Glacial Hammer

For the Vaal-themed counterpart, see Vaal Glacial Hammer.

Where Infernal Blow burns hot, Glacial Hammer freezes to the bone. The spell infuses a Mace or Staff with the essence of pure ice, making a weapon so cold it can barely be handled. A successful hit from Glacial Hammer deals grievous damage, and if the target is already frozen and near death, it will shatter into thousands of shards. The more skilled one becomes at inscribing the runes for Glacial Hammer, the greater the frostbite becomes, eventually leaving most foes frozen solid.

Description on the official Path of Exile website

Glacial Hammer is a melee attack that hits the enemy, converting half of physical damage to cold damage. If the enemy is frozen and is on less than one third life, they will shatter when hit with Glacial Hammer. Requires a mace or staff.

Skill functions and interactions

• Damage conversion: Like all converted damage, the cold damage component of Glacial Hammer's damage will be modified by Cold Damage, Elemental Damage and Physical Damage.

• Dual Wielding: Dual Wielding attacks will alternate weapons unless one of the weapons is not a mace. In this case, the mace will be used for all attacks.

• Unique Enemies: Unique enemies that are frozen will not shatter at one third of maximum life.

Gem level progression

Level			Damage Effectiveness	Attack Damage	Exp.	Total Exp.
1	1	0	165%	165%	0	0
2	2	0	170%	170.5%	70	70
3	4	16	176%	175.9%	308	378
4	7	22	181%	181.4%	1554	1932
5	11	31	187%	186.9%	6667	8599
6	16	41	192%	192.4%	26047	34646
7	20	50	198%	197.8%	49725	84371
8	24	58	203%	203.3%	95714	180085
9	28	67	209%	208.8%	169595	349680
10	32	75	214%	214.3%	283759	633439
11	36	83	220%	219.7%	453996	1087435
12	40	92	225%	225.2%	703128	1790563
13	44	100	231%	230.7%	1061223	2851786
14	48	109	236%	236.2%	2065870	4917656
15	52	117	242%	241.6%	2507110	7424766
16	56	125	247%	247.1%	5798936	13223702
17	60	134	253%	252.6%	15083919	28307621
18	64	142	258%	258.1%	27792735	56100356
19	67	148	264%	263.5%	43869739	99970095
20	70	155	269%	269%	242081556	342051651
21	72	159	274%	274.5%	N/A	N/A
22	74	N/A	280%	279.9%	N/A	N/A
23	76	N/A	285%	285.4%	N/A	N/A
24	78	N/A	291%	290.9%	N/A	N/A
25	80	N/A	296%	296.4%	N/A	N/A
26	82	N/A	302%	301.8%	N/A	N/A
27	84	N/A	307%	307.3%	N/A	N/A
28	86	N/A	313%	312.8%	N/A	N/A
29	88	N/A	318%	318.3%	N/A	N/A
30	90	N/A	324%	323.7%	N/A	N/A
31	91	N/A	326%	326.5%	N/A	N/A
32	92	N/A	329%	329.2%	N/A	N/A
33	93	N/A	332%	331.9%	N/A	N/A
34	94	N/A	335%	334.7%	N/A	N/A
35	95	N/A	337%	337.4%	N/A	N/A
36	96	N/A	340%	340.2%	N/A	N/A
37	97	N/A	343%	342.9%	N/A	N/A
38	98	N/A	346%	345.6%	N/A	N/A
39	99	N/A	348%	348.4%	N/A	N/A
40	100	N/A	351%	351.1%	N/A	N/A

Threshold jewels

The following threshold jewels augment Glacial Hammer:

Note that the jewels may be drop disabled and can only be found in permanent leagues as legacy items.

Item	Limit	Radius	Stats	Drop Enabled
Shattered ChainsShattered Chains Crimson JewelRadius: Medium(10-15)% increased Cold Damage With at least 40 Strength in Radius, 20% increased Rarity of Items dropped by Enemies Shattered by Glacial HammerThe prisoners of the empire raised their shackled hands. Begging to be delivered from Corruption. The rebellion smote their chains, And gave them the freedom to choose corruption for themselves.Place into an allocated Jewel Socket on the Passive Skill Tree. Right click to remove from the Socket.	N/A	Medium	(10-15)% increased Cold Damage With at least 40 Strength in Radius, 20% increased Rarity of Items dropped by Enemies Shattered by Glacial Hammer	0
Winter BurialWinter Burial Crimson JewelLimited to: 2 Radius: Medium(10-15)% increased Cold Damage With at least 40 Strength in Radius, Glacial Hammer deals Cold-only Splash Damage to surrounding targets With at least 40 Strength in Radius, 25% of Glacial Hammer Physical Damage Converted to Cold DamageExposure led to the deaths of many slaves. And it was the duty of slaves to bury the dead in the frozen ground. A growing circle of misery and death that the elite were all to happy to sustain.Place into an allocated Jewel Socket on the Passive Skill Tree. Right click to remove from the Socket.	2	Medium	(10-15)% increased Cold Damage With at least 40 Strength in Radius, Glacial Hammer deals Cold-only Splash Damage to surrounding targets With at least 40 Strength in Radius, 25% of Glacial Hammer Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage	0

Related helmet enchantments

The following helmet enchantments affect Glacial Hammer.

Note that helmet enchantments are no longer obtainable since version 3.23.0 and can only be obtained in permanent leagues as already enchanted items from before this patch.

Name		Labyrinth	Stats	Spawn Weighting
Enchantment Glacial Hammer Damage 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	25% increased Glacial Hammer Damage	helmet 100
Enchantment Glacial Hammer Damage 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	40% increased Glacial Hammer Damage	helmet 100
Enchantment Glacial Hammer Freeze Chance 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	Glacial Hammer has +20% chance to Freeze	helmet 100
Enchantment Glacial Hammer Freeze Chance 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	Glacial Hammer has +30% chance to Freeze	helmet 100
Enchantment Glacial Hammer Physical Damage Percent To Add As Cold Damage 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	10% of Glacial Hammer Physical Damage gained as Extra Cold Damage	helmet 100
Enchantment Glacial Hammer Physical Damage Percent To Add As Cold Damage 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	15% of Glacial Hammer Physical Damage gained as Extra Cold Damage	helmet 100

Version history

Version	Changes
2.4.0	6% 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.
2.0.0	Base damage increased by 7.5% (130% of weapon damage to 140% of weapon damage). Chance to freeze is now 25% across all levels.
1.3.0	The mana costs of Elemental HitElemental HitAttack, Projectile, Melee, Strike, Fire, Cold, Lightning, AoE, Prismatic, Bow Level: (1-20) Cost: (7-11) Mana AoE Radius: 10Requires Level 12Each attack with this skill will choose an element at random, and will only be able to deal damage of that element. If the attack hits an enemy, it will deal damage in an area around them, with the radius being larger if that enemy is suffering from an ailment of the chosen element. It will avoid choosing the same element twice in a row.(18-391) to (33-726) Added Cold Damage (22-480) to (40-891) Added Fire Damage (3-75) to (67-1467) Added Lightning Damage Only Deals Damage of the chosen Element Deals no Damage of other Damage Types (30-49)% chance to Freeze, Shock and Ignite Base radius is 1 metre 80% more Area Radius against Enemies affected by an Ailment of the chosen Element 10% more Damage per Elemental Ailment on the Enemy Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: +(0.25-5)% more Damage per Elemental Ailment on the EnemyPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Glacial HammerGlacial HammerAttack, Melee, Strike, Cold Level: (1-20) Cost: 5 Mana Attack Damage: (165-269)% of base Effectiveness of Added Damage: (165-269)%Hits enemies, converting some of your physical damage to cold damage. If a non-unique enemy is frozen and is on less than one third life, they will shatter when hit by Glacial Hammer. If striking three times in a row, the third strike will freeze enemies more easily. Requires a Mace, Sceptre or Staff.25% chance to Freeze enemies 100% of Physical Damage Converted to Cold Damage Every third successive strike Freezes enemies as though dealing (200-390)% more Damage +0.2 metres to Melee Strike Range 35% increased Duration of Cold Ailments (10-29)% increased Effect of Cold Ailments Adds (2-75) to (3-113) Cold Damage against Chilled Enemies Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Every third successive strike Freezes enemies as though dealing (5-100)% more DamagePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Infernal BlowInfernal BlowAttack, AoE, Melee, Strike, Fire, Duration Level: (1-20) Cost: 6 Mana Attack Damage: (104-166)% of base Effectiveness of Added Damage: (104-166)% AoE Radius: 15Requires Level 12Attacks with your weapon, applying a charged debuff to enemies hit by your strike, and an uncharged debuff to any other enemies hit. Upon reaching 6 charges, expiring, or the enemy's death, the charged debuff is removed to damage that and other surrounding enemies. Enemies with either debuff explode when they die, damaging other surrounding enemies. Damage from this explosion cannot be reflected. Requires a Sword, Axe, Mace, Sceptre, Staff or Unarmed.Base duration is 0.80 seconds (5-75) to (8-113) Added Fire Damage Explosion deals base Fire Damage equal to 6% of the corpse's Maximum Life 60% of Physical Damage Converted to Fire Damage Base radius is 2.4 metres Base explosion radius is 1.8 metres Debuff deals 66% of Damage per Charge Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Debuff deals +(0.5-10)% of Damage per ChargePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. and Lightning 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 hit a target.50% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage (1-9) to (13-179) Added Lightning Damage Fires 3 Projectiles Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Fires +(0.05-1) ProjectilesPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. have been reduced.
1.2.0	Damage effectiveness increased from 125% to 130%.
0.10.2	Glacial Hammer's physical damage now increases by 4% per level rather than 3%.
0.9.12qq	Damage modifiers are now factored into Damage Effectiveness rather than being listed as separate stats.
0.9.3g	Fixed Glacial Hammer to scale in damage properly as it levels up.
0.9.3	The stats which convert damage from one type to another now calculate the damage in a way that takes into account your physical damage bonuses.
0.9.2	Glacial Hammer does more damage at higher levels than before.
0.9.1	Glacial Hammer now doesn't prevent item drops from slain monsters. Increased damage of Glacial Hammer.
0.8.6	Added new skill prototype: "Glacial Hammer"