Reaching Agony 3 on Frozen Depths is much harder than getting level 100.

[Seekret]

I just unlocked the Norseman reaching Agony 3 quest. It's absurdly hard. I was level 110 by the time I hit agony 3, I had 30~ seconds remaining before boss spawn, and my Agony dropped back to 2 when the boss showed up. To get to Agony 3 I have 3 of the best Phys skills leveled up to X, all of them with their two upgrades, the phys ring, Arcane Rift leveled to X with 2 upgrades and Lightning Strike leveled to 3~4. So to reiterate I had 4 of the best skills fully upgraded (Orbs, Needles, Buzzsaws, Arcane Rift), phys splash ring, incredible synergy, monsters deleted from the screen the moment they show up throughout 2/3 of the run, reached level 110, 100% crit chance on all 3 phys skills, and I *barely* hit Agony 3.

[Kersakof]

Yeah I agree with this. As soon as the boss that shoots lightning balls out spawns, the floating ice warriors that if you stand still do a considerably sized AOE and a lot of damage keep you away from the boss. And all progress of the agony is lost because the Norseman is a melee character. It's just kinda annoying that I could do the first two levels (other than warlock, ♥♥♥♥ that character) pretty easily for their agony quests. Then level 4 is busting my balls and the community just snaps back "lmao you just want the game to be easy mode."
No, I want the game to let me get my achievement, still be hard, and not require me to minmax a character to get it. I didn't need potions to get agony 4 on ember grounds and haunted caverns. I played how I wanted and stumbled into it. Norseman I've tried multiple times, and since people told me to get potions, grabbed those finally and I still have issues if I don't get the "perfect set up" of 5k hp for the 500% damage bonus from the amulet. There's difficulty, and having issues with even killing things unless you have 500% bonus damage.

[Poison Trail]

Yeah, it's pretty unreasonable to expect a melee character to never get hit, especially one with so many traits to regen health. Agony goes down WAY too quickly from damage.

[Ulyaoth]

Originally posted by Poison Trail:

Yeah, it's pretty unreasonable to expect a melee character to never get hit, especially one with so many traits to regen health. Agony goes down WAY too quickly from damage.

Damage taken doesnt reduce Agony.
Only long living enemies do and dying.

One problem in Frozen Depths with Agony, enemies can get stuck on terrain and stay out of sight draining your Agony Meter.
As a current work around:
From the starting position head down south east.
There is a big opening, where enemies spawn in a better position and dont get stuck.

Keep in mind Frozen Depths is the current hardest challange, like Forgotten viaducts was before. You need a well out planned build to survive and shredd fast.

If someone struggels, you may find a cheesy strategy here:
https://steamcommunity.com/app/2218750/discussions/0/3816292165308187402/

[Seekret]

I wanted to reflect more on this now that I've completed all achievements. I now reach Agony 3 on Frozen Depth on every run, but that's because of two important factors:
1) I use a sorceress, which has a MUCH better primary weapon than Norseman and Beast Huntress.
2) I always use the same build that I planned carefully. I'm a Path of Exile build planner, making my own builds that the meta catches on to two~three leagues later.
I think the Norseman/Beast Huntress marks are too hard to get unless you're really good at making builds. Will the average players be able to follow a Youtube guide for a specific build to get these achievements? Yes they would. But players that make their builds off-the-cuff will have a very hard time unlocking these marks.