Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver Endgame Build

Introduction

This guide has been fully updated for The Last of the Druids, Fate of the Vaal League (Patch 0.4.0).

The Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver Sorceress is an insane speed-farming build, capable of destroying entire screens of enemies while flying through maps. Cold-Infused Ice Nova explodes in a massive area, triggering Fire-Infused Comet from Cast on Critical to deal devastating damage. Frost Darts and Snap supplements damage output for more triggers to instantly destroy pinnacle bosses. Rain down great balls of fire with this top-tier endgame build!

The default version of the build in this guide is designed to get you started without any currency. Once you have farmed enough to have a high budget, invest it into the Reverse Chill Build Variant for the fastest speed-farming setup.

This build guide assumes you have reached endgame maps around Level 65. If you have not yet completed the campaign, follow the Ice Nova Leveling Build Guide.

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Strengths and Weaknesses

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Build Mechanics

Mana Sustain

The Mana costs of Skills continue to grow as you increase Skill Gem Levels, and most support gems multiply costs even further. Ensure you obtain the following sources of Mana sustain. Aim for at least 2,000 Maximum Mana, 300 Mana Recovery per second, and 2% Mana on Kill.

• Obtain Maximum Mana and Mana Regeneration Rate through affixes on gear. Double-check the stat priority list in the Gear section.
• Allocate Mana Efficiency nodes in two clusters of the Passive Skill Tree (Efficient Casting and Conservative Casting).
• Obtain a 2% Mana on Kill affix on one of your Jewels.
• Socket Efficiency II and Zenith II in sockets listed in the Skill Gem section to reduce casting costs.
• The Stormweaver’s Constant Gale and Force of Will grant a permanent Arcane Surge that multiplies Mana Regeneration Rate with increased effect as Mana is spent.

Survivability

Life, Energy Shield, and Mana are scaled together to enhance survivability. Maximum Energy Shield can easily be increased through the Passive Tree and gear to around 5,000 in the Starter Setup. Force of Will, the Lucidity cluster in the Passive Tree, and the Greatwolf’s Rune of Willpower provide 51% of Damage is taken from Mana before Life to effectively split incoming damage, adding about 1,800 Life and 2,200 Mana to the effective hit pool.

Infusions

Ice Nova, Comet, and Frost Darts consume Infusions to greatly empower their damage.

Siphon Elements is the primary source of Infusions. In addition to the base Cold damage of the Skills, Extra Fire Damage and Extra Lightning Damage are obtained on a Staff. Damage of all Elements applies Freeze, Ignite, and Shock to enemies to generate every Infusion from Siphon Elements. Snap is another source of Infusions that can be cast on surviving enemies to finish them off.

The Stormweaver’s Refracted Infusion grants another Infusion of a different Element when collecting an Infusion to double the gains.

Cold Infusions are generated by Frost Bomb after it explodes. The orb limit is increased by Overabundance II, and then Spell Echo doubles the cast.

Damage and Critical Hit Chance

Increasing damage output is extremely important for this build to function, as it effectively scales quadratically. Damage increases cause your Spells to hit harder, which generates more Energy for Cast on Critical to trigger Comet more often. Dealing more damage also has a higher chance to apply Shock and Ignite to generate Infusions with Siphon Elements and Snap.

Aim for at least 50% Critical Hit Chance for Ice Nova. Ambush supports Ice Nova to double its Critical Hit Chance to guarantee it on the first hit against enemies. Anoint Preemptive Strike on your Amulet to also gain 100% increased Critical Damage Bonus against Enemies that are on Full Life. This setup allows the high base damage of Cold-Infused Ice Noves to instantly kill most enemies in one hit and trigger Comet from Cast on Critical consistently.

Ensure you prioritize the following stats in this build, as they make a significant difference in performance.

• Level up to allocate additional Passive Skill Points for damage.
• Skill Levels provide the most significant damage upgrades with a Level 21 Corrupted Ice Nova Skill Gem, Staff (+7 Cold affix and +1 All Spells Rune), Amulet (+3 All Spells), and Prism of Belief Diamond Jewel (+3 Ice Nova).
• Obtain high Spell Damage, Elemental Damage, and Critical Damage Bonus values on your Staff and Rare Jewels. Refer to the Gear section for more details on stat priority.
• Starter Setup: Anoint Preemptive Strike on your Amulet to deal more damage on the first hit of Arc against enemies, along with Ambush to guarantee the Critical Hit.
• If you are lacking damage, avoid stacking too many defensive Monster modifiers on your maps, like Life, Ailment Threshold, Reduced Extra Damage from Critical Hits, and Elemental Resistances (if you do not have Rakiata’s Flow).

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Skill Rotation

Follow the basic skill rotation below to clear groups of enemies in maps:

1. Cast Ice Nova to deal damage, Freeze enemies, and trigger Comet from Cast on Critical.
2. Cast Snap on any Frozen enemies to explode them and generate Infusions. Once you have enough damage, Snap no longer needs to be used, and Siphon Elements can solely be relied on to generate Infusions.
3. Against tougher enemies, cast Frost Darts (Starter Setup) or Comet (Reverse Chill Setup).

Execute the steps below to optimize damage against bosses:

1. For maximum damage against Pinnacle and Citadel bosses, swap Magnified Area II to Living Bomb in the Cast on Critical setup for Fire Infusions. Stand close enough to the target to pick up the remnants. This Gem swap should not be necessary against Map bosses if you already have appropriate damage.
2. If you need Cold Infusions, cast Frost Bomb before the fight and wait for them to explode.
3. Cast Sigil of Power from a Chiming Staff equipped in Weapon Set 2 to buff damage.
4. Switch back to Weapon Set 1 (Skills can be set to automatically swap).
5. Cast Elemental Weakness to reduce the Resistance of the boss. Elemental Weakness can be pre-cast before a boss spawns if supported by Cursed Ground.
6. Continue to cast Frost Bomb to apply Elemental Exposure.
7. Starter Setup: Spam Frost Darts to repeatedly trigger Comet from Cast on Critical. Slow down on the casts if your Mana drops quickly to allow it to regen. Comet does not trigger if you do not have the Mana available.
8. Reverse Chill Setup: Wind up a Comet (Reverse Chill Setup) to land as the boss spawns. Zarokh’s Refrain lands 4 Comets per cast, but causes the Skill to have a short Cooldown. Spam Ice Nova while Comet is on Cooldown, ensuring you do not completely drain Mana.

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Video Guide

The following video showcases the Reverse Chill version of the Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver. A full build video that also includes the low-budget Starter Setup is coming soon.

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Skill Gems, Spirit Gems, and Support Gems

The Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver utilizes the following Skill Gems, Spirit Gems, and Support Gems. Gem Sockets are listed in order of priority.

Equip a Chiming Staff in Weapon Set 2 to unlock Sigil of Power, which provides a damage buff against bosses. Ensure you set all your other skills to only be used with Weapon Set 1, so you automatically swap back.

Against pinnacle bosses, swap Magnified Area II socketed in Cast on Critical to Living Bomb (Level 3) to generate Fire Infusions. Ensure Living Bomb is inserted in a socket before Comet (highest Level possible).

All Skill Gems should be leveled as high as possible, except for Living Bomb, which can be kept at the minimum of Level 3.

In the Starter Setup, at least 21 additional Spirit is required to activate Cast on Critical (apply 20% Quality for Reduced Reservation Efficiency) and Siphon Elements. Equip a Helmet with a corrupted mod or an Amulet with a Spirit affix.

If you can obtain a total of 176 Spirit, Blasphemy with Temporal Chains can be activated to enhance survivability, as shown in the Reverse Chill Build Variant. Dialla’s Desire can support Blasphemy, reducing the requirement to 168 Spirit.

Rakiata’s Flow is the final expensive upgrade and is not included in the Skill Gem setup below. After you obtain Rakiata’s Flow, replace the Zenith II socketed into Ice Nova to clear maps with the Additional Monster Elemental Resistance mod. Comet does not need to be supported by Rakiata’s Flow, as Elemental Weakness and Elemental Exposure are applied to bosses.

The Reverse Chill setup can be selected from the drop-down menu in the Skill Gem tool. Refer to the Reverse Chill Build Variant section for more details.

Perfect Jeweller’s Orb priority on Skill Gems: Ice Nova > Cast on Critical > Frost Darts/Comet > Snap > Frost Bomb > Elemental Weakness.

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Ascendancy

Stormweaver is the recommended Ascendancy for the Ice Nova Sorceress. The chosen Ascendancy can be switched within the base class by repeating your highest trial completion.

Allocate the Ascendancy nodes for Stormweaver in the following order:

1. Constant Gale and Force of Will — These nodes grant a permanent Arcane Surge that increases in effect as Mana is spent, providing a massive boost to Cast Speed and Mana Regeneration. Force of Will also redirects 20% of damage taken to Mana before Life to enhance survivability.
2. Reflected Infusion — When collecting an Elemental Infusion created by Snap or Siphon Elements, gain another Elemental Infusion to maintain Cold Infusions for Ice Nova and Fire Infusions for Comet.
3. The allocation for the final Ascendany trial depend on the build variant:
   • Strike Twice (Starter Setup) — Targets can be affected by two of your Shocks at the same time with 25% less Magnitude, causing enemies to receive more damage.
   • Heavy Snows (Reverse Chill Setup) — Targets can be affected by two of your Chills at the same time by up to a maximum of 35% each, including Chills reflected onto yourself to gain 75% increased Action Speed.

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Passive Skill Tree

In the Passive Skill Tree, utilize attribute nodes to fulfill any Strength and Dexterity requirements, and then allocate the remaining points to Intelligence for Maximum Mana.

Starter Passive Tree

Follow the first Passive Tree setup for the starter version of the Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver, playable after finishing the campaign with the Leveling Build Guide.

If you have Rakiata’s Flow supporting Ice Nova, skip the four Cold/Elemental Penetration nodes (Glaciation and Stormcharged).

Reverse Chill Passive Tree

The Passive Tree setup below is used in the high-budget Reverse Chill Build Variant. A Character Level of at least 90 is highly recommended before switching from the starter setup.

The Reverse Chill Build Variant reduces Ignite Magnitude and the effect of Shock by 100% to counter the replaced corruption affix on Shackles of the Wretched that reflects Elemental Ailments you inflict. Equip a Controlled Metamorphosis Diamond Jewel that affects Passives in a Massive Ring to allocate Electric Blood. Refer to the Reverse Chill Build Variant section for the remaining sources.

In addition to Electric Blood, Controlled Metamorphosis also allows Wild Storm, Deadly Force, Shattering, and Staggering Palm to be allocated without being connected to your tree. Five Skill Points granting Cold/Elemental Penetration are freed up after obtaining Rakiata’s Flow to support Ice Nova.

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Gear

The preferred gear for the Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver 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

In the Starter Setup, at least 21 additional Spirit is required to activate Cast on Critical (apply 20% Quality for Reduced Reservation Efficiency) and Siphon Elements. Equip a Helmet with a corrupted mod or an Amulet with a Spirit affix.

If you can obtain a total of 176 Spirit, Blasphemy with Temporal Chains can be activated to enhance survivability, as shown in the Reverse Chill Build Variant. Dialla’s Desire can support Blasphemy, reducing the requirement to 168 Spirit.

Equipment Slot and Base Stats	Affix Priority	Notes
Staff	1. Extra Fire Damage and Extra Lightning Damage (both affixes are required to generate Infusions through Snap and Siphon Elements) 2. Level of all Cold/All Spell Skills (Cold Spell Skills can roll 1 Level higher than All Spell Skills) 3. Spell Damage 3. Critical Hit Chance for Spells 3. Critical Spell Damage Bonus 4. Extra Cold Damage 5. Cast Speed	Socket(s) Priority: 1. Hedgewitch Assandra’s Rune of Wisdom (limit 1) for +1 to Level of all Spell Skills 2. Saqawal’s Rune of the Sky (limit 1) for 5% Extra Damage of all Elements 3. Greater Desert Rune for 10% Extra Fire Damage
Helmet — Energy Shield	1. Spirit (affix from corruption) 2. Maximum and Increased Energy Shield (prioritize the highest total Energy Shield value to gain more Maximum Mana from jiquani’s Thesis) 3. Maximum Life and Maximum Mana (do not sacrifice Energy Shield) 4. Resistances 4. Critical Hit Chance 5. Attributes or Item Rarity	Socket(s) Priority: 1. jiquani’s Thesis (limit 1 Ancient Augment) to gain 1 Maximum Mana from every 2 Energy Shield on the Helmet 2. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 3. Idol of Eeshta for 12% Increased Cost Efficiency
Body Armor — Energy Shield (replaced by Sierran Inheritance in the Reverse Chill Build Variant)	1. Maximum and Increased Energy Shield (prioritize the highest total Energy Shield value) 2. Resistances 3. Attributes	Socket(s) Priority: 1. The Greatwolf’s Rune of Willpower (limit 1) for 15% of Damage is taken from Mana before Life 2. Greater Iron Rune
Gloves — Energy Shield (replaced by Shackles of the Wretched in the Reverse Chill Build Variant)	1. Maximum Life 1. Maximum Mana 2. Resistances 2. Critical Damage Bonus 3. Maximum or Increased Energy Shield 4. Attributes or Item Rarity	Socket(s) Priority: 1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Fenumus’ Rune of Spinning (limit 1) for 8% increased Cast Speed
Boots — Energy Shield	1. Movement Speed 2. Maximum Mana 3. Maximum or Increased Energy Shield (prioritize the highest total Energy Shield value) 3. Resistances 4. Maximum Life 5. Attributes or Item Rarity	Socket(s) Priority: 1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Farrul’s Rune of the Chase (limit 1) for 5% Increased Movement Speed
Amulet	1. Spirit 2. Level of all Spell Skills 3. Maximum Mana 4. Maximum Life, Percent Maximum Life, or Percent Maximum Mana 4. Mana Regeneration Rate 5. Percent Maximum Energy Shield 6. Critical Hit Chance or Critical Damage Bonus 7. Cast Speed, Resistances, Attributes, or Item Rarity	Anointment (Reverse Chill Build Variant): One with Flame is required to not die from Igniting yourself. Anointment Priority for Starter Setup: 1. Preemptive Strike (offensive) 2. Patient Barrier (defensive) Quality: Neural Catalyst
Rings — (Breach)	1. Maximum Mana 1. Percent Maximum Mana 1. Mana Regeneration Rate 1. Maximum Life 2. Resistances 2. Cast Speed 4. Energy Shield 5. Spell Damage 5. Attributes or Item Rarity	Quality: Neural Catalyst
Belt — Heavy (Headhunter optional)	1. Charm Slots (at least 2) 2. Maximum Mana 2. Maximum Life 3. Resistances 4. Attributes 5. Flask Life Recovery Rate 5. Charm Effect Duration 5. Stun Threshold	–

Unique Items

The following recommended Unique Items for the Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver are listed below.

• Headhunter is optional if you enjoy juicing activities with additional Rare Monsters. This expensive item is worth the investment to grant powerful buffs, such as extra damage, faster speed, and area of effect.

The Reverse Chill Build Variant requires the following two Unique Items.

• Sierran Inheritance reverses the effect of Chill inflicted on you. Up to 75% increased Action Speed can be obtained with Stormweaver’s Heavy Snows.
  • A third socket from corruption is ideal for inserting an additional Resistance Rune or a Soul Core of Jiquani to gain 3% increased Life.
• Shackles of the Wretched needs to be modified with a Vaal Cultivation Orb to obtain the affix, Elemental Ailments other than Freeze you inflict are Reflected to you, to Chill yourself with the reverse effect. The You Cannot be Chilled affix also needs to be removed by the Vaal Cultivation Orb so you can be Chilled repeatedly.
  • Curses supported by Cursed Ground or inserted into Blasphemy do not reflect back to you, so you do not need to remove the Curse Reflect affix.
  • Other beneficial bonuses (not required) from corruption include an extra Socket, increased Magnitude of Shock, and increased Curse Magnitudes.

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. Increased Energy Shield
  2. Magnitude of Ailments, Spell Damage, Elemental Damage, or Area of Effect
• Suffixes
  1. Mana on Kill (only need on one Jewel at 2%)
  2. Critical Damage Bonus and Critical Spell Damage Bonus (can obtain both on a Jewel)
  3. Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Chance for Spells
  4. Cast Speed

In addition to the Rare Jewels, the following Unique Jewels are recommended for this build.

• Prism of Belief Diamond (limit 1): 1-3 Levels of Ice Nova (for map clearing) or Comet (for boss killing) is a priority to increase damage output.
• Heart of the Well Diamond (limit 1): For the prefixes, obtain Extra Fire Damage and Extra Lightning Damage to Ignite and Shock. The suffixes can contain any combination of Critical Damage Bonus, Critical Spell Damage Bonus, Critical Strike Chance, Critical Strike Chance for Spells, Mana on Kill, and Movement Speed.
• Reverse Chill Build Variant: Controlled Metamorphosis (limit 1) enables efficient allocation of five Passive nodes, including Electric Blood for reduced effect of Shock on you. Check the image in the Reverse Chill Passive Tree.

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: 30% increased Charm Charges gained
• Venom Draught: 25% increased Mana Regeneration Rate
• Trial of Ngkanu: Resistances
• Goddess of Justice: 20% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
• Seven Pillars: 3% Movement Speed

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

Flasks and Charms

Prioritize the following Flasks and Charms.

• Health Flask and Mana Flask: Increased Amount Recovered, Increased Charges
• Charms
  1. Thawing Charm: Increased Duration, Increased Charges
  2. Stone Charm: Increased Duration, Increased Charges
  3. Amethyst Charm: Increased Duration, Increased Charges

Do not equip a Silver Charm or The Fall of the Axe, as it will make you immune to the Reverse Chill.

Reverse Chill Build Variant

The Reverse Chill Build Variant is a high-budget version of the Ice Nova Comet Stormweaver, optimized to clear content with insane speed. The gearing for this version of the build is much stricter, so do not attempt to switch to it until you already have an optimized Starter Setup.

Sierran Inheritance reverses the effect of Chill on you, increasing your Action Speed instead of reducing it. Action Speed affects everything your character does, including movement/sprinting speed, dodge roll distance, and cast/attack times. The Stormweaver’s Heavy Snows enables up to 75% Chill effect to be applied to your enemies and your character.

A Vaal Cultivation Orb is utilized to apply a corrupted mod, Elemental Ailments other than Freeze you inflict are Reflected to you, to Shackles of the Wretched. This modified Unique Item allows you to Chill yourself consistently.

The downside is that the required corrupted mod on Shackles of the Wretched also reflects Ignite and Shock you inflict back to you, which are extremely dangerous and likely to kill you. The Magnitude of Ignite and the effect of Shock are reduced by 100% to ensure survival.

Some survivability must be sacrificed for speed in the Reverse Chill setup, as the two required Unique Items offer almost no defenses compared to the Rare Items equipped in the starter setup. You should still be able to achieve around 1,800 Life, 3,000 Energy Shield, and 2,200 Mana with 51% damage taken from Mana before Life.

Ensure you make the following changes to the Starter version of the build to switch to the Reverse Chill Build Variant.

• Equip Sierran Inheritance and Shackles of the Wretched with the requirements mentioned in the Unique Items section.
• Headhunter remains optional, but is highly recommended to further improve clear speed by gaining Monster modifiers that grant damage, defense, speed, and area of effect.
  • The only undesired Monster modifier to gain is Slow Resistant, which reduces the effect of Chill on you. Slow Resistant results in less Action Speed from the Reverse Chill tech, but other modifiers exist to increase Movement Speed, Cast Speed, and Action Speed.
• Follow the Reverse Chill Setup in the Skill Gem tool.
  • Frost Darts is replaced by Comet since the increased Action Speed makes it easier to cast.
  • If you can obtain the extra Spirit required, Blasphemy with Temporal Chains slows enemies to enhance survivability. Ensure you allocate Whispers of Doom in the Passive Tree so Elemental Weakness can still be applied to bosses.
• Use the Reverse Chill Passive Tree.
  • Reduce the Magnitude of Ignite and the effect of Shock on you by allocating nodes in the Flamewalker and Stormwalker cluster for 50% of each, combined with Electric Blood to cap the effect of Shock on you by 100% reduced effect.
  • Switch Strike Twice to Refracted Infusion in the Stormweaver Ascendancy.
• Anoint One with Flame on your Amulet to obtain the remaining 50% reduced Magnitude of Ignite on you to become immune.

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Changelog

• January 3rd, 2026: Build guide created for The Last of the Druids, Fate of the Vaal League (Patch 0.4).