The Skill Gem system in Path of Exile 2 can seem rather confusing when you are just starting out. This is because, unlike most other ARPGs, skills in PoE 2 are itemized and can be used on every character as long as they meet the stat requirement.
This allows a lot of flexibility when trying to min-max your class with skills that won’t usually fit them. Builds start becoming even more interesting and versatile when you bring in Support Gems and Buff Gems.
You gain access to an infinite number of potential combinations to tailor your character in whichever way you want. So if you are looking to have a firm grasp of the Skill Gem system in Path of Exile 2, below is a guide to help you out.
What are Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2?
As mentioned, Skills are not something that you learn in Path of Exile 2, they are instead equipped and socketed into your character. You will find Skill Gems as you complete missions and explore the map, and inserting one into your character will give you access to the skill and you will be able to use it as long as you meet the attribute requirements and weapon restrictions.
All classes will be able to use any skill in PoE 2, however, there is one exception when it comes to skills unlocked through Ascendancy.
All Skill categories in PoE 2
Skills in Path of Exile 2 can roughly be broken down into three categories:
1) Red Skill Gems (Strength Attribute)
These skills mainly focus on melee attacks and will usually include melee swings, heavy slams, and slashes. The gem color is also related to Tootems, which are minions that can be used to taunt and attack enemies.
2) Green Skill Gems (Dexterity Attribute)
Green skills are aimed more towards having a more hit-and-run playsytle. They complement ranged combat the most and will let your character kite enemies and avoid getting swarmed.
While there are some melee abilities in this category, they are not as effective as their ranged counterparts. Moreover, Green skills are also associated with matching mechanical contraptions.
You will be able to construct Ballista turrets, lay down traps, modify ammo types, and even gain ice buffs.
3) Blue Skill Gems (Intelligence Attribute)
Blue skills are all about casting magic and almost every spell in the game falls under this category. The Sorceress and the Witch will be relying on blue skills quite a bit. Melee classes can also have blue gems in their build if they are looking to have elemental buffs in their attacks.
How to use Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2
Once you have a Skill Gem that you want to equip, you will need to make your way into the skills tab of the many menu. Here you will see a grid of sockets, with the Skill Gem slot occupying the left-most column and Support Gems going into the rest.
Usually, you will only be able to slot in nine skills into your character, however, it can be bypassed by using certain weapons, Metagems, or picking a certain Ascendant class.
Skill Gem abilities can be snapped and consume mana. However, they come with a fixed attack speed or cast time, making them much slower than basic attacks. You can, however, enhance their effects with the right Support Gems.
All Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2 early access
Here is a list of all the Skill Gems that are currently available in the early access period of Path of Exile 2:
| Skill | Tier | LvL Req. | Stat Req. | Effect |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explosive Grenade | 1 | 1 | None | Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a devastating fiery blast when its fuse expires. |
| Permafrost Bolts | 1 | 1 | None | Loads your Crossbow with icy bolts that fragment in flight, damaging enemies on hit and in a small cone behind their final target. The icy coating on the bolts make them extremely potent at Freezing enemies. |
| Unearth | 1 | 2 | Int: 9 | Raises spikes of bone from the earth in front of you. The bones of Corpses in the area are ripped out and reassembled into short-lived Bone Construct Minions that fight for you. |
| Skeletal Warrior | 1 | 1 | Int: 8 | Summons reviving Skeletal Warriors. |
| Chaos Bolt | 1 | 1 | Int: 16 | Fires a burst of chaos energy at the target. |
| Infernal Cry | 1 | 6 | Dex: 16 | Performs a warcry, Empowering subsequent Attacks. Consumes all Endurance Charges to Empower additional attacks. Enemies in the warcry’s area are destabilised and will Combust on death. |
| Boneshatter | 1 | 6 | Dex: 16 | Attacks enemies with a melee Strike. The Strike will cause a Heavy Stun on enemies that are Primed for Stun. Upon causing a Heavy Stun it will also create a Shockwave, dealing a large amount of damage in an area. |
| Contagion | 1 | 1 | None | Afflicts a single enemy with a Debuff that deals Chaos Damage over time. If the enemy dies while affected by contagion, it and all other Chaos Damage over time Debuffs spread to other enemies and refresh their durations. Reanimating or detonating a corpse affected by contagion will cause the Minion or explosion to spread Contagion on hit. |
| Poisonburst Arrow | 1 | 1 | None | Fires a virulent arrow that creates a burst of Poison on hit, affecting all enemies in an area. |
| Frozen Locus | 1 | 1 | None | Leap backward and crack the ground with your staff to call forth an Ice Crystal, which creates Chilled Ground around it and can be damaged by you and enemies. If the Crystal is destroyed it causes an icy explosion that deals Attack Damage but does not use your weapon’s damage. |
| Glacial Cascade | 1 | 1 | None | Sweep your Quarterstaff upwards, releasing an icy fissure which deals damage in a series of bursts culminating in a large spike. Frozen enemies hit by the final spike are dealt heavy damage but tthe Freeze is Consumed. Ice Crystals hit by the final spike explode. |
| Falling Thunder | 1 | 1 | None | Infuses your Quarter staff with electrical energies, then slams the ground to deal damage in a large cone in front of you. Consumes your Power Charges to fire Lightning Projectiles forwards from the impact. |
| Ice Nova | 1 | 1 | None | A nova of ice expands from you, Knocking Back enemies based on how close they are to you. Casting Ice Nova targeting near a Frostbolt Projectile will cause it to originate from the Frostbolt insead of you, and cause more Freeze buildup. |
| Flame Wall | 1 | 1 | None | Creates a wall of fire in front of the character, which ignites everything within its area. Any projectiles fired through the wall by you and allies deal added fire damage and inflict ignite on hit. |
| Spark | 1 | 1 | None | Launches a spray of sparking projectiles that travel erratically along the ground until they hit an enemy or expire. |
| Frost Bomb | 1 | 1 | None | Creates a pulsing Orb of Frost. Each pulse inflicts Cold Exposure on nearby Enemies. When the Orb’s duration ends, it explodes, dealing Cold damage to surrounding Enemies. |
| Rolling Slam | 1 | 3 | Dex: 9 | Slam the ground to Stun enemies and knock them away, then continue forward and perform a devastating second Slam. holding down the skill input allows you to change direction as you move. |
| Flash Grenade | 2 | 6 | Str: 10 Dex: 10 | Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies. |
| Gas Grenade | 3 | 14 | Str: 20 Dex: 20 | Fires a bouncing Grenade that causes a burst of Poison gas when its fuse expires, damaging enemies and leaving behind a growing Poison cloud. Burning effects or Detonator skills will cause the cloud to explode in a fiery blast. |
| Tempest Bell | 3 | 10 | Str: 15 Int: 15 | Buiild Combo by successfully Striking Enemies with other skills. After reaching maximum Combo, use this skill to cause the Bell on your stafff to grow to massive size as you drop it on the ground. The Bell damages enemies on impact and can be Hit by your skills, creating a damaging shockwave. Elemental Ailments applied to the Bell cause its shockwaves to deal extra damage of the corresponding type, and Hits which would have caused Knockback increase the area of effect of the shockwaves. |
| Skeletal Arsonist | 3 | 6 | Int: 16 | Summons bomb-throwing, reviving Skeletal Arsonists that can detonate other minions on command. |
| Vine Arrow | 3 | 6 | Str: 16 | Fire an arrow into the air that lands after a short delay, causing a plant to spring up at the impact location. The plants sprouts vines that latch onto nearby enemies, Slowing their movement speed and dealing Chaos Damage over time. The plant can be Poisoned, causing it to deal more damage. |
| Orb of Storm | 3 | 6 | Int: 16 | Creates an Orb of electricity that fires Chaining Lightning bolts at nearby enemies. |
| Frostbolt | 3 | 6 | Int: 16 | Fires a slow-moving projectile that leaves a wake of Chilled Ground, deals Cold Damage and explodes on colliding with terrain. |
| Ember Fusillade | 3 | 6 | Int: 16 | Conjures a blazing Ember that hovers around you. After a short duration, the Ember launches at the enemy, dealing fire damage in an area on impact. Recasting the spess resets the duration for all active Embers. Multiple Embers fired in the same Fusillade will attempt to target different enemies. |
| Molten Blast | 5 | 14 | Dex: 34 | Gouges molten rock from the ground and flings it at the target. The Projectile explodes on collision, damaging enemies and scattering shrapnel in a cone behind it. |
| Perfect Strike | 5 | 5 | Dex: 34 | Charge up your weapon while channeling. Releasing the moment your ECT STRIKE fully charged will release a wave of Fire. |
| Ice Strikes | 5 | 5 | Str: 20 Int: 20 | Perform a fast icy Strike, Using this Attack three times in quick succession causes a final strike that is slower and more powerful. |
| Tempest Flurry | 5 | 14 | Str: 20 Int: 20 | Perform a series of aggressive Strikes. When used in quick succession, the third uses Strikes three times, and the fourth performs a Final strike that calls down a powerful Shocking bolt. |
| Cold Snap | 5 | 14 | Int: 34 | Shatters the frost on a Frozen enemy, Consuming the freeze to deal a large amount of Cold Damage to enemies caught in the blast. Can also be cast on a Frostbolt to cause it to explode immediately. Any Frozen enemies hit by the Frostbolt’s explosion will be dealt Cold Snap’s damage and have their freeze consumed. |
| Solar Orb | 5 | 14 | Int: 34 | Creates a fiery Orb that periodically releases fiery pulses. Enemies that are very close to the Orb are Ignited. |
| Incinirate | 5 | 14 | Int: 34 | Conjures a torrent of flames from your hand, Igniting enemies in front of you. The flames grow stronger the longer you Channel for, and at maximum strength also apply stacking Fire Exposure and creating Ignited Ground. |
| Wave of Frost | 7 | 22 | Str: 30 Int: 30 | Flips backwards and sends forth a Freezing wave in front of you. |
| Hypothermia | 7 | 22 | Int: 52 | Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Cold Resistance. |
| Flammability | 7 | 22 | Int: 52 | Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Fire Resistance. |
| Conductivity | 7 | 22 | Int: 52 | Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Lightning Resistance. |
| Killing Palm | 7 | 22 | Str: 30 Int: 30 | Dash to an enemy and Strike them with an unarmed Attack, Culling enemies if their life is low enough. Each enemy killed by this strike grants a Power Charge. Enemies around you that can be Culled will be highlighted. This skill always Strikes with your bare fist, even if you have a Quarterstaff equipped. |
| Lightning Warp | 9 | 31 | Int: 72 | Teleports you inside the target’s body, causing it to violently explode. Highlights enemies that can be culled, and can only be used on these enemies or Ball Lightning projectiles. The target is destroyed, and the explosion deals Lightning Damage to surrounding enemies and creates Shocked Ground. |
| Mana Tempest | 9 | 31 | Int: 72 | Creates a storm of arcane energies that Empowers your Mana-costing Spells while you remain inside it. Maintaining the Storm constantly drains your Mana, and each spell you cast causes it to drain faster. The storm will dissipate when you exit it or run out of mana. |
| Frost Wall | 9 | 31 | Int: 72 | Creates a Wall of Ice Crystals which holds back enemies. The Crystals explode if sufficiently damaged, or if pushed hard enough, damaging nearby enemies. |
| Fireball | 9 | 31 | Int: 72 | Launches a large ball of Fire which explodes on impact, creating a nova of smaller firebolts. |
| Ball Lightning | 11 | 41 | Int: 95 | Fires a slow-moving projectile that repeatedly shoots bolts of lightning at nearby enemies. |
| Comet | 11 | 41 | Int: 95 | Calls down a mass of ice from the sky, dealing high damage at the targeted location. Targeting close to you will cause you to jump back as you cast. |
| Firestorm | 11 | 41 | Int: 95 | Rains flaming bolts over the targeted area. Ignites on enemies in front of you are Consumed to fuel the Firestorm, causing one bolt to be improved for each Ignite Consumed. |
| Temporal Chains | 13 | 52 | Int: 119 | Curses all enemies in an area, Slowing them and making other effects on them expire more slowly. |
| Lightning Conduit | 13 | 52 | Int: 119 | Calls down lightning to strike all enemies in a cone in front of you. Deals significantly more damage to Shocked enemies but consumes shock from them after damaging them. Targeting close to you will cause you to jump back as you cast. |
| Eye of Winter | 13 | 52 | Int: 119 | Fires a single Eye Projectile which does not hit enemies. The Eye constantly releases damaging shard Projectiles in a spiral as it flies, plus an extra burst of Shards at the end of its flight. If the Eye passes over an Elemental ground surface, it will take on that surface effect, applying it to nearby enemies and causing shards to deal more damage of the corresponding type. |
| Flameblast | 13 | 52 | Int: 119 | Channels to build destructive energy around you or a targeted Solar Orb. Releasing the energy causes a devastating explosion that is larger and more intense the longer you channelled for. |
| Ancestral Warrior Totem | 13 | 52 | Dex: 119 | Raises a Totem that uses socketed Mace skills. |
Note: The list is a work in progress and we will keep updating the list as we fid more skills and when the devs introduce more upgrades to the Skill Gem system in Path of Exile 2.
