Article de Kami
Build Overview
P4wnyhof’s Ice & Poison Pathfinder exploits a devastating synergy between cold and poison. The idea is straightforward: you throw Glacial Lance projectiles that pierce across the entire screen, freeze enemies, and explode thanks to frenzy charges. Meanwhile, the Plaguefinger gloves ensure that all that damage also contributes to poison. The result: a chain carnage.
What makes this build particularly powerful is the addition of Eternal Rage at the end of the campaign. This rage gem provides +30% attack damage AND +30% poison damage as a multiplier. That means every exploding Glacial Lance inflicts a massive poison on top.
The gameplay loop couldn’t be simpler: sprint through zones, spam Glacial Lance, enemies freeze and shatter, poison spreads via Herald of Plague. Against bosses, you switch to a more technical combo with Storm Lance and Explosive Spear, but for mapping it’s pure clear speed fun.
Build Strengths
- Devastating clear speed: Glacial Lance pierces across the full screen, hits every enemy in line, and explodes with frenzy charges. You wipe packs without slowing down.
- Stun immunity while sprinting: Pathfinder lets you sprint without being interrupted by heavy stuns. You can charge into packs without fear.
- Ultra simple gameplay: In mapping, you just spam Glacial Lance. That’s it. Cull the Weak automatically refills your frenzy charges.
- Double scaling with Eternal Rage: +30% attack damage AND +30% poison damage as a multiplier. Both mechanics boost each other.
- Accessible budget: Plaguefinger costs only 5 exalted. The rest of the gear is not demanding.
Build Weaknesses
- Mandatory swap at level 36: Before you have Glacial Lance, you play Lightning Spear. It works fine, but it’s not the final build. Patience required.
- High stat requirements: The sceptre requires 72 intelligence, Eternal Rage requires 103 strength, and you need 92 dexterity. Your jewellery and belt need to cover the gaps.
- Reliant on Plaguefinger: Without these gloves, the poison doesn’t really function. It’s the build-enabling item. Fortunately it’s cheap.
Gem Setup by Stage
This build offers 8 progression stages from leveling to the final build. Select a stage to view the corresponding gem setup.
Act 1
7 skills • 15 gemmes
Act 2
6 skills • 16 gemmes
36 Ice Lance Transition
8 skills • 22 gemmes
Act 3
8 skills • 22 gemmesAct 4
8 skills • 25 gemmes
Interlude
10 skills • 28 gemmes
70 3rd Asc (Poison Blast)
10 skills • 31 gemmes
Imported
10 skills • 31 gemmes
Recommended Equipment
- Gloves – Plaguefinger: The core item of the build. 24% chance to poison, and ALL damage (physical + elemental) contributes to poison magnitude. Cost: around 5 exalted.
- Weapon – Sceptre with Malice aura: The sceptre provides 100 spirit bonus, required for Eternal Rage. The Malice aura applies a crit weakness to enemies, making Sniper’s Mark procs easier. At level 78, you switch to a unique sceptre.
- Armour: Early in the campaign, go full armour. After the Glacial Lance swap, transition to evasion + energy shield since you freeze everything and nothing hits you.
- Spear: Upgrade the tier as often as possible. P4wnyhof was stuck with a level 26 spear until level 40. Spears have many intermediate tiers (26, 34, 38, 40, 42…) so upgrade regularly.
- Jewellery: Prioritise stats (intelligence for the sceptre, strength for Eternal Rage, base dexterity). The amulet, rings and belt must cover these needs.
Gameplay Tips
- In mapping: Spam Glacial Lance non-stop. Use Cull the Weak on survivors to refill your frenzy charges. It really is that simple.
- Against bosses: Throw 3 Storm Lance on the ground (with Multishot I to throw all 3 at once), then 2 Explosive Spear. The Explosive Spear detonations will also trigger the Storm Lance explosions. During the cooldown, spam Glacial Lance.
- Sniper’s Mark for bosses: Apply Sniper’s Mark on the boss. With Eternal Mark and Charge Profusion I, every crit grants you frenzy charges. That boosts both your Glacial Lance and Explosive Spear.
- Farm Vile Temples: That’s where you find the currency to upgrade your spears. Spears are critical for the build’s scaling.
- Multishot I on Storm Lance: It reduces speed and damage, but you throw 3 Storm Lance at once. The net result: more DPS because you waste less time throwing.
Progression before the swap (Acts 1-2)
Before level 36, this build plays completely differently. You start by ditching your bow as soon as you enter the Clearfell to buy a shield and a spear. Explosive Spear becomes your main skill with Whirling Slash for the first 6 levels.
The real star of the early game is Lightning Spear. This skill bounces between enemies and obliterates everything in its path. Combine it with Cull the Weak to generate frenzy charges on injured enemies. Herald of Thunder completes the package by finishing off any survivors.
For supports: Rapid Attacks I and Elemental Armament I on Lightning Spear, Elemental Armament I on Explosive Spear, and Charge Profusion I + Thrill of the Kill on Cull the Weak. The goal is to maximise elemental damage while waiting for the swap.
The Glacial Lance Swap (Act 3)
The swap at level 36 changes everything. You drop Lightning Spear and Herald of Thunder for Glacial Lance and Herald of Ice. The reason: Combat Frenzy, which you equip after your 3rd Ascendancy. This gem grants a frenzy charge whenever you freeze an enemy.
Glacial Lance converts all physical to cold, pierces every enemy, and explodes if you have a frenzy charge. Each explosion freezes surrounding enemies, which generates more charges via Combat Frenzy. It’s an endless loop of destruction.
This is also when you equip Plaguefinger. With Deadly Poison I on Glacial Lance and the gloves’ 24% chance to poison, every exploding lance also applies poison. Herald of Ice picks up Frozen Spite for bonus freeze damage on shatters.
The Rage Swap (Interlude)
The interlude act brings the final change: Eternal Rage. For this, you must replace your shield with a sceptre (100 spirit bonus required). This is where the stat requirements become important: 72 int for the sceptre, 103 strength for Eternal Rage, 92 base dex.
Eternal Rage generates 3.5 rage per second up to 30 stacks, providing a multiplier of +30% attack damage AND +30% poison damage. That’s huge. The build’s poison scaling explodes at this point.
You also add Herald of Plague, which spreads the most powerful poison to nearby enemies on kill. Combined with Herald of Ice which also has a chance to poison, it’s a chain reaction of poison and cold that clears everything.
How Plaguefinger poison works
The Plaguefinger gloves are the build-enabling item. Their unique mechanic: « All damage from hits contributes to poison magnitude ». Normally, only physical and chaos damage counts toward poison. With these gloves, your cold damage contributes as well.
That means every Glacial Lance dealing massive cold damage also stacks a massive poison. And with Eternal Rage boosting poison by another 30%… the scaling becomes insane.
The build invests in poison nodes late in the campaign: poison magnitude, poison duration, bonus stacks (doubled by Pathfinder’s Overwhelming Toxicity). You can reach 6 poison stacks per hit, all based on those enormous converted cold damage numbers.
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