Sorceress Frost Bomb Cold Snap Endgame Build

Introduction

The Frost Bomb Cold Snap Sorceress features a ranged playstyle that deals explosive cold damage. Frost Bomb and Frost Wall deal damage in a massive area to clear packs of enemies and elites. Cold is the finishing move to instantly execute Frozen bosses.

This build is designed to get started in endgame maps immediately after completing the campaign. No items are required to begin playing the build, and its performance can be scaled easily with an extremely low budget.

If you have not yet finished the campaign, follow the Frostbolt Cold Snap Leveling Build Guide.

---

Strengths and Weaknesses

---

Video Guide

Build Mechanics

The unique helm, Indigon, is highly recommended to provide a massive amount of increased Spell Damage as you spend Mana. The effects of Indigon are scaled by stacking Maximum Mana and Mana Regeneration Rate to allow for more consumption.

Occasional casts of Frost Bomb build up a moderate amount of increased Spell Damage to clear groups of enemies. You should have enough Mana Regeneration Rate to sustain repeated casts of Frost Bomb when it is not on cooldown. Mana Regeneration Rate is also helpful to recover damage taken with Mind Over Matter.

Against bosses, Mana is rapidly spent with Frost Wall to maximize the damage granted by Indigon before using Cold Snap. Maximum Mana is usually the bottleneck for damage output, as your skills will eventually have a Mana cost higher than your Maximum Mana. With a low investment budget, you should be able to obtain at least 4,000 Maximum Mana.

---

Skill Rotation

Follow the basic skill rotation below to clear groups of enemies in endgame activities.

1. Drag packs of enemies together and cast Frost Bomb to deal damage. Repeat this step, continuing to move forward and cast Frost Bomb when its not on cooldown.
2. If additional damage is needed against tough elites, cast Frost Wall before Frost Bomb explodes to cause more explosions.
3. Cast Cold Snap to finish off any remaining Frozen enemies.
4. Save Ice Nova as a panic button to immediately Freeze enemies when in danger.

Execute the steps below to optimize damage against bosses.

1. Cast Sigil of Power (Weapon Set 2) to buff damage.
2. Cast Frost Bomb to apply Cold exposure.
3. Before Frost Bomb explodes, cast Frost Wall to surround the boss with Ice Crystals.
4. Once the boss is frozen from the initial Frost Bomb and Frost Wall explosions, cast another Frost Wall to prepare for the final blow.
5. Wait for Mana to regenerate enough to make Cold Snap castable.
6. Cast Mana Tempest to empower the next skill.
7. Immediately cast Cold Snap before Mana Tempest starts to drain Mana to finish off a Frozen boss.
8. If the boss is not defeated, wait 4 seconds for the effects of Indigon to reset, and then repeat the rotation.

---

Skill and Support Gems

The Frost Bomb Cold Snap Sorceress utilizes the following Skill Gems and Support Gems, listed in order of socket priority. Be wary of socketing support gems with high cost multipliers, like Magnified Effect, as they can prevent you from casting skills when Indigon is equipped.

Skill Gems	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Support Gem 4	Support Gem 5
Frost Bomb	Spell Echo	Inspiration	Ambush	Strip Away	Fast Forward
Frost Wall	Spell Cascade	Considered Casting	Deliberation	Cold Mastery	Leverage
Cold Snap	Elemental Focus	Concentrated Effect	Ambrosia	Hourglass	Rising Tempest
Ice Nova	Unleash	Astral Projection	Glaciation	–	–
Sigil of Power	Persistence	Magnified Effect	–	–	–
Mana Tempest	Premeditation	Lightning Mastery	–	–	–

---

Spirit Gems

The Spirit Gem setup requires 108-123 total Spirit. Defeat The King in the Mists (Act 1, Normal Difficulty) and Ignagduk (Act 3, Normal and Cruel Difficulty) for 100 base Spirit.

An additional 8 Spirit is required to activate Blasphemy with Temporal Chains and Hypothermia slotted, which can be obtained through 3 nodes in the Passive Skill Tree. Make sure you increase the gem quality of Hypothermia with Gemcutter’s Prism for reduced reservation cost.

Clarity can be slotted into Hypothermia if you have an extra 15 Spirit from your Body Armor or Amulet.

Blink is an optional weapon swap tech that can be activated only for Weapon Set 2. Swap weapons to access Blink when needed. Set Frost Bomb, Frost Wall, Cold Snap to only be used with Weapon Set 1 to automatically swap back when they are cast. Ensure Blasphemy is only active for Weapon Set 1 to enable this setup.

Spirit Gems	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Support Gem 4	Support Gem 5
Blasphemy (Weapon Set 1)	Temporal Chains	Hypothermia	Ritualistic Curse	Clarity	–
Blink (Weapon Set 2)	Ingenuity	Arcane Tempo	–	–	–

---

Ascendancy

Stormweaver is the recommended Ascendancy for the Frost Bomb Cold Snap Sorceress. Select your first Ascendancy after completing the Trial of the Sekhemas in Act 2. The trial is not difficult, so complete it within the level range of 20-30. During the early access of Path of Exile 2, you have the option between Stormweaver and Chronomancer. Your chosen Ascendancy can be changed by repeating a Trial of the Sekhemas or Ultimatum.

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. A separate multiplier to Mana Regen is needed to sustain the increased Mana costs from Indigon. Both effects become more potent as Maximum Mana is increased.
2. Strike Twice and Shaper of Storms — Both major nodes are required to enable your Cold damage to apply up to 2 Shock effects for a massive damage increase. The benefit of these nodes becomes more effective as Shock/Ailment magnitude is increased. If you haven’t yet obtained your final Ascendancy points, allocate Scouring Winds 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 and Ultimate Command — Time Freeze is especially useful against bosses to deal uninterrupted damage without risk.
2. Apex of the Moment — Slow provides an additional layer of survivability.
3. Circular Heartbeat — Damage taken Recouped as Life provides some sustainability.

---

Passive Skill Tree

Use attribute nodes to fulfill any Strength or Dexterity requirements, and then allocate the rest as Intelligence.

---

Gear

The preferred gear for the Frost Bomb Cold Snap Sorceress is listed below, with affixes and socketables ranked in order of importance. Prioritize gear with the correct base stats and beneficial explicit affixes.

A Shield is recommended over a Focus if you are having trouble surviving.

Equipment Slot and Base Stats	Prefixes	Suffixes	Sockets
Wand (Siphoning Wand preferred if you want Power Siphon for Culling Strike)	2. Extra Cold Damage 3. Maximum Mana 4. Extra Lightning/Fire Damage 5. Increased Spell/Cold Damage	1. Level of all Cold Spell Skills 3. Mana Regeneration Rate 4. Critical Spell Damage Bonus 5. Critical Hit Chance for Spells 5. Intelligence	1. Greater Glacial Rune
Focus	2. Maximum Energy Shield 2. Increased Energy Shield 3. Maximum Mana	1. Level of all Spell Skills 3. Mana Regen Rate 4. Critical Spell Damage Bonus 5. Critical Hit Chance for Spells 5. Intelligence	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Greater Iron Rune
Shield (Armor and Energy Shield hybrid)	1. Increased Block Chance 2. Maximum Life	1. Resistances 3. Intelligence	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Helmet (Energy Shield)	Indigon — Prioritize a low increased cost of skills and a high increased spell damage.	–	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Body Armor (Energy Shield)	1. Maximum Energy Shield 1. Increased Energy Shield	2. Resistances 3. Intelligence	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Greater Iron Rune
Gloves (Energy Shield)	1. Maximum Mana 2. Maximum Life 2. Critical Damage Bonus	2. Resistances 3. Intelligence	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Boots (Energy Shield)	1. Movement Speed 2. Maximum Mana 3. Maximum Life	3. Resistances 4. Intelligence	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Amulet	Anointment: Mental Toughness 1. Spirit (8-23) 3. Maximum Mana and Percent Mana 3. Maximum Energy Shield 4. Maximum Life	2. Level of all Spell Skills 3. Mana Regeneration Rate 5. Intelligence	–
Ring Slots	1. Maximum Mana 2. Maximum Life 3. Rarity of Items Found	1. Mana Regeneration Rate 2. Resistances 3. Intelligence	–
Belt (Heavy Belt preferred for increased Stun Threshold)	1. Maximum Mana 2. Maximum Life 4. Flask Life Recovery Rate	2. Resistances 3. Intelligence 3. Stun Threshold	–

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
  2. Magnitude of Shock
  3. Area of Effect
  4. Elemental Damage or Spell Damage
• Suffixes
  1. Critical Damage Bonus
  2. Critical Strike Chance or Critical Strike Chance for Spells
  3. Cast Speed

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 Charm Charges gained
  2. 15% increased Charm Charges gained
• Venom Draught
  1. 25% increased Mana Regeneration Rate
  2. 10% Chaos Resistance

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

Flasks and Charms

Prioritize the following Flasks and Charms:

• Health Flasks
  • Prefix: Increased Amount Recovered
  • Suffix: Increased Charges or Increased Charges Gained
• Mana Flasks
  • Prefix: any
  • Suffix: Increased Charges
• Charms: Thawing Charm and Stone Charm

---

Changelog

• April 23rd, 2025:
  • Video guide added.
  • Skill Gem setup and Skill Rotation optimized for Cold Snap.
  • Slight optimizations to the Passive Skill Tree.
• April 17th, 2025: Guide created for Path of Exile II, Early Access (Patch 0.2).