[2.1] Bitterdream Freezing Pulse ("Bitterpulse") - Now with Video Guide!

This build was created with one goal in mind: Take the Bitterdream unique and push it through to end game.



Why Bitterdream?

Personally, I find it to be one of the most interesting and flavourful uniques created in a very, very long time.

The idea of a weapon with zero stats and just a bunch of supported gems. The idea of a nine or even ten link in a 3L one handed weapon. The ice gem synergies with built-in frenzy charge generation. The reduced mana/mana leech synergy. The fact you can level with it and get the feeling of your end-game set-up so early on.

Plus, the flavour text is just awesome. "Fight not the cold. Forsake hope. Be still." It's...chilling. (Heh?)

So what do you do with it?

With the support gems in the item, it seemed fairly obvious to be used with a cold spell. I decided against Arctic Breath (not a fan of how it currently functions), Ice Spear (didn't seem good unless I went crit), Glacial Cascade (is not pure cold damage) and Cold Snap (too much investment to get working).

That meant it was between Freezing Pulse and Ice Nova. I've chosen Freezing Pulse because I love how it plays & controls. Ice Nova would be just as strong a choice and would only require different colors on your Bitterdream and the picking up of AoE clusters.

With the spell chosen, it was all up to what I saw as the strengths of Bitterdream and how to abuse them to push the build past simply "fast leveling".

The strengths, in my eyes, are...

1) Opening up a 2nd 6L without needing a 2Her.
2) The built-in mana leech and frenzy charges.
3) The strong % chance to freeze.

With that in mind, I decided to go for a non-crit, MoM/AA character. This would take advantage of the mana leeching and freeze chance and help make up for the lack of shield defense.

As for the second 6L option, I opted for a Vaal Ice Nova set-up. As Freezing Pulse lacks strong 360 degree coverage, this would give me an insane boost to clear speed with it's lower soul cost (48 in Merciless) and screen-clearing capabilities. The ability to fully link it makes it an absolute powerhouse.

So how do you push it even further?

To give the build that last bit of "oomph" - and to give it a little more fun unique interaction - I'm using another pair of uniques.



Asenath's Gentle Touch corrupted with Elemental Weakness gives you the ability to apply two curses with every single attak or spell you use. Temporal Chains gives a massive boost to freeze duration that's super helpful for non-crit freezers and Elemental Weakness is a massive damage boost.

Doedre's Damning corrupted with Damage Taken Gained as Mana gets you to that two curse cap needed for the gloves and pairs nicely with Mana Leech to keep your Mind over Matter defense rolling.

So essentially, this turns my Bitterdream into a whopping 13 link, as follows:

• Freezing Pulse (lvl 1~21)
• Lesser Multiple Projectiles (lvl 1~21)
• Spell Echo (lvl 1~21)
• Faster Casting (lvl 10)
• Hypothermia (lvl 1)
• Ice Bite (lvl 1)
• Cold Penetration (lvl 1)
• Mana Leech (lvl 1)
• Added Cold Damage (lvl 10)
• Reduced Mana (lvl 1)
• Curse on Hit (lvl 26)
• Temporal Chains (lvl 1)
• Elemental Weakness (lvl 10)

…

And that's the basics of the build! :)

109 Point Tree:

https://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAwAACGe31vKXkzrbWZtdvSctqKiaGDwYVrGQvoB7w_nogwmCx0GHKPq3PriTiFr-ChzcXsDyRdi96-6PGjrhNZKa4IUypwimV_6PRZ2drtrd2CRN41NSGmzlizbFhW026eQi-dsfAtWBJKrVpn7HBAcyNCTYFm_tPOvkg9uVBONqmjtfKlXGr5vhc4KbOlgQWO0gogDsOKyYLJy2hvAfBLOFexEPlnTAZmZUOw1MLZRv7-tE-xdUcg87458BjjxZ83GFiihWSho4VylkCZ6hkFVG1yKBJy8wlzmKsUI=

Some things of note:

* 143% life
* 100% mana / 160% mana regen
* Mind over Matter
* Six Jewel Sockets

(If you want to skip explanations and just see the gear I'm using currently, check the "My Gear" section at the bottom of the post - it's not in here)

Uniques

Bitterdream



The reason for the season. And the build. It's quite important to get it corrupted with Faster Casting if at all possible.

Asenath's Gentle Touch



A wonderful glove when corrupted with Elemental Weakness. The gloves themselves only have some "meh" int, life and mana (though these are all good stats for the build) but auto-applying two curses without needing to link Curse on Hit is worth it. The corruption can roll from level 10-12 Elemental Weakness, but these can be rare & expensive, so don't be too picky when buying.

Doedre's Daming



My item of choice for adding a second curse. Again, a tiny bit of int, all resistances and mana on kill is not super amazing (but still useful). The extra curse is worth about 7 points saved on the skill tree for me, however, and the corruption is amazing with Mind over Matter. A good +1 curse amulet is another option - especially a well-rolled rare amulet.

Rares

Weapon

• For your second weapon slot, I recomend a sceptre.
• The four rolls you want the most are spell damage, cold damage, cast speed and added cold to spells.
• Mana, Mana Regen and Int can be helpful suffix roles.
• Looking for a well-rolled sceptre with an open suffix and no cast speed can greatly reduce cost and then be master crafted on.

Body

• Energy Shield base is preferable.
• A very well-rolled chest is more important than getting a linked chest.
• Aim for as much Life/ES/Mana as you can get for a lot of "effective hp". Resists, too!
• You can find un-linked chests with amazing rolls for dirt cheap.

Helmet

• Energy Shield base is preferable.
• Aim for as much Life/ES/Mana as you can get for a lot of "effective hp". Resists, too!

Boots

• Energy Shield base is preferable.
• Aim for as much Life/ES/Mana as you can get for a lot of "effective hp". Resists, too!
• Movespeed is basically required. Aim for 20%+ (the higher the better).
• This is a good place for a Dex roll if you need it. You can mastercraft up to 30 as a suffix.

Belt

• Lether or Heavy base - depending on how much Str you need. Chain is also a decent choice.
• Aim for as much Life and resists as you can pack on. Energy Shield and Str are nice rolls, too.
• A movespeed master craft is a nice bonus.

Ring

• A lot of good bases. Resist or life/mana/es bases all help.
• Aim for as much Life/ES/Mana as you can get for a lot of "effective hp". Resists, too!
• Mana regen can roll quite high and is very helpful.

Amulet

• A Talisman base is preferable. Deep One (tier 1) and Mandible (tier 1) are great, but there are other useful ones, too.
• For regular amulets, a Str and/or Dex stat base can be helpful, too.
• If you can cap resists on other slots, you can focus on damage and life/es/mana.
• Spell damage, cold damage and cast speed are all great rolls here.
• Mana regen can roll quite high and is very helpful.

Jewels

These are some of various stats I look out for on my jewels:

• Spell damage while Dual Wielding / Cast speed while Dual Wielding (both often under-priced stats!)
• Spell Damage / Cold Damage / Projectile Damage
• Cast Speed with Cold Skills / Attack & Cast Speed / Cast Speed
• % Maximum Life / Dex / Str

(Gems marked with an * indicate a gem that I suggest getting quality on)

3L (Bitterdream): Freezing Pulse* > LMP* > Spell Echo

• My main set-up. Not a lot of choice here, as the spell + LMP are more or less required. GMP is an option over LMP, but I don't find it worth the cost/damage loss. Echo works well with Hypthermia and double curse on hit, but something like Controlled Destruction is a good option, too.

4/5/6L: Vaal Ice Nova* > Increased AoE > Controlled Destruction > Ice Pen > Hypothermia > Added Cold Damage

• My powerhouse one button screen clear. Works fine as a 4L, but the extra links give it a lot more of a "kick".

4L: Arctic Armour > Herald of Ice > Clarity > Enlighten

• My mana reservation skills. Enlighten is not required, but helps free up mana for Mind over Matter.

4L: Rallying Cry* > Increased Duration* > Chaos Golem* > Minion Life*

• My other actives. Rallying Cry's flat mana regen is great, plus a nice damage boost. Chaos Golem gives a bit more anti-phys, but can be swapped for a fire golem (or something else complety).

4L: Cast When Stunned > Ice Nova* > Glacial Cascade > Mana Leech

• My fail-safe. This set-up triggers when I take large chunks of damage to make sure I don't run out of mana (via Mind over Matter) and can keep casting.

3L: Leap Slam > Faster Attacks* > Fortify

• My movement. It also applies fortify. I like it.

• Normal: Life
• Cruel: Cast Speed
• Merciless: Frenzy Charge

I would not take a point on any of the bandits, as each of them gives something important for the build.

This build would function very similar as an Ice Nova build. It also would have the benifit of greatly improving Vaal Ice Nova, since you would have so much more AoE.

Basically, all you would need to change is...

• Re-chrome your Bitterdream B/B/B and drop LMP for Controlled Destruction (or Inc AoE)
• Drop the Projectile Damage nodes + jewel at Scion start
• Change out any jewels with Projectile Damage on them
• Pick up the AoE clusters at Witch and Templar (you path next to them anyways)
• Optionally pick up the AoE cluster at Scion start

And that's it! You're now Bitternova. Congrats.

I chose to level with a Night's Hold (as shown in LiftingNerd's video here) until I hit 32 and was able to use Bitterdream.

At this point, you are pretty much good to go. Socket in Freezing Pulse +LMP then Echo at 38, blast through all the things, and win.

Current level: 87

*** These numbers are with Frenzy charges up, but does not include Rallying Cry or hidden values like Hypothermia or penetrations ***

Offense

• Freezing Pulse: 45,549

Defense

• Life: 4,400
• Energy Shield: 1,067
• Mana: (Unreserved) 918

Here is a short build overview + Gorge map:

https://youtu.be/GJW4osQYJ7M