[3.5] Crit Ice Spears Occultist: Build Guide

Cleared Content:
Forge of Phoenix Fight - https://youtu.be/1L212ZkfYJc

This is the build guide to my Occultist Crit Ice Spears build.

This is possibly Hardcore viable - I don't know for sure till I hear more feedback. Although it does feel very safe.

I shared this build on Reddit and some people shared their thoughts and questions, you may view them / ask me anything here or on this post: https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/a77o53/wanted_to_share_my_occultist_crit_ice_spears_build/

Why Occultist?
My first instinct was Assassin and Elementalist however, through some trial and error I learned the following:

That Assassin's ascendancy nodes offer nothing to this skill as the crit chance does scale very well with the second form and the damage was inferior to that of Occultist's (with the one of the Ascendancy nodes (+1 curse) allowing me to run Warlord's Mark - a sustain option not available when running Proj Weakness in Assassin)

Elementalist was inferior in all aspects, the heralds don't do much for ice spears.

Required Items
The only required items are Void Batteries (obvious) & Voidwalker Murder Boots. These unique boots are required because they enable quicker and much safer clear speed by being able to pierce 5 additional projectiles we are able to give the first stage pierce (the part of the skill which has no pierce and the least damage) & and allow the second stage (the best stage) of Ice Spears to proc alot more when self-casting. All other items can be changed without a huge impact to the build.

How the Build Works?
The build is really simple, you build 9 power charges through the power charge on crit gem in the 6L Ice Spears setup and sustain them naturally just by using skills (Every 200 mana spent refreshes the timer on the power charges - Occultist ascendancy). You blast them with the ice spears, they are knocked back with projectile weakness, frozen because of cold damage, & either die or die to the malediction from occultist. Each of these spears then leech you mana and life because of the warlord's elder ring.

What to look for in items/jewels?

PoB has the gear I currently have it gives a general idea of what your looking for. Note the jewel that I have has been slotted in 5 times to show what the stats would look like with just an average jewel. But you may take them out and build gives nearly the same amount of damage. Below I list priorities in terms of stats your looking for on items/jewels:

PRIORITY 1: Maximum Life & Resistances
You already have enough damage with just 9 power charges, the skill tree & ascendancy nodes, & projectile weakness.

PRIORITY 2: Damage
Flat & percent cold damage added to spells
Spell Damage
Crit Multiplier

What else?
Enjoy the build & post any constructive criticism/ play experiences/ questions below in the comments. I will try my best to answer any questions. You may also PM me in game.

hey bud build looking interesting. do you have any videos?

Hey I just recorded this, its a map clear and Forge of the Phoenix boss fight: https://youtu.be/1L212ZkfYJc

Heya, you considered running Marylene Fallacy? Im trying out a totem ice spear build and the amulet seems built for a build that has such a high crit rate.

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themightyevil wrote:

Heya, you considered running Marylene Fallacy? Im trying out a totem ice spear build and the amulet seems built for a build that has such a high crit rate.

Yes I have tried the build with Marylene's Fallacy and it has significantly boosts the DPS however, because of the decrease in crit chance, the chance to freeze is reduced as well. I believe the crit chance goes down to around 70-75%. You have to play a bit safer but overall it feels fine although I prefer the freeze.

First off, thank you as I have been wanting to try out ice spear. What enchant would you prioritize? I was thinking the projectiles travel less distance for quality of life. Did you level this with ice spear and if so how long did it take to feel good?

Also I see you have MoM in PoB but only 15% mana unreserved. That seems like it'd be difficult to maintain unless I'm missing something?

In the HC leagues unfortunately the required items for this build are very expensive. Definitely not a league starter.

Ice Spear pierces automatically, you dont need VoidWalker boots.

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Senenleigh360 wrote:

Ice Spear pierces automatically, you dont need VoidWalker boots.

To quote the PoE wiki: "Piercing: The second form naturally pierces all targets, but additional targets pierce allows the first form to pierce targets as well."

I think mentioned the piercing was the first phase. It felt bad if the first phase didn't pierce.

Heya, just wondering: Is there a reason you're not using Poacher's Aim to free up the boot slot? Or is +1 pierce too limited for the length of the first form?