Frostblink of Wintry Blast
CoC Occultist Build

Updated for Patch 3.23

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Frostblink of Wintry Blast is a favorite of many new emerging Cold CoC builds. It offers superb mobility as it teleports the character just like the regular Frostblink does, but due to the lack of Cooldown, you can hook it up to a well-established Cast on Critical Strike and Cyclone Gem combo. The additional upside of this alternate Frostblink is more Damage per Chill Effect on the enemy, which should be capped at 30%. The Chill is removed on Hit with this Spell, so to apply it once again you will use the basic Frostblink as it's one of the very few instant Cold Spells which will not disrupt the Channelling of Cyclone. To gain more Damage, cap your Critical Strike Chance at 100%, and get a high Critical Strike Multiplier. More Spell Damage is sourced from Inner Conviction, Pain Attunement, and the aforementioned Frostblink Wintry Blast. To make enemies take increased Cold Damage you shall add Bonechill Support to your regular Frostblink, Unnerve them via Gloves, and maybe even cover in Frost or Shock. Lower their Cold Resistance with Exposure and Frostbite, and seek Elemental Penetration on your gear. Possibly the greatest benefit of using a Mobility Spell as the main damage source is Bronn's Lithe Body Armour with its unmatched local increases to Gem Level.

We've selected Occultist due to the obvious synergy with Cold Damage and Critical Strikes from Forbidden Power. Stacking Maximum Power Charges normally yields tons of Crit Chance, but in this case, it also grants more Area of Effect and Area Damage. The Unique Items that have to be used are also heavily tied to Charges of all kinds, especially Ralakesh's Impatience Boots which treat you as if you're fully charged. Void Beacon and Frigid Wake are excellent additions to any Cold Damage build - these Ascendancy passives increase your overall Cold DPS and protect you from Hits and Cold Ailments. Unholy Authority is another great passive because you plan to use two Curses - Frostbite and Assassin's Mark. The build is quite durable for how powerful it is. It has a high Spell Suppression Chance, Spell Block Chance, Elemental Damage Recoup, and a sizeable Hybrid Life Pool. It cannot withstand big Physical Damage Hits unless you're willing to tweak the build to include Determination with other sources of Armour and Physical Damage Reduction.

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1. Gameplay

Spin around with Cyclone. If you Hit an enemy with it, Frostblink of Wintry Blast will teleport you to your cursor. If you're not hitting anything, use Shield Charge or Frostblink. Both Curses, Frost Shield, and Immortal Call should be applied automatically. During boss fights, activate Vaal RF, hold down your regular Frostblink, and keep spinning with Cyclone to deal the most damage. Your passives Skills are Zealotry, Hatred, Grace, and Petrified Blood. Some of them can be switched with other Spells.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Follow our Witch Leveling Guide using Cold DoT. To properly set up a CoC build you need high character level and 100% Crit Chance. You can start using Frostblink as your main damage source after equipping Bronn's Lithe and linking your Cyclone to Cast when Channeling instead of Cast when Damage Taken. We would recommend simply leveling with whatever you're the most comfortable with and switching into this build after equipping all the mandatory unique items and capping your Resistances.

Bandits:

you should kill all three Bandits for two additional Skill Points

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

105 Points Final Skill Tree (doesn't include Unique or Cluster Jewels)
123 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Void Beacon
2. Frigid Wake
3. Forbidden Power
4. Unholy Authority

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Arakaali: 10% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time; +40% Chaos Resistance against Damage Over Time

Minor God: Soul of Abberath: 60% less Duration of Ignite on You

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Frostblink setup
	Frostblink of Wintry Blast - This version of Frostblink is more suited for a Trigger build as it has no Cooldown, but Cast Time instead. It cannot Chill, but deals more Damage to Chilled enemies, removing this Chill from them in the process.
	Cast on Critical Strike Support - Frostblink is cast on Critical Strike from Cyclone.
	Cyclone - Used to Trigger Frostblink. It lets you move and has a very high Attack Rate. You can also use the new Cyclone of Tumult for extra mobility
	Empower Support - Extra Levels for Frostblink result in more Damage.
	Inspiration Support - Increases Critical Strike Chance and Elemental Damage for linked Skills while reducing their Mana Cost.
	Power Charge on Critical Support - Use for more Damage per Power Charge, and to gain Absorption Charges on Hit.

[UTILITY] Frostblink setup
	Frostblink - The mobility Spell which is also used to Chill and Freeze.
	Bonechill Support - Enemies on Chilled Ground from Frostblink will receive increased Cold Damage.
	Unbound Ailments Support - The Effect of Chill and Freeze is more potent and lasts longer.

[UTILITY] Auras setup
	Zealotry - Grants more Spell Damage and increases your Critical Strike Chance. Hits against tough enemies will create Consecrated Ground.
	Grace - Use it for more Evasion, which is excellent with Ghost Dance. You can swap it for  Determination if you prefer to take less Physical Damage from Hits instead.
	Hatred - Simply grants more Cold Damage. If you feel like your Damage is enough, use  Tempest Shield or  Arctic Armour instead of it. Maybe even both if you can fit them in.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana.

[UTILITY] Petrified Blood setup
	Petrified Blood - A big portion of incoming Hit Damage is taken as DoT instead. It's great with Life Recoup and a high Life Regeneration Rate. Affects the bottom half of your Life Pool.
	Arrogance Support - Linked Spell Reserves Life instead of Mana. You want to be on Low Life to benefit from Pain Attunement.
	Enlighten Support

[UTILITY] CwDT setup
	Cast when Damage Taken - Linked Skills will trigger after taking a certain amount of Hit Damage.
	Immortal Call - Makes you take less Physical and Elemental Damage for a brief moment.
	Frost Shield - Drains your Energy Shield to form a protective, stationary sphere, inside of which you take less damage, and have an increased Critical Strike Chance.

[UTILITY] Assassin's Mark setup
	Assassin's Mark - Marked enemy takes increased Damage from Critical Strikes and is more likely to be hit with such Strikes.
	Mark on Hit Support - Marks Rare and Unique enemies as you hit them with any Attack.

[UTILITY] Vaal Righteous Fire
	Vaal Righteous Fire - Activate RF for a brief but potent bonus to your Spell Damage.

[MOBILITY] Shield Charge
	Shield Charge - Use this Attack to move around faster if there are no enemies nearby.

[UTILITY] Frostbite
	Frostbite - Lowers Cold Resistance. It can be found as a Ring Affix if you don't want to cast it manually.

6. Gear Setup

You will harness the power of Charges with Ralakesh's Impatience, Willclash, Malachai's Loop, and Graven's Secret. This combination of items causes your character to be treated as if they have all their basic Charges, so you cannot lose or consume them. You won't need to generate them which is often troublesome. You will also benefit from the Absorption Charges that you now gain instead of Power Charges. It all results in a lot of Life Recoup and Spell Block Chance. Other Unique Items to implement are Badge of the Brotherhood Amulet and Bronn's Lithe Body Armour which provides you with damage. It all leaves you with very few Rare Items that will be mainly used to fix the missing Resistances and Attributes. Hit Chance is of no concern, you can craft the Prefix to never miss with Cyclone on your Weapon. Try to lower the Mana Cost of Skills, get Spell Suppression, Chaos Resistance, and Block Chance.

Our recommended items will:

1. Cap your resistances at 75%
2. Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping

(Helmet) Willclash - It's an enormous bonus to Spell Block Chance with your 10 or more Power Charges. You will not lose these Charges on Block. The Damage and Defence stats are also generous.

(350-400)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +5% Chance to Block Spell Damage per Power Charge (3-5)% increased Elemental Damage per Power charge Gain a Power Charge every Second if you haven't lost Power Charges Recently Lose all Power Charges when you Block

(Weapon) Rare Melee Weapon - You need some sort of Melee weapon to use with Cyclone. We recommend a Claw with its instant Life and Mana on Hit, but most weapons will do. Craft a Prefix to make your Hits unavoidable, and seek modifiers for Critical Strike Chance and Global Crit Multiplier with Spell Damage.

Min. requirements: Hits can't be Evaded (crafted) increased Critical Strike Chance Global Critical Strike Multiplier increased Spell Damage Optional affixes: Attack Speed Attributes

(Off-hand) Malachai's Loop - Increases Spell Damage and grants two extra Maximum Power Charges. The downsides will not apply as you wear Ralakesh's Impatience Boots.

(10-15)% increased Spell Damage (210-250)% increased Energy Shield +2 to Maximum Power Charges 20% chance to gain a Power Charge on Hit (12-16)% increased Spell Damage per Power Charge Lose all Power Charges on reaching Maximum Power Charges Shocks you when you reach Maximum Power Charges

(Body Armour) Bronn's Lithe - The extra five levels to the Frostblink Spell socketed here will result in much more damage. Corrupt if for an extra two Gem Levels (AoE Gems) if you can afford it. Double-corrupt it if you like to gamble, it could potentially increase the level of Frostblink by up to 8.

+5 to Level of Socketed Movement Gems 10% increased Attack Speed (60-100)% increased Damage with Movement Skills (200-250)% increased Evasion Rating 10% increased Movement Speed

(Boots) Ralakesh's Impatience - You're treated as having Maximum Power, Frenzy, and Endurance Charges. Conjuring all of these in any other way would be too inefficient and difficult. You can still benefit from Inner Conviction Keystone or Absorption Charges.

+(15-25)% to Cold Resistance +(15-25)% to Chaos Resistance 30% increased Movement Speed Count as having maximum number of Endurance Charges Count as having maximum number of Frenzy Charges Count as having maximum number of Power Charges

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Acquire some Maximum Life, Resistances, and Spell Suppression. Other mods are of lesser importance. Cold Exposure and Unnerve can be gained as Eldritch Implicit modifiers.

Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 40% Total Elemental Resistances Spell Suppression Chance Optional affixes: Dexterity Life Regeneration Chaos Resistance

(Belt) Graven's Secret - The build is not very tanky, so using this Belt is a good idea. It grants you one extra Maximum Power Charge and tons of Life Recoup from the Elemental Damage you take.

+(60-70) to maximum Energy Shield (16-20)% increased maximum Mana +(40-60)% to Lightning Resistance +1 to Maximum Power Charges Modifiers to Minimum Power Charges instead apply to Minimum Absorption Charges Maximum Absorption Charges is equal to Maximum Power Charges Gain Absorption Charges instead of Power Charges

(Amulet) Badge of the Brotherhood  - Use it to benefit from an additional seven or more Frenzy Charges. These make you deal more damage and increase the Cooldown Recovery Rate for Frostblink.

+(16-24) to Dexterity and Intelligence (7-10)% increased Cooldown Recovery Rate of Travel Skills per Frenzy Charge (7-10)% increased Effect of Elusive on you per Power Charge (20-25)% chance to lose a Frenzy Charge when you use a Travel Skill (20-25)% chance to lose a Power Charge when you gain Elusive Your Maximum Frenzy Charges is equal to your Maximum Power Charges

Recommended Anointments: Charisma Disciple of the Slaughter Asylum Cleansed Thoughts

(Ring) Polaric Devastation - You may struggle with capping your Elemental Resistances if you put it on, but if that's not an issue, consider it for extra Damage, Crit Chance, and to cover enemies in Frost - they will take increased Cold Damage and their Crit Chance gets reduced by 50%.

(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage (15-25)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance (10-20)% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies Left Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Ash for 5 seconds when you Ignite them Right Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Frost for 5 seconds when you Freeze them

(Ring) Precursor's Emblem - It goes without saying, that a good Precursor Emblem with +1 to max Power Charges is immensely powerful in this build.

+(20-30)% to Lightning Resistance +20 to Intelligence 5% increased maximum Energy Shield 5% increased maximum Life <Three Power Charge mods>

(Ring) Rare Ring - Rare Rings are where the bulk of your Resistances and Attributes reside. For Prefixes, get Maximum Life and Reduce the Mana Cost of your Skills.

Min. requirements: 50 maximum Life Strength and Dexterity Non-channelling Skils have -# to Total Mana Cost (crafted) Optional affixes: Elemental and Chaos Resistances Frostbite Curse on Hit

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - You'll probably still need a bit more Resistances and Attributes, so try to gain them on your Rare Jewels. If that's already covered, go for suitable Critical Strike modifiers.

Recommended affixes: Attributes Resistances increased Maximum Life Critical Strike modifiers

(Jewel) Militant Faith - The Inner Conviction Keystone which you can gain from the Dominus variant of Militant Faith grants you more Damage per Power Charge. The downside will not apply. The Devotion mod shall increase your damage, grant you some Elemental Resistances, Mana Regeneration, or reduce the Mana Cost of your Skills.

Carved to glorify (2000-10000) new faithful converted by High Templar Dominus Passives in radius are Conquered by the Templars Historic <two random mods of devotion>

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Shaper of Storms, Winter, Mastermind of Discord, and Heart of Destruction are suitable Keystones if you need more damage. For improved durability, look for Bastion of Elements or Nine Lives.

Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flesh Allocates <Random Ascendancy Notable> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Elemental Penetration and extra Critical Strike Chance can be found as Hatred or Zealotry mods. Grace offers more Evasion and Blind on Hit.

(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers>

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - You can use one or two of these Cold-themed Large Cluster Jewels. Seek notables for Elemental Resistances, Elemental Damage, Cold Penetration, and one Blast Freeze to proliferate Freeze.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Blast-Freeze 1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow 1 Added Passive Skill is Deep Chill

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Here you may find additional Critical Strike Chance with Crit Damage, or AoE for better clear speed. We recommend one Vast Power for around 30% increased Area of Effect.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Basics of Pain 1 Added Passive Skill is Magnifier 1 Added Passive Skill is Vast Power

(Flask) Bottled Faith - It increases your Critical Strike Chance and Damage as long as you and your foes are affected by its Consecrated Ground.

40% increased Damage Creates Consecrated Ground on Use (30-15)% reduced Duration Consecrated Ground created by this Flask has Tripled Radius Consecrated Ground created during Effect applies (7-10)% increased Damage taken to Enemies (100-150)% increased Critical Strike Chance against Enemies on Consecrated Ground during Effect

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - Your Block Chance is high, but not capped. Use this Flask for more Spell and Attack Block Chance.

+1500 to Armour +(8-12)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Effect +(4-6)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Effect

Other suggested Flasks: Diamond Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance Jade Flask with increased Evasion Rating Quartz Flask with Reduced Mana Cost of Skills (crafted) Life Flask with Bleed Immunity

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.