Everything About Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2 Explained

Discover everything you need to know about Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2 and how to upgrade them including Support Gems and all Skill Gems.

Path of Exile 2 has received an initial release on December 6, 2024. The full-release schedule is still TBA, but we get 6 out of the 12 planned Classes in the Early Access. Grinding Gear Games has already decided which ones we see in the Early Access. Skills come from Skill Gems. Unlike many games, where Skills are tied to your character’s class, in Path of Exile 2, your abilities come from these Gems. Whether you want to be a fire-wielding sorcerer, a summoner commanding an undead army, or a fast-striking melee fighter, your Skill Gems define your character.

What are Skill Gems in POE2?

Skill Gems offer flexibility, allowing you to create a unique playstyle. You can combine Active and Support Gems to create powerful synergies. Skill Gems offers a more streamlined and customizable system for the character’s abilities and works differently compared to the original game. Skill Gems represent individual Skills, like fireball, melee attacks, or summoning minions. When you equip them into your Skill Gem slots, you gain access to these abilities.

• Red- Strength-focused Support Gems.
• Green- Dexterity-focused Support Gems.
• Blue- Intellect-focused Support Gems.

In Path of Exile 2, you can obtain Skill Gems from Uncut Gems. They shape these Gems into any desired Skill. Skill Gems fall into two primary categories. Active Skill Gems allow you to use Skills directly in combat. They include various abilities such as attacks, spells, curses, mines, and totems. Each Skill gem has specific tags indicating which modifiers can enhance its proficiency.

Passive Skill Gems provide permanent or situational supportive buffs when slotted with Active Gems. Auras offer persistent benefits at the cost of reserving a portion of the player’s mana pool. They are a notable example from the original Path of Exile. However, Path of Exile 2 introduces Spirit Gems. This is a new variant that uses a resource called Spirit to maintain buffs instead of Mana. Your character can equip up to 9 Skill Gems by default. Some classes and ascendancies, like Gemling Legionnaire, can unlock extra Skill Gems slots, potentially increasing your total.

How do Skill Gems work in POE2?

Skill Gems are the cornerstone of Path of Exile 2’s combat system. They allow you to slot various offensive and defensive abilities into their kits. The Skills you prioritize can modify the builds. These factors underscore the importance of selecting the right Gems to maximize efficiency and effectiveness in battle. Gems are socketed into your character. Sockets on items utilized for Runes in the game. You will find Skill Gems progressing through the game. Skills Gems have sockets for support Gems, starting with 2 sockets. You can also upgrade Skill Gems by utilizing currency through the number or color of sockets.

How to Equip Skill Gems

You can equip skill gems by following these steps.

• Open the Skill Gems menu to equip a Support Gem.
• Select the Skill you wish to augment and then insert the Support Gem into one of its support sockets.
• Use the Jeweler’s Orbs to add additional support sockets to a Skill Gem.
• Your Skill Gems are upgraded to additional sockets by using these orbs.
• Use the Chromatic Orb to change the color support sockets on your Skill Gems.
• You can also choose the specific socket to apply the color change.

Craft a character build of your preference by effectively managing your Skill Gems. Skill Gems don’t just drop in their final form. Instead, you’ll find items called Uncut Gems as you play the game. There are black states, and you can engrave them into Skill Gems of your choice. One thing to note is that the level of the Uncut Gem determines the level of the Skill Gem you create. Higher-level Uncut Gems create more powerful Skill Gems.

How to get Skill Gems in POE2?

Skill Gems are obtained by utilizing Uncut Gems. Right-clicking an Uncut Gem opens the Gemcutting menu. Here, pick the desired Skill gem based on their weapon of choice. Uncut Gems come in different types. These are Active, Passive, and Spirit. They correspond to the Skill variants into which you can shape them.

• Uncut Active Gems- Shaping an Uncut Active Gem into an Active Skill Gem will result in a Skill gem of the same level as the Uncut Gem.
• Uncut Passive Gems- Unlike in the original game, Path of Exile 2 allows you to equip only one of each Passive Skill Gem in their entire build. This fosters strategic choices and variety in endgame Skill usage.
• Uncut Spirit Gems- You can use Uncut Spirit Gems to shape Spirit Skill Gems. Spirit Skill Gems introduces a new mechanic involving the Spirit resource for maintaining persistent buffs.

Path of Exile 2 offers hundreds of Skill Gems, ensuring that you can create a diverse array of builds. During Early Access, you will have access to a specific number of Active Skill Gems for different weapon types, such as Quarterstaves, Maces, Bows, and Crossbows, as well as Occult and Elemental Skills for Witches and Sorceresses.

How to level up Skill Gems in POE2?

Use Uncut Gems to level your Skills in Path of Exile 2. Uncut Gem has a level and you can most probably get Level 7 Uncut Gem at the initial stages of the game. Uncut Gems are obtained as reward drops from defeating foes. Bosses can drop these Gems of the high-tier category. Completing several quests can offer Uncut Skill Gems as rewards. A level 5 Uncut Skill Gem allows you to create a Skill Gem for a Level 5 Skill. It allows you to unlock new abilities corresponding to your character’s progression. Use an Uncut Skill Gem of a higher level than the current Skill to increase an existing Skill, upgrading the Skill to match the Uncut Gem’s level. Here are some best strategies for efficient Skill Gem Leveling.

• You need to focus on areas marked with skull icons on the map to kill the side bosses. These bosses have a chance to drop Uncut Skill Gems.
• Completing the quests will reward Uncut Skill Gems, helping in the increment of your Skills.

You can effectively develop and strengthen your character’s abilities or even make your build stronger by obtaining Uncut Skill Gems. This system rewards exploration and grinding for higher-level Gems, and it puts control over Skill progression in your hands.

How to Use Skill Gems

Skill Gems are equipped in the Skill menu to get access to new abilities in the game. These Skills use Mana and are spammable in combat. All these new Skills offer pre-determined cast speed and attack speed, becoming slower than your basic attack. You can slot support Gems with matching tags to boost the effects of your attack Gems to make them more effective.

You can use skill gems by following these steps.

• Open the Skill Gems menu (press ‘G’ on PC or navigate through the character menu on consoles) to equip a Skill Gem.
• You can then drag your chosen Skill Gem into the desired socket.
• This adds the Skill to your active abilities.

As mentioned earlier, Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2 has its own support sockets, you can fill the sockets with Support Gems to enhance the Skill’s properties.  The Skill Gem system is designed to give you a freedom system. You can mix and match active Skills, Support Gems, and Auras. And other abilities to create a build that feels unique to yours.

Support Gems in Path of Exile 2

The Support Skills are just as crucial as your active Skills. Support Gems are items that you socket into your Skills that 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 have 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.

All Types of Skill Gems in POE2

Here are all the types of Skill Gems in POE2.

Color	Attribute	Bonuses
Red	Strength	Slams, Totems, Fire-Themed Buffs
Green	Dexterity	Fast Melee Skills, Ballistas, Grenades, Traps, Ice-Themed Buffs
Blue	Intelligence	Most Minions, Lightning-Themed Buffs

Red Gems focus on Physical power, melee combat, and durability. The Gem color is linked with totems, a type of minion that can taunt closer foes. Falling Thunder, Glacial Cascade, and Molten Strike are some Red Gems Skills in Path of Exile 2.

Green Gems focuses on Agility, speed, ranged attacks, and evasion. Tornado Shot, Poisonburst Arrow, and Flicker Strike are some Green Gems Skills that you can utilize in the game.

Blue Gems focuses on Spells, elemental magic, and utility effects. Eye of Winter, Lightning Conduit, and Frost Shield are some Blue Gems Skills in Path of Exile 2. Along with these types of Gems, some Skills require two or more attributes, combining elements of Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence.

Auras Gems & Meta Gems

Auras are particularly useful because they offer passive bonuses, like increased damage or resistance, to you and your allies. For example, an Aura can reserve 30% of your spirit but grant a significant boost to your fire damage. Meta Gems allow you to automate linked abilities based on specific conditions. A Meta Gem can trigger a defensive Skill automatically when you take a critical hit. Managing your spirit pool effectively is crucial. Because you’ll need to balance your active Skills with your reserved abilities to stay effective in combat.

All Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2

Here are all the Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2 that you can obtain while progressing through the game.

Name	Description	Tags	Tier	Level Req.	Stat Req.
Rolling Slam	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.	AoE, Melee, Slam	1	3	Dex: 9
Killing Palm	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.	AoE, Melee, Strike, Physical	7	22	Str: 30 Int: 30
Ancestral Warrior Totem	Raises a Totem that uses socketed Mace Skills.	Totem, AoE, Melee, Physical, Duration, Meta	13	52	Dex: 119
Frost Bomb	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.	AoE, Cold, Duration, Orb	1	1	None
Spark	Launches a spray of sparking projectiles that travel erratically along the ground until they hit an enemy or expire.	Projectile, Lightning, Duration	1	1	None
Flame Wall	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.	AoE, Fire, Duration	1	1	None
Ice Nova	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 instead of you, and cause more Freeze buildup.	AoE, Cold, Nova	1	1	None
Ember Fusillade	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 specs resets the duration for all active Embers. Multiple Embers fired in the same Fusillade will attempt to target different enemies.	AoE, Projectile, Fire, Duration	3	6	Int: 16
Frostbolt	Fires a slow-moving projectile that leaves a wake of Chilled Ground, deals Cold Damage, and explodes on colliding with terrain.	AoE, Projectile, Cold, Duration	3	6	Int: 16
Orb of Storm	Creates an Orb of electricity that fires Chaining Lightning bolts at nearby enemies.	AoE, Sustained, Lightning, Duration, Chaining, Orb	3	6	Int: 16
Incinerate	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.	AoE, Sustained, Fire, Duration, Channelling	5	14	Int: 34
Solar Orb	Creates a fiery Orb that periodically releases fiery pulses. Enemies that are very close to the Orb are Ignited.	AoE, Sustained, Fire, Duration, Orb	5	14	Int: 34
Cold Snap	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.	AoE, Cold, Payoff	5	14	Int: 34
Conductivity	Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Lightning Resistance.	AoE, Lightning, Duration, Curse	7	22	Int: 52
Flammability	Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Fire Resistance.	AoE, Fire, Duration, Curse	7	22	Int: 52
Hypothermia	Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Cold Resistance.	AoE, Cold, Duration, Curse	7	22	Int: 52
Fireball	Launches a large ball of Fire which explodes on impact, creating a nova of smaller firebolts.	AoE, Projectile, Fire	9	31	Int: 72
Frost Wall	Creates a Wall of Ice Crystals which holds back enemies. The Crystals explode if sufficiently damaged, or if pushed hard enough, damaging nearby enemies.	AoE, Cold, Duration	9	31	Int: 72
Mana Tempest	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.	Buff, Lightning	9	31	Int: 72
Lightning Warp	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.	AoE, Lightning, Duration	9	31	Int: 72
Firestorm	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.	AoE, Sustained, Fire, Duration, Payoff	11	41	Int: 95
Comet	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.	Aoe, Cold	11	41	Int: 95
Ball Lightning	Fires a slow-moving projectile that repeatedly shoots bolts of lightning at nearby enemies.	AoE, Projectile, Sustained, Lightning	11	41	Int: 95
Flameblast	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.	AoE, Fire, Channelling, Nova	13	52	Int: 119
Eye of Winter	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.	Projectile, Cold	13	52	Int: 119
Lightning Conduit	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.	AoE, Lightning, Payoff	13	52	Int: 119
Temporal Chains	Curses all enemies in an area, Slowing them and making other effects on them expire more slowly.	AoE, Duration, Curse	13	52	Int: 119
Falling Thunder	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.	AoE, Melee, Slam, Projectile, Lightning	1	1	None
Glacial Cascade	Sweep your Quarterstaff upwards, releasing an icy fissure that deals damage in a series of bursts culminating in a large spike. Frozen enemies hit by the final spike are dealt heavy damage but the Freeze is Consumed. Ice Crystals hit by the final spike explode.	AoE, Melee, Cold, Payoff	1	1	None
Frozen Locus	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 your enemies. If the Crystal is destroyed it causes an icy explosion that deals Attack Damage but does not use your weapon’s damage.	AoE, Melee, Cold, Duration, Nova	1	1	None
Poisonburst Arrow	Fires a virulent arrow that creates a burst of Poison on hit, affecting all enemies in an area.	AoE, Projectile, Chaos, Duration	1	1	None
Vine Arrow	Fire an arrow into the air that lands after a short delay, causing a plant to spring up at the impact location. The plants sprout 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.	AoE, Projectile, Chaos, Duration	3	6	Str: 16
Contagion	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.	AoE, Chaos, Duration	1	1	None
Boneshatter	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.	AoE, Melee, Strike	1	6	Dex: 16
Infernal Cry	Performs a warcry, Empowering subsequent Attacks. Consumes all Endurance Charges to Empower additional attacks. Enemies in the warcry’s area are destabilized and will Combust on death.	AoE, Trigger, Fire, Duration	1	6	Dex: 16
Chaos Bolt	Fires a burst of chaos energy at the target.	Projectile, Chaos	1	1	Int: 16
Skeletal Warrior	Summons reviving Skeletal Warriors.	Persistent, Physical	1	1	Int: 8
Unearth	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.	Minion, AoE, Physical, Duration	1	2	Int: 9
Skeletal Arsonist	Summons bomb-throwing, reviving Skeletal Arsonists that can detonate other minions on command.	Persistent, Fire, Detonator	3	6	Int: 16
Tempest Flurry	Perform a series of aggressive Strikes. When used in quick succession, the third use Strikes three times, and the fourth performs a Final strike that calls down a powerful Shocking bolt.	Attack, Melee, Strike, Lightning	5	14	Str: 20 Int: 20
Ice Strikes	Perform a fast icy Strike, Using this Attack three times in quick succession causes a final strike that is slower and more powerful.	Attack, Melee, Strike, Cold	5	5	Str: 20 Int: 20
Tempest Bell	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.	AoE, Melee, Sustained, Duration, Nova	3	10	Str: 15 Int: 15
Wave of Frost	Flips backwards and sends forth a Freezing wave in front of you.	Attack, AoE, Melee, Cold	7	22	Str: 30 Int: 30
Permafrost Bolts	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.	AoE, Ammunition, Projectile, Cold	1	1	None
Explosive Grenade	Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a devastating fiery blast when its fuse expires.	AoE, Projectile, Grenade, Fire, Duration, Detonator	1	1	None
Flash Grenade	Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies.	AoE, Projectile, Grenade, Duration	2	6	Str: 10 Dex: 10
Gas Grenade	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.	AoE, Projectile, Grenade, Fire, Chaos, Duration	3	14	Str: 20 Dex: 20
Perfect Strike	Charge up your weapon while channelling. Releasing the moment you ECT STRIKE fully charge will release a wave of Fire.	AoE, Melee, Strike, Fire, Duration, Channeling	5	5	Dex: 34
Molten Blast	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.	AoE, Projectile, Fire	5	14	Dex: 34

FAQs About Skill Gems in Path of Exile 2

Question 1: How do Skill Gems work in Path of Exile 2 compared to the first game?

You can turn Skill Gems into any Skill of your choosing at the level of the gem you’ve found. Putting a Skill Gem into your character will unlock the Skill. Skill Gems don’t just drop in their final form. Instead, you’ll find items called Uncut Gems as you play the game.

Question 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.

Question 3: Are Skill Gems class-specific in POE2?

No, Skill Gems are not class-specific in Path of Exile 2. Any class can use every Skill gem in the game.

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