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PoE 2 Build

[0.4] Herald Chain Ice Wolf Invoker - Uber Endgame to Starter Build Guide

0.4 TLotD

Invoker

Monk

End Game

Starter

Creator

Featured

By FGKorbyn21

Updated on Jan 10, 2026

Jan 10, 2026

Build Overview

Here's my guide for my Herald Chain Ice Wolf Invoker League Starter and Endgame Build for Patch 0.4 The Last of the Druids!

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🚨Work in Progress, be sure to come by the Twitch Stream for the Newest Skill Tree and Gems as I'm changing it to test new things!🚨

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🚨I've included a League Starter Leveling Guide, Early Mapping Guide, and Endgame Guide to cover your run on Wolf from Start to Finish. Click the appropriate Tab for Gear and the Passive Tree🚨

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I use the Invoker Ascendancy on the New Wolf Shapeshift Abilities thanks to the shear amount of Spirit and Elemental Penetration that the Invoker allows us to get. We also get to start on one of the best Passive Tree areas allowing us to stack tons of Energy Shield, Evasion, and Critical Hit Chance.

We use Lunar Assault to clear packs of monsters by causing giant Herald of Ice Explosions! This is done by allowing Herald of Ice to break armor using things like Armour Break III and Uruk's Smelting which will cause Armour Explosion. This explosion can then Freeze thanks to our sources of Extra Damage as Cold such as Freezing Mark, Lunar Blessing, and Bhatair's Vengeance!

We'll map with Lunar Assault as our main skill but will mix in Pounce with Freezing Mark to grant Extra Damage as Cold and give some nice Movement Speed. We'll buff ourselves with Lunar Blessing to grant ourselves Extra Damage as Cold and to cause Ice Comets to rain down and cause Ice Explosions

We'll boss with Shred and Cross Slash. You'll Freeze the Boss and then start spamming Shred to drop Ice Fragments which will then be Detonated by Cross Slash. We'll buff our DPS in Boss Fights with Unbound Avatar and Lunar Blessing.

Our Defenses revolve around Evasion, Energy Shield, and Deflection. We'll stack tons of EV using Wind Dancer and sustain ES with Ghost Dance and Convalescence. We'll also use Blasphemy with Temporal Chains to slow down targets that get near us and extend the duration of our Freezes on Bosses! Currently I'm sitting at 5.8K ES, 71% EV, and 54% Deflection! You can also use the Shavronne's Satchel + Instant Recovery Life Flask if you want here as well.

Permanent Buff's From Act Rewards Recommendations:

Valley of the Titans

- +30% Increased Charm Charges

The Venom Crypts

- +25% Increased Stun Threshold

Halls of the Dead

- +5% Lightning Resistance
- +5% Cold Resistance
- +5% Fire Resistance

Goddess Of Justice

+30% Increased Mana Recovery from Flasks

The Seven Pillars

+5% to all Elemental Resistances (Interchangeable)
15% Increased Global Defenses (Interchangeable)

Strengths and Weaknesses

INSANE Clear Speed
Herald Chain Explosions
Chaos Damage Immunity (CI)
TONS of ES/EV/Deflect
Smooth and Easy Bossing
Extremely Fun to play

Not 1 Button
Melee is Tougher League Start
Riskier Playstyle (Skill Diff)

Build Variants

Uber Endgame Variant

Endgame Variant

Early Mapping Variant

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

This Variant is a High Investment version of the build that takes advantage of Headhunter for insane mapping speed along with Spirit Reservation Efficiency on the Body Armor and Dialla's Desire to squeeze in Convalescence for ES Sustain. Currently I have 11% Reservation Efficiency and 245 Spirit with 5 leftover. My Body Armor to achieve this Spirit is 1493 EV 571 ES.

You'll use Lunar Assault to Freeze Targets which will then explode when killed thanks to Herald of Ice. Use Pounce to Mark Targets with Freezing Mark for Extra Damage as Cold and More Freeze Buildup.

Use Lunar Blessing to Gain Extra Damage as Cold and to rain down Freezing Comets that'll increase our clear speed and single target DPS.

Use Shred on Frozen Bosses or Rare's for Single Target DPS, follow up with Cross Slash to Detonate the Ice Fragments for HUGE burst DPS.

Take Herald of Ice as your First Spirit Buff to increase your Clear Speed with all your Cold Skills. We'll go for Wind Dancer for Evasion, Ghost Dance for ES Sustain, and Eternal Rage for 24/7 uptime on Maximum Rage. Mana Remnants will sustain and overflow our Mana when killing enemies with Elemental Ailments or Critically Hitting.

The Armor Break Tech is as follows: Gain % of Damage as Extra Physical Damage from Talisman causes Herald of Ice to deal partially Physical Damage. Armour Break III Breaks Armour equal to 20% of Physical Damage dealt, Uruk's Smelting breaks 70% More Armour, and lastly Armour Explosion will cause an explosion when that Armour Breaks. Our sources of Gain Extra Damage as Cold from Skills such as Lunar Blessing and Freezing Mark along with the Cold Attunement Support Gem allow the Armour Explosion to deal enough Cold Damage to Freeze, this will re-proc Herald of Ice and start the chain over.

Equipment

Uber Endgame Variant

Endgame Variant

Early Mapping Variant

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

Set 1

Set 2

Equipment Priority

Talisman:

You're going to need a few things to make the Armor Break Tech work on your Talisman. The main thing required is Gain % of Damage as Extra Physical Damage! This allows Herald of Ice to deal Physical Damage so it can Break Armor! Otherwise get either a ton of Physical Damage, Cold Damage, or Increased Elemental Damage with Attacks for your Prefixes. For Suffixes, go for Critical Hit Chance, Level of All Attack Skills, Onslaught, Attack Speed, and Critical Damage Bonus.

The Spiny Talisman is the BEST base Talisman for this build as it has the highest Base Critical Hit Chance at 11%. Be sure to buy a Spiny Talisman when looking for one for the build! Socket with 1 Farrul's Rune of the Hunt and the rest Greater Iron Rune if Phys Based Talisman, otherwise Saqawal's Rune of the Sky.

Body Armor:

An EV/ES Hybrid Body Armor is the best option here as it offers a moderate amount of ES and EV also while allowing for Deflection or Energy Shield Recharge Rate if wanted. You'll want the highest EV/ES you can get as this increases the Spirit gained through the Lead me through Grace... Ascendancy Node! Socket with Greater Iron Rune.

Gloves:

An EV/ES, EV, or ES pair of Gloves will work. Go for Added Damage to Attacks, Attack Speed, + Level of All Melee Skills, Attributes, and any Resistances that you need. Leech % of Physical Damage as Mana is also nice if you decide to go with Oisín's Oath for Mana Leech. If over capped on Resistances, socket with Idol of Sirrius.

Helmet:

You'll want a pure Energy Shield Helmet as we use the Node Subterfuge Mask. This makes a 400 ES Helmet also grant 800 EV making it one of the best ES/EV Nodes on the entire tree. Go for the highest ES as possible, Critical Hit Chance, Attributes, and any needed Resistances. Squeeze in some Rarity here if possible. Socket with Tzamoto's Soul Core of Ferocity for +4 Max Rage or Greater Iron Rune for more ES.

Boots:

An EV/ES, EV, or ES pair of Boots will work. Go for Movement Speed, Deflection, Rarity, Attributes, and any Resistances that you can get. If over capped on Resistances, socket with Farrul's Rune of the Chase.

Amulet:

Any Amulet early on works but I would prefer the Gold Amulet or any Attribute Amulet. Go for % Maximum Energy Shield, % Increased Evasion Rating, Global Defenses, Rarity, Critical Hit Chance, Attributes , and any Resistances that's needed. + Level of Melee Skill is an option if you can handle the Mana consumption that'll increase your DPS a TON!

Anoint with Primal Rage to increase our Max Rage. This will increase our DPS and increase the duration of Lunar Blessing. I don't recommend trying to get this on a Megalomaniac as its very expensive.

Rings:

Use the Rings to fill out any missing Resistances and increase needed Stats.

Go for 2-3 Added Damages to Attack, preferably Cold, Phys, and Lightning. % Increased isn't as strong as flat. Fill out any needed Resistances, Attributes, and make sure to get some Rarity into your build as well. Eventually you'll need at least 1 Unset Ring so plan for that!

Belt:

If you can fit Convalescence, then use Headhunter for insane mapping speed. You'll have to watch out for ground effects and manage the cooldowns on Convalescence. Using this belt with this setup can get you killed if you're not good enough with it so be warned.

Jewels:

For Budget Non-Unique Jewels, you can go for Increased Cold Damage, Increased Elemental Damage, Increased Critical Hit Chance, Increased Critical Damage Bonus, Increased Damage while Shapeshifted, Increased Skill Speed while Shapeshifted, Increased Attack Speed, Increased Attack Damage, Increased Melee Damage, etc......

I use the Heart of the Well which can give Gain Extra Damage as Cold, Fire, Lightning, or Chaos for HUGE Damage. Expect to spend BIG for a two line Gain Extra Damage but it makes and insane boost.

I like to use a Time-Lost Sapphire with Critical Hit Chance and place it next to Stupefy to allow all the Nodes around that area to grant us extra bonuses. Not required by would take this at some point since there's so many Notables we take around this Jewel Socket.

The Uber Jewel I will use is a Megalomaniac with an Offensive and Defensive Notable.

I like Defensive Nodes such as Pocket Sand, The Wild Cat, Afterimage, Inner Faith, Patient Barrier, Chakra of Breathing, Enhanced Barrier, Spiral into Depression, Illuminated Crown, Calibration, and Storm Driven.

I like Offensive Nodes such as Primal Rage, Spirit of the Wolf, Swift Claw, Spirit of the Bear Stormcharged, Harness the Elements, Stormbreaker, Overwhelming Strike, Sundering, Deadly Flourish, Reaching Strike, and Rapid Strike.

These are just a few but I wanted to give examples as you don't have to have the same Notables as me. There are better options out there!

Skill Gems

Uber Endgame Variant

Endgame Variant

Early Mapping Variant

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

Support Gem Requirements:

Str 80

Dex 70

Int 75

Expand all

Unbound Avatar

Level 20

Shred

Level 20

Lunar Assault

Level 20

Pounce

Level 20

Lunar Blessing

Level 20

Cross Slash

Level 20

Herald of Ice

Level 20

Wind Dancer

Level 20

Eternal Rage

Level 20

Mana Remnants

Level 20

Ghost Dance

Level 20

Convalescence

Level 20

Gem Priority

+46

You'll need at 1 Unset Ring to fit all of the Skill Gems Shown Here!

You'll use Lunar Assault to Freeze Targets which will then explode when killed thanks to Herald of Ice. This is your main clear skill for the build.

Lunar Blessing is used to Gain Extra Damage as Cold for a HUGE DPS boost and cause Ice Comets to rain down for extra clear and single target DPS.

Use Pounce to Auto Mark Targets with Freezing Mark which will give us Extra Damage as Cold and More Freeze Buildup on Targets.

Use Shred on Frozen Bosses or Rare's for Single Target DPS. This will create Ice Fragments on Frozen Targets which will Explode for huge DPS. We'll also build Rage with Rage II for More Damage.

Cross Slash is a Detonator Skill so the Ice Fragments dropped by Shred can be instantly detonated when we use this skill for HUGE burst DPS.

Unbound Avatar can be used when mapping once you've built up enough energy but try to have it ready for bosses for 40% MORE Elemental Damage with Attacks!

Herald of Ice will Explode Frozen targets on death for a nice clear speed boost. Eternal Rage is used to sustain Max Rage so we can have the Damage Boost 24/7 and consistently have Max Duration on Lunar Blessing.

Wind Dancer will be used to Increase your Evasion Rating and add an extra Defensive Layer with Gale Force. If you get hit, it'll activate a blast that'll damage enemies. Ghost Dance will help Recover Energy Shield when we get hit. Convalescence will start our ES Recharge on demand and is needed if using Headhunter.

Use Mana Remnants to help sustain our Mana, you could also use Oisín's Oath if wanted. Khatal's Rejuvenation is a lineage gem that'll give us increased Cooldown Recovery Rate to help us use our skills more often.

Passive Tree

Uber Endgame Variant

Endgame Variant

Early Mapping Variant

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interlude Acts

main:

123

set 1:

set 2:

We'll go with Flow Like Water to Attack Faster. We'll start pathing to Tenfold Attacks for Attack Speed. Grab Killer Instinct for the constant 40% Attack Damage. Grab Blinding Strike to help Blind Targets and Attack Damage. Grab Agile Succession for Attack Speed.

Take Mindful Awareness for some EV/ES and then Essence of the Mountain for Freeze Buildup and Cold Damage. We take True Strike, For the Jugular, Deadly Force, Moment of Truth, Heartstopping, Struck Through, Heartstopping, Crashing Wave, Distracted Target, and Careful Assassin to help build into Critical Hit Chance and Critical Damage Bonus.

Take nodes such as Subterfuge Mask, Spectral Ward, Enhanced Reflexes, Patient Barrierand Beastial Skin to increase our Evasion and Energy Shield.

Take Chaos Inoculation to make us Immune to Chaos Damage and Bleeding. Your Stun Threshold is based off your life and since we now have 1 life, we have to take Abasement or else you'll get stunned constantly.

Thin Ice and Harness the Elements are great nodes for massive DPS increases. Be sure to pick these up to increase single target boss DPS.

I take Stupefy, Dizzying Hits, and Concussive Attack to ensure we Daze enemies and deal increased Damage / Increased Critical Hit Chance against Dazed enemies. These nodes also can give bonuses to the Time-Lost Sapphire that I use in the build.

Your First Set of Ascendancy Points should be I am the Blizzard... for the Cold Damage. Your Second Set of Ascendancy Points should be Unbound Avatar for HUGE Burst DPS. Your Third Set of Ascendancy Points should be Lead me through Grace... to build TONS of Spirit. Your Fourth Set of Ascendancy Points should be Sunder my Enemies... to allow your Critical Hits to Ignore Enemy Elemental Resistances.