Frost Mage Infernalist Build Guide
The Frost Mage Infernalist uses Skeletal Frost Mages for both AoE and single target damage. They also freeze & chill enemies and bosses making them much less dangerous.
Cast Eye of Winter to further boost your Minion's damage by applying the Critical Weakness debuff. Damage is further enhanced by the Hypothermia Curse and the Pain Offering buff.
This build’s greatest asset is its primary defense. It has a massive energy shield pool and uses Grim Feast to double that during maps that allows you to reach extreme numbers like 15-30k Energy Shield.
All of this combined, allows you to clear quite aggressively while still being able to pull back and let your Minions protect you from enemies when needed. If you want a chill Minion playstyle then this is the build for you.
Note: You do not need resistances on any specific item, just get the required total resistances and attributes amongst all gear combined. You need to cap your Resistances at 75% unless otherwise specified in the guide!
This gear is basically as good as it can get and is in no way a requirement to have for the build. It is to show what modifiers you want to strive for on your items.
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.
This guide assumes you are at least level 68 and have completed Act 3 Cruel, to learn more about the leveling process check out our Witch Minion Leveling Guide.
Skills
- Skeletal Frost Mages are used to both deal damage and freeze enemies. Scattershot and Wildshards are used to support this Minion to increase the number of Ice Shards they cast. Add quality to this gem to reduce the Spirit reservation required.
NOTE: Swap Wildshards for Concentrated Effect and Fork for Cold Mastery when fighting pinnacle & map bosses, this massively increases single target boss damage. - Skeletal Storm Mage is used to apply the shock debuff to enemies. You should use two for improved shock uptime if you have more than 10 frost mages.
- Hypothermia lowers enemy Cold resistances for more damage.
- Pain Offering increases the damage for all your Minions.
- Eye of Winter applies a debuff that increases the chance for your Minions to deal a Critical Strike. Use a level 13 Uncut Skill Gem for this skill to reduce the mana cost.
- Grim Feast allows you to double your Maximum Energy Shield pool. Optionally supported by Clarity for increased Mana regeneration. Do not link this if it means you lose an extra Skeletal Frost Mage.
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- Frost Bomb is used to apply Cold exposure to enemies. Use a level 1 Uncut Skill Gem for this skill to reduce the mana cost.
- Skeletal Cleric heals all your other Minions and resurrects your other Skeletons. You only need one or two of these support Skeletons, use the rest of your Spirit on Skeletal Frost Mage or Clarity.
- Blink An optional skill you can fit in, if you think you have enough damage at the cost of removing two Skeletal Frost Mage. (When you have around 500+ Spirit)
Note: You can use Blink without removing two Skeletal Storm Mages if you utilize weapon swapping as it is explained in the "Skill Rotation" section part 5.
- Optional if you have Skeletal Warrior on your Sceptre. They are mainly used to tank enemies with this build.
Skill Rotation
- For both maps and bosses you cast Pain Offering first to buff your Minions
- Then cast Hypothermia if there are any Rare or Boss monsters to lower their Cold resistances.
- Then cast Frost Bomb to apply Cold exposure for -20 or -30 Cold resistance depending on if you have supported it with Strip Away and added quality to the gem.
- Lastly cast Eye of Winter two to three times to get 10 stacks of Critical Weakness. Make sure to cast a new Eye of Winter now and then to keep 10 stacks up at all time.
- If your Minions get stuck you can setup your second weapon set to have ZERO summoned Minions in the Skills tab. By doing this all your Minions despawn when you swap to your second weapon set. Then you can quickly swap back to your main weapon set which causes all your previous living Minions to respawn right next to you. A similar function to how the spell Convocation worked in PoE1. However if you have an active auto-resurrection pending the rest of your Minions cannot instantly respawn and you have to wait for them all to spawn when the auto-resurrection finishes.
Skill Leveling Priority
Passives
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For the attribute nodes take enough Intelligence and Dexterity to meet gear, skill gem and support gem requirements, then use the rest on Strength for more life. You can respec your attributes for gold if the requirements on your gear suddenly changes instead of waiting to level up.
There are many valuable nodes on the passive tree, but the most important stats to acquire are:
- Minions have #% reduced Reservation.
- #% Increased Maximum Energy Shield
- Minions deal #% Increased damage.
- Minions have #% Increased Critical Damage Bonus
- Minions have #% Increased Critical Hit Chance
- Minions Revive #% Faster.
- Minions have +#% to all Elemental Resistances.
- #% Faster start of Energy Shield Recharge.
- #% Increased Energy Shield Recharge Rate.
It's worth noting that nodes such as Illuminated Crown and Ancient Aegis, encourage equipping a Helmet and Body Armour with high Energy Shield. Check the Gearing section for more information.
Ascendancy
Learn how to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos to earn your first 2 Ascensions with our Ascension Guide!
- 1st Ascension : Loyal Hellhound.
- For an extra Minion and reduced damage taken by 20%.
- 2nd Ascension: Altered Flesh.
- This helps deal with Phyiscal damage if you have Chaos Resistance. When you start stacking Maximum Fire resistances you take less Cold and Lightning damge.
- 3rd Ascension: Beidat's Will
- For more maximum Spirit at the cost of 25% life reservation.
- 4th Ascension: Beidat's Hand or two Life.
- The default choice is Beidat's Hand.
- However, if you have less than 2000 life and Low Chaos resistance, take two Life nodes instead.
Gearing
Offensive Scaling
- The by far best modifier to scale this build is Level of all Minion skills
- +# to Spirit and Increased Spirit
- Minions and Allies have #% Increased Damage
- Minions and Allies have #% Increased Crit Damage and Crit Chance.
- Minions and Allies have #% Increased Cast Speed
Defensive Scaling
- Sufficient +#% to Fire, Cold, Lightning and Chaos Resistance to cap your Resistances.
- Sources of +#% to Maximum Fire Resistances to scale your elemental defenses into the endgame.
- #% Increased Energy Shield.
- +# To Maximum Energy Shield.
- +# to Maximum Life.
- A shield with a high % Block Chance. Oaksworn is a solid option before you acquire a very good Rare Shield.
- If you are still struggling check out our Survival Guide for additional useful information!
Here's how you should gear your Frost Mage Infernalist. Sorted mostly in order of importance.
Note: A useful Essence when crafting many of the defensive items below is Essence of Enhancement and Greater Essence of Enhancement.
Weapons
- The most important item to acquire is a Minion Sceptre with multiple modifiers that increase your Minion's damage. A Rattling Sceptre is the "best" option, but Skeletal Warriors provide almost nothing except two tanks for this build. Make sure to prioritize a Sceptre of another base type over a Rattling Sceptre if it has multiple of the modifiers below.
Specifically, look out for the following stats on them in rough order of importance:- +# to Level of All Minion Skills
- #% Increased Spirit
- Allies in Your Presence Deal #% Increased Damage
- Allies in Your Presence Have #% Increased Cast Speed
- Allies in Your Presence Have #% Increased Critical Hit Chance
- Allies in Your Presence Have #% Increased Critical Damage Bonus
If you prefer more damage over using a shield for passive block chance, you can dual wield a Sceptre together with Trenchtimbre for 3 extra +# to Level of All Minion Skills.
Helmets
Body Armour
Shield
Gloves
Boots
Rings
Amulet
Belt
Jewels
Atlas Passives
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- Generally aim for mechanics that spawn lots of monsters, such as Breach or Ritual.
- The build can do all map mods, but there are of course more dangerous ones like -#% To Maximum Elemental Resistances that you do at your own peril!
Map modifiers which increases enemies elemental resistances reduces the Cold damage your Minions deal. - Early on Waystones found have a % chance to be a higher tier, is good for progression. Make sure you use your highest waystones on bosses.
Learn about the endgame activities available to you in Path of Exile 2 with our guide!
FAQ
When should I swap from Skeletal Arsonists to Skeletal Frost Mages?
You can swap to Skeletal Frost Mage after the Campaign, but make sure you change all your skill gems and supports to have the correct setup for this build. Make sure to get Sapphires with at least two damage rolls to scale their damage.
I struggle with my attributes, what should I do?
I keep dying! Is there any way to solve my defense?
What bonuses should I choose from relics in Act 2 and venom drought in Act 3?
How do I get extra sockets for Skeletal Warriors and Summon Infernal Hound?
What support gems should I use if I have Skeletal Warriors from my Sceptre?
Video
Summary
- Skeletal Frost Mages are the main damage dealers for both single target and AoE.
- Hypothermia is used to curse enemies to lower their Cold resistance.
- Eye of Winter is used to apply the Critical Weakness debuff.
- Pain Offering is used to buff all your Minions for more damage.
- Frost Bomb is used to apply Cold exposure on enemies.
- Grim Feast is used to provide an extremely strong defensive layer setup by doubling your Energy Shield in maps.