[3.19] Freezing Cold Exsanguinate Elementalist - Beginner friendly / Cheap to start / HC SSF viable

Hi there, welcome to my first build guide! (Suggestions kindly seen)

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Why Elementalist?
The main reason I picked Elementalist is that I wanted to make a build that is durable. My main focus was to get 50% damage recouped as life from the tree, so Witch was perfect pick. On top of that there are buffs from golems that add a whole new layer of defense - Elementalist was the only right pick.

So I have checked some spells and picked three best I could see: Frost Bomb, Cold Snap and, of course, Exsanguinate. The main thing that makes these spells shine is tremendous Effectiveness of Added Damage - from 270% on Exsanguinate to 320% on Cold Snap. Therefore we want our weapons to have Added Cold Damage to Spells

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Let's start with pros:
+ Durable (but not tanky)
+ Can run all map mods!
+ Easy to play (one button most of the time)
+ Huge freezing power
+ Requires no budget to start!
+ Can entirelly skip white maps!
+ Almost completely trap immune (but beware the font of endless pain!)
+ HC SSF viable!
+ A lot of room for improvement

Cons:
- Vulnerable to attacks while stone and chaos golems are dead

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How to play the build:
When you see an enemy pack, use Cold Snap on them to get frenzy charges then finish them with Exsanguinate. If you already have maximum frenzy charges, you can skip Cold Snap.

How about bosses? and tougher monsters? Reduce their cold resistance with Frost Bomb and Frostbite. Then just spam Exsanguinate on them.
Cast Frostbite yourself for best results or get a Redeemer influenced ring with mod that curses enemies with Frostbite on hit (no doom gain but you have one less button to press).

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Passive Skill Tree:
Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4 Act 5
Act 6 Act 7 Act 8 Act 9 Act 10
Level 75 Level 80 Level 85 Level 90 Level 95 Level 100

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Ascendancies:
1: Liege of the Primordial
2: Elemancer
3: Bastion of Elements
4: Shaper of Winter (or Mastermind of Discord if you want more offense)

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Bandits: Kill all for 2 passive points

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Pantheon:
Major God - Soul of Arakaali
Minor God - Soul of Ralakesh

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Gem links:
Body Armour:
Exsanguinate - Spell Echo Support - Bonechill Support - Culling Strike Support - Ice Bite Support - Added Cold Damage Support

Helmet/Boots/Gloves:
Cold Snap - Bonechill Support - Ice Bite Support - Added Cold Damage Support

Sceptre:
Frost Bomb - Increased Duration Support - Efficacy Support

Auras/Herald:
Harold of Ice
Purity of Elements
Defiance Banner

Golems (in order of importance):
Stone Golem
Chaos Golem
Flame Golem
Lightning Golem
Ice Golem

Other:
Frostbite
Enduring Cry
Flame Dash

Commentary on gems:
Culling Stirke Support grants 38% increased damage on level 20, so it's still a good damage boosting gem in addition to his primary effect.
Don't worry if you can summon only 4 golems - Ice Golem is only helpful for procing Elemental Overload.
Life recoup and Stone Golem buff should keep your HP high at all times, but if you take heavy damage and need to heal quickly use Enduring Cry. It's also good for generating Endurance Charges during bossfights.

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Gear:


Hrimsorrow is pretty much the core of the build. Without it we could not make Exsanguinate our main skill. (SSF comment: if you don't have Hrimsorrow use Freezing Pulse instead of Exsanguinate)

For weapons use two sceptres with Adds * to * Cold Damage to Spells.
Recipes for sceptres:
Sceptre + Sapphire Ring + Alteration Orb = level 8 sceptre with Added Cold Damage to Spells
Sceptre + Sapphire Ring + Alteration Orb = level 14 sceptre with Added Cold Damage to Spells
Sceptre + Sapphire Ring + Alteration Orb = level 20 sceptre with Added Cold Damage to Spells
Iron ring + any Intelligence Skill Gem = Sapphire Ring
You can also use Essences of Suffering to get even stronger sceptres and you can craft Increased Cold Damage on them.

Armour should be either armor basetype or armor/energy shield basetype for more blue sockets. As you can see my gear isn't powerful or expensive at all but believe me - it can do yellow maps with no problem.

Amulet can be Jade, Citrine or Onyx basetype, as we need quite a lot of Dexterity form our equipement in order to be able to use gems like Herald of Ice or Culling Strike Support
Alternatively you can use The Primordial Chain for 3 more golems which allows you to use Ice Golem and grants you 75% additional power of golems buffs.
You can also annoint your amulet with some Dexterity (it's as cheap as 3 Clear Oils)

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TL;DR - Path of Building:
PATH OF BUILDING

Honest to god I thought this was a meme build. Maybe it is, but us SSF'ers are desperate for good guides so I tried it anyway. Smooth leveling (didn't have a Hrimsorrow until ~60) and into yellow maps with trash tier gear, like I haven't upgraded half my shit since level 50 and it's still going. Probably not going to take down ubers but this is my new league starter, it was fun. Also very well written guide. Thank you!

Do you have a POB for mapping? I dont see any items for red maps just act 6 :p but maybe you didnt provide any which is ok. Was just wondering how much dps it does as I love Exsanguinate