(Outdated) Xmu's CI Ice Witch (Witch)

Submitted by Vertraag on March 19, 2013 - 9:07AM EST
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Description

CI + Freezing Pulse with insanely fast casting speed.

Suggested Leagues: Default, Hardcore

Passive Skills

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Gems

Freezing Pulse

Freezing Pulse

An icy projectile which has a chance to freeze enemies it passes through. The projectile fades quickly, reducing damage and freezing chance until it runs out of time and dissipates completely.


Freezing Pulse
Faster Casting

Increases the cast speed of magic skills.


Faster Casting
Greater Multiple Projectiles

Causes 4 additional projectiles to be fired by projectile skills.


Greater Multiple Projectiles
Mana Leech

Restores players mana based on damage dealt to enemies.


Mana Leech
Life Leech

Restores players life based on damage dealt to enemies.


Life Leech
Increased Critical Damage

Increases the damage bonus from critical strikes.


Increased Critical Damage


Auras

Clarity

Casts an aura that grants mana regeneration to you and your allies.


Clarity
Discipline

Casts an aura that grants energy shield to you and your allies.


Discipline
Reduced Mana

Reduces the mana cost of the skill.


Reduced Mana


Spell Totem

Ice Spear

Launches a shard of ice that pierces close enemies, before exploding on a distant enemy with a much higher critical strike chance.


Ice Spear
Faster Casting

Increases the cast speed of magic skills.


Faster Casting
Greater Multiple Projectiles

Causes 4 additional projectiles to be fired by projectile skills.


Greater Multiple Projectiles


Skeletons

Summon Skeletons

Summons slow moving skeletal minions that decay over time. Does not require a corpse to be consumed.


Summon Skeletons
Minion Life

Increases minions life.


Minion Life


Curses

Temporal Chains

Curses all targets in an area, making time pass more slowly for them. They will move, attack and cast at a reduced speed, and effects on them will expire more slowly.


Temporal Chains
Frostbite

Curses all targets in an area, making them less resistant to cold damage and giving cold damage a chance to freeze.


Frostbite
Increased Area of Effect

Increases the radius of area of effect skills.


Increased Area of Effect
Reduced Mana

Reduces the mana cost of the skill.


Reduced Mana


Flasks

Flask Set 1

Mana Flask

Restores 550 Mana over 7 seconds.

Consumes 20 out of 40 charges on use.

Each percentage of quality adds 1% Mana restored.


Mana Flask
Mana Flask

Restores 550 Mana over 7 seconds.

Consumes 20 out of 40 charges on use.

Each percentage of quality adds 1% Mana restored.


Mana Flask
Granite Flask

Increases Armor by 3,000 for 4 seconds.

Consumes 30 out of 60 charges on use.

Each percentage of quality adds .04 seconds to the duration.


Granite Flask
Quicksilver Flask

Increases Movement Speed by 40% for 5 seconds.

Consumes 20 out of 50 charges on use.

Each percentage of quality adds .05 seconds to the duration.


Quicksilver Flask
Quicksilver Flask

Increases Movement Speed by 40% for 5 seconds.

Consumes 20 out of 50 charges on use.

Each percentage of quality adds .05 seconds to the duration.


Quicksilver Flask


Bandits

Kill all the bandits in Normal Difficulty - Rewards 1 Passive Skill Point
Kill all the bandits in Cruel Difficulty - Rewards 1 Passive Skill Point
Kill all the bandits in Merciless Difficulty - Rewards 1 Passive Skill Point

Gear

Maligaro Unique gloves (This is the best dps glove currently available)
Amulet: Eye of Chayula (Prevents stun which is a must have if you dont wanna die often)
Wand (Aim for Spell DMG and Spell Crit + Cast Spd)
Rings (Aim for resistance and extra dmg is nice or better if u can get Dream Fragment)
Boots (Movement spd and resist)
Belt (Max ES and Resist)
Helm (Max ES and Resist)
Energy Shield (Spell DMG + Max ES + Crit if possible)

Guide

This build, guide, etc. were all written by Xmu from the official Path of Exile forums. All credit goes to him.

--------------------------------

Introduction: What is a Life Leech Ice Witch?

CI Life Leech ice witch is built around the passive Node Ghost Reaver and Chaos Inoculation.
Ghost Reaver is a passive node which convert life leech from your HP to ES.
Chaos Inoculation makes you immune to Chaos Damage.
This build will allow u to take damage like a boss and shred your enemies while staying on full energy shield at all times.

Pros
High DPS and freeze lock.
No need for HP or HP flasks.
Always at Full ES.
Good solo and party play.

Cons
Build doesnt get good until endgame.
Requires decent gear. (Good things dont come cheap)

Haste Aura
Haste aura gives us bonus cast spd and movement up to 14% Cast spd at lvl 20 and 7% movement (data from wiki) and that is without putting the Inner Force buff into account. This will help u achieve the 0.25 cast spd in a easier way. I recommend running this aura when you have 950+ Max Mana and if you have enough resistance.

Purity
Purity aura is one of the best aura in the game. It gives 5% Max resistance and over 30% all resistance at lvl 20 with the Inner Force passive Node. If you lack resistance in your gear then this is the right choice for you.

Dont let the 5% Max resistance fool you because of the small number,5% is actually a whole alot when you do the math. Your max resistance now becomes 80% instead of 75%. This is a big buff to your defence and just like the Haste, i recommend at least 950+ Max Mana to run this 3rd Aura.

How to get 950+ Mana without getting Max Mana Node?
For our passive tree, we avoid taking any extra max mana node to maximize our dps and ES.
The easiest way to get 950+ Mana is to get at least 3 piece of gear which gives u at least 50+ Max Mana. If you find this hard then you can sacrifice 1 skill point to grab the extra 8% Mana from the Templar tree.

Gameplay

Curses
Frostbite and Temporal Chain should be your main curse spell for soloing. Frostbite is good against mobs with cold resist and Temporal Chain is good for mobs that uses flicker strike and works well on bosses. Elemental Weakness is for party play since it benefits from all types of element (except physical)

Main Auras
Clarity - Must get as soon as it becomes available.
Discipline - Get this when you have enough Mana pool to run both Aura

Early Game
At early levels you will be using freezing pulse(u can get from quest reward)to kill almost everything since its your main skill. Also get Ice spear which you will be using to snipe boss from a safe distance(not needed). You should have no trouble getting thru act 1 since its easy. Your next goal is to find a 4L gear piece (it can be anything as long as its 4L.

You will be using the following support gems: Faster casting + Lesser Multiple projectile + Faster Projectile + Freezing pulse (if you have a high quality freezing pulse then you can switch out the faster projectile for increased crit chance or dmg).

At level 31, you can use spell totem. Find another 4L piece and use the following gems:
Faster Cast + Ice Spear + GMP + Spell Totem (if you cant afford a greater multiple projectile then get another lesser projectile in the meanwhile).

This Ice Spear totem can be set from behind or infront of you to provide extra damage and protection. You should be around mid game after finishing Normal.

Mid Game Cruel Difficulty

This is where the game gets a bit tough. Especially in Fetid Pool where the Rhoa can 2 hit you if your gear isnt good. From here on, i advise you get the summon skeleton gem + minion life linked to it and use it as a meat shield. Simply summon them and place your totem behind them and proceed to spam freezing pulse. This is extremely safe method to fight bosses like Brutus who pulls you in. Take advantage of your summons and let Brutus pull them in instead. (More info soon to come)

End Game
You should be preparing to grab CI and Ghost Reaver soon. I would advise you take CI when your energy shield is at least around 2500. To gain some fast levels, i advise joining team in Act III and farm docks (Note: CI is not needed to farm docks). Your main goal is to get 75% Fire Resistance when you farm dock because it will make those dog do alot less damage. If you have no fire resistance then you will get 1 hit by the rare Dog in docks. Farm docks to build up some currency and lvls to prepare for 5L chest.

When to take Ghost Reaver?
Ghost reaver should only be taken when you purchase a 5L chest. The following gems is needed to make this possible: Mana Leech + Life Leech + Faster Casting + LMP + Freezing pulse. After you achieve this then you should have no Mana problems. However, it is possible to use Ghost Reaver with 4L but its not advised b/c you will be having some serious mana issues.

End Game MAPS
This is what the build is really for. You have the option to solo or group, both works well with this build. I recommend at least 3000+ ES before you start doing maps.
Why 3000+ ES? Because monster in maps hit like a truck and dying is a harsh penalty(15% exp lost and Game Over for HC). I recommend at least 4000 ES if you plan to use this build on Hardcore and i advise HC players to take the more defensive route.

Capping Resistance
This should not be a hard factor if you invest a bit into. Merciless is a -60% to all resistance but our passive tree gives us a 40% all resistance, thus making it -20%.
End Game maps mob are randomly generated and consists of mob that uses all sort of elemental damage so if you cant cap the resistance then you should at least have +50% to all resistance. Belt with 2 resistance should be easy to get and also prismatic rings are also a good way to get more resistance.

Life Leech
Your Life Leech comes from the support gem. Gears that has the mod that says +% Phy Dmg to life Leech DOES NOT apply to this build. Freezing pulse is a spell so those mods are useless to us.

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