Ice Battle Mage (Cold Sorc)

[ThrasherGX]

maybe this is what you are looking for as an early game skill tree, lmk what you think.

Cold Skills
⦁ Frigid Nova : 15 Points
⦁ Crystalline Barrier : 1 Point
⦁ Glacial Torrent : 25 Points
⦁ Winter Tide : 1 Point
⦁ Hoar Frost : 4 Points
⦁ Rime : 4 Points
⦁ Frostburn : 1 Point

Mastery Skills
⦁ Meditation : 3 Points
⦁ Purity : 4 Points
⦁ Melee Devotion : 1 Point

Melee Skills
⦁ Moonstrike : 13 Points

Coven Skills
⦁ Warp Armor : 24 Points
⦁ Nova Charge : 1 Point
⦁ Vengeful Power : 10 Points
⦁ Hive : 1 Point

Arcane Skills
⦁ Immersion : 1 Point
⦁ Arcane Torrent : 1 Point
⦁ Raven Familiar : 1 Point

Reward Skills
⦁ Witchblood : 15 Points
⦁ Symbol of Esu : 5 Points

Why only one point in Nova Charge, the dex to energy conversion is most useful early game, when stats for sacred items are hardest to get. You can dump all your points in dex, and still have decent energy for mana and damage. Also, you should consider taking 2 points out of moon strike to get the modifiers for it, the free cold pierce is likely worth more than 2% life.

[Dru]

Why only one point in Nova Charge, the dex to energy conversion is most useful early game, when stats for sacred items are hardest to get. You can dump all your points in dex, and still have decent energy for mana and damage. Also, you should consider taking 2 points out of moon strike to get the modifiers for it, the free cold pierce is likely worth more than 2% life.

agh i totally forgot about cold blooded mb.. that was my mistake.

i updated it just now.

[CircaG]

Loving the guide! Is there any reason you still don't have Melee Devotion as a point for your mastery tree? I feel like a basically free 20% PDR is way too useful to ignore, especially for early/mid game!

Edit: Realized this is multiplicative with other PDR. I still think it's good, but not free 20%, my bad

[Cah23]

IDK if you have tried this build with Moonstrike instead of Frigid Nova, but Jesus Christ is it a fantastic combo at low-level!!! FN sucks nuts comparatively and makes for an absolutly grueling grind-fest! 20-pnts into Moon for max +life% and duration, instead of 25 for FN.

And your guide is incorrect about Glacial Torrent being single target! That is my main killing skill I used for mobs as it is multi-target and multi-hitting! It is king so far for low-level!

You are also missing out on a free 20% damage reduction from Melee Devotion for 1-point, as it has been confirmed to work with cold based spells (it locks out skills you cannot use, and I can use all my cold based skills with it just fine), however it does not display on the LCS, but has been confirmed to work.

- Yea maybe for early game Melee Devotion would be better, but i mean like i said before you kinda wanna set yourself up for end game content. You are gonna want the ice elementals to reach your max resists quicker and easier. as for glacial torrent "not" being a single target skill you might want to read the skill again. You can definitely use it to speed clear, but it is mainly a boss killing skill.

Glacial Torrent:
"New level 20 active skill, requires a scepter or an orb
Unleashes a freezing cascade in melee range, dealing heavy single target damage
Total damage multiplier increases by 1% per Base Level"

Hey Dru, thanks for the response. Unfortunately, and I hope you are not the type with a fragile ego because I mean you absolutly no disrespect and love your guide, but you are wrong about Glacial Torrent. I have been using it constantly since the beginning till now, clvl 103, to kill mobs. Believe me, I am NOT single-striking. It *IS* a multi-target and multi-hit skill far far far more powerful than FN. You could put those point from FN into... anything else. The added life from Moonstrike and the -enemy cold resist come to mind. Just for shits and giggles, I respec'd to Frigid and it sucks so bad, IDK why anyone would waste their time with that skill TBH. It's only good for the first 20 levels or so.

Also regarding the merc, now that cold is more melee based, are you certain a melee merc is the best? In general, a ranged merc for melee, a melee merc for ranged seems to be the magic ticket. I've been using a Priestess to great effect so far and she has never died.

Am clvl 127. Only took half a day to go from lvl 100 to plowing through fautz easy with fast clear speed in set items & honorifics using FN + blink and wintertide combo. Fun play style, fast clear speeds and still good boss killer (all 105 - 120 charms easy). FN is better for clearing mobs and leveling. Would recommend to everyone. Glacial torrent + melee devotion respec maybe only for boss killing. Clvl 103 is too low to make a final judgment on FN vs Glacial torrent. 95% of Median xl’s content is 105+.


Edit: Great guide. Clean, concise and effective. Well done.

[livewirejsp]

Is this some of y'all second character? I have barely found 2 set items, and nothing for me. And beating bosses is insanely hard, to the point where I get an enrage timer on them.

[Dru]

Is this some of y'all second character? I have barely found 2 set items, and nothing for me. And beating bosses is insanely hard, to the point where I get an enrage timer on them.

sorry to hear you are struggling. i wouldnt attempt bosses unless you get the cold sorc set in honest opinion. if you want to find that quicker you need to spam K3K. and beating bosses was insanely easy with the cold sorc set. just work your way up there. farm some AC's sell the AC's , buy the gear or like i said farm K3K.

[Cah23]

Is this some of y'all second character? I have barely found 2 set items, and nothing for me. And beating bosses is insanely hard, to the point where I get an enrage timer on them.

Play TSW (Multiplayer) Its far more fun. More community. More trading. Get use out of good drops that arent useful to your character by trading them. Can obviously also trade for items that ARE useful to you. You can play Solo online by just hosting your own priv games while still utilizing trading. Its fun. You get to explore a lot more of Median XL's content and the ladder is fun too

[Taem]

IDK if you have tried this build with Moonstrike instead of Frigid Nova, but Jesus Christ is it a fantastic combo at low-level!!! FN sucks nuts comparatively and makes for an absolutly grueling grind-fest! 20-pnts into Moon for max +life% and duration, instead of 25 for FN.

And your guide is incorrect about Glacial Torrent being single target! That is my main killing skill I used for mobs as it is multi-target and multi-hitting! It is king so far for low-level!

You are also missing out on a free 20% damage reduction from Melee Devotion for 1-point, as it has been confirmed to work with cold based spells (it locks out skills you cannot use, and I can use all my cold based skills with it just fine), however it does not display on the LCS, but has been confirmed to work.

- Yea maybe for early game Melee Devotion would be better, but i mean like i said before you kinda wanna set yourself up for end game content. You are gonna want the ice elementals to reach your max resists quicker and easier. as for glacial torrent "not" being a single target skill you might want to read the skill again. You can definitely use it to speed clear, but it is mainly a boss killing skill.

Glacial Torrent:
"New level 20 active skill, requires a scepter or an orb
Unleashes a freezing cascade in melee range, dealing heavy single target damage
Total damage multiplier increases by 1% per Base Level"

Hey Dru, thanks for the response. Unfortunately, and I hope you are not the type with a fragile ego because I mean you absolutly no disrespect and love your guide, but you are wrong about Glacial Torrent. I have been using it constantly since the beginning till now, clvl 103, to kill mobs. Believe me, I am NOT single-striking. It *IS* a multi-target and multi-hit skill far far far more powerful than FN. You could put those point from FN into... anything else. The added life from Moonstrike and the -enemy cold resist come to mind. Just for shits and giggles, I respec'd to Frigid and it sucks so bad, IDK why anyone would waste their time with that skill TBH. It's only good for the first 20 levels or so.

Also regarding the merc, now that cold is more melee based, are you certain a melee merc is the best? In general, a ranged merc for melee, a melee merc for ranged seems to be the magic ticket. I've been using a Priestess to great effect so far and she has never died.

Am clvl 127. Only took half a day to go from lvl 100 to plowing through fautz easy with fast clear speed in set items & honorifics using FN + blink and wintertide combo. Fun play style, fast clear speeds and still good boss killer (all 105 - 120 charms easy). FN is better for clearing mobs and leveling. Would recommend to everyone. Glacial torrent + melee devotion respec maybe only for boss killing. Clvl 103 is too low to make a final judgment on FN vs Glacial torrent. 95% of Median xl’s content is 105+.


Edit: Great guide. Clean, concise and effective. Well done.

Sounds like it's my items then. I've been living off the land and haven't tried (yet) to adjust any of my gear or farm for shards, so I'm only wearing the best of what I've found. So, having said that, I have discovered that with very shitty T1 gear, I can solo up to Hell a1 @100 using moonstrike. I wonder how far I can push it when I maximize use of that skill with Glacial? Anyway, it sounds like I'm veering toward a completely different sub-class. Dru's guide is awesome and perfect for pure cold absolutely; I'll let you know how my experiment goes.

[Cah23]

IDK if you have tried this build with Moonstrike instead of Frigid Nova, but Jesus Christ is it a fantastic combo at low-level!!! FN sucks nuts comparatively and makes for an absolutly grueling grind-fest! 20-pnts into Moon for max +life% and duration, instead of 25 for FN.

And your guide is incorrect about Glacial Torrent being single target! That is my main killing skill I used for mobs as it is multi-target and multi-hitting! It is king so far for low-level!

You are also missing out on a free 20% damage reduction from Melee Devotion for 1-point, as it has been confirmed to work with cold based spells (it locks out skills you cannot use, and I can use all my cold based skills with it just fine), however it does not display on the LCS, but has been confirmed to work.

- Yea maybe for early game Melee Devotion would be better, but i mean like i said before you kinda wanna set yourself up for end game content. You are gonna want the ice elementals to reach your max resists quicker and easier. as for glacial torrent "not" being a single target skill you might want to read the skill again. You can definitely use it to speed clear, but it is mainly a boss killing skill.

Glacial Torrent:
"New level 20 active skill, requires a scepter or an orb
Unleashes a freezing cascade in melee range, dealing heavy single target damage
Total damage multiplier increases by 1% per Base Level"

Hey Dru, thanks for the response. Unfortunately, and I hope you are not the type with a fragile ego because I mean you absolutly no disrespect and love your guide, but you are wrong about Glacial Torrent. I have been using it constantly since the beginning till now, clvl 103, to kill mobs. Believe me, I am NOT single-striking. It *IS* a multi-target and multi-hit skill far far far more powerful than FN. You could put those point from FN into... anything else. The added life from Moonstrike and the -enemy cold resist come to mind. Just for shits and giggles, I respec'd to Frigid and it sucks so bad, IDK why anyone would waste their time with that skill TBH. It's only good for the first 20 levels or so.

Also regarding the merc, now that cold is more melee based, are you certain a melee merc is the best? In general, a ranged merc for melee, a melee merc for ranged seems to be the magic ticket. I've been using a Priestess to great effect so far and she has never died.

Am clvl 127. Only took half a day to go from lvl 100 to plowing through fautz easy with fast clear speed in set items & honorifics using FN + blink and wintertide combo. Fun play style, fast clear speeds and still good boss killer (all 105 - 120 charms easy). FN is better for clearing mobs and leveling. Would recommend to everyone. Glacial torrent + melee devotion respec maybe only for boss killing. Clvl 103 is too low to make a final judgment on FN vs Glacial torrent. 95% of Median xl’s content is 105+.


Edit: Great guide. Clean, concise and effective. Well done.

Sounds like it's my items then. I've been living off the land and haven't tried (yet) to adjust any of my gear or farm for shards, so I'm only wearing the best of what I've found. So, having said that, I have discovered that with very shitty T1 gear, I can solo up to Hell a1 @100 using moonstrike. I wonder how far I can push it when I maximize use of that skill with Glacial? Anyway, it sounds like I'm veering toward a completely different sub-class. Dru's guide is awesome and perfect for pure cold absolutely; I'll let you know how my experiment goes.

Anyone know if Glacial torrent can proc on attack and on striking? If it does, You should get Cold blood and see how that goes with pure Glacial build. Would be intresting.

Cold Blood

Cold Blood
Crystal Sword (Sacred)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 1020
Item Level: 120
Innate Cold Damage: (45.0% of Dexterity)
Regens 15% Life Over 5 Seconds Upon Taking Weapon Damage
100% Chance to cast level 50 Shatter the Flesh on Kill
1% Chance to cast level 63 Blizzard on Striking
25% Attack Speed
Adds (460 to 660)-(750 to 950) Cold Damage
+150% to Cold Spell Damage
-(20 to 30)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
Maximum Mana -50%
Requirements +100%
Socketed (6)

[Dru]

IDK if you have tried this build with Moonstrike instead of Frigid Nova, but Jesus Christ is it a fantastic combo at low-level!!! FN sucks nuts comparatively and makes for an absolutly grueling grind-fest! 20-pnts into Moon for max +life% and duration, instead of 25 for FN.

And your guide is incorrect about Glacial Torrent being single target! That is my main killing skill I used for mobs as it is multi-target and multi-hitting! It is king so far for low-level!

You are also missing out on a free 20% damage reduction from Melee Devotion for 1-point, as it has been confirmed to work with cold based spells (it locks out skills you cannot use, and I can use all my cold based skills with it just fine), however it does not display on the LCS, but has been confirmed to work.

- Yea maybe for early game Melee Devotion would be better, but i mean like i said before you kinda wanna set yourself up for end game content. You are gonna want the ice elementals to reach your max resists quicker and easier. as for glacial torrent "not" being a single target skill you might want to read the skill again. You can definitely use it to speed clear, but it is mainly a boss killing skill.

Glacial Torrent:
"New level 20 active skill, requires a scepter or an orb
Unleashes a freezing cascade in melee range, dealing heavy single target damage
Total damage multiplier increases by 1% per Base Level"

Hey Dru, thanks for the response. Unfortunately, and I hope you are not the type with a fragile ego because I mean you absolutly no disrespect and love your guide, but you are wrong about Glacial Torrent. I have been using it constantly since the beginning till now, clvl 103, to kill mobs. Believe me, I am NOT single-striking. It *IS* a multi-target and multi-hit skill far far far more powerful than FN. You could put those point from FN into... anything else. The added life from Moonstrike and the -enemy cold resist come to mind. Just for shits and giggles, I respec'd to Frigid and it sucks so bad, IDK why anyone would waste their time with that skill TBH. It's only good for the first 20 levels or so.

Also regarding the merc, now that cold is more melee based, are you certain a melee merc is the best? In general, a ranged merc for melee, a melee merc for ranged seems to be the magic ticket. I've been using a Priestess to great effect so far and she has never died.

Am clvl 127. Only took half a day to go from lvl 100 to plowing through fautz easy with fast clear speed in set items & honorifics using FN + blink and wintertide combo. Fun play style, fast clear speeds and still good boss killer (all 105 - 120 charms easy). FN is better for clearing mobs and leveling. Would recommend to everyone. Glacial torrent + melee devotion respec maybe only for boss killing. Clvl 103 is too low to make a final judgment on FN vs Glacial torrent. 95% of Median xl’s content is 105+.


Edit: Great guide. Clean, concise and effective. Well done.

Sounds like it's my items then. I've been living off the land and haven't tried (yet) to adjust any of my gear or farm for shards, so I'm only wearing the best of what I've found. So, having said that, I have discovered that with very shitty T1 gear, I can solo up to Hell a1 @100 using moonstrike. I wonder how far I can push it when I maximize use of that skill with Glacial? Anyway, it sounds like I'm veering toward a completely different sub-class. Dru's guide is awesome and perfect for pure cold absolutely; I'll let you know how my experiment goes.

Anyone know if Glacial torrent can proc on attack and on striking? If it does, You should get Cold blood and see how that goes with pure Glacial build. Would be intresting.

Cold Blood

Cold Blood
Crystal Sword (Sacred)
Required Level: 100
Required Dexterity: 1020
Item Level: 120
Innate Cold Damage: (45.0% of Dexterity)
Regens 15% Life Over 5 Seconds Upon Taking Weapon Damage
100% Chance to cast level 50 Shatter the Flesh on Kill
1% Chance to cast level 63 Blizzard on Striking
25% Attack Speed
Adds (460 to 660)-(750 to 950) Cold Damage
+150% to Cold Spell Damage
-(20 to 30)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
Maximum Mana -50%
Requirements +100%
Socketed (6)

wouldn't work , Glacial Torrent Requires a Scepter or a Sorceress Orb, if you are looking for a pure Glacial Torrent Weapon

Demhe

Demhe
Maces, Scepters
Except Hammers
'ZodLew'
Runeword Level: 110
25% Chance to cast level 35 Infected Roots on Melee Attack
+(126 to 250) to Maximum Damage
Stun Attack
+(172 to 200)% Enhanced Damage
+(39 to 45)% to Cold Spell Damage
-(39 to 45)% to Enemy Cold Resistance
+(39 to 45)% to Poison Spell Damage
-(39 to 45)% to Enemy Poison Resistance
20% to Vitality
+(51 to 125) Mana on Striking
+15 Life after each Kill

would be best in spot.