Welcome to this new build guide for Last Epoch. Today, we're diving into a Cold Bladestorm Bladedancer. This build has quickly become one of my favorites. In just a few days, I've already hit 800 corruption, taken down the new pinnacle boss, Visions of the Observer, and defeated Aberthoth. It's a very fun and fast build that offers excellent clear speed and good survivability. Let's dive right in and take a look at how this build works and how to optimize it for the endgame. An ample supply of Last Epoch gold can be of great help to you.

Gameplay Overview

The core of this build revolves around Bladestorm in cold form, which I use in combination with Umbrell Blades and Shurikens to boost damage and clear speed. For movement and survivability, Smoke Bomb is crucial. The build works smoothly because Shurikens and Explosive Traps are automated, allowing you to focus on positioning and avoiding damage while your traps and shurikens clear the map for you. It's fast, fluid, and efficient, even when pushing high corruption levels like 800.

While Mana isn't usually a concern, boss fights can be tricky, and you'll need to manage it carefully, especially when fighting tougher bosses like Aberthoth. I'll go over how to manage your mana and what gear can help with that.

Key Skills Breakdown

Bladestorm (Cold Form)

This is your primary skill. Convert it to cold using Frostblade and then start stacking bonuses like Shurikens and Slagstorm for even more damage. The build focuses heavily on Umbrell Blades to throw additional daggers into your bladestorms for massive damage boosts.

Skill Nodes: Focus on Frostblade, Slagstorm, and Shurikens to supercharge your bladestorm. If mana is manageable, Alloy is a good choice for increased damage, but don't take it too early.

Shurikens

Shurikens provide excellent, not clear speed. The Veil node makes them blind enemies, which is great for survivability. Use the Big Shurikens node to increase the area of effect and pierce through enemies, dealing great damage. These are your secondary automated damage dealers.

Umbrell Blades

This skill turns daggers into projectiles that boost your bladestorms. You want to take Cold Conversion to synergize with your cold Bladestorm. Then, focus on maximizing Dagger Throws and Critical Strike Damage to get the most out of this skill. Dusk Shroud is also essential for extra survivability.

Smoke Bomb

Smoke Bomb provides mobility and a damage boost, and it's crucial for defense. The Cleanse node helps you remove debuffs, while Shadows creates additional copies of Umbrell Blades, giving you more projectiles for your bladestorms.

Explosive Trap

A fully automated skill that synergizes well with your cold conversion. The Trap Sprinkler node increases damage and adds more traps. It's a great way to boost your overall DPS while not having to focus on micromanaging traps.

Passive Tree and Focus

At level 95, my passives are mainly focused on Dexterity, which is crucial for increasing cold damage and enhancing survivability. Here's the breakdown:

Rogue Tree: Prioritize Dexterity, Evasion, and Agility for defense and damage. We are dual-wielding to maximize our throwing and damage output.

Falconer: Allocate 5 points into Raptor Wings for Explosive Trap.

Marksman: Focus on Concentration for Dodge Rating and damage mitigation. Focus Fire is also essential for maximizing Damage Output.

Blade Dancer: Key nodes include Throwing Speed, Movement Speed, Critical Strike Multiplier, and Critical Strike Chance. This increases your damage and attack speed, which are vital for maintaining high DPS in fast-paced fights.

Gear and Itemization

Your gear is what helps elevate this build to its highest potential. I've compiled a set of items that help maximize damage, survivability, and efficiency:

Relic: The new Bladestorm Relic is a must. It causes Explosive Traps to automatically activate when enemies are within range of your Bladestorm. This is crucial for automation and maintaining serious damage output.

Body Armor: Astral Blood is the go-to chest for survivability. It turns the build into a low-life setup and provides crucial Critical Strike Multiplier and Damage Reduction when at low life.

Weapons: Peak of the Mountain with T7 Bladestorm and Dual-Wielding Trader's Tongue are great for increasing your damage output. Cold damage and Cold Penetration will make your attacks even more potent.

Belt: Jungle Queens for +10 Dexterity and T7 Throwing is a great choice to boost your damage further.

Gloves: Use Claws for Critical Strike Multiplier. Hybrid Health adds survivability, which is essential for surviving endgame bosses.

Rings: Last Nomads are perfect for high Life and Triple Resistances. You can always upgrade these later into Red Rings for more Resistances.

Idols: I use Percent Health and Armor Shred Duration idols. You can also opt for Elemental Resistances to buy Last Epoch gold shore up any weak resistances.