Ice Crash
Hollow Palm Raider Build

Updated for Patch 3.20

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
 

This build uses a Unique Item that is fundamental for it to work - One With Nothing Unique Cluster Jewel that grants Hollow Palm Technique. You're unable to wield Weapons, Quivers, Shields, and Gloves - it's a state called Unencumbered. Instead, you scale with Dexterity. You have added 12 to 20 Attack Damage per 10 Dexterity and you count as dual-wielding. With a highly optimized build, you can reach 1200 to 1700 Dexterity and deal Millions of DPS. Use Ice Crash as it Converts all your Physical Damage to Cold and can be used while unarmed. Elemental Damage is easier to scale thanks to Fractal Thoughts. With 10 fewer Gem sockets and 3 fewer gear pieces, your choices of Gem setups are severely limited - that's why you should take Supreme Ego Keystone and focus only on one Aura which is Hatred. 

Raider has one of the best-suited Keystones for this build - Way of the Poacher and Avatar of the Slaughter grants Attack and Movement Speed with Frenzy Charges, while Rapid Assault and Avatar of the Chase provide you with permanent and enhanced Onslaught Effect resulting in more than five Attacks per second. Jewels and Jewelry will be your only source of Attributes and Resistances as you're required to have a Unique Helmet, Body Armour, and Boots. In terms of defense, it's a rather sturdy build with 3 to 5k of Maximum Life, Fortify, a 100% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage thanks to Magebane, a very high Evasion rating, and some Block Chance.

You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo's Crafty Guides - Full List

1. Gameplay

Use Ice Crash in between dashing through a map as that's your only Damaging Skill. Ancestral Protector and Warchief Totems are great to increase your Damage, you can use them alongside Frost Bomb during Boss Fights. Hatred with Blood and Sand are permanent Mana-Reserving Spells that will increase your damage significantly. For a Guard Spell equip Steelskin, but if you have a Ring with a Jewel Socket you can put a single Skill Gem there and use Immortal Call linked with Cast when Damage Taken.

Full gameplay video:   This video was recorded on a level 94 Raider with approximately 1300 Dexterity. This is far from the upper limit this build can reach, but even then it pushed the tooltip DPS of our Ice Crash to nearly 2kk, which results in approximately 15kk DPS when fully buffed against Shaper or similar end-game Bosses (this includes all the buffs, curses, flasks, etc. so it will never be at that level with 100% uptime)

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

When starting you can use any Attack. After immediately allocating Hollow Palm Technique go for Ground Slam, and at level 28 swap it for ice Crash. When finishing with Acts you'll be able to equip the most impactful of the Unique Items. Get Astramentis at level 20 for a massive boost of all Attributes, it's required until you'll be able to afford a better Rare one much later in the game. Seek Dexterity from the start, you can craft it easily using your Crafting Bench on Rare Items with a free Suffix slot. It's one of the most efficient ways to level up your character.

Suggested leveling Gem setups:

Ice Crash setup
	Ice Crash - use this Slam Attack to level up, and later in the final version of the build
	Ruthless Support - every third Attack is much more powerful and more likely to Stun enemies
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - increases your Elemental Damage with Attacks
	Melee Physical Damage Support - increases your Melee Physical Damage that is later converted to Cold

Auras setup
	Hatred - Hatred massively increases your Cold Damage from Physical Conversion
	Clarity - Clarity is used for Mana Regeneration if you don't have a source of Mana Leech
	Precision - higher Accuracy Rating and Crit Chance to improve your DPS

Curses and Dash setup
	Dash - a Movement Skill which doesn't require any specific weapon
	Frostbite - Curse to lower the Cold Resistance of your opponents

Bandits:

Kill all three bandits and be rewarded with two additional Skill Points

Leveling Skill Trees:

33 Points Passive Tree
It takes 12 points to reach the outer Large Cluster Jewel and one more to allocate Hollow Palm Technique, do so as soon as you can, then go for Maximum Life and more Dexterity
 

71 Points Passive Tree
Look for more Life, Elemental Damage, Attack and Dual Wielding nodes, take Magebane, and Maximum Frenzy Charges

Recommended leveling items:

Le Heup of All - use it to obtain more Damage, Attributes, and Elemental Resistances

Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances

Goldrim - a Helmet that gives you a lot of Elemental Resistances

+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden)

Tabula Rasa - allows you to six-link a setup right from the start

Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden)

Quill Rain - use this Bow with a basic Bow Attack such as Galvanic Arrow or Ice Shot until you're able to locate Hollow Palm Technique

+(10-20) to Dexterity 100% increased Physical Damage 100% increased Attack Speed +2 Mana gained for each Enemy hit by Attacks (50-100)% increased Projectile Speed +(25-50) to Accuracy Rating 30% less Damage

Astramentis - It grants you a lot of Dexterity and all the other Attributes so that you won't need to worry about further requirements. You should later upgrade it with Intrinsic Catalysts.

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(80-100) to all Attributes -4 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

111 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels, Brutal Restraint, or Unnatural Instinct)
119 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Rapid Assault
2. Avatar of the Chase
3. Way of the Poacher
4. Avatar of the Slaughter

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of The Brine King: 1% You cannot be Stunned if you've been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds

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

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Ice Crash setup
	Ice Crash - It's a Slam type of Attack that has three stages, each deals an Area Damage that's 100% Converted to Cold from Physical
	Cold Penetration Support - to Penetrate the Cold Resistance of your targets
	Fortify Support - Fortifies you, reducing the damage you take from Hits. It can stack up to 20
	Multistrike Support - you repeat the linked Attack a few more times with improved Attack Speed
	Elemental Damage with Attacks Support - deal increased Elemental Damage with Attacks
	Melee Physical Damage Support - deal more Physical Damage with Melee Attacks with reduced Attack Speed

[UTILITY] Hatred
	Hatred - Increases your Cold Damage. It's especially useful with Skills that deals Cold Damage that's converted from Physical, as is the case here

[UTILITY] Blood and Sand
	Blood and Sand - a Stance that increases your AoE and reduced Area Damage, or reduces AoE and increases Area Damage

[UTILITY] Dash
	Dash - a basic Mobility Skill to move faster and dodge attacks

[UTILITY] Frost Bomb
	Frost Bomb - applies Cold Exposure on Hit which reduces Cold Resistance by at least 15%

[UTILITY] Steelskin
	Steelskin - Reduces the damage you take from Hits for a duration or until you take a certain amount of Damage. It also gives you immunity to Bleeding.

[UTILITY] Ancestral Totems setup
	Ancestral Protector - significantly increases your Attack Speed
	Ancestral Warchief - grants your more Melee Damage as it stays active
	Multiple Totems Support - allows you to summon both Totems at the same time

6. Gear Setup

Get Fractal Thoughts, Wildwrap, and Garukhan's Flight. For Unique Jewels, it is required to have One with Nothing. Brutal Restraint and Unnatural Instinct are heavily recommended. Your Amulet, Belt, Rings, and Rare Jewels should provide you with Dexterity, increased Elemental or Cold Damage, and Elemental Resistances. You will need 155 Strenght, but it won't be an issue if you're using Astramentis. Stacking Attributes gets expensive over time, strive to have tier-one Dexterity whenever it's possible, Synthesised Implicit mods granting you increased or added Dexterity, and as many rolls for Dexterity on your Brutal Restraint as you can afford. Use Intrinsic Catalyst on your Jewelry to increase your Attributes.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Fractal Thoughts - Provided you with Evasion Rating, Critical Strike Multiplier, Elemental Damage, and Maximum Life. You have to keep your Strength higher than Intelligence for more Dexterity.

(140-180)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield +(25-40)% to Critical Strike Multiplier if Dexterity is higher than Intelligence 15% increased Dexterity if Strength is higher than Intelligence 1% increased Elemental Damage per 10 Dexterity +2 to Maximum Life per 10 Intelligence

Helmet enchantments: Ice Crash enchantment mods

(Body Armour) Wildwrap - it increases your dexterity and Damage per Dexterity, grants increased Attack Speed, and other useful additions

10% increased Attack Speed +(600-700) to Evasion Rating +(30-40)% to Cold Resistance 5% increased Movement Speed (20-25)% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks 15% increased Dexterity 1% increased Damage per 15 Dexterity

(Boots) Garukhan's Flight - a mandatory Unique that grants you a lot of Life per Dexterity, immunities to most of the ground effects, and Life Regeneration

+(30-40) to Dexterity (300-340)% increased Evasion Rating 30% increased Movement Speed Immune to Burning Ground, Shocked Ground and Chilled Ground Regenerate 100 Life per second while moving +2 to Maximum Life per 10 Dexterity

(Belt) Rare Belt - try to obtain a Belt with the right Synthesised Implicit for increased Dexterity. It is expensive but ultimately worth its price. Elder-influenced Belts can get you a mod for increased Attributes which is also a significant improvement.

Min. requirements: +60 to Maximum Life +25 Dexterity +50% to Elemental Resistances 40% Elemental Damage with Attacks Optional affixes: 15% increased Dexterity (Synthesised Implicit) increased Damage Attributes increased Attributes

(Amulet) Astramentis - a great choice for all Attributes-stacking builds, the only downside is the lack of Elemental Resistances which the build is already scarce in

+(10-16) to all Attributes +(80-100) to all Attributes -4 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - A Redeemer's Influence can give you a mod for increased Dexterity and Damage per Dexterity - both really good; one of the Shaper's Suffixes can increase all of your Attributes. Get an Amulet with Dexterity, Elemental Resistances, and Maximum Life - these stats are easy to find.

Min. requirements: +50 Dexterity +80% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Attributes 1% increased Damage per 15 Dexterity increased Attributes increased Dexterity

Recommended Anointments: Panopticon

(Ring) Rare Ring - Get one Ring with a Frostbite Curse on Hit. Try to get a lot of Dexterity, increased Elemental Damage with Attacks, and the generic defensive stats. You can also look for a Synthesised Implicit mod for increased Dexterity or a Ring with a Socket.

Min. requirements: +55 Dexterity Curse Enemies with Frostbite on Hit +90% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Maximum Life increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - focus on Dexterity, Maximum Life, and missing Attributes and Resistances

Recommended affixes: increased maximum Life Dexterity Strenght Intelligence Elemental Resistances increased Attack Speed while Dual Wielding

(Jewel) Brawn - increases Dexterity which is undoubtedly good but it also increases your Strength while decreasing Intelligence so that your Fractal Thoughts can activate its second trait

(4-6)% increased Dexterity (4-6)% increased Strength (15-10)% reduced Intelligence

(Jewel) Unnatural Instinct - above the Sentinel Notable is a good place for this Jewels, it will grant a lot of stats like Elemental Resistances, Movement Speed, Dexterity, Physical Damage, and so on

Allocated Small Passive Skills in Radius grant nothing Grants all bonuses of Unallocated Small Passive Skills in Radius

(Jewel) Brutal Restraint - Try to roll a good mod of your Notables in Radius to give you more Dexterity or increase your Dexterity. Place it next to Savagery so it will influence 6 Notables and much more small nodes for more Dexterity.

Denoted service of (500-8000) dekhara in the akhara of Nasima-Asenath-Balbala Passives in radius are Conquered by the Maraketh Historic

(Jewel) One With Nothing - the core element of the build, should be placed in one of the Sockets in the Large Cluster Jewel

Adds Hollow Palm Technique

(Jewel) Sublime Vision - Hatred is the only Aura you're using, it is a good idea to enhance it and cause Brittle with Hits for additional Critical Strike Chance. This Jewel might be important.

Always inflict Brittle while affected by Hatred Aura Skills other than Hatred are Disabled Auras from your Skills have (20-40)% increased Effect on you

(Jewel) Watcher's Eye - Cold Penetration for Hatred is by far the best mod, increased Cold Damage is great too - look for these mods

(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 Jewels - get one Cold to the Core for a massive damage increase, you can then seek Notables with Elemental Resistances, Life Leech, more AoE, or ones to further improve your DPS

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow 1 Added Passive Skill is Cold to the Core 1 Added Passive Skill is Widespread Destruction 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Doryani's Lesson

(Flask) Bottled Faith - a Flasks to increase your DPS, it creates a Consecrated ground which increases your damage and Life Regen

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 Flask effect

(Flask) Lion's Roar - another Flask that massively increases your DPS, it also grants you Armour and knocks enemies back

+1500 to Armour Adds Knockback to Melee Attacks during Flask effect Knocks Back Enemies in an Area when you use a Flask 75% chance to cause Enemies to Flee on use (7-10)% more Melee Physical Damage during effect

(Flask) Taste of Hate - More DPS and less damage taken. It's especially useful on build with Physical to Cold Conversion

+50% to Cold Resistance 20% less Cold Damage taken (10-15)% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Cold Damage during Flask effect Gain (10-15)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage during effect 30% chance to Avoid being Chilled during Flask effect 30% chance to Avoid being Frozen during Flask effect

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - a source of Life Leech and extra Damage in a form of Chaos Damage

2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Flask effect Gain (5-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect Gain (5-8)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

Suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal

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.