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Discover everything you need to know about the best 10 Support Gems in Path of Exile 2 and what makes them unique from others.
Support Gems offers a flexible way to customize your skills and optimize your build for different scenarios in Path of Exile 2. Path of Exile 2 offers more ways to explore your skills to try out various builds. Unlocking additional skill slots/sockets allows you to add more skills or support gems in the skill socket. As the name suggests, the support gems support your skill gems, adding extra effects to the skill. Combo Finisher, Multiple Projectiles, and Elemental Focus are the best Support Gems to use in combat. Whether you want to be a fire-wielding sorcerer, a summoner commanding an undead army, or a fast-striking melee fighter, your Support Gems define your character. In this guide, we’ll discuss the best Support Gems to use in Path of Exile 2.
What are Support Gems in Path of Exile 2?
Support skills are just as crucial as your active skills. Support gems are items that you socket into your skills to enhance the abilities of your active Skill Gems. The real magic happens when you combine various support skill gems to specialize your skills to your liking. The Gem colors red, green, and blue correspond to different types of attributes and each gem has its own requirement in terms of attributes. A fireball spell can deal more damage when linked with a support gem to increase the burning damage. Support Gems lets you tune your skills, enabling you to create highly specialized builds.
As you increase your attributes, you unlock the ability to gain more strength, dexterity, and intelligence support gems. Equipped at once. Support gems work by modifying the behavior of an active skill. For example, a gem like multiple projectiles provides the skill with two additional projectiles while a gem like faster projectiles will increase the speed at which your projectiles travel. It’s not about using one support gem Path of Exile takes it to the next level with up to five sockets. The more sockets you add to a skill the more complex and powerful your skill can become.
Combined gems allow you to stack multiple support gems on a single active skill gem, amplifying the effects dramatically. Choose your combination wisely, though, because you can only have one of each support gem equipped to your character at a time. While you can only have one of each support gem equipped on your character, there are 100 support skills to choose from in the game. Skill gems can only enhance the skills that they’re compatible with.
How to get Support Gems in POE 2?
Uncut Support Gems are essential for creating specific Support Gems that meet your requirements. These Uncut Support Gems drop from defeated enemies and complete quests. Transform the Uncut Support Gems into usable Support Gems by utilizing the Gemcutting interface.
You can unlock additional slots for support gems with a special item called Lesser Jeweller’s Orb. However, there are several versions of Jeweller’s Orb, and each is required for a specific tier of support slots.
For instance, the Lesser Jeweller’s Orb is used for a skill gem with only two slots. Using the item unlocks the third Support Gem Slot to the skill gem. However, a higher-tier Jeweller’s Orb unlocks additional slots and expands the skillset.
How to Use Support Gems
Use Support Gems to boost a Skill Gem’s duration, damage, or range. Uncut Skill Gems and Uncut Support Gems are two distinct gems, so don’t get confused with them. Use Gemcutting to turn an Uncut Support Gem into a support ability and later place the finished Support Gem in your inventory or insert an ability’s support slot. However, placing any Support Gem into a skill Gem slot only gives temporary bonuses or buffs to your active skill. You can remove the Support Gem anytime you like, place it on another skill, or add it to your inventory. The skill must have duration if the Support Gem improves duration. You can’t place the Support Gem in the socket if two Gems don’t match.
- Open your inventory or skill management interface.
- Drag and drop the Support Gem into Skill Gem’s empty support slots.
- The Support effect applies to the linked skill.
- Make sure that Support Gem’s effect is compatible with the active Skill Gem
The Gemcutting shows a few Support Gems recommendations automatically which shows that these are the only options to choose from. That’s not true as you need to unselect ‘recommended gems’ in the lower left corner of the screen or select the ‘all gems’ tab to explore every Support Gem. You are not allowed to use two same Support Gems on a single skill. Mix Support Gems to create complex and powerful combinations. For example, a fireball skill can be combined with Increased AoE and added fire damage Support Gems for larger explosions, dealing additional fire damage.
Examine how your Support Gems affect your skill performance in performance. Skill Gems come with two support slots but you can enhance the number as you progress in the game. Each skill can be exchanged by five Support gems, so you’re going to be able to modify the skill. However, Support skills have 50% less area of effect.
Top 10 Best Support Gems in Path of Exile 2
Here are the top 10 Support Gems in Path of Exile 2 that you can use to enhance your active skill capabilities.
- Combo Finisher- a powerful attack or effect that triggers after completing a specific sequence of skills.
- Multiple Projectiles- deal 20% less projectile damage and add 2 additional projectiles.
- Elemental Focus- Deal more Elemental Damage but be unable to inflict Elemental Ailments.
- Faster Casting- It allows your skills to cast speed faster.
- Ignite Proliferation- deals more damage with ignite in combat.
- Break Endurance- gain an Endurance Charge when enemy armour breaks.
- Glaciation- it causes 50% more freeze buildup.
- Meat Shield- grants 35% chance to Taunt on Hit and 50% more maximum Life.
- Aftershock- Chance to cause an Aftershock.
- Unleash- spells are unsealed when cast, and their effects reoccur for each seal lost.
1) Combo Finisher
The Combo Finisher Support Melee Attacks you use yourself. Supported Skills cannot be used until enough Combo has been built up, but deal massively more damage. It cannot support skills that are already Combo or Triggered Skills. This powerful attack or effect triggers after completing a specific sequence of skill usage. Combo Finisher can be used with support gems like Glacial Cascade, Siphoning Strike, and Flicker Strike. This Support Gem is crafted by engraving the support skill to a Tier 1 Uncut Support Skill Gem. It is a dynamic tool for both clearing content and tackling tough enemies in combat. Use the finisher to deal high burst damage after chaining attacks.
- Supported Skills lose Combo if you generate no Combo for 8 seconds.
- Supported Skills deal 40% more Damage
- Supported Skills require 5 Combo to use
Place into a Skill’s Support Gem socket in the Skills Panel to apply its effects to that Skill. You cannot have multiple copies of the same Support Gem socketed at the same time.
2) Multiple Projectiles
Multiple Projectiles support Projectiles skills, making them fire extra projectiles. Also lowers the attack and case speed of Supported skills, as well as lessening their damage. This Support Gem is essential for ranged builds like bow or crossbow users and allows for additional fire projectiles. You can link this Support Gem with Ice Spear or Fireball to fire additional projectiles simultaneously. However, skill with increased projectiles mitigates individual projectile damage. Skills like Split Arrow or Lightning Arrow allow you to clear a cluster of enemies when supported by multiple projectile modifiers. Multiple Projectile mechanics are versatile and can enhance both your single-target and AoE damage.
- Supported skills deal 20% less projectile damage
- Supported Skills fire 2 additional projectiles
- Supported Skills have 20% less attack and cast speed
3) Elemental Focus
Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing it to deal more Elemental Damage but be unable to inflict Elemental Ailments. It enhances raw damage but disables ailments like Freeze or Ignite and is best for pure DPS builds. It increases the elemental damage (fire, cold, or lightning) of the linked skill. Use Elemental Focus if your build relies on elemental ailments. This is useful against bosses or resistant enemies but limits utility from ailments. This Support skill allows you to amplify elemental power while requiring careful consideration of its limitations.
- Supported Skills deal 25% more Elemental Damage
- Supported Skills cannot inflict Elemental Ailments
4) Faster Casting
Supports Spells, causing them to cast faster. This Support Gem is essential for spellcasters who want smoother animations. It improves damage output indirectly by enhancing the frequency of spell use over time. Faster casting is especially effective for spells Fireball, Arc, Ice Nova, or Freezing Pulse. It helps with utility and mobility spells for smoother gameplay and scales well with crit-based spells. However, it consumes more mana which can strain low-mana builds.
- Supported Skills have 20% more cast speed.
5) Ignite Proliferation
Ignites caused by Supported Skills spread to other Enemies within (1.4–2) meters. This Support Gem is essential for fire-based builds to spread burns across mobs. This is a crucial tool for clearing groups of enemies while focusing on fire-based DoT effects. It can Ignite inflicted on one enemy to spread to nearby enemies within a radius. The best skills to use with Ignite Proliferation are Fireball, Burning Arrow, Explosive Trap, Flame Surge, and Firestorm. It synergizes well with Deadly Ailments, Burning Damage, and Elemental Focus Support. Look for the items with modifiers like enhanced ignite duration and burning damage. However, it provides no direct benefit against bosses or tough single enemies.
- Supported Skills deal (15–24)% more Damage with Ignite
6) Break Endurance
Break Endurance supports any skill that hits enemies, giving it a chance to gain an Endurance Charge when it fully breaks an enemy’s armour. You can link it with any skill that hits enemies, particularly those effective at breaking armor. This is best for the builds focusing on endurance charge generation and armor manipulation. This is mainly used to break endurance to enemies’ charges, reducing their tankiness in fights.
- 20% Chance to gain an Endurance Charge when supported skills fully break enemy armour
7) Glaciation
Supports any skill that hits enemies, making it more effective at Freezing Chilled enemies. This Support Gem amplifies freeze buildup, ideal for cold builds. It emphasizes area-of-effect (AoE) cold damage and interaction with Chill or Freeze. It enhances the chance to apply cold ailments to enemies hit by the linked skill. The chill effect slows enemy movement and attack speed and the freeze effect immobilizes foes for a duration. The skills that you can use with Glaciation are Frostbolt, Ice Nova, Cold Snap, and Winter Orb. This is great for crowd control through Chill and Freeze.
- Supported skills cause 50% more freeze buildup.
8) Meat Shield
Supports skills that create Minions, making them defensive and giving them a chance to taunt enemies. This Support Gem makes your minions tankier and focuses on protecting you. Meat Shield enhances minions’ survivability and provides added utility by enabling them to act as a defensive shield for you. It also provides increased minion life and damage reduction in combat. It acts as a defensive buffer, making this gem better suited for utility-focused minions. The best minions to use with Meat Shield are Zombie, Animate Guardian, Stone Golem, and Chaos Golem. It synergizes well with other Support Gems like Minion Life, Fortify, and Feeding Frenzy.
- Minions from Supported Skills have a 35% chance to Taunt on Hit
- Minions from Supported Skills have 50% more Maximum Life
9) Aftershock
Supports Slams you use yourself, giving them a chance to create an Aftershock. This Support Gem has a chance to cause an aftershock in combat. It increases AoE, making it effective for clearing clusters of enemies. The best skills to use with Aftershock Support Gem are Earthquake, Ice Crash, Explosive Trap, and Volatile Dead. Equip items that complement Aftershock. You can use this gem for AoE clearing and boss fights. It can amplify your survivability when fighting in an intense battle.
- Supported Skills have 20% Chance of causing an Aftershock
10) Unleash
Unleash supports Spells you cast yourself, making their effect reoccur when cast. Cannot support Channelling Skills or Skills with a Cooldown. This Support Gem enables rapid succession of casts without requiring anything. It’s best for clearing packs of enemies, as burst casting amplifies the area. Synergize the Unleash with other Support Gems like Spell Echo, increased AoE, and Elemental Focus. It improves the usability of spells frequently but on the other hand, also requires cooldown management.
- Supported spells gain a seal every 200% of cast time, to a maximum of 2 seals
- Supported spells are unsealed when cast, and their effects reoccur for each seal lost
- Supported skills deal 50% less damage when reoccurring
Tips For Picking Up the Support Gems
Here are all the tips that you must know while picking Support Gems in Path of Exile 2.
- Try different combinations of skill and support gems and don’t fear complexity.
- Focus on the hardest parts of the skill rather than what you’re good at.
- Choose the skill according to your build requirements.
- Balance your active and support gems to avoid running away from fights.
- Use supports like Life Gain on Hit, Fortify, or Damage Taken to enhance the durability.
- Focus on leveling supports such as Increased Duration or Elemental Damage with Attacks.
FAQs About Top 10 Support Gems in Path of Exile 2
Can I still link skill gems in Path of Exile 2?
Linking Skill Gems through gear sockets has been replaced by a new and more streamlined built-in support system for Skill Gems. The new system removes the frustration of crafting linked and colored skills.
Are Support gems class-specific in POE2?
No, Support Gems are not class-specific in Path of Exile 2. Any class can use every Support gem in the game, depending on the equipped Active skills.
Why are support gems necessary for Path of Exile 2?
Support gems are items that you socket into your skills to enhance the abilities of your active Skill Gems. As you increase your attributes, you unlock the ability to gain more strength, dexterity, and intelligence support gems. Combined gems allow you to stack multiple support gems on a single active skill gem, amplifying the effects dramatically.
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