Cold Snap Frostbolt Stormweaver Leveling Guide
The Cold Snap Frostbolt Stormweaver Leveling Guide for the Sorceress Class teaches you how to build your character with step-by-step explanations.
Are you annoyed by the monsters being able to move around and attack you? If that's true then this build is definitely for you! Freeze your enemies with Frostbolt, shatter them with Cold Snap and cause devastating Comets to automatically rain from the sky destroying your enemies.
Dawn of the Hunt brought sweeping changes to Path of Exile 2, and information on the passive tree or skill balance was not released before the patch went live. We're hard at work testing the build and will update the guide as soon as possible. Use this build as a framework for your leveling journey and pin the post to be notified of updates.
Path of Exile 2 is currently in early access, this means rapid development including frequent changes to builds as there are balance fixes and we learn more. Pin this page to be notified of any updates.
Skills
While killing regular monsters cast your Frostbolt to freeze enemies and follow it up with Cold Snap to detonate Frostbolts and shatter frozen enemies. thanks to the Meta Skill Gem Cast on Freeze occasionally Comet rains down from the sky dealing massive amounts of damage.
Most of the enemies die to a single Cold Snap or a Comet but if you encounter magic or rare monsters throw in a Frost Bomb to apply the Exposure debuff which drastically reduces their cold resistance.
During boss encounters and against tough rare enemies use Frost Wall to help with your single target damage. use. This Skill creates a wall of Ice Crystals which block enemies movement. When the Ice Crystals are shattered they cause an explosion dealing massive damage around them. When the target is big enough Ice Crystals detonate automatically simply by monsters running through them. In other situations use Frostbolt, Frost Bomb and secondary Comet to destroy the them.
Once you find body armor or amulet with at least 20 Spirit use a third Comet Skill combined with the Elemental Invocation Meta Skill Gem. This allows you to build up charges and unleash many Comets at the same time obliterating your enemies.
Cold Skills have a high mana cost so it can be hard to sustain. Make sure to use the best Mana Flask possible at your level and craft % increased Amount Recovered prefix for better recovery. If you often run out of Mana Flask charges equip Attuned Wand in your 2nd Weapon Set and use Mana Drain.
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Act 1
Uncut Skill Gem I or II (Cut in order)
- Spark
- This is your main damaging ability throughout Act 1 and Act 2.
- Flame Wall
- When any projectile skill passes through the Flame Wall it deals additional Fire damage. This means that before casting Spark you should always spawn Flame Wall, positioning it between you and the enemy so that the projectiles are always getting empowered.
- Support it with Spell Cascade to spawn more walls for easier gameplay.
- Frost Bomb
- Deals a massive amount of cold damage and freezes your enemies. Use it on cooldown when fighting tougher enemies and bosses.
Use any leftover Uncut Skill Gem II that you drop to level up Spark, Flame Wall and Frost Bomb in that order.
Uncut Support Gem I (Cut in order)
- Unleash for Spark
- Controlled Destruction for Spark
- Spell Cascade for Flame Wall
- Magnified Effect for Frost Bomb
- Concentrated Effect for Frost Bomb
- Save your remaining Uncut Support Gems for Skill Gem III skills.
Uncut Skill Gem III or IV (Cut in order)
- Orb of Storms
- Use it on bosses for additional damage and to apply shock.
Uncut Spirit Gem IV
- Arctic Armour
- Activate it by opening your skill gem menu and Right Click the skill icon left of the skill name. To see if it's active check if your Spirit shows 0/30 and the Arctic Armour icon swirls.
Uncut Support Gem I (Cut in order)
- Persistence for Orb of Storms
- Conduction for Orb of Storms
- Save your remaining Uncut Support Gems for Skill Gem VII skills
At this point use any leftover Uncut Skill Gem II that you drop to level up Spark, Flame Wall, Frost Bomb and Orb of Storms in that order.
Act 2
Uncut Skill Gem VII or VIII (Cut in order)
- Leap Slam
- Equip 2 Hammers in your 2nd Weapon Set and get 52 strength in total from your gear and passives.
- This skyrockets your mobility. For a smoother and faster experience, hold your dodge roll button towards the end of your leap to immediately roll after landing. This cancels the tail-end of the leap landing animation for far faster movement.
- It also allows you to finally escape packs of mobs that managed to surround you as you can simply leap out.
- Keep Leap Slam at level 7, do not level it to keep the strength requirement low.
- Support it with Martial Tempo
- This skill is completely optional so skip it if you can't meet the strength requirement or you don't enjoy the playstyle.
Swap to Cold Spells
- At around level 29 once you allocate Inescapable Cold and Endless Blizzard. Complete your 1st ascendancy trial and pick Scouring Winds.
- Acquire 2 Uncut Skill Gems, pick Frostbolt and Cold Snap.
- Support Frostbolt with Scattershot and Controlled Destruction.
- Support Cold Snap with Unleash and Concentrated Effect.
- Use Frostbolt to freeze enemies and Cold Snap to detonate Frostbolts and frozen enemies to deal damage.
- Support Frost Bomb with Magnified Effect and Glaciation.
- Use Frost Bomb to apply Exposure, significantly reducing enemies' cold resistance.
- Once you find 3rd Uncut Skill Gem use Hypothermia
- Support it with Persistence and Heightened Curse.
- Remove Spark, Flame Wall and Orb of Storms.
Uncut Support Gem I (Cut in order)
Check if you have missed any of the recommended gems before heading into Act 3.
From here you may use any level 1 Uncut Support Gem to liberally fill your remaining skill sockets however you see fit. Check the skill slider above for inspiration.
Act 3
Act 3 gives you access to Uncut Support Gem II, substantially increasing the amount of support gem options available to you.
Uncut Skill Gem IX or X
- Frost Wall
- Use it on top of bosses and tougher enemies to detonate Ice Crystals instantly for massive amount of damage
- On smaller enemies and bosses detonate Ice Crystals with Frostbolt, Cold Snap and Frost Bomb.
Uncut Support Gem II (Cut in order)
- Icicle and Spell Cascade for Frost Wall.
- Strip Away for Frost Bomb. Replace Controlled Destruction.
Tip: Make sure to pick up the guaranteed Lesser Jeweller's Orb in the Sandswept Marsh that can be found in a chest in a small encampment at the edge of the layout. Don't use it for now and keep it for later!
Uncut Spirit Gem of any tier once at 60+ Spirit
- Cast on Freeze
- Cut a second copy of Cold Snap and put in the first Support Gem Socket of Cast on Freeze.
- This partially automates Cold Snap by casting it occasionally when you freeze an enemy.
- Support it with Impetus.
- Use Lesser Jeweller's Orb on Cold Snap to increase the amount Support Gem Sockets to 3.
- Support if with Controlled Destruction, Unleash and Concentrated Effect.
- To check if you have missed any of the permanent Spirit bonuses you acquire during your campaign, check out our Permanent Stats From The Campaign Guide.
Uncut Skill Gem XI
- Comet
- Replace Cold Snap in your Cast on Freeze setup with Comet.
- Use a second copy of Comet supported with Hourglass and Inevitable Critical for a burst of damage on frozen bosses.
Act 1 and 2 Cruel
Continue leveling Cold Snap, Comet, Frostbolt, Frost Wall and Frost Bomb with Uncut Skill Gems.
Act 3 Cruel
- Pick up the second guaranteed Lesser Jeweller's Orb in the Sandswept Marsh that can be found in a chest in a small encampment at the edge of the layout.
- Support Frostbolt with Arcane Tempo.
- After defeating the Boss in the Azak Bog for +40 permanent spirit use Arctic Armour supported with Clarity.
- Once you find a source of +Spirit on your Amulet or Body Armour replace it with Elemental Invocation.
- Support it with Energy Retention.
Congratulations, you've finished the campaign gem progression of the Cold Snap Stormweaver Leveling Build and your links are properly set up to tackle your first Waystones.
Passives
Click the arrows to open the full tree in a new tab.
Ascendancy
Learn how to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos to earn your first 2 Ascensions with our Ascension Guide!
- Pick Scouring Winds for your first ascendancy node. It doubles the effectiveness of Exposure applied by Frost Bomb which scales even further with the passive tree and Strip Away.
- Constant Gale for 10% more cast speed and 20% more mana regeneration rate. This build often struggles with mana so any additional mana regeneration is always welcome.
- Thirdly Strike Twice let's you apply two shock stacks to your enemies and in combination with Shaper of Storms your cold damage can apply shock. This unlocks a new way of scaling your damage by shocking and freezing enemies at the same time.
- Obtaining he fourth Ascendancy node is difficult but in case you obtain it allocate back Constant Gale.
Gearing
- By far the best way to get better gear in the campaign is to check the Vendor in Town each time you level up! As vendors change their offerings based on your level this is an excellent way to find extra upgrades.
- Prioritize +#% to Fire, Cold and Lightning Resistance as well as +# to Maximum Life on your gear.
- Most of the damage you take during the campaign outside of Boss/Rare encounters is Physical Damage. Small amount of strength allows you to equip some Armour based pieces of equipment for additional survivability. If you can afford it buy and equip Cloak of Flame for huge amount of Physical damage mitigation. Once you equip it make sure you have 75% Fire resistances!
- Look for a Staff or Wand with + Levels of Cold Spell Skills or + Levels of All Spell Skills. You increase your DPS by looking for the following stats, sorted by order of importance:
- + Levels of Cold Spell Skills or + Levels of All Spell Skills
- Gain % of Damage As Extra Cold Damage
- Gain % of Damage As Extra Lightning or Fire Damage
- %# increased Spell or Cold Damage
- % increased Freeze Buildup
- % increased Critical Hit Chance For Spells
- A great source is checking vendors occasionally for promising bases to craft on with Orbs of Transmutation, Orbs of Augmentation, Regal Orbs, Exalted Orbs, Chaos Orbs and Essences.
- To finish off your item use one or two Artificer's Orb and socket defensive Runes like Body Rune or Glacial Rune.
- If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!
FAQ
Towards the end of Act 2 once you find 2 level 7 Uncut Skill Gems, allocate Endless Blizzard and Inescapable Cold. Complete your first Trial of Ascendancy and pick Scouring Winds. At this point equip Frostbolt and Cold Snap and you are good to go!
If you follow the build guide the attribute you need the most for your skills is intelligence. Pick it on your passive tree while traveling though the highway nodes and this should be enough to use all of you skills. If you want to equip some equipment that requires small amounts of strength or dexterity respec some of the attribute points. Make sure to still keep enough to be able to use all of your abilities. Using items with very high strength and dexterity is not recommended. If you wish to use Leap Slam in your second Weapon Set make sure to find some gear with +Strength or +Intelligence and swap some skill points into strength. Elemental Invocation a requires small amount of dexterity so to equip it look out for equipment with any attributes and adjust your skill tree accordingly. Ingenuity provides 25 Intelligence and solves intelligence pressure on your build.
On normal difficulty there are not that many defensive options for sorceress. Your best friend is scaling life and resistances. With some investment into strength you can use some armor bases for additional physical damage mitigation. On Cruel difficulty start focusing on high energy shield equipment and invest into energy shield nodes on the passive skill tree
Patch 0.1.0d changed how Trigger Skills generate energy. Every time you freeze an enemy Cast on Freeze generates energy dependent on power of the frozen enemy. Normal monsters generate 10 energy, magic 20, rare 50 and unique 200. A single cast of Comet costs 300 energy so it requires multiple frozen enemies, especially normal ones.
Most of the bonuses are helpful and are a personal choice but I recommend 15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks in Act 2, 25% increased Mana Regeneration Rate in Act 3. In the same Acts on Cruel difficulty you get offered different choices so I recommend taking 15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks in Act 2 Cruel and +5 to All Attributes in Act 3 Cruel.
Summary
- Flame Wall, Spark and Frost Bomb are a great combo to get you through Act 1 and 2!
- Use Frostbolt to freeze your enemies and follow it up with Cold Snap to detonate it and to shatter frozen enemies.
- Frost Wall is a great tool to deal with tougher enemies.
- Cast on Freeze Comet provides an additional burst of damage especially against rare enemies and bosses.
- Elemental Invocation builds up charges and lets you decide when to unleash a deadly Comet.