My attemp at a:

PvM Frost Maiden Build.


Her main attack is Freezing Arrow, and she uses Multi as secondary.

Freezing Arrow hits 3.5k cold dmg w/ 1.8k phys dmg, for a total of 5.2k+ damage per arrow

Multi hits about 1.7k phys dmg

This without BO/BC.
Between FA for anything not cold immune and Multi for insane crowd control, she can handle PvM no problem whatsoever. Here's how I set her up. It's somewhat specific because I'm describing my character and not a general build necessarily.


Skills:

Bow & Crossbow Skills -

20 Cold Arrow
20 Freezing Arrow
1 Ice Arrow
1 Magic Arrow
1 Multi Shot
1 Guided Arrow (not necessary for build but I like it)

Passive & Magic Skills -

This is customizable to how you see fit for the most part, but here's how I set mine up:

7 Critical Stike
7 Dodge
7 Avoid
7 Evade
7 Decoy (thinking about taking points out, I think 1 point is enough in this skill, I just used to to boost my Valk's life)
1 in every other skill on tree.
Then I pump rest of skill points into Valk. I have 14 pts. in her so far.

With all my +skill gear I end up getting 65/54/63/54 Critical Strike/Dodge/Avoid/Evade, respectively.
The Valk is where it's at, this is where my personal preference really comes in. I'm trying to max out Valk because she's the most badass companion/tank ever, and I can respawn here whenever I want.
My Decoy can tank pretty nicely too, 160% health.


Stats:

Strength: Enough to wear your gear.
I only have to put like 3 points in str because of anni/torch/gear.

Dexterity:I have 400 points in dex at lvl 86.

I don't think I will put any more in, considering PvM I have plenty of AR to hit monsters and bosses alike. Dex increases dmg output, but only physical, and since this is a Frost Maiden build alot of your dmg is cold dmg (unless using Multi, which is why I still invested the majority of my points).

Vitality:Dump rest of points in here.

I will put all the rest of my points in here after satisfying strength req. and hitting a comfortable AR. Currently I have 250 points in vit, which lets me hit over 1200 life with my inventory.


Gear:

Helm: Nightwing +20%/-5% cold dmg (faceted with 5/-5 cold)

Such a nice boost to your Freezing Arrow, best helm a Frost Maiden could use IMO.

Weapon: Ice Runeword +30% cold dmg (in a +3 bow skills GMB base)

Switch: Harmony Runeword +6 Valk

The ONLY weapon for a Frosty. JK, you can use others but this bow will add ~1k cold dmg to your FA.
Harmony is awesome, I end up using it just as much as Ice because of the lvl 10 Vigor Aura and lvl 6 Valk. I switch to it whenever I cast Valk, and parties love it cause it makes you run around like a madman.

Armor: Chains of Honor (in a dusk shroud base)

+2 skills add nice dmg to your FA, 65 resists are almost a must as this zon would have very low resists without it.
I used to use Treachery Runeword for the 45% ias, but when I got an Act1 Faith Merc, I didn't need it anymore.

Gloves: Rare +2 bow skills, 20% ias, 10+dex, 10+str

Might get expensive the better the mods get, but I think I have a solid pair. I would ultimately like ones with Knockback. That would be ultimate.

Boots: Sandstorm Trek 15str/15vit

I'm using these for the FHR and the +str and +vit, although I'm guessing Gore Riders, or Silkweaves (for the mana mods) would be nice too.

Belt: Razortail

This is a must for this build. It adds 33% to your pierce, which should be around or above 100% with 1 pt in Pierce and +skills from gear.

Rings: Rare 90+AR, 6% mana leech, 6% life leech
Raven Frost

The leech ring is soooo nice, you have to get something similar. This ring + Multi Shot + crowd of monsters = Full Rejuvy.

Ammy:Highlords

The Deadly Strike bonus, +1 skills, and 20% ias make this ammy the all around best option for the build.
If you're low on resists or don't need the ias, you could probably use Mara's. Or Cat's Eye is pretty fun, but you don't really need it with Harmony.

Inventory: I got a bunch of life scs, this is customizable to your needs.

Merc:Act1 - Faith bow, Andy's helm, Treachery armor


I love this zon because she's fast, hits really nice damage (for a zon), attacks fast, has great passive skills nice resists, 1.2k + life without BO, and she rolls around with a badass chick posse (A1merc, Valk, couple of skellies, and decoy??).
Try her out, you won't be upset you did. Super fun build, no joke.

Also, please let me know if something should be changed with the build. This is my first Frost Maiden and I've been messing with her seeing what I like so it's not finished. Comments, questions?

This post was edited by fadrian on Jan 29 2011 03:33pm

Mavinas Fostmaiden > Your Beezy

i think you should consider using some extra points and put into strafe and/or lightning fury

mavinas is kid shit. the aura looks cool but thats about it.



i used to use strafe but i like multi much more now that i have 100% pierce.
lighting fury would be a choice if i used a eth titans or something, but i kinda like having harmony on switch. i use lighting fury with eth titans on switch with my bowazon, which works great when i come across phys immunes. but with freezing arrow i dont really need another phys immune attack.

i dont know if alot of people know this but both freezing arrow and exploding arrow benefit from cold and fire charms respectively as well as cold and fire damage from items

that damage gets added to the explosion and freeze explosion damages

cold dmg scs >>> bow skillers with FA and EA

thats why M'Avinas is so good for FA

2cents

ic, that makes sense. i used mavina set before i could get my other gear and it didnt really seem that nice. maybe its cus i didnt have merc or invent. i might try out mav again then and see how it does. its definately more bang for your buck ill give you that though.

I've done a very similar build, except with infinity merc. I found that FA was just DEVASTATING, but very mana hungry. Some MAEK (silkweave I suppose) might help here..

a mavs build is safer, does more damage, and has more mf than your setup at a tiny fraction of the cost.



this is also very true, FA burns mana fast.

infinity merc does boost your damage a lot more than all those other high rune stuffed words



a second element damage would increase overall killspeed. the build does not have issues with physical immunes, the cold immunes are what slow you down. so yes, litfury/charged strike on switch with some tstrokes and mosers or whatever will do great against cold immunes



the fire arrows got a nice boost in v1.13, they are a bit under-used and work very well. i have found that immolation arrow drops games though ^^ fire is a perfectly acceptable secondary element.

Tyerals armor is better then coh for frostmaiden and looks danm sexy in it

This post was edited by Silentdecay02 on Jan 30 2011 03:46pm

wat makes it that much better than coh?