Vaal Cold Snap

Vaal Cold SnapVaal, Spell, AoE, Duration, Cold
Level: (1-20)
Souls Per Use: 35
Can Store 1 Use(s)
Soul Gain Prevention: 6 sec
Cast Time: 0.85 sec
Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
Effectiveness of Added Damage: 350%Requires Level 16Creates a sudden burst of cold around you, damaging enemies. This also creates a chilling area around you which expands and deals cold damage over time to surrounding enemies in addition to chilling them. Enemies that die while in the area grant Frenzy Charges, and you will passively gain Frenzy Charges while there are enemies in the area.Deals (46-1571) to (69-2356) Cold Damage
Base duration is 4 seconds
Always Freezes enemies
Gain a Frenzy Charge when an Enemy Dies while in this Skill's Area
Every second, gain a Frenzy Charge if an Enemy is in this Skill's Area
Deals (34.3-1532.7) Base Cold Damage per second
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Modifiers to Skill Effect Duration also apply to this Skill's Soul Gain Prevention
(0-19)% increased Effect of Chill

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
0.5% increased Area of EffectPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.

Acquisition
Drop restricted
Drop level: 16
Vaal Cold Snap can drop from the Vaal Vessels found in Vaal side areas.Vendor Offer
1x Scroll FragmentMetadata
Item class: Skill Gem
Metadata ID: Metadata/Items/Gems/SkillGemVaalColdSnap

For the non-Vaal counterpart, see Cold Snap.

Vaal Cold Snap is a Vaal spell that causes an initial burst of ice to explode around the player, freezing enemies. After the burst an area of damage over time releases from the player chilling any enemy that comes into contact with it as well as awarding Frenzy charges every second per enemy in the area.

Skill functions and interactions

The Damage over Time interacts with spell damage like most DoT skills. It also interacts with multiple sources of cold DoT. Stacking Creeping FrostCreeping FrostSpell, Projectile, Duration, AoE, Cold
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (7-20) Mana
Cast Time: 0.60 sec
Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
Effectiveness of Added Damage: 120%
Projectile Speed: 844
AoE Radius: 12Requires Level 12Fire an icy projectile that bursts on impact or when reaching the targeted area, dealing area damage and creating a chilling area that deals cold damage over time. This area will creep across the ground towards nearby enemies until its duration expires.Deals (11-568) to (16-847) Cold Damage
Base duration is 5.00 seconds
Deals (18.4-2225.7) Base Cold Damage per second
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Base radius is 1.5 metres
Base secondary radius is 1.8 metres
Can have up to 10 Chilling Areas

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
+(0.01-0.2) metres to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., Cold SnapCold SnapSpell, AoE, Cold, Duration
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (11-28) Mana
Cooldown Time: 3.00 sec
Can Store 1 Use(s)
Cast Time: 0.85 sec
Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
Effectiveness of Added Damage: 320%
AoE Radius: 16Requires Level 16Creates a sudden burst of cold in a targeted area, damaging enemies. Also creates an expanding area which is filled with chilled ground, and deals cold damage over time to enemies. Enemies that die while in the area have a chance to grant Frenzy Charges. The cooldown can be bypassed by expending a Frenzy Charge.Deals (34-1440) to (51-2160) Cold Damage
Base duration is 5.00 seconds
Deals (28.7-1895.4) Base Cold Damage per second
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Burst Base radius is 1.5 metres
Chilled Ground Base initial radius is 1.5 metres
Chilled Ground Base final radius is 3 metres
25% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge when an Enemy Dies while in this Skill's Area

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
(1-20)% more Effect of ChillPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., VortexVortexSpell, AoE, Cold, Duration, Nova
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (13-25) Mana
Cast Time: 0.75 sec
Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
Effectiveness of Added Damage: 270%
AoE Radius: 2Requires Level 28An icy blast explodes around the caster, dealing cold damage to enemies, and leaving behind a whirling vortex which deals cold damage over time and chills enemies caught in it.Deals (49-779) to (73-1169) Cold Damage
Base duration is 3.00 seconds
Deals (116-2316.1) Base Cold Damage per second
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Base radius is 2 metres
Base secondary radius is 2 metres

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
+(0.01-0.2) metres to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., or any other source of Cold Damage over Time will work together.

Multiple activation of the skill by other players will stack the burst but not the DoT portion of this skill.

Gem level progression

Level				Cold Damage	Cold DPS	Chill Effect	Exp.	Total Exp.
1	16	18	26	46 to 69	37.8	N/A	0	0
2	20	22	31	63 to 95	55	N/A	49725	49725
3	24	25	37	86 to 128	78.7	N/A	95714	145439
4	28	29	42	114 to 172	111.6	N/A	169595	315034
5	31	32	46	141 to 212	143	N/A	199345	514379
6	34	35	50	173 to 260	184.6	N/A	285815	800194
7	37	37	54	211 to 317	233.5	N/A	401344	1201538
8	40	40	58	257 to 386	293.9	N/A	554379	1755917
9	43	43	62	312 to 468	371.3	N/A	755049	2510966
10	46	46	66	377 to 565	463	N/A	1016533	3527499
11	49	48	70	454 to 681	579.8	N/A	1898602	5426101
12	52	51	74	545 to 818	715.5	N/A	1964019	7390120
13	55	54	78	653 to 980	884.9	N/A	2573731	9963851
14	58	57	82	782 to 1172	1091	N/A	4676439	14640290
15	60	59	84	880 to 1320	1252.3	N/A	3017327	17657617
16	62	60	87	989 to 1484	1442.8	N/A	7823001	25480618
17	64	62	90	1112 to 1668	1644.4	N/A	15264208	40744826
18	66	64	92	1248 to 1873	1885.6	N/A	26272845	67017671
19	68	66	95	1401 to 2101	2154.8	N/A	62872274	129889945
20	70	68	98	1571 to 2356	2454.5	N/A	212023122	341913067
21	72	70	100	1760 to 2641	2787.4	N/A	N/A	N/A
22	74	N/A	N/A	1972 to 2958	3163	N/A	N/A	N/A
23	76	N/A	N/A	2207 to 3311	3578.9	N/A	N/A	N/A
24	78	N/A	N/A	2469 to 3704	4064	N/A	N/A	N/A
25	80	N/A	N/A	2761 to 4142	4573.1	N/A	N/A	N/A
26	82	N/A	N/A	3086 to 4629	5186	N/A	N/A	N/A
27	84	N/A	N/A	3447 to 5171	5853.2	N/A	N/A	N/A
28	86	N/A	N/A	3849 to 5774	6615.8	N/A	N/A	N/A
29	88	N/A	N/A	4296 to 6444	7458.5	N/A	N/A	N/A
30	90	N/A	N/A	4793 to 7189	8404.3	N/A	N/A	N/A
31	91	N/A	N/A	5062 to 7593	8928.3	N/A	N/A	N/A
32	92	N/A	N/A	5345 to 8018	9465.2	N/A	N/A	N/A
33	93	N/A	N/A	5644 to 8466	10052.8	N/A	N/A	N/A
34	94	N/A	N/A	5958 to 8938	10675.5	N/A	N/A	N/A
35	95	N/A	N/A	6290 to 9435	11313.6	N/A	N/A	N/A
36	96	N/A	N/A	6640 to 9960	12011.5	N/A	N/A	N/A
37	97	N/A	N/A	7008 to 10512	12751	N/A	N/A	N/A
38	98	N/A	N/A	7396 to 11095	13508.6	N/A	N/A	N/A
39	99	N/A	N/A	7805 to 11708	14337	N/A	N/A	N/A
40	100	N/A	N/A	8236 to 12355	15185.8	N/A	N/A	N/A

Item acquisition

Vaal Cold Snap has restrictions on where or how it can drop. Vaal Cold Snap can drop from the Vaal Vessels found in Vaal side areas.

Recipes

Vaal Cold Snap can be created from the following recipes:

Amount	Part	Description	Meta
4	A Chilling WindA Chilling Wind4Level 21 Vaal Cold Snap Quality: +20% CorruptedAll things slow under winter's onslaught - even life itself.	Corrupted Level 21 Vaal Cold Snap with 20% quality	M
9	Volatile PowerVolatile Power9Vaal Gem Quality: +20% CorruptedUnlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it.	Random corrupted Vaal gem with 20% quality	A
1	The VoidThe Void1Reach into the Void and claim your prize.	Random divination card set exchange	A

Skill demonstration

Video

Initial GGG promote video in 2014, showing the initial version of the skill . The skill had reworked in Version 3.3.0.

Click to load content

Alternate skill effects

Vaal Cold Snap has the following alternate skill effects:

Item	Effect(s)
Blighted Cold Snap EffectBlighted Cold Snap EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Cold Snap becomes a blighted effect.	Your Cold Snap becomes a blighted effect.
Cold Grasp EffectCold Grasp EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Cold Snap becomes a grasping hand of frost	Your Cold Snap becomes a grasping hand of frost
Delirious Cold Snap EffectDelirious Cold Snap EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Cold Snap becomes a delirious effect.	Your Cold Snap becomes a delirious effect.
Overseer Cold Snap EffectOverseer Cold Snap EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Cold Snap becomes an Overseer Effect.	Your Cold Snap becomes an Overseer Effect.

Version history

Version	Changes
3.14.0	Now deals 46 to 69 Cold Damage at gem level 1 (previously 35 to 53), and 1571 to 2356 Cold Damage at gem level 20 (previously 1002 to 1502). Now deals 34.3 base Cold Damage per second at gem level 1 (previously 29.4), and 1532.7 base Cold Damage per second at gem level 20 (previously 1495.5). Now has added damage effectiveness of 350% (previously 200%). The base radius of the Hit is now 32 (previously 15). Now has a Soul Gain Prevention duration of 6 seconds (previously 8). Vaal Skill Gems can now only be obtained from a set of specific methods such as Corrupting Gems, Vaal Side Areas, Divination Cards (that specifically grant Vaal Skill Gems) and the Lapidary Lens in the Temple of Atzoatl.
3.6.0	Can now affect up to 40 targets per cast (from 20). Added wind physics.
3.5.0	Critical Strike Chance increased to 6%. Skill has been reworked to deal DoT and work with Frenzy instead of Power Charges.
3.3.0	Previously created a snowflake-shaped area of chilled ground which lasted 10 seconds. Now deals 35-53 cold damage at gem level 1 (up from 11-17), up to 800 to 1201 cold damage at gem level 20 (up from 600-901). Now creates an area of chilled ground in a circle around the caster, which deals cold damage over time for 5 seconds. Now requires 35 souls to use (up from 32). Now prevents you from gaining Vaal souls for 10 seconds after use. Now has a 100% chance to grant a frenzy charge when an enemy dies while affected by the skill's cold damage over time.
2.0.0	Critical Strike Chance increased to 5%.
1.1.0d	Vaal Skill soul counts were initially balanced for Merciless difficulty, where there are more monsters. We want them to be easier to use in Normal and Cruel difficulty. We have halved the number of souls required for each skill. In Cruel difficulty, skills require 50% more souls to uses. In Merciless difficulty, they require 100% more (which is the same as before the patch).
1.1.0	Introduced to the game.