Build Guide
I've been working on this build for a while, and it's viable up to GR55, though I'm currently struggling to get past GR56. It uses the oft-maligned Shard of Hate to generate not only health via Life on Hit (rapid fire Frozen Skull effect), but also damage reduction via Ancient Parthan Defenders (freezing via Frozen Skull + Halo of Arlyse), and damage boosts via the Bane of the Trapped Gem (freezing + slowing).
I found this particular Shard of Hate long ago, and had basically ignored it in my stash despite how nicely it rolled. It has decent min/max damage, good Life on Hit. Out of boredom, I decided to take it for a spin and noticed some synergies with my gear, especially how it can turn Arcane Torrent (Static Discharge) into a medium/long ranged version of the Wizard's signature skill Shock Pulse, which normally only emanates from where you stand. Now you can "throw" Shock Pulse over there. At mobs.
This also had the effect of triggering Shard of Hate's Poison Nova effect. In general, rapid-fire Frozen Skulls are launched at anything caught in a Blizzard, triggering a lot of Life on Hit, and the fact that the Frozen Skulls pierce means they spread a lot of chilling/slowing all over the place; these two things maximize moment-to-moment healing as well as toughness, allowing me to hang out in the middle of very dangerous mobs. In addition, using Arcane Torrent, the Charged Bolts appear to be able to hit the same enemy multiple times, which I don't think the Wizard's native Shock Pulse can do. Curiously, if you wear Death Watch Mantle shoulders, the Fan of Knives proc - which is a Physical attack - appears to take on the damage type of the Shard of Hate - in my case, Poison, and this in turn can trigger the Poison Nova effect of the Shard of Hate.
Ultimately, this is a close range melee build with a ranged component, which leverages Teleport (Calamity) heavily. Not only do you want to be hit, you need to be hit in order to Teleport out of tightly-packed crowds (Illusionist passive). Not sure if this play style is even doable on a PC with indirect mouse+keyboard control, considering how frantic it can be, but I long ago lost the ability to game on a PC, so I'll never know. This is pretty much built with direct control in mind.
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