[2.1] SuperNova - 200k+ AoE dps ! Insane clear speed - Super fun - Atziri viable | Featured by GGG!

Update: 25/12/15
*Added a new video - Wasteland (tier-13) map run.


Updates History (Since 2.1 and above):


I often visit this thread, so feel free to ask any question in this post and I will answer as soon as I can. I gently ask not to whisper me in game :-)

It is HIGHLY recommended to read the whole guide. I answer common questions, add additional details and explanations, and you better not miss it. I try to make the guide as short and clear as I can.



2.1 Update:

**The build is greatly buffed!**
Read all the details here:



As said in title, it was featured by GGG:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1398079



Note: This is a new post for the previous Super Nova build created by Aim_Deep.
Link to the original thread:

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1096765


Note 2: For CI Version of this build visit page 41 in this thread and scroll down to Aim_Deep's comment.


Im using this build since december (reached level 100 with it and still having a blast with it). alot of people are asking questions about this build and I try to answer all of them.

I decided to reopen the thread to make it easier for you to understand the recent changes that were dicscussed in the replies in the original post. Thought it'd be better to make an official new post with the updated version of the build.
Prior 2.0 this build was great, dealing around 45k aoe damage.
While it felt strong and great at that time, 2.0 brought this build to a whole new level, reaching redicolous amount of dps - around 140k aoe dps and 255k st dps.


Videos (watch in HD quality):
[2.0] A video to see the general playstyle:
https://youtu.be/9wVqqlC7Gj4

[2.0] Atziri kill:
https://youtu.be/RjojBk1kBHg

[2.1] Wasteland map (tier-13):
https://youtu.be/Xp5IK1wOkN4


my current DPS:
Ice Nova -7 Power Charges, 3 Frenzy charges & Atziri flask:



Flame Surge (Single Target) DPS:

:

Videos made by Aim_Deep:



Highlights:

-SUPER fast clear.
-Fully charged (7 power charges, 3 frenzy, 4 endurence) providing us great extra crits, damage, cast speed and physical damage mitigation.
-Crit based. Get every drop of crit chance and multiplier you can to maximize the build's potential.
-Tanky due to Vaal pact + Lightning warping inside packs (with dual curse - Warlord mark & Assasin mark, providing us extra life and mana leech along with extra crits). Also, Arctic Armour is great for us due to the playstyle being Warping - Stationary position - Own - Repeat.
-Hidden DPS is LW applying shock status effect almost always with our high CC for 50% more DPS.
-Can do ALL map mods (for Elemental reflect need to change Cold-to-Fire gem to Life Leech, and pop Sapphire & Topaz flasks for extra safety).
-Parties will love you. you warp into packs, freeze and destroy them all.
-INCREDIBLY fun, I never get tired of playing this build.
-Atziri is easily done with this build, but frankly I haven't tried Ubers yet so can't tell you how is it there. Theoretically, should be just fine.


Final Passive tree:



Final Passive tree (less DPS, more Life):



-Generally there shouldn't be a problem to reach over 4k hp with the 1st tree. Yet, some people seem to struggle with it so to make your lives easier I added the 2nd tree which is a bit more life based.


Leveling:

Basically, ice nova by its own isn't too strong, some links are required to efficiently level with it.
Spell echo is required to enhance your clear speed by a lot, until you get it I suggest farming with any other skill but its up to you.
Once you get into the loop, the clear speed become greater as you level.
Gems priority for leveling:
Spell echo - Faster casting - Concentrated effect - Added Cold Damage - Cold to Fire


Passive Tree progression by level:



Bandits:

Normal - Help Oak [Life]
Cruel - Kill all [Skill Point]
Merciless - Help Alira [+1 Power charge]


Dealing with hard bosses:

Some people asked about how to fight known hard bosses (Torture Chamber, Orchard...).
As for this bosses, there's a small yet important thing you can do to try and own them fast:

'Save' some mobs around the boss room entrence, and kill them to gain Power, Endurence and Frenzy charges. then quickly rush into the boss room and deal as much damage as you can while you're charged. This works great for me (and you can see I've done exactly this when I entered Atziri's trio in the Atziri video I added at the beginning of the guide).

Besides that, I do believe that although this bosses are doable, if you're high level and don't wanna risk dying, simply skip this hard bosses. I have around 20 characters, and this bosses are pain with most of them.


Gear:



Recommanded HP flasks:



They instantly heal you and recharge VERY fast (I use this flasks on all my builds, they are way too amazing to not have them).

-Mana regeneration on items is a nice addition but not a must since we gain a lot from our dual curse Warlod+Assasin mark combo and the clarity.

-Life, life ,life! the more you get the better. Each item should have life on it eventually.

-As said in 'Highlights' section, we are Crit based. Aim for dual Diamond ring, amulet with crit chance & multiplier.


Budget version:

Since a lot of players without too much currency wanna play this build, I want to give you the right way to do so:

-Get Taryn's Shiver staff:
5L: Ice Nova, Spell echo, Faster Casting, Concentared Effect, Cold to Fire.
6L: Add 'Added Cold Damage'.
You can also use a Rare staff but I realy find Taryn's Shiver a nice staff to use.

-Can use a Rare 5L / 6L chest instead of Carcass jack. Carcass grants us great AoE damage boost & AoE range, but can manage without it at the beginning.


Gems setup:

Ice Nova - Faster Casting - Added cold damage - Cold to Fire - Concentrated Effect - Empower
(for 5L drop empower)

Lightning Warp - Less Duration - Curse on hit - Assasin's mark - Warlord's mark - Increased AoE
(for 5L drop Increased AoE).

Arctic Armour - Clarity - Enlighten - Summon Ice Golem

CWDT - IC - Increased Duration - Vaal Grace

Ice Bite - Herald Of Ice - Innervate/Culling Strike - Empower

- 20q main gems by priority: Ice Nova, Lightning Warp, Faster Casting, Cold to Fire, Herald of Ice, Concentrated Effect, Added Cold Damage.

-Use Innervate with Herald of Ice IF you have 300+ mana AFTER using the gem, otherwise use Culling Strike.

-For Single Target swap Ice Nova with Flame Surge, and Cold to Fire with Fire Penetration. (although you can own most bosses with Ice nova, some bosses like high tier maps and Atziri requires Flame Surge).

-Total Auras & Buffs:
*Arctic Armour - covering most of our physical damage issues (I also recommend using Jade flask for extra evasion in tough situations).
*Clarity - solves our mana issues (can manage to play without it just fine, harder without Clarity when single targeting).
*Herald Of Ice - great dps boost + gaining frenzy charges due to it being linked to Ice Bite.

If you cannot afford enlighten I suggest trying to play without Clarity, and if it won't work out good for you keep Clarity up and play without AA until you can manage with it.

-We gain Frenzy charges from Ice Bite linked to Herald of Ice. The herald of Ice effect will have a chance to gain us the charges if it kills (and it will kill a lot because of the link to Culling Strike). Most of the time we'll have all the frenzy charges up (High level and quality Herald of Ice, and high level Ice bite are both important for it to work properly).

-We need 2x Empower and 1 Enlighten to maximize our damage and non-reserved mana, so we can use 3 auras properly.
Note: Empower causes the auras it affects to reserve more mana, so if you don't have enough un-reserved mana you can skip empower until you get some mana on your gear.

-Until recently I thought we could manage without Clarity, but as I just said, I noticed that our life will be much better with it.

-Vaal Grace is an amazing skill for tough situations and extra safety, make sure you get one.
Note: Vaal skills DON'T work with CWDT, you have to cast them manually.

-Cold Penetration beats Cold to Fire, but we need 2 red sockets so we can swap Cold to Fire with Fire Penetration when using Flame Surge for more Single Target DPS. We deal enough AoE damage, its best for us to keep this additional red slot to melt bosses with Flame Surge + Fire Penetration (+Empower, therefore total 2 red sockets). You also need this additional red socket to use LIfe Leech gem instead of Cold to Fire against Elemental reflect maps.


Additional Details:

-The minimum suggested HP is 4k, and the minimum none-reserved mana is 300.

-In-town stats:



More builds created by me:


Good luck everyone! :-)

"Mommy, mommy look! Icy dead people."

"

"

Nasreth wrote:

Right now I just hit level 55. I have 20% mana regen from the Scion tree and I'm 2 points away from getting another 40% and some max mana if I decide it's necessary, which right now I'm starting to feel that way.

Current links are Ice Nova -> Spell Echo -> Cold Penetration -> Concentrated Effect. I'll probably be adding life leech and vaal pact with my 5th link.

Clarity is level 14 at the moment, but I'm worried because the more I level it up the less mana I have to work with, which makes flasking even more necessary and causes me to run out in longer fights. The only other Aura I'm using is Herald of Ice. Basically the only thing keeping me going is the fact that I have so much damage I can kill all the content before I run out of mana, and I have time to regen between packs. Bosses I've just been dropping a 4linked flame totem and letting that do most of the work :/

I'd like to avoid using a mana flask entirely, if possible. Not sure if it's better to invest in reduced mana cost, increased aura strength, or something else entirely here. Since it's a 1 month league getting a level 3 enlighten is probably out of the question, but I'm thinking a level 2 is probably within reach if that helps.

Alright.
First, your gems should be: Ice Nova - Spell Echo - Faster Casting - Conc.Effect.
This will lower the mana needed for Ice nova, and also better combo for ur level and links.

Second, get +mana on your rings and amulet (if possible mana regen too - not a must).
Do you warp inside packs and dual curse them? becuase thats our main mana leech.

You're still in the 'making' phase so its okay to have issues.
Check some of the changes i offered and tell me whats up. I also openned a new thread about this build with updated details and stuff, you might wanna take a look:
https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1443142

I'd like u to ask ur questions there so other people will see it.
Keep me posted!

Thanks. I will look into faster casting. Right now I can't dual curse with LW because I don't have enough links but it seems like that's probably my biggest issue right now since I'm not running warlords and instead assassins mark. I'll get a curse on hit going with LW + Less Duration + CoH + Warlords and see how that goes for me. =]

LW feels kind of clunky to me right now since I don't have much cast speed on gear or in my tree yet, but I guess that goes away with time.

Yep, the quality on LW will boost its cast speed a lot, eventaully it'll be great .

as for the curse on hit combo, 5L armours aren't that expensive as far as I remember :-)

Fixed Links

FYI Aim_Deep couldn't respond or edit his post because he's on probation.

I don't think you should take the same thread title as his post unless he gave you permission in game.

Thanks for making this thread!

The other was getting pretty scrambled with the changes.

Much appreciated!!

Q:
What about reflect maps and Corrupted Bloodline mods on mobs?

(for Elemental reflect need to change Cold-to-Fire gem to Life Leech, and pop Sapphire & Topaz flasks for extra safety)

to Life Leech - it's really helps?))))

can you make video?

"

MatrixFactor wrote:

FYI Aim_Deep couldn't respond or edit his post because he's on probation.

I don't think you should take the same thread title as his post unless he gave you permission in game.

he's a friend of mine dont worry.

bex, there is a video that Aim_Deep made:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIvMi584rcs

Okay I'm back with a question about the dual curse setup. Warlords has definitely helped my mana issues but now I'm having a different problem.

Less Duration linked with Lightning Warp is pretty much necessary, but then the Less Duration also reduces your curse duration on Warlords + Assassins. Curse on hit also reduces the duration by an additional amount. On any fight where I don't kill things in just a few casts my curse seems to fall off of them, and then my mana starts plummeting due to a lack of leech. At my level this is obviously a problem, but I looked and it seems that even at max level you're looking at around a 4-5 second curse which seems like it would be a problem for most rare and unique mobs. Quality on less duration would make this an even bigger issue by about 1 second.

So how do you get around the short curse duration? Is the only way to just reapply the curses when they fall off? I'm considering seperating the CoH from my lightning warp and using something like firestorm to apply them instead, which would free up a 5/6 link for something else. What are your thoughts on that?

I want to do this build. Any clues as to in what order to take passives? A simple "Head this way, then here, then here..." would be fine, but a 30, 60, and 80 point tree would be nice. :-)