[1.3.0] 90% cold Glacial Hammer Duelist - with videos!

Could you update the suggested passive skill tree?

Thank you in advance, you've created a very fun build.

Is there an updated skill tree for this build floating about?

Here is an untested update to the passive tree. I haven't had a chance to give it a go yet.

Thanks - this update to POE sort of threw me, the previous reset let you so what you used to have before giving you the option to reset. This time around I couldn't remember what i had at all.

Ty for the Updated tree!

Im not a very experienced PoE Player and made the mistake of wanting to play this as my first Beyond Char ;D

Ive leveld a mostly 2h weapon duelist using Molten Strike and I am wondering now: When should I transition into using Glacial Hammer ? I'm level 40 atm and have none of the Uniques so far. Im gathering the required Gems atm and I doubt ill get the correct Corruption mod on those gloves.

When should I transition ?

The gloves are kind of important, and it might be somewhat more expensive considering you're in a HC league. I'd say curse-on-hit is more important though, so if you see a cheap ele weakness on hit item on xyz, you might want to grab it. With the gloves taken care of and a decent 2h weapon (like what I listed in the OP), not to mention a 5l, that was enough for me to handle piety runs with little issue, to save up for the Doryani's.

If you absolutely can't see getting the corrupted gloves any time soon, I suppose you could manually curse, though I certainly wouldn't want to do it. It might fit hardcore play style though, slowing you down and keeping you from rushing too much.

Another possibility until you're ready is to go spectral throw, brightbeaks/Ungils' (depending on damage-survivability preference), and see if you can get a pseudo-buzzsaw build going. I haven't done this myself so I don't know how successful it would be.

Main post updated with a detailed description of how to decide what to do with your passive tree after the changes!

This build looks interesting and extremely satisfying to play. I'm starting one already.

Have 2 questions though,

Can it solo atziri?
What other gear could potentially improve this character?

Thanks!

Hi,

I haven't tried it against Atziri, but I imagine it would be tough. Biggest issue will be the fact that bosses have a massive resistance to curses, so the build's primary method of pushing damage up--resistance reduction--wouldn't be all that effective.

As for ways to improve the character, top of the list goes to getting a dual (or even triple) curse setup going. Being able to stack frostbite on top of elemental weakness would probably push the damage through the roof. Crit could help as well, but that would involve stretching the passive tree a little thin, you might not be able to get everything you want.

If I were to go triple curse, I'd probably go: Ele Weakness on the gloves, Frostbite on a cwdt totem (or maybe just manually cast), and enfeeble on a cwdt straight cast.

I haven't been playing this build in a while since it hit standard (no real reason to when I have my godly solo farmer with buckets of IIR/IIQ), but if I were to improve the gear, I would definitely:

-Boost the armor and evasion - most items I'm using I didn't even consider those stats

-Get a 6l and try to get melee physical damage to work without killing my mana sustain

-Try to get enough resists on gear that I can spec out of any resist nodes I have currently.

And if we're talking really late game gearing options, perhaps try to corrupt a Doryani's so that it comes with Multistrike/Melee Splash (can't remember which one spawns on scepters). Then you could move the AOE link to the weapon and use a full six link as your bosskilling setup (GH-faster attacks-melee physical-weapon elemental damage-cold penetration-20q added cold for extra freeze chance)

Good luck with your character!

Thanks for the reply!

Was wondering if there were any vaal gems that help out this build more? And would herald of ice be beneficial to this build?

I was also thinking of Leap Slam + Curse on hit + Frostbite instead of manually casting it.