The Cold Minion Shaman build for the Druid class in Path of Exile 2 offers a unique blend of powerful minion-based combat, elemental cold damage, and defensive mechanics that allow you to dominate both the campaign and endgame content. This guide takes you through the journey from Act 1 all the way to the POE 2 Currency final acts, providing detailed strategies for summoning minions, increasing their damage output, and fortifying your defenses along the way.

Act 1-3: Raging Spirits and Minion Control

In the early stages of the campaign, you'll begin by using Flame Wall to summon Raging Spirits—fiery, self-immolating minions that target enemies in their vicinity. This skill will be your primary source of damage in the early game. To support your army of minions, you’ll use Skeletal Sniper to command your minions and deal damage in a wide area, providing a solid base for your minion army.

Additionally, you'll rely on Elemental Weakness, a curse that reduces enemies’ elemental resistances, allowing your minions to deal even more damage. Unearth is another crucial ability, enabling you to spawn temporary minions from enemy corpses. These minions, while short-lived, will bolster your forces during fights.

To further empower your minions, cast Pain Offering regularly. This skill provides a damage boost to all your summoned creatures, enhancing their effectiveness in combat.

Midgame: Cold Spectres and Wolf Pack

As you progress further into the campaign and acquire better gear, the Cold Minion Shaman build begins to evolve. Once you've built up a solid minion base and have acquired the necessary resources, you can switch your focus to Gelid Zealot Spectres and a Wolf Pack for sustained damage output. These creatures are incredibly effective for endgame content and will carry you through tougher fights.

With Gelid Zealot Spectres, you'll have cold-based minions that freeze and slow enemies, further complementing your playstyle by controlling the battlefield. The Wolf Pack offers additional damage, providing both tanking and offensive support. These minions are reinforced with Loyalty, which reduces the damage taken by your minions from hits by 10%, significantly increasing their survivability.

At this point, you no longer need to use Raging Spirits or Flame Wall, as your Wolf Pack and Spectres become your main sources of damage.

Defenses: Energy Shield and Block

The Cold Minion Shaman build thrives on Energy Shield, Energy Shield Recovery, and Block Chance for defensive stability. These layers of defense help mitigate incoming damage, ensuring that you remain resilient in both boss fights and large mob encounters.

Additionally, you can stack Reactive Growth and Avatar of Evolution for further protection, reducing the elemental and physical damage taken. These defensive nodes are essential for surviving the more difficult endgame encounters, especially as your minions become your primary source of damage.

Endgame: Stronger Minions and Improved Defense

Once you reach the endgame, you’ll rely more heavily on Wolf Pack Minions and Gelid Zealot Spectres to clear content. Common Uniques like Enfolding Dawn and Bones of Ullr will further enhance your minions' damage output and survivability. Alternatively, the Waveshaper (a level 51 item) offers excellent defensive capabilities as a solid replacement for Enfolding Dawn.

Conclusion

The Cold Minion Shaman build in Path of Exile 2 offers a balanced and versatile playstyle that grows stronger as you progress through the campaign. While it starts with a focus on summoning Raging Spirits and utilizing Elemental Weakness and Pain Offering, it evolves into a powerhouse of cold-based Spectres and Wolf Packs for endgame content. With solid defensive mechanics, including Energy Shield, Block, and specific Uniques, you’ll be able to survive even the toughest battles.

While this build requires no Unique items to function, common Uniques like Enfolding Dawn, Bones of Ullr, and Waveshaper will significantly enhance your minions' damage and defenses. Keep an eye out for Exalted or Chaos Orbs during your playthrough to acquire these items and improve your minion army.

The Cold Minion Shaman build is a great option for players who enjoy controlling armies of minions and utilizing elemental damage to crush their enemies, all while staying defensive and resilient through the cheap POE 2 Exalted Orbs toughest challenges Path of Exile 2 has to offer.