Ice Nova

For the Vaal-themed counterpart, see Vaal Ice Nova.

Reaching deep within, the caster of the mighty Ice Nova assaults surrounding enemies with a shivering blast of pure rime. The shock wave from this nova is often enough to slay outright, and those who survive the blast will be frozen, their very blood chilled solid. With precise use, a master weaver of frost can annihilate his enemies without suffering a scratch.

Description on the official Path of Exile website

Ice Nova is a spell that casts an expanding circle of cold damage.

Skill functions and interactions

• Area Damage: Ice Nova hits every enemy in its Area of Effect as long as it is not blocked by terrain obstacles.

Gem level progression

Level			Mana Cost	Cold Damage	Exp.	Total Exp.
1	12	33	8	23 to 34	0	0
2	15	39	9	29 to 44	15249	15249
3	19	48	10	40 to 61	41517	56766
4	23	56	11	55 to 82	81983	138749
5	27	64	12	73 to 109	147968	286717
6	31	73	13	96 to 143	250557	537274
7	35	81	14	124 to 187	405086	942360
8	38	88	15	151 to 226	447718	1390078
9	41	94	16	182 to 274	615318	2005396
10	44	100	16	219 to 329	834639	2840035
11	47	106	17	263 to 395	1570760	4410795
12	50	113	18	315 to 473	1633987	6044782
13	53	119	19	376 to 564	2151030	8195812
14	56	125	19	448 to 672	2812189	11008001
15	59	132	20	532 to 799	5099360	16107361
16	62	138	21	632 to 947	9400731	25508092
17	64	142	21	707 to 1060	15273366	40781458
18	66	146	22	791 to 1186	26286582	67068040
19	68	151	22	884 to 1326	62890590	129958630
20	70	155	23	988 to 1481	212046017	342004647
21	72	159	24	1103 to 1654	N/A	N/A
22	74	N/A	24	1230 to 1845	N/A	N/A
23	76	N/A	25	1372 to 2058	N/A	N/A
24	78	N/A	25	1529 to 2293	N/A	N/A
25	80	N/A	26	1703 to 2554	N/A	N/A
26	82	N/A	26	1896 to 2844	N/A	N/A
27	84	N/A	27	2110 to 3165	N/A	N/A
28	86	N/A	27	2347 to 3520	N/A	N/A
29	88	N/A	28	2609 to 3914	N/A	N/A
30	90	N/A	28	2900 to 4350	N/A	N/A
31	91	N/A	28	3057 to 4585	N/A	N/A
32	92	N/A	29	3222 to 4833	N/A	N/A
33	93	N/A	29	3395 to 5093	N/A	N/A
34	94	N/A	29	3578 to 5367	N/A	N/A
35	95	N/A	29	3770 to 5654	N/A	N/A
36	96	N/A	30	3972 to 5957	N/A	N/A
37	97	N/A	30	4184 to 6276	N/A	N/A
38	98	N/A	30	4407 to 6611	N/A	N/A
39	99	N/A	30	4642 to 6963	N/A	N/A
40	100	N/A	31	4889 to 7333	N/A	N/A

Alternate skill effects

Name	Cost	Description
Arctic Ice Nova EffectArctic Ice Nova EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Ice Nova becomes a swirling ring of arctic wind.	55	Replaces the standard effect on an Ice NovaIce NovaSpell, AoE, Cold, Nova Level: (1-20) Cost: (8-23) Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 6.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: 230% AoE Radius: 30Requires Level 12A circle of ice expands from the caster.Deals (23-988) to (34-1481) Cold Damage Base radius is (2.6-3) metres Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Base radius is (0.015-0.3) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. skill gem with a swirling ring of arctic wind. Preview
Water Nova EffectWater Nova EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Ice Nova becomes a rippling burst of cold water	10	Replaces the standard ice effect on an Ice NovaIce NovaSpell, AoE, Cold, Nova Level: (1-20) Cost: (8-23) Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 6.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: 230% AoE Radius: 30Requires Level 12A circle of ice expands from the caster.Deals (23-988) to (34-1481) Cold Damage Base radius is (2.6-3) metres Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Base radius is (0.015-0.3) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. gem with a fluid, watery blast. Preview

Related helmet enchantments

The following helmet enchantments affect Ice Nova.

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 Ice Nova Damage 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	25% increased Ice Nova Damage	helmet 75
Enchantment Ice Nova Damage 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	40% increased Ice Nova Damage	helmet 75
Enchantment Ice Nova Freeze Chance 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	Ice Nova has +20% chance to Freeze	helmet 75
Enchantment Ice Nova Freeze Chance 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	Ice Nova has +30% chance to Freeze	helmet 75
Enchantment Ice Nova Minimum Chill 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	Chills from Ice Nova Hits always reduce Action Speed by at least 6%	helmet 75
Enchantment Ice Nova Minimum Chill 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	Chills from Ice Nova Hits always reduce Action Speed by at least 8%	helmet 75
Enchantment Ice Nova Area Of Effect 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	16% increased Ice Nova Area of Effect	helmet 75
Enchantment Ice Nova Area Of Effect 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	24% increased Ice Nova Area of Effect	helmet 75

Version history

Version	Changes
2.6.0	Ice NovaIce NovaSpell, AoE, Cold, Nova Level: (1-20) Cost: (8-23) Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 6.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: 230% AoE Radius: 30Requires Level 12A circle of ice expands from the caster.Deals (23-988) to (34-1481) Cold Damage Base radius is (2.6-3) metres Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Base radius is (0.015-0.3) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. damage has been increased by 3% at level 1, scaling up to 24% increased damage by level 20.
2.3.0	The cast time for Ice NovaIce NovaSpell, AoE, Cold, Nova Level: (1-20) Cost: (8-23) Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 6.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: 230% AoE Radius: 30Requires Level 12A circle of ice expands from the caster.Deals (23-988) to (34-1481) Cold Damage Base radius is (2.6-3) metres Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Base radius is (0.015-0.3) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. and Vaal Ice NovaVaal Ice NovaSpell, AoE, Vaal, Cold, Nova Level: (1-20) Souls Per Use: 25 Can Store 2 Use(s) Soul Gain Prevention: 2 sec Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 6.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: 120%Requires Level 12A chilling circle of ice expands from the caster, repeating from every enemy it hits.Deals (18-518) to (26-762) Cold Damage Causes smaller novas up to 5 times on enemies hit 20% reduced Area of Effect each repeat Base radius is 2.6 metres Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Base radius is (0.015-0.3) metresCorruptedPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. have been reduced from 900ms to 800ms.
2.1.0	Damage has been increased by 20% at level one, improving to a 35% increase in damage by level 20.
2.0.0	Damage increased by up to 36% at high levels. Base cast time reduced to 900ms (from 935ms). Now grants 0.5% increased area of effect radius per 1% of quality (was 1% per 1% quality). Critical Strike Chance has been increased from 5% to 6%.
1.2.0	We have increased the high-level damage of this skill (up to 15% by level 20).
1.1.0	Fixed a bug where the the Ice Nova graphical effect wouldn't scale correctly.
1.0.1	Damage at high levels has been increased (around 10% more damage at level 15).
0.10.0	Now doesn't hide monster health bars while being cast.
0.9.10	0.9.10 Fixed a bug with the damage dealt while in Trap form.
0.9.6	Increased the damage.
0.9.2	Increased the damage.
0.7.1	Slightly increased Ice Nova mana cost and increased its damage. Corrected its range
0.6.12	Ice nova no longer damages monsters through walls
0.6.9	Further nerfed ice nova, another 10% less damage
0.6.8	Nerfed ice nova (-40% damage, costs more mana)
0.6.0	Ice Nova now ripples damage correctly