[3.4] Glacial Hammer Frostbreath Raider
INTRODUCTION
Tala Moana, Exile, and welcome to the build guide. If you’ve never read one of my guides before, let me just start by introducing myself. I’m a long-time PoE veteran; I’ve played most every league since 2013, I’ve done all the end-game content and I’ve built and played hundreds of high-level (90+) characters.
I followed plenty of guides while learning the ropes myself; now I'd like to pay it forward by writing guides of my own. All of my guides make the following assumptions: ➤ You've got basic gameplay knowledge. ➤ You're familiar with Path of Building. ➤ You've got a limited budget. I'm happy to answer questions and glad to receive feedback. Feel free to leave comments on this thread. You can find my other guides here. [RUNDOWN] Well, this is it; a Glacial Hammer character that actually feels like the harbinger of icy death you envision when fantasizing about how the skill ought to play. It's been a blast leaping through maps like some sort of hailstorm from hell, freezing and subsequently shattering every potential threat. Strong evasion characters play as if nothing can touch you and that feeling is only enhanced by rendering every enemy literally frozen and blind. Enjoy, comrade. _________________________________________________________________________ ⍟ Path of Building Pastebin Link ⍟ ⍟ Passive Skill Tree ⍟ _________________________________________________________________________
VIDEOS
HOW IT WORKS
[OFFENSE]
Frostbreath deals double damage to chilled enemies. We deal 100% cold damage through Glacial Hammer w/ Winter Burial and Winter Spirit. We scale primarily flat cold damage, cold penetration, applicable % increased damage and attack speed. Dual Wielding gives bonus attack speed and damage. Frenzy Charges give us damage, flat damage (Ice Bite) and attack speed. Enemies we intimidate (Tombfist) take 10% more attack damage. [DEFENSE] Our attacks Freeze/Chill everything, which substantially reduces incoming damage. We stack as much Evasion, Dodge, Spell Dodge, Life and Resistance as possible. We also Blind chilled enemies on-hit (Pandemonius), making our evasion more effective. [ASCENDANCY] Raider has both offensive and defensive synergies. Rapid Assault & Avatar of the Chase give attack speed, damage and an Onslaught engine for bosses; AotC grants a multiplicative evasion bonus. Way of the Poacher and Avatar of the Slaughter buff up Frenzy Charges and grant a Frenzy Charge engine for bosses. [KEYSTONES] Our only keystones are Acrobatics and Phase Acrobatics. They provide lots of Dodge/Spell Dodge at the expense of Block, Armor and Energy Shield. We lose a small amount of Block from Dual Wielding, but otherwise suffer no penalties for taking them. [UTILITY SKILLS] This build runs Leap Slam for mobility, Vaal Ancestral Warchief & Ancestral Protector + Frost Bomb for damage during boss fights, and a Vaal Cold Snap/Immortal Call supported by Cast When Damage Taken as an additional layer of defense. I self-cast Blood Rage for extra attack speed.
PROS & CONS
+ Shatter (Protection from on-death effects)
+ Solid defenses (Freeze/Chill, Blind & Evasion) despite the mediocre life + Bypasses accuracy (Resolute Technique corrupted implicit) - Mediocre life (5 - 6.5k) - Unique heavy (I'm running six uniques) - Mediocre DPS (400k Shaper/Guardian)
GEAR & LINKS
RARES
If you're having trouble evaluating rare items, use the list below. I'll indicated desirable properties for each equipment slot. Additionally, I'll include a reminder wherever the build calls for a unique item.
➤ Mainhand — Glacial Hammer requires a Mace or Staff. Prioritize Physical DPS, Attack Speed, Accuracy*, flat Cold Damage and increased Elemental Damage with Attacks. [This slot is occupied by a unique item] ➤ Offhand — If Dual Wielding, see the above. If using a shield, prioritize Evasion Rating, Life, Resistances, Attributes and Dodge. [This slot is occupied by a unique item] ➤ Helmet — Ideally, you'll have one of the Glacial Hammer Helmet Enchantments. Prioritize Life, Evasion and Resistance. If possible, aim for Nearby Enemies have -9% to Cold Resistance (it's a frigid fossil mod). ➤ Boots — Life, Resistance, Evasion, Attributes, Dodge and Spell Dodge. ➤ Gloves — Physical Damage, Cold Damage, Attack Speed, Life, Resistance, Accuracy*, Evasion, Attributes. [This slot is occupied by a unique item] ➤ Belt — Life, Resistance, Elemental Damage w/ Attacks, Elemental Damage, Flask Effect & Duration. Aim for a Stygian Vise, since Abyss Jewels provide powerful benefits for this character. ➤ Rings — Life, Resistance, Cold Damage, Elemental Damage w/ Attacks, Evasion, Accuracy*, Attack Speed, Attributes. [This slot is occupied by a unique item] ➤ Amulet — Life, Resistance, Physical Damage, Cold Damage, Accuracy*, Elemental Damage w/ Attacks, Evasion, Attributes. [This slot is occupied by a unique item] ➤ Jewels — Abyss (Murderous Eye) Jewels w/ Maximum Life, Cold Damage, Cold Damage w/ Mace Attacks and Attack Speed would be great. Otherwise, for non-abyss jewels: Life, Resistance, Applicable Damage and Attack Speed. *I recommend using a 3-green socket Prismatic Eclipse in your offhand with the Resolute Technique corrupted implicit; doing so renders accuracy rolls unnecessary.
UNIQUES
The following unique items are mandatory: Frostbreath, The Pandemonius, Prismatic Eclipse (with a Resolute Technique corrupted implicit), 1x Winter Burial — the rest are just highly recommended.
LEVELING
Something like a walkthrough would be outside the purview of this guide, but if that's something you need, I recommend searching the Gameplay Help and Discussion section for an up-to-date beginner's/leveling guide or walkthrough.
ITEMIZATION
STARTER UNIQUES
The following items are powerful, have no level requirement and are typically budget-friendly:
➤ Tabula Rasa Simple Robe (Body Armor): A six-link all-white-socket (gems of any color may be placed into white sockets) unique chest piece. ➤ Goldrim Leather Cap (Helmet): Just a helmet with a ton of elemental resistance. It cuts incoming elemental damage by more than 30%! ➤ Wanderlust Wool Shoes (Boots): These boots give decent movement speed and protect you from being frozen. ➤ Darkness Enthroned Stygian Vise (Belt): This belt comes with 2 Abyssal Sockets and buffs the properties of whatever Abyss Jewels you socket into it. There are plenty of Abyss Jewels with powerful properties and no level requirement. ➤ Quicksilver Flask (Flask): While not a unique item, pretty much every character benefits from the movement speed provided by a Quicksilver Flask (nobody wants to run slower than they have to!).
LEVEL 20
I recommend dual wielding Brightbeaks; remember that Silver Flasks become available at level 22, and make sure you've got resistances on your gloves and rings at this point. You should aim for 75% elemental resistance.
LEVEL 40
Frostbreath isn't available until level 50, so I recommend stacking as much flat damage as possible, look for flat cold/phys damage on rings, amulets, gloves and in your main link setup (added cold & added lightning damage supports will work as placeholders in a pinch). I'd recommend replacing your amulet and boots with rares at this point; look for an 'of heat' suffix on one of your flasks to protect you against freeze. Abyss jewels can sometimes be expensive, but they're a good source of flat elemental damage. I encourage you to pick up a cheap Tombfist and socket a Murderous Eye jewel into it.
LEVEL 60+
At this point, you should have Frostbreath equipped and be feeling quite good. If your character feels squishy, make sure you've got 75% elemental resistances along with decent evasion and life on your rares. The Pandemonius can be expensive, but the blind goes a long way toward shoring up our defenses. In particular, look to your belt, boots and jewels to make up for lacking resistances; it should be cheapest to acquire them in these slots.
PASSIVE TREE
ASCENDANCY, PANTHEON & BANDITS
[ASCENDANCY]
➤ Way of the Poacher (Normal): Our Frenzy Charge engine and, therefore, definitely the first order of business. ➤ Avatar of the Slaughter (Cruel): The bonuses are nice, but the additional Frenzy Charge allows us to run Ice Bite over Added Cold for flat damage. ➤ Rapid Assault (Merciless): Works as an Onslaught engine, allowing you to swap out your Silver Flask if you were previously using one. ➤ Avatar of the Chase(Uber): This notable will make you more survivable in some situations and provides a nice bonus to attack/move speed. [PANTHEON] ➤ Soul of the Brine King (Major): I recommend fully upgrading this to prevent chain stuns and freezes. ➤ Soul of Gruthkul (Minor): Additional Physical Damage mitigation for dangerously rolled maps. [BANDITS] ➤ Kill All Three (Act 2): collect the two Passive Skill Points and Apex from Eramir.
MAPPING
[DANGEROUS AFFIXES/COMBINATIONS]
➤ Elemental Reflect [re-roll] ➤ Monsters have % chance to Avoid Elemental Ailments [re-roll] ➤ Player Chance to Dodge is Unlucky + Monster Crit/Damage affixes [caution] ➤ An abundance of DoT mods (ground effects, ignite, poison) [caution] ➤ Monster Life + Monster Resistance + Enfeeble [caution] ➤ Lowered Maximum Player Resistance [caution] Last edited by WSLaFleur on Nov 6, 2018, 12:30:59 AM Last bumped on Feb 4, 2019, 7:00:07 AM
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[reserved]
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dont want to be rude.. but
Resolute Technique kills this build - you get very very low damage thanks to it. POE in 2018 is all about crit Defences and sustain are Tier10 maps, your Hydra fight is.. i would not play a build like this Defences based on placebo effect (CWDT+IC) and luck + 5k life for a MELEE character. Hydra explained to you what is the value of these defences and most important: MELEE. wrong game. it is nice for mapping but to make it truly good you have to make it ranged and add crit. otherwise.. it is nice POE in 2016 build. for 2018 it is hopelessly outdated PS. i have a very similar build (inquisitor) and it feels nice. but it is not something i would recommend to anyone. MELEE. POE does not support MELEE so playing it is simply a handicap | |
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Plenty of awesome builds are melee, and many of them are RT so I dunno what your talking about.
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and most important: MELEE. wrong game. it is nice for mapping but to make it truly good you have to make it ranged and add crit. otherwise.. it is nice POE in 2016 build. for 2018 it is hopelessly outdated PS. i have a very similar build (inquisitor) and it feels nice. but it is not something i would recommend to anyone. MELEE. POE does not support MELEE so playing it is simply a handicap[/quote] Hurr durr people cant play what they want hurr durr only play range attack builds Let people play what they want and a build is rarely good for everything. this seems like a good mapper and budget. | |
" Hey, that's fine. You're welcome to your opinion, of course, but I disagree. Path of Exile is not a game about exalts per hour, despite the meta and despite what you seem to think. I've played Blade Vortex, Poet's Pen VD, etc. etc. and I had more fun playing this build than I did playing any of that crap. Just to be perfectly clear, it runs tier 15 maps just fine, only has a single dead mod (elemental reflect) and I've played it for days straight without a single death. The builds defenses are FINE for 99% of end game content (exempting 300+ Delve, which requires a heavily specialized character). The build's damage is honestly fine, too. You don't need a million sustained Shaper DPS to play comfortably. Then again, the sort of person who limits themselves playing one of the top 2-3 builds is probably not looking up Glacial Hammer guides. I'm not interested in having an ongoing argument about this. I just wanted to leave a single reply to assuage any fears you may have stirred in all the newcomers fleeing from D3 who might read your comment and feel pressured to play a build that doesn't resonate with them. Last edited by WSLaFleur on Nov 6, 2018, 4:15:07 AM
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Last edited by bjornharx on Jun 5, 2019, 7:12:55 AM
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lol
put my glasses? what i see is a MELEE build that barely handles a Hydra, is slow, has defences based on luck and no real sustain. it is cute and definitely will clear low tier maps quickly to run high level content RELIABLY - aka not dying every 3 tries facing a guardian - you need something stronger ofc you can set your standards low - farm slowly, accept deaths etc. but why would anyone do that facts are simple: POE is a game of two velocities. the modern ones and the obsolete ones. this build is a nice build(tm) in the obsolete category and im not blaming the author. but the game. game got so speed-obsessed that you no longer can pretend it didnt. this build (and many many many other MELEE non-crit builds with low damage) does not match current game AT ALL edit: i see you are concerned by cost of the build (Reddit comments) - maybe tell 'new players from diablo' how much your rare ring and belt were. i doubt these were any cheap if you really care about new players: you can get meta build that is stronger for a cost of your ring and belt. and thats the problem with current game Last edited by sidtherat on Nov 6, 2018, 4:14:33 AM
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" I invested less than two exalts total into the build, six-linked the Belly myself. I think the most expensive piece was actually The Pandemonius. I fossil crafted the helmet and belt. Both rings were roughly 15 chaos at the time of purchase. Last edited by WSLaFleur on Nov 6, 2018, 4:25:46 AM
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hurr durr melee sucks.. thats why MS builds are so bad
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