Winter Orb
Occultist Build

Updated for Patch 3.29

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Winter Orb is one of the fastest and most satisfying Cold Damage Spells in the game, and in 3.29 it received massive buffs that pushed it back into the spotlight. The Skill now fires additional Projectiles as it levels, has significantly higher base Critical Strike Chance, and deals more base Cold Damage, giving it substantially better Clear and Single-Target Damage without relying on Greater Multiple Projectiles. Winter Orb also has a unique playstyle that allows you to channel and build up its Stages before moving freely while the Orb continues firing at nearby enemies. This makes it an exceptional Skill for fast mapping, where you can charge your Orb, move through the Map, and let it clear enemies while you focus on movement and positioning.

Occultist is an excellent Ascendancy for this archetype, as the build naturally benefits from stacking Power Charges for both Damage and Area of Effect. This version focuses heavily on Power Charge stacking, using a combination of unique Items and mechanics to generate and maintain a large number of Charges while converting them into massive offensive scaling. The build also makes excellent use of Frenzy Charges, gaining both substantial Damage and Movement Speed while further improving the overall consistency of the setup. With Winter Orb now providing additional Projectiles naturally, we can dedicate more of our Links to pure Damage instead of relying on Greater Multiple Projectiles, resulting in much stronger Clear and Single-Target potential.

Defensively, the build combines a large Life pool with Energy Shield and Charge-based defensive mechanics to create a surprisingly resilient character for such a fast-paced caster. The build benefits greatly from being able to move while Winter Orb continues attacking, allowing you to avoid many incoming attacks without sacrificing Damage. The main weakness is that the build requires careful management of its Charges and can feel considerably weaker before its core Power Charge mechanics are fully established. Once the setup is complete, however, Winter Orb Occultist offers an exceptionally fast mapping experience, combining the freedom of a persistent Spell with excellent screen coverage, powerful scaling, and the ability to clear content while constantly moving.

1. Gameplay

Activate Pact of Lycia before you start Channelling. Winter Orb should be Channelled for 3 seconds at the start of the map, and its stages should never fall off. Use Frostblink to dodge, or stand still and tank, as it reduces damage taken. Shield Charge is for traversing vast distances. Against bosses, cast Frost Shield on yourself and Frostbite on the enemy. Your passive skills are Herald of Ice, Discipline, Arctic Armour, Flesh and Stone, and Steelskin linked to Automation.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

An optimal choice would be to start as an Elementalist and allocate the Golem passive followed by Shaper of Storms and Mastermind of Discord. Power Charges and Critical Damage are the domain of a character already in maps, and this is what Occultist does better. Overall, you can still start as a Cold Damage spellcaster, and you can even equip Winter Orb as soon as you get your hands on it, as it's a perfectly good campaign skill, and assemble generic gear for it, and transform it into the final version gradually. Early on, you may equip cheap uniques like Karui Ward or Tasalio's Sign.

Bandits:

An additional Passive Skill Point seems like the best option.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

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

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in that order:

1. Void Beacon
2. Frigid Wake
3. Forbidden Power
4. Vile Bastion

Pantheon:

Major God: Soul of Lunaris: 1% increased Movement Speed for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%; 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each nearby Enemy, up to 8%

Minor God: Soul of Garukhan: 60% reduced Effect of Shock on you

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Winter Orb setup
	Winter Orb - Built up stages by Channelling to create a powerful projectile-spewing Orb that deals high Cold Damage.
	Focused Channelling Support - You can keep the 60% more damage buff indefinitely if the Orb you've been Channelling for 3 seconds never disappears, which it shouldn't.
	Infused Channelling Support - More Damage dealt and less damage taken while Channelling.
	Power Charge on Critical Support - More damage per Power Charge and Power Charge on Crit.
	Cold Penetration Support - Penetrates a big portion of Cold Resistance.
	Inspiration Support - Focused Channelling increases the Mana Cost significantly, so Inspiration will be needed. It also increases damage.

[UTILITY] Herald of Ice setup
	Herald of Ice - It plays a big role in making your clear bearable with its Cold Damage explosions on kill.
	Scornful Herald Support - Disables Herald's Buff, which is insignificant, and grants it up to 25% Crit Chance.
	Power Charge On Critical Support
	Ice Bite Support - Added Cold Damage per Frenzy Charge, which you get from Items. If you don't have them yet, replace it with Added Cold Damage or Increased Critical Damage.

[UTILITY] Reservation setup
	Flesh and Stone - Stay in the Sand Stance to take up to 20% less damage from nearby enemies.
	Arctic Armour - 20% less Physical and Fire Damage taken while stationary, which you are while Channelling.
	Discipline - Additional ES and increased ES Recharge Rate.
	Enlighten Support - Linked Spells Reserve less Mana.

[MOBILITY] Shield Charge setup
	Shield Charge - A movement Skill to be used with Shields that makes you move around the map faster.
	Faster Attacks Support - Faster Attack for Shield Charge, to move faster.
	Inspiration Support - Lowers the Mana Cost of Shield Charge. You can use Momentum if that's of no consequence.

[UTILITY] Steelskin setup
	Steelskin - Tanks some of the incoming damage for some time and stops Bleeding.
	Arcane Surge Support - Keep it at a level low enough so that a single Trigger grants Arcane Surge buff for Mana Regeneration and Cast Speed.
	Automation - Triggers Steelskin whenever it's off-Cooldown.

[UTILITY] Other skills
	Frostbite - Lowers Cold Resistance of affected enemies.
	Frostblink - Your second Movement ability that does not interrupt Channelling, so you can remain stationary while dashing.
	Frost Shield - ES-draining dome inside of which you receive less damage, especially from enemies outside of it. You gain base Crit Chance in it.
	Pact of Lycia - With Pact of Lycia, you will keep the buff that empowers your Next Channelling Spell; it lasts for the whole duration of a Winter Orb, in theory infinitely long.

5. Gear Setup

The build's strength derives more from Skill setups and Ascendancy choice, while the item synergies are rather simple and well-established. You can go for a very default full-rare set with generic Skill Gem Levels and Spell/Crit Damage, or go for an equally default Charge-stacker. The Charge combo includes Badge of the Brotherhood to extend the Frenzy Charge limit, Tulfall, Willclash, and Malachai's Loop with Ralakesh's Impatience to keep the benefits of always being full of Power Charges, and having a source of Frenzy Charges, which can be a Mark Mastery, Ice Bite, an Amulet Anoint, or a Redeemer Suffix on a Body Armour. Tulfall generates Frenzy Charges too, but that takes a while. Above all, the damage comes from the Gem Level and scaling up Crit Damage. The opportunities to increase it, given you aim for the Charge-stacker archetype, are limited since most of your stuff will be Unique, thus come mostly from Jewels. Defensively, the build relies on Energy Shield. You will allocate Chaos Inoculation later. Recharge is irrelevant; you rely on ES Leech. Meeting Attribute requirements will be difficult without Supreme Ostentation.

(Helmet) Willclash - With 13 Power Charges, it grants 65% Spell Block Chance and up to 65% increased damage. You can Corrupt it for +1 max Power Charge.

(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

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - On a Body Armour, you want two things: lots of Energy Shield and Elemental Resistances. For the Eldritch mods: Crit Multiplier and Physical Damage taken as Chaos.

Min. requirements: high Maximum Energy Shield 40% total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Additional Physical Damage Reduction

(Weapon) Tulfall - Tulfall is the best weapon for a Cold Damage Power Charge stacker who will never lose said Charges, which technically won't happen with Ralakesh's Impatience. It adds lots of Cold Damage to Spells and generates Frenzy Charges, albeit slowly.

(31-35)% increased Spell Damage (10-20)% increased Cast Speed Gain a Power Charge on Killing a Frozen Enemy Adds 50 to 70 Cold Damage to Spells per Power Charge Lose all Power Charges on reaching Maximum Power Charges Gain a Frenzy Charge on reaching Maximum Power Charges

(Off-hand) Malachai's Loop - The +2 Max Power Charges sells the items already, but it also increases Spell Damage big time. Its only meaningful downside is that it Shocks you, but that can be managed with a Charge Mastery, Pantheon, or a Flask.

(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

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Try to get a pair with Fractured Incursion Suffix that grants Cold Resistance and Damage against Chilled enemies as one mod. The rest follows the usual drill: ES and Resistances. For the Eldritch mods, pick Cold Exposure and Unnerve on Hit.

Min. requirements: high Maximum Energy Shield 40% total Elemental Resistances +#% to Cold Resistance; #% increased Damage with Hits against Chilled Enemies (Incursion Suffix) Optional affixes: increased Damage while Leeching (crafted)

(Boots) Ralakesh's Impatience - Get the Power Charge variant to always have maximum Power Charges and suffer no downsides that your other Unique items would otherwise impose.

+(15-25)% to Cold Resistance +(15-25)% to Chaos Resistance (15-25)% increased Movement Speed Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you <Random charge modifier> Count as having maximum number of Power Charges

(Belt) Graven's Secret - Graven's Secret is a good Belt for a Maximum Power Charge, very high Lightning Resistance, some Energy Shield, and tons of ES Recoup. Only Headhunter or Mageblood will outclass it.

(15-25)% increased Stun and Block Recovery +(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 - This amulet is the key component of the Charge stacker archetype. It grants Maximum Frenzy Charges, and that's mainly the only thing it's good for, but the extra ten Frenzy Charges grant 40% more Damage and 40% increased Cast Speed; all relevant.

+(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: Disciple of the Slaughter Ash, Frost and Storm

(Ring) Foulborn Romira's Banquet - The Foulborn variant of this Ring grants one Maximum Power Charge on top of rather pointless mods, but that's good enough. You can, of course, Corrupt any Ring (Unique or not) for an Implicit mod that grants Maximum Power Charge, so be on the lookout for these as well. It is critical to have it on both Rings.

(20-30)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +1 to Maximum Power Charges +(15-25)% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier +(40-60) to maximum Mana 0.4% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana Gain a Power Charge on Non-Critical Strike Lose all Power Charges on Critical Strike

(Jewel) Elegant Hubris - The Caspiro variant grants Supreme Ostentation, which allows you to ignore Attribute requirements, which we don't have resources for. Isolate it, or look for useful Notables, such as Crit Multiplier or Block Chance.

Commissioned (2000-160000) coins to commemorate <Cadiro • Caspiro • Victario> Passives in radius are Conquered by the Eternal Empire Historic

(Jewel) Sublime Vision - One additional Maximum Power Charge can be sourced from a Discipline variant of Sublime Vision. It will not interfere with Skill setup in a major way.

+1 to Maximum Power Charges while affected by Discipline Aura Skills other than Discipline are Disabled Auras from your Skills have (20-40)% increased Effect on you

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - On Rare Jewels seek Crit Damage (there are a lot of mods that will apply here) and increased Maximum ES. Increases to damage are not very efficient.

Recommended affixes: increased Maximum Energy Shield Critical Strike Multiplier (various options)

(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewel - Get Cold Damage Large Cluster Jewels with selected Notables.

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

(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewel - On Medium Jewels, you're looking for Area of Effect increases for the Winter Orb Projectile's impacts.

Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Vast Power 1 Added Passive Skill is Assert Dominance 1 Added Passive Skill is Magnifier

(Flask) Rumi's Concoction - It grants Block Chance. It will most likely be required to reach the Block cap.

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

(Flask) Stormblood (Lightning) - You can use this Flask to Shock; to increase your damage.

+40% to Lightning Resistance +5% to maximum Lightning Resistance (20-40)% chance to gain a Flask Charge when you deal a Critical Strike 50% reduced Duration All Damage from Critical Strikes can apply Lightning Ailments during effect

(Flask) Dying Sun - Dying Sun grants 2 additional Projectiles. This increases clear speed and boss damage alike.

+40% to Fire Resistance +5% to maximum Fire Resistance (125-150)% increased Charges per use (60-40)% less Duration (10-20)% increased Area of Effect during Effect Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles during Effect

Other suggested Flasks and Tinctures: Quicksilver Flask with Movement Speed Silver Flask with increased Crit Chance or reduced effect of Curses on you Basalt Flask with increased Armour

If you have any other build requests, please leave that in the comments below.

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