Warborne: Above Ashes is a game that rewards experimentation, theorycrafting, and the patient study of its many interconnected systems. Few parts of its design illustrate this better than its vast collection of weapons, each tied to different stat trees and combat philosophies. Today we’re diving deep into two of the most iconic intelligence-based weapon categories: Frost Staves and Fire Staves. Together, they close off one of the most demanding sections of the Intelligence weapon tree, offering players powerful control tools, raw damage options, and unique ways to dominate both single-target duels and large-scale encounters.
This article will walk through the mechanics, skills, and strategic applications of these staves, drawing from hands-on testing and practical impressions. Whether you prefer the chilling slows of frost magic or the burning devastation of fire, there’s something here that can reshape how you approach combat in Warborne: Above Ashes.
The Power of Passive Effects
Before jumping into specific staves, it’s worth highlighting one of the most important aspects of Warborne’s design: passives. For both Frost and Fire, passives provide crucial baseline power that shapes how your combat loop unfolds.
Frost Passive: After avoiding damage for 10 seconds, you gain a shield equal to 15% of your maximum HP. When struck, the shield not only absorbs damage but also debuffs attackers—reducing their movement and attack speed by 30% for 4 seconds. This makes Frost staves naturally defensive, with a built-in answer to melee rushdowns.
Fire Passive: Striking enemies applies a burning DoT effect that lasts for 8 seconds. At 6 stacks, the burn detonates in an AoE explosion, dealing damage to all nearby enemies while clearing the stacks. This mechanic rewards sustained pressure and benefits greatly from multi-hit abilities and auto attacks.
Both passives complement their archetypes perfectly: Frost thrives on control and survivability, while Fire thrives on attrition and explosive burst.
Frost Staves – Freezing Foes with Control and Utility
Frost weapons in Warborne excel at battlefield control. They slow, root, immobilize, and in many cases outright freeze opponents, making them invaluable in both small skirmishes and large-scale group fights. Let’s break down the standout skills and weapons.
Auto Attacks
Frost staves have multiple auto-attack variants:
Single Target Beam: A consistent attack with freeze buildup. Once the freeze meter fills, the target is immobilized briefly and takes bonus damage. Reliable but not flashy.
Long-Range AoE Blast: A projectile that doesn’t require channeling and travels far. Perfect for large battles, as it slows enemies by 25% for 4 seconds on impact.
Shard Barrage: Fires ice shards where the first deals full damage (around 800), while subsequent shards only deal 25% if they hit the same target. However, when spread across multiple enemies, the damage stays high. This makes positioning key.
Most players gravitate toward the AoE Blast for group fights, while the single-target beam shines in duels.
Core Frost Skills (Q Abilities)
Ice Laser: A channeled beam with strong damage and a stacking -8% enemy movement speed debuff (up to 5 stacks). Great for shredding through bosses or locking down enemies at range.
Exploding Shard: A lobbed projectile that detonates in an AoE, rooting enemies briefly. High damage, but easy to dodge due to its slow speed.
Frost Dash: A mobility tool that dashes you forward while freezing enemies around you for 0.5 seconds. This spell doubles as both an escape and an offensive engage tool, depending on context.
Ice Wall: Summons a wall of frost that slows enemies by 70% and freezes them if they accumulate enough frost stacks. Though the damage is moderate, the wall lasts 8 seconds, providing zoning and area denial.
Cone Knockback: A frost cone that deals moderate damage, knocks enemies back 10 meters, and applies a hefty -30% movement/attack speed debuff. It has a longer cooldown than the dash, but the disruption potential is excellent.
Legendary Frost Weapons
Shattered Skull: Fires bouncing shards that can hit enemies multiple times. Strong damage coefficients and attack speed debuffs make it a standout against small groups.
Frost Mines: Deploys up to three icy mines that slow, damage, and reduce healing of enemies who trigger them. With charges regenerating every 15 seconds, these mines are excellent for controlling choke points.
Crystal Core: Launches a slow-moving orb that you can teleport to within 3 seconds, dealing heavy AoE damage and freezing foes. This skill is aggressive and flashy, rewarding risk-taking.
Invoker’s Staff: Grants a temporary buff that changes your basic attacks into rapid, sweeping melee strikes with high damage multipliers and built-in dashes. This turns the Frost mage into a short-range juggernaut for a limited duration.
Summoner’s Prism: Creates a delayed AoE explosion that freezes enemies and deals massive 400% coefficient damage. Widely considered one of the strongest Frost tools in large-scale fights.
Frost staves, in short, are flexible. You can kit for survivability with shields and slows, or lean fully into offensive AoEs and oppressive crowd control.
Fire Staves – Burning Everything with Explosive Damage
If Frost is about control, Fire is about raw destruction. Fire staves bring high sustained DPS, explosive burst mechanics, and dangerous DoTs that punish anyone who lingers.
Auto Attacks
Fire auto-attacks also come in multiple flavors:
Direct Bolt: A simple targeted projectile that applies a burn. At max stacks, enemies explode.
Triple Shot: Fires three projectiles in a spread, useful for hitting multiple enemies at range.
Fire Mine: A lobbed AoE that detonates at long range (18m), dealing splash damage. Strong in group fights, though weaker for single-target.
The burn passive means that no matter which auto attack you use, enemies are constantly pressured.
Core Fire Skills (Q Abilities)
Hell Core Meteors: Fires three meteors in succession, each dealing strong AoE damage and applying healing reduction debuffs. With three stored charges and fast recharge, this skill defines Fire gameplay.
Flamethrower: A channeled spray that deals enormous DPS over time while stacking burns rapidly. The drawback is that you must remain stationary.
Explosive Bolt: A short-cast projectile that detonates multiple times, layering damage and DoTs. Its high coefficient makes it a premier single-target option.
Fire Wall (Fuel Mechanic): Creates a burning zone that applies “fuel” stacks. When ignited with another spell, enemies panic (fear effect) for 1.5s and take ticking damage. This introduces combo potential.
Fire Dash: A mobility spell that also damages and applies two burn stacks. Great as both an escape and offensive finisher.
Overcharge Mode: A toggle that boosts casting speed by 60% and spell damage by 20%, at the cost of draining mana per second. Perfect for short windows of burst damage.
Legendary Fire Weapons
Hellcore Staff: Arguably the strongest Fire weapon, enabling triple-meteor barrages that obliterate enemies. Its AoE pressure and sustain make it indispensable.
Infernal Maw: A beam weapon with gigantic range, piercing through enemies and applying multiple burn stacks before exploding at max charge. Excellent in both small and large fights.
Eruption Staff: Summons fireballs that launch enemies into the air for a second before detonating. High burst damage with moderate cooldowns.
Ruptor: A single-target monster. Applies a powerful DoT and then triggers devastating detonations, shredding through even tanky enemies. Particularly deadly in duels.
Solar Flare Cannon: Channels a stationary laser beam that deals constant damage while stacking burns. Works best when allies can pin enemies in place.
Fire weapons thrive on overwhelming enemies with layered damage and DoT explosions. While riskier than Frost (since many skills root you in place), the sheer numbers they produce can end fights in seconds.
Frost vs Fire – Which Should You Choose?
Choosing between Frost and Fire depends on your playstyle and your team’s needs:
Play Frost if… you want battlefield control, survivability, and tools to disrupt enemies. Frost excels at large-scale PvP and group synergy, where slows and freezes can turn fights.
Play Fire if… you want maximum damage, explosive combos, and sustained pressure through DoTs. Fire shines in PvE boss fights and burst-heavy PvP scenarios where burning enemies down quickly is the priority.
Both categories are strong, and the choice often comes down to whether you value control or raw output.
Final Thoughts
The Frost and Fire staves of Warborne: Above Ashes represent two sides of the same coin. Frost is methodical, defensive, and controlling, while Fire is chaotic, aggressive, and devastating. Together they complete the Intelligence weapon tree’s identity, giving players both the tools to freeze enemies in place and the firepower to burn them down.
From the elegant zoning of Frost Walls to the apocalyptic power of Hellcore Meteors, these weapons showcase the creativity of Warborne’s design. They also highlight the game’s demand for adaptability: in some fights, the utility of Frost mines is irreplaceable; in others, nothing compares to a Fire Ruptor’s single-target nuking power.
Ultimately, mastering both is the true path forward. If you can switch fluidly between the icy patience of Frost and the blazing fury of Fire, you’ll embody the full destructive potential of the Intelligence tree—and carve your place among the legends of Warborne: Above Ashes.
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