[3.1] Glacial Bloom - Inpulsa Glacial Cascade Ascendant

Theme: Portugal. The Man - Creep In A T-Shirt

Video of T16 Minotaur run (without Inpulsa): https://youtu.be/0ITLVZEhmNU


Ascendant (Raider/Slayer) - Slayer Leech, Onslaught and Frenzy for bosses. Best for Vaal Pact.

Bestiary Updates - Nothing! You got free Culling Strike and 20% AoE on kill, enjoy. Consider Tempest's Binding instead of a 1-socket Lightpoacher.

---



What this build does is clear fast using Inpulsa's Broken Heart, triggered by Glacial Cascade that can Shock.

For bosses, you're Glacial Cascade, so you have plenty of DPS.

Defences are MoM, Acrobatics, Blind, Leech, Chill/Freeze, and a good pool of Life/Mana.

---

How does it work?

This item grants you the ability to Shock with any elemental damage, namely Cold. Add on either an Elemental Proliferation gem for clearing (swap for Conc Effect), or have it free from Elementalist, and you have the ability to one shot a screen using Inpulsa's once one thing dies, no matter the mods.

Use Orb of Storms to proc Arcane Surge and Elemental Overload, as well as Blind if you have the right gloves.


---

Stats (level 91 Ascendant - 3.1):
https://pastebin.com/gBpdBDH9

Guardian DPS: ~1.4 Mil.
Life: 6005
Mana: 3052/3099
MoM: 30%
Acrobatics: 44/30%
Blind: 50%
Evasion: 21%
Block: 15%
Vaal Pact!

Gear (more or less):


Bandit:
Kill All or Help Oak

Pantheon:
Major: Soul of Arakaali / Soul of Solaris (better for end-game with VP)
Minor: Soul of Ryslatha / Soul of Yugul (reflect maps, if you do any)

Ascendancy (Ascendant):
Normal Lab: Ranger Passive
Cruel Lab: Raider
Merc Lab: Slayer
Uber Lab: Path of the Ranger

Ascendancy (Elementalist):
Normal Lab: Liege of the Primordial
Cruel Lab: Shaper of Desolation
Merc Lab: Beacon of Ruin
Uber Lab: Paragon of Calamity (for Ref Maps) or Pendulum of Destruction

Ascendancy (Berserker):
Normal Lab: War Bringer
Cruel Lab: Pain Reaver
Merciless Lab: Crave the Slaughter (Respec War Bringer to Aspect of Carnage)
End-game Lab: War Bringer

Links and gear:
As seen on my gear.
Be sure not to overlevel Arcane Surge, so it activated with one use of Orb of Storms: level 7-9, depending on links and whether it's 4L or 6L.
Rares can be used until you can afford some of the uniques.
It's important to have as much Life/Mana/Mana Regen on gear as possible, as well as enough Resists.

Gear Explained:
Lightpoacher is BiS for most builds, just because of the Jewels and Resistances it gives. Mind of the Council is also not a terrible option.
For the belt, either a Stygian like mine, or Darkness Enthroned with good jewels.
One ring lets you run Hatred without losing Mana.
The other ring grants leech, and can be replaced with Berek's Grip for reliable Life Leech (but not Mana Leech for bosses, though War Mark on CwDT fixes that).
The gloves grant Global % to Blind, and Cast Speed.
The amulet is giving you resists and the ability to Shock.
Jewel mods that you want are Phys or Cold Damage (and/or with Shields), Cast Speed if you've Crit Recently, Gain Phys as Extra Fire if you've Crit Recently (need 1 of those to be able to Ignite), and of course Life/Mana/Res as needed. If using Cobalt jewels, it's damage/area damage/cold/phys/cast speed.
Watcher's Eye is BiS, but not a must - I was doing Shaper without it.

Other gear and gem options:
CwDT + War Mark => A must until you have a ring like mine, even if using Berek's Grip. Grants reliable leech for bosses and dangerous mobs.

Enchantments / Vaal:
Helmet: Lightning Golem Effect / Glacial Cascade Damage.
Boots: Regenerate % of Life and Mana. If you're VP, either 16% Attack and Cast Speed, or Leech for even more reliable leech.
Amulet: +1 Curse, or +1 Frenzy, if anything. Bloody Good Luck!

Art Credit: Frost Mage WoW Fan Art
by Frostwindz

Looking pretty good, bookmarking it to test it latter on the league. Keep up with the nice work ^^

I just respecced my level 81 scion to this build and I must say this is the most fun and effective build I ever played. nice work!

"

culpahble86 wrote:

I just respecced my level 81 scion to this build and I must say this is the most fun and effective build I ever played. nice work!

Looks like you're well on the way to being well geared, too! Upload some footage when you get a sec :)

Right now Im facerolling yellow Elder guardians. My gear it's nice, had few exalts to buy the gear. I'm looking to buy the watcher's Eye but there is no one like yours at poetrade. If u have a minute, can u look at my gear and point me What to upgrade? (Char: OMGirl)

Tyvm, I'm having a blast with your build.

Trying out a Vaal Pact version currently. This version has no value outside of Scion.

This version is not using "Clear mind" like your other version?

"

Metalempress wrote:

This version is not using "Clear mind" like your other version?

Clear Mind is better when you actually need the mana regen (RF). And also, I'm actually reserving mana for Clarity 1 for the Watcher's Eye effect.

Vaal Pact certainly works fine :)


Updated gear:

Couple of questions, but i'm posting it to the listing now.

the watcher's eye looks like a ton of damage for bossing (resist wise) and I noticed you said you don't need it specifically. Would you swap out enfeeble for a penetration curse if you didn't have it? Would you consider other watcher's eyes as substitute, and be willing to list any as you consider them? Might help people who want to try the build to get gear for it.

Builder suggests you only have a 19% ~pseudo chance to shock. With high cast speed, this probably feels high enough, but would you consider additional sources of shock chance? Not a criticism, just noticing it since so much of what you're doing could be called shock dependent.

You managed to hit a cool 6k life, but with only 2700 evasion and 86 armour. (acro).
Do you feel like acro is good enough for you? Do you think the 4 points to acquire phase acro was worth it? I have no immediate suggestions for those 4 points elsewhere other than 20% increased life in perhaps the constitution wheel, but that's not super important. Just asking for your thoughts and to progress the build.

Good build, for sure.
Cheers