Witch - [3.21] ShakCentral's Cold DoT Elementalist For Everyone - Forum - Path of Exile (2024)

Path of Building (PoB)

Reminder: this forum guide contains critical build information that the PoB builds upon. Please fully read the forum guide before moving on to Path of Building.

https://pobb.in/pgdjBZJq_P68

Useful Third-Party Links

❄️ Path of Building allows you to import the link above and simulate your entire build.

❄️ Craft of Exile is a great tool for looking up item mods and "practice" crafting items.

❄️ PoEDB is a powerful database of everything PoE, from modifiers to league mechanics.

❄️ The PoE Wiki is a great place to gain a broader knowledge about many PoE topics.

❄️ The Trade Site lets you trade almost anything in PoE, whether items or currency.

Main Build Mechanics

Cold Damage: PoE has ailments associated with each damage type. Cold Damage can chill and freeze, which are non-damaging Ailments that slow or completely stop enemy action speed respectively.

Damage over Time: DoT builds have high "DPS uptime". They often deal damage while moving, making them especially effective at surviving tough situations.

Armour & Evasion: Armour mitigates physical damage from hits, while Evasion gives a chance to avoid attacks entirely. Combining these defensive layers means that we take hits less often, and when we do get hit the damage is mitigated.

Curses: We combine two curses that lower enemy resistances (Frostbite and Elemental Weakness) with increased curse effect from our ascendancy to dramatically increase our single target damage.

Passive Masteries

Passive Masteries are a new type of skill point introduced in patch 3.16. Masteries provide niche build benefits in locations across the passive skill tree.

To select a Mastery skill, you must first allocate a Notable skill in the same cluster. Masteries can be visually identified by the bright circles in the center of skill point clusters.

Keystone Passives

Keystones are skills on the passive skill tree. Most keystones alter a specific game mechanic and have both a benefit and downside. Past Occultist versions have used as many as 7 keystones, but the 3.21 Elementalist version uses 0 by default. The only Keystone I would consider in this version is:

Ghost Dance: As long as your Evasion is higher than your ES total, Ghost Dance recovers Energy Shield when you get hit, in an amount similar to the ES-on-kill from the Soul Thief notable.

Class and Ascendancy, Progression, and Playstyle

Class and Ascendancy: The Witch is an excellent spellcaster. The Elementalist ascendancy provides massive DPS increases due to Shaper of Storms and Mastermind of Discord, an self-adapting boost to either single target damage or clearspeed from Heart of Destruction, and both reflect immunity and a nice defensive layer from Bastion of Elements.

Progression: We level as a generic life-based spellcaster with a high degree of flexibility in early skill gem choices and Cold DoT transition timing.

One of the strengths of the Elementalist version is its lack of a transition period in the build. You simply progress the skill tree as normal and continue crafting and equipping items which complement the main build concepts. There are many ways to upgrade the endgame build and most items are not mandatory, giving experienced players leeway for preference.

Playstyle: Mapping is simple and smooth, with Vortex cast automatically and Creeping Frost picking off stragglers. For single target, we have 3 damaging skills, and keeping up a rotation of curses via Bane and Frost Bomb for exposure will take down bosses in short order.

Scaling Damage and Defenses

Below are some simple ways to scale the build's damage and defenses. This is not a complete or thorough list; it's a broad overview to assist in decisions for item crafting/trading.

Damage : Here are some of the simplest ways in which you can scale up the build's damage:

❄️ Skill gem levels (Mainly Cold DoT skills and their support gems)
❄️ Increased Effect of Non-Damaging Ailments
❄️ Spell damage
❄️ Cold Damage
❄️ Cold Damage over Time Multiplier
❄️ Damage over Time
❄️ Damage over Time Multiplier

Defense : Here are some of the simplest ways in which you can scale up the build's defenses:

❄️ Life
❄️ Life Recovery on Block and/or Kill
❄️ Life Regeneration
❄️ +% Maximum Elemental Resistance(s)
❄️ Chaos Resistance
❄️ Elemental Flasks (Ruby / Sapphire / Topaz)
❄️ Chill Effect
❄️ Armour / Evasion
❄️ Block Chance
❄️ Ailment Immunity (Ignite, Shock, Poison, Bleed, etc)
❄️ Higher Damage

Mistakes To Avoid : Here are some commonly misunderstood modifiers or skill gem aspects that don't actually scale a Cold DoT build:

❄️ "Adds # to # Cold Damage" (Only works for attacks unless followed by "to Spells")
❄️ Ailment Damage or Increased Effect of Damaging Ailments
❄️ Damage (or Cold Damage) with Hits