S-TIER | BUILD RÔDEUSE ICE SHOT DEADEYE (@Fubgun) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

This Ice Shot Deadeye build by Fubgun is one of the most versatile archers of the season. Built around the Ice Shot skill, it turns every shot into a cone of cold damage capable of freezing and shattering entire packs thanks to Herald of Ice. Originally supported by Snipe for single-target, the character is now so well-geared that it relies almost exclusively on Ice Shot, which handles all endgame content on its own.

The build’s strength lies in its scalability. It starts as a pure life non-crit version — affordable and solid — then gradually transitions into a crit setup (the « crit swap ») once you have a bow with a good crit tier, before settling into a significantly tankier hybrid Life + Energy Shield configuration. This step-by-step progression allows you to play the character at any budget while maintaining a very high power ceiling.

The offensive core relies on the unique quiver Cadiros Gambit, which grants each arrow a random property (chaining, pierce and return, lucky hits…), as well as massive rarity stacking for loot farming. On the defensive side, the build stacks deflection and evasion, keeps Ghost Dance still formidable despite the nerfs, and manages its mana through a 2% mana on kill jewel combined with several sustain solutions detailed further below.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 5 progression steps from leveling to the final build. Select a step to see the corresponding skill gem setup.

Early non-crit Midgame non-crit Hybrid Transition Crit Hybrid Live Character

Early

10 skills • 46 gemmes

Tir de glaceSet 1Ice Shot

Tir d'éliteSet 1Snipe

Tornade de flèchesSet 1Tornado Shot

Flèches à pointe de glaceSet 1Ice-Tipped Arrows

Marque glacialeSet 2Freezing Mark

Tir de barrageSet 1Barrage

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Frénésie du combatCombat Frenzy

Archer mirageMirage Archer

Tireur d'élite mirage

non-crit Midgame

10 skills • 50 gemmes

Tir de glaceSet 1Ice Shot

Tir d'éliteSet 1Snipe

Tornade de flèchesSet 1Tornado Shot

Flèches à pointe de glaceSet 1Ice-Tipped Arrows

Marque glacialeSet 2Freezing Mark

Tir de barrageSet 1Barrage

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Frénésie du combatCombat Frenzy

Archer mirageMirage Archer

Tireur d'élite mirage

non-crit Hybrid Transition

10 skills • 51 gemmes

Tir de glaceSet 1Ice Shot

Tir d'éliteSet 1Snipe

Tornade de flèchesSet 1Tornado Shot

Flèches à pointe de glaceSet 1Ice-Tipped Arrows

Marque glacialeSet 2Freezing Mark

Tir de barrageSet 1Barrage

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance

Archer mirageMirage Archer

Tireur d'élite mirage

Crit Hybrid

10 skills • 50 gemmes

Tir de glaceSet 1Ice Shot

Tir d'éliteSet 1Snipe

Tornade de flèchesSet 1Tornado Shot

Marque glacialeSet 2Freezing Mark

Tir de barrageSet 1Barrage

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Archer mirageMirage Archer

Tireur d'élite mirage

Live Character

10 skills • 51 gemmes

Tir de glaceIce Shot

Tir d'éliteSnipe

Tireur d'élite mirage

Danse fantomatiqueGhost Dance

Archer mirageMirage Archer

Tir de barrageBarrage

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Marque glacialeFreezing Mark

Tornade de flèchesTornado Shot

Héraut de la glaceHerald of Ice

Recommended Equipment

• Bow : a rare quality bow is sufficient for a long time. For the crit swap, aim for a tier 3 or higher critical roll (crit essence) with at least 400 DPS.
• Quiver : Cadiros Gambit, the cornerstone of the build in its critical version. Otherwise, a rare quiver with flat damage and crit will do the job.
• Belt : Headhunter, clearly superior to Mageblood on heavily juiced maps (30 to 40 rare monster modifiers).
• Rings & Gloves : double flat damage (cold and physical as priority), crit, resistances, and item rarity. Aim for triple flat on gloves if possible.
• Helmet : Energy Shield version for the hybrid setup, with high resistances and item rarity. A helmet with ~30% crit is very strong for the crit swap.
• Amulet : a 4-property amulet with +2 projectiles (ideally +3) is a massive offensive boost.
• Body Armour & Boots : stack deflection on both (and on gloves if possible), with chaos resistance, item rarity, and 35% movement speed on boots.
• Jewels : crit, cold damage, and most importantly at least one jewel with 2% mana on kill. Heart of the Well and Against the Darkness are excellent unique jewels.
• Flasks & Charms : Laviangas Spirits for mapping, a life flask for ultimate sustain, plus the charms Nascent Hope, The Fall of the Axe, and Rite of Passage.

Gameplay Tips

• Manage your item rarity : aim for ~115% item rarity spread across rings, gloves, helmet, and boots to maximise loot without sacrificing damage.
• Prioritise flat damage : on rings and gloves, cold and physical give the most DPS, but fire and lightning are still solid stats if you cannot find better.
• Stack deflection : having deflection on both your body armour AND your boots is essential for Endgame survival.
• Adapt your flasks to the content : Laviangas Spirits is perfect for Mapping, but for Bossing, switch to a mana flask with enhanced recovery.
• Do not rush the crit swap : wait until you have a solid critical bow and are level 90 before reinvesting your passive tree into crit.

The Cadiro’s Gambit Quiver

The unique quiver Cadiros Gambit has been in the game since version 0.2, but many players still do not understand how it works. With each arrow fired, it randomly assigns one of six properties: sextuple chaining with increased damage, split, pierce with projectile return, guaranteed hits (« diamond »), 600% increased damage on kill, or 600% stun accumulation.

The two properties that give this quiver its full value are pierce with return (arrows re-hit enemies on the way back, effectively nearly doubling damage) and guaranteed hits, which are decisive on a critical build. This is why you should only equip it after switching to crit: without critical investment, you lose almost half the damage potential. It costs around 12 divines, a price fully justified by what it brings to the build.

Headhunter or Mageblood?

This is one of the most frequently asked questions about this build. According to Fubgun, Headhunter is significantly stronger than Mageblood on genuinely juicy content. When you are running maps with 30 to 40 rare monster modifiers, the modifier stealing from Headhunter generates a level of power that Mageblood simply cannot match.

Mageblood remains an excellent belt, but it is far less dominant than its Path of Exile 1 counterpart. If your goal is farming high Tier maps, direct your investment toward Headhunter.

Solving Mana Issues

Mana is by far the most common issue with this build. The core rule is non-negotiable: equip at least one jewel with 2% mana on kill (1% is not enough). From there, three solutions are available depending on your content.

• Free option: a mana flask with increased recovery. You need to press the button regularly, but combined with the 2% mana on kill jewel, it does the job. Laviangas Spirits is only suited for mapping; for bossing, replace it with a mana flask.
• Conservative Casting: three points in the tree, near the monk area, for 31% mana cost efficiency and 20% mana regeneration. Excellent value per point.
• Mana Remnants: drop Wind Dancer in favor of Mana Remnants to permanently solve mana in both mapping and bossing. The downside: you lose the extra 30% evasion from Wind Dancer.

The Crit Swap: Going Critical

Switching to a critical build is not something to rush. It only makes sense once you have a quality crit bow: aim for a Tier 3 or higher crit bow (crit essence) with at least 400 DPS. It is also recommended to be around level 90, as the crit tree extends quite far and requires a solid number of points to become worthwhile.

Once those conditions are met, the swap is straightforward: you need a Cadiros Gambit or a very good double-crit quiver, and nothing else needs to change. No crit amulet or crit helmet required, although a helmet offering ~30% crit remains extremely powerful if you can find one.

The Hybrid Setup: Life + Energy Shield

Transitioning to the hybrid setup is just as easy: you simply need an Energy Shield helmet and ideally hybrid boots, then follow the lower branch of the tree. Nothing more is required, and the survivability gain is immediate since you recover both evasion and a large Energy Shield pool.

You can of course stay on pure life, but the hybrid is the goal to aim for. Even with average hybrid gear, you already reach 800 Energy Shield; when min-maxed, you get around 2.3 to 2.5k ES with 1.5k life, for a total pool of roughly 4k — well above what a life/evasion/ward setup offers — while still stacking deflection and evasion on top. Ghost Dance also remains excellent despite the nerfs.

Skill Tree