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.
You do not need specific resistances on any item, just get the required total resistances amongst all gear combined. You need to cap your Resistances at 75% unless otherwise specified in the guide!
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
- From level 1 to level 15 you use Spark as your clear skill.
- Place down Flame Wall and shoot Spark through it to empower it with Fire damage.
- Use Frost Bomb on cooldown for a burst of damage and to freeze your enemies.
- Starting from level 6 use Shield Charge in 2nd weapon set equipped with a wand and a shield for better mobility.
- Towards the end of Act 1 once you Engrave Frostbolt, Cold Snap and Scattershot swap to this setup.
- 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. 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 Detonate Frostbolt with Cold Snap on top of Ice Crystals to detonate them.
- Once you find body armor or amulet with at least 20 Spirit use second Cast on Freeze setup for more devastating Comets!
- 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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Gem Engraving Priority
Skill Rotation
- Hypothermia right before the boss becomes active.
- Frost Bomb to apply Cold Exposure.
- Use Frost Wall on top of the boss.
- Cast Frostbolts towards the boss and the Ice Crystals.
- Detonate Frostbolts using Cold Snap.
- Block and kill enemies with Frost Wall.
- Cast Frostbolts.
- Detonate Frostbolts with Cold Snap.
- Shatter frozen enemies with Cold Snap.
Skill Leveling Priority
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 increases 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.
Passives
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- For the attribute nodes take enough Intelligence and Dexterity and Strength to meet gear, skill gem and support gem requirements, then use the rest on Intelligence for more Mana.
- You can use your Gold at the Hooded one or Doryani to respec and change your Attributes if a new skill or gear upgrade leaves you unable to use your skills/items.
- Act 1 - During the first act utilize lightning damage from the tree to increase damage of your Spark. Elemental damage nodes benefit both Spark and Frostbolt so allocating them reduces the amount of required respecs.
- Act 2 - Respec Path of Storms into Path of Winter. Inescapable Cold and Climate Change increase your freeze buildup allowing you to freeze enemies much easier. Freeze is you main form of defense and frozen enemies can be shattered with Cold Snap. Cast on Freeze triggers more Comets if you freeze enemies more often.
- Once you acquire Frost Wall allocate Shattered Crystal to detonate Ice Crystals much easier. Once you deal enough damage to detonate them with a single cast of Cold Snap without this node then remove it.
- Setting up your Frost Bomb and Hypothermia in the second weapon set allows you to take exposure nodes like Overexposure and curse nodes like Master of Hexes only for your second weapon set. This allows you to spend first weapon set passive points for additional damage nodes like Endless Blizzard.
Stat Priorities
Offensive Scaling
- Projectile, AoE and Cold Skill Levels.
- #% increased Cast speed.
- % damage, like Area Damage, Cold Damage and Spell Damage.
- Freeze Buildup allows you to trigger Comets more often.
- Maximum Mana and Mana Regeneration allows you to cast more spells.
- Increased Magnitute of Shock and Non-Damaging Ailments once you have allocated Shaper of Storms.
Defensive Scaling
- Sufficient +#% to Fire, Cold and Lightning Resistance to cap your Resistances.
- Maximum Life.
- Maximum Energy Shield.
- Evasion Rating.
If you're struggling to survive, or want to learn more about damage and defenses in Path of Exile 2 check out these additional resources:
- During the campaign, try to get Life and Resistances.
- Most important upgrade is your weapon. Look out for Wands, Foci and Staffs with high + to Cold Spell Skill Levels or + to All Spell Skill Levels.
- Get Boots with % Increased Movement Speed.
- Try to get some Cast Speed on Rings and Amulets.
- Focus on getting + to Maximum Life on equipment but where it is possible try to get some Energy Shield.
- Once in maps make sure to get +20 Spirit on the Amulet or on the Body Armour to be able to use 2x Cast on Freeze.
- Once you can afford it Snakepit is the best upgrade to go for. Equipping it in the left ring slot prevents Frostbolt from piercing which is actually a benefit. This makes Frostbolts detonate on hit dealing more damage and then forking into additional projectiles. This lets you detonate Frost Walls much easier and makes all projectiles and Ice Crystal explosions overlap on top of the enemy for huge amounts of damage.
- It can be rough to scale both Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Damage on this build. Maligaro's Virtuosity lets you focus fully on scaling Critical Strike Chance which makes swapping to crit much easier. Once equipped try to get a wand, focus, amulet and helmet with Increased Critical Strike Chance or Increased Critical Strike Chance For Spells.
- Allocating Increased Critical Strike Chance nodes on the passive tree like Careful Assassin, Critical Exploit and Controlling Magic is also recommended at this point.
FAQ
Towards the end of Act 1 once you Engrave Frostbolt, Cold Snap and Scattershot 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. 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. Frost Wall is your best friend! Cast it often to block off enemies, Freeze them and deal damage at the same time!
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.
Summary
- Flame Wall, Spark and Frost Bomb are a great combo to get you through Act 1!
- 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.