If turning enemies into walking ice sculptures sounds like your kind of fun, the Frost Vortex build in Once Human might just be your next favorite setup. Built for maximum area control and consistent elemental damage, this build uses cold status effects to lock down mobs and bosses alike. It’s all about creating a chilling zone where enemies get trapped, slowed, and gradually destroyed by stacking frost damage.

But this isn’t just about flashy ice explosions, even though there’s a lot of that going on in this action game. A good Frost Vortex build needs the right gear, weapons, and perks working together to trigger those vortices consistently. In this guide, we’ll break it all down—from the core weapon choices to ideal armor mods and cradle overrides—so you can make sure every shot you fire pushes your enemies closer to an icy end.

How Frost Vortex Works

Frost Vortex is a special status effect that deals frost damage in a set area, making it ideal for crowd control and sustained damage. When triggered, it creates a 4.5-meter zone that slows and damages anything inside with steady Psi Intensity-based damage over four seconds.

It doesn’t rely on critical hits or weakspot targeting, and the damage remains constant regardless of how far the target is from the center. The effect caps at two active vortices by default, but certain mods can increase this. It’s most effective when you can keep enemies inside the area for the full duration, especially when combined with debuffs or damage boosts.

Core Weapons for the Build

The Frost Vortex setup works best with weapons that trigger the effect frequently and consistently. Your top option is the KAM – Abyss Glance, which activates Frost Vortex after landing enough hits. Weakspot shots help speed this up, since each one counts for double. It also rewards close-range play by stacking more damage the closer enemies are to the vortex center.

Combine this primary with the DE.50 – Wildfire. This pistol helps apply a vulnerability debuff called Bull’s Eye that weakens targets and even spreads to nearby enemies. Open with this, then follow up with the KAM to get more damage from your vortex triggers.

As a melee backup, the Frozen Northern Pike is a solid choice. It spawns a vortex every few seconds during combat and also provides small bursts of healing, making it perfect for survivability while keeping up your Frost uptime.

Best Armor Setup

This build benefits from armor that boosts your elemental output and supports your ability to trigger vortices quickly. Use the Shelterer set for the bulk of your gear—it increases elemental damage and builds up a unique energy stack system that amplifies your damage further. The more hits you land, the more these stacks add up.

For shoes, go with the Bastille Shoes. They give you a flat damage increase as long as your health stays above a certain level. Combine this with the Covered Advance mod to earn extra bonuses just by staying mobile and avoiding hits.

As for your top armor slot, use the Frost Tactical Vest. This one really brings the build together by causing Ice Spikes to erupt from your Frost Vortex zones, dealing even more frost damage and punishing enemies who stick around.

Top Weapon and Armor Mods

Your primary weapon mods should focus on increasing vortex uptime and boosting the damage it deals. The two best choices are:

• Vortex Multiplier: Increases the number of active vortices and adds a bonus to their damage.
• Cryo Blast: Slows enemies and makes them more vulnerable while inside the vortex.

On your Wildfire pistol, slot in the Vulnerability Amplifier to extend and intensify the Bull’s Eye debuff. And for your Frozen Pike, use Frosty Blessing, which restores health when vortices expire while the weapon is equipped.

For armor mods, the priority is status and elemental damage. Key picks include:

• Deviation Expert: Reduces your attack range but increases your firing speed and status effect damage.
• Lingering Frost: Boosts vortex damage based on how long the effect lasts.
• Elemental Overload and Status Enhancement: One improves all elemental effects, while the other is focused purely on status-based boosts—pick based on your playstyle.
• Flame Resonance: A must-have if you’re leaning into status damage.
• Precision Charge: Encourages accurate shooting by scaling your elemental damage based on weakspot hit rates.

Cradle Overrides to Use

Cradle Overrides act like passive upgrades, and picking the right ones can make or break the build:

• Status Enhancement: Increases all status damage across the board.
• Lone Walker: Great for solo players—it boosts your damage and speeds up healing when you’re under pressure.
• Automatic Weapon Enhancement: Enhances rifles like the Abyss Glance with more damage and reload benefits.
• Deviation Master: Amplifies your damage when your Polar Jelly is summoned, which you’ll be using constantly.
• Sustained Suppression: Adds stacking damage increases every time you score a kill, perfect for chain fights.
• Tactical Combo: A great burst option—gives you more damage right after a weapon swap or reload.

Why Polar Jelly is a Must

The Polar Jelly Combat Deviant is crucial to this build. It deals constant Frost damage and boosts all your Frost DMG by 31.5%. On top of that, it spawns extra Ice Spikes if a Frost Vortex appears nearby, helping you snowball your damage even more.

Maintain the Polar Jelly and Deviation Master override pairing to create a damage feedback loop. This will allow you to focus on hitting your vortex triggers while the feedback loop inflicts damage.

Tips for Playing the Build

Though this build is pretty intuitive to play, here are some tips to maximize your performance with it:

• Start fights with DE.50 Wildfire to mark enemies with Bull’s Eye.
• Deploy Polar Jelly early to increase damage and distract enemies.
• Fire with Abyss Glance until the Frost Vortex activates, then reposition to keep foes in the zone.
• Use Frozen Pike for healing and consistent vortex procs in close combat.
• Maintain high HP and avoid taking damage to get full value from Bastille and Covered Advance perks.

The Frost Vortex build in Once Human is all about controlling space and punishing enemies who get too close. With the right setup, you’ll turn every battlefield into a frozen wasteland where enemies have no chance to escape. And for the smoothest gameplay and sharpest visuals, remember to enjoy Once Human on PC with BlueStacks—it’s the best way to bring this icy build to life.