Path of Exile: How to Unlock and Use the Glacial Lance Skill Effectively

Path of Exile (PoE) continues to reward players who experiment with its complex skill gem system. One of the standout cold spells in the game is Glacial Lance, a visually striking ability that POE orbs allows Exiles to pierce through enemies with shards of ice. While it may not be as commonly used as Freezing Pulse or Ice Spear, Glacial Lance has unique mechanics that make it extremely powerful when built correctly. This guide will walk you through how to unlock the skill, understand its mechanics, and use it effectively in both leveling and endgame builds.

Unlocking Glacial Lance

Glacial Lance is a Cold Spell Skill Gem. You can acquire it early in the game through quest rewards or by purchasing it from vendors.

Quest Rewards:

For Witches and Templars, Glacial Lance is available as a reward after completing the quest "Breaking Some Eggs" in Act 1.

For Shadow, Scion, and Marauder, it becomes available later through purchase.

Vendors:

After the first few quests, Nessa in Act 1 (and other vendors later in the game) will sell Glacial Lance to most classes for a small amount of currency if it wasn’t offered as a quest reward.

Trade: Like any gem, it can also be obtained via player trade if you need a leveled version.

This accessibility makes Glacial Lance a skill you can start building around early, especially for Witch and Templar players.

Understanding Glacial Lance Mechanics

Glacial Lance fires a shard of ice in a straight line, but unlike other projectiles, it has two phases:

Initial Cast Area (Near Phase) – Enemies close to you are struck by a weaker, less damaging version of the spell.

Lance Phase (Far Phase) – As the projectile travels a short distance, it transforms into a long ice lance that deals significantly higher damage and gains increased chance to critically strike.

This dual-phase system makes positioning critical. The skill rewards hitting enemies in the lance phase rather than spamming at close range.

Key Stats of Glacial Lance:

Deals pure cold damage.

Has a built-in piercing effect, meaning projectiles continue to strike through multiple enemies.

Benefits heavily from spell damage, cold damage, projectile damage, and critical strike multipliers.

Synergizes with mechanics that increase projectile speed and range, since this makes the lance phase easier to apply consistently.

Best Support Gems for Glacial Lance

To maximize its damage output, Glacial Lance should be linked with supports that amplify both its spell and projectile aspects:

Controlled Destruction Support – Huge spell damage boost at the cost of reduced critical strike chance. Since Glacial Lance gains critical bonuses in its lance phase, the tradeoff is manageable.

Spell Echo Support – Doubles your cast output, excellent for both clear speed and boss damage.

Cold Penetration Support – Essential for dealing with enemies resistant to cold damage.

Hypothermia Support – Adds more damage against chilled or frozen enemies, which synergizes naturally with cold builds.

Greater Multiple Projectiles (GMP) – For clearing large packs, multiple lances increase coverage, though each projectile deals less damage.

Inspiration Support – Reduces mana costs and adds elemental damage, keeping the skill spammable.

For endgame bossing, you can swap out GMP for Elemental Focus or Awakened Controlled Destruction for higher single-target damage.

Passive Tree and Ascendancies

When scaling Glacial Lance, you’ll want to prioritize nodes that boost spell damage, cold damage, and critical strike chance. Projectile damage nodes also contribute significantly.

Recommended Ascendancies:

Elementalist (Witch):

Provides powerful elemental penetration, golem buffs, and increased elemental damage. The exposure mechanics make cold builds far stronger.

Occultist (Witch):

Ideal for curse-based setups, giving strong defensive utility with Energy Shield and curse proliferation. Excellent for mapping.

Inquisitor (Templar):

Critical strike powerhouse that ignores enemy resistances with Inevitable Judgment, making your Glacial Lance cut through even the tankiest bosses.

Gear and Stat Priorities

When gearing for Glacial Lance, your focus should be on scaling spell critical strikes and cold penetration.

Wand/Dagger + Shield setups are ideal for maximizing spell damage and critical stats.

Two-Handed Staves with high spell crit are another option if you want a more offensive setup.

Stat Priorities:

Spell Damage %

Critical Strike Chance for Spells

Cold Damage %

Cast Speed

to Level of Cold Gems or All Spell Gems

Defenses: Since Glacial Lance users often stand at mid-range, prioritize Energy Shield or hybrid Life/Energy Shield gear.

A notable unique to consider is Void Battery (Wand) for crit scaling or Shavronne’s Wrappings if you want to run a low-life Energy Shield build.

Playstyle Tips

Positioning is everything – Always aim to hit enemies at the lance phase distance, where the damage and crit bonuses are at their peak. Too close, and you waste potential damage.

Freeze and Shatter – With good crit scaling, Glacial Lance will frequently freeze enemies, keeping packs under control and reducing incoming damage.

Clear vs. Bossing – Use GMP or LMP while mapping to clear wide packs, then switch to a single-target focused setup for bosses.

Keep moving – Since the skill works best at mid-range, you’ll constantly reposition during combat. Pair this with movement skills like Flame Dash or Frostblink.

Glacial Lance in the Endgame

Glacial Lance shines when scaled into critical strike builds. With the right setup, it can achieve screen-wide freezing, high boss damage, and smooth gameplay. It’s not the most beginner-friendly cold spell because of its positioning requirement, but once mastered, it offers a satisfying mix of power and control.

Mapping: Excellent when combined with GMP and high projectile speed.

Bossing: Strong critical burst, especially with Inquisitor or Elementalist ascendancies.

League Starts: Viable for early progression since the gem is available in Act 1 and doesn’t require expensive gear to function decently.

Conclusion

Glacial Lance is a skill that rewards precision, positioning, and buy POE orbs build investment. By unlocking it early, linking it with the right support gems, and scaling it through spell damage and crit mechanics, you can turn this icy projectile into one of the most dangerous tools in your arsenal. Whether you’re freezing mobs mid-map or shredding through endgame bosses, mastering Glacial Lance ensures you bring the cold fury of Wraeclast straight to your enemies.