[3.19] Ice Dancing Queen - Icestorm/Cyclone/CI - Viable For Everything

I played the SSF Delve event just for fun. The idea was to see how it goes for the SSF players when you can't just buy The Whispering Ice at lv 33. Although, the Delve event is even more restricted because you don't have a crafting bench either.

I wanted to play the same build but try a different skill. For that I picked Ice Nova because the play style is similar to Icestorm. So I followed the Classic version with Cyclone - CwC - Ice Nova. It actually works! Just quite a bit less damage than Icestorm. I thought I'd get to maybe lv 60-70 for some MTX rewards and stop.

But then it turned out that the weapon nodes sometimes drop random weapon cards instead of actual weapons. And of course, The Incantation is a very common card! That's how I got the staff. But no other key items. You can probably farm jewelry nodes and hope for Polymath cards. But I haven't found any and didn't want to spend any time farming.

So I just pressed on with ~1k Int and random junk items that had Int, ES and resists. Adapted the build for more clear speed and block, since Delve is all about clearing. And eventually stopped at lv 95 and depth 500. It could be pushed deeper but I didn't want to spend any time farming better items.

It was a surprise even to myself that the 'beginner mapping' gear can take you that far with so little effort!

New video: SSF Endless Delve with Junk Gear

Final update for 3.16

- Added more Spell Block

- Dropped Frost Shield. No free socket for it (Inc Duration for IC is better).

- Added the final lv 100 PoB with notes

This league has been all about trading damage for defenses. Block proved to be amazing. I was hesitant to spend skill points on Spell Block. But eventually I chose the safety vs high end content. Simulacrum 30, all sorts of rippy maps, high levels of Scourge, uber boss fights - spell block is very useful there.

New video: The Feared All At Once

"

Kelvynn wrote:

Final update for 3.16

- Added more Spell Block

- Dropped Frost Shield. No free socket for it (Inc Duration for IC is better).

- Added the final lv 100 PoB with notes

This league has been all about trading damage for defenses. Block proved to be amazing. I was hesitant to spend skill points on Spell Block. But eventually I chose the safety vs high end content. Simulacrum 30, all sorts of rippy maps, high levels of Scourge, uber boss fights - spell block is very useful there.

New video: The Feared All At Once

eh if only they removed our cap for icestorms xD or buffed dmg

"

archwerewolf wrote:

eh if only they removed our cap for icestorms xD or buffed dmg

Yeah man, imagine this version of the build with pre-nerf Icestorm...

Hi folks
This build have been a blast whole leauge.

But now i have come to an wall gear wise and i dont really how to proceed, i only sits on 6 ex and some c.

I wouild like to get some tips how to proceed easiest way to gear me up further

A belt upgrade would probably be your best bet I think.

"

Sezth wrote:

Hi folks
This build have been a blast whole leauge.

But now i have come to an wall gear wise and i dont really how to proceed, i only sits on 6 ex and some c.

I wouild like to get some tips how to proceed easiest way to gear me up further

You're missing %int on your hat and chest. See earlier in this thread on how to craft them yourself (starting with the appropriate base.) That'll give you potentially 28% increased int and a big dps gain.

Anyone mind taking a quick look and letting me know what my next upgrade should be? I have about 10ex and not really sure where I should be looking. Better helmets seem to be out of my budget. I was thinking a belt maybe but that seems like a pretty minor upgrade.

"

NVB43 wrote:

Anyone mind taking a quick look and letting me know what my next upgrade should be? I have about 10ex and not really sure where I should be looking. Better helmets seem to be out of my budget. I was thinking a belt maybe but that seems like a pretty minor upgrade.

ES gain w/ Discipline watchers eye will help survivability. Otherwise i would look for %int on helm and rings. Search for rings with %int implicits. There should be good options with that corrupted implicit. Also, follow the guide on how to create a %int helm. Usually takes about 3ex to craft.

I'd play this again next league, but I've gotten so tired of the levelling, primarily from 1 to 39. It's remarkable how much faster levelling say a necromancer or toxic rain build is. Typically, I don't hit maps until about 12 hours played on my WI character (which is usually around Sunday afternoon.)

Yes, I have levelled up a non-WI character to then turn around and buy 2 lifesprigs and fast boots for my WI character. Still takes until Sunday afternoon or night for maps.

I'm aware of the racer tricks. They don't really help when you have to spend an hour or so at level 40 getting all of your 4L sockets and gems installed. And another hour in trade at level 70 post-Kitava getting your resists and ES up.

This isn't so much a complaint as a request for brainstorming a faster levelling setup for the next league. Mines just don't work for me because of the delay between delivery and detonation.

Thanks for any ideas for quicker levelling solo to 40.

---------------------------

OK, I'll start. Looking at the level 12 blue cold-related gems, we have:

Creeping Frost
Ice Nova
Ice Spear
Vaal Ice Nova
Wintertide Brand

Let's try these in PoB one by one. Back in a bit.

Per total dps and stackability, Creeping Frost looks pretty good. It requires dexterity, though.

CFrost > Ice Spear > Ice Nova in total dps. OK, it's worth spending an hour of my time testing that.

----------------------------

Ah well. Freezing pulse still significantly outdamages Creeping Frost. Guess we're stuck with that if you don't want to mine.

Let's hope the WI staff gets a damage buff someday...