Build Introduction
This ultimate Ice Sorceress leveling build revolves around 
Ice Shards and its Enchantment, accompanied by the 
Familiar conjuration for more Frost power. It enables massive damage against large groups of enemies when combined with 
Frost Nova, while also providing sufficient single-target damage.
This build empowers players to inflict a hefty amount of damage through Frost, Vulnerability, and Chill effects, augmented by passive amplifiers, all while maintaining control over the battlefield through defensive Freeze, Chill, and Slow techniques.
Check our Leveling Tier List to see how this build compares to others.
Quick Navigation
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Allocation of Skill Points
Below is the optimal order for spending your points as you level up. If you are missing skill points, complete Renown Tier 1-3 in every zone.
Skill Bar and Skill Tree Points
Blizzard
Ice Armor
TeleportFamiliar
Frost Bolt
Ice ShardsIf you are unsure how to use these skills, read the Build Mechanics section after setting up your skill bar.
Wondering what comes after Level 60 or which Paragon boards to pick? Head to the Sorcerer Builds page and choose an endgame build to continue progressing your character even further.
Sorceress Class Mechanic — Enchantment Slots
The Specialization of the Sorceress Class becomes available at Level 15. It is recommended to complete the Legacy of The Magi questline, within the Fractured Peaks, as soon as possible to unlock the first Enhancement Slot. The second slot will become available upon reaching Level 30. In the Eternal Realm, you only need to do this questline once per class.
Each Non-Ultimate Skill is associated with an Enchantment effect, and any Non-Ultimate Skill can be equipped in an Enchantment Slot. However, a skill must have at least one skill point allocated to it in order to be used in the Enchantment Slot. Skill points that have been granted through gear work as well.
Fireball is slotted into the first Enchantment Slot upon unlocking it at Level 15. Fireball in the Enchantment slot increases area damage early on by triggering enemy explosions helping you to handle bigger groups. - Ice Shards is then slotted into the second Enchantment Slot after unlocking it at Level 30. Having Ice Shards in the Enchantment slot allows the shards to automatically target Frozen enemies, which greatly benefits this build as enemies will frequently remain frozen, enabling increased damage against them.
Gear, Stats, Gems, and Runes
When picking your gear, higher Item Power generally indicates stronger gear, but you should also consider the affixes and effects that are relevant to your class and build. When making gear decisions, keep an eye on both Item Power and the specific attributes that complement the build.
Legendary Aspects
For general information on how to unlock the Codex of Power, head to our dedicated Aspects and Codex of Power guide. You can imprint Apsects onto items by visiting the Occultist.
Listed below are all the Aspects that are important for the Ice Sorceress leveling build. Equip any aspect from this list in the slot it drops for, as they are all useful while leveling.
If you need a specific pointer as to which aspect to get first, the 
Aspect of Piercing Cold would be the most beneficial during leveling. You can unlock this aspect by completing the Dead Man’s Dredge Dungeon in Fractured Peaks. For best results, combine these Aspects with the right stat/affix priorities.
| Aspect Name | Legendary Aspect Power | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Aspect of Piercing Cold (Offensive) | Ice Shards pierces 5 times and deals 35-50%[x] increased damage, and an additional 10%[x] more damage per subsequent enemy hit. | Dead Man’s Dredge, Fractured Peaks |
| Shivering Aspect (Offensive) | Enemies take up to 35-55%[x] increased damage based on how much they are Chilled or Staggering. You apply 15% more Chill. | |
| Aspect of Biting Cold(Offensive) | When you Freeze an enemy, there is a % chance they become Vulnerable for 3 seconds. | Forgotten Depths, Dry Steppes |
| Aspect of Control (Offensive) | You deal more damage to Immobilized, Stunned, or Frozen enemies. | Sunken Library, Kehjistan |
| Winter Touch Aspect (Offensive) | When enemies are Frozen, they take {#} damage. This damage counts as a Frost Skill. | Random Drop, Obols |
 Aspect of Disobedience(Defensive) | You gain % increased Armor for 4 seconds when you deal any form of damage, stacking up to x%. | Halls of the damned, Kehjistan |
 Aspect of Elemental Acuity (Resource) | Casting a pyromancy, shock, or frist skill increases your mana regeneration by x% for 5 seconds, once per element. At maximum stacks, the total bonus is increased to x% for 10 seconds, but all stacks expire after the duration. | Random drop, Obols |
| Snowveiled Aspect (Defensive) | Casting  Ice Armor makes you unstoppable and grants you 25% Damage Reduction for x seconds. | Sarat’s Lair, Scosglen |
| Aspect of Elements (Offensive) | Gain x% increased damage to a set of damage types for 7 seconds. This effect alternates between 2 sets: – fire, lightning, and physical – cold, poison, and shadow | Random drop, Obols |
| Storm Swell Aspect (Offensive) | You deal x% increased Damage to Vulnerable enemies while you have a Barrier. | Onyx Hold, Dry steppes |
 Aspect of the Bounding Conduit (Mobility) | Gain x% Movement Speed for 3 seconds after using  Teleport. | Komdor Temple, Dry Steppes |
Stat Priority and Tempering Affixes
During your leveling journey, you may stumble across items with very good affixes. Tempering these items can provide you with a significant boost in character power, so make sure you understand how it works.
Tempering is only possible if you have already found a few Tempering Manuals while leveling!
Keep an eye out for the following stats and modifiers that are particularly beneficial for this build (listed in order of importance):
| Gear Slot | Important Affixes (ranked by priority) | Tempering Recipes and Affixes |
|---|---|---|
| Weapons | 1. Intelligence 2. Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies 3. Core Skill Damage |  Frost Augments (Weapon): Chance for Ice Shards Projectiles to Cast TwiceFrost Finesse (Offensive): Cold Damage |
| Focus | 1. Mana Cost Reduction, Cooldown Reduction 2. Resource Generation 3. Resource Cost Reduction | Frost Augments (Weapon): Chance for Ice Shards Projectiles to Cast TwiceFrost Finesse (Offensive): Cold Damage |
| Helm | 1. Resistances 2. Cooldown Reduction 3. Intelligence | Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control DurationWorldly Endurance (Defensive): Maximum Life |
| Chest | 1. Ranks to All Defensive Skills 2. Resistances 3. Maximum Life | Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control DurationWorldly Endurance (Defensive): Total Armor |
| Gloves | 1. Ranks of Ice Shards 2. Critical Strike Chance, Attack Speed 3. Vulnerable Damage | Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control DurationFrost Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Frozen Enemies |
| Pants | 1. Intelligence 2. Maximum Life 3. Resistances | Natural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control DurationWorldly Endurance (Defensive): Maximum Life |
| Boots | 1. Mana Cost Reduction, Movement Speed 2. Ranks of Familiar 3. Resistances | Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement SpeedNatural Schemes (Utility): Crowd Control Duration |
| Amulet | 1. Cooldown Reduction 2. Ranks of All Defensive Skills 3. Resource Cost Reduction, Resource Generation | Natural Motion (Mobility): Movement SpeedNatural Finesse (Offensive): Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies |
| Rings | 1. Resource Generation 2. Maximum Life 3. Critical Strike Chance, Vulnerable Damage | Worldly Stability (Resource): Resource Generation or Resource Cost ReductionWorldly Finesse (Offensive): Critical Strike Damage |
Want to jump back up to the gear table?
Gems and Runewords
Listed below are the best Gems to socket into gear for each item type.
Gems
| Weapon Gems | Armor Gems | Jewelry Gems |
|---|---|---|
 SapphireFor Vulnerable Damage |  TopazFor Intelligence. |  Skull For more Armor. |
Runewords
If you find one of the Runes listed below, you can equip them as a Runeword on your Chest or Pants.
| Runeword Combination | Runeword Effects |
|---|---|
| Tam Gar |  Tam – Gain: 25 Offering — ast a non-Channeled Core Skill. Gar – Requires: 25 Offering, Cooldown: 1 Second — Gain 2.5% Critical Strike Chance for 5 seconds, up to 25%. |
| Lith Ohm |  Lith – Gain: 25 Offering — Stand still for 0.3 seconds. Ohm – Requires: 500 Offering, Cooldown: 2 Seconds — Evoke the Barbarian’s  War Cry, increasing your Movement Speed and damage dealt. |
Paragon starts at Level 60. So, once you reach this level, switch to one of our Endgame Builds here.
Boss Powers (Season 8)
During Season 8, you can unlock and rank up Boss Powers using Spectral Ash earned from Apparition Incursions, which provide powerful bonuses to support your build as you level.
| Slot | Boss Power & Drop Location | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Main Power | Any World Boss power | Please refer to the listed powers here. |
| Modifier | Beastmaster’s Training (Incursion) | Your Summons deal 5%[x] more damage, increased by 0.25%[x] for each 1% Bonus Critical Strike Damage you have from items and Paragon, up to a maximum of 17%[x]. |
| Modifier | Torusk’s Rage (Incursion) | Gain 5%[+] Attack Speed, increased by 0.25%[+] for each 1% Damage to Crowd Controlled Enemies you have, up to a maximum of 10.5%[+]. |
| Modifier | Avarice’s Explosive Ore (World Boss) | Activating your Main Boss Power spends all your Primary Resource to increase its damage by 0.01%[x] per Resource point spent. |
Mercenaries
During the Vessel of Hatred campaign, you will unlock Mercenaries to assist you. While you can choose freely early on, we recommend Raheir as your main companion, for the added survivability he provides, and Varyana as Reinforcement.
Raheir Skill Tree choices:
- Core Skill:
Ground Slam - Core Passive:
Raheir’s Aegis - Iconic Skill:
Bastion - Iconic Passive:
Inspiration
Varyana Reinforcement choices:
- Opportunity Skill: Ice Armor
- Reinforcement Skill:
Shockwave, then switch 
Bloodthirst as soon as you unlock it, for increased Attack Speed.
Build Mechanics
Rotation and Playstyle
The primary damage dealing skills in this build are Ice Shards and Familiar. Ice Shards serves as the main single target damage skill, but when enhanced with the ricochet effect, it adds an AoE (area-of-effect) aspect to the build. Placing Ice Shards in the enhancement slot maximizes its potential by sending fully upgraded shards towards already Frozen enemies, allowing them to ricochet between multiple targets, and deal significant damage both individually and to groups.
When combined with a fully upgraded Familiar, enemies will remain Frozen or Chilled indefinitely, allowing your ice shard to deal much more damage. The Familiar also assists with Crowd Control and does a significant amount of damage. Even if you are Stunned or Frozen, the Familiar will be able to help you by defeating the enemies around you.
Blizzard will also deal additional damage and Chill enemies around you, so use it on cooldown.
Teleport provides essential mobility, while Ice Armor offers protection.
Engage battles at range with the following rotation.
- Teleport to close the gap if needed and gain some damage reduction.
- Ice Armor to gain more protection.
- Use Familiar to Chill and freeze enemies and make sure to keep using it on cooldown, summoning more Familiars to help you.
- Blizzard to Chill everything and deals additional damage to your surrounding enemies.
- Spam Ice Shards to maximize damage while enemies are Frozen and Vulnerable.
- Use
Frost Bolt if in need of Mana.
Mana Generator Rotation
Use the following rotation to generate Mana and finish off wounded enemies.
- Teleport away to avoid danger.
- Use Ice Armor to generate some Mana.
- Spam Frost Bolt to generate more Mana while finishing off remaining enemies at range.
Which Elixirs Should You Use?
Head to the Alchemist in any main town and craft Elixirs to boost your stats and experience gain for 30 minutes! Remember to gather the necessary crafting materials by foraging plants (to get 
Bundled Herbs)
Listed below are Elixirs that will be useful for you while leveling as an Ice Sorcerer:
Elixir of Advantage to boost Attack Speed.
Elixir of Momentum for increased Movement Speed.
Elixir of Iron Barbs or 
Elixir of Fortitude to increase your defense a little bit until other options become available.
Return to the Alchemist again when you reach Level 5, 10, 15, 22, 30, 35, 40, and 50, to upgrade your potion. The extra healing is essential to survival! You can upgrade your potion at Level 60 multiple times, depending on whether you have the required materials or not.
Season 8 Updates
For a complete overview of Season 8, its mechanics and theme, new leveling activity, and other changes coming with this season, please take a look at our comprehensive season hub here.
Here is a quick overview of seasonal changes relevant to this build:
- Blizzard: Adding new terms Frostbiting / Frostbitten for Cold Damage over time.
- New Description: Call forth a frigid blizzard that deals 210% Frostbite damage and continually Chills enemies for 18% over 8 seconds.
- Aspect of Piercing Cold:
- Previous: Ice Shards pierce 10 times, dealing 4-10%[x] more damage per subsequent enemy hit.
- Now: Ice Shards pierce 5 times and deals 35-50%[x] increased damage, and an additional 10%[x] more damage per subsequent enemy hit.
Avalanche: - Previous: Lucky Hit: Your Frost Skills have up to a 30% chance to make your next cast of Ice Shards, Frozen Orb, or Blizzard consume no Mana and deal 60%[x] increased damage. Damage is increased by an additional 25%[x] against Vulnerable enemies.
- Now: Your Frost Skills cost 30% less Mana and deal 60%[x] increased damage. Damage is increased by an additional 25%[x] against Vulnerable enemies.
- Ice Shards: Shard projectiles now spawn slightly further behind the player to consistently hit close enemies.
- Familiar: The casting of Familiar has been refined, resulting in snappier gameplay.
Difficulty and Endgame
Once you hit Level 60 with this build, you will be ready to tackle harder difficulties as you transition into more challenging endgame content. Make sure to pick one of our recommended endgame builds to continue your journey! Additionally, keep your Obols until you reach maximum Level (60), then spend them on a weapon to kickstart your preferred endgame build.
Changelog
- April 24, 2025: Guide updated for Season 8. Removed Frost Nova for Blizzard. Add Boss Powers.
- January 17th, 2025: Guide updated for Season 7.
- Renamed Conjuration Mastery passive as Primordial Binding.
- Added Witchcraft Powers recommendations.
- Updated Season 7 change list.
- October 3rd, 2024: Guide updated for Vessel of Hatred and Season 6.
- Switched out Blizzard for Familiar.
- Updated Legendary Aspects.
- Updated Tempering Affixes.
- Updated Season 6 changes list.
- August 2nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 5.
- May 10th, 2024: Guide updated for Season 4.
- March 5th, 2024: Guide updated for Patch 1.3.3.
- January 22nd, 2024: Guide updated for Season 3.
- October 17th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 2.
- August 7th, 2023: Moved this build to its own separate page.
- August 5th, 2023: Guide updated for Patch 1.1.1.
- July 18th, 2023: Guide updated for Season 1.
