[3.21] ShakCentral's Cold DoT Elementalist For Everyone

Nice timing lol, just read through the 3.16 version like 20 minutes before the update. Looking forward to this league start.

i've done a few tests of leveling this through acts and once i get vortex it feels great but until i get the brand mastery ("as early as 18") it feels pretty bad. is there something i could use to get to the middle of act 2 where it starts to feel good or do i just gotta push through and get there? i hope that the frost bomb and freezing pulse changes will make those feel better for act 1

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ShakCentral wrote:

Everyone,

This is a big day. The entire guide of 2+ years has been re-written as part of a larger project and has been finally moved into place as the main guide. The structuring of the guide and the PoB has changed significantly, and very much for the better. I hope you all enjoy the build and 3.17!

Excellent work on the guide mate, thanks a lot. :)

I never really played a brand build before so this is virgin territory for me. Looks fun! Going to start 3.17 with this one, see where it takes me.

I am here just to say thanks to such guide. It is amazing. I haven't played it yet, since I am very newbie (well, 500 hours played, but still cannot make my own builds and understand how some patch notes affect the gameplay).

Still, thank you, thank you, thank you! This is definitely my new build for the Archnemesis league :)

Hi, will be trying out this build in 3.17, was going to try it in 3.16 but ended up something else.

I noticed we are no longer using creeping frost, noticed as it was in 3.16's PoB but not on 3.17's, and Creeping frost was buffed in 3.17 I believe, is there are a reason for this switch or brands are simply better?

Thank you so much for the guide regardless & cheers!

Hi Guys, overall this build looks solid but does someone but does someone of you played storm brand before and can tell what's the main difference between those two builds? I played in 3.14 storm brand as full dps assassin and it was quite awesome but now I'm looking for something that can do single target damage and is quite tanky as well. But I'm curious about this build as it looks decent...

first of all, let me say thank you ShakCentral for this beauty of a guide. Your levelingguide is exceptional good aswell!

I tried a few times with your leveling guide for ColdSnap/Creeping Frost and really liked it. I also tried the brand version 1 time and it seems ok for me aswell, but I will stick with ColdSnap if possible.

It seems in the first 2 acts you buy a load of gems. With Creeping Frost you need 2 Transmutes (Jade Amulet and LMP) and with the brand version you dont need any (Wintertide is the Questreward instead of Creeping Frost) for Sirens Cadence.

Apart from that the builds seem pretty similar (for leveling) and I might just stick with Creeping Frost.

Is there a reason you switched to brands, since last league you like Snap better and it only was buffed for 3.17?



@everybody else: the detailed leveling guide from Shak can be found here and there is his "old" coldsnap pob which I might use: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2638949

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hadc wrote:

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zavviasso wrote:

Sorry for being annoying but in that pastebin i dont see any Vortex / Cold snap setup. Only in notes there is mention about it. Also no skill trees for that setup (without brand nodes)

I’ve PM you, check your inbox. I don’t want to share here because this is Shak’s forum and my approach is not exactly the same as his. Good luck and have fun!

hi man, tell me pls if u can. What is the difference 6L wintertide brands + 4L vortex or 6L vortex and 4L coldsnap?
what will be better Classic 6l vortex and 4l coldsnap, or new by shaci build on wintertides brands?
Im biggest new on frost builds. And people say you are very experienced. if u can tell me pls
p.s sry my eng is bad, i use google trans ;q

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inmuna wrote:

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hadc wrote:

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zavviasso wrote:

Sorry for being annoying but in that pastebin i dont see any Vortex / Cold snap setup. Only in notes there is mention about it. Also no skill trees for that setup (without brand nodes)

I’ve PM you, check your inbox. I don’t want to share here because this is Shak’s forum and my approach is not exactly the same as his. Good luck and have fun!

hi man, tell me pls if u can. What is the difference 6L wintertide brands + 4L vortex or 6L vortex and 4L coldsnap?
what will be better Classic 6l vortex and 4l coldsnap, or new by shaci build on wintertides brands?
Im biggest new on frost builds. And people say you are very experienced. if u can tell me pls
p.s sry my eng is bad, i use google trans ;q

It really is a matter of playstyle preference. I only tested WTB near end of 3.16 league so I’m not very experience in WTB but I’ve played with vortex/cold snap for a few leagues now. So I can share what I find but don’t take it as a gospel.

WTB is much better in map clearing when compared to a traditional 6L vortex + 4L coldSnap. Everything just die even if you drop 1 brand since it’ll jump around and kill everything when you have 1-2mil DPS per brand like in Shak’s guide (end game gear). So with max 3 brands on bosses you’re looking at quite a bit of DPS especially when you include the DPS from 4L vortex (actually a pseudo 5-6 links if you can get the crafted helmet), according to DonBrawler, it’s possible to squeeze 10mil total DPS but will cost about 500ex and above. The new trade league POB from Shak use aegis Aurora so it’s much more tankier than before.

I tweaked the build in 3.16 by doing 2x5 link (vortex & coldSnap) in chest and a 3 link creeping frost (for clearing) and could squeeze maximum 17-18 mil DPS with 300ex budget but I used prism guardian so it wasn’t as tanky. I’ve also tried using aegis Aurora and could get around 8-9mil DPS .

So based on what I know, budget and top end DPS could be similar but the playstyle is very different. WTB has much better clear and could be easier and safer but I need to try more to really know for sure. So trust Shak and give it a try, compare it to your previous experience! Most importantly, have fun in the game!

ty man for info, i use this build for starter, in mid game i switch on icespear/coc and i understand that I don't have to worry with choise WTB + vortex, or COldsnap + vortex