Path Of Exile 3.26 Winter Orb Occultist Build: How Does This Mapper Perform Early In League?
Winter Orb has long been considered one of the most powerful mapping skills in Path Of Exile. Because it doubles your character’s casting speed, not only do you get faster movement speed on the map, but your damage is also significantly increased.
But when an item or skill becomes ridiculously powerful, it will also be greatly weakened. After all, the developers cannot let a certain mechanism dominate, and balance is what they pursue.
Winter Orb Buff
After the nerfs to Winter Orb in the previous league updates, it has been difficult to adapt to today’s builds, so in POE 3.26, they have once again buffed Winter Orb.
Winter Orb is a channelling skill that summons an orb above you and shoots projectiles at nearby enemies. Once the projectile hits the ground, it explodes and deals area damage. Continuing to channel will increase the skill level, but the skill level will gradually decay when you stop channeling.
Winter Orb now has a damage increase of about 26%, which is a strong damage buff that is definitely worth trying at the start of your league. Let’s take a look!
Is Winter Orb Build Worth Trying?
To be honest, Winter Orb is a good skill choice for a league starter build, but it is obviously not as strong as other meta skills that many people are using.
Although only 0.6% of players are using Winter Orb build, it is good enough for me to reach Tier 16 maps and get two Voidstones.
Unique Items
And the build budget for this skill is very low, not even a POE Divine Orb. We used four unique items, but don’t worry, they are all very affordable at the current price.
Bitterdream
I think the first and most important unique weapon is Bitterdream Shadow Sceptre. It basically makes our Winter Orb be 9-link, and it has some nice extra features, such as it allows us to get Frenzy Charges from Ice Bite Support when we kill an enemy.
Carcass Jack
Since we don’t have to use 6-link body armour, we can use a cost-effective unique item like Carcass Jack, which also gives us 40%-50% area of effect.
AOE effect is necessary for Winter Orb, which allows our projectiles to overlap and fire consecutive projectiles unaffected by shotgun defense. Ideally, our area of effect radius needs to be at least 2.6m or larger.
Badge Of The Brotherhood
Also, since we are stacking Frenzy Charges, we can also use Badge of the Brotherhood Turquoise Amulet to get a lot of Frenzy Charges for free.
Now, currently this build only has Bitterdream Sceptre and Ice Bite Support to generate Frenzy Charges, and it generates charges on kills, which is not ideal.
Ideally, we want to get Frenzy Charges on hit, which means we can also get enough charges in boss fights, but this requires more POE Currency investment. Because the key to getting Frenzy Charges is influenced body armor, and getting 6-link body armor at the start of a league is going to be very expensive.
Mark Of Submission
Finally, one more item we need is Mark of Submission unique ring, which allows us to curse enemies with Frostbite when we hit them, so that we can benefit from Occultist’s Profane Bloom.
How To Improve Survivability?
In general, this version of the Winter Orb build is a good mapper, even if its single target damage is not very good, it will be painful to not have Frenzy Charges in boss fights, but we have a 4-link gear and a Spell Totem Support to help boost single target damage, so the overall survivability is okay.
Also, Frost Shield really helps a lot in this build, and the benefit is that since we scale such a large area of effect, our shield radius is very large, so we have more room to move. And we can also help improve survivability by adding Endurance Charge generation and Life Leech and Cluster Jewels, and a little spell suppression.
Now, in POE 3.26 leagues, we can even kill some mercenaries on high-level maps with this build, even killing them in one shot.
If you have a mercenary with Determination and Molten Shell, you can also get more survivability.
In Path of Exile, these two are a powerful defensive combination, especially when paired with high armor values. Molten Shell absorbs damage based on your armor, and Determination is an aura that significantly increases your armor. This synergy allows Molten Shell to absorb more damage and may trigger more often, reflecting damage back to the enemy, so that you will not die even in Tier 16 maps.
Final Thoughts
Of course, there is still a lot of room for improvement in this version of Winter Orb. To further push the upgrade optimization of Winter Orb build, we must get rid of Bitterdream, Carcass Jack and get some more typical endgame items. You know, all Occultist equipment that can stack Power Charge is what this build needs.
In any case, if you are interested in Winter Orb and want to complete a build around this mapping skill, then try it out as soon as possible. I believe Winter Orb buffs for this league update will not disappoint you!
Jun-17-2025
-
Path Of Exile 3.26 Possible ...
After nearly 11 months of waiting, the new league of the first Path of Exile game, Secrets of the Atlas, will finally be launched on June 13, and there will be a related press conference on June 5, when you will learn more about it. Based on past experience, you should know that every time a new expansion is released, POE 1 will appropriately nerf or enhance the existing content based on the performance of the previous leagues and player opinions to make the game more balanced. So, although the press conference has not yet started, you can speculate on what changes will be made to 3.26 league based on the performance of 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur. Nerf - Lightning Strike As an effective melee attack skill in POE 1, Lightning Strike converts your output physical damage into lightning damage to increase the damage effect. In addition, it can also cause damage based on your weapon by firing projectiles. Entering 3.25 league, the skill and the builds built around it have become even more powerful, as it not only attacks multiple times, but also has a huge single-target damage bonus, allowing you to earn more and rarer POE currency by killing bosses. While this is useful for completing your resource farming, any skill that is too powerful will disrupt the game’s combat balance. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that Lightning Strike may be nerfed in 3.26, or a more powerful new skill will be introduced to replace it. Nerf - Archmage The nerf prediction for this support gem is actually based on Lightning Strike, because Archmage’s role is to increase the lightning damage output of the supported skills based on your maximum unreserved mana. In addition, although the 3.25 nerf to defense aura caused a lot of damage to top caster builds, Archmage can help avoid most of the negative changes. Because most of the attack potential of the genre comes from stacking mana, which can be obtained through Archmage. Additionally, you’ll find that Archmage’s mechanics normally make it a contradiction in terms: you want to increase mana consumption to deal more damage, but you also need to control it to avoid losing all effective hits in the process. But as of 3.25, Archmage allows you to stack maximum mana to increase damage and effective hits, while also reducing the mana consumption of skills, allowing you to stay at full health most of the time. Obviously, this invisibly undermines the balance of Archmage itself, emphasizing its powerful side too much. Therefore, it is reasonable to speculate that this feature of the support gem may be nerfed after 3.26 goes online. Nerf - Ephemeral Edge This weapon functions similarly to Energy Blade and can be scaled similarly, but the difference of Ephemeral Edge is that its attacks add maximum lightning damage equivalent to 20% of your energy shield. It is expected that this weapon may be nerfed in either attributes or rarity to achieve a better balance of strength. However, if the rarity is weakened, it will bring a series of chain reactions, because this means that the way to obtain or redeem the weapon must be changed accordingly. Buff - Self Cast Spells This actually refers to a type of builds that output damage by manually casting spells. But in 3.25, with the addition of other new skills, the effectiveness of this build has decreased, so the usage rate is not as good as before. Buff - Top-Side Passive Tree Defenses If you have been playing POE 1, you will find that defense with spell-casting as the main gameplay has already seemed a bit strange before 3.25. Most casters will choose to invest in suppression in the upper right area of the passive tree and utilize stats such as dodge to enhance defense against enemy spells and attacks. Some casters will unlock armor and energy shield masteries on the left side of the passive tree. But in patch 3.25, both masteries were replaced by other options, and determination and grace were also weakened, forcing you to get enough attributes to equip those new armor or dodge levels, but this is actually difficult to do because 3.25 also strictly restricts the acquisition of these attributes. Buff - Remake Two Ascendancy Classes As you know, whether in POE 1 or 2, you can get a richer and more powerful class combat experience by unlocking Ascendancy class. According to the performance of each Ascendancy class in 3.25, we predict that Assassin and Elementalist should be remade to enhance. The problem with Assassin is that it is too mediocre, so 3.26 league can completely learn from the design ideas of some Ascendancy classes in POE 2 and thoroughly transform it, so that it can be more powerful while reflecting more characteristics. As for Elementalist, the places where it should be modified are mainly reflected in the nodes, such as Bastion of Elements or Damnation. In addition, the golem branch of Elementalist also needs more improvements. The above content is just our prediction of Path of Exile 3.26 based on the performance of 3.25. The actual content changes will not be confirmed until at least after the press conference. But at least we can be sure that 3.26 will definitely be committed to bringing you a better gaming experience!Jun-03-2025
-
Path Of Exile 3.25: What To ...
In many guides, it has been said that Lacerate Gladiator build is one of the strongest and most reliable league starters in Path of Exile 3.25. Like Boneshatter Juggernaut, this melee build was already strong enough before the league rework. Lacerate retains the essence of its previous powerful skills, but also increases all of its damage numbers. So, in POE 3.25, it is more powerful than ever before. So how do you make this powerful build when you first try this new league? And how do you upgrade it? This guide will give you the answers. As you explore Path of Exile 3.25, if you have any questions or comments, you are welcome to join the Discord community and discuss game strategies with other players. In addition, iGMeet Discord will occasionally bring you more benefits in this community, so remember to pay attention! Skill Rotation And Tips Compared to many builds that can cause slam, Lacerate Gladiator is very simple and has a low APM value. You don’t have to use multiple buttons in combat, but you still use defense and movement utilities. The fundamental skill you can use in combat is Lacerate, a medium-range melee attack damage skill that allows you to cause bleeds. Besides this, you can use Pride and Vulnerability to weaken the monster’s ability. You can also choose Shield Charge, Molten Shell, Flame Dash, Blood Rage and Enduring Cry for defense and movement. The thing you need to pay attention to here is that you need to always pay attention to the Vulnerability debuff on the enemy. This magic spell may make the cursed enemy take more physical damage and have a bleeding effect when attacked. But you don’t have to worry about Pride, but you can link it with Eternal Blessing. This way, you can offset your retention cost and increase your effectiveness. As long as you can maintain this debuff and keep it practical when necessary, you can use Lacerate without worrying about it. Pros And Cons Although Lacerate Gladiator build is one of the simplest map builds in Path of Exile 3.25, it also has a little disadvantage. The biggest advantage of this build compared to other DoT (Damage over Time) builds is that there is no damage to ramp-up time. This means that you can deal maximum damage to an enemy once you apply a layer of bleeding to them. Compared to DoT builds that require you to wait for several seconds to reach maximum DPS, Lacerate Gladiator build will make you safer and easier to use. But the biggest disadvantage of this build is also accompanied by this advantage - it is too simple. This build does not have a lot of skill options, and in some cases, it can make you feel a little boring and not have enough tools, especially if you plan to use it in the endgame. If you are the kind of player who likes to use endgame gear, you may find this build to be overwhelming because Lacerate Gladiator build only requires three Uniques items. But it also saves you a lot of POE Currency, allowing you to focus more on building upgrades and weapon enhancements. Skills To Use In Early And Mid-game If you want to get from the early game to the mid-game as quickly as possible in this build, you can use Sunder skill. Sunder will help you advance quickly until you can start running maps on your own. In addition, you will need to use Leap Slam, War Banner, and Blood And Sand Stance to get the utility and extra damage of this build. When you can start running maps on your own, you can switch out Sunder for Lacerate of Haemorrhage. This variant of Lacerate gives you higher bleeding damage, and you can use Earthquake, Shield Charge, Bladestorm, and Vulnerability to create a better combat situation. You are ready for the endgame skill setup. Gem Setup In this build, you can use gems to maximize the bleeding damage you deal in combat. Without this setup, your character will be very powerful, but with gems, you will be invincible. Here are the best gems and some effects to choose for Lacerate of Haemorrhage skill. Volatility Supported skills have increased maximum attack damage and decreased minimum attack damage. Awakened Brutality Supported skills have increased physical damage, no chaos damage, no elemental damage, and a chance to shatter enemies on hit. Awakened Melee Physical Damage Supported skills have increased melee physical damage, increased bleeding and poison damage from melee attacks, 10% attack reduced speed, and a chance to intimidate on hit. Awakened Multistrike Supported skills repeat 6 (3+3) times, increased attack speed, reduced attack damage by 20%, and increased damage bonus for the first 3 repeats. Awakened Deadly Disease Supported skills have increased disease damage and reduced damage on hit. If you combine these gems with Lacerate of Haemorrhage, it may reduce some attributes, but it will greatly increase your ailment damage! You can try it in the game. Uniques And Affixes Lacerate Gladiator build doesn’t really need too many unique items to support its late game. But just in case, and to make it fully adaptable to the endgame event of Path of Exile 3.25, you can use the following 3 Uniques: Koam’s Sign x2 Ryslatha’s Coil If you try to get the belt directly with POE Currency, it will probably be very expensive because it is the best slot in almost all disease builds. That’s all about the preparations and precautions you need to make for Lacerate Gladiator build in Path Of Exile 3.25. I hope you can have fun playing in the new league!Jul-28-2024
-
Path of Exile 3.23 Patch: A ...
The highly anticipated Path of Exile 3.23 patch, titled "Affliction," has finally arrivedon December 11, 2023 , bringing a wealth of new content and exciting changes to the popular ARPG. This comprehensive patch introduces a new endgame system, revamps the skill tree, and introduces a host of new items and challenges. New Endgame System: Affliction The centerpiece of the 3.23 patch is the introduction of the Affliction mechanic. This innovative system allows players to inflict Afflicts, debuff-like effects, on enemies. These Afflicts can then be manipulated to trigger various effects, such as dealing additional damage or granting buffs to the player. This mechanic adds a layer of strategic depth and versatility to combat, allowing players to tailor their builds to specific Afflicts and their desired playstyle. Intriguing League Mechanic: Incursions The Affliction Challenge League introduces a new league mechanic called Incursions. These are small-scale maps that players can enter, similar to the Breach league's encounters. Incursions present players with challenges and rewards, such as encountering powerful bosses or collecting valuable artifacts. These challenges provide a fresh and engaging way to experience the game's endgame. Overhauled Skill Tree: Reimagined Ascendancies The skill tree has undergone a significant overhaul in the 3.23 patch. Numerous new nodes have been added, while existing nodes have been modified to enhance their effectiveness and provide more viable options for character builds. This overhaul aims to revitalize the skill tree and offer more diverse and powerful paths for players to explore. Abundance of New Items: Uniques and Supporter Packs Alongside the sweeping gameplay changes, the 3.23 patch introduces a wealth of new items. New unique items have been added, providing fresh and powerful options for players to incorporate into their builds. Additionally, several new supporter packs have been released, offering cosmetic enhancements and exclusive items for dedicated players. Bug Fixes and Performance Improvements In addition to the substantial content additions, the 3.23 patch also addresses a number of reported bugs and optimizes game performance. These fixes and improvements aim to enhance the overall experience for all players. With its innovative Affliction mechanic, intriguing Incursions league, overhauled skill tree, and abundance of new items, Path of Exile 3.23 patch "Affliction" is sure to captivate and challenge ARPG enthusiasts. Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a newcomer to the game, there's something for everyone in this content-rich update. So, embark on a new adventure in Wraeclast and unleash the power of affliction!Dec-19-2023
-
Path of Exile (PoE) 3.22 De ...
In the ever-evolving world of Path of Exile (PoE), the introduction of new content and updates keeps players engaged and challenged. The recent 3.22 patch has brought forth the intriguing Delve Early Farming Guide, offering players the chance to delve into uncharted territories and unearth valuable rewards. In this guide, we'll delve (pun intended) into seven key tips that can help both new and seasoned players make the most out of the Delve content and enhance their PoE experience. 1. Understanding the Delve Mechanic: The Delve mechanic in PoE takes players on an underground adventure, accessible through Niko, who allows players to delve into mines and encounter diverse biomes and unique challenges. Sulfite, the key resource for delving, is acquired through mapping. Players navigate the volatile mine to collect valuable loot, fossils, and currency items. 2. Delve Changes in the 3.22 Patch: The 3.22 patch has introduced some item balance changes, particularly affecting delve-exclusive shields. The patch primarily addresses certain modifiers related to maximum elemental resistances. 3. Currency Generation in Delve: Delve offers various opportunities for currency generation. Farming fossils is a prime example, with different biomes yielding different types of fossils. Fossils can be traded for currency, making this a lucrative strategy for wealth accumulation. Selling resonators, particularly in bulk, is another profitable venture. Additionally, defeating bosses like Crystal King can yield valuable amulets and rings that can fetch a good price in the market. 4. Sustaining Sulphite for Delving: Sulphite is essential for delving, and its acquisition requires thoughtful strategies. Setting up the Atlas properly can help players earn more sulphite from maps. Utilizing Atlas passives and Ascendancy skills can further enhance sulphite gain. Running Wandering Path in the Atlas passive tree can result in higher sulphite drops during mapping. 5. Biomes and Cities in Delve: Biomes in delve offer specific loot drops and challenges. Players can target particular biomes to farm specific resources and maximize their gains. Cities in delve contain valuable items and loot chests, making them a rewarding destination for adventurers. 6. Special Item Drop Nodes: Restless Rubbles and other special nodes offer unique item drops: lightning items, contains cold items, fire items, Physical, containing Mana or cursed itemssome of which can be highly valuable or even build-enabling. Players can take advantage of these nodes to acquire rare and powerful items that can be used or traded. 7. Voltaxic Generator Setup and Depth Farming: Managing the Voltaxic Generator is crucial for surviving deep delves. Players should focus on maintaining Darkness Resistance, Light Radius, and Flare Capacity. Balancing these attributes is key to exploring deeper mine levels safely. Starting depth farming at around 150-250 is recommended for evasion-based characters, while characters with more survivability can venture deeper to around 300-350. In conclusion, the Delve Early Farming Guide in PoE 3.22 presents players with a plethora of opportunities to explore, conquer challenges, and amass wealth. Whether you're a newcomer seeking to learn the ropes of delving or a seasoned player looking to optimize your currency generation, these seven tips provide valuable insights to make the most of your delve experience. As the world of PoE continues to evolve, embracing new content and mastering its mechanics will undoubtedly lead to a more rewarding and thrilling gaming journey.Aug-17-2023