)

You are right.
"Ghost Reaver" applies life leech *and* its mechanics to ES. 5K ES -> 1K leech / sec.

Vaal pact is only required if you build has high burst (discharge ?) because w/o it you'd kill yourself on reflect damage.

So, I'm really new and have a couple of questions. I'm too low to use the support gems yet, so should I be using Ice Nova mostly at this point?

Also, why LMP over greater? I know greater has a more punishing damage reduction, but it'd make FP spread a lot more. Wouldn't that be better for fighting large packs?

"

Drikkink wrote:

So, I'm really new and have a couple of questions. I'm too low to use the support gems yet, so should I be using Ice Nova mostly at this point?

Also, why LMP over greater? I know greater has a more punishing damage reduction, but it'd make FP spread a lot more. Wouldn't that be better for fighting large packs?

Ice nova (make a templar first to get it after killing Hillock) + 2 coral rings is probably the best way to get through act1 normal (and part of act2) if you have no gear at all (use fireball for brutus and merveil). Once you get LMP in act 2 from the sharp and cruel quest you can switch to FP and try if FP+LMP improves your gameplay over a unsupported ice nova.
Why LMP? 1) you get it very early 2) lower mana cost 3) the higher damage penalty of GMP results in less damage per projectile and therefore shorter freeze duration on crit.
Three projectiles are enough even against larger crowds.

I know this gear is probably terrible, but would you please tell me which parts of it needs to be upgraded immediately? I am getting completely slaughtered everywhere in merciless difficulty, rendering my character unplayable.

Here's my build: http://tinyurl.com/coldwitchhelpme

Here's my gear:

I am playing in domination league and I do not have much currency to my name, about 10 chaos atm...

"

Simsung wrote:

I know this gear is probably terrible, but would you please tell me which parts of it needs to be upgraded immediately? I am getting completely slaughtered everywhere in merciless difficulty, rendering my character unplayable.

If i calculated right the tree + your current gear should give you 1400 ES (with discipline) and 1450 life and max fire/max cold/72 light res. With 2800+ life/ES you really should have no problems in act1 and parts of act2 with no massiv chaos damage.
To stand a chance in act3 (especially when facing chaos damage) you need to increase your life pool:
Replace the belt. Even a white leather belt you can buy from the vendor and throw a transmutation orb (or alch) at would be better. Use http://poe.xyz.is to search for a leather belt with additional life. Don't pay more than 1 alch - 1 chaos. I found some that give 80-100 life for 1 alch.
The amulet has to go too. Get an onyx or turquoise amulet with life.
The only useful stat on your trapper mitts (aside from being 4L which you don't use atm) is the cold resist: You are aware that "Adds xxx damage" only applies to attacks, not to spells? Look for something with life.
The three new items should have 30 cold resist beside the life somewhere to compensate for the reists on the old items.

BTW chance to flee only works with attacks and spells that deal damage, not with curses.

If you have trouble being swarmed by enemies and can't outrun them because you have no extra speed on your boots, try temporal chains instead of enfeeble.
Gameplay: Be sure to plant a skel totem ahead of you. If you wait until a mob is attacking you it often is too late.

Updated gear:

I also got this, but im not sure if there is use for it in this build, if so, what do i need to do? :
I have around 1-2 exalteds in currency too.

How do I finally become useful? My dps is shit. My survi now is ok with these items.
I cannot farm any merci boss, i can kill maybe one or two but it takes ages.

Are there any cold Witch builds based around Icy Spear ?