Path of Building

 

Gameplay:

T16 Strand, turbo monsters and players cannot inflict exposure

Lair of the Hydra, 50% increased monster life

 

Budget:

Around 10-15ex before counting the Unnatural Instinct Jewel that I was lucky enough to find myself.  

 

What is this?

This is an Archmage Ice Nova Raider that I’ve been playing this league. The build was originally based on the Archmage BF/BB Raider that was popular a couple of leagues ago, but reworked to fit a different skill and the reworked passive tree. Due to the high effectiveness of added damage on Ice Nova, and how you can get a lot of Ice Novas out with Frostbolt plus Spell Echo, it makes great use of all the added damage you get from Archmage and Arcane Cloak.

It isn’t the strongest build out there, but I’ve been enjoying it a lot. I would love to get some more eyes on the build concept in the hope that other people might also enjoy it and further optimize it.

 

Who should try this build?

I would recommend this build for more experienced players that know how to generate some currency at leaguestart and who don’t mind going a bit slower in exchange for playing something a bit off-meta. If you are looking for a cheap build that can take you through the atlas before funding a second build, this might be it.

If you are a new player looking for an effective and simple to follow build, or if you are looking for a build that mows through double/triple beyond maps and is guaranteed to handle the new uber content, then you should probably look for something else.

 

Why Archmage Ice Nova?

I like the mana stacker build archetype and Ice Nova has a really high effectiveness of added damage when combined with Frostbolt and Spell Echo supports. You can reliably reach 750-1200% effectiveness of added damage per Ice Nova cast, which scales well with all the added damage you get from Archmage and Arcane Cloak. Being able to use Vaal Ice Nova is also a bonus.

 

Why Raider?

Raider provides a lot of quality of life for this build. The phasing nodes kickstarts our defensive layers and provides good cold and lightning exposure without us having to do anything. The onslaught nodes fixes any cast speed issues while also making us run really fast. Starting as the Ranger also isn’t completely useless because there are some good mana and flask nodes that we can pick up whilst traveling to the top-left part of the skill tree.

I’m assuming that something like a Hierophant can reach a higher peak, with more damage and tankiness, but when it comes to making a character that is enjoyable to play on a budget I think Raider is hard to beat.

 

Leaguestart viable?

Yes. In order to try out this build in a new league environment I played this build in SSF to yellow maps with no major issues before I transferred it to the trade league. The skill tree is almost able to pick up all the attributes you need for your gems. There’s also a lot of resistances on the tree which makes gearing really simple. The build really wants a few specific uniques that really empower the build, but none of them are super expensive at leaguestart. However, if Archmage builds become more popular next patch the prices of these uniques have the potential to increase, which would hamper the strength of this build on leaguestart.

 

SSF viable?

It is probably doable, but I wouldn’t recommend it. The uniques this build uses are rare if you’re trying to find them yourself, and they have effects that are difficult to replicate with rare gear.

 

Hardcore viable?

No. The build has a high base hp through MoM and high evasion, but it is lacking in damage reduction which means that occasionally you’re gonna get instagibbed and you won't really know what happened. I wouldn’t call the build squishy, but you should expect to occasionally die.

 

Can you level with Ice Nova?

No. You need to level with something else and respec after the campaign. I leveled this character with Caustic Arrow and Toxic Rain and with the respec points obtained through the campaign I was able to respec and start mapping as Ice Nova. I have a more detailed leveling overview in the notes of the PoB.

Hopefully this post is able to inspire some of you to try out the build. The Path of Building has notes on leveling, gearing, and a few gameplay tips that should get you started. If you have any feedback or tips on how the build could be improved I would love to hear them. Feel free to ask any questions as well.

 

Path of Building

 

Good Luck in 3.18 exiles!