Hey everyone, long time no see! This character, Ice Nova Occultist, might be my surprise build of the league. It was an absolute blast to play and did all the content I threw at it (didnt do sim30 or ubers, as I never do).
The basic idea here was to scale 1) area of effect, 2) big damage per hit to freeze everything and 3) speed. For area of effect, we are stacking power charges with the occultist ascendancy and taking area on clusters and the tree. We also steal the heart of destruction node from elementalist (expensive, but functions fine without it when the rest of the build is complete. Mastermind of discord is a nice replacement, as it solves mana for us and gives some good dmg).
Base damage isnt quite as easy, as Ice Nova has a fairly low inherent base (for example, ice nova does 769-1130 cold damage with 190% effectiveness of added, compared to vortex, which does 1209-1813 and 270% effectiveness). In order to scale this, we maximize our crit (easily reaching 100% to ensure we always freeze) and then scaling massive amounts of increased damage (822% on my current version) through items like void batteries and damage per power charge from various sources.
Third, we want speed. This build is a great bosser, but I really built it to map and do sanctums, since we trivially freeze guards from across the screen without aiming. For speed, we use tailwind and elusive boots. Our elusive is scaled by an extra 110% from badge of the brotherhood. Badge also provides tons of cast speed so you never feel stuck in place while you cast. Blast and go!
Our defenses include evasion, elusive scaling, and spell suppression. However, I cannot emphasize enough the value of full screen freeze, freeze prolif and chill. Its pretty rare that monsters have a chance to use an attack or spell.
The result is a speedy blaster that trivializes pinnacle bosses with some investment. I wasn't sure that I could make ice nova self cast work this well, but I was THRILLED with the outcome! If you play this build, I hope you enjoy! Cheers
PoB: https://pastebin.com/p8tTePeG