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LoD Frozen Orb Wizard Guide

Last Updated:July 7, 2024|Change Log

Introduction

LoD Frozen Orb Solo Push
View all variants

Frozen Orb is an iconic skill that instantly awakens deep feelings of nostalgia in every Diablo II player out there. It’s quick, impactful and the explosions are very satisfying when played correctly. Very few builds incorporate the fantasy of a spellslinging Wizard as well as this one.

The last time LoD Frozen Orb did stand out was during Season 20 with the unrestricted Kanai's Cube from Forbidden Archives allowing players to incorporate at the same time Deathwish, Legacy Etched Sigil as well as Orb of Infinite Depth into the build in order to execute a specific channeling spellweaving playstyle.

In Season 22, Wizardspike got reworked and brought a new damage multiplier to Frozen Orb while the 4th Kanai's Cube Slot allowed the build to play Deathwish again. However, as its dedicated Delseres Magnum Opus (DMO) Set comes with Slow Time restrictions, inherent clunkyness and underwhelming tankyness, Legacy of Dreams stayed the setup of choice as it is tankier, allows for more flexibility on top of enabling Reverse Archon and even Shi Mizu's Haori setups.

This is an Area Damage (AD) build, since Frozen Orbs can and will proc it. The whole playstyle revolves around the precise use of Absolute Zero and Teleport, in order to unleash devastating icy explosions onto stacked enemies. This guide will show you the way to become a redoutable Frozen Orbs spellslinger!

High DPS ✔
Very Tanky ✔
Iconic Frozen Orb ✔
Rewards Good Gameplay ✔

❌ Difficult Execution
❌ Not Beginner Friendly
❌ Vulnerable to Crowd Control
❌ Little Room for Customization

Core Setup

Core Item Build

Items

  • Unstable Scepter is our core Weapon providing us with a 450% separate damage multiplier and a second explosion for Frozen Orbs, nearly doubling our total damage.
  • Triumvirate grants us a stacking 400% damage buff for a total 1,200% separate damage multiplier to Frozen Orb when using Signature Spells.
  • Wizardspike provides another 350% separate damage multiplier on top of a 25% chance to cast an extra Frozen Orb when attacking.
  • Squirt’s Necklace is a default inclusion for Wizards in any build due to their shield strength. Protecting our HP pool for a 100% global separate damage multiplier with continuously refreshing shields is a Wizard speciality.
  • Ashnagarr's Blood Bracer to double our Shields, to ensure we keep the Squirt's Necklace 100% damage multiplier.
  • Stone Gauntlets provide an outrageous amount of mitigation and their negative effect can be fully negated by Ice Climbers.
  • Aquila Cuirass and Unity grant us two sources of 50% damage reduction.
  • The Shame of Delsere helps us by increasing the Attack Speed and Resource generation of Signature Spells.
  • Convention of Elements buffs our Frozen Orbs by a beefy 200% separate damage multiplier in Cold cycle.
  • Halo of Karini is a core Wizard defensive item, providing us with a tremendous 80% damage reduction at the cost of using Storm Armor.

Season 32 Ethereals

Ethereals are powerful rare weapons that can only be found during Season 32. They were initially the Season 24 Theme. They have incredible stats, a random Legendary power, and a free passive for your class. Read our Ethereal Mechanics Guide for full details on how they work and our Ethereal Farming Guide to learn how to acquire them. What you should prioritize on them is the following:

  1. The Legendary Power
    This build requires Unstable Scepter and Wizardspike to be functional. We need our Ethereal to roll one of these powers so we can cube the other. We also want a good roll on our Legendary power if it has a range. For speed content it is always helpful to have Ethereals with Aether Walker, In-geom or Messerschmidt's Reaver powers, so keep those if you find them.
  2. The Ethereal Itself
    There are 3 different weapons available to us, each with its own benefits:
    • Wizardspike - This is the best Ethereal for this build due to its high Attack Speed and its Damage Stacking special affix, especially in Greater Rift push.
    • The Oculus - This is a good alternative due to its high Arcane Power on Critical Hit and Elite Damage affixes, especially for speed content where the Damage Stacking mechanic from Wizardspike is not important.
    • Mang Song's Lesson - This is a Two-Handed Staff meaning we can't use it as we have two Weapons and a Off-Hand that grant us massive damage multipliers.
  3. The Ethereal Stat Rolls
    Each Ethereal comes with its own fixed set of powerful affixes. While some have a static value, many have a wide stat range. This means the difference between good and bad rolls is significant and something you should look for.
  4. A Useful Passive
    This is just icing on the cake because a fifth passive is not going to make or break your build. You're better off hunting for the things above. Check out the Passives section down below to see which ones you're looking for.

Global Stat Priorities

You want to stack damage stats wherever possible, especially Critical Hit Chance and Damage, Area Damage as well as Cold Damage and Arcane Orb Damage. The remaining options go to Attack Speed or Damage Range (Rings) and Defense or Resource Cost Reduction whenever you can fit it in. It is required to get Arcane Power on Critical Hit (APoC) on your Off-Hand in order to keep shooting Frozen Orbs, especially for Rift Guardian fights.

For toughness, like most Wizard setups, we take advantage of Galvanizing Ward and Magic Weapon Deflection to generate Shields based on our HP pool. This means Vitality and Life % are very important as they double dip into Shields. This is why we aim for a decent HP pool in Greater Rift Solo Push.

Crowd Control Reduction is an incredibly valuable secondary Affix to roll on both Rings, Amulet and Helmet as we are very sensitive to Hard Crowd Control effects and mitigating these will ease up our gameplay significantly. Make sure to get the Primary Affixes locked in before attempting to get CCR though.

Assembling the Build

Item Stat Priorities

Gems

Skills

Passives

Paragon Points

Altar of Rites

Follower

Gameplay

Hardcore

Variants

Nephalem Rifts
GR Solo Speeds
GR Solo Push
Echoing Nightmare
LoD Frozen Orb Solo T16

Concept
In T16 we don't need a lot of damage and also won’t care about throwing Frozen Orb from the right distance all the time. The damage is good enough to destroy enemies with just the shards. We usually won’t need Convention of Elements and Unity here, so Stone of Jordan and Rechel's Ring of Larceny combined with Boon of the Hoarder and Avarice Band (on your follower) are great replacements.

Gameplay
Be fast, use your Teleport to move around quickly and set up bubbles on large pulls, then throw your Frozen Orb and move on. It’s not really the smoothest T16 build but it does the job.

Setups
Early in a season, it might be better for you to go with Wizardspike over Aether Walker for a lot of extra damage. In groups, replace Pauldrons of the Skeleton King with Homing Pads Warzechian Armguards with Nemesis Bracers, Frostburn with Gloves of Worship and Stone of Jordan with Avarice Band.

LoD Frozen Orb Solo Speeds

Concept
In Speed Greater Rifts we try to combine a great mix of damage, toughness and utility. Ultimately, the build plays similarly as in solo pushing, but is much more fast-paced. Bane of the Stricken should not be necessary at all, so we can take Zei’s Stone of Vengeance for more damage. We also do not need the additional toughness from the Stone Gauntlets + Ice Climbers to take in even more damage with Frostburn and Strongarm Bracers.

Gameplay
Similar to pushing, try to make big pulls and destroy them either with your Convention of Elements cycle active (on Elites) or without (most trash monsters). Don’t waste too much time on stray enemies, Waller Elites, burrowers, wasps or similar and just move on towards the next pull.

Setups
If you feel tanky enough, you can consider replacing Unity with Stone of Jordan for extra Elite Damage. The Shame of Delsere can be switched to The Witching Hour for even more damage gain.

Select Build Version

Standard Setup
LoD Frozen Orb Solo Push

Concept
We stack up as much damage as possible and take advantage of Teleport for mobility as well as Black Hole Absolute Zero to stack up enemies just before our damage nuke.

Gameplay

  • Make large pulls of monsters.
  • Before your Convention of Elements Cold cycle, use Black Hole to trap and stack them up.
  • After casting Teleport to position yourself 40 yards away from monsters, obliterate them with your Frozen Orbs.

Playing around Black Hole and maintaining the right distance are your most important tasks as most of your damage comes from Area Damage procs and the explosion of Frozen Orb. Shards do almost nothing on higher Greater Rift Tiers.

Echoing Nightmare Setup

Concept
For more information, check out our full Echoing Nightmare Guide and take a look at our Echoing Nightmare Build Tier List and our META post for the best builds and strategies! This build is bad for this game mode. Typically we utilize a Greater Rift pushing build with a few tweaks.

Changes

  • Swap Bane of the Stricken with Zei's Stone of Vengeance since we are fighting hordes of enemies.
  • Reroll Area Damage to Average Damage as we do not need to make huge pulls.
  • Replace Illusionist with Dominance.

Gameplay

  1. Click Speed Pylon instantly to boost your mobility and dodge Green Meteors.
  2. Around Wave 90, click Channeling Pylon and Power Pylon.
  3. After Wave 100, use Conduit Pylon.
  4. At Wave 122, stop attacking and run to the corner to let the timer run out.

Unfortunately Frozen Orb is not the best fit for this activity. Before your Convention of Elements Cold cycle, use Black Hole to gain a damage buff. Position yourself exactly 40 yards away from the center of the pull using Teleport to cast Frozen Orb. This will maximize the value of Zei’s Stone of Vengeance and most importantly unleash the final explosion of Frozen Orb directly on top of the enemies, dealing devastating damage.

Video Guide

In Production!

Mechanics

Arcane Orb Frozen Orb

Wizard Shields

Black Hole Absolute Zero

The Shame of Delsere

Elemental Exposure

Summary

  • Put together the core items and level up the Legacy of Dreams gem.
  • Keep up your Storm Armor for Halo of Karini buff at all times.
  • Activate Triumvirate by using your Signature Spell.
  • Pull enemies together with Black Hole to trap and stack them.
  • Position yourself at the right distance to explode Frozen Orbs directly on top of the enemies.
  • Play around the Convention of Elements cycle to maximize your damage.

Cheers!

Credits

Introduction by Chewingnom.
Written by Rob & wudijo. Updated by Chewingnom.

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