Sorceress Frostbolt Comet Endgame Build

Introduction

The Frostbolt Comet Sorceress (Stormweaver or Chronomancer) features multiple Cold Spells to optimize gameplay for speed-farming maps and killing pinnacle bosses. To clear maps, Ice Nova freezes enemies to trigger a barrage of Frostbolt projectiles from Cast on Freeze. Against bosses, Frost Wall rapidly triggers Comet from Cast on Critical to rain down for massive single-target damage.

Disclaimer: While the Frostbolt Comet Sorceress is a viable endgame build, recent nerfs in Patch 0.2 have made scaling damage and managing resources a challenge. The Blood Mage version of the Frostbolt Comet Build is superior in all aspects, offering better damage scaling, survivability, and infinite “Mana”. Even if you already have a high-level Sorceress, it is highly recommended to reroll as a Blood Mage.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

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Build Mechanics

Snakepit

Snakepit is highly recommended in the left ring slot to remove the piercing effect from Frostbolt and cause the projectiles to fork. Frostbolt fires three projectiles per cast with Scattershot. Each of the projectiles fired split into two projectiles after hitting the first enemy and then explode on the second enemy. Against groups of enemies, Frostbolt explosions can shotgun targets to hit them multiple times. If you do not yet have Snakepit, this build can still be played with Frostbolt piercing through all enemies.

Boss Fights

In boss fights, Comet is rapidly triggered from Cast on Critical through multiple explosions from Frost Wall supported by Pinpoint Critical to reach 100% Critical Hit Chane.

Defenses

Multiple layers of defense are utilized with Energy Shield and Evasion Rating. Both stats are increased by equipping hybrid items and allocating nodes in the Passive Skill Tree. Aim for at least 5,000 Energy Shield and 4,000 Evasion Rating for a comfortable amount of survivability.

Capping all elemental resistances to 75% is essential for survival. Chaos resistance is not needed, as this build is immune to Chaos damage due to Chaos Inoculation.

Maximum Life is set to 1 by Chaos Inoculation, causing you to have no Stun Threshold. Becoming Stunned is not a significant issue if you have a high amount of Evasion Rating. Be aware that certain area-of-effect hazards, like twisters, cannot be evaded and rapidly cause hits that can keep you stunlocked. Equip a Stone Charm to help prevent Stuns. If you still have issues, Abasement can be allocated in the Passive Skill Tree.

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Skill Rotation

Follow the basic skill rotation below to progress through the campaign and clear groups of enemies in maps:

1. Cast Ice Nova to freeze enemies and trigger Frostbolt from Cast on Freeze. Ideally, you want to deal enough damage to freeze enemies in one cast, as spamming Ice Nova can rapidly deplete your Life pool.
2. If additional damage is needed against tough elites, cast Frost Wall on top of them for additional explosions.
3. Cast Cold Snap to finish off any surviving enemies that are frozen.

Execute the steps below to optimize damage against bosses:

1. Swap to Weapon Set 2.
2. Cast Sigil of Power to buff damage.
3. Cast Hypothermia to reduce the Cold Resistance of the boss. Hypothermia can be pre-cast before a boss spawns if supported by Cursed Ground.
4. Cast Frost Bomb to apply Cold Exposure.
5. Cast Frost Wall on top of the boss. Larger bosses automatically break Ice Crystals to trigger Comet from Cast on Freeze. If a boss doesn’t break any Ice Crystals, wait for Frost Bomb to explode or cast Ice Nova. Once Comets start to land, repeat casts of Frost Wall to continue the chain reaction.

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Video Guide

The following video shows gameplay for the Blood Mage version of the Frostbolt Comet build. You can still get an idea of the playstyle for the Sorceress, as it is the same for both builds. The Blood Mage is better than the Sorceress due to infinite “Mana” and damage scaling from Life with Rathpith Globe.

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Skill and Support Gems

The Frostbolt Comet Sorceress utilizes the following Skill Gems and Support Gems, listed in order of socket priority.

Skill Gems	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Support Gem 4	Support Gem 5
Ice Nova	Astral Projection	Ambush	Considered Casting	Arcane Tempo	Mobility
Frost Wall	Spell Cascade	Pinpoint Critical	Ambrosia	Magnified Effect	Cold Mastery
Cold Snap	Elemental Focus	Inevitable Critical	–	–	–
Frost Bomb	Strip Away	–	–	–	–
Hypothermia	Cursed Ground	Ritualistic Curse	Heightened Curse	–	–
Sigil of Power	Persistence	–	–	–	–

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Spirit Gems

The Spirit Gem setup requires 120 total Spirit to activate Cast on Freeze and Blink. Another 10 additional Spirit is optional to slot Clarity. Defeat The King in the Mists (Act 1, Normal Difficulty) and Ignagduk (Act 3, Normal and Cruel Difficulty) for 100 base Spirit. Obtain the remaining 20-30 Spirit from your Amulet.

For clearing mapping, set Cast on Freeze (triggers Frostbolt) and Blink to only be used with Weapon Set 1.

To fight bosses, set Cast on Critical (triggers Comet) to only be used with Weapon Set 2.

Inspiration is listed twice because it is moved from Cast on Freeze to Cast on Critical when fighting bosses.

Skill Gems	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Support Gem 4	Support Gem 5
Cast on Freeze (Weapon Set 1)	Frostbolt	Scattershot	Inspiration	Deliberation	Acceleration
Blink (Weapon Set 1)	Ingenuity	Clarity	–	–	–
Cast on Critical (Weapon Set 2)	Comet	Concentrated Effect	Inspiration	Impetus	Leverage

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Ascendancy

Stormweaver is the recommended Ascendancy for the Frostbolt Comet Sorceress. The chosen Ascendancy can be changed by clearing your highest completed trial.

Stormweaver

The Stormweaver is the best Ascendancy choice due to the Mana Regen and damage increases within its nodes. Allocate the Ascendancy nodes in the following order:

1. Constant Gale and Force of Will — The Arcane Surge nodes are highly beneficial for more Mana Regen and more Cast Speed. Both effects become more potent as Maximum Mana is increased.
2. Strike Twice and Shaper of Storms — Both these nodes need to be allocated for any effect. Cold damage applies 2 stacks of Shock for a massive increase in damage output. The benefit of these nodes become more effective as Shock/Ailment magnitude is increased. If you have not yet finished your final trial, Scouring Winds can be allocated instead.

Chronomancer

The Chronomancer is not usually recommended due to the lack of any Mana Regen or damage increases. The benefits are instead based on survivability. Allocate the Ascendancy nodes in the following order:

1. Footprints in the Sand — Temporal Rift can be used to instantly refill Mana after multiple triggers empty your pool.
2. Ultimate Command — Time Freeze is especially useful against bosses to deal uninterrupted damage without risk.
3. Apex of the Moment — Slow provides an additional layer of survivability.
4. Now and Again — Blink and Frost Wall gain a chance to not consume a Cooldown when used, allowing more casts.

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Passive Skill Tree

In the Passive Skill Tree, use attribute nodes to fulfill any Strength and Dexterity requirements, and then allocate the rest as Intelligence for Maximum Mana.

Skill Points in Weapon Set 1 (red nodes) are allocated for increased Area of Effect and Projectile Speed to be used while clearing maps. Skill Points in Weapon Set 2 (green nodes) are utilized for increased Cold Exposure and Curse Magnitude to deal maximum damage against bosses.

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Gear

The preferred gear for the Frostbolt Comet Sorceress is listed below with affixes ranked in order of importance. Prioritize Rare Items with the correct base stats and beneficial explicit affixes. Recommended Unique Items are listed below the Rare Item table.

Rare Items

Hybrid base types with Energy Shield and Evasion are preferred for a balanced layer of defenses, especially for your Body Armor. Pure Energy Shield bases can also be viable as your Helmet, Gloves, and Boots.

Equipment Slot and Base Stats	Prefixes	Suffixes	Notes
Wand in Weapon Set 1 and Chiming Staff in Weapon Set 2	1. All Extra Damage types with a priority on Cold 2. Maximum Mana 4. Spell Damage 5. Cold Damage	1. Level of all Cold Spell Skills 2. Critical Hit Chance for Spells 2. Mana Regeneration Rate	Sockets: Greater Glacial Rune
Focus in Weapon Set 1	2. Maximum Mana 3. Spell Damage 3. Cold Damage 3. Increased Evasion and Energy Shield 3. Evasion Rating and Maximum Energy Shield	1. Level of all Spell Skills 2. Critical Hit Chance for Spells 2. Mana Regeneration Rate	Sockets: 1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Greater Iron Rune
Helmet — Energy Shield and Evasion Hybrid	1. Maximum Mana 1. Increased Evasion and Energy Shield 1. Evasion Rating and Maximum Energy Shield	1. Resistances 2. Any Attributes	Sockets: 1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Greater Iron Rune
Falconer’s Jacket — Energy Shield / Evasion Hybrid with 5% increased Movement Speed	1. Increased Evasion and Energy Shield 1. Evasion Rating and Maximum Energy Shield	1. Resistances 2. Any Attributes	Sockets: Greater Iron Rune
Gloves — Energy Shield / Evasion Hybrid (replaced by Maligaro’s Virtuosity)	1. Maximum Mana 1. Increased Evasion and Energy Shield 1. Evasion Rating and Maximum Energy Shield	1. Resistances 2. Any Attributes	Sockets: 1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Boots — Energy Shield / Evasion Hybrid	1. Movement Speed 2. Maximum Mana 3. Increased Evasion and Energy Shield 3. Evasion Rating and Maximum Energy Shield	1. Resistances 2. Attributes	Sockets: 1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Amulet	1. Spirit (20-30) 2. Maximum Mana 3. Maximum Energy Shield 3. Evasion Rating	2. Level of all Spell Skills 2. Mana Regeneration Rate 4. Attributes	Anointments: Stormcharged to increase single-target damage output, or Split Shot for more Frostbolt projectiles while clearing Quality: Neural Catalyst
Rings (left slot replaced by Snakepit)	1. Maximum Mana 2. Evasion Rating 3. Rarity of Items Found	1. Mana Regeneration Rate 2. Resistances 3. Attributes	Quality: Neural Catalyst
Belt — Linen or Rawhide	1. Maximum Mana 2. Flask Life Recovery Rate 2. Flask Mana Recovery Rate 3. Charm Effect Duration	1. Resistances 2. Attributes 3. Stun Threshold	–

Unique Items

The following Unique Items are recommended for the Frostbolt Comet Sorceress:

• Snakepit enables Frostbolt to fork and then explode when equipped in the left ring slot. This build can still be played without Snakepit, allowing Frostbolt projectiles to pierce through all enemies instead. Apply Sibilant Catalyst to enhance the Spell Damage and Cast Speed affixes.
• Maligaro’s Virtuosity sets your Critical Damage Bonus to 300%. Skill Points and affixes can prioritize Critical Hit Chance and increased damage instead of Critical Damage Bonus.

Jewels

The beneficial affixes for Jewels are listed below, ranked in order of importance. Prioritize Rare Jewels with two prefixes and two suffixes.

• Prefixes
  1. Magnitude of Ailments you inflict (applies to Shock and Chill)
  2. Magnitude of Shock
  3. Spell Damage
  4. Area of Effect
• Suffixes
  1. Recover Mana on Kill (1 affix of 2%)
  2. Critical Strike Chance and/or Critical Strike Chance for Spells (both affixes provide the same benefit in this build)
  3. Mana Regeneration Rate

Campaign Buffs

Quest rewards during the campaign offer a selection of buffs to your character. Choose the following buffs for the build:

• Valley of the Titans Altar
  1. 15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks
  2. 15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
• Venom Draught
  1. 25% increased Mana Regeneration Rate
  2. +5 to All Attributes

For more details, check the guide on Campaign Difficulties and Permanent Stat Bonuses.

Flasks and Charms

Prioritize the following Flasks and Charms:

• Health and Mana Flasks
  • Prefix: Increased Amount Recovered
  • Suffix: Increased Charges
• Charm:
  1. Stone Charm
  2. Thawing Charm
  3. Grounding Charm

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Changelog

• May 28th, 2025: Guide updated for Dawn of the Hunt (Patch 0.2)
• March 28th, 2025: Guide created for Path of Exile II, Early Access