Dawn of the Hunt. Slow noob chronomancer in HC-SSF. Tips for first character (caster) act 1 and 2.

Hi everyone,

I am in act 3 with my second character (my first died in Clearfell, wolves got my ass). Here is what i learned so far:

- Don't use shield as a caster, use Rattling Sceptre in offhand and put all your spirit in skeletal warriors (support: Last Gasp and Meat Shield). Don't use spirit-gems.
.
- Always buy a white (cheap) Rattling Sceptre @max lvl.

- Always buy the best healing potion.

- Don't sell good coldres-gear, Endoss in act 1 ist much easier with cold resistance.

- Don't sell good fireres-gear, Rudja The Dread Engineer in act 2 has a strong (unavoidable?) Fire-Kamikaze-Attack.

- Don't disenchant items, you need gold.

- Don't put your skillpoints in energy shield. Your first character have to wear whatever you can find. Resistances are much more important than energy shield. Put all skillpoints in damage and wear defences, only your mainhand is for offence.

- Frost Nova is strong against fast weak enemies in act1. Drop a Frost Bomb at your feet and hold the Frost Nova button when surrounded by weak enemies. You can use Frost Nova in act 2, if you skill cold damage.

- Chronomancer slow-aura + cold damage = safe gameplay, Dreadnaught has never been so easy.

- Temporal Rift makes Jamanra Fight trivial (last Boss in act 2). The Hooded one can respec your Ascendancy Points, 2 Points = 5k – 6k gold.

I hope I was able to help. Dawn of the Hunt is incredibly difficult, but rewarding and fun. I've never learned so much about white mobs :D.

This is great info thx.
Would you happen to have a build guide posted on one of the sites? Asking as I’m new to poe2 and chronomancer looks fun.
:)

I'm not good enough to write a guide, i'm just fighting my way through the game :).

Here's what i'm currently using:

Skills:

Damage first:
- Small spelldamage nodes → Raw Power → Path of Winter.
- Endless Winter and Glaciation at the top of the tree.

Longer range for Chornomancer aura:
- Profane Commander on the left.

Now I'm trying to slow mobs even further:
- Zone of Control and Hindered Abilitys on the right.

To use Zone of Control and Hindered Abilitys you need an aura. Blasphemy with Hypothermia is a good choice (Hypothermia can be used as a "support" gem in Blasphemy). Now you have a curse-aura!

Ignagduk the Bog Witch in act 3 drops a spirit-gem for Blasphemy, granting you a permanent +30 spirit. With Rattling Sceptre in your off-hand, Profane Commander in the skilltree and the two „Spirit-Bosses“ in act 1 und 3, you should have 168 spirit, enough for Blasphemy + Hypothermia + Hightened Curse and 5 skeletal warriors.

No Idea what to skill next. Exploit the Elements looks good, as does Masters of Hexes (the reduced curse duration is irrelevant, since the curse aura has no time limit).

Gems:
- Skeletal Warriors (support: Last Gasp and Meat Shield).
- Frost Bomb (support: Magnified Effect and Controlled Destruction).
- Frost Bolt (support: Arcane Tempo and Execute).
- Cold Snap (support: Consentrated Effect and Unleash). I don't know yet if Unleash works with Cold Snap, i have no idea how to test this combination.
- Ice Nova (support whatever. I use Glaciation and Energy Barrier). Ice Nova is only suitable for small fry and ceramic pots.
- Blasphemy (support: Hypothermia and Hightened Curse).
- Frost Wall (support: Spell Cascade and Spell Echo). Spell Echo is my first and only lvl2 support gem. Frost Wall is amazing against large monsters (= most bosses) and completly useless against small mobs.
- Mana Tempest (support: no idea). I'm not sure about Mana Tempest. The damage buff is great, but you have to stand still, and that's deadly in hardcore mode.

I hope this helps. My Chronomancer is level 41 and still alive :D

Cool tips !
Thanks
But what's your main dps ability ?

Frost Bomb, Frost Bolt and Cold Snap.

Frost Wall against bosses and dangerous targets.

My chornomancer died in the Drowned City, a rare River Hag created a vortex and i died instantly. Next time, i need maximum cold resistance :D

RIP !
I'm trying your build in HC SSF, and it's very safe, for now !

Thanks :D. Glad I could help. The build is really nice to play, especially in Act 3 with the Chronomancer slow aura, the curse aura, Zone of Control and Hindered Abilitys. The monsters are so slow, it's hilarious.

I would change one thing: The first level 2 support gem should be Ritualistic Curse (increases the area of ​​effect by 50%).
- Blasphemy (Support: Hypothermia and Ritualistic Curse).

But in general, safety isn't as important anymore, since the mobs are much weaker after the patch. Act 1 was so easy with my new sorceress.

"

ZockerseeleX#6632 wrote:

- Cold Snap (support: Consentrated Effect and Unleash). I don't know yet if Unleash works with Cold Snap, i have no idea how to test this combination.

Easy. Frostbolt with Scattershot (Supports Projectile skills, making them fire extra Projectiles. Also lowers Attack and Cast speed of supported skills, as well as lessening their damage). Now, Cold Snap with Unleash should explose all 3 Frostbolts.

This is probably a stupid question but if you use scepter in offhand what is used in main hand?

Focus?