It is a Skill Gem.
Spell
AoE, Cold
Tier: 5 (Sorceress)
Level: 5
Cost: 15 Mana
Cast Time: 0.40 sec
Critical Strike Chance: 13.00%
Requires: Level 14, 34 Int
Shatters a Frozen enemy dealing a large amount of Cold Damage in a small area. Can be used on a Frostbolt to detonate it causing Cold Snap to trigger on all Frozen enemies near it.
Skills can be managed in the Skills Panel.
Cold Snap is a powerful Cold skill in Path of Exile 2, designed to deal significant AoE (Area of Effect) damage through the shattering of Frozen enemies. As a Sorceress-centric spell, Cold Snap allows you to capitalize on the freezing status effect to trigger devastating bursts of Cold damage in a small radius. This skill not only deals damage to enemies it hits directly but also creates a chain reaction when combined with other cold-based spells like Frostbolt, making it an ideal tool for freezing and shattering enemies in your path.
Cold Snap is designed to trigger a massive burst of Cold damage by shattering Frozen enemies within a small radius. Here’s how it works:
Freezing Enemies:
The core mechanic of Cold Snap is its synergy with Frozen enemies. To trigger the explosion of damage, you first need to freeze an enemy. This can be done through a variety of Cold damage sources, such as Frostbolt, Cold spells, or other Freeze effects that apply Cold status to enemies.
Shattering and AoE Damage:
Once an enemy is frozen, Cold Snap can be used to trigger a large Cold damage explosion at that enemy’s location. The frozen enemy shatters, dealing Cold damage to all nearby enemies within a 0.7 meter radius. This creates an effective AoE damage effect, especially when multiple enemies are frozen at once.
Synergy with Frostbolt:
One of the standout features of Cold Snap is its synergy with other Cold spells, particularly Frostbolt. By casting Frostbolt and hitting an enemy, you can cause the projectile to freeze the target. Upon using Cold Snap, it will trigger the explosion effect on all Frozen enemies in the vicinity of the Frostbolt, allowing for massive AoE Cold damage. This combo works well in crowd control situations where you need to deal damage to multiple enemies simultaneously.
Cold Damage:
The damage from Cold Snap is purely Cold and ranges from 84 to 126 Cold Damage, depending on the level and modifiers on the skill. The skill benefits from Cold damage scaling, so if you’re focusing on Cold damage in your build, you can increase its effectiveness significantly. The Cold damage also pairs well with other Cold-based debuffs like Frostbite, Frost Shock, or Cold resistance reduction to maximize your damage output.
AoE Explosion Radius:
The explosion radius of Cold Snap is relatively small, 0.7 meters, but it can still be effective for hitting multiple enemies when they’re clustered together. Since Cold Snap detonates upon hitting a Frozen enemy, ensuring that you’re near a group of enemies or triggering multiple freezes at once can result in a chain reaction of Cold damage.
Cold Snap is ideal for Cold-based Sorceress builds, especially those focusing on Freeze mechanics. Here are a few ways to maximize its effectiveness:
Frostbolt and Freeze Scaling:
Combining Cold Snap with Frostbolt is one of the most effective ways to trigger its full potential. Frostbolt is a projectile skill that applies the Freeze effect to enemies, setting them up for the Cold Snap explosion. By scaling Freeze duration or Frostbolt damage, you can ensure that enemies are consistently frozen, creating the perfect conditions for Cold Snap to deal AoE Cold damage.
Freeze and Chill Scaling:
If your build revolves around Freeze and Chill effects, Cold Snap can synergize with modifiers that increase Freeze effectiveness. For example, items or passive tree nodes that increase Cold damage, Freeze chance, or Chill duration will make Cold Snap more effective, as it will trigger more reliably and deal greater damage in Frozen zones.
Cold Damage Over Time:
If you have a build focused on Cold damage over time effects like Frostbite or Cold DoT, Cold Snap can trigger additional Cold damage from sources that apply Chill or Freeze. Cold Snap‘s ability to shatter Frozen enemies makes it especially useful when combined with Cold DoT builds, ensuring that Cold effects continue to apply while dealing direct Cold damage with Cold Snap.
Critical Strike Scaling:
With a 13% Critical Strike Chance, Cold Snap benefits from Critical Strike scaling. Combining this with Cold crit modifiers or Cold crit chance passives will further increase the damage output and effectiveness of the skill, especially for builds that focus on Critical Strikes.
AoE Scaling:
Since Cold Snap deals damage in an AoE, it synergizes well with any modifiers that increase AoE damage or explosion radius. Items, passives, or support gems that increase AoE radius will allow Cold Snap to affect more enemies, making it even more effective in crowded combat situations.
Cold Snap is a powerful and efficient Cold spell for Sorceress builds, providing strong AoE Cold damage and an excellent synergy with Freeze mechanics. Its ability to trigger explosive damage on Frozen enemies makes it especially effective when combined with skills like Frostbolt, enabling a devastating chain of shattering explosions. While its explosion radius is relatively small, its damage output is significant when used in the right circumstances, particularly against large groups of Frozen enemies. If you’re building around Cold damage, Freeze effects, or AoE Cold damage, Cold Snap will undoubtedly be a key skill in your arsenal, helping you dominate the battlefield with its explosive power.