Abyss / Ice Gauntlet PvP Build
Season 8
Ice gauntlet and Abyss is the perfect mix of bullshit for a good time in PvP (for you at least). This build does an excellent job locking people down so they are forced to eat those nasty great axe combos. Defensively it’s one of the most frustrating builds to try and kill.. Execute enjoyers rejoice because this is the one for you!
Check out a video guide with gameplay for this build!
Equipment / Attributes
This is a full INT build, which means not only can it stack a ton of damage for Abyss, but it can also have 50 FOC and 200 CON making it one hell of a durable light armor setup. You can always go for more or less CON. Any armor weight would work well with this setup, even heavy for a larger scale bruiser!
For the Abyss I really like Mending Execute, especially since this build has so much lifesteal and healing power bonuses. You can however go for Crippling Reap or a perk of your choice here.
The ice gauntlet is mostly for utility, so Healing Tomb is a must! The rest of the perks I opted to go for light / heavy attack damage, so an attunement + enchanted perk would be great here!
The armor perks are perfect, and if you wanted to adding Crippling Reap instead of vigor would be great too!
Vampires Vestments are super important since they not only give a big amount of lifesteal, but they also cause your attacks to drain mana. The ice gauntlet does not use a lot of mana so you wont have any mana issues on this build, and it helps keep your mana lower so the Abyss can take more advantage of it’s unique perk bonus damage!
The jewelry is perfect, giving a whopping 31% empower in total! Now for that hidden healing tech.. using a survival potion this patch puts all other survival potions on an 80% cooldown, and this cooldown is independent of perks like Refreshing Toast. This also applies to Endless Thirst’s special perk, meaning that as long as your cycling between two different potions you will have the crazy strong +33% potion healing with an 80% cooldown and no additional penalty! Check the footage and watch the potion cooldowns to see this in action.
Use the best food you can find, Desert Sunrise, and Honing Stones. The two potions of choice for this build are the Regeneration and Burst Regeneration potions since they give the most healing value. You can use normal healing potions if you want as they can heal up to 10k Health with this setup!
Active Skills
Great Axe Skills
Good ol Execute can deal massive damage when a targets health begins to drop. With the Mending Execute perk it can also heal a stupid amount of health when it hits (even more when the target is trapped!), giving this skill good offensive and defensive utility.
Reap is another skill that has quite a bit of life steal baked into it, but I personally love it for the crazy reach it has. You can also use reap to pull opponents into your ice gauntlet bullshit! Adding Crippling Reap would be amazing since it can help you land those executes!
Charge is a super long distance gap closer that gives you GRIT while your charging. This is perfect for attacking and defending, with the one downside being that you cannot pass through targets with this.
Ice Gauntlet Skills
Ice Shower is fantastic for setting up huge execute combos, and is one hell of an annoying defensive skill that can shut down melee attackers. The rend it gives is just a little more damage boost for you too!
Ice storm can actually deal a decent amount of AOE damage when people are stuck in it, making it perfect for chipping away at foes before setting up your burst on the great axe. You can also use it to slow foes down and give yourself space from melee attackers.
Entomb is honestly so overpowered. You can use it so save yourself from running out of stamina, cleanse all negative effects, and it even gives a nice heal thanks to Healing Tomb on the ice gauntlet. A cornerstone of ice gauntlets survivability.