[On Hold] Glacial Cascade Totems [ALL Content in the Game]

Ok some changes made to the guide which are in the Update Log. I have added a section in "Questions I've answered" with my analysis on Multiple Totems Support. I will be filming a YouTube video for people who would rather listen than read.

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Just wanted to thank you again for providing this guide, I've used it twice, and am thinking of using it again for 3.5 stuck between this and the "OneShotKill Elemental Hit Totem Hiero" but I sort of want to go with something I know will carry me through the beginning of the league without any issues.

Let me know how it goes, I think this will be a great league starter for 3.5 so you know what my vote is!

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Hey thi3n, thanks for the guide and also updating it going further into betrayal! My friend is starting with poe this league again, and I recommended him your build since I had great success 2 leagues ago with this ;)

Would you recommend an Elder chest with a + %crit to socketed spells better than a soulmantle? Just curious when it comes to super endgame dps

Keep up the good work!

Soul Mantle really is a great chest for totem builds. I know people hate the curse drawback of it but Totem Life, Extra Totem, and free Spell Totem Support make the chest the ultimate chest for totem users.

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So with the new totem support gem that grants 2 extra totems would that make Inquisitor better than Hierophant?
Hiero will go from 5 to 7 totems. Assuming a 20 less damage on the support gem. Instead of 500% damage Hiero would get 700*0.8 = 560. That is 12% more damage.
Inquisitor will go from 300% to (500%*0,8) and get 400%, which is 33% more.

One could also consider going Assassin.

I really do think Inquisitor is back on the table. The quality of life missing from extra totems and totem placement speed seem to be solved with Multiple Totems Support and remember Inquisitor makes it to where you no longer care about Elemental Penetration and you penetrate resistance of all types so Added Fire, Phys to Light, are all on the table! Would really love to see someone try an Inquis version of the build this league.

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New totem support gem IS SO FREAKING GOOD. POG

I think it's good but not made for Hierophants, check my "Questions I've Answered" section for my thoughts on it.

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Thanks thi3n for the build!
Managed to kill uber elder as well as uber atziri for the first time since i started playing. Used the build as well to get 36/40 which could have been 40/40 with more luck in the mines & more effort from my side for the end game grind.

Using Frigid Fossil & Pristine Fossil I managed to craft a nice helm, which could be mentioned in the description of the guide as well as it was quite cheap & easy. To use Clear Mind and Clarity at the same time I linked it with Blood Magic Support.

I will mention Frigid/Pristine Fossil crafting for helms in the guide. Thanks! Glad you enjoyed the build.

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is stat stick nerf effecting this build at all?

This is indeed a nerf to one part of the build. However the mechanics of Glacial Cascade still make it a top tier ability and scaling it is still the same. One of the many more multipliers we had is simply going down a little.

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"The Hierophant node Ritual of Awakening no longer grants +1 to maximum number of Summoned Totems. Instead it now causes skills that would Summon a Totem to summon two Totems instead, and grants 3% more Damage per Totem."

The More damage multiplier from this Ascendancy Change isn't quite Extra-Totem levels of overpowered but is still very good and a must-grab if you are a Hierophant totem user.

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Given the nerf to statsticks I am definitely considering a void battery variant now. Waiting on tree release to decide on 2nd VB or shield with +1 totem. Seems like a significant nerf overall though.

Interested to know how this goes! Let me know if you follow through with this.

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Will the build work with a 5L soul mantle?

I was able to do all content with a 5 link except for Uber Elder.

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This has been my favorite build for many leagues. I was going to use it as a league starter but it feels like it's not so great anymore. I'm waiting for Thi3n youtube video to make my final decision but here are some things that worry me.

From 3.5 patch notes:

Item Balance
"The Shaper weapon mods which cause you to gain a portion of Physical Damage as Extra Cold, Fire, or Lightning Damage, or Extra Damage of a random Element, grant half as much Extra Damage. Amulets are unaffected by this change, and this does not affect existing items. Existing versions can be updated to these new values with a Divine Orb."

- So this means that extra damage will be capped to 20% instead of 40%. For example my current dagger has "Gain 30% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage" and "Gain 40% of Physical Damage as Extra Lightning Damage". In this league numbers would be 15% and 20%. While I'm using two of this kind of daggers the nerf to my damage will be real.

Ascendancy Balance
"Ritual of Awakening no longer grants +1 to maximum number of Summoned Totems. Instead it now causes skills that would Summon a Totem to summon two Totems instead, and grants 3% more Damage per Totem."

- We will lose 1 totem that was granted by this ascendancy node. Additional damage per totem won't be enough.


There will be veiled mod in shield that gives us one extra totem. But to use that we would need to give up second weapon. There will also be some support gem that gives us additional totem but cuts some damage made by supported skills. And we also can't use that gem spot to support skill that would actually give more damage.

So summa summarum it feels like there is pretty much nerfing to this build. I will probably use totems only as support from now on. :(

I will be explaining this in the YouTube Video but yes it is a damage nerf in perfect scenarios. That is, when all your totems are up and attacking at the same time then you can consider the More damage uneven compensation for losing a totem. However, there is more to this game than sheet DPS. Being able to place 2 totems at a time is HUGE for this build. In hectic fights this may even translate into MORE damage than before. A stick-and-go playstyle loves the fact that you can now place 2 totems at a time. In my opinion this build was BUFFED in this patch.

How does this compare to arc? Looks a lot more satisfying to play, but in terms of numbers and cost, is there a difference?

could scion be a choice now? we get +1 totem from hiero and then something else from a different class. apart from the +1 totem hiero doesnt seem to be that good now

I really like the build but I am worried about how it will feel to move around maps. I noticed that there is no +ms and only whirling blades to move around. I am just worried it will feel like a slog to map, I have never tried whirling blades as a moment skill before though.

So the skill gems are announced and I see with multiple totems support we get +2 totems but 21% less damage. Also place 2 at a time.

With soul mantle that will be 6 totems at 79% of damage or almost 4.8 full damage totems worth. The loss of another support gem may seem costly, but the ascendancy will add 18% totem damage with 6 (if I am understanding that right).

I'm playing with a 6L carcass jack and only 4 totems, and losing a support may be a bit worse. I would get 5 totems though and +15%.

edit: also carcass jack will get more incAoE this patch (20% goes to 40-50%), if anyone besides me likes to use one.

I really want to do this build. But I have serious doubts about how to proceed now after the path notes (if I go from dual dagger or dagger + shield +1 totem veiled mod or stat stick even nerfed). I wonder if someone has a final PoB or if thi3n will make one before starting the league....

I'm thinking this build but modified for Ice Nova Totems with Bonechill support might be better than GC, still testing though.

Obviously swap out the GC gems and any phys dmg nodes, but maybe viable? Although Occultist looks so good for self-cast variant.

Is this viable without soul mantle?Ifind the curses too intrusive for my taste:(

I tried it with soul mantle as recommended, but I hated the curse management. At the time I looked around and the cheapest 6-link that helped the build was carcass jack. So I've used that for a while. You lose a support gem but get some support-like affixes on the chest.

I've really liked this setup, as I can't often place more than 4 totems at a time effectively, so 4 seems to be enough. This build allows me to kill more bosses safely than I have with any builds other than possibly juggernauts.

Carcass jack is changing in 3.5 (increased AoE), though I'm not sure if that really helps or not.

Guys... what about winter orb with this build?