Unusual CoC Cold Snap build (now with videos)

Oh, you're right. Must have been the other mods on my gear making the EK go up and down.

It's been my experience that the physical component of Glacial Cascade is too small to bother spending mana on Hatred or a slot on Increased Fire Damage. Much better off adding something that affects the spell globally (conc effect, IAoE, crit, whatever). Passives-wise, it (including the phys component) still benefits from spell damage nodes, which is nice.

I think the main function of the phys damage is just mitigation against ele reflectors.

Updated initial post to explain my occasional use of Storm Call in place of Glacial Cascade, and also to explain why I wish I had a 6th slot for Increased Area of Effect in my Lightning Arrow link.

A friend loaned me his 5L Windripper, and man, that shit is bananas.

Worth noting, though, that while the build certainly benefits from the Windripper, it works quite comfortably with the slower Harbinger I was using before; a big part of the build's utility is just freezelocking everything to make things safe for MFers and glass cannons, and it still does that just fine without the slightly higher crit and the significantly higher attack speed.

I'll see if I can make some videos.

Updated with video link in the first post.

Initial post updated with two new videos, including a variant setup that doesn't rely on Voll's (but still relies on Thief's Torment to drive the Lightning Arrow + GMP + Chain delivery system).

Hey nice build! Interesting to see your setup after running a lot of maps with you. It is certainly one of the more effective uses for Cast on Crit that I have seen. And using it to cast an AoE spell that is unaffected by GMP/Chain is smart. Since you are not focusing on weapon ele damage so much, have you tried Split Arrow + Chain instead of Lit Arrow + GMP + Chain? That would free up a gem socket for an additional spell. Not sure what the second spell would be... Temp chains to increase the freeze duration? Or elemental prolif? Storm call? Or do you need the extra chaining?

PS. Nice windripper!

The AoE portion of the build works by getting a huge number of overlapping Cold Snap procs, which is why I'm using LA+GMP+Chain to deliver it, as that combination has the highest possible number of mobs hit. 5 projectiles from GMP * 3 targets from Chain * 4 mobs hit by each arrow from LA's implicit leaves 60 max mobs hit; Split Arrow + Chain would max out at 15, and SA+GMP+Chain at 27. That's still good, to be sure, and my level 19 SA in that setup costs the same as my level 1 LA (67 mana per shot), and you could definitely run an effective SA+Chain setup with an extra spell. The problem is that there's no other spell that synergizes well (by having an area of effect and instant delivery), so your best bet might be to run Arc as a secondary spell for the shock stacks (which is nice, but also limits your effective range to whatever's on your screen). An Increased Area of Effect support would also be powerful here, as it increases the target radius on LA's implicit behavior, the seek radius on Chain, and the overall radius of the Cold Snaps (improving your chances of getting multiple Cold Snaps to overlap); the downside is that this further drives LA's already-high cost up.

I think it could work, but isn't optimal unless you're having mana issues (i.e., you're not wearing Thief's Torment). The upside with SA is that the quality bonus gives you a nice attack speed boost, so it might make the build more agile/comfortable with a Harbinger Bow.

One setup I run sometimes in party play is LA+GMP+CoC+Arc+Added Cold Damage; taking Chain off maximizes those shock stacks, while the Added Cold enables some meaningful freeze for safety. It's way less effective on my own, but I'll use it when there's a culler who needs packs to not die instantly.