[3.5] Winter orb CwC Ice spear

Shaper guardians and full shaper run: https://youtu.be/Z4hGYV9HVT8

The only required unique is the Fenumus' Shroud

This chest gives the flat ES regen to keep your ES pool up while channelling, since just relying on ES recharge isn't enough as Eldritch Battery now has "50% less Energy shield recharge rate" The chest also increases the radius of your spider webs and reduces their damage taken. The reduced elemental resistances doesn't help us since we are Inquisitor and we always ignore a mobs resistances.

Other uniques used can for the most part be swapped out for rares depending on what you need or prefer.

Mutewind Whispersteps are a nice damage boots for the boots slot. You could use kaom's roots if you feel the need for a bigger life pool or even just a rare pair of boots with life, resistances and movespeed.

Shadows and dust are a nice mapping pair of gloves due to giving you rampage. They also offer crit multi, which is the biggest source of damage for ice spear.

Helm is a relatively easy fossil craft, hopping for an open prefix and suffix. The suffix is for a beat craft for Aspect of the spider. The prefix is for a master craft, either a life roll if you want more ehp or the "#% phys damage taken as fire" bench craft. The "Ice spear fires an additional projectile" is the best helm enchant for the build.

As for weapon and shield, since Ice spear has a huge 600% increased critical strike chance in second form, we don't need to get spell critical chance. The stats of value are cold/spell damage and critical multiplier with an open prefix to master craft "gain as extra chaos damage" mod.


Amulet needs to have the temple mod "of Puhuarte" which gives cold damage leeched as life. This would be ideal to get along with some spell/cold damage, life and crit multi.


One of the rings will want to be an Assassin's mark on hit ring. The other ring slot can be used to fill resist gaps, life and damage.


Lastly for belt, a fossil crafted stygian with life, cold damage and elemental damage is best. Otherwise just life and resistances.


Flasks are pretty straight forward. Diamond flask isn't really necessary but it helps your clear out by making it more likely for your winter orb to crit. Dying sun is a big boost to both winter orb and ice spear. Then just a basalt for some phys mitigation and quicksilver for movement.

Main link: Winter orb - Cast while channelling - Ice Spear - Greater Multiple Projectiles - Hypothermia _ Controlled Destruction

Herald of Ice - Increased Critical Strikes chance - Ice Bite - Onslaught

Vortex - Bonechill - Increased Area of Effect

Shield charge - Faster attacks - Fortify

Cast when damage taken - Immortal call - Cold snap

Vaal righteous fire - Increased duration

Decoy totem - Arctic armour - Flame dash (Fit this in wherever you have slots)

Up until I got my tabula from blood aquaducts, I was self cast ice spear with self cast winter orb, only switching to CwC once tabula has been aquired. I tested out Eldritch battery but decided against it untill I have gotten the spider chest since the base ES regen is nowhere near enough to keep the chanel going.

From this point onwards it is just crafting and upgrading rares. Replacing the boots most likely to enable a big damage shield/ring. I did shaper and it was really easy and clean. I tanked a slam and lived, so the effective health pool is sufficient. Once some of the rares are set up, I will be attempting uber elder. Red tier elder was a lot harder than shaper, the ice projectiles hit REALLY hard and was the main struggle with this build.

So I started to work on upgrades, beginning with helm. This was an easy fossil craft. Using pristine and metallic (can use any of the 3 elements for whichever res you need). All you are looking for is the life/life% hybrid and the res of choice. Then you get the spider aspect added and then either craft on a life roll or get the "#% physical damage taken as fire damage" crafted.
Shield is fairly easy to get. You don't really need the spell crit since ice spear is basically 100% crit and that is the main focus here. Having an open prefix to bench craft the "Gain #% of non-chaos damage as extra chaos damage" then you are just after life and spell/cold damage. Suffixes can be anything; res, max res, cast speed whatever fits your needs.

As for jewellery, you really need the temple cold leech mod, so getting this one upgraded will take a while (or be very expensive). Fossil crafting a stygian vise with pristine + prismatic + frigid to create a damage focused belt. Then ring slots are open just life and filling in all your missing res, one will need to be an assassin's mark on hit ring.