[3.8] LiftingNerdBro's Tri/Quad Frostbolt Totems Hierophant - Strong League Starter!

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aefoa wrote:
Can we just swap Frostbolt gem for Glacial cascade for boss fights? Or is there any way to make this build be able to kill any end-game boss?


For GC to be effective with this tree / gear you need a way to convert the 40% additionnal phys damage into cold. So just a gem switch isn't gonna help you.

I did a very easy yellow elder with frostbolt with not so good gear, I don't see why it couldn't scale until the hardest bosses
"
aefoa wrote:
Can we just swap Frostbolt gem for Glacial cascade for boss fights? Or is there any way to make this build be able to kill any end-game boss?

I switched to Freezing Pulse, and it's better than Frostbolt for single target. End-game bosses don't die super quickly, but it's quite consistent and safe way of doing damage. Feel free to check my profile if needed.
IGN: somewittynamehere
"
Mithestral wrote:
So 1 week after the start of Bestiary League I kinda want to share my experience with this build as a league starter.

I initially took it a bit by default; I did not have the time prior to the league to prepare my own build, nor did I have the courage to try out the new skills as league starter.

I was not impressed by the other totem guides, and at least this one looked like he knew what he was talking about.


Levelling was smooth. 11h for campain + normal/cruel lab. I actually didn't take ancestral bond before unlocking maps; it didn't make sense to me, spell totem frostbolt on a 4 link was half the damage of my 3L freezing pulse.

2 then 3 totems during leveling + my freezing pulse allowed fast boss killing, and overall no real issue once i got the first FB threshold jewel (was a bit meh before that).



And then I actually got surprised. The speed clearing in maps was actually below what I expected because at the beginning I wasn't playing very well with totem, but also because relying on flasks to move is so atrocious. This convinced me out of using a staff. I just couldn't do it.
But, the boss killing was actually much better than described in this guide; the hierophant buffs for this patch are probably no stranger to that. It actually didn't feel worse than my SR trickster last league, and I actually no issue in particular at doing uberlab (around lvl80).

Now, lvl89, I managed to push t14 maps without ever feeling weak, and having still a lot of margin of progress in terms of gear.
Yes this isn't ever going to farm guardians and end game bosses without going for the GG items (atziri's mirror upgrade, indigon maybe), but it definitely has the potential.

Still, I wasn't expecting much out of it and it's been a decent league starter, i'll farm a few more days to ge currency for a reroll, i don't really want to push endgame with this char, but if you like it, it's good enough.


PoB for reference : https://pastebin.com/xzUhdmhK


I have been following this build pretty much to the letter with a 5 link staff (can't afford the 6 link yet), the gloves etc. I can do T8 pretty well but boss kills are tricky. Lots of dogging around and trying not to die while the totems slowly kill off the boss. Looking at your build, you are using Doryani's Vaal scepter and a shield instead and you have the 6 link in your chest piece. You are also using a different passive skills layout, veering more to the right of the skill tree. Do you find that this change has allowed you to push higher? I have 2 ex and about 50c in the bank so I could certainly morph my build like yours fairly easily but I don't want to bother if it isn't going to get me up into red maps. Was hoping you would give your opinion / reasoning for going the route you did.
Sorry for the noob questions. I'm leveling up and I have low critic. If I use controlled destruction I get only 5% critic (from 12%). Should I use Faster casting or Hypothermia meanwhile I get more critic chance on items. Or should I get more critic from the tree? (you don't recommend too much critic nodes).


Last edited by haitike on Mar 9, 2018, 8:28:17 PM
From my personnal experience:
frostbite > proj weakness esp on bosses
maligaro > woc (gloves) and I think that the crit rampage gloves are even better :)
crit mult amulet is almost mandatory.
consider using that instead of a regular mana flask. Lots of life nodes everywhere, you still benefit from the mana regen for sustaining dmgs and os and can take the offensive ascendancy instead(arcane surge one). It shines as the build invests way more on crit than raw damages.
more fortify less double vh on chest.

With enough investment and the massive power creep hiero had I think it can do any content.
Last edited by galuf on Mar 9, 2018, 8:29:56 PM
"
Panthalas333 wrote:
"
Mithestral wrote:
So 1 week after the start of Bestiary League I kinda want to share my experience with this build as a league starter.

I initially took it a bit by default; I did not have the time prior to the league to prepare my own build, nor did I have the courage to try out the new skills as league starter.

I was not impressed by the other totem guides, and at least this one looked like he knew what he was talking about.


Levelling was smooth. 11h for campain + normal/cruel lab. I actually didn't take ancestral bond before unlocking maps; it didn't make sense to me, spell totem frostbolt on a 4 link was half the damage of my 3L freezing pulse.

2 then 3 totems during leveling + my freezing pulse allowed fast boss killing, and overall no real issue once i got the first FB threshold jewel (was a bit meh before that).



And then I actually got surprised. The speed clearing in maps was actually below what I expected because at the beginning I wasn't playing very well with totem, but also because relying on flasks to move is so atrocious. This convinced me out of using a staff. I just couldn't do it.
But, the boss killing was actually much better than described in this guide; the hierophant buffs for this patch are probably no stranger to that. It actually didn't feel worse than my SR trickster last league, and I actually no issue in particular at doing uberlab (around lvl80).

Now, lvl89, I managed to push t14 maps without ever feeling weak, and having still a lot of margin of progress in terms of gear.
Yes this isn't ever going to farm guardians and end game bosses without going for the GG items (atziri's mirror upgrade, indigon maybe), but it definitely has the potential.

Still, I wasn't expecting much out of it and it's been a decent league starter, i'll farm a few more days to ge currency for a reroll, i don't really want to push endgame with this char, but if you like it, it's good enough.


PoB for reference : https://pastebin.com/xzUhdmhK


I have been following this build pretty much to the letter with a 5 link staff (can't afford the 6 link yet), the gloves etc. I can do T8 pretty well but boss kills are tricky. Lots of dogging around and trying not to die while the totems slowly kill off the boss. Looking at your build, you are using Doryani's Vaal scepter and a shield instead and you have the 6 link in your chest piece. You are also using a different passive skills layout, veering more to the right of the skill tree. Do you find that this change has allowed you to push higher? I have 2 ex and about 50c in the bank so I could certainly morph my build like yours fairly easily but I don't want to bother if it isn't going to get me up into red maps. Was hoping you would give your opinion / reasoning for going the route you did.


I can't really compare since I never really went into the staff route, since i hate staves.
As far as the reasoning went, since I didn't want to invest into staves node, i just logged in Path of Building and checked power nodes : shadow starting area was glaring red, and DPS upgrade per point invested was decent.

If you give up the staff, there's no reason not to go right. But as for my tree, it's still not satisfying to me, i'm still trying to find a way to reach doomcast without sacrificing too much life.

As far as other weapons go, Doryani for me was fine, scepter allowing shield charge, lots of ele damage. Popular option is dual wield Shimmeron, but you need to take at least 2 or 3 power charge nodes. More dps than what I have, but less tanky.

Breakdown of costs :

doryani 25c or shimmeron 2*40c
6L rare chest 30-40c
lvl 21 frostbolt (which is huge dps upgrade too, don't forget it) : 25c
a few regrets

i don't think it's an unbearable cost if you're not satisfied with your current setup
"
haitike wrote:
Sorry for the noob questions. I'm leveling up and I have low critic. If I use controlled destruction I get only 5% critic (from 12%). Should I use Faster casting or Hypothermia meanwhile I get more critic chance on items. Or should I get more critic from the tree? (you don't recommend too much critic nodes).

Controlled Destruction is pretty much mandatory no matter your crit chance. And actually the lower crit you have, the less of the downside it is. While you're leveling, it's better to invest into generic damage, crit starts scaling well only if you have decent amount of it. So I'd recommend not paying much attention to crit until you are 75-80+ or so. When you start getting into crit, Increased Critical Strikes is going to be very good. Also Cold Penetration is basically mandatory. So a typical 5L would be: Frostbolt/Freezing pulse - Spell Totem - Controlled Destruction - Cold Penetration - Increased Critical Strikes. And then if you feel like you've got enough crit, Faster Casting could be a better option than Increased Critical Strikes, just to get that additional smoothness (needs checking your true crit values in PoB). 6th link is usually Hypothermia.
IGN: somewittynamehere
Last edited by 5tr1k3r on Mar 10, 2018, 6:57:22 AM
Thank you for this build! I am only 64 as I started the league late, but I am so enjoying the play style of this build!

I had a guildmate rush me to the epilogue after soloing through Act 7. This is like the infomercial "Set it and forget it". I just toss down totems and run around and pick up loot.

Thank you for making POE fun again.
Casual Player - who likes microtransactions and hideouts.
how much more effective is the increased cast speed lab enchant opposed to the 40% frostbolt damage?
I have a couple of questions about this build:

1) I don't bother with Clarity and never have mana issues. Which allows me to use my Clear Mind jewel for extra damage and some regen boost. I am just into low level maps though and wonder if mana becomes more of a problem later on? My totems are 5-linked not yet 6-linked.

2) Frost Bomb we are only casting for the secondary cold resist debuff right? Is it worth adding Spell Cascade for better coverage? i.e. do the three frost bombs cover a better area even with the reduced AOE? (I presume the debuff doesn't stack). Can leave it at level 1 if this works I guess.

I am super casual and playing this SSF Standard so my gear is mixed.

Thanks.
Last edited by Raechel on Mar 11, 2018, 11:47:05 AM

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