PoE 2: Ailments Guide - Effects & Uses

In Path of Exile 2 (PoE2), understanding and utilising ailments is crucial to optimising your gameplay, whether you're looking to deal massive damage, control crowds, or survive challenging encounters. Here's an in-depth look at all the ailments in PoE2, based on Game Rant's findings:

What are Ailments?

Ailments in PoE2 are status effects that can be inflicted on both enemies and players, altering their performance in combat. They range from dealing damage over time to imposing negative effects that can change the flow of combat.

List of afflictions in Path of Exile 2

Bleed

Effect: Causes physical damage over time.

Mechanics: Bleed damage scales with the physical damage of the hit that applied it.

Counter: Can be mitigated by Health regeneration or specific skills that reduce or remove Bleed effects.

Poison

Effect: Deals Chaos damage over time with each stack applied.

Mechanics: Multiple stacks of poison can be applied, each with its own duration and damage tick.

Counter: Poison can be mitigated by chaos resistance or anti-poison effects.

Ignite

Effect: Deals fire damage to the target over time.

Mechanics: Damage is based on the Fire damage of the hit that caused Ignite.

Counter: Fire resistance reduces Ignite damage, and certain skills or items can prevent or reduce the effect.

Chill

Effect: Slow the target's movement and action speed.

Mechanics: The severity of the chill is based on the cold damage dealt, with deeper chills causing more significant speed reductions.

Counter: Can be countered by items or effects that grant immunity to cold or increase resistance to cold.

Freeze

Effect: Stops the target's movement and actions completely for a duration.

Mechanics: Similar to Chill, but requires a threshold of cold damage to activate. Higher cold damage can result in longer freeze durations.

Counter: Cold resistance, freeze immunity or break free mechanics can counter this effect.

Shock

Effect: Increases damage taken by the target.

Mechanics: The damage increase scales with the lightning damage of the hit, making subsequent hits more effective.

Counter: Lightning resistance reduces the effect of Shock, and some skills provide protection against it.

Sap

Effect: Reduces the target's damage output.

Mechanics: This affliction is less common, but can be applied by certain skills or items.

Counter: Effects that boost damage or counter debuffs can mitigate sap.

Strategic use of afflictions

Offensive strategies

Mix and Match: Combining Ailments can create devastating effects, such as using Bleed and Poison for continuous damage while freezing or chilling enemies for control.

Build Focus: Certain builds revolve around maximising one or more afflictions for both damage and crowd control.

Defensive Strategies

Disease Immunity: Equip with items or select passives that grant immunity to one or more afflictions to survive longer in combat.

Resistances: Maximise relevant resistances to lessen the impact of afflictions on your character.

Thanks for reading

Ailments in Path of Exile 2 are a multifaceted aspect of gameplay that offer players a number of strategic options. By understanding how each ailment works, players can create builds that not only deal damage, but also control the battlefield, ensuring a smoother progression through the dark world of Wraeclast.

As you dive into PoE2, remember that mastering afflictions can be the key to success, providing both offensive power and defensive resilience.