In Path of Exile 2, support gems offer a powerful way for players to customize and enhance their character builds. By pairing support gems with active skills, players can alter how these skills function, creating unique effects and new strategies. Whether you’re aiming to improve your damage output, add new elements to your abilities, or completely redefine how a skill operates, support gems are the key to unlocking endless build possibilities.
What Are Support Gems?
Support gems are special items that modify the behavior of active skills in Path of Exile 2. When combined with an active skill gem, support gems can significantly change how the skill performs, adding new effects, altering mechanics, or enhancing the skill’s power. These gems allow for vast customization, enabling players to experiment and create powerful synergies within their builds.
How Do Support Gems Work?
- Gemcutting Menu: Players can access the gemcutting menu to level up their active skill or choose a new skill to engrave. Engraving a skill gem of a certain level will unlock the active skill at that level, making it ready for customization.
- Right-Clicking a Support Gem: Right-clicking a support gem brings up a menu of recommended support gems that work well with the player’s active skills. This menu helps guide players in selecting the best support gem for their specific build.
- Experimentation and Pairing: One of the most exciting aspects of support gems is the ability to experiment with different combinations. While recommended pairings can help players optimize their skills, players are encouraged to explore the full list of compatible support gems. As long as the pairing makes sense, support gems can be combined with a skill, resulting in unique outcomes.
Example of Support Gem Pairing
Consider a Multiple Projectiles Support Gem. This gem adds additional projectiles to an existing skill, enhancing its area of effect and damage potential. For example, applying this support gem to a grenade skill would increase the number of grenades thrown from one to three, drastically changing how the ability functions in combat.
Flexibility with Support Gems
- Movement Between Skills: Support gems can be moved between different skills, allowing players to tweak their builds as they progress. A support gem only affects one skill at a time, so swapping gems between skills gives players the freedom to adapt to different playstyles or situations.
- Five Support Gems per Skill: Each skill can be modified by a maximum of five support gems, enabling complex combinations. The wide variety of support gems and active skills makes it possible to create a vast number of potential builds.
Limitless Combinations
With so many possible support gem and skill pairings, the number of combinations in Path of Exile 2 is practically limitless. In fact, the game’s developers themselves admit they don’t know all the potential results of combining different support gems and active skills. This opens the door for endless experimentation, where players can craft unique abilities, such as:
- Frost Vortexes: Create powerful area-of-effect freezing skills.
- Exploding Minions: Have your minions explode in a burst of damage when they perish.
- Repeating Skills: Turn powerful one-time-use skills into repeating abilities.
- Fire-Fueling Enemies: Make enemies set each other on fire, leading to chain reactions.
- Culling or Pinning Enemies: Enhance control skills that allow you to finish off or immobilize enemies.
Support gems are a cornerstone of Path of Exile 2‘s deep character customization system, providing players with the tools to experiment and create diverse and powerful builds. Whether you’re fine-tuning a build or crafting something entirely new, support gems offer unparalleled flexibility, making it possible to adapt and personalize your skills to match your playstyle. With endless combinations and new strategies waiting to be discovered, support gems are essential for every player looking to unlock the full potential of their character.
