PoE 3.25 Icicle Mine Deadeye

Builds that utilize Mine skill gems in Path of Exile almost always go for either the Saboteur or Trickster, but did you ever wonder if the Deadeye ascendancy class can be a great one to use as well? Yes, it can! In fact, the Icicle Mine skill gem was likely created to utilize the Deadeye to a great extent.

The Icicle Mine Deadeye is a pretty good league starter because it utilizes a Mine Skill that deals huge amounts of damage even on a modest budget.

So, if you are interested, read further. This is our comprehensive build guide for the Icicle Mine Deadeye in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League!

Basics

The Icicle Mine is a spell skill gem in Path of Exile that received one huge buff in the previous league. Back then, each detonated mine would only fire a total of four projectiles. Now, the skill fires a total of seven! That is pretty huge considering that you can set up multiple mines at once, which means that populating the screen with highly damaging projectiles is quite easy to do!

What makes this build a good league starter? Well, it can work on a minimal investment. You can use rare pieces of gear that you can craft using any essences you can find. Spam these essences until you get life, elemental resistance, and chaos resistance.

Now, if you are new to the game, Mine Skills in PoE actually have an innate aura that is unique to every gem. For the Icicle Mine, in particular, the projectiles the mine produces can gain a 10% increased critical strike chance to hits against nearby enemies, up to a maximum of 500%! To maximize this, you should find as many mods that increase your critical strike multiplier wherever possible.

The chosen ascendancy class for this build is not known for its defense. Thankfully, there are certain items that can help you survive longer on the battlefield. The combo of the Rathpith Globe and Dissolution of the Flesh provides you with a ton of HP. Since you will be using mostly evasion-based gear on this build, you can roll spell suppression as an added layer of defense too!

While this build can function with rare pieces of self-found gear, you can certainly dabble in crafting to get the most out of it. Do not worry, we have a comprehensive guide for all your crafting needs.

Look for the following mods on your equipment to boost the damage of this build:

• Increased Cold Damage
• Increased Spell Damage
• Increased Projectile Damage
• Increased Elemental Damage
• Increased Mine Damage
• Increased Mine Throwing Speed
• +% to Critical Strike Multiplier

Playstyle

When you enter a new map or area, use your preferred travel skill to search for packs of monsters. After you have found some, simply throw your Icicle Mines at them and they detonate immediately after. The detonation process is done for you thanks to the apt combo of Detonate Mines linked with Automation Support.

If you come across a monster that is tough to beat or if you face one of the pinnacle bosses in Path of Exile, then set a Bear Trap and apply the Arcanist Brand to increase the damage they take from your mines considerably.

Speaking of bosses, you can preemptively fill the area where the boss lands as soon as their entrance animation begins. Once they can be attacked, the mines will be detonated to deal huge amounts of damage right off the bat!

Ascendancy

Since Icicle Mines produce projectiles when detonated, the best ascendancy class for the job is none other than the Deadeye.

Gathering Winds increases your action speed immensely, which translates to vastly improved attack speed and movement speed. This helps you finish the entire PoE campaign so that you can get into maps as quickly as possible.

Take note that Gathering Winds got a sizable nerf in Patch 3.25. Instead of getting a 150% increased effect of Tailwind, you now only get up to 100%. Still, this ascendancy node gives a ton of value to the build, so you are going to get it regardless of the nerf.

Ricochet is an amazing notable ascendancy passive skill for projectile-based skills in Path of Exile. With this node, the projectiles that are produced by your Icicle Mines can chain an additional time, causing more monsters to get hit in the process. This aids in your map-clearing speed.

Far Shot has replaced Endless Munitions in our version of the Icicle Mine Deadeye in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur. This is because this notable ascendancy passive skill no longer has that damage penalty of projectiles at the start of their movement. Although you only get a maximum of 30% more damage from Far Shot, that is a fair compromise given the removal of the penalty that was just mentioned.

The last notable ascendancy passive skill for this build is a toss-up between offense and defense. If you want this character to be a bit tanky, then you can go with Wind Ward. However, if you want to effectively kill enemies, especially rare or unique monsters, then Focal Point is a no-brainer.

Gear

A good league starter in Path of Exile is a build that can work on a budget. That is why the Icicle Mine Deadeye is something that we can recommend when it comes to a build that you can use to start a new league.

While you can craft any gear you can find using Essences, there are some unique items that you can wear that can certainly help the build in various ways.

Do not worry, in each subsection, we will provide you with the information about the possible upgrades you can take later down the line if you want to improve the capabilities of the Icicle Mine Deadeye.

Weapon

Early on in the new league, you can use any sceptre you can find. If you can get your hands on the Essence of Woe, then spam the sceptre with the said essence until you can get some good mods, most notably critical strike multiplier.

To complement that, scour the trade website for the Bitterdream. This unique sceptre contains multiple support gems in one, including Bonechill Support, Hypothermia Support, Ice Bite Support, Cold Penetration Support, Added Cold Damage, and Inspiration Support.

If you are able to grab a Bitterdream after a couple of days into the new league, you can use that for a long time. Just socket your Icicle Mine spell skill gem into this weapon along with Charged Mines Support and Minefield Support.

Once you have saved up some currency and would like to improve the damage of the build even further, then you must craft your endgame weapon using an ilvl 82+ Imbued Wand for that increased spell damage implicit modifier.

Basically, the idea is you spam the said weapon with Deafening Essence of Woe until you get some good prefixes. The rest of the steps can be found in our ultimate crafting guide.

In case you do not know, all wands got their base critical strike chance increased across the board in PoE 3.25. This means that it will be much easier for you to achieve a 100% critical strike chance in the endgame.

Another weapon you could use for the Icicle Mine Deadeye is The Annihilating Light for vast amounts of elemental damage.

Shield

Early on, you can use any evasion-based shield as the crafting base. Utilize the Screaming/Shrieking Essence of Greed (Life) and spam it on the shield until you get chaos resistance, spell suppression, and elemental resistance.

The Rathpith Globe provides a ton of value to the build. The more life you have while this unique shield is equipped, the more critical strike chance and spell damage you will receive as a result.

While this shield definitely goes a long way, there is a downside wherein each use of Icicle Mine will sacrifice a small portion of your HP. Do not worry, this is fully addressed by one of the jewels that you are going to use for this build.

Body Armor

Grab any evasion-based chest armor you can find and use either Harvest Reforge Life or Essence of Greed until you get elemental resistance, spell suppression, and other useful modifiers.

We highly recommend that you use any of the new item bases introduced in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur, such as the Syndicate's Garb (Pure Evasion) or Necrotic Armour (Evasion/Energy Shield). These offer the highest base defenses and can roll huge amounts of life, which is helpful in improving your survivability.

Spam the body armor with Eldritch Ichors until you get "Zealotry Has % Increased Aura Effect" and Eldritch Embers for "% Increased Effect of Non-Curse Auras from Your Skills."

After a couple of days into the new league, you might be able to scout the trade website for Victario's Influence. This is a cheap body armor that is perfect for Mine skills such as the Icicle Mine. Why? Because it not only grants mana reservation efficiency, but it also increases the AoE and aura effectiveness of your mines!

Ultimately, you will wear the Shroud of the Lightless. The one that comes with a couple of abyssal sockets should be relatively affordable, so you won't have any problems purchasing this body armor.

The main reason why you should transition to the Shroud of the Lightless is that it greatly increases your survivability by giving you more life and mana. This unique effect is unlocked if you put a plethora of abyss jewels on your passive tree.

Helmet

Since the Icicle Mine Deadeye is capable of landing critical strikes without a problem, there is no better helmet for the build than the Heatshiver.

Yes, it got nerfed a couple of leagues ago, but it is still the best in slot, especially considering that the build can inflict Freeze and Chill consistently and without a hitch.

Gloves

Any evasion-based gloves will do in the early stages of a new league. Just use Essence of Greed or Harvest Reforge Life until you get elemental resistance, chaos resistance, and spell suppression.

The Velour Gloves is a nice addition to the build mainly for its incredibly high evasion rating. This is one of the new item base types GGG added as part of Patch 3.25.

If you can get your hands on some Lesser Eldritch Ichors, spam the gloves until you get cold exposure on hit. For the Lesser Eldritch Embers, the mod that you want is mine-throwing speed.

Bench-craft "28% Increased Damage During Any Flask Effect" to finish the crafting project.

The endgame gloves for this build are those that you can get from the Temple of Atzoatl. The gloves in question have the mod: "50% Increased Damage with Hits Against Chilled Enemies."

Because the endgame gloves will likely have open affix slots, simply use the Crafting Bench and Exalted Orbs to fill them up.

For the implicit modifiers, spam the gloves with Eldritch Ichors for cold exposure and Eldritch Embers for increased mine-throwing speed.

In addition, you can use a Fracturing Orb to fracture the desired modifier. If you are successful, you could use any Essence to get other mods that your character needs.

Boots

How about the boots? What can you wear during league start? Well, any evasion-based boots like the Slink Boots or Stealth Boots will do just fine. Just like the other pieces of crafted gear, use Harvest Reforge Life or Essence of Greed until you get some useful modifiers.

Later on, you should wear March of the Legion and socket your Icicle Mine (as well as its support gems) into it for maximum benefit. This is because spell skill gems in Path of Exile perform so much better at higher gem levels.

Amulet

Grab one of those attribute amulets like the Agate Amulet, Citrine Amulet, or Onyx Amulet, and use Harvest Reforge Cold to obtain the prefix, "+1 to Level of All Cold Skill Gems."

If you have enough PoE currency, you can purchase the Replica Dragonfang's Flight, specifically one that has "+3 to Level of All Icicle Mine Gems."; Additionally, this amulet increases your mana reservation efficiency, which makes Icicle Mine more comfortable to use.

Alternatively, grab an ilvl 85+ Focused Amulet and use it as a crafting base. Spam this amulet with Orb of Alteration until you get "+2 to Level of All Skill Gems."

Use a Regal Orb to turn the amulet into a rare one. Then, use an Orb of Annulment and hope that this removes the suffix that was added by the Regal Orb.

After that, bench-craft "Cannot Roll Attack Modifiers" and use Harvest Augment Cold for a 50% chance of obtaining "+2 to Level of All Cold Skill Gems."

Once you have the prefixes sorted out, put "Prefixes Cannot Be Changed" and use Harvest Reforge Critical. Do this until you get the T1 critical strike multiplier.

Don't forget to use Unstable Catalysts to improve the critical strike mod.

Rings

To begin your PoE journey comfortably when playing the Icicle Mine Deadeye, get a couple of Coral Rings and use Harvest Reforge Life until you get some elemental resistances and attributes (if you need any). Don't forget to bench-craft the mod, "Non-Channeling Skills Have -7 to Total Mana Cost."

Once you have saved up enough PoE currency, the next ring you should get is the Nimis. The reason why you need to get one is that it makes your Icicle Mine projectiles return to you. This unique effect significantly increases the damage output of the build.

If you want to elevate the damage of the build even more, you can craft the endgame ring for cold damage builds. It uses the Opal Ring as a crafting base mainly because of its "% Increased Elemental Damage" implicit mod.

Belt

Remember the Shroud of the Lightless? It increases your chances of survival the more abyssal jewels you put on your passive tree. And, what better way to complement that than to wear the Stygian Vise?

Spam the Stygian Vise with Essence of Zeal (Mine Throwing Speed) until you get life, elemental resistance, and mana. If you want to take things a step further, get an ilvl 83+ Redeemer-influenced Stygian Vise and spam it with the said essence until you get T1 "% Increased Damage with Hits Against Chilled Enemies."

The process is the same when crafting the Stygian Vise for the early game. Essence of Zeal is mandatory due to the increased trap and mine-throwing speed. Spam the said essence until you get the stats that you need.

Aside from a well-crafted Stygian Vise, you could invest in a Mageblood to make things a lot simpler. This unique belt allows you to enjoy the effects of up to four magic utility flasks indefinitely, so long as you have it equipped.

Flasks

• Diamond Flask
• Jade Flask
• Quicksilver Flask
• Silver Flask
• Atziri’s Promise/Bottled Faith

Flask Mods

• 60% Increased Evasion Rating (of the Impala)
• 55% increased Critical Strike Chance (of Incision)
• 14% increased Movement Speed (of the Cheetah)
• 20% Additional Elemental Resistances (of the Rainbow)

Jewels

If you are going to equip the Rathpith Globe, you should also use the Dissolution of the Flesh along with it. This unique jewel not only grants you a ton of HP but it addresses the downside of the said shield every time you deploy the Icicle Mine as well.

The Thread of Hope (Small Ring) allows you to take several notable passive skills without spending a lot of points. These passives are:

• Glacial Cage
• Enemies Permanently Take 1% Increased Damage for Each Second They’ve Ever Been Chilled by You, Up to a Maximum of 10%
• Winter's Embrace
• 60% Increased Freeze Duration on Enemies
• 30% Increased Damage if You’ve Shattered an Enemy Recently
• Throatseeker
• +30% to Critical Strike Multiplier
• Efficient Explosives
• 30% Increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills That Throw Mines
• Mines Have a 15% Chance to Be Detonated an Additional Time
• Whispers of Doom
• You Can Apply an Additional Curse

Grab a Medium Cluster Jewel (Trap and Mine Damage) and use Harvest Reforge Speed until you get these notable passive skills:

• Surprise Sabotage
• +8% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Traps/Minese
• Trap/Mine Damage Penetrates 4% Elemental Resistances
• Guerilla Tactics
• 20% Increased Trap/Mine Damage
• 10% Increased Trap/Mine Throwing Speed
• 5% Increased Movement Speed if Uou've Thrown a Trap or Mine Recently

After that, just populate your remaining sockets with abyssal jewels to take advantage of the Shroud of the Lightless' unique effect. Here are some of the mods to look for:

• Adds Cold Damage to Spells
• +% to Global Critical Strike Multiplier
• + to Maximum Life
• + to Maximum Mana
• % Increased Global Critical Strike Chance
• +% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistances

Gems

The gems that you are going to use for the Icicle Mine Deadeye presupposes that you have March of the Legion equipped. Otherwise, your main skill will be slotted into the body armor.

Boots

• Icicle Mine
• Trap and Mine Damage
• Minefield Support
• Charged Mines Support

Remember what we said about spell skill gems in Path of Exile becoming so much better at higher gem levels? Well, March of the Legion raises the gem level of Icicle Mine by five. It does this because when you look at the gem's advanced info (by pressing the Alt key), you will find that it has the "aura" tag on it.

Anyway, Trap and Mine Damage is pretty self-explanatory. This support gem significantly increases the damage of your Icicle Mine at the cost of a slightly slower mine-throwing speed.

Minefield Support is awesome because you throw up to four additional mines in just a single cast. Although this reduces your mine-throwing speed considerably, you can address that by inserting some base jewels with the said mod on your passive tree.

Charged Mines Support enables you to generate Frenzy and Power Charges when any of the projectiles created by Icicle Mine hits an enemy. What's more, you gain up to 30% increased mine-throwing speed thanks to the Frenzy Charges!

Body Armor

• Zealotry
• Portal
• Cast on Death

You are only going to use one aura on this build and that is Zealotry. This aura grants more spell damage and spell critical strike chance, making your Icicle Mines even more potent at decimating enemies.

Since you only have a couple of extra gem slots to work with, you can pretty much use any combination of gems that you like. We just put Portal and Cast on Death Support right there simply to open a portal whenever you meet your untimely death.

Helmet

• Detonate Mines
• Automation Support
• Enhance Support (lvl 4)
• Bear Trap

Grinding Gear Games introduced Automation Support in the game as a way to automate certain processes that used to be bound on the left mouse button. With that said, linking Automation with Detonate Mines alleviates the need for manual detonation, making things a lot smoother on your end. With this combo, you simply focus on throwing the mines at your intended targets and these gems will do the rest.

Bear Trap is really only necessary if you encounter tougher monsters or bosses. This makes your enemies take increased damage from your Icicle Mines.

Enhance Support works wonders for all of the aforementioned gems. Automation gains more cooldown recovery rate, Detonate Mines has increased detonation speed, and Bear Trap's duration is raised by a few seconds when you have a level 4 Enhance Support gem included in the setup.

Gloves

• Sniper's Mark
• Tornado
• Arcanist Brand
• Culling Strike Support

Tornado and Sniper's Mark will automatically be cast by Arcanist Brand. Use Arcanist Brand whenever you are fighting tough enemies like bosses or unique monsters.

In addition, Tornado and your Icicle Mine projectiles can actually interact with each other. You see, Tornado soaks up projectiles and reflects a portion of their total damage back to nearby monsters.

Furthermore, enemies that are below 10% of their maximum life are instantly killed by the Tornado thanks to Culling Strike Support.

Weapon

• Flame Dash/Frostblink
• Faster Casting Support

For this build, you can choose whatever movement skill that you like. Flame Dash gives you three charges that you can use one after another. Frostblink has its cooldown reduced significantly the more enemies you are surrounded with.

Because you are using a shield, you can even use Shield Charge if you prefer that. Just replace Faster Casting Support with Faster Attacks Support to make the said skill feel a lot smoother to use.

Shield

• Summon Skitterbots
• Awakened Unbound Ailments
• Bonechill Support

Summon Skitterbots is an incredible gem to include to your build. This allows you to summon a couple of minions that apply Chill and Shock to nearby enemies, causing them to get slowed down and take increased damage from all sources, respectively.

Speaking of damage, the Skitterbots also grants 10% more trap and mine damage, which is incredible for improving your killing potential.

Awakened Unbound Ailments and Bonechill Support just makes your Icicle Mines even more devastating.

Tattoos

• Tattoo of the Arohongui Warrior
• 5% Increased Cold Damage
• Tattoo of the Ramako Sniper
• 5% Increased Projectile Speed
• Tattoo of the Tasalio Scout
• 4% Increased Effect
• Tattoo of the Ramako Fleetfoot
• 2% Increased Movement Speed
• Tattoo of the Ramako Shaman
• +2% Chance to Suppress Spell Damage

Passive Tree

POB

Main Setup

Expensive Setup (with The Annihilating Light)

Final Thoughts

The Icicle Mine Deadeye is an incredible league starter that is capable of dealing huge amounts of damage on a budget. While it can work on self-crafted gear, there are some items that you can purchase later down the line as suitable upgrades.

For example, acquiring the Nimis effectively increases your total damage output due to the returning projectiles. Of course, crafting the endgame items certainly goes a long way. If you need guidance on this matter, we recommend that you bookmark our ultimate crafting guide.

This build is largely unchanged in Patch 3.25. If anything, it is much easier to achieve a 100% critical strike chance due to the changes to wand bases in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur League.

You can use this build to farm a ton of PoE currency in the first couple of weeks into the new league. Once you have enough, you can start buying the upgrades outlined in the build guide.

Although this is a great mapping build, it is not specifically meant for bossing. This is not to say that it cannot take them down, but what we meant by that statement is that you'll have to invest in better gear to make this build comfortable to use as a boss killer.

So, if you are looking for a pretty good league starter, then the Icicle Mine Deadeye is definitely a top contender in PoE 3.25!

With all of that said, good luck on your adventures in Wraeclast, Exile!

PROS

+Great league starter

+Used to farm a ton of currency early on

+Can function with self-found gear

+Is able to eliminate enemies on a budget

+You can feel its power as soon as you get the right pieces of gear

+Still works great in Patch 3.25

CONS

-Survivability leaves much to be desired

-Needs a higher investment to turn it into a comfortable boss killer

-Some upgrades are a bit expensive

-It is a struggle to cap your chaos resistance