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Frost BladesAttack, Projectile, Melee, Strike, Cold
Level: (1-20)
Cost: 6 Mana
Projectile Speed: 2250
Attack enemies with increased range, releasing icy blades from the first enemy hit which fly at other enemies. Requires a Melee Weapon.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent1% increased Damage
1% increased Projectile Speed
Fires 0.1 additional Projectiles1% increased Duration of Cold Ailments
Deals (100-175)% of Base Attack Damage
Fires (4-7) additional Projectiles
+(18-21) to Melee Strike Range
60% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage
(2-75) to (3-113) Added Cold Damage
(0-19)% increased Projectile Speed
Place into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
Frost Blades skill iconFrost Blades inventory icon
Acquisition
Area level: 5
Vendor Prices
Normal1x Scroll of Wisdom
Vendor Offer
1x Scroll Fragment
Metadata
Item class: Active Skill Gems
Metadata ID: Metadata/Items/Gems/SkillGemFrostBlades

Frost Blades skill screenshot


Frost Blades is a cold melee attack skill that strikes with increased range, then has the secondary effect of releasing projectiles behind the struck enemies.

Skill functions and interactions[ | ]

  • Dual Wielding: Since Frost Blades has no weapon restrictions, attacks will alternate between both hands while dual wielding.

An attack with Frost Blades consists of two parts:

When an enemy is hit by this skill, multiple projectiles fly out from behind the enemy and target nearby enemies. This skill increases the melee range by an appreciable degree. Unlike Lightning Strike inventory iconLightning StrikeLightning StrikeAttack, Projectile, Melee, Strike, Lightning
Level: (1-20)
Cost: 6 Mana
Attack Damage: (135-225)% of base
Effectiveness of Added Damage: (135-225)%
Requires Level 12Infuses your melee weapon with electrical energies as you swing. In addition to converting some of your physical damage to lightning damage, the stored energy is released from the weapon as projectiles as you strike, flying out to hit farther-away enemies. The projectiles cannot miss if the melee attack hits a target.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent4Phantasmal1% increased Damage
1% increased Projectile Speed
Projectiles Pierce 0.1 additional TargetsFires 0.1 additional Projectiles1% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage
Deals (135-225)% of Base Attack Damage
50% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage
Fires (4-7) additional Projectiles
(1-9) to (13-179) Added Lightning Damage
Place into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
Lightning Strike skill icon
Lightning Strike inventory icon
, if the initial attack does not hit an enemy, then no projectiles are released.

The projectiles have the same damage multiplier as the initial melee hit, with the same cold damage conversion. However the initial melee attack scales with melee damage modifiers (such as Melee Physical Damage), whereas the projectiles scale with projectile damage modifiers. Both components scale equally with (unspecified) attack, physical, and cold damage modifiers.

Multistrike Support inventory iconMultistrike SupportMultistrike SupportAttack, Melee, Support
Icon: 3
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 150%
Requires Level 38Supports melee attack skills, making them repeat twice when used, targeting a random enemy each time. Cannot support Vaal skills, channelling skills, or triggered skills.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills deal 0.5% increased Melee Physical DamageSupported Skills have 1% reduced Attack Speed
Supported Skills have 1% increased Area of Effect per Repeat
Supported Skills have 0.5% increased Attack Speed
Supported Skills Repeat 2 additional times
Supported Skills have (35-44)% more Melee Attack Speed
First Repeat of Supported Skills deals 22% more Damage
Second Repeat of Supported Skills deals 44% more Damage
Supported Skills deal (30-20)% less Attack Damage
This is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
Multistrike Support inventory icon
uses the increased attack range of this skill when selecting targets to attack. Melee Splash Support inventory iconMelee Splash SupportMelee Splash SupportSupport, Melee, Attack, Strike, AoE
Icon: S
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%
Radius: 14
Requires Level 8Supports melee strike skills, causing their melee strike to deal splash damage around each target hit.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased Area of EffectSupported Skills deal 1% increased Melee DamageSupported Skills deal -2% less Damage to surrounding targetsSupported Skills deal (50-41)% less Damage to surrounding targets
Supported Skills deal Splash Damage to surrounding targets
Supported Skills have (0-57)% more Melee Splash Area of Effect
This is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
Melee Splash Support inventory icon
does not release additional projectiles from secondary targets struck by the initial melee splash, nor does it splash the projectiles' damage. Faster Projectiles Support inventory iconFaster Projectiles SupportFaster Projectiles SupportSupport, Projectile
Icon: j
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 120%
Requires Level 31Supports projectile skills.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills have 0.5% increased projectile SpeedProjectiles have 3% chance to Return to you from final TargetSupported Skills deal 0.5% increased Projectile DamageSupported Skills have (50-69)% increased Projectile Speed
Supported Skills deal (20-29)% increased Projectile Damage
This is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
Faster Projectiles Support inventory icon
will increase the speed and effective range of the secondary projectiles. Vicious Projectiles Support inventory iconVicious Projectiles SupportVicious Projectiles SupportProjectile, Attack, Physical, Chaos, Support
Icon: d
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%
Requires Level 18Supports projectile attack skills.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3DivergentSupported Skills deal 0.5% increased Physical DamageSupported Attacks have 0.5% chance to cause Bleeding
Supported Skills have 0.5% chance to Poison on Hit
Supported Attacks have 0.5% chance to Impale Enemies on Hit
Supported Skills deal (30-49)% more Physical Projectile Attack Damage
Supported Skills have 10% less Projectile Attack Speed
Supported Skills deal (30-49)% more Physical Damage over Time
Supported Skills deal (30-49)% more Chaos Damage over Time
This is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
Vicious Projectiles Support inventory icon
scales all the damage of the projectiles, but not the initial melee attack: attack speed is NOT reduced since the attack animation itself is melee, rather than projectile.

Note: the tooltip DPS shows only the melee attack component damage and DPS. It does not show damage values for the projectile component. To calculate the projectile component, use the formula at the bottom of this page.

Interactions:

  • Hydrosphere - Attacking a Hydrosphere inventory iconHydrosphereHydrosphereSpell, AoE, Duration, Cold, Orb, Lightning, Physical
    Level: (1-20)
    Cost: (12-20) Mana
    Cast Time: 0.60 sec
    Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
    Effectiveness of Added Damage: 80%
    Requires Level 34Create a sphere of water, or move an existing sphere and reset its duration. The sphere continually applies a drenched debuff with a short duration to enemies in its area or those it moves through. You can hit the sphere with other skills to inflict Cold and Lightning Ailments (other than Chill). The sphere pulses when created, at regular intervals while afflicted by an Ailment, and after moving, damaging all drenched enemies in a large area.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent0.5% increased Pulse Frequency0.5% increased Cast Speed0.5% increased Area of EffectBase duration is 8 seconds
    Deals (37-356) to (56-533) Physical Damage
    Pulses every 0.4 seconds while Frozen, Shocked, Brittle or Sapped
    Base secondary duration is 4 seconds
    Drenched Enemies have Cold and Lightning Exposure, applying -10% to Resistances
    100% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage while Sphere has no Ailments
    100% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage while sphere is Shocked or Sapped
    100% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage while Sphere is Frozen or Brittle
    Place into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
    Hydrosphere skill icon
    Hydrosphere inventory icon
    will make the projectiles from frost blades release. This allows characters to stay out of melee range of monsters, while still releasing projectiles.

Gem level progression[ | ]

LevelRequired LevelRequired DexterityDamage
Effectiveness
Attack
Damage
Additional ProjectilesMelee RangeCold DamageProjectile SpeedExp.Total Exp.
110100%100%4+182 to 3N/A00
220104%103.9%4+182 to 31%7070
3416108%107.9%4+183 to 42%308378
4722112%111.8%4+184 to 63%15541932
51131116%115.8%4+185 to 84%66678599
61641120%119.7%5+197 to 115%2604734646
72050124%123.7%5+199 to 136%4972584371
82458128%127.6%5+1911 to 177%95714180085
92867132%131.6%5+1914 to 208%169595349680
103275136%135.5%5+1916 to 259%283759633439
113683139%139.5%6+2020 to 3010%4539961087435
124092143%143.4%6+2024 to 3511%7031281790563
1344100147%147.4%6+2028 to 4212%10612232851786
1448109151%151.3%6+2033 to 4913%20658704917656
1552117155%155.3%6+2039 to 5814%25071107424766
1656125159%159.2%7+2145 to 6815%579893613223702
1760134163%163.2%7+2152 to 7916%1508391928307621
1864142167%167.1%7+2161 to 9117%2779273556100356
1967148171%171.1%7+2168 to 10218%4386973999970095
2070155175%175%7+2175 to 11319%242081556342051651
2172159179%178.9%8+2281 to 12220%N/AN/A
2274N/A183%182.9%8+2287 to 13021%N/AN/A
2376N/A187%186.8%8+2293 to 14022%N/AN/A
2478N/A191%190.8%8+22100 to 15023%N/AN/A
2580N/A195%194.7%8+22107 to 16024%N/AN/A
2682N/A199%198.7%9+23114 to 17225%N/AN/A
2784N/A203%202.6%9+23123 to 18426%N/AN/A
2886N/A207%206.6%9+23131 to 19727%N/AN/A
2988N/A211%210.5%9+23140 to 21028%N/AN/A
3090N/A214%214.5%9+23150 to 22429%N/AN/A
3191N/A216%216.4%9+23155 to 23229%N/AN/A
3292N/A218%218.4%10+24160 to 24030%N/AN/A
3393N/A220%220.4%10+24165 to 24830%N/AN/A
3494N/A222%222.4%10+24171 to 25631%N/AN/A
3595N/A224%224.3%10+24176 to 26531%N/AN/A
3696N/A226%226.3%10+24182 to 27332%N/AN/A
3797N/A228%228.3%10+24188 to 28232%N/AN/A
3898N/A230%230.3%10+24194 to 29233%N/AN/A
3999N/A232%232.2%10+24201 to 30133%N/AN/A
40100N/A234%234.2%10+24207 to 31134%N/AN/A

Item acquisition
Questionmark

Upgrade paths

This item can be acquired through the following upgrade paths or vendor recipes:

AmountIngredientGeneral
Notes
Type
8Divination card inventory iconDying AnguishDying Anguish card artDivination card frameDying Anguish8Level 19 Gem
Alternative Quality: +19%
Moribund, he gazed upon the journey taken as blood trickled down his chin. His eye closed on the city ahead that he would never call home.
Divination card inventory icon
random level 19 gem with 19% alternative qualityAutomatic
1Gemcutter's Incubator inventory iconGemcutter's IncubatorGemcutter's IncubatorAdds an incubated Quality Gem item to an equippable item
Item drops after killing # monsters
Quality GemRight click this item then left click an item to apply it. The Incubated item drops after killing a specific number of monsters.
Gemcutter's Incubator inventory icon
random superior gemAutomatic
6Divination card inventory iconThe FoxThe Fox card artDivination card frameThe Fox6Level 20 Gem"Masters of wit, strength and cunning. To survive the harsh winters, you must be like the fox."
- Ezomyte Proverb
Divination card inventory icon
random level 20 gemAutomatic
3Divination card inventory iconGemcutter's PromiseGemcutter's Promise card artDivination card frameGemcutter's Promise3Superior Gem
Quality: +20%
"I swore to use my position to help the people. What good is power when it just accumulates on the already-powerful?" - Erasmus, Imperial Gemcutter
Divination card inventory icon
random superior gem with 20% qualityAutomatic
1Divination card inventory iconThe VoidThe Void card artDivination card frameThe Void1Reach into the Void and claim your prize.Divination card inventory iconrandom divination card set exchangeAutomatic

Quest reward

This item is given as a quest reward for the following quests:

Class →WitchShadowRangerDuelistMarauderTemplarScion
Quest ↓
Enemy at the Gate
Act 1

Vendor reward

This item can be bought at the listed NPC vendors, after completing the following quests:

Class →WitchShadowRangerDuelistMarauderTemplarScion
Quest ↓
Enemy at the Gate
Act 1
Nessa
A Fixture of Fate
Act 3
Siosa
Fallen from Grace
Act 6
Lilly Roth

Projectile Damage Calculation[ | ]

To calculate the projectile damage (or DPS) given the melee tooltip damage (or DPS) use the following formula:

where:

  • IAD = Sum of all % increased attack damage (not including either melee or projectile specific increased damage nor effects from Strength)
  • IMD = Sum of all % increased melee damage (including effects from Strength)
  • IPD = Sum of all % increased projectile damage (including effects from Strength if Iron Grip is applicable)
  • MMD = individual % more/less melee damage modifiers
  • MPD = individual % more/less projectile damage modifiers

All % values are expressed as decimal, e.g. 20% = 0.20. Reduced and less damage modifiers are expressed as negative values.

projectile_damage = tooltip_damage * (1.0 + IAD + IPD) / (1.0 + IAD + IMD) * (1.0 + MPD) / (1.0 + MMD)

If there are multiple more/less damage modifiers, then repeat the multiplicative terms (1.0 + MMD) and/or (1.0 + MPD) individually for each source.

Derivation
tooltip_damage_melee = base_damage * (1.0 + IAD + IMD) * (1.0 + MMD)       (1)
tooltip_damage_projectile = base_damage * (1.0 + IAD + IPD) * (1.0 + MPD)  (2)

Divide (2) with (1) to eliminate base_damage

tooltip_damage_projectile / tooltip_damage_melee = (1.0 + IAD + IPD)/(1.0 + IAD + IMD) * (1.0 + MPD) / (1.0 + MMD) (3)

In order to be accurate, IAD, IMD, and IPD must be calculated correctly, including any effects from Strength and Iron Grip if applicable.

Note also that (3) is valid only individually for the physical or cold portions of the damage. In the presence of cold or elemental damage modifiers such as Fangs of Frost, Hatred inventory iconHatredHatredAura, Spell, AoE, Cold
Level: (1-20)
Reservation: 50% Mana
Cooldown Time: 1.20 sec
Can Store 1 Use(s)
Cast Time: Instant
Radius: 36
Requires Level 24Casts an aura that grants extra cold damage based on physical damage to you and your allies.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent2% increased Area of EffectYou and nearby Allies have 0.5% increased Chill and Freeze DurationYou and nearby Allies have 0.5% increased Movement Speed while on Chilled GroundYou and nearby allies gain (16-25)% of Physical Damage as Extra Cold Damage
You and nearby allies deal (14-18)% more Cold Damage
+(0-19) to radius
Place into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
Hatred skill icon
Hatred inventory icon
or Elemental Damage with Attacks Support inventory iconElemental Damage with Attacks SupportElemental Damage with Attacks SupportAttack, Support
Icon: W
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%
Requires Level 18Supports attack skills.Per 1% Quality:1Superior2Anomalous3Divergent0.5% increased Elemental Damage with Attack SkillsSupported Skills have 0.25% chance to Freeze, Shock and Ignite0.025% of Elemental Damage Leeched as ManaSupported Attack Skills deal (20-34)% more Elemental DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
Elemental Damage with Attacks Support inventory icon
, then the physical and cold components must be calculated separately and then added together to determine the total damage amount, and multiplied by attack speed for total DPS.

Example
 Tooltip_damage = [10, 20]
 % increased physical damage from passives = 20%
 % increased melee physical damage from passives = 60%
 % increased melee physical damage from 90 Strength = 18% (Iron Grip is not taken)
 % increased projectile damage from passives = 40%
 30% more melee damage (from level 1 Melee Physical Damage)
 30% more melee damage (from level 1 Melee Damage on Full Life)
 35% more projectile damage (from level 6 Physical Projectile Attack Damage)
 25% less projectile damage (from level 1 Lesser Multiple Projectiles)

 IAD = 0.2
 IMD = 0.6 + 0.18 = 0.78
 IPD = 0.4
 MPD_1 = 1.35 (35% more)
 MPD_2 = 0.75 (25% less)
 MMD_1 = 1.3 (30% more)
 MMD_2 = 1.3 (30% more)

projectile_damage = tooltip_damage * (1.0 + IAD + IPD) / (1.0 + IAD + IMD) * (MPD_1 * MPD_2) / (MMD_1 * MMD_2)
                  = [10, 20] * (1.0 + 0.2 + 0.4) / (1.0 + 0.2  + 0.78)  * (1.35 * 0.75)/(1.3 * 1.3)
                  = [10, 20] * (1.6) / (1.98) * (1.0125) / (1.69)
                  = [10, 20] * (0.4841) 
                  = [4.8, 9.6]

Threshold Jewel[ | ]

The following threshold jewels augment the skill gem:

ItemRadiusStats
Fight for SurvivalFight for Survival inventory iconFight for Survival
Viridian Jewel
Limited to: 2
Radius: Medium
(10-15)% increased Cold Damage
With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Melee Damage
dealt by Frost Blades Penetrates 15% Cold Resistance
With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Frost Blades has 25% increased Projectile Speed
The winter that followed the Cataclysm was especially harsh.
Wraeclast's few survivors fought to the death for the last scraps of bread.
Place into an allocated jewel socket on the Passive Skill Tree. Right click to remove from the Socket.
Fight for Survival inventory icon
Medium(10-15)% increased Cold Damage
With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Melee Damage
dealt by Frost Blades Penetrates 15% Cold Resistance
With at least 40 Dexterity in Radius, Frost Blades has 25% increased Projectile Speed

Related helmet enchantments

The following helmet enchantments affect Frost Blades.

NameFor generated item/monster modifiers the minimum item/monster level respectively. Some generation types may not require this condition to be met, however item level restrictions may be raised to 80% of this value.StatsSpawn Weighting
Enchantment Frost Blades Damage 16625% increased Frost Blades Damagehelmet 100
default 0
Enchantment Frost Blades Damage 27540% increased Frost Blades Damagehelmet 100
default 0
Enchantment Frost Blades Projectile Speed 16620% increased Frost Blades Projectile Speedhelmet 100
default 0
Enchantment Frost Blades Projectile Speed 27530% increased Frost Blades Projectile Speedhelmet 100
default 0

Alternate skill effects

Frost Blades has the following alternate skill effects:

ItemEffect(s)
Stygian Frost Blades EffectStygian Frost Blades Effect inventory iconStygian Frost Blades EffectSkill Gem EffectReplaces the standard effect on a Frost Blades gem with a stygian version.Stygian Frost Blades Effect inventory iconReplaces the standard effect on a Frost Blades gem with a stygian version.

Version history[ | ]

Version Changes
3.15.0
  • Now deals 175% of Base Damage, and has 175% Effectiveness of Added Damage at gem level 20 (previously 140%).
3.7.0
  • Now deals base damage equal to, and has an added damage effectiveness of, 102% at gem level 1 (unchanged), up to 140% at gem level 20 (from 142%).
  • Now adds 2 to 3 cold damage to attacks at gem level 1, up to 75 to 113 at gem level 20.
  • Now gains 1% increased damage and 1% increased projectile speed per 1% gem quality (previously gained 1% increased projectile damage per 1% gem quality).
2.6.0
  • Physical to Cold conversion increase to 60% (up from 40%).
2.4.0
  • 15% more damage at gem level 20.
2.1.0
  • Attack skills that have their damage based on the wielded weapon have their mana costs fixed in place from level 1 onwards.
  • Frost Blades has been improved from 2 additional projectiles at all levels to 4 additional projectiles at level 1 and 7 additional projectiles at level 20. It has also been increased from +14 weapon range at all levels to +18 weapon range at level 1 and +21 weapon range at level 20. It now gains 1% projectile speed per level after the first (19% at Level 20) and its base projectile speed has been increased by 25%.
2.0.0
  • Introduced to the game.

References[ | ]

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