Ice Nova

+1 on the damage being abysmal.

Damage or stacking armor buffs is the wrong solution.

Actually it's the lack of a way to reliably crit (or gain the Freezing status effect) that is missing from making the build work. Consider that this skill was perfectly viable as a 'sole-use' skill a while ago in beta on a witch. Diamond flask does not replenish fast enough anymore to make the build work.

What do crits do for you with ice nova:
- Survivability, stop taking damage *important*
- Stops you from getting interrupted while casting *most important*
- High Damage and status effects applied *least important*


So currently you would have to have high health, armor/evasion, and the cast interruption passive to even try to make it work, since you cannot depend on crits occuring. And even then it would still be terrible because the damage is inferior (it never was spectacular to begin with). And also, an ES user can't do this method -- no way for the build to work for them. Better crit rate helps any caster regardless of armor type.

Make a creative way for this skill to crit more.

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sage2050 wrote:

+1 on the damage being abysmal.

this skill needs a damage buff or higher freeze rate GGG
Hope you read these post.

I had been doing well with IN up until the end of Act 2 Cruel. Then I hit a wall. I am simply not killing things with it, and I have stopped reliably freezing mages. Skeleton mages crush me very badly. Anything with slight elemental resists crush me badly. Frostbite and Cold Penetration don't seem to help enough, sadly.

One question: I had heard somewhere about someone using this skill to "freeze the whole screen". I have most of the AoE nodes I can find, and the IAoE support gem, but I am no where near the whole screen. How is that possible?

Thanks

What support gems work with this skill, I am a 23 witch trying to use the uncaged god staff to see how big i can get the aoe. Its pretty fun so far. I attached a few supports to it and didn't see any change in the tool tip. Im sure Im just missing the obvious ones so a small list would be super helpful! thanks guys.

"Reaching deep within, the caster of the mighty Ice Nova assaults surrounding enemies with a shivering blast of pure rime."


Its quite simple.

This spell should have been the one with highest damage by far, of all spells. Reason?


You -(most likely as a skinny witch) - have to be more or less in the middle of a group of dangerous monsters, and then use Ice Nova. It seems when GGG had the idea and design of Ice Nova, the spellcaster are surrounded and in the middle, when casting Ice Nova. You can ofcourse stand on a corner of a pack of mobs, and do Ice Nova from there, but thats not the intention of the spell. Teleport (or leap slam if that was possible for a ice witch) in the middle of a pack leroy-style, and Ice Nova them all like a boss.

Its risk vs reward.

In all other games where you have some similar aoe-spell where the spellcaster have to be in the middle - since the spell starts off in a 360 degree range from the caster , its simply the spell with higest damage. What spellcaster is so risky/stupid it places itself in the middle of a pack of monster? That spellcaster have to be rewarded - u guessed it - with big dmg bonus.

I really cant understand why Freezing Pulse got higher dmg. You stand a mile away and pulse your way forward, with no risk involved. Its pretty random that Ice Nova got 128–200 damage at lvl 20, and Freezing Pulse got 194–291, not mention the difference in crit. I mean what does GGG think when they set up those numbers? It should really be other way around, because of risk vs reward.

this skill is overpowered.

I use it to literally tear-through Act 1 Normal Hardcore, crushing packs of enemies like nothing.
it took me less than 2 minutes to clear the Ledge only spamming this skill, and at no point was I below 50% HP.

what's wrong with that? nothing, except no one skill should make your character feel immortal. especially without any support gems.
a good character consists of good passives, a good set of skills and supports, and a player who knows what he's doing.

maybe it evens-out on the higher difficulties, I don't know - because I've only played a melee and a bow-ranged character to high level so far, and it's my second caster and first one in hardcore - but right now it does look like the perfect racing weapon. and not in a good way.

no gaming skills needed, just spam Ice Nova in the middle of the largest pack you can find, and get a level-up every 30 seconds. that's wrong.

stuff that do so much damage, have so much critical-chance, and add a slowing elemental ailment - should have a cool-down or something.

"

johnKeys wrote:

this skill is overpowered.

I use it to literally tear-through Act 1 Normal Hardcore, crushing packs of enemies like nothing.
it took me less than 2 minutes to clear the Ledge only spamming this skill, and at no point was I below 50% HP.

what's wrong with that? nothing, except no one skill should make your character feel immortal. especially without any support gems.
a good character consists of good passives, a good set of skills and supports, and a player who knows what he's doing.

maybe it evens-out on the higher difficulties, I don't know - because I've only played a melee and a bow-ranged character to high level so far, and it's my second caster and first one in hardcore - but right now it does look like the perfect racing weapon. and not in a good way.

no gaming skills needed, just spam Ice Nova in the middle of the largest pack you can find, and get a level-up every 30 seconds. that's wrong.

stuff that do so much damage, have so much critical-chance, and add a slowing elemental ailment - should have a cool-down or something.

cool stuff dude, let's try to tear through act 1 merciless with only ice nova, shall we ? it take me forever to kill even blues, dont even mention yellows and oranges.

"

enigmaminded wrote:

"

johnKeys wrote:

this skill is overpowered.

I use it to literally tear-through Act 1 Normal Hardcore, crushing packs of enemies like nothing.
it took me less than 2 minutes to clear the Ledge only spamming this skill, and at no point was I below 50% HP.

what's wrong with that? nothing, except no one skill should make your character feel immortal. especially without any support gems.
a good character consists of good passives, a good set of skills and supports, and a player who knows what he's doing.

maybe it evens-out on the higher difficulties, I don't know - because I've only played a melee and a bow-ranged character to high level so far, and it's my second caster and first one in hardcore - but right now it does look like the perfect racing weapon. and not in a good way.

no gaming skills needed, just spam Ice Nova in the middle of the largest pack you can find, and get a level-up every 30 seconds. that's wrong.

stuff that do so much damage, have so much critical-chance, and add a slowing elemental ailment - should have a cool-down or something.

cool stuff dude, let's try to tear through act 1 merciless with only ice nova, shall we ? it take me forever to kill even blues, dont even mention yellows and oranges.

WTF kind of crack are you on? Ice Nova is a mediocre skill at BEST! Do make a video showing all your gear, passives and such with you killing mobs your level.