[3.0] Balance - A CwC Frostbolt EE MoM VP guide

Hey there! I very much enjoyed this build in 3.0. Any chance of a 3.1 version? I'm thinking of going Elemental Overload instead of crit since you'd lose a lot of crit chance if you still get Vaal Pact. Thoughts?

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darccyde wrote:

Hey there! I very much enjoyed this build in 3.0. Any chance of a 3.1 version? I'm thinking of going Elemental Overload instead of crit since you'd lose a lot of crit chance if you still get Vaal Pact. Thoughts?

I am very enthusiastic to return to this build and my old FreezerBurn builds this league.

However, I have promised myself that
1: I would get through finals week at school first. And..
2: I would get my main character (A lab runner) to 90 First.

So yes, I would gladly update all of my guides once the opportunity presents itself.

Cheers

I'm working an another character at the moment as well. Good to hear that this build will continue! Good luck on your finals, mate!

I'm playing this build this league, and without Vaal Pact, it's pretty obvious I won't get shaper down without some other forms of defense. So let's theorycraft till Kwitch is done with school and such.

Here are some ideas while keeping the theme of the build intact (CwC Storm Burst -> Frostbolt, Elemental Equilibrium). Keep in mind, this is my first caster since Cast on Crit got trashed, so forgive any bad ideas.
-Drop crit/life nodes for CI & Elemental Overload?
-Roll as Assassin Shadow instead of Elemental Witch? Go all in on Crit, maybe grab Acrobatics/Phase Acrobatics
-Switch out Realm Ender with Taryn's Shiver? Focus on cold damage since it got buffed a bit.

I'm personally going to skip using Pyre on mine for a while, and try to take advantage of the 15% extra fire damage from Realmshaper's lvl 5 Cold to Fire.

Either way, let me know what you guys think!

(edit: ignore the bit about Pyre. I'm dumb and forgot how "added as extra damage" works)

Hey guys,

I'm looking for some help on this build. I've only been playing for a little while, so go easy on me. ;)

I'm currently level 83 and I feel as though I have hit a pretty big wall in progression. I've been working on T5-6 maps and having a pretty tough time staying alive.

My dps also feels low, although I dont have anything to base that on. I'm wondering if I should get more crit chance? I can clear out most trash mobs with no problems but unique mobs and bosses are often troublesome.

My privacy settings should be open for everyone to view (I think). If anyone has time to take a look at my Twiddle_Balance character and give me some pointers I would appreciate it!

Howdy fellas, let me address some of your questions regarding the build.

1: Taryn's Shiver is a downgrade in damage, and has the difficulty of freezing targets as required to get comprable to the damage of a Realm Ender.

CI + Elemental Overload are terrible hits to the sustain of the build, additionally to the damage. They don't really serve a purpose. I could make an ES version if you wish to try it, but since this build had pursued strength based gear for some armour component, it would be a complete overhaul. DOable, but I didn't like that direction when originally creating the build.

You can definitely use a different ascendancy if you like. This build has always been somewhat of a ranged 'artillery' build, and the new elemental thorns plays well enough with it that the need for paragon is somewhat diminished. I'm not as in love with Elementalist as I used to be, with her kit basically being nerfed and neglected. Choosing to run reflect content is really optional, and shadow could play the build fairly well.

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There is a major change in the build in regards to pathing, since VP is no longer desirable nor reachable. THose poitns that were originally spent pursuing VP in the Shadow tree should instead be spent on Doom Cast and Written in Blood. That brings the build up to 179% hp and pushes the crit & multi up a bit.

Tentative skilltree: http://poeurl.com/bHib

I'm still considering alternatives to the sustainability, perhaps a different form of sustain, a thirst for horrors might find it's way into the build, idk. Bunch of fun alternatives to try out and weigh. It's the holidays, so I expect to be gone for a week her shortly, but I hope that helps with those palying the build to navigate the current skillpoint expenditures.

Currently level 73 in HC. Magic white maps are reasonably chill. I'm not confident enough to go through the rest of the content yet.

- I really, really hate doors. Only the lightning balls go through doors. It sucks.
- Shaper assassin's mark ring helps with power charges, though at this stage I've still got elemental overload going. (11% crit, 18% with max charges, no crit multi anywhere, EO is fine.) I'm still melting most content solo, though not strong enough to carry >2 person parties yet.
- Used a doryani's fire belt until I got my boots enchant for leech. The lack of life on that really hurt. I still expect a problem against bosses with no adds to trigger the "on kill" part, but single target has never been an expectation.

Passive tree

Next up: one more HP node (1), mana nodes (2), staff block nodes (5), respec EO and Ash Frost Storm into crit nodes, more crit (18, less 5 from respeccing) and/or power charges (2+1,3,3).

Overall review:

Leveling as frostbolt was great. When I got realm ender at 40, I was melting everything even with my leveling buddy. I typically set up final skills and things at blood aqueduct, and this build did just fine into maps, if with a little less safety margin than I normally like. I made it to 73 with a 4-link staff.

Did get the final Kitava and uber lab from a buddy though, and map bosses are usually some variant of running around madly with the decoy totem up trying not to get squished while squeezing in damage. I'm a pansy and I shouldn't be playing HC with no logout macro, it's killed me many times over already.

This build is costing me so much money and I'm already doing the budget version. Getting exactly the right boot enchant, getting my realm ender socketed and linked (it's at 5), getting an item with mana return on hit corrupt, getting a shaper ring with assassins' mark. Then again, that crap only became necessary for progress at this point and I was doing fine on the ultra-budget version until now.

Verdict: scales exponentially with gear and levels, but I always feel like I'm on the verge of dying anyway. If I did this again I might try chieftain.