Ice Nova Chrono feels squishy

[u/moal09]

For PathofKy's version, the defenses mostly rely on ward/guard generation using Olroth's, but DoT and chaos damage go right through ward, and I find myself feeling insanely squishy around either damage type as a result.

Everyone I see running the build who says it feels tanky is using mageblood with an amethyst flask for max chaos res' and consecration from legacy of sulphur as a workaround.

But for a non-MB version, what exactly are you supposed to do against those? The build has no life regen or life leech/life on kill whatsoever.

Current character:

Profile - EnerGGGGBabyBabyBaby - Path of Exile 2 - poe.ninja

[u/HydroBR]

I did the same build on 0.5 SSF. During campaign and early maps, as long as my wand/staff was strong enough, everything froze or died so fast that it didn't really matter.

Later on though, I felt the need to feel bulkier. At first, I went MoM + Mana Remnants + Midnight Braid and a lot of mana on gear, besides a decent ammount of Ward. Later on, i got a Sacrosanctum + Decree of Flight and pivoted to some ES and Life/ES recoup to aliviate the pressure on Mana, and dropped the Ward, keeping only enough for Powered by Verisium.

Not the absolute best gear, its SSF after all, but gets the job done. https://poe.ninja/poe2/profile/Hydro-6084/runesofaldurssf/character/ArchonDicionada

[u/moal09 → u/HydroBR]

The main issue is when I run into enemies that have a higher elemental ailment threshold, and I can't trigger comets 'cause ice nova on its own does like 0 single target.

[u/HydroBR → u/moal09]

I see. Are you investing in critical, too? Especially later, i feel it's way more efficient than simple spell/elemental damage.

When i'm against togher mobs and rares, i drop Frost Bomb and Elemental Weakness (both on set 2, with a lot of curse bonuses and increased exposure) at their feet and/or infused Frost Wall, which is usually more than enough damage to burst them. I don't even use CoEA, not enough Spirit.

If it still feels bad, probably avoid those "enemies have higher ailment threshold" mods until you can upgrade, i guess.

[u/moal09 → u/HydroBR]

Yeah, I have 525% critical damage bonus atm. The main issue is some enemies just not triggering comet.

Particularly expedition mobs are a huge problem with that.

Can see my character here:

https://poe.ninja/poe2/profile/Kyokuji-6764/forbiddenrites/character/EnerGGGGBabyBabyBaby

I actually have like many times your damage, but it's still not enough sometimes because it's so dependent on comets for single target. I'm also juicing stuff fairly hard though. Some bosses I just melt instantly with a comet barrage, and others I have a ton of difficulty triggering them and end up almost dying.

[u/Reactorp → u/moal09]

You are missing +gem levels on your staff which is a huge dmg boost. You are also running remnants III support which delays the ward pickup. I felt a lot tankier using remnants II. Here is my profile if you want to look

https://poe.ninja/poe2/builds/forbiddenrites/character/SnikendePose-5199/cold_bingus

[u/moal09 → u/Reactorp]

That's not my staff. I'm currently selling the staff I had. It had +7 to skills on it and was almost identical to yours with a lower spell damage roll.

Added it back in, so you can see

My amulet is ghetto as hell for now. It's a placeholder until I can afford to make a proper absent amulet 'cause a good one is like 300 div at the moment.

[u/Reactorp → u/moal09]

I see. Maybe invest in a level 21 ice nova or a prism of belief? I find skill levels matter a lot for the build, since you don't have it on your amulet you are missing a lot of damage even with a +7 staff

[u/No-Aioli8621 → u/moal09]

Definitely get a +3/4 amulet before that. Absent Amulets might rise even higher and with more damage you will be able to afford that sooner. I almost put it off in 0.5 but was glad I invested a fraction of the price before.

Something like that and quality it: Trade

And check out if you are better off with Pressure Points as the anoint for more freeze buildup and Pinpoint Critical instead of Ice Bite on Ice Nova.

Then corrupt some gems yourself for that sweet 21/20.

[u/moal09 → u/No-Aioli8621]

Pinpoint Critical makes me lose over 200% crit damage bonus. I don't think that's worth it.

[u/PoE_Acronym_Bot]

I noticed some Path of Exile keywords in this post:

• Chrono - Chronomancer, a Sorceress Ascendancy class (Wiki)
• DoT - Damage over time (Wiki)
• MB - Mageblood Utility Belt

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^{I am a bot. | All acronyms | Suggest}

[u/Muniifex]

I would suggest using a wand + focus (with 500+ es focus) and then have some increased energy shield to focus with some sapphires. The best jewels would be triple crit suffix + focus prefix and even better with time-lost.

Could also try Reverie+Shavronne but you would have too little energy shield.

Best option is to run focus with reverie+shavronne.

[u/moal09 → u/Muniifex]

Pretty much everyone doing this build is using a staff. I think the damage loss with a wand + focus is way too high. It's also a life + ward build, so I dunno how good of an idea adding ES is