Fireball Chronomancer Leveling Guide
The Fireball Chronomancer Leveling Guide for the Sorceress Class teaches you how to build your character with step-by-step explanations.
Chronomancer is a master of time. Out of Mana? No problem! Go back in time with Temporal Rift to restore all of your Life and Mana! Create Frost Walls to block your enemies. Detonate them with Fireball to cause a chain effect of massive explosions that freeze your enemies and a nova of projectiles that covers your entire screen. Reset your cooldowns thanks to Now and Again to summon more Frost Walls.
Note: You do not need resistances on any specific item, just get the required total resistances amongst all gear combined.
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
Unfortunately you don't start the game with Fireball and Frost Wall. Throughout Act 1 and 2 use Spark in combination with Flame Wall.
The playstyle revolves around placing down Flame Wall in front of you and and shooting Sparks through it, greatly increasing damage they deal. Positioning is key, so make sure that Flame Wall is always between you and your target.
On bosses throw in Frost Bomb for an additional burst of damage and to freeze your target. Once allocated Now and Again allows you to cast Frost Bomb more often. Orb of Storms is a great way to apply shock debuff greatly increasing your damage output.
At the start of Act 3 or if you are lucky at the end of Act 2 obtain 2 Copies of Uncut Skill Gems Level 9 to engrave Fireball and Frost Wall. Replace Spark and Orb of Storms with your new Skills. From now on it is extremely important to use Frost Bomb and Hypothermia while fighting bosses to greatly reduce their cold resistance.
Fireball and Frost Wall are a perfect match. Fireball after hitting an obstacle splits into multiple projectiles covering your entire screen while Frost Wall after getting hit explodes dealing massive amount of damage and freezing your enemies. This creates a perfect combo where you create Frost Walls and then you hit them with Fireballs causing an explosion and a nova of projectiles. Additionally cause devastating Comets automatically rain from the sky destroying your enemies thanks to the Cast on Freeze Meta Skill.
Fireball naturally deals fire damage, but thanks to Blueflame Bracers it gets converted to cold allowing you to scale the damage of both Fireball and Frost Wall with cold modifiers. This does not change the Fireball skill tag from fire to cold so make sure to equip a weapon with + To Level Of All Spell Skills rather than + To Level Of Cold Spell Skills. These gloves are NOT mandatory for this build to work, but are extremely powerful and cheap so make sure to save up a few Exalted Orbs and buy them as soon as possible.
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.
Skill Rotation
- Place down a Flame Wall and Orb of Storms in front of you.
- Place down a Frost Bomb under the enemy.
- Fire Spark.
- Maintain Flame Wall, Orb of Storms and use Frost Bomb on cooldown.
- Cast Hypothermia.
- Place down a Frost Bomb and Flame Wall under the target.
- Place down Frost Wall on top of the target.
- Shoot Fireballs towards the Frost Wall.
- Maintain Flame Wall and exposure from Frost Bomb.
Skill Engraving Priority
Skills
Supports
You get +20% Resistance, 100 Spirit, a Lesser Jeweller's Orb, and many other permanent bonuses from completing bosses in the campaign. Use our Permanent Buffs Guide to ensure you have all of these before you start exploring the Atlas!
Passives
Ascendancy
Learn how to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos to earn your first 2 Ascensions with our Ascension Guide!
- Footprints in the Sand grants you a Temporal Rift Skill. It allows you to go back in time restoring your Life and Mana to a previous state and teleporting you to your previous position.
- Pick Now and Again for your first ascendancy node. It gives you 33% chance that a Skill with cooldown is not going to consume it when used. This allows you to use Frost Wall, Frost Bomb and Temporal Rift more often.
- Thirdly Circular Heartbeat gives you 30% Damage taken Recouped as Life and The Rapid River makes recoup occur over 4 seconds instead of 8. Combination of these nodes together makes you extremely tanky so take them both at the same time while removing Now and Again
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 All Spell Skills. You increase your DPS by looking for the following stats, sorted by order of importance:
- + Levels of All Spell Skills
- Gain % of Damage As Extra Cold Damage
- Gain % of Damage As Extra Lightning or Fire Damage
- %# increased Spell
- % increased Freeze Buildup
- % increased Critical Hit Chance For Spells
- You can finish your items with Orbs of Transmutation, Orbs of Augmentation, and Regal Orbs.
- If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!
Weapons
- + Levels of All Spell Skills
- Gain % of Damage As Extra Cold Damage
- Gain % of Damage As Extra Lightning or Fire Damage
- % increased Spell Damage
- % increased Cast Speed
- % increased Freeze Buildup
- % increased Critical Hit Chance For Spells
Focus
Rings
Amulet
Belt
Body Armour
Boots
Gloves
FAQ
When should I swap from Spark to Fireball and Frost Wall?
Towards the end of Act 2 or at the beginning of Act 3 once you find 2 level 9 Uncut Skill Gems, allocate Endless Blizzard and Inescapable Cold. Complete your first Trial of Ascendancy and pick Now and Again. At this point equip Fireball and Frost Wall and you are good to go!
I struggle with my attributes, what should I do?
I keep dying! Is there any way to solve my defense?
Why my Cast On Freeze doesn't always proc Comet when I freeze enemies?
What bonuses should I choose from relics in Act 2 and venom drought in Act 3?
Summary
- Flame Wall, Spark and Frost Bomb are a great combo to get you through Act 1 and 2!
- Once you acquire 2 copies of Uncut Skill Gems Level IX swap to Fireball and Frost Wall.
- For highest single target damage start with casting Frost Bomb to apply Exposure, cast Hypothermia, then create Flame Wall around the enemy to increase damage of Fireballs passing through it. Once this setup is done create Frost Walls on top of the enemy and detonate them with a Fireball.
- Cast on Freeze Comet provides an additional burst of damage especially against rare enemies and bosses.