Eye of Winter in Path of Exile 2: Ultimate Guide

Eye of Winter is one of the standout cold-based skills in Path of Exile 2. It’s an exciting choice for players looking to deal significant damage while also freezing or chilling enemies. In this guide, we’ll explore how to use Eye of Winter effectively, its best synergies with support gems, and which classes can benefit most from this skill. Let’s dive in!

What Is Eye of Winter?

Eye of Winter is a cold projectile skill that shoots out a damaging orb, which travels through the air, dealing cold damage to enemies in its path. The longer the orb travels, the more damage it deals. Upon hitting an enemy or reaching its maximum distance, the orb explodes, releasing an AoE (Area of Effect) burst of cold damage, as well as applying the Chill and Freeze debuffs.

This skill is great for both single-target and AoE damage, especially when paired with the right build. What sets Eye of Winter apart is its scaling based on distance, making it highly versatile in both clear-speed and boss fights.

Key Features of Eye of Winter

Cold Damage Focus

As a cold spell, Eye of Winter benefits greatly from cold damage increases. Its base cold damage scales up significantly, making it ideal for elemental builds. If you’re aiming to build a freeze-based character, Eye of Winter will be your best friend.

Projectile Mechanics

The skill launches a projectile that travels through enemies, and its damage increases based on how far it travels. This means that the more distance the orb covers, the more damage it inflicts. It can be a bit tricky to use in tight spaces, but in open areas, it’s devastating.

Crowd Control with Freeze and Chill

One of the highlights of Eye of Winter is its ability to Freeze and Chill enemies. This crowd control aspect is invaluable in tougher fights and can help you lock down enemies, making them easier to manage or kill. Freezing your target prevents them from acting, giving you the upper hand in battle.

AoE Explosions

When the projectile reaches its destination, it explodes in a burst of cold damage. This AoE damage hits all nearby enemies, making it perfect for clearing mobs. It’s a skill that can effectively deal with both groups and bosses, depending on how you build for it.

How to Maximize Eye of Winter’s Potential

Prioritize Projectile Speed

The longer the orb travels, the more damage it deals. To get the most out of Eye of Winter, you'll want to invest in projectile speed. Increasing projectile speed ensures the orb can travel a significant distance, allowing it to hit harder and more effectively.

Focus on Cold and Elemental Scaling

Since Eye of Winter deals cold damage, you’ll want to focus on cold damage and elemental damage boosts. Look for items, passive nodes, and support gems that enhance your cold damage or AoE effects.

Increase Freeze and Chill Duration

Freezing and chilling enemies is where Eye of Winter really shines, so it’s a good idea to look for ways to increase the freeze duration or chill effect. This makes sure that your enemies stay under control long enough for you to deal with them.

Best Support Gems for Eye of Winter

Choosing the right support gems is key to enhancing Eye of Winter. Depending on your build, there are a few gems that work wonders with this skill. Here are some of the best support gems to consider:

Elemental Focus Support

Elemental Focus Support is a must-have if you want to maximize cold damage. This support gem significantly boosts elemental damage at the cost of disabling elemental status effects like Ignite, Shock, or Poison. Since Eye of Winter focuses purely on cold damage, this gem is a great way to push the skill’s damage even further.

Greater Multiple Projectiles Support

If you’re after heavy AoE damage, the Greater Multiple Projectiles Support gem is a solid choice. This gem causes your Eye of Winter projectile to split into multiple orbs, each dealing damage to any enemies in its path. This can be a game-changer for clearing large groups of enemies, making it perfect for clearing maps or farming.

Increased Area of Effect Support

For even more AoE damage, Increased Area of Effect Support is a top pick. It boosts the radius of the explosion that occurs when the projectile hits its target. The larger explosion radius means more enemies get hit by the cold damage, making this support gem highly effective for clearing dense packs of monsters.

Cold Penetration Support

Cold Penetration Support is excellent for ensuring that your cold damage goes through enemies with high cold resistance. This gem lowers the cold resistance of affected enemies, increasing your overall damage. It’s a great way to boost your effectiveness against tougher bosses or enemies that might resist your cold attacks.

Hypothermia Support

The Hypothermia Support gem boosts cold damage specifically against frozen or chilled enemies. Since Eye of Winter naturally applies these debuffs, this gem works perfectly to further enhance your cold damage when enemies are frozen or chilled.

Best Classes for Eye of Winter

Although Eye of Winter can be used by a variety of classes, it’s especially effective with the following:

Sorceress

The Sorceress is perhaps the best class for Eye of Winter. She has natural synergy with cold damage and elemental scaling, making this skill a perfect fit. Her passive tree offers strong cold damage boosts, and with her ascendency options, she can take full advantage of Eye of Winter’s potential.

Witch

The Witch is another solid choice for Eye of Winter. Her tree focuses on spellcasting, cold damage, and projectile scaling, all of which align perfectly with this skill. If you’re looking for a DoT (damage over time) or freeze-focused build, the Witch is an excellent fit.

Mercenary

For those who want to mix cold damage with physical or hybrid builds, the Mercenary is an ideal class. With the Mercenary’s versatile ascendancy and passive tree options, Eye of Winter can be paired with other elemental skills or damage types to create a hybrid build that excels in both AoE and single-target scenarios.

Pros and Cons of Eye of Winter

Pros

• Strong Cold Damage: Scales well with cold damage modifiers, making it ideal for cold-focused builds.
• Freeze and Chill: Provides excellent crowd control for tougher encounters or larger packs of enemies.
• Flexible in Both AoE and Single-Target: Whether you’re clearing mobs or fighting bosses, Eye of Winter performs well.
• Projectile Speed Scales Damage: The farther the orb travels, the more damage it deals, allowing for increased effectiveness in open maps.

Cons

• Requires Proper Scaling: To maximize Eye of Winter’s damage, you’ll need to focus on projectile speed and cold damage scaling.
• Tough in Tight Spaces: The skill requires some distance to deal optimal damage, so in confined areas, it might not perform as well.
• Vulnerable to Fast Enemies: Enemies that quickly close the gap or evade your projectiles may reduce the skill’s potential.

Conclusion

Eye of Winter is a powerful and versatile skill for any player focusing on cold damage and crowd control. It scales well with cold modifiers and offers both AoE and single-target damage, making it a great choice for clearing content and taking down bosses. By using the right support gems and focusing on scaling projectile speed and cold damage, you can turn Eye of Winter into a dominant force in your build.

Whether you’re a Sorceress, Witch, or Mercenary, Eye of Winter can fit perfectly into many builds. Don’t forget to pick up the necessary support gems and purchase your Eye of Winter gem from trusted sites like SSEGOLD to jumpstart your journey.