Icicle Mine
Deadeye Build

Updated for Patch 3.22

The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo

Deadeye class is known to fit any Projectile-based build, and the Icicle Mine one confirms this notion. Icicle Mines fire multiple Projectiles when detonated, these deal Cold Spell Damage. Due to the stackable Mine's Aura which increases Critical Strike Chance per Mine, it's worth expanding on the idea of Critical Strikes. Crits, besides the inherent damage bonus, will also apply the Elemental Ailments they're associated with - Freeze in this case. By efficiently Freezing bosses you can reduce their Action Speed, and with the Heatshiver Helmet on, you can also inflict the same amount of Fire Damage on them, which basically doubles your damage. The Helmet is cheap, and so is the build. It requires no expensive uniques, making it a popular league starter.

Mines are peculiar, they Reserve your Mana as they stay armed to also grant you some kind of Aura. You can have more of them at any time if you lower their Mana Cost and increase your own Mana Reservation Efficiency, which we recommend doing. We've selected the Deadeye class due to the Ricochet, Endless Munitions, and Gathering Winds Keystones. The build's purpose is to be fast and to deal a lot of damage on day one. By utilizing Spell instead of Attack, you won't even need a good weapon to start going fast. It is also quite durable after implementing some specific items for an increased Maximum Life, but it's definitely not the tankiest build there is.

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

1. Gameplay

Place Mines ahead of you, Skitterbots will quickly activate them. To fight bosses, use Arcanist Brand, which will activate 3 other Spells. To apply Bonechill, use Frosblink. As your Movement Skill choose Flame Dash. Steelskin linked to a CwDT will prevent you from getting one shot. For Mana-Reserving Skills, use Grace, Hatred, and Skitterbots. Zealotry will be supported by Divine Blessing.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

Start with any Projectile, you will specialize in Cold Spell Mine Damage shortly after. Cobra Lash or Frost Blades might work for a level 1. Start picking up Mine nodes first, they're close by. Then, pick up more maximum Life and Reservation Efficiency. After that's done, start allocating Critical Strike nodes. Icicle Mine requires level 12 and you can start using it as soon as that, but using any other Projectile Attack or Spell up to Act 5 will also be fine - it's up to your preferences. March of the Legion requires Level 58, and as soon as reaching it, start using Icicle Mine. Progressively start assembling all the rest of the recommended Unique Items from this point on.

Bandits:

Kill all three bandits and be rewarded with two additional Skill Points, or pick Alira - all of the offered bonuses are suitable.

Leveling Skill Trees:

28 Points Passive Tree
Start with Maximum Life and appropriate damage nodes - Mines in our case.
 

71 Points Passive Tree
Allocate more Maximum Life, Mana Reservation Efficiency, Evasion, Mine nodes, and Elemental Damage.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

100 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn't include Cluster Jewels)
122 Points Path of Building (PoB) link

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Gathering Winds
2. Ricochet
3. Endless Munitions
4. Focal Point

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of the Brine King: 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; 10% increased Movement Speed while on Burning Ground, Unaffected by Burning Ground

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Icicle Mine setup
	Icicle Mine - Set up a Mine to fire several Projectiles in a circle. These icicles will quickly melt so by increasing Projectiles Speed you can make them travel further. It's a Cold Damage Spell, and setting these Mines up Reserves Mana. The Mine's Aura increases Crit Chance.
	Increased Critical Strikes Support - Increases Critical Strike Chance. If your Crit Chance is good enough, we recommend using  Returning Projectiles Support, It's actually quite good here.
	Increased Critical Damage Support - Increases Critical Strike Multiplier. If you don't have a high enough Cirt Chance to make use of it yet, use Hypothermia Support instead.
	Trap and Mine Damage Support - Icicle Mine deals more Damage but has less Throwing Speed.
	Minefield Support - With it, you throw more Mines and can have more of them set up at a time. It lessens Throwing Speed.
	Charged Mines Support - Increases Throwing Speed and Critical Strike Chance per Frenzy and Power Charge, while also granting you these Charges after enemies activate your Mines.

[UTILITY] Mana-reserving setup
	Hatred - Grants more Cold Damage, there's nothing more to it.
	Summon Skitterbots - Skitterbots Chill, Shock, and Detonate your Mines, which are re-armed to be detonated once again. It's a major DPS boost. If you have enough Mana Reservation, you can link them with  Bonechill and  Unbound Ailments instead of doing so in a separate setup. It's more efficient and affects Shock Effect too.
	Zealotry - Grants more Spell Damage and increases Spell Critical Strike Chance. If you prefer a defensive Aura, use  Grace instead. What is also an option, is linking this Zealotry with  Divine Blessing and allocating Eldritch Battery to make space for the aforementioned Grace. This way, you can afford to cast Zealotry only occasionally, when you need the extra damage.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Skills Reserve much less Mana.

[UTILITY] Precision
	Precision - Use low-level Precision for extra Crit Chance, you don't need its Accuracy. It's also completely optional, you can skip it.

[MOBILITY] Flame Dash setup
	Flame Dash - The mobility Skill used to move faster and dodge attacks.
	Arcane Surge Support - Keep it at a level low enough so that a single use of Flame Dash will grant you the ArcaneSurge buff. It increases your DPS.
	Second Wind Support - Allows you to store an additional Charge for Flame Dash, and increases its Mana Cost. Skip it if you lack sockets.

[UTILITY] Curse/Exposure setup requires an additional maximum Curse
	Assassin's Mark - Assassin's Mark increases Crit Chance and Multiplier against Marked enemy. If your Crit Chance is already capped, you might want to use  Sniper's Mark instead. It will cause Projectiles to Split on impact, and the enemy to take increased damage, much like with Bonechill Support.
	Elemental Weakness - With Heatshiver you will deal as much Cold Damage as Fire Damage, given the enemy is Frozen. Be sure that you can apply two Curses - allocate Whispers of Doom to do so.
	Frost Bomb - Used to apply Cold Exposure and reduce enemies' Life Regeneration Rate. Great against bosses on Consecrated Ground or Maven.  Hydrosphere applies Exposure too, you can select it instead to bounce your Projectiles off of it if they can Chain at least once (allocate Ricochet).
	Arcanist Brand - All the linked Spells will be cast with a single press of a button with Arcanist Brand. Use it again after the Hex and Exposure expires (every 7 or so seconds).

[UTILITY] Steelskin setup
	Steelskin - Prevents some of the incoming Hit Damage for some time after it activates. It also stops Bleeding.
	Cast when Damage Taken - The linked Skill is cast automatically, you have to use your movement key to Detonate Mines.

[UTILITY] Vaal Haste
	Vaal Haste - Vaal Haste periodically increases your Movement, Cast, and Attack Speed. Use it right after you've accumulated enough souls. Skip it if you lack sockets.

[UTILITY] Bonechill setup
	Frostblink - Creates a Chilled Ground for 3 seconds with a base Chill effect of 10%. Increase its quality for an increased Chill Effect. Use it during boss fights, it doubles as an instant movement ability. If you don't need that mobility, use  Cold Snap instead, its Chilled Ground last longer.
	Bonechill Support - Enemies affected by Chill from a linked Skill will take increased damage from all sources by up to 30%. A Divergent one is a preferable option, it increases the linked Skill's Chill Effect.
	Unbound Ailments Support - It is used only to increase Chilling Area's Chilling Effect by up to 69% if it's the Awakened version.

6. Gear Setup

There are two ways to approach this build. You can either go for the Rathpith Globe, Shroud of the Lightless, March of the Legion, Gloomfang, and Dissolution of the Flesh combo, or use primarily Rare Items. The set of Unique Items we've listed is very cheap so a lot of players use it as a starter version. You won't need a six-link this way. If you plan to use mostly Rare Items it will probably yield better results. You can easily grab the required Attributes and Resistances from there. Either way, Heatshiver is the best Helmet you will use in both versions. Focus on the Gem Level of your Icicle Mine, Critical Strike Chance and Damage, Mana Reservation, Spell Suppression, Generic Spell Elemental Damage, Cold Penetration, and Attributes. If you're using a Divine Blessing Aura, be sure to have enough ES to cast it via Eldritch Battery. Remember to cap your Resistances.

Our recommended items will:

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

(Helmet) Heatshiver - The only good Helmet, and a cheap one at that. You should be able to Freeze with your Icicle Mines with enough Crit Chance. It adds as much Fire Damage as you've dealt Cold Damage with your Hits.

(80-100)% increased Evasion Rating 60% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +(20-30)% to Fire Resistance +(20-30)% to Cold Resistance Gain 1% of Cold Damage as Extra Fire Damage per 1% Chill Effect on Enemy Gain 100% of Cold Damage as Extra Fire Damage against Frozen Enemies

Helmet enchantments: Icicle Mine has +30% to Critical Strike Multiplier

(Weapon) The Annihilating Light - The simplest way to gain more damage, but with it, you will probably need to run Purity of Elements instead of Grace.

(70-60)% reduced Elemental Resistances Deal Triple Damage with Elemental Skills

(Weapon) Rare Wands or Scepters - We recommend wielding two of such weapons. Here, try to get +2 to the level of Cold or all Spell Skill Gems, some generic Spell Damage, and global Critical Strike modifiers.

Min. requirements: 50% Increased Spell/Cold Damage +1 to level of all Cold Spell Skill Gems Optional affixes: Critical Strike modifiers +1 to level of all Skill Gems increased Spell or Elemental Damage

(Off-hand) Rathpith Globe - It's only good with Dissolution of the Flesh Jewel and a lot of Maximum Life, so it also goes along well with Shroud of the Lightless. It increases Maximum Life, ES, Spell Damage, and Critical Strike Chance.

(10-15)% Chance to Block Spell Damage (120-160)% increased Energy Shield 10% increased maximum Life Sacrifice 10% of your Life when you Use or Trigger a Spell Skill 5% increased Critical Strike Chance for Spells per 100 Player Maximum Life 5% increased Spell Damage per 100 Player Maximum Life

(Body Armour) Victario's Influence - This is where you can socket your main Icicle setup. Mines count as Aura Gems, so this Body Armour will increase their Gem Level. You can also Corrupt it since it's an inexpensive Armour, some of the Corrupted Implicits are great.

+1 to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 30 Generosity Socketed Gems have 45% increased Reservation Efficiency (120-150)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield (20-40)% increased Area of Effect of Aura Skills (10-15)% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - You can equip a basic Body Armour with a lot of Maximum Life and Resistances. Spell Suppression and Chaos Resistance are common too. For more high-end mods, seek extra Spell Crit Chance and Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems.

Min. requirements: +90 to maximum Life +90% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills +#% to Spell Critical Strike Chance Spell Suppression Chaos Resistance +1 to Level of Socketed Active Skill Gems

(Body Armour) Shroud of the Lightless (2 Abyssal Sockets) - This one is good if you're using March of the Legion Boots, as you will no longer need a six-link Armour. The version with 2 Abyssal Socket should be cheap. Remember to include a lot of Abyss Jewels to benefit from the bonuses to Maximum Life and Elemental Penetration.

+(20-25) to maximum Mana Has 2 Abyssal Sockets Penetrate 4% Elemental Resistances per Abyss Jewel affecting you 20% chance to Trigger Level 20 Shade Form when you Use a Socketed Skill (160-180)% increased Evasion and Energy Shield 1% increased Maximum Life per Abyss Jewel affecting you 1% increased Maximum Mana per Abyss Jewel affecting you

(Boots) Rare Boots - Boots will most likely be used to acquire Life, Resistances, Attributes, and Movement Speed. There is room for upgrades with Elusive and Onslaught mods.

Min. requirements: +50% to Elemental Resistances +50 to Maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed Optional affixes: chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill chance to gain Elusive on Critical Strike Attributes Spell Suppression Chance

(Boots) March of the Legion - It is where you can socket your main setup. As was the case with Victario's Influence, these will increase the Gem Level of your Mines by up to 5, which is a lot. You can use only 3 Support Gems so it's not as good as a six-link despite the extra Levels for Icicle Mine, but you will definitely use it for leveling.

+(3-5) to Level of Socketed Aura Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by Level 25 Divine Blessing (250-300)% increased Armour and Energy Shield +(12-18)% to all Elemental Resistances (20-30)% increased Movement Speed

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Keep Gloves simple - get Life, Resistances, Attributes, or Spell Suppression. For Damage - craft a Global Crit Chance Suffix.

Min. requirements: +70 to Maximum Life +50% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Attributes Spell Suppression Chance Chaos Resistance increased Global Critical Strike Chance increased Elemental Damage if you've dealt a Critical Strike Recently

(Belt) Rare Belt - On a Belt get Strength, Maximum Life, Resistances, and some sort of Flask mods if you can afford to do so.

Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life 50 Strength +50% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Flask modifiers Chaos Resistance increased Maximum Life

(Amulet) Ashes of the Stars - Ashes is the best Amulet to wear, it provides you with tons of Reservation Efficiency, Gem Quality, and Level to all Skill Gems. It is expensive, so not exactly a starter option.

+(10-16) to all Attributes (5-10)% increased Experience Gain of Gems (10-20)% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +(20-30)% to Quality of all Skill Gems

(Amulet) Gloomfang - If you don't need Attributes or Resistances, Gloomfang is superb. It gets you some extra Chaos Damage making it great with Atziri's Promise, but be sure to include Hydrosphere so that your Icicles will have a thing to chain off of in a boss room. It's also good with Dissolution of the Flesh as you won't lose Life.

(48-56)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 0.5% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life Lose (15-10) Life per Enemy Hit with Spells Lose (25-20) Life per Enemy Hit with Attacks Skills Chain +1 times (30-40)% increased Projectile Speed Projectiles that have Chained gain (20-35)% of Non-Chaos Damage as extra Chaos Damage

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - This should increase your Icicle Mine Skill Gem Level by one or even two. Focus on Critical Strike Chance, Multiplier, Attributes, Resistances, and of course Maximum Life. The expensive ones may be extremely good.

Min. requirements: +50 to Maximum Life Attributes +1 to Level of all Cold Skill Gems Optional affixes: increased Global Critical Strike Chance +#% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier Elemental Resistances

Recommended Anointments: Sovereignty Longshot Divine Judgement

(Ring) Rare Rings - Here you should fix your Attributes or Resistances. Get Maximum Life, and maybe Critical Strike mods. Frostbite or Elemental Weakness can be gained as an on-hit modifier, but it's not required.

Min. requirements: 50 Maximum Life +50% Total Elemental Resistances 60 Strength and Intelligence Optional affixes: Chaos Resistance Global Critical Strike Chance Attributes Curse on Hit

(Ring) Nimis - Nimis is another expensive item, but it's worth its price. The random direction of Projectiles won't affect you, but the fact they're now Returning back is exceptionally good.

+(20-30)% to Lightning Resistance +(30-50) to Dexterity (25-35)% increased Projectile Damage Projectiles Return to you Projectiles are fired in random directions

(Ring) Snakepit - Snakepit is very cheap. Use it for an additional Chain to enhance your clear speed. It's good on a budget version, but later on, replace it with something better.

+(20-30)% to Cold Resistance (20-40)% increased Spell Damage (5-10)% increased Cast Speed Left ring slot: Projectiles from Spells cannot Chain Left ring slot: Projectiles from Spells Fork Right ring slot: Projectiles from Spells Chain +1 times Right ring slot: Projectiles from Spells cannot Fork Projectiles from Spells cannot Pierce

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - After getting all the necessary Resistances, Attributes, and Reservation Efficiency, go for Maximum Life and Critical Strike modifiers.

Recommended affixes: Maximum Life Resistances Mana Reservation Efficiency Critical Strike Multiplier Critical Strike Chance Attributes

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - We recommend getting two of such Cluster Jewels at some point. Aim to have one Blast-Freeze to proliferate Freeze, and Blanketed Snow to Penetrate Cold Resistances.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Blanketed Snow 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Blast-Freeze 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - Get Streamlined for Projectile Speed, Suprise Sabotage for damage, and Guerilla Tactics for mobility and clear speed.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Streamlined 1 Added Passive Skill is Repeater 1 Added Passive Skill is Suprise Sabotage 1 Added Passive Skill is Sleepless Sentries

(Jewel) Lethal Pride - To be used only to gain additional Strength, you may struggle with it. 155 of it is needed to use a Steelskin Skill.

Commanded leadership over (10000-18000) warriors under (Akoya-Kaom-Rakiata) Passives in radius are Conquered by the Karui Historic

(Jewel) Dissolution of the Flesh - It is good only with Gloomfang, Shroud of the Lightless, Rathpith Globe, a lot of Evasion Rating, or Block Chance. Avoid taking Damage at all costs with this Jewel, this applies to Damage over Time - you have to be immune to Ignite, Bleed, and Poison. The upside is more Maximum Life. It's useful.

Removes all Energy Shield Life that would be lost by taking Damage is instead Reserved until you take no Damage to Life for 2 seconds (20-30)% more Maximum Life

(Jewel) Forbidden Flame & Flesh - Wind Ward is great, your character is not tanky. We recommend getting it since it's one of the cheapest Keystones.

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 - On a Watcher's Eye you should aim for Hatred's Cold Penetration or Critical Strike Chance. Zealotry and Grace may also contain some mods you can use.

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

(Flask) Atziri's Promise - It's good on its own, but especially so with Gloomfang. Grants Chaos Resistance, Life Leech, and Damage.

+35% to Chaos Resistance Gain (5-8)% of Elemental Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect 2% of Chaos Damage Leeched as Life during Effect Gain (5-8)% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage during effect

(Flask) Bottled Faith - Bottled Faith is pricey, but a lot of builds use it due to the Critical Strike Chance and Damage. Consecrated Ground reduces Curses' Effect and Regenerates your Life.

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

Suggested Flasks: Life Flask with Bleeding immunity/removal Diamond Flask with increased Critical Strike Chance Jade Flask with increased Evasion Quicksilver Flask with increased Movement Speed Silver Flask for Onslaught if you need it

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.