Coolest Cold Sorc
These are changes to the Cold Armor buffs that make the cold tree more fun and better to level with (as 1-point wonder). They provide distinct advantages to Defense for Hardcore mode.
- Frozen Armor
- Triggers an Ice blast
- Now increases base armor points (+Defense instead of +% Enhanced Defense)
- Shiver Armor
- Triggers a Frost Nova
- Highest +% Enhanced Defense again
- Chilled Armor
- Triggers an Ice Bolt
- Now provides +Defense vs. Missile
The (free!) proc damage now actually launches a REAL Ice Bolt (or Ice Blast or Frost Nova) at the level of the skill WITH synergies.
Any hard points put into any of the buffs upgrades all the buffs equally due to synergies being the same as the incremental benefit of the skill itself — much like how Bone Armor works in the Necromancer skill tree.
The armor bonuses are now situational. You should now switch between the different buffs depending on ranged/melee enemies. The base +Defense from Frozen Armor provides new options for building tanky on early Hardcore.
Frozen Armor ❄️ (Skill Tier Level 1)
Frozen Armor
Increases your defense and freezes enemies that hit you with an Ice Blast.
Current Skill Level: 20
Defense: +525 [Base: +50, PerLvL: +25]
Shout Receives Bonuses From:
Ice Blast
Shiver Armor +25 Defense per Level
Chilling Armor +25 Defense per Level
+Defense is powerful with sources of +% Enhanced Defense, such as Defiance aura from an Act 2 mercenary, especially with low defense from equipment
Shiver Armor 🥶 (Skill Tier Level 12)
Chilling Armor 🪭 (Skill Tier Level 24)
Chilling Armor
Increases your defense and discharges an Ice Bolt in retaliation against ranged attackers.
Current Skill Level: 20
Defense: +125% [Base: +30%, PerLvL: +5%]
Defense vs. Missile: +2100 [Base: +200, PerLvL: +100]
Shout Receives Bonuses From:
Ice Bolt
Frozen Armor +5% Defense, +100 Defense vs. Missile per Level
Shiver Armor +5% Defense, +100 Defense vs. Missile per Level
Hardcore the Sorceress
Sorceress actually needs all the protection she can get on Hardcore mode. Only quite seasoned players can reliably telefarm early ladder without hearing the Ahhhhhhrrrrr!..
The 2.4 patch changed some things around that don’t make sense: The synergies don’t really do anything (cold damage +9%, duration +10 seconds). Chilling Armor was changed to give the most +% Enhanced Defense instead of Shiver Armor but I think that’s wrong reasoning — probably done because ranged monsters have higher Attack Rating than melee monsters.
To those who don’t know the difference between Frozen and Shiver Armor:
- Frozen Armor freezes melee monsters that actually damage the caster.
- Shiver Armor chills melee monsters that just swings at the caster. It’s the much better choice when you have some defense and don’t have 95% chance to be hit, or use a shield.
Having more options for building tanky is fun in general, but currently at Normal and Nightmare the cold armor buffs don’t provide much practical benefit, and Energy Shield (Level 24) isn’t valuable at all until you can afford to put 20 points into Telekinesis.
The Ice Bolt, Ice Blast, Glacial Spike line is underused, especially during leveling.
Frost Nova proc (at swing, not hit) should be fun and differentiates it from Nova.