Path of Exile BuildsPOE Guides

Path of Exile [3.4] Ice Crash Scion Build

Path of Exile Delve League

This fast-moving and highly flexible build offers multiple options for mapping and boss fights in Path of Exile.

This combo is very niche as it uses a lesser-used skill and some specialized Uniques, so I would say this is a build for more experienced players. That said, this build can switch pretty quickly to boss killing mode, all while maintaining a high Life pool and good damage mitigation. A simple Gear to Gem swap will have you back in the fight in no time, and while this build wouldn’t be well-suited to farming Uber Elder, it can be useful as a League Starter to carry you to Red Maps.

If you want to clear end game maps and kill most bosses in the game with ease, this is the build for you. The defenses of this build make it fairly tanky, so it’s even possible to do top-end content with experience and the right gear. You could drop Shaper with this build if you know what you’re doing.

Not only is this an extremely simple build to level, mapping with a character running this setup is fast and efficient, just like any good POE player wants. Let’s dig in.

Build Pros

  • Very versatile build able to clear most content
  • Killing bosses is pretty quick
  • Speedy mapping

Build Cons

  • Vulnerable to Reflect
  • Expensive gear costs for optimal gear

Passive Tree(s)

Here is the Endgame Passive Tree

Path of Building

Skill Tree

Pantheon

Upgrade all of these.

Soul of Arakaali  – 5% reduced Damage taken from Damage Over Time 10% chance to Avoid Lightning Damage when Hit

If you’re using Kaom’s Roots, switch to Soul of Lunaris or Soul of Solaris for end-game boss fights.

Soul of Ralakesh – 25% chance to avoid Bleeding 25% reduced Physical Damage over Time Damage taken while moving

Bandits

Kill All for the bonus Passives if you’ve capped resistances, otherwise go for Alira for Resists.

Ascendancy skill points

Ascendant

Ascendancy Nodes:

Enchants

Helmet: (X Represents your chosen skill, so Ice Crash in the example case)
% Increased X Damage
% Increased X Physical Damage as Extra Cold
Ancestral Protector Totem grants 18% increased Attack Speed while Active
Blood Rage grants additional 12% increased Attack Speed

Boots:
x% Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks
Damage Penetrates x% of Enemy Elemental Resistances if you haven’t Killed Recently
x% increased Attack and Cast Speed if you’ve Killed Recently

Gloves:
Commandment of Fury/Reflection

You could also use these Corruptions on Gloves:

Curse Enemies with Level (10–12) Elemental Weakness on Hit
Attacks have +(0.5–0.8)% to Critical Strike Chance
+1 to Maximum Frenzy Charges
(4–6)% increased maximum Life
(8–10)% increased Attack Speed

Leveling Items and General Tips

You’ll find a list of different Unique items down below for weapons and other gear slots. These are not necessary by any means. We included the list in this guide to give you a wide array of options to choose from.

You could also level this build using another Melee skill like Molten Strike will farming the currency to buy the two uniques that are optimal for the build.

Infernal Blow is the best leveling skill for this setup with Facebreaker.

Start off with Infernal Blow, link it with Added Fire Damage and Ancestral Call.

At Level 16, start using Herald of Ash to boost DPS. Equip Facebreakers as well.

At Level 18, Link Melee Physical Damage and Faster Attacks to Infernal Blow.

At Level 24, start using Hatred to boost DPS.

At Level 38, take off Ancestral Call and switch to Multistrike, and take off Faster Attacks to switch to Increased Area of Effect (Concentrated Effect for Bosses). You’ll also want Elemental Damage with Attacks linked at this point.

Around Level 40, Added Fire Damage becomes less useful, and could be dropped in favor of a Physical to X Support Gem. X is the type of Elemental Damage you would get the best effect from Wise Oak. For example, Physical to Lightning offered more DPS with that active.

You can Swap out Infernal Blow for Ice Crash as you feel comfortable with the DPS, and you can keep all your other Gems in place.

At level 60, you may want to switch Herald of Ash to Arctic Armour temporarily if you feel too squishy or die too much.

Prioritize Claw buffs on the Passive Tree to make leveling easier in terms of DPS.

Leveling Uniques:

Efficient Farm Locations:

Act 1: The Ledge

Act 2: The Fellshrine Ruins

Act 3: The Docks

Act 4: The Dried Lake

Act 5: The Chamber of Innocence

Act 6: The Ridge

Act 7: The Temple of Decay lv1-2

Act 8: The Harbour Bridge

Act 9: The Blood Aqueduct

Act 10: The Ossuary

Avoid these map mods:

  • No Leech/Regen – These map mods screw with your ability to sustain your life and mana, so they’re a no-go.
  • Reflect – Since you’re doing a mix of Physical and Elemental most of the time, Reflect mobs/mods are dangerous. Avoid them if you want an easier experience.

If you are a brand new Path of Exile player, feel free to check out our various POE guides for noobs.

Final Skill Gem Setup

You’ll find recommendations for different attack skill setups for this build below. The basic buff and aura setups are down there too. This build has been tested with the most common Bow skills, and it works will with any multiple projectile build, as long as you maximize the number of projectiles with support gems.

=== ATTACK SKILL ===
Ice Crash -> Melee Physical Damage -> Phys to Lightning -> Elemental Damage with Attacks -> Multistrike -> Increased Area of Effect (Concentrated Effect)

We switch out Increased Area with Concentrated Effect for Bosses.

=== MOVEMENT ===
Shield Charge -> Faster Attacks -> Fortify -> Blood Magic

=== AURA/UTILITY ===
Hatred -> Herald of Ash -> Blood Rage  Vaal Grace

=== CWDT ===
Cast when Damage Taken(lvl5) -> Immortal Call(lvl 7) -> Ancestral Protector -> Vaal Grace (Frost Bomb)

Build Uniques / Example Rare Gear

In this section you will find all the suggested items for this build. We always try to include optional gear in our listing, or try your own assuming you get similar stat rolls. Aim for high-quality Rares if you’re replacing Uniques. The Minimum/Optional requirements listed assume you’re using Rares as a replacement for listed Uniques (where possible).

Depending on your gear choices, you can go for either a lot more DPS at the expense of Life, or go for more defensiveness by sacrificing a portion of DPS. This is your choice. In most cases, I would prefer Life personally, as it’s just a bit more forgiving. If you’re a new player, this may the path for you.

Stat Priorities:

Life is super important for survivability, especially at end-game. Although be careful not to forsake too many damage mods for it or you won’t be able to kill mobs quick enough for your defenses to handle incoming DPS.

Physical Damage is your main scaling and your primary DPS with Physical Damage converts to multiple types. So maximizing damage with Physical first, followed by buffs to more general damage types. Area Damage on Jewels for example.

Elemental Damage is your secondary damage, but I would focus primarily on Physical.

Critical Chance to increase the likelyhood of massive buffs to your DPS.

Resistances until you cap them off.

Weapons

Since this build uses Facebreaker, you’re scaling damage based on your unarmed DPS. This means stacking Physical and Elemental Damage as primary sources, and using a shield to add defensive flexibility.

Lycosidae makes your hits always land, making it easier to manage the passive tree.

NOTE: While leveling, aim for the following stats on any fillers you use in either slot.  This assumes you’re using another melee skill to level while farming the currency to buy the uniques you need.

Min. requirements:
Maximum Life
Physical Damage Mods
Uncapped Resistances
Optional affixes:
Elemental Damage Mode


Helmet

Starkonja’s Head grants really good Life bonuses and increased Attack Speed. It’s an OK choice for this build as a cheap early game pickup. Replace it with an Abyssus later in mapping though.

A Rare with a pretty standard array of stats is another potential placeholder here. The real star for this slot that makes the build shine a good Labyrinth Enchant, check above for the recommendations for that. Otherwise, here’s the stat recommendations.

Min. requirements:
100 maximum Life
Uncapped Resistances(40%)
Optional affixes:
Life Regenerated per second

Body Armor

The easier option here is a Loreweave for the added Elemental Damage.

If you want to use a Rare instead, go for one with as much Life and Armour as you can get. Although I would strongly recommend sticking with a Loreweave for this build.

Min. requirements:
100 maximum Life
2000 Armour
Added Elemental Damage
Optional affixes:
Elemental Resistances
Increased Maximum Life Elder mod

Belt

Belt of the Deceiver can be a good starter Unique for really cheap.  The stats on it are great all around for getting through the beginning of end-game content. Switch it out fairly quickly though as you’ll need more Damage and Life later on.

Abyss Belts with Life and Resistances are a good option for more difficult end-game sections and bosses. Other Rares might do in a pinch, but not having good rolls can make you a lot more squishy than is tolerable. Abyss Jewels are also a great source for damage buffs as well. Buffing your damage and Life is the best bet here with Jewels.

Darkness Enthroned, when combined with Abyss Jewels that buff the right damage and resists, is BIS.

Elder/Shaper variants are good too, assuming you can get a good combo of Life and Resists on them.

Min. requirements:
50 maximum Life
Added Physical Damage
Uncapped Resistances
Optional affixes:
Added Elemental Damage

Gloves

Facebreakers is the basis of this build, and can be obtained really easily. Make sure to combine with the Claw nodes on the Passive Tree and Rigwald’s Curse to effectively scale DPS. No real replacement with this setup without major Passive Tree changes.

Boots

Kaom’s Roots are good stop-gap Unique due to the ability to keep your speed up, because you’ll need to be dodging damage while your attackss mop up.

Rare boots with max rolled Life, Resists and Movement Speed are great as a generic choice, but you may find yourself a bit more prone to taking hits than you would like. This one is more of a personal judgment call. Although if you’re running a high-end boss like Uber Elder, Kaom’s are your best bet.

Min. requirements:
60 maximum Life
30% increased Movement Speed
Any Uncapped Resistances (>25%)

Amulet

Rigwald’s Curse is a vital Unique for end-game content as it allows much more DPS scaling through buffs to Claw Attacks.

An Amulet with a combination or high Intelligence, Physical Damage and Life is a good choice here for early game.

If using a Rare, Get a Shaper/Elder and stack as much life as you can on your Amulet to prevent feeling too squishy. Extra flat added damage of multiple types is good here too. Gain x% Physical as Elemental or Elemental Penetration work great in this slot as well.

Min. requirements:
80 Maximum Life
Attributes (Intelligence/Dexterity)
Added Physical Damage
Uncapped Resistances
Optional affixes:
Added Elemental Damage

Rings

The Taming Unique rings are really strong here. The damage and resists are just insanely good for filling holes.

Rare Steel/Opal Rings are great for this build and it’s Physical and Elemental Damage. Use the stats below as a guide for that.

Min. requirements:
60 Maximum Life
Added Physical Damage to Attacks
Uncapped Resistances (>25%)
Optional affixes:
Attributes (Strength/Intelligence)

Flasks

Lion’s Roar – This utility Flask is a great addition for an emergency reduction to incoming DPS. If you need to get out of harms way, quaff this and start moving.

The Wise Oak – This flask is great for both defenses and damage scaling with this build.

Atziri’s Promise – Chaos Resistance is always a challenge, but the added Leech can help you stay alive as well.

Taste of Hate – The damage mitigation by converting Physical to Cold is really useful, and the Freeze immunity potential is great for emergency escapes.

Other Flasks:
Diamond

Other Needed Mods:
Bleed Removal

You can swap these mods around if needed due to RNG.

Jewels

Rare Jewels can run with the following stats:

Recommended affixes:
% Increased Maximum Life
% Increased Physical/Melee/Area Damage
Crit Chance/Multiplier Buffs
Optional affixes:
% Increased Attack Speed

Abyss Jewels:

Watcher’s Eye – Get a version with added Crit Chance for a good DPS buff.

Recommended affixes:
Maximum Life Buffs (+Flat and % Increased)
Multiple Flat Added Damage Mods (Physical)
Increased Attack Speed
Optional affixes:
Crit Chance/Multi Buffs

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