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PoE Build

Lazy's Cold Dot Wintertide Brand Elementalist

3.27 KotF
Starter
Speed Leveling
End Game
Verified
presentationWitch
presentationElementalist
Featured
Updated on Nov 13, 2025
Nov 13, 2025

Path of Building Code

Build Overview

Hey guys, It's Lazy Exile, and I want to share my Cold Dot Elementalist (Wintertide Brand).

This is a League Starter build, it's meant to be play on League Start to Early and Mid-Game. Capable of farming Red Maps on a Budget. Then transition into other End Game Setup.

(I'll be league starting this build, catch me live on Twitch)

Build Summary

The Cold Dot Elementalist uses Golems as stats sticks, and snowball the early game pretty easy. On top of that, Cold Dot have good early game scaling, and Wintertide Brand + Cold Snap is quite comfy.

If you like to level one character per league, this is a good choice as it can easily transition into higher budget Elementalist builds or Occultist/Necromancer.

The build is a comfy 2-buttons playstyle, but not too spammy. We have ES/Evasion + Chills to have good DPS uptime on boss. On league start gear, you can get 2 voidstones, and with budget, low investment setup, you can get to 4 voidstones.

Build Variants

Step-by-Step Leveling Setup through the Acts, and Transition to Mapping Setup. Pick the correct variants depending on your progressions.

POB (full updates): https://pobb.in/HxBvDsRuloMH

League Updates

Day 1 Update: https://youtu.be/-n_F9TBlsh4

Day 2 Update: https://youtu.be/XbOXrDnO1zo

Day 3 Setup: https://pobb.in/w6FQvwGmsHmk

Day 4 LL Swap: https://pobb.in/YcMRr26vABUA

Strengths And Weaknesses

  • Excellent League Starter
  • Smooth Progression to Red Map on a Budget
  • Comfy Mapper
  • Good Defense and Recovery
  • Transition into many flexible endgame build
  • Bad Scaling
  • Expensive Endgame due to popularity of Elementalist

Build Variants

Low Life Swap

This setup is an end game setup for Red Map End Game Farming. Further investment into the build is possible, but this is where the build plateau, but will be capable of farming most endgame content on T16 or T16.5, T17. And will fall off at juice mapping with Delirious.

Budget

Expected budget is 30+ Divines

As a part of Golem stacking shenanigans with Primordial Bond, The Tides of Time, Aegis Aurora, we gets a bunch of sustain and free points to get more damage.

Equipment

Tulborn
Amethyst Ring
Paladin Gloves
The Dark Monarch (Animated Weapons)
Saintly Chainmail
The Tides of Time
Doedre's Damning
Aegis Aurora
Paladin Boots
Coruscating Elixir
Oriath's End
Silver Flask
Cataclysm Prism
Dusk Shard
Ghoul Eye
Luminous Cut
Brutal Restraint
Foulborn The Blue Dream
Primordial Eminence
Primordial Eminence
Primordial Eminence
The Anima Stone
The Light of Meaning
Watcher's Eye
Phoenix Wisdom

Equipment Guide

Gear & Stats Priorities

Tulborn (Foulborn version)

  • +4 to All Cold Spell Skill Gems

Aegis Aurora

  • Corrupted for % block, % spell block should be expensive but nice

The Dark Monarch (Summoned Golems)

  • Corrupted for increased Effect of Cold Ailments or Shock Effect

Sacred Chainmail (ES & Armour base)

  • ES & Armour
  • Open suffix for multi-mod % chance to block attack damage
  • Implicit Eater & Exarch
    • Effect of Golems & chance to block attack damage

Paladin Gloves (ES & Armour base)

  • ES & Armour
  • Implicit Eater & Exarch
    • Cold Damage over Time multi & Cold exposure on hit

Paladin Boots (ES & Armour base)

  • Movement Speed
  • Elemental Resistances / Chaos Resistances (until cap)
  • Crafted Increased Effect of Non-Damaging Ailments

Anathema / Doedre's Damning

  • Make sure you have 2 curses in the build

Opal Ring

  • Craft with Essence of Delirium for Damage over Time Multiplier
  • Useful stats are ES / Strength / Dex / Resistances

Replica Dragonfang's Flight

  • Replica Dragonfang's Flight with +3 Wintertide Brand
  • Anoint with Charisma (to run all of our auras)
  • If you want to use Ashes of the Stars, you need 2% reservation efficiency corrupted on any jewels

The Tides of Time

  • Utility Flasks gain 3 charges every 3 seconds (mandatory)

Flasks

  • Coruscating Elixir (to prevent chaos damage bypass to kill you since we're on lowlife)
  • Oriath's End / Bismuth Flask (helps with Resistances), and the former add explody into the build
  • Silver Flask, Quartz Flask or Granite Flask (you can only pick 1)
    • Need increased Charge Recovery
    • Suffixes can be additional Elemental Resistances / Movement Speed / % armour

Grafts

  • Freezing Tulgraft - with Frostbite on hit by skills from Graft
    • This will allows us to run double curse setup by self-cast Elemental Weakness
    • Frostbite will applies from Graft
    • +1 limit curse from Doedre's Damning or Anathema

FAQs to run LL Setup

Getting at least 70+ attack blocks

  • Blocks on body armour as a prefix (5-7%)
  • Blocks on body armour as Eater of World implicit
  • Blocks on small clusters Second Skin, etc... (many other options) as long as it's on a +2% chance to block attack damage small cluster
  • Corrupted Aegis Aurora for attack block chance
  • Watcher's Eye with +7% chance to block attack damage while affected by Determination

Perma Flasks uptime

  • With The Tides of Time we get 3 utility flasks charges per 3 seconds
  • Use Brutal Restraint (Balbala The Traitor) to get The Traitor keystone
    • Having 2 empty flask slots we get 8 flask charges per 5 seconds
  • Watch out for mod that drains flask charge
  • We need perma uptime on Coruscating Elixir or you can randomly die to Chaos Damage
  • We also need perma uptime on Bismuth Flask for resistances

Corrupted Blood Immunity

  • Get one rare jewels with Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you implicit and:
    • Cold damage over time multiplier
    • Maximum energy shield
    • any other generic damage increased modifiers

Turn on Determination to go into Low Life

  • Run a level 20 Arrogance Support link with Determination
    • You do need the gem level to be at level 20 so go buy one on trade

Primordial

  • The Anima Stone + x3 Primordial Eminence gives +1 maximum golems
    • If you can get this corrupted with immunity to Corrupted Blood, then you can run Forbidden Flame / Flesh combo for Frigid Wake

Foulborn The Blue Dream

  • Insanely efficient near the Endurance notables
    • Tattoo for lightning resistances on the Intelligence nodes to get up to 38% increased maximum energy shield with a single jewel slot

Passive Tree

main:
123
123
ascendancy:
8
8
Keystones
Pain Attunement
30% more Spell Damage when on Low Life
Divine Shield
Cannot Recover Energy Shield to above Armour 3% of Physical Damage prevented from Hits Recently is Regenerated as Energy Shield per second
Eternal Youth
50% less Life Regeneration Rate 50% less maximum Total Life Recovery per Second from Leech Energy Shield Recharge instead applies to Life
Zealot's Oath
Life Regeneration is applied to Energy Shield instead
Runebinder
-1 to maximum number of Summoned Totems You can have an additional Brand Attached to an Enemy
Masteries
Brand Mastery (2)
Brands Attach to a new Enemy each time they Activate, no more than once every 0.3 seconds
You can Cast 2 additional Brands
Cold Mastery (2)
+1% to Cold Damage over Time Multiplier for each 4% Overcapped Cold Resistance
-30% to Fire Resistance
+1 to Level of all Cold Skill Gems
Caster Mastery (1)
6% increased Cast Speed for each different Non-Instant Spell you've Cast Recently
Shield Mastery (1)
+1% Chance to Block Attack Damage per 5% Chance to Block on Equipped Shield
Mana Mastery (1)
12% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills
Armour and Energy Shield Mastery (1)
Recover 5% of Energy Shield over 1 second when you take Physical Damage from an Enemy Hit

Keystones

  • Pain Attunement should be click when you're ready with The Tides of Time, Brutal Restraint (Balbala The Traitor), and Coruscating Elixir setup. Don't try to run without these or you'll die

Masteries

  • Cold mastery should be taken if you have good amount of overcap Cold Resistances
  • Additional Brand is good because you can spam Brand during map without overriding old one

Skills

Apocalypse Shroud
Saintly Chainmail
Wintertide Brand
Inspiration
Hypothermia
Arcane Surge
Efficacy
Awakened Controlled Destruction
Damnation March
Paladin Boots
Summon Flame Golem
Summon Stone Golem
Summon Lightning Golem
Summon Stone Golem of Hordes
The Dark Monarch
Lich's Circlet
Vaal Cold Snap
Bonechill
Summon Chaos Golem
Efficacy
Beast Talons
Paladin Gloves
Malevolence
Tempest Shield
Aegis Aurora
Champion Kite Shield
Shield Charge
Faster Attacks
Foulborn Tulborn
Opal Wand
Determination
Arrogance
Beast Talons
Paladin Gloves
Elemental Weakness
Beast Talons
Paladin Gloves
Discipline
Aegis Aurora
Champion Kite Shield
Frostblink
Foulborn Tulborn
Opal Wand
Frost Bomb
Frostbite
Doedre's Damning
Paua Ring
Conductivity

Skills Setup

Auras

  • Malevolence is our damage aura (high priority)
  • Flesh and Stone needs to be on Sand Stance
  • Determination gives armour and help with our Armour / ES tankiness
  • Tempest Shield helps with Spell Blocks + prevent Shocks (dangerous ailment)

Golems

  • Summon Chaos Golem gives Damage over Time Multiplier & Chaos resistance
  • Summon Flame Golem gives AoE & Damage
  • Summon Stone Golem gives tankiness and regen
  • Summon Lightning Golem gives attack & cast speed & mana regen
  • Summon Stone Golem of Hordes is important to gives us extra damage with extra golems when using with The Dark Monarch (Summoned Golems) & Primordial Bond

Active Skills

  • Wintertide Brand
    • Awakened Controlled Destruction Support - very good damage link
    • Inspiration Support - adds a bit of damage and lower the mana cost for comfy mapping
    • Efficacy Support - damage over time link
    • Arcane Surge Support - damage link
    • Hypothermia Support - damage link
  • Vaal Cold Snap
    • Bonechill Support - Adds bonechill debuffs
    • Efficacy Support - Damage over time and duration
  • Elemental Weakness - our second curse (manually cast)
    • We have auto Frostbite from Freezing Tulgraft
  • Frost Bomb - Apply Cold Exposure

How it Plays

Rotation

Bossing

  1. Cast your curses (Frostbite, Elemental Weakness) or Arcanist Brand
  2. Cast Frost Bomb for exposure
  3. Cast Cold Snap on CD
  4. Cast Wintertide Brand x3
  5. Keep rotating between 3 & 4, reapply 1 & 2 if needed

Mapping

  1. Cast Cold Snap on CD (or just enough to keep 3x Frenzy Charge up)
  2. Cast Wintertide Brand
  3. Shield Charge & Frostblink around maps or Flame Dash

Map Modifiers

Elemental Reflect

  • Don't use Cold Snap on Elemental Reflect map
  • Wintertide Brand doesn't hit, so we can still run Elemental Reflect map

Changelog

8/11 - Fully updated written guide with all setups

Video Guide

Stats

Stats are displayed for the "LL Swap" Variant only
Character
Attributes
221 / 
155 / 
274
Movement Speed
164%
Pantheon Major
TheBrineKing
Pantheon Minor
Gruthkul
Charges
Endurance Charges
4
Frenzy Charges
3
Power Charges
3
Defensive
Life
1,445
Energy Shield
4,970
Mana
886
Armour
29,450
Evasion Rating
758
Block
75%
Resistances
82% / 
81% / 
76% / 
75%
Simulated
Effective Health Pool
132K
Max Hit
14K / 
36K / 
34K / 
28K / 
25K
Skill DPS Estimation
Wintertide Brand
6.2M

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