Glacial Cascade

This skill is more effective than you thought.

mybe the +0.5% area dmg by level from quality should be buffed like 1% by level. and may be add +area radius% to the gem also?

And of course more item with +area radius and area dmg added to the game will be cool because there is only carcass jack helping for glacial cascade build.

why not rings, amulet, and sutff with that satistics ?

On Nightmare so far brutal damage with this skill.
Addes lightning damage, added chaos damage, increase critical damage.

When it crits, it cost for example Cole half of its life and he gets frozen.
The lightning induces a shock with the first hit, a shock with the second and a shock stack with the third, and this third hit really hurts then, even a boss who ist shocked only for a split second.

Increased area damage is a perfect quality bonus, as it doesnt alter the base function of the skill. Knockback and increased area of affect both alter the skills mechanics pretty significantly, and are changes best left to passives and supports.

I'm currently level 88 in invasion using glacial cascade. My build can be found here http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/957217.

I really enjoy this skill. The split physical/cold damage helps a lot with reflect and the mechanic of having it damage at multiple spots along the way synergizes nicely with added lightning damage.

I wish there were some sort of 'x% increased area damage against frozen enemies' associated with glacial cascade. Perhaps each quality could give '1% increased area damage against frozen enemies'. I feel like crit is already mandatory and such a change would reinforce its synergy with cold snap.

My only real complaint is that you have to choose between an AoE size that's a bit too small to clear as quickly as other skills and one that is quite poor against high life targets like bosses and uniques. That said, I think it's a pretty balanced downside to the skill.

My dream item for glacial cascade would be a unique with the mod 'Crit chance for each wave of glacial cascade is rolled individually'.

I'm confused on the physical part of it. I tried the Magnate +38% physical damage belt and it did increase the dps of the spell. When i tried Meringold's belt the + physical damage # it didn't seem to do anything. I also tried the Elder Power nodes that increase wand physical damage and it did nothing.

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Shuks wrote:

I'm confused on the physical part of it. I tried the Magnate +38% physical damage belt and it did increase the dps of the spell. When i tried Meringold's belt the + physical damage # it didn't seem to do anything. I also tried the Elder Power nodes that increase wand physical damage and it did nothing.

Magnate: it is just physical damage increased % value that doesn't care if attack or spell.
Meginord: this is flat added damage to attacks only.
wand physical damage boosts do not affect spells, thats why elder power doesn't do anything.

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PuppyDogPimp wrote:

My only real complaint is that you have to choose between an AoE size that's a bit too small to clear as quickly as other skills and one that is quite poor against high life targets like bosses and uniques.

Yay, I'm glad to see that this will be improved in 1.2! Despite what seems to be the general consensus among players, I felt like the base damage was fine. I'm not at all surprised to see the damage remain unchanged for 1.2. However, increasing the AoE of each ice section should do a lot to help with the usability of this spell.

The buff was very clever, the standard range is fine now and we hit more often with that range.

It's a leveling beast! I facerolled till late act3 cruel with an unlinked cascade in a +1 wand.

Currently running this on my level 48 witch linked to Added Lightning and Concentrated Effect. The effect, range and area are teeny tiny but MY GOD IT DOES SO MUCH DAMAGE. Not only does it get the more damage multiplier from conc effect, it also hits 1-2 additional times compared to regular GC because the hits are so close together. If my shock passive procs the damage goes through the roof, and don't even get me started on the crits.

10/10 melee skill, would continue to use.

After some testing I've found this skill to have a few problems with pathing.

If the attack hits any obstacle in even the slightest way, it stops the spell completely which is irritating in close combat areas and places with doorways.
If you click an enemy when you are behind a wall, instead of walking around to hit it, it will just start casting it into the wall and doing nothing.

Damage and utility wise, this skill is exactly what was needed in the cold spell department, I'm sure after all the kinks are worked out this spell could be used for viable endgame builds.