[3.24] Frostbolt/Ice Nova Hierophant | 100m DPS | All Content

Good day,

Thank you so much for the build guide. This was the first guide I followed which genuinely led to me feeling like I was actually melting bosses. I accomplished so many things I haven't been able to do before.

That being said, the last couple upgrades I made, as per your guide, somewhat felt like a loss in power and I'm not really sure why that would be. Those upgrades were Lv5 Awakened Hextouch Support and Lv21 Frostbite and Elemental Weakness, losing Faster Casting in the process.

Also, until I could off-colour my Farrul's Fur and 6-link it, I was using a 6-link Crusader/Hunter chest with Frenzy on Hit and Explode, this also felt a bit worse when I made the change to what was recommended in the guide.

Once again, thank you so much for this. I really want to play this build again but after playing Heist with just this one character, I might try something new, but I'm thinking this would be great against the boss arena and Maven.

Much obliged,
Illuvatar

How well does this build go from league start to late endgame. Sorry if this has already been asked. Does it strengthen slowly or have big gaps in progression? I usually only play 1 character per league and like to do all content. Thanks

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Frantic_Cajun wrote:

How well does this build go from league start to late endgame. Sorry if this has already been asked. Does it strengthen slowly or have big gaps in progression? I usually only play 1 character per league and like to do all content. Thanks

Tiny bit slow at league start getting through acts, but crafting cold wands using vendor recipe and crafting bench helps a lot. By the time you get to maps, it obliterates everything.

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Versallius wrote:

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Subliminal89 wrote:

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Versallius wrote:

Nice build and presentation! I was wondering if you have considered using Trinity Support for Ice Nova?

My idea is to have Added Lightning Damage and Trinity supports on Frostbolt so that its main damage is lightning, allowing it to generate Cold resonance and grant the benefits to Trinity support on Ice Nova.

This support is insane, 50% more elemental damage AND 20% elemental penetration at max resonance (takes 2 seconds to ramp from 0), Anomalous alt quality even has 15% cast speed to both Ice Nova and Frostbolt.

From a quick look in PoB, all of the sources of cold damage and cold penetration on an ice nova build is going to push your cold damage on frostbolt significantly above the lightning damage for added lightning, so I don't think you'll be able to generate cold resonance.

I use a level 1 Frostbolt with level 20 Added Lightning. It works out fine in PoB, the lightning portion is approx 500-1300 and cold portion is approx 200-400.

ah, derp. I didn't de-level frostbolt.

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Versallius wrote:

Nice build and presentation! I was wondering if you have considered using Trinity Support for Ice Nova?

My idea is to have Added Lightning Damage and Trinity supports on Frostbolt so that its main damage is lightning, allowing it to generate Cold resonance and grant the benefits to Trinity support on Ice Nova.

This support is insane, 50% more elemental damage AND 20% elemental penetration at max resonance (takes 2 seconds to ramp from 0), Anomalous alt quality even has 15% cast speed to both Ice Nova and Frostbolt.

So lvl 1 FB + lvl 20 added light + trinity - and lvl 20 trinity on nova?

Could it happen that your cold reso from nova ramps faster and your FB then deals more cold than lightning? :D

Hi! Thanks for the guide. I would like to attempt a semi-automated variant of this build and would be looking for help.

I came across this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GLpEAU0vNQ&t=2s

The guy is using Kitva's thirst to automate his frostbolts, and it looks like very fun and satisfying clear.

I know this setup is clearly less optimal than self-casting frostbolt (losing out on double curse, losing out on rare helment mods, etc.) but I value the automation and I don't mind losing a bit of DPS. My question is, other than subbing the helmet, is there anything else I would need to modify in the guide?

Thanks for the help

Hi and thank you for the very detailed guide.

I was wondering if a switch to Elementalist would be possible since the new cold nodes seem very powerful and also the new aegis skill seems good for defensive purposes.

Applying exposure would be done trough a CWDT and the build would pretty much look the same.

Losing a lot of max mana, but I think it could work out as we still have enough aoe from the new nodes and going EO would be decent for league start.

Would this work out? Tell me what you think and sorry for not having a POB, still at work xD

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schiporemi wrote:

Hi and thank you for the very detailed guide.

I was wondering if a switch to Elementalist would be possible since the new cold nodes seem very powerful and also the new aegis skill seems good for defensive purposes.

Applying exposure would be done trough a CWDT and the build would pretty much look the same.

Losing a lot of max mana, but I think it could work out as we still have enough aoe from the new nodes and going EO would be decent for league start.

Would this work out? Tell me what you think and sorry for not having a POB, still at work xD

I'm by no means an expert but losing out on the 50% reduced mana cost from Heiro is going to hurt you pretty bad

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Versallius wrote:

My idea is to have Added Lightning Damage and Trinity supports on Frostbolt so that its main damage is lightning, allowing it to generate Cold resonance and grant the benefits to Trinity support on Ice Nova.

Certainly seems pretty strong. Main concern would be the ramp-up time plus your Frostbolt actually has to hit the target to proc resonance (a lot of times Ice Nova already kills stuff before Frostbolt hits anything).

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Illuvatar_82 wrote:

That being said, the last couple upgrades I made, as per your guide, somewhat felt like a loss in power and I'm not really sure why that would be. Those upgrades were Lv5 Awakened Hextouch Support and Lv21 Frostbite and Elemental Weakness, losing Faster Casting in the process.

I have actually removed that variant from my guide in the last update. It is definitely more DPS even though you lose Faster Casting, but I think people would generally prefer having the better quality of life gem setup at that point. I didn't use that version of the build in the last league.

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schiporemi wrote:

I was wondering if a switch to Elementalist would be possible since the new cold nodes seem very powerful and also the new aegis skill seems good for defensive purposes.

You will lose EHP and AoE when switching from Hiero to pretty much any other ascendancy. You may also have mana issues but you can always put Inspiration in the main 6L. So you'll have to decide whether what you gain from Elementalist, is worth it. I personally think probably not but you are welcome to try new things.

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Pyromancer4 wrote:

My question is, other than subbing the helmet, is there anything else I would need to modify in the guide?

Interesting idea. I'm not sure if it would work with exactly my build because Hierophant lowers the Ice Nova mana cost down to ~72. So you would probably need increased mana cost somewhere. I'm also not sure how he does the startup, as I assume putting Frostbolt in the helm prevents you from casting it manually.

I am not sure if the question has been answered before but i couldnt seem to find an answer to it.

In the POB for 3.13 Arcane Surge is still used in the Frostbolt Setup. Isnt this unnecessary as we get this 100% uptime from our Ascendancy?

Do you guys think this build will be good against this 10 Boss Fight mechanic as we have to stand still to cast FrostNovas?


Would you rather go with a Frostbolt Curse on Hit support or with Self-Casting some Enemy debuffs?


Love to hear your opinions.

Thank you!