[3.12] Omeglich's Frost "Night" Blade Dual-Claw Champion | League-Starter

My requirements for a Great / Top-Tier Build:
- great playstyle, which don’t get boring after a short time
- fast Movement for a good Map-Clear-Feeling
- should be possible to clear all content of the game (except Hall of Grandmasters)
- Mix of great ClearSpeed and Single-Target Damage
- shouldn’t be too squishy
- shouldn’t run out of Mana

All these requirements I found in the Skill Frost Blades. I really like the mechanics, how it works and how it feels. Maybe my setup it’s not a Facetank-Build for harder Bosses, but you can take a few hits and you don’t die instantly. You can directly start with Frost Blades at the beginning of the story and go to the end of the game.

Leveling with Frost Blades is really easy and smooth. You can buy the Skill directly after clearing the Twillight Strand from Nessa and go on with this Skill during the whole Game. You don’t need special Leveling-Gear; it helps, but it’s not necessary. You only have to update your Gear with what you find or craft.

My Frost Blades Champion is doable on a lower Budget of about 3 Ex with a cheap or corrupted 6-Link Body Armour, 2 good Touch of Anguish Claws and some decent Rare Armour and Jewellery. I would say that this setup brings you without any Problems through Yellow Maps and maybe in the early / middle Red Maps.
If you say, that you want more Defence and Damage you can look for a 6-Link Perfect Form, better Armour and Jewellery for a whole price of about 7-8 Ex. Optionally you can go for 2 Rare Claws and for a Watcher’s Eye. The costs of the whole Gear for the "higher Budget" Build is about 15-18 Ex. Maybe it’s not maximised but with this Setup it shouldn’t be a Problem the clear the whole Game. The Build is for everyone with every Budget doable. For detailed Informations about prices check the "Part 15 - Gear Price-List".
So if you don’t have a problem with a Melee-Character – try Frost Blades ;-)

A few words about the Author of the Guide (if someone is interested and if not, skip it^^)

I'm 31 years old and played many Video Games over the years on Gameboy, Nintendo 64, GameCube, Wii, PS2, PS3, PSP and PC. I've played Shooter, RPG's and Adventure Games the most of the time. Since I've started playing PoE, it is my main game and I play it 95% and only from time to time some other games. Till now I've invested over 2000 hours in PoE. I would say that I know many things about the game but there are still so many things that I don't know. I'm definitely not a pro, especially in crafting and late End-Game.

My biggest problem is the time for playing PoE...
I have a full time job and a really busy real-life at the moment… So at the time there are only a few hours left (max 3-5) per week for PoE. I hope, that this will change in the middle/end of the next year ;-)

Now back to PoE.
I've needed 3 attempts to jump really into PoE. The first time I've heard from the game was in 2014, watched some videos, was interested, had it on my Steam wish-list and created my Account, but I haven't tried the game because between 2014 and 2016 I haven't played really much Video Games. My first attempt was in early 2016 during the Perandus-League, where I've played about 20 or 30 hours and stopped after that, because it was a bit too difficult, hehe... The second attempt was in late 2016 during the Essence-League. At this time I've invested about 50 hours and I really liked it, but I think I had a Build, which looked interesting for me, but was not really mine and I stopped playing again.
My real start was during Legacy League in early 2017. I've started with a Blade Vortex Build and some Bow Characters where I've tried 2 or 3 different builds (Lightning Arrow / Tornado Shot) during Legacy and Harbinger League. In the last weeks of the Abyss League I've tried for the first time Frost Blades and it was so great to play and I liked it so much that I've played many different versions during Bestiary, Incursion, Delve, Legion and a few tests in Delirium and Harvest League.
During Betrayal, Synthesis, Blight, Metamorph I've thought that I can't always play Frost Blades all the time and tried other skills, but nothing I've liked so much than Frost Blades.
Till now I've tried Lightning Arrow, Tornado Shot, Lacerate, Cleave, Elemental Hit, RoA Herald of Agony, Molten Strike, Blade Flurry, Flicker Strike, Double Strike, Earthquake, Glacial Hammer, Ice Crash, Tectonic Slam, Blade Vortex, Storm Brand, Essence Drain / Bane, Fireball Dual Beltimber, Fire Trap, Icicle Mine, Split Arrow Mines, Dominating Blow, Raise Spiders. Yeah, I think that’s it. Some of the Skills are really good like Icicle Mine or Ice Crash, but wasn’t so much fun to play than Frost Blades.

Ok, I think it’s enough about me. So now back to the important things and let’s start with the Build Guide :-)

Build-Guide Changes
- no Changes till now.

League-Goals for the next League:
- For the first I hope that I have much more time than in the last 2-3 Leagues (only max 2-3 hours per week…).
- The second point is: Have much fun with the new Heist-League and exploring the League-Mechanics. Many enemies look great for Frost Blades with Ancestral Call :-)
- First time have a Level 95 Character; till now Level 94 was my record.
- Try and Test the new Atlas-Mechanics. (I haven’t had really much time since 3.9… to explore all mechanics)
- Kill the Conquerors
- defeat Sirius
- Delve Depth 150+
- Option: defeat Uber Atziri
- Option: try to kill Uber Elder with less than 4 deaths (4 deaths was my record in 3.7 at my first Uber Elder Attempts since I’m playing PoE).

Changing- or Testing-Plans for the coming League:
3.12 - Heist - League
- My first Plan is to reactivate my good Frost Blades Champion and have more time to play :-)
- My second Plan is to try for the first time the Nightblade-Support instead of Hypothermia-Support. We’ll lose about 3% of our DPS but we’ll get a big defensive upgrade with Elusive.
- During the last times I haven’t played with Multistrike Support in my Frost Blades Setup. I’ll swap out the Melee Physical Damage Support and play with the Multistrike Support.
- Also for more Crit-Chance for the Nightblade-Support I’ll try to use a Level 1 Precision Aura. I hope that there will be no problems with Mana.
- I’ll try a Cluster-Jewel with Basics of Pain and Provocateur for more Critical Strike Chance and Multiplier. Higher Crit-Chance will be good for the Nightblade-Support and calculated in PoB we’ll have higher Damage-Outcome.
- Because of the Cluster-Jewel I’ve had to make some small changes to the Passive Tree.
- I’ll try Frost Blades in The Bringer of Rain Helmet for the League-Start. Maybe it works for the first Maps, till we have enough money to start buying a 5/6-link Body Armour. We’ll see.

Pros
+ Non-Meta Skill (it’s a Pro for some people) – only about 0,3-1% played Frost Blades during the last 3-4 Leagues.
+ Great League-Starter. You can get “Frost Blades” as the Duelist direct after the Start, can play the whole Story with Frost Blades and you don’t need too much special Gear for the 10 Acts.
+ Only cheap or self found or self crafted Gear is needed for starting Maps.
+ Fast and great Mapper and a good Boss-Killer in one Build.
+ Great Map-Clear-Speed. Frost Blades with Ancestral Call is absolutely fantastic for fast clearing (if interested: read the point in the "Part 18 "How Ancestral Call works with Frost Blades" from the Guide).
+ Fast Movement with "Whirling Blades".
+ High "Life gain on Hit" and "Life-Leech Rate"
+ Good Defence with "Chill and Freeze" from Frost Blades, free Arctic Armour (Perfect Form), Warchief-Totem with Blind, CWDT with Immortal Call and Temporal Chains, Acrobatics and free Phase Acrobatics (Perfect Form), Stun-Immunity,… (more Informations read the "Part 8 - Offensive and Defensive" from the Guide)
+ Can do all content (except Hall of Grandmasters).

Cons
- Non-Meta Skill (it’s a Con for some people)
- This Build can be a bit expensive for Min/Max – because of the 2 Rare Claws (15-18Ex – "Part 15 - Gear Price-List")
- "Lower" Life (between 5.300 – 5.800) than a tanky Jugg – can be One-Shoted → Because of the lower Life the Build isn’t Hardcore-Viable.
- It’s not a Facetank-Build – you have to evade some attacks.
- Melee-Build – it has a great Clear-Speed but isn’t fast like a Tornado-Shot, ED & Contagion,… Build
- Only a "good" Boss-Killer, not a perfect. You may need a bit longer than with other Builds.
- Can’t run Elemental-Reflect Maps.
- You have to make a Gem-Swap (Ancestral Call → Ruthless) for harder Bosses.

Doable / not doable Content, Maps and Map-Mods:
This Build can’t run all Map-Mods or maybe have some problems with some Map-Mods:

- can’t run Elemental-Reflect Maps.
- "No-Taunt" Mod can be in difficult situations or in hard Maps with many Mods a bit harder with Boss-Killing. But the most Maps should also be doable. I wouldn’t reroll the most of the Maps, only maybe the high Tier 15-16 Maps for a safer Boss-Fight.
- "No Life/Mana regen or leech" Mod is doable, but not really nice to run. You should think about using a Mana-Flask for these Maps. You’ll be running too fast out of Mana!
- "Hall of Grandmasters" is not possible (only 60-70% of the Map was possible for me).
- During the 3. Phase of the Atziri-Fight you have to be really careful because of the Reflect. If you hit the Mirror, you’ll die instant.

Content done with this Build (till now):
- all 4 Labyrinths
- all 4 Guardians
- Atziri
- Shaper
- White / Yellow / Red Elder
- Uber Elder
- 4 Way Legion Battle
- Delve depth 100

I know, it's not really much... The time was often my problem... I hope, that this will change during Heist :-)

I know it’s a really long Guide and not all are interested in reading every Part of it. Because of this I’ve made a short Overview of the Build for the more experienced Players or the Players, which directly want to start playing.

About Frost Blades:
Frost Blades has a Melee-Hit and Icy-Blades. The Icy-Blades fly out from behind the enemy which you’ve hit with your Melee-Hit. We try to have a big damage-outcome from our Melee-Hit and scale this damage as much as we can. The Icy-Blades are strong enough to kill the "Normal" and "Magic" enemies nearly instant during Mapping. For Bosses or harder enemies we use our Melee-Hit.

Mapping:
We kill the Most of the "Normal" and "Magic" enemies with our Icy-Blades. They start after we hit the first enemy with our Melee-Hit. Because of this we try to use Whirling Blades to position us short in front of the Monster-Pack and Attack. We hit the first enemy with our Melee-Hit and the rest will be hit by our Icy-Blades.
We use Ancestral Call for Map-Clearing. Ancestral Call strikes 2 extra targets with our Melee-Hit. With one hit we get 7 Icy-Blades (8 with a Level 21 Frost Blades Gem). With Ancestral call we hit 3 enemies with our Melee-Hit at the same time and have 21 Icy-Blades (24 with a Level 21 Frost Blades Gem). So we can hit up to 24 enemies (27 with a Level 21 Frost Blades Gem) at the same time or some enemies more than one time. You’ll find more informations about Ancestral Call in the "Part 18 - How Ancestral Call / Touch of Anguish Claw works with Frost-Blades" of the Guide.

Boss-Fight:
It’s not a Facetank-Build! You can Facetank the lower Bosses till Map-Tier 8-10 (depends on the Boss). For harder Bosses we have to be a bit mobile with Whirling Blades. Whirling Blades is great for this because we move through the enemies and can move in all situations. I try to attack Bosses about 2-4 seconds (depends on the Boss and the situation of the Boss-Fight) and change my position with Whirling Blades – attack 2-4 seconds – change position – and so on.
For harder Bosses we have to swap a Support-Gem of the Frost Blades-Setup. We swap Ancestral Call out and Ruthless in for more Damage
I try to have my Ancestral Warchief always up and refresh the Totem fast. The Totem helps us with more Damage, Blinds enemies because of the Blind-Support for much more Evasion-Rating (up to 78% Evade-Chance against blinded enemies) and supports us with Culling Strike.
When the situation of the fight allows it I use Frostbite to curse the Bosses for a Damage-Boost. The most of the time I also try to curse them before the fight really starts.
Before a Boss-Fight I use the Adrenaline self-activation from time to time. You’ll find more informations about Adrenaline in the "Part 19 - How we get Adrenaline / Information about Adrenaline" of the Guide.

Offensive:
- Dual-Wield Claw Build
- Frost Blades as our Main Skill
- 4 Offensive Auras: Herald of Ice, Herald of Purity, Hatred and Precision
- Blood Rage for Frenzy Charge generation and increased Attack Speed
- Crit-Based (~50% Critical Strike Chance)
- Taunt Enemies on hit
- Taunted Enemies can’t evade – 100% Chance to hit
- Adrenaline
- Intimidate Enemies on Full Life
- Ancestral Warchief Totem for Damage-Boost
- Frost Bomb for reduced Cold Resistance in the CWDT – Setup
- Frostbite or Punishment Self-Curse for a Damage-Boost

Defensive
- 5.400-5.700 Life
- 75% capped Fire/Lightning Resistance – 76% max Cold-Resistance
- 1.200-1.700 Armour and 13.000-18.000 Evasion rating
- Chance to evade: ~50% with Fortify – ~75% with Blind from Totem / Blind on Crit
- Physical Damage Reduction: ~40% with Fortify, Adrenaline and Flask
- Adrenaline on low life: removes Curses and Bleed when activated
- Perfect Form with free Phase Acrobatics / free Arctic Armour / inc. Evasion by uncapped Cold-Resistance
- Fire-Damage and Physical-Damage Reduction with our free Arctic Armour
- 30% Chance to Dodge Attacks and Spells – up to 49% with Elusive (Nightblade Support)
- ~15% chance to Block Attacks
- Fortify in our Main skill (nearly always up)
- Stun-Immunity while we have Fortify
- Elusive on Critical Strike from our Nightblade-Support (increased Dodge and Movement Speed)
- 10% Chance to Blind on Critical Strike
- 10% to Blind from our Totem
- Culling Strike from our Totem
- Chill and Freeze – Mechanic
- Pantheon (Lunaris / Solaris and Gruthkul)
- Fast Whirling Blades (Movement) for manually dodge of Attacks or Spells
- Life Gain on Hit from Claws / Life Leech
- CWDT – Setup with Immortal Call and Temporal Chains

Here is a short overview of the possible Damage with this Build (Gear from 3.7 – Legion-League).
For detailed informations about the Gear or Damage without Buffs / Flasks / … check the Path of Building in the Part 10 of the Guide.

Path of Building - pastebin: https://pastebin.com/19iDcEcN


Note:
I've used the "Community Fork" version of Path of Building to create the pastebin. If you're using the Standard-Edition your Damage-Calculation will be lower because of things like Multistrike doesn't work in the Original-Version.

Path of Building - Community Fork is exactly the same than the Original-Version, but better and faster with Updates.
You can get it here: Download Path of Building - Community Fork

Leveling-Trees are in the Path of Building included.

Here is a complete overview of the Passive-Tree with the Cluster Jewel:




Here is a complete overview of the Passive-Tree without the Cluster Jewel:

For my Frost-Blades Character I choose the Duelist as our Character-Class. It’s a good Hybrid-Class between Strength and Dexterity. From the Duelist-Start we don’t have a too long way to good Melee, Claw, Cold/Elemental Damage, Critical and some Life and Defence Points at the Passive Tree. The Duelist has also the fantastic Ascendancy Champion, which we choose for this Frost Blades Build.

For the Ascendancy we choose the Champion.

For the Build we choose the Bandit Alira. The 5 Mana Regenerated per Second (easier to handle the Mana-Problems during Leveling, till we leech enough), 15% to all Elemental Resistances (easier gearing and Resistance Cap in the Endgame) and the 20% Critical-Strike Multiplier (ca. 3-4% more Damage) are stronger than the other Bandit-Rewards.

Option:
If you want or prefer you can also choose the 2 Passive Points from Eramir and grab some more Life or Damage-Points on the tree.

When it comes to the Pantheon and the right decisions I have to say, that there isn’t a right or wrong decision. You can choose whatever you prefer.



Here is my Pantheon-choice:


Minor God
For the Minor God I choose:

Soul of Gruthkul
1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you’ve taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%
- Capture Erebix, Light’s Bane in Cemetry Map → Enemies that have Hit you with an Attack Recently have 8% reduced Attack Speed
► Here is the interesting part after the Upgrade the 8% reduced Attack Speed after a Hit. It’s a great defensive Upgrade and combined with our CWDT-Setup with the Temporal Chains and the Chill-Mechanics from Frost Blades we slow down the Enemies when we take a Hit.


Major God
For the Major God I choose:

Soul of Lunaris (Mapping)
1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%
1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%
- Capture Ancient Architect in Pier Map → 10% chance to avoid Projectiles
- Capture Excellis Aurafix in Residence Map → 5% chance to Dodge Attack and Spell Hits if you've been Hit Recently
- Capture The Hallowed Husk in Palace Map → Avoid Projectiles that have Chained
► I use Soul of Lunaris for Mapping and "normal" / "easier" Bosses till Tier 14-15 (to lazy to change all the time).

Soul of Solaris (Boss-Fights)
6% additional Physical Damage Reduction while there is only one nearby Enemy
20% chance to take 50% less Area Damage from Hits
- Capture The Gorgon in Sulphur Vents Map → 8% reduced Elemental Damage taken if you haven't been Hit Recently
- Capture Eater of Souls in Core Map → Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes if you have taken a Critical Strike Recently
- Capture Kitava, The Destroyer in Lava Lake Map → 50% chance to avoid Ailments from Critical Strikes
► I use Soul of Solaris for harder Boss-Fights.

First is here a List of the importance of the Stats on your Rare Gear:
- Life – Try to get as much Life as possible on your Gear (5300-5600 Life on Level 94-100).
- Elemental Resistances: you must get 75% on Fire/Lightning Resistance 76% on Cold-Resistance. Better try to get 104% for easier playing on Maps with Elemental Weakness.
- Chaos Resistance: try to get about 0-20% Chaos Resistance.
- We try to get our Gear on Evasion-Base. We’ve chosen Acrobatics and with this point we get 50% less Armour and 30% less Energy-Shield. With Evasion Gear we have higher Defence outcome than with the 50% less Armour Gear / 30% less Energy Shield Gear.

Here is an overview of the Gear with prices and links to PoE-Trade.
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Weapon:
[15-40C] - Touch of Anguish (272+ Physical DPS / 39%+ increased Critical Strike

[3-5Ex] – Rare Claws (330+ Physical DPS / Attack Speed / Crit Multi)

[3-5Ex] – Rare Claws (330+ Physical DPS / Physical as extra Cold Damage)

[4-6C] – Craicic VassalBeast Corruption for 30% Quality

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Helmet:

only Base for self-crafting
[~10C] – Helmet with Enchantment Herald of Purity has 30% Reduced Mana Reservation

[~10C] – Helmet with Enchantment Herald of Ice has 30% Reduced Mana Reservation

[~10C] – Helmet with Enchantment Hatred has 15% Reduced Mana Reservation

crafted with Life / Resistances
[60-100C] – Helmet with Enchantment Herald of Purity has 30% Reduced Mana Reservation

[60-100C] – Helmet with Enchantment Herald of Ice has 30% Reduced Mana Reservation

[60-100C] – Helmet with Enchantment Hatred has 15% Reduced Mana Reservation

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Body Armour:
[30-50C] – Rare 6-Link Body Armour with Life (corrupted also possible)

[50C-1Ex] – Rare Body Armour with Incursion Mod (no links / Life / increased Max Life)

[15-25C] – Perfect Form (no 6-Link / 75+ Life)

[4-6Ex] – Perfect Form (6-Link / 75+ Life)

[3,5-4,5Ex] – 6-Link Prophecy Fated Connections

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Gloves:
[5-15C] – Rare Gloves (80+ Life / Physical Damage to Attacks / Attack Speed)

[25-50C] – Spiked Gloves (80+ Life / Physical Damage to Attacks / Attack Speed)

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Boots:
[20-30C] – Rare Boots (80+ Life / 100%+ Resistance / try to get a free Prefix for a craft)

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Belt:
[5-15C] – Rare Belt (80+ Life / 100%+ Elemental Resistance)

[5-20C] – Rare Rustic Sash (85+ Life / 80%+ Elemental Resistance / 30%+ EDWA)

[10-20C] – Rare Belt (80+ Life / 80%+ Elemental Resistance / 30%+ EDWA)

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Amulet:
[20-50C] – Rare Amulet (70+ Life / Physical Damage to Attacks / Crit Multi)

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Rings:
The Rings are only examples, how they can look. Maybe you find better Rings,… or with other stats for less currency.

[10-20C] – Rare Ring (65+ Life / 100%+ Elemental Resistance)

[15-30C] – Rare Ring (65+ Life / 30%+ Chaos Resistance / 50%+ Elemental Resistance)

[20-50C] – Rare Diamond Ring (65+ Life / Phys Dmg to Attacks / Increased Cold Damage)

[20C-1Ex] – Rare Steel Ring (65+ Life / Phys Dmg to Attacks / Increased Cold Damage)

[20-100C] – Rare Opal Ring (65+ Life / Phys Dmg to Attacks / Increased Cold Damage)

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Jewels:
When you’re looking for a corrupted Fight for Survival try to get a Jewel with “1% Reduced Mana Reserved” and the second “Increased Critical Strike Chance” or “Cannot be Maimed” or what you prefer.

[3-8C] – Fight for Survival Jewel (15% increased Cold DMG / not corrupted)

[15-50C] – Fight for Survival Jewel (15% increased Cold DMG / corrupted)


For Rare Jewels you have too many Options. Use what you can get or craft. Here are a few examples:
[5-25C] – Rare Jewel (Crit Multi with Cold / increased Life)
[5-25C] – Rare Jewel (Crit Multi while Dual Wielding / increased Life)
[5-25C] – Rare Jewel (Crit Multi with one Handed Weapons / increased Life)

[10-25C] – Medium Cluster Jewel (Basics of Pain / Provocateur)

[2-5Ex] – Watcher’s Eye (Damage Penetrates 15% Cold Resistance while affected by Hatred)

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Flasks:
[10-15C] – Divine Life Flask, Instant, Staunching
[10-15C] – Divine Life Flask, Instant Low Life, Staunching

[5-10C] – Divine Life Flask, Heat / Freeze

[5-10C] – Diamond Flask, Knockback
[5-10C] – Diamond Flask, inc. Armour
[5-10C] – Diamond Flask, inc. Evasion

[5-10C] – Lion’s Roar >24%
[35-50C] – Lion’s Roar 25%

[2-3C] – Atziri’s Promise >19%/14%
[25-50C] – Atziri’s Promise 20%/15%

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Gems:
[20-60C] – Frost Blades Level 21
[1-2Ex] – Frost Blades Level 21/23
[25-50C] – Enlighten Level 3
[20-25C] – Vaal Ancestral Warchief Level 21

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Price – Low-Budget Gear: 2,5 – 3 Exalted Orbs (30% Touch of Anguish / Rare 6-Link)
- 40C – 2x Touch of Anguish
- 12C – 2x Beast Corruption for 30% Quality
- 50C – Helmet
- 50C – Rare 6-Link Body Armour
- 15C – Gloves
- 20C – Boots
- 15C – Belt
- 25C – Amulet
- 50C – 2x Rare Rings
- 30C – 2x Fight for Survival Jewel
- 30C – 2x Rare Jewel
- 15C – Cluster Jewel
- 20C – 2x Life Flask (Staunching / Freezing)
- 10C – Diamond Flask
- 10C – Lion’s Roar
- 3C – Atziri’s Promise
- 30C – Frost Blades Level 21/0
- 40C – Enlighten Level 3
___________________________________________
- 465 Chaos Orbs / about 2,5-3,0 Exalted Orbs (150-180C / 1 Ex)
- 0 Exalted Orbs
= 2,5-3,0 Exalted Orbs for the Low Budget Gear



Price – Medium-Budget Gear: 8 – 9 Exalted Orbs (30% Touch of Anguish / Perfect Form 6-Link)
- 80C – 2x Touch of Anguish
- 12C – 2x Beast Corruption for 30% Quality
- 80C – Helmet
- 5,5Ex – 6-Link Perfect Form
- 25C – Gloves
- 25C – Boots
- 15C – Belt
- 35C – Amulet
- 75C – 2x Rare Rings
- 50C – 2x Fight for Survival Jewel
- 30C – 2x Rare Jewel
- 15C – Cluster Jewel
- 20C – 2x Life Flask (Staunching / Freezing)
- 10C – Diamond Flask
- 10C – Lion’s Roar
- 3C – Atziri’s Promise
- 30C – Frost Blades Level 21/0
- 40C – Enlighten Level 3
- 20C – Vaal Ancestral Warchief Level 21
___________________________________________
- 575 Chaos Orbs / about 3,1-3,7 Exalted Orbs (150-180C / 1 Ex)
- 5,5 Exalted Orbs
= 8,6-9,2 Exalted Orbs for the Medium Budget Gear



Price – High-Budget Gear: 17 – 20 Exalted Orbs (Rare Claws / Perfect Form 6-Link / Watcher’s Eye)
- 7Ex – 2x Rare Claws
- 12C – 2x Beast Corruption for 30% Quality
- 100C – Helmet
- 5,5Ex – 6-Link Perfect Form
- 50C – Gloves
- 30C – Boots
- 25C – Belt
- 50C – Amulet
- 120C – 2x Rare Rings
- 80C – 2x Fight for Survival Jewel
- 30C – 2x Rare Jewel
- 15C – Cluster Jewel
- 2,5Ex – Watcher’s Eye
- 20C – 2x Life Flask (Staunching / Freezing)
- 10C – Diamond Flask
- 40C – Lion’s Roar
- 25C – Atziri’s Promise
- 1Ex – Frost Blades Level 21/23
- 40C – Enlighten Level 3
- 25C – Vaal Ancestral Warchief Level 21
___________________________________________
- 672 Chaos Orbs / about 3,5-4,4 Exalted Orbs (150-180C / 1 Ex)
- 16 Exalted Orbs
= 19,5-20,5 Exalted Orbs for the High Budget Gear

First I want to say, that this Setup is not a “must”. You can try or choose what you prefer as Skills, Curses or Support Gems. This is for me the best Setup and it is possible, that other things work better for you. I have written some options under the Skills, which I’ve tested over the time. So feel free to test and find your own, preferred Setup ;-)

6-Link – Frost Blades – Main Skill
Frost Blades
Fortify
Multistrike
Elemental Damage with Attacks
Nightblade Support
Ancestral Call / Ruthless


- Try to get a Level 21 Frost Blades Skill Gem. They are not too expensive (20-60c). With the Level 21 you’ll get 1 more Projectiles from Frost Blades (7 → 8 Projectiles)
- You have to use Ruthless for Bosses and Ancestral Call for clearing Maps and easy Bosses. So here you have to use the Gem-Swap for harder Bosses.
- For the rich guys: You can use the "Awakened" Gem-Version of Melee Physical Damage, Multistrike, Elemental Damage with Attacks and Ancestral Call.
- I’ve tested Frost Blades with Melee Physical Damage, Multistrike, Faster Attacks, Cold Penetration, Hypothermia and Elemental Focus.
- You can use Hypothermia instead of the Nightblade-Support. You’ll have a bit more Damage but less Defence. Choose what you prefer.
- You can also use Melee Physical Damage instead of Multistrike. I’ve played a long time without Multistrike, but now I’ll try it again.


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4-Link – CWDT – Setup
Cast when Damage Taken (Level 3)
Immortal Call (Level 5)
Frost Bomb (Level 11)
Temporal Chains (Level 7)


- I always have my CWDT-Setup at low level, so it’ll be activated often for the Frost Bomb and Temporal Chains.
- You can swap Temporal Chains against another Curse if you want or prefer other Curses – for example Enfeeble would be a defensive Option or you can use your Frostbite, if you don’t want to self-cast the Curse.
- Frost Bomb gives a big Damage-Boost because of the -25% Cold Resistance for the Enemies.
- Immortal Call can also be switched to SteelSkin or Molten Shell. I think, here prefers everyone another Setup.

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4-Link – Aura – Setup
Herald of Ice
Herald of Purity
Hatred
Enlighteen (minimum Level 3)


- For your Enlighteen-Support you’ll need a minimum of Level 3. Before you get one, you can swap out or don’t activate Herald of Purity.
- I’ve tested Herald of Ice with Curse on Hit / Frostbite / Onslaugh. But since I use Herald of Purity as the third Aura and need Enlighteen for reduced Mana-Reservation on the three Auras the Curse on Hit Setup is not possible anymore.

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4-Socket – Aura / Curse / Utility
Arctic Armour
Precision (Level 1)
Blood Rage
Frostbite / Punishment (self-cast)


- You can’t use / activate Arctic Armour till you have a Perfect Form, because of the 0 Mana-Reservation.
- Precision must be at Level 1 and not levelled up because of the Mana-Reservation. But also with "only" Level 1 you’ll get a good DPS and Crit-Chance Boost.
- We use Blood Rage for easier Frenzy Charge generation, the Attack Speed and Life Leech.
- I always use Frostbite / Punishment as myself-cast Curse for harder Bosses. I’ll wait for the ne Curse-Changes to see the new Damage-Outcome.

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3-Link – Totem – Setup
Vaal Ancestral Warchief
Culling Strike
Blind


Options
Concentrated Effect / Melee Physical Damage / Ruthless
- Try to get a Level 21 Vaal Ancestral Warchief for more Damage and the Vaal-Version. They are not too expensive (15-25C).
- I like Culling Strike and Blind as Support Gems. The main Damage comes from Frost Blades, so the Totem is for me more as a utility for more Damage of Frost Blades.
If you prefer more Damage from the Totem you can use Concentrated Effect, Melee Physical Damage, Ruthless or whatever you prefer as Support Gems for your Totem-Setup.

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3-Link – Movement – Setup
Whirling Blades
Faster Attacks
Blood Magic


- I link Whirling Blades to Faster Attacks for faster Movement.
- I always use Blood Magic in this Setup because we would run out of Mana really fast.

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for the Weapon-Swap (Adrenaline):
2-Link – Adrenaline-activation
Aura with 35% Mana-Reservation
Blod Magic (Level 18+)


- In my Weapon-Swap I use Dash, Frostblink, Leap Slam,… for walls,…
- The rest of the free slots I use for Frost Blades Gem-Leveling to corrupt the 20/20 Gems for a Level 21/23 Gem.
- If you want you can use an Enduring Cry for Life-Regen after the Adrenaline activation.

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I'm sorry... This topic wasn't ready till the League-Start and is under construction... I’ll write it during the League and will update the Guide as soon as possible.

First I want to say that the idea for this is not from me. I read a similar description / saw similar diagrams about the function of Ancestral Call / Touch of Anguish Claw with Frost Blades back in 3.2 or 3.3 (not 100% sure) in a Guide, but haven’t found the Guide again... It was really interesting to see how it works and is still in my mind. Because of this I would like to share it with you and I really hope that the Author of the original description isn’t angry with me, when I write something similar here in my Guide. I want to say a big “Thank you!” for this great description and the inspiration to write it here and make the diagrams. And very important: If you read this and it is not okay for you, let me know and I will delete it and make a Link to your Build-Guide ;-)


Again as a repetition the short explanation about Frost Blades:
Frost Blades has a Melee-Hit and Icy-Blades. The Icy-Blades fly out from behind the enemy which you’ve hit with your Melee-Hit. We try to have a big damage-outcome from our Melee-Hit and scale this damage as much as we can. The Icy-Blades are strong enough to kill the “Normal” and “Magic” enemies nearly instant during Mapping. For Bosses or harder enemies we use our Melee-Hit.

Very important note at first:
NEVER use this self-activation of Adrenaline when it is too risky! You’ll loose much life and till you’ve regenerated the most of the Life, you can be dead! The bit more damage is really nice but isn’t worth a death. So try to use it before a Boss-Fight or during Break-Phases in a fight or for general faster Mapping. ;-)


When will Adrenaline be activated?
You’ll gain Adrenaline for 20 seconds when you have “Low Life”. You have “Low Life” when your Life goes lower than 35%. So we have to loose a minimum of 65,1% of our Life to activate Adrenaline.


What do we need to self-activate Adrenaline?
- A Weapon in the Weapon-Swap with 2-Linked Sockets.
- An Aura of your choice with 35% Mana-Reservation (Aura-Level isn’t important).
- A Blood Magic Support with at least Level 18.


Why do we need Blood Magic at least at Level 18?
Blood Magic Support is a Support Gem which reserves Life instead of Mana. The problem of the Support Gem is that we have a Mana-Multiplier for the reservation.

- Blood Magic Support has a 245% Mana-Multiplier at Level 1.
- Blood Magic Support has a 200% Mana-Multiplier at Level 18.
- Blood Magic Support has a 196% Mana-Multiplier at Level 20.

Mana-Multiplier means:
- When you have an Aura with 35% and reserve Mana you’ll need 35% of your Mana.
- When you use the 35% Aura with a Level 1 Blood Magic Support you reserve because of the Mana-Multiplier 35% x 245% of your Life. This would be 85,75% of your Life! This can be in some situations a bit risky when only 14,25% of your Life left.
- When you use the 35% Aura with a Level 18 Blood Magic Support you reserve 35% x 200% of your Life. This would be 70% of your Life. So 30% of your Life left.
- When you use the 35% Aura with a Level 20 Blood Magic Support you reserve 35% x 196% of your Life. This would be 68,6% of your Life. So 31,4% of your Life left.

I try to level a Blood Magic Support from the beginning on and till we have the Uber-Labyrinth completed and are ready to use Adrenaline, the Gem will be easily over Level 18.
You can use it with a lower Level Blood Magic Support, but it will be a bit more risky.


When can / should I use Adrenaline?
You don't have to use it; you also can wait till Adrenaline will be activated when your life goes under 35% from hits, damage,…. I personally use the self activation during Mapping for a faster Clear-Speed and before a Boss-Fight for more Damage.


What happens when I don’t have the enough Life, which I reserve with the Aura?
You mustn’t have the 68,6% Life (at Blood Magic Support Level 20) to use it and you do not die when you have less Life. You always only reserve the 68,6%, if your Life is full or not. You also can activate it when you only have 10% or 1% of your Life. The Life which will be reserved is always calculated from your full Life,


How do I activate Adrenaline?
We need to do a short Weapon-Swap and activate an Aura with linked Blood Magic to simulate the lost of Life.
I’ve chosen a Button in the near of the other Buttons (F) for easier handling with the Swap.
You have to do a Weapon-Swap, activate the Aura and Swap back to your normal Weapons. Your Life will fall under 35% and Adrenaline will be activated. And that’s it.

We need to do a short Weapon-Swap and activate the Aura with linked Blood Magic Support to simulate the lost of Life.
I’ve chosen a Button in the near of the other Buttons (F) for easier handling with the Swap and short ways with my fingers.
- You have to do a Weapon-Swap and activate the Aura.
► The Life will be reserved and the Rest of your Life will be under 35%. Adrenaline will be activated.
- Weapon-Swap back to your Main-Weapons.
► The Aura will be disabled and you’ll lose the Life reservation.
- And that’s it.


Here I have a small GIF to see, how it works.


Here I have a small GIF about the Activation-Speed.

I’m sorry, till now I don’t really have Videos recorded… The Build Guide was more a spontaneous Idea because I haven’t played the last 2 leagues FB, only tested 8 or 9 other Skills (I thought, I can’t play all the time FB^^) and now going back to FB made me so happy that I wanted to share the Build with you.

I’ve played this Build the last time in the 3.7 – Legion-League in the late Endgame. During this League I haven’t recorded Videos, only one Uber Elder Fight with 4 deaths (my second attempt – the first time I had 6 deaths, hehe…). Maybe I’ll upload the Video in the next days.

I’ll record and upload a few Videos during this League ;-)

The time before the League-Start was a bit too short and not everything from the Guide is ready…
I have plans to update the Guide during the League. I have plans for recording some Videos, write something about the different Frost Blades Builds I’ve played, write some Tips and Tricks, a Leveling-Guide,…

Thank you for reading my Guide. I hope you’ve enjoyed it and think about trying Frost Blades ;-)
Wish you Good Luck and good Hunting ;-)