In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put togetherthe Frigid Cold buildfor you to use to get into the late-game or end-game of the game.Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount of skills and build possibilities available in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensive skill tree and a multitude of skill gems. This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of the campaign and prepare you for your Cruel playthroughs or endgame.
Introduction
The Frigid Cold Monkis a melee-focused build that will allow you to deal with all of your enemies by freezing them in place and then following up with powerful strikes. And for this build, we will be focusing on increasing our damage output with our quarterstaff as much as possible to shatter all our enemies without breaking a sweat.
Starter Class
For this build, we will be starting withthe Monk Class, which is one of the seven available for now.
On the expansive skill tree, the monk class will start on the northeast side. This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related to skill damage, elemental damage, and attack speed, which we will be taking advantage of to maximize our damage output.
Passive Skill Tree
For ourFrigid Cold Monk Build, we will be aiming to maximize our damage output using our cold skills, and we will be going for skill groups that will amplify our damage output when using the Cold element.
To that end, as we start on our passive skill tree, we will be taking the offensive nodes route and going forthe Flow Like Waternode first.
Afterwards, we will take the defensive route and go forthe Mindful Awarenessroute, which will increase the evasion rating and energy shield by 24%, which will increase our survivability considerably.
From here, we will go throughthe Step Like Mist node, which will increase our movement speed, and gothe Essence of the Mountain route, which will increase our freeze buildup and then give us 5% extra damage as cold damage.
We will then continue on the axial branch and veer south, taking the attribute nodes, and then invest in a branch that will increase our attack damage by going forthe Blinding Strike node.
And then we will look to increase our cold damage output as much as possible and go forthe Snowpiercer nodea little down to the south.
This node and the corresponding branch allow our ice damage to pierce through the ice resistance of enemies.
Afterwards, we will continue our way towards the outer ring, but on the way, we will be investing in a passive skill group that will boost our elemental damage output substantially, and this is the group withthe Unbound Forces passive skill nodeat the end.
These nodes will increase our cold penetration even further, as well as increase the magnitude of chill we will be inflicting with our skills.
From here, we will go along the same axis and take the attribute nodes until we reach the ninja star-shaped passive node, which will increase our damage output against rare and boss enemies.
This is provided bythe Sharp Sight and Serrated Edges nodes, which increase our damage and critical chance against bosses, but the group also gives a 30% increase to our attack damage as well as mana leech.
After this group, we will go towards the outer ring and then move upwards along the outer axis towardsthe Exposed to the Cosmos node.
This passive skill group increases our cold resistance even further and will help in increasing our damage output using our ice-based skills.
These skill groups form the core of our build, and from this point, we can work our way towards the outer ring forthe Quarterstaff skill groupor invest in other nodes that will increase our attack damage or attack speed, depending on your preferred playstyle.
One important thing to note when choosing attributes as you go through the attribute nodes is that, whilethe Quarterstaff weaponsrequire bothDexterity and Intelligenceand our monk class benefits from both stats, we do not need equal amounts of both stats.
Rather,we need a higher Dexterity to equip our Quarterstaffas we reach the later levels, and not meeting the required stats can lead to a frustrating experience where you have to respec a lot of the skill nodes just to go back to the axial branches and take different stats.
Ascendancy
For the Ascendancy, we will be going with the Invoker pathway for the Monk. This pathway provides an additional increase in elemental damage and will help us increase our damage even further with our attacks.
From the Invoker branch, we will be taking the branch of “I Am the Blizzard” and towards “… I Shall Rage” nodes.
This pathway gives us an additional increase in Lightning damage and a powerful skill withUnbound Avatar, which increases all of our elementaldamage by 40%, nearly doubling our damage output.
Active Skill Setup
For this build, as the name implies, we will be relying on the ice-based skills the quarterstaff offers to us, freezing enemies in place and then shattering them to deal huge areas of damage.
Firstly, our core skill of the build isthe Glacial Cascade skill, which sends out icy fissures that can chill and freeze enemies.
This skill is really great for dealing with mobs by itself and can easily combo with our skills.
The next skill that is really great to use withthe Glacial Cascadeisthe Frozen Locus.
This skill will leave behind anice crystal pillar as you jump backward, which you can destroy using your attacks. These pillars will cause a huge explosion upon being destroyed and are really great at dealing with both mobs of enemies and bosses.
The next skill that will be one of the most often used skills for this build isthe Ice Strike skill.
This is a close-range attack that will have you dash towards your target and can perform a combo if you use the skill consecutively three times, with the final strike being a more powerful attack dealing more damage and causing more freeze buildup.
These three skills form the core rotation of our active skills and are sufficient in dealing with mobs of enemies and against bosses.
The next skill is adisengage skillthat is really great for getting out of tough situations where you may find yourself cornered, and this isthe Wave of Frost skill.
This skill lets out a wave of ice in a cone in front of you while you jump backward, avoiding all attacks on the ground and putting some distance between you and your enemies while freezing them in place.
Lastly, we will be usingthe Shattering Palm skill, which will deal massive amounts of area damage to frozen enemies, providing us with more area attack options to deal with mobs of enemies.
Using this combination of skills will allow us to embody the harsh cold of the tundra, freezing the blood of our enemies.
Support Gems
For the support gems, we will be looking to maximize our freezing potential using our skills, allowing us to follow up with more shattering strikes and exploding frozen lotuses to wipe out huge mobs of enemies.
Firstly, forthe Glacial Cascade, we will start by putting inthe Magnified Effect support gem.
This gem will increase the area of attack the icy fissures cover with the use of your skill, allowing us to damage more enemies using the skill.
And we will also be usingthe Martial Temposupport gem with the Glacial Cascade skill.
This will increase the attack speed of the skill and greatly help with dealing with mobs of enemies while mapping.
Forthe Frozen Locus skill, we will be aiming to maximize the area covered by the explosion, and we will usethe Expanse support gemfor this skill.
Although this support gem adds 8 seconds to the cooldown of the skill, it fits well with the skill, as we will not be spamming the locus even without the increase in cooldown.
To also help with positioning and give more time to explode the locus, we will also be usingthe Persistence support gemwith ourFrozen Locus skill.
Withthe Ice Strike skill, we will be usingthe Crescendo support gem, which will allow us to perform the more powerful third strike of the skill twice in succession, increasing our damage with the skill.
In addition to this, we will be looking to add to the ice damage of the skill and will be putting inthe Ice Bite support gem,which will gain 35% cold damageafter freezing an enemy, which works well with the combo nature of the skill.
Forthe Wave of Frost, as we will be using this skill to crowd-control our enemies and put as much distance between them and you as possible, we will be looking for support gems that amplify that aspect.
The Deep Freeze gem, which will increase the freeze duration of enemies by 50%, andthe Frost Nexus support gemwill add to the crowd control of the skill by leaving behind chilled ground, which will chill and slow enemies upon freezing them, making the skill a great crowd control tool in your arsenal.
For ourShattering Palm skill, we will be looking to increase the effectiveness of the freezing effect by putting inthe Glaciationsupport gem.
In addition to the freezing, we will also be adding to the effectiveness of the finisher nature of the skill by slotting inthe Murderous Intent support gemwith this skill, giving it the culling functionality, allowing the skill to cull frozen enemies with ease.
Spirit Gems
For ourSpirit Gems, we will be usingGhost Danceinitially.
The Ghost Danceskills allow us to recover energy shields immediately upon getting hit, and this shield scales with ourEvasion Rating, giving us additional defensive value to those we have from our equipment.
Gear and Equipment
The Frigid Cold Monk builddoes not require any specific uniques to function and will perform well in both mapping and against bosses.
Gear adding bonus Cold damage and Physical damagewill help with this build’s performance, and if you may find gear with + to melee skills, it will increase the effectiveness of this build significantly.
Having both life and mana leech on your gear will also greatly help with survivability when using this build because we do not invest hugely into passive nodes that increase our defensive value with this build.
Leveling Guide
The build levels smoothly by using the combo ofGlacial Cascade and Frozen Locus.
This combo will allow you to go through most of the mobs without pressure during your playthrough, as long as you don’t find yourself in situations where you run out of mana or get your mana siphoned off.
And even in such instances, you’re able to use the Wave of Frost to freeze troublesome enemies to create some distance as you heal and recover your mana.
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As you level up, it is beneficial to have some intelligence attribute nodes since this will allow us to equip more intelligence support gems in addition to increasing the mana pool, but you will need moreDexterity overall, asthe Quarterstavesrequire almost double the amount of Dexterity compared to Intelligence to equip.
Mapping and Bossing
This build is efficient at both mapping and bossing, and its performance is greatly enhanced by utilizing the multiple types of explosions of ice available to you. While the Glacial Cascade and Wave of Frost both are area-of-effect skills, they do not cover as much ground compared to explosions provided by the Frozen Locus and the Shattering Palm skills. Combining all these skills will make short work of mobs during mapping and will allow you to deal massive amounts of damage when fighting against bosses.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scaling is enhanced through cluster jewels that increaseMovement Speed, Attack Damage, and Elemental Damage. The build has great options to scale by investing into either pure elemental damage or critical hit chance while also benefiting from high attack speed.
This build performs well inSSF and Hardcore, thanks to its high damage output and high sustainability through life leech and hit point recovery on kills. It is not reliant on expensive uniques and offers great damage with fast-paced mobility and movement, leading to satisfying gameplay both while leveling and in the endgame portion of the game.
So, this wraps up my article for the Frigid Cold Monk build guide for Path of Exile 2. I hope you found this guide helpful, and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
