Ice Ice Baby! - Cold Snap (HC Viable)

Theme Song:
Ice Ice Baby - Vanilla Ice

-

What we do is Freeze, and Proliferate that freeze. For solo enemies, you can stack Cold Pen + Conc. Effect and try to freeze them (works for most, but not as well).

So, what *is* Cold Snap?
Cold Snap is a Spell, Cold, AoE.
That means that things that make it better are Spell/Cold/AoE damage, AoE size, Cast Speed, and to a very great effect, Freeze Duration (more on that later).
Normally, Cold Snap has a 4 second cooldown, but that can be bypassed using:


Alternate Methods:


Cold Snap can be targeted at almost any range you can see, and barely any terrain blocks it, letting you stay as far away from the action as you please (that's the place for the Big Stupid Fighter, not you!).
The reason we use this spell is simple - it'a safe, it freezes things, and well.

To understand Freeze, you need to understand game mechanics:
Freeze
Enemies that are frozen don't fight back, don't move, and most important of all, don't DESYNC. Remember what I said about altering reality to suit your needs? That would be it.

-

Leveling is done via Freezing Pulse, Glacial Cascade or Fireball + Searing Bond. Fast and easy. Once you hit level 60, switch to Cold Snap. Use the time to get used to Double Curses, as it takes some practice to do quickly. You won't need those all the time, but there are times when it's invaluable.

Leveling Order:


This build is easiest on Life + EB due to heavy mana costs, but a BM, CI or Low-life version is viable (just takes better gear). Since we're getting Life + EB, no reason to not get MoM, while we're at it - dying is a bitch. For that matter, Vaal Pact is not a must, but it helps a lot.

Gearing up, you'll want a good Wand/Sceptre (Spell/Cold Damage, Cast Speed) + Shield (Spell Damage, Life, +2 Cold Gems). As much as your gear as possible needs Life and Mana Regen, and of course, resists. If you can get more spell damage or cast speed on rings/ammy, do so.
Your chest should either be a Carcass Jack (get MoM as a Passive, then, or go Blood Magic), or a Cloak of Defiance (my choice). If you have MoM, Mindspiral is a very nice helm, effectively meaning -10% LESS damage taken, has good mana, and has some Cold Damage.

(!) DEXTERITY (!)
As a Witch, you start with 14 DEX. You'll need 108 DEX to use Added Cold 20, or Cold Pen. 20.
This build has one easy +30 DEX passive, and another one fairly late-game. That's is.
Gear for it!
(!) "I'll need to be more lithe for that." (!)

Dual curses can be had via 4 options:
1) Windscream boots (my choice, has ok stats besides)
2) Doedre's Damning ring (not an option if you're on HC/Standard and have Berek's Grip)
3) Whispers of Doom passive (If you're using Berek's Grip, take this one)
4) Corrupted item with +1 Curses (Random, but if you find a good one...)

-

Links:
5L = Cold Snap / Added Cold / Cold Pen. / Life Leech / Faster Casting (or Proliferation)
or
5L = Cold Snap / Cold Pen. / Life Leech + (Faster Casting/Conc. Effect) or (Inc. AoE/Proliferation)

6L = Cold Snap / Cold Pen. / Conc. Effect / Increased AoE / Life Leech / Faster Casting (or Proliferation)
or
6L = Cold Snap / Cold Pen. / Life Leech / Added Cold + (Faster Casting/Conc. Effect) or (Inc. AoE/Proliferation)

If you have
you don't need Life Leech as a gem, and can use Conc. Effect sooner, and Added Cold on a 6L.

Other links (variable):
3L Shield (+2 Cold Gems) = Arctic Armor / Frostbite / Empower (2+)
3L Wand = CwDT (1) / Enduring Cry (5) / Frost Wall (5)
4L = CwDT (9) / Immortal Call (9) / Increased Duration (20) / Decoy Totem (12)
4L = Reduced Mana / Clarity / Discipline / Purity of Ice
4L = Lightning Warp / Elemental Weakness / Vaal Molten Shell / Life Leech

If you're wondering why I use Purity of Ice, you try hitting 40 mobs with Reflect :D
84 Cold Res is amazingly good to have.
Besides, you don't have the DEX to run Grace nor Haste level 20.

Really wanna combine Ball Lightning/Glacial Cascade with this, will test it out when it becomes available.

Videos:


-

My Current Tree (level 85):


My Current Gear:


Cheers to:
KikitheKing (for making me doubt myself :D)
Invalesco (for everything!)

Looking forward for a more fleshed-out guide.

trap support bypass's cd too

"

Route1 wrote:

Looking forward for a more fleshed-out guide.

There you go! Will update even more, later.

Please add a Video to this.

"

Azial wrote:

Please add a Video to this.

If you know a good program to do this, pm me. My PC is very low-end, mind.

Otherwise, I'd love to run a map with you and show you how it works :)

Can you add a leveling guide for the tree per levels plz ? ty

"

blowyourmind wrote:

Can you add a leveling guide for the tree per levels plz ? ty

Sure thing, tomorrow morning.

Bandits are, if it's not clear, Oak/Kill/Kill.

UPDATED

Updated stats. Movie time tomorrow!