Frost Blades of Katabasis
Occultist build

Updated for Patch 3.24

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Frost Blades of Katabasis is one of the most unique Skills in the game. It's an Attack with a built-in Damage over Time component, which will be the main damage source in this build. The Chilled Groud that the Attack leaves on impact can be scaled up with DoT Multiplier or Elemental Damage with Attacks, but not Melee Damage or Attack Damage. The most efficient way to gain more damage is to increase the Gem Level of Frost Blades, making it very similar to a typical Cold DoT Spell build that most experienced players should be very familiar with. For that reason, we recommend Occultist with Void Beacon and Frigid Wake - two passives for more damage with great utility features.

The Regular Frost Blades Skills is known for its excellent clear speed with its icy projectiles, but this version of Frost Blades fires no projectiles. Instead, it has a much better Melee Strike Range of 6 additional metres. The Area of Chilled Ground is fixed and cannot be increased or decreased, which may sound like a hindrance, but with Profane Bloom and maybe even Legacy of Fury Boots, the clear speed should be more than enough no matter the size of the ground effect. Instead, you can opt for Concentrated Effect Support with Blood and Sand with no downside whatsoever. The additional Strikes from Ancestral Call will also create more Chilled Grounds.

There are a lot of ways to approach gearing up such a character. We have settled on the tried and tested Aegis Aurora, high Armour, and capped Block Chance. Making it an ES build with Chaos Inoculation is the best idea in this case. Maximum Energy Shield is gained from Items and Passives, and sustaining it is accomplished with the already mentioned Aegis Aurora, Divine Shield Keystone, and Vile Bastion passive for passive regeneration. With The Brass Dome and active Flasks, your Elemental Resistances should be nearly hard-capped, and your Armour Rating - exceptionally high. This virtue is useful on account of the build's low damage, up to around 10mil DPS on a high budget. However, you should be able to slay all the opponents given enough time. With Void Beacon they won't be able to Regenerate Life. With Freeze and Stun Immunity from the Occultist's Tree, you're extremely durable and your only weak point is low tolerance to Physical Damage over Time. The build requires a lot of Attributes, so allocating Supreme Ostentation is justified, even more so if you have a specific version of Elegant Hubris with multiple and easily accessible Bloody Flowers' Rebellion Notables, each increasing your Damage by 80%.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds: Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Use Frost Blades to slay all kinds of enemies. It's technically an Attack and requires you to Target and Hit an enemy, but beyond that, it's more like a Spell build. Extra Targeting for Strike Skills from Ancestral Call will be great here, each successful Strike will create a separate Chilled Ground (they don't overlap, but the clear speed is much higher). Against tough enemies, you shall use Arcanist Brand with three Curses linked to it, and Frostblink right on top of them to activate Bonechill Support. Your Guard Spell is Molten Shell, Triggered automatically. Your Mana-reserving Skills are Malevolence, Determination, Discipline, Hatred, and Blood and Sand.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Use our Witch Leveling Guide using Cold DoT in PoE. It's meant for Witch, but that doesn't change much besides the starting location on the passive skill tree. Cold DoTs will carry you up to level 60 or 70 rather easily; you should then be able to start assembling your final setup.

Bandits:

We recommend killing all Bandits for two additional Passive Points

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

116 Points Final Skill Tree (does not include Unique Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Void Beacon
2. Frigid Wake
3. Profane Bloom
4. Vile Bastion

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris: 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Frost Blades of Katabasis setup
	Frost Blades of Katabasis - Deals some damage with its initial Hit, but the most important is the Cold DoT ground effect created after landing a hit.
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - More Elemental Damage with Attacks, that includes Cold DoT.
	Concentrated Effect Support - More Area Damage. Frost Blades' AoE cannot be reduced so the downside does not apply.
	Elemental Focus Support - More Elemental Damage, but you won't be able to Chill. You can still Chill with other Skills. Try to get an Awakened version for an additional Gem Level for Frost Blades.
	Empower Support - More Gem Levels for Frost Blades. The DoT component scales up with Gem Level as it is a spell.
	Swift Affliction Support - Linked Skills have shorter duration, but deal more Damage over Time.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Malevolence - Increased Skill Effect Duration and More Damage over Time.
	Determination - Added and Increased Armour that mitigates Physical Hit Damage.
	Discipline - Additional Maximum Energy Shield and increased ES Recharge Rate.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana.

[UTILITY] Aura setup
	Hatred - It simply grants more Cold Damage. If you haven't reached high enough Reservation Efficiency yet, don't use it.
	Blood and Sand - 15% more Area Damage with no downside if in Blood Stance.
	Enlighten Support

[UTILITY] Curse setup
	Frostbite - A Curse that lowers Cold Resistance.
	Elemental Weakness - It too lowers Cold Resistance by a significant amount.
	Punishment - Enemies on Low Life take increased Damage. This one can be replaced with  Enfeeble if you wish to trade damage for durability.
	Arcanist Brand - Linked Spells are all triggered in sequence with a press of one button instead of three.

[UTILITY] Bonechill setup
	Frostblink - A mobility Skill that is also used to Chill and Freeze. It has around a 40% chance to Freeze on Hit.
	Bonechill Support - Chilled enemies take increased Cold Damage equal to that of the Chill Effect inflicted on them with a linked Spell.
	Unbound Ailments Support - Increased effect of Chill for Frostblink.

[UTILITY] Various Gems
	Call to Arms - Triggers Ancestral Call automatically. The linked Warcry has a 6-second Cooldown.
	Ancestral Cry - Grants some Armour, Melee Strike Range, and causes your next 8 Strikes to target 2 additional enemies.
	Molten Shell - Protects you from incoming Hit damage until it can absorb no more or unlit it expires.
	Cast when Damage Taken - Triggers Molten Shell after taking enough Hit Damage.

5. Gear Setup

It's a Cold DoT Build that uses an Attack. You have to be aware of what modifiers increase your Damage and which ones do not. You're using a Melee Attack but its only role is to create a Chilling Area that deals Cold Damage over Time, so increases to Melee Damage or Attack Damage are pointless, but increased Damage with Attack Skills or Attacks are beneficial because the Chiiled Ground is a part of an Attack Skill. The generic Cold Damage and Damage over Time Multiplier are also good. It scales with Gem Level the most efficiently. To make the character more tanky you will need a lot of Armour, capped Block Chance, and a lot of Energy Shield. ES Recharge or Regeneration is not important, you will gain it back on Block with Aegis Aurora. Spell Suppression may be implemented too if you're able to get Items with Suppression and allocate the Instinct Notable. We have also used Topaz, Ruby, and Sapphire Flasks that are up permanently so we don't need a lot of Resistances on the gear, even if acquiring it is rather easy. The Maximum Elemental Resistances from these Flasks are great if combined with The Brass Dome, which also grants Armour. You can reach nearly 90% of all Res with this setup. We also won't need any Attributes with Supreme Ostentation, otherwise the build needs around 150 of each Attribute.

The recommended items from our list will:

1. Help you cap your Elemental Resistances 
2. Give you enough DPS and Life to start mapping successfully

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - It should have a significant amount of Energy Shield, Elemental Resistances, and Armour or Spell Suppression. For the Eldritch mods look for increased Frostbite Curse Effect and increased Mana Reservation Efficiency.

Recommended affixes: 250 Energy Shield 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Armour Spell Suppression Chance #% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Elemental Damage Mana Reservation Efficiency

(Helmet) Viridi's Veil - It could make you much tankier if you have one of your Rings of Magic rarity. Put it on the Right Ring Slot to take unlucky damage and be Hexproof.

+(1-2) to Level of Socketed Gems (120-160)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(15-25)% to all Elemental Resistances Damage of Enemies Hitting you is Unlucky while you have a Magic Ring Equipped You are Hexproof if you have a Magic Ring in right slot Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes if you have a Magic Ring in left slot

(Weapon) Nebulis - Increases your Cold Damage by up to 300% with the highest Cold Damage roll and Cold Damage capped at 90%. It's the best one-hand weapon for this build. The increases to the Gem Level of Cold Spells found on Rare weapons, often used in Cold DoT builds, are pointless since Frost Blades is an Attack, not a Spell.

<One to three random synthesis implicit modifiers> (15-20)% increased Cast Speed (15-20)% increased Cold Damage per 1% Cold Resistance above 75% (15-20)% increased Lightning Damage per 1% Lightning Resistance above 75%

(Shield) Aegis Aurora - With a high Armour Rating it instantly Recovers a big portion of your Energy Shield on Block. The Maximum Cold Resistance is also great. Requires capped Block Chance. You can Corrupt it to shift a portion of incoming damage to be taken as Chaos.

(300-400)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +10% to all Elemental Resistances +5% to maximum Cold Resistance +6% Chance to Block Recover Energy Shield equal to 2% of Armour when you Block (10-20)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Body Armour) The Brass Dome - You need a lot of Armour and Maximum Elemental Resistances. Use Brass Dome for that. Corrupt it, or even double Corrupt for the additional two levels to socketed AoE and/or Duration Gems.

(350-400)% increased Armour +(1-5)% to all maximum Elemental Resistances Strength provides no bonus to Maximum Life Take no Extra Damage from Critical Strikes

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Focus on Maximum Energy Shield and Elemental Resistances. For the Eldritch mods seek Cold Exposure on Hit and Cold Damage over Time Multiplier.

Recommended affixes: 170 Energy Shield 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Armour Spell Suppression Chance Dexterity

(Gloves) The Celestial Brace - You are using a Strike Skill so you are eligible to gain Fortify with Celestial Braces. the additional 30 Fortify will make you much tankier, but Rare Gloves offer better damage and utility.

(80-120)% increased Armour 1% increased Attack Speed per Fortification +(1-10) to maximum Fortification Melee Hits from Strike Skills Fortify

(Boots) Sin Trek - These Boots have a lot of Energy Shield, but there's not much else on them.

+(20-30) to Dexterity +(20-30) to Intelligence (80-100)% increased Evasion Rating +(100-150) to maximum Energy Shield 30% increased Movement Speed Enemies Cannot Leech Life From you

(Boots) Legacy of Fury - Scorches nearby enemies which improves your damage, and explodes Scorched enemies on kill which vastly improves your clear speed.

(200-300)% increased Armour and Evasion 30% increased Movement Speed Nearby Enemies are Scorched (30-50)% increased Effect of Scorch (30-40)% chance when you Kill a Scorched Enemy to Burn Each surrounding Enemy for 4 seconds, dealing 8% of the Killed Enemy's Life as Fire Damage per second

(Belt) Rare Belt - Get a Belt that's able to keep your Flasks on permanently. A Micro-Distillery Belt with some Flask Modifiers should be enough. Armour, Energy Shield, and Resistances can be found here too.

Recommended affixes: increased Flask Effect Duration reduced Flask Charges used increased Flask Charges gained Optional affixes: Flasks applied to your have increased Effect Strength Maximum Energy Shield Resistances Armour

(Amulet) Replica Dragonfang's Flight - Forst Blades version of Replica Dragonfang's Flight should not be expensive, and it is the best-in-slot Amulet here. It grants Gem Levels, Reservation Efficiency, Resistances, and Attributes.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +3 to Level of all <Random Skill> Gems +(5-10)% to all Elemental Resistances (5-10)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills Items and Gems have (10-5)% reduced Attribute Requirements

Recommended Anointments: Charisma

(Ring) Anathema - You want to apply 3 Curses instead of one. By spending just one Skill Point on Overcharge you can apply one more Curse if you happen to have an item (Corrupted Gloves or a Ring) with Curse on Hit.

+(15-25) to maximum Energy Shield +(30-40) to Intelligence (10-15)% increased Cast Speed (10-20)% chance to gain a Power Charge when you Cast a Curse Spell Your Curse Limit is equal to your maximum Power Charges

(Ring) Polaric Devastation - With this Ring, you can Cover enemies in Frost and cause them to take increased Cold Damage. It also has a lot of Fire and Cold Resistances.

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage (15-25)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance (10-20)% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies Left Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Ash for 5 seconds when you Ignite them Right Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Frost for 5 seconds when you Freeze them

(Ring) Fated End - During boss fights all you have to do is bash the enemy once every 3 seconds or each time they move. In the meantime, you could employ Fated End to constantly apply Curses that grow stronger each second. It requires a good Mana Regeneration Rate.

+(20-30) to maximum Mana +(20-40) to Intelligence Curse Skills have (8-12)% increased Cast Speed Non-Aura Hexes gain 20% increased Effect per second Non-Aura Hexes expire upon reaching (180-220)% of base Effect

(Ring) Rare Ring - An Opal ring with Mana Cost reduction, increased Elemental Damage with Attacks, increased Cold Damage, and DoT Multiplier is what we would recommend. Other stats are not as important.

Min. requirements: Non-Channelling Skills have -7 to Total Mana Cost (crafted Prefix) increased Cold Damage 35% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances Attributes increased Damage Maximum Energy Shield +#% to Damage over Time Multiplier (Essence Suffix)

(Jewels) Rare Jewels - A Jewel with increased Damage Over Time, Cold Damage, Damage over Time Multiplier, and Maximum Energy Shield would be perfect.

Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Energy Shield Cold Damage over Time Multiplier increased Damage over Time increased Cold Damage increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills

(Jewels) Large Cluster Jewel - The notables are not particularly powerful, but having a good Cold-oriented Large Cluster Jewel lets you socket two more regular Jewels.

Recommended Affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Blast-Freeze 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Deep Chill

(Jewels) Elegant Hubris - Bloody Flowers' Rebellion notables found on Elegant Hubris will increase your Cold Damage with Attack Skills by 80% each, and you can find copies with up to 4 of such notables if you socket it near Infused notable. It's one of the best upgrades you can make, but a very expensive one. We have also used the Supreme Ostentation from Caspiro's variant to ignore Attributes.

Commissioned (2000-160000) coins to commemorate (Cadiro-Caspiro-Victario) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Eternal Empire Historic

(Jewels) The Perandus Pact - Increased Cold Damage per passive in Radius can increase your Damage by over 100% if you socket such Jewel near Overcharge notable.

Passive Skills in Radius also grant <random stat>

(Jewels) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Mastermind of Discord, Heart of Destruction, and Bastion of Elements are great passives to be implemented into the build.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame

(Jewels) Watcher's Eye - You're using Discipline, Determination, Malevolence, and Hatred. Additional Damage over Time Multiplier (Malevolence) is the best mod damage-wise. Discipline and Determination offer some good defensive options with Spell or Attack Block Chance, ES Regeneration, and Physical Damage Reduction.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Flask) Taste of Hate - Shifts a big portion of incoming Physical Damage to be taken as Cold. It grants Cold Resistance and Maximum Cold Resistance.

+40% to Cold Resistance +5% to maximum Cold Resistance (10-15)% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Cold Damage during Effect Gain (10-15)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage during effect 30% chance to Avoid being Chilled during Effect 30% chance to Avoid being Frozen during Effect

Suggested Flasks: Ruby Flask with increased Armour Topaz Flask with reduced effect of Curses on you Granite Flask with reduced effect of Shock on you Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed

If you have any other build requests please leave them in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

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