On this page
- Quick answer
- Quick facts
- Current tooltip and roll ranges
- What 'Lightning Hits Contributes to Electrocution Buildup' means
- Electrocution vs Shock comparison
- Speed penalty table (10 / 12 / 15% reduced)
- Electrocution buildup breakpoints by situation
- Build usage
- Alternatives: Rare and other Unique gloves
- How to get Kitoko's Current
- Use, sell or hold
- Risk and failure cost
- Community evidence
- Problems and direct answers
- Video walkthrough
- Media gallery
- Connected content
- Patch history and current vs legacy
- Sources and verification
- Changelog
Quick Facts
- Item Type
- Gloves
- Rarity
- Unique
- Required Level
- 26
- Use Cases
- Electrocution · Lightning · Control · Ailment
QUICK ANSWER
Quick answer
Electrocution (control / stun) and Shock (increased damage taken) are two different lightning ailments; Kitoko's Current points your lightning Hits at Electrocution, not Shock.
The speed penalty is 'reduced' (a modifier to your base speed), not 'less' (a multiplier on the final total), so increased-speed bonuses from gear and the passive tree still apply on top of it.
Only lightning damage from Hits counts; Damage over Time such as Ignite or Poison does not build Electrocution, and very high-damage, low-frequency hits are unreliable control on bosses.
Lightning builds that want reliable crowd control: disabling rares and bosses, feeding Combat Frenzy (Frenzy Charges on Electrocute), and stabilising Breach or Delirium farming where packs need to be locked down.
Confirm the roll you dropped. A 15% reduced speed roll hurts a caster far more than a 10% roll, and a build that already struggles for cast speed may prefer a Rare Glove with attributes and life or energy shield.
Do not assume it makes every lightning skill better. On bosses with huge life pools the Electrocution threshold is high, and on hit-less or DoT-only setups the gloves do almost nothing.
QUICK FACTS
Quick facts
- Item class
- Gloves (Jewelled Gloves)
- A unique armour piece; competes with any other Jewelled Gloves, including well-rolled Rares, for the glove slot.
- Required level
- 26 (34 Intelligence)
- Reachable in late Act 2 / early Act 3. The Intelligence requirement is the only stat gate.
- Rarity
- Unique
- Cannot be modified by ordinary crafting; rolls are fixed at drop and can only be re-rolled with a Divine Orb.
- Signature mod
- Lightning damage from Hits Contributes to Electrocution Buildup
- This is the reason to use the item. It redirects lightning Hit damage into the Electrocution meter.
- Speed penalty
- (10-15)% reduced Attack and Cast Speed
- Always a penalty; the roll you get decides how painful it is. 'Reduced', not 'less'.
- Drop source
- Anywhere; can be chanced
- Drops from the general unique pool and can be produced by using an Orb of Chance on a normal Jewelled Gloves.
PROPERTIES
Current tooltip and roll ranges
- Base Energy Shield
- 29-34
- The flat Energy Shield on the Jewelled Gloves base before the increased-Energy-Shield modifier.
- Increased Energy Shield
- (30-50)%
- Scales the base Energy Shield; a high roll roughly doubles the glove's defensive contribution.
- Dexterity
- +(10-20)
- A flat attribute bonus useful for meeting dexterity-gated skill or gear requirements.
- Attack and Cast Speed
- (10-15)% reduced
- The defining downside. Reduced speed lowers your base; increased-speed modifiers from gear and the tree still apply on top and can partly offset it, but never delete it.
- Signature mod
- Lightning damage from Hits Contributes to Electrocution Buildup
- Lightning Hit damage now fills the Electrocution meter instead of (or in addition to) building Shock.
- Requirements
- Level 26, 34 Intelligence
- No Strength or Dexterity requirement; only Intelligence gates the item.
- Flavour text
- Reality is a puzzle. Ingenuity is power.
- Cosmetic only; no mechanical effect.
OVERVIEW
What 'Lightning Hits Contributes to Electrocution Buildup' means
In Path of Exile 2, lightning damage by itself normally only builds Shock, the ailment that makes the target take increased damage. Kitoko's Current changes the rule for your character: lightning damage dealt by your Hits now also contributes to Electrocution Buildup. Electrocution is a separate lightning crowd-control ailment. When an enemy's Electrocution meter fills, the enemy is stunned for a few seconds - it stops acting, which is the same kind of lockdown you get from Freeze, but it comes from lightning and feeds off your Hit damage.
The key phrase is 'from Hits'. Electrocution Buildup scales with the amount of lightning Hit damage you deal, and that damage is measured against the enemy's Elemental Ailment Threshold, which grows with the enemy's maximum life. That threshold is why the same gloves feel amazing on a pack of white mobs (low life, low threshold, fast locks) and awkward on a pinnacle boss (huge life, high threshold, slow locks).
Only lightning damage from Hits counts. Damage over Time - Ignite, Poison, Bleed, or any damage-over-time component - does not contribute to Electrocution Buildup through this glove. A skill that deals its damage as a single massive Hit will build a large chunk of meter at once but may only proc Electrocution rarely; a skill that hits many times for smaller amounts builds the meter steadily and locks enemies far more reliably. That is why high-damage, low-frequency setups are 'unstable control': one big Hit either tops the meter or does not, with little in between.
Kitoko's Current is one of several ways to apply Electrocution. The Electrocute Support Gem redirects one linked skill's lightning damage to Electrocution Buildup instead of Shock, and certain skills such as Shock Nova and Electrocuting Arrow inherently contribute to Electrocution. The glove's advantage is that it is passive and global: every lightning Hit your character lands, from any skill, contributes, with no support-gem socket or specific skill required. The trade you make for that convenience is the reduced Attack and Cast Speed line on the item.
- Electrocution = stun / hard control; Shock = increased damage taken. They are different ailments with different payoffs.
- Kitoko's Current points your lightning Hits at Electrocution Buildup, not Shock.
- Buildup is mitigated by the enemy's Elemental Ailment Threshold, which scales with the enemy's maximum life.
- Only Hits count. Damage over Time does not contribute through this glove.
- Faster, smaller Hits build control more reliably than slow, huge Hits.
DATA TABLE
Electrocution vs Shock comparison
How the two lightning ailments differ, and where Kitoko's Current fits.
| Aspect | Electrocution | Shock |
|---|---|---|
| Primary payoff | Hard crowd control: the target is stunned and stops acting for a few seconds. | Offence: the target takes increased damage from all sources while Shocked. |
| How lightning Hits trigger it | Only when a source explicitly contributes to Electrocution Buildup - e.g. Kitoko's Current, the Electrocute Support, Shock Nova, Electrocuting Arrow. | Any normal lightning Hit builds Shock by default; no special source required. |
| Built from Hit damage | Yes - lightning Hit damage fills the Electrocution meter, mitigated by the target's Elemental Ailment Threshold. | Yes - lightning Hit damage builds Shock magnitude, also affected by ailment thresholds. |
| Boss (high-life) behaviour | High threshold means slow, unreliable locks unless you pour in sustained hit frequency or invest in ailment magnitude. | Still applies reliably; magnitude is what scales, and Shock is easier to maintain on bosses. |
| Kitoko's Current role | Enables it globally for all your lightning Hits with no socket cost. | Not this glove's job; Shock keeps working from your other lightning damage as normal. |
Equip Kitoko's Current when you value locking enemies down more than the Shock damage bonus. The two can coexist - your lightning Hits can still Shock while also building Electrocution.
DATA TABLE
Speed penalty table (10 / 12 / 15% reduced)
The three realistic rolls of the reduced Attack and Cast Speed line and what they cost you.
| Roll | Speed change | Who feels it most | Can increased speed offset it? |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10% reduced (low roll) | Base Attack and Cast Speed lowered by 10%. | Casters and attack builds already near the speed soft cap notice the least. | Yes, easily. A modest increased-Cast-Speed roll or tree node covers most of it. |
| 12% reduced (mid roll) | Base Attack and Cast Speed lowered by about 12%. | Attack-based lightning builds (Lightning Arrow, Lightning Spear) feel the attack-speed loss on clear speed. | Partly. You need a real invested speed bonus to get back to where a Rare Glove was. |
| 15% reduced (high roll) | Base Attack and Cast Speed lowered by 15%. | Spellcasters who rely on cast speed for damage uptime feel this the most. | Hardly. The penalty is large enough that only heavy speed investment closes the gap. |
These are 'reduced' modifiers applied to your base speed, not 'less' multipliers on your final total. Increased-speed bonuses from gear, supports and the passive tree still apply on top, so the real-world loss is smaller than the raw number suggests - but it is never zero.
OUTCOME ANALYSIS
Electrocution buildup breakpoints by situation
| Scenario | Benefit | Risk | Audience | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| White / magic pack (low life) | Near-instant Electrocution; packs freeze in place and die before acting. | Low - you trade a little speed for trivialised clear. | Map farmers | Low Best case for the glove. Fast, low-damage Hits lock the whole screen. |
| Rare monster (medium life) | Reliable lockdown that prevents dangerous hits and triggers Combat Frenzy. | Low - speed penalty is the only cost. | Map farmers | Low Strong pick wherever rares cast or hit hard; pair with hit-frequency skills. |
| Boss (high life, high threshold) | Periodic stun windows that interrupt telegraphed attacks. | Medium - locks are slow and can feel random without investment. | Bossers | Medium Use only if your build sustains high hit frequency or you invest in ailment magnitude. |
| High-damage, low-frequency hits | Occasional large meter spikes. | High - control is unstable; either overkills or never locks. | Big-hit builds | High Avoid Kitoko's Current here; a Rare Glove with attributes and defences serves you better. |
| DoT-only or hit-less setup | None from the signature mod. | High - you pay the speed penalty for no Electrocution. | DoT builds | High Do not use; the glove does nothing for Ignite/Poison/Bleed damage-over-time. |
BUILD USAGE
Build usage
Kitoko's Current is a glove for lightning builds that can spare some speed in exchange for lockdown. The builds below get the most from it because they already deal lightning Hit damage frequently and benefit from either stunned enemies or the Frenzy Charges that Combat Frenzy grants on Electrocute.
Lightning Spear Amazon
The signature synergy. Lightning Spear deals frequent lightning Hits, and Electrocute from Kitoko's Current feeds Combat Frenzy for permanent Frenzy Charges while locking rares. The 10-15% speed loss is the price for that uptime.
↗Ice Shot / Lightning Arrow Deadeye
Attack-based lightning scaling with high hit frequency. Lightning Arrow in particular is a classic Electrocute enabler; the glove makes every arrow contribute to control without a support-gem socket.
↗Spark Gemling Legionnaire
A mana-stacking caster that fires many small lightning Hits. The cast-speed penalty hurts more here, so a lower (10%) roll or speed investment is advised before committing.
↗Condition: need a Rare Glove's stats
If your build is starved for attributes, life, energy shield or resistances, a well-rolled Rare Jewelled Gloves will usually outperform the unique. Swap back whenever control is not the bottleneck.
ALTERNATIVES
Alternatives: Rare and other Unique gloves
Before locking in Kitoko's Current, compare it against what a Rare Jewelled Gloves and a few other Unique gloves can give you. The unique's only offensive contribution is the Electrocution redirect; everything else it offers (Energy Shield, Dexterity) a Rare can match or beat while also giving you life, resistances and attributes you actually need.
A Rare Jewelled Gloves with high Energy Shield, added attributes, life and a resistance roll will almost always be the better defensive and utility choice once you no longer need the lockdown. Other Unique gloves such as Hand of Wisdom and Action (attribute-scaling attack gloves) or The Burning Man (fire conversion) serve completely different build goals and are not direct competitors for the Electrocution fantasy - they simply show that the glove slot has many stronger raw-stat options.
If you want Electrocution without sacrificing the glove slot, the Electrocute Support Gem gives one linked skill the same redirect at the cost of a support socket, and skills like Shock Nova or Electrocuting Arrow bring it inherently. Those routes free your gloves for defensives while still letting you build Electrocution.
- Rare Jewelled Gloves: better when you need attributes, life, energy shield or resistances more than control.
- Electrocute Support Gem: same Electrocution redirect on one skill, no glove slot spent.
- Shock Nova / Electrocuting Arrow: inherent Electrocution contribution without any Unique glove.
- Other Unique gloves: usually optimise a different stat (attributes, conversion) rather than crowd control.
ACQUISITION
How to get Kitoko's Current
Kitoko's Current is part of the general unique drop pool. There is no boss or quest that targets it, so acquisition is either luck, an Orb of Chance gamble, or a trade.
Random world drop
It can drop from any enemy in the world once you are at the required level. Higher-tier maps and increased Item Rarity improve your odds of any unique, including this one, but there is no targeted farm.
Orb of Chance
Using an Orb of Chance on a normal (white) Jewelled Gloves can turn it into a Unique. Several uniques share the Jewelled Gloves base, so this is a low-probability gamble, not a reliable method.
Trade with other players
Because it is a low-requirement, farmable unique, it is typically cheap on the trade site compared with chase uniques. Buy the roll you want (prefer a 10% speed penalty) rather than gambling.
USE / SELL / HOLD
Use, sell or hold
Best value in lightning attack or frequent-hit caster builds that want control.
Pairs naturally with Combat Frenzy for Frenzy Charge generation on Electrocute.
RISK ANALYSIS
Risk and failure cost
| Scenario | Gain | Loss | Risk | Recommendation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equip on a caster and lose too much cast speed | Electrocution lockdown on enemies | Lower damage uptime and clunky feel; bosses take longer | Medium | Prefer a 10% roll or invest in increased Cast Speed before using on a spell build. |
| Expect Shock-bonus damage from the glove | None from Shock | Misunderstanding; your lightning Hits still Shock, but the glove redirects buildup to Electrocution, not extra Shock | Low | Treat the glove as control, not as a damage multiplier. |
| Use on a DoT-only build | None | Full speed penalty paid for zero Electrocution | High | Do not use; switch to a Rare Glove with real stats. |
| Rely on it for boss control without investment | Occasional stun | Unreliable locks on a high-threshold boss; can die during the gaps | Medium | Add hit frequency or ailment magnitude, or accept Rare Gloves instead. |
COMMUNITY EVIDENCE
Community evidence
With Kitoko's Current equipped, does EVERY lightning hit build Electrocution, or only some of them?
A player was unsure whether the glove makes all lightning damage contribute to Electrocution or only certain skills.
The mod says 'Lightning damage from Hits Contributes to Electrocution Buildup'. It is global: any lightning damage your character deals as a Hit contributes, regardless of which skill produced it. It is not limited to one socketed skill the way the Electrocute Support Gem is.
Yes - every lightning Hit your character lands contributes to Electrocution Buildup while the glove is equipped. Only Hits count; Damage over Time does not.
The 15% reduced Attack and Cast Speed feels terrible. Can I just stack increased speed to cancel it out?
A player wanted to negate the speed penalty with increased-Attack-and-Cast-Speed bonuses from gear and the tree.
The penalty is 'reduced' (applied to your base speed), while increased-speed modifiers are added on top. So increased speed partly offsets the penalty but never removes it entirely. A 10% roll is much easier to cover than a 15% roll.
You can soften the penalty with increased speed, but you cannot delete it. Pick a low (10%) roll or invest in speed if the loss bothers you.
My Ignite build procs Kitoko's Current, right? Fire damage builds Electrocution too?
A player assumed any damage-over-time would fill the Electrocution meter through the glove.
The mod explicitly says 'from Hits'. Ignite, Poison, Bleed and other Damage over Time does not contribute to Electrocution Buildup through this item. You need actual lightning Hit damage.
No. Only lightning damage from Hits counts. DoT-only setups gain nothing from the signature mod and still pay the speed penalty.
Why does Kitoko's Current feel useless against the boss but great in maps?
A player noticed reliable locks on packs but almost none on a pinnacle boss.
Electrocution Buildup is mitigated by the enemy's Elemental Ailment Threshold, which scales with maximum life. A boss has far more life than a white mob, so the same Hit damage fills a much smaller fraction of the meter. Low-frequency, high-damage hits make this worse.
Bosses have high thresholds. Sustain hit frequency or invest in ailment magnitude for boss control, or swap to Rare Gloves when control is not the bottleneck.
PROBLEMS & DIRECT ANSWERS
Problems and direct answers
Enemies are not getting stunned at all
Direct answer: Confirm you are dealing lightning damage as Hits (not DoT), and that the glove is actually equipped. Also remember bosses have a high threshold, so locks are slow, not absent.
- Verify the glove is in the active glove slot, not stored.
- Check that your skill deals lightning Hit damage, not converted or Damage-over-Time.
- On bosses, increase hit frequency or ailment magnitude.
Cast speed feels too slow after equipping
Direct answer: That is the reduced Attack and Cast Speed roll. It cannot be fully removed, only offset by increased speed. A 15% roll hurts casters most.
- Check your roll (10% is far better than 15% for casters).
- Add increased Cast Speed from gear, supports or the passive tree.
- If still bad, swap to a Rare Glove.
I expected extra Shock damage
Direct answer: The glove redirects lightning Hit buildup toward Electrocution, not toward bigger Shock. Your Hits still Shock normally, but the glove is a control item, not a damage multiplier.
- Treat the item as crowd control.
- Keep Shock from your other lightning damage as usual.
DoT build sees no effect
Direct answer: By design. Only Hits contribute; Ignite/Poison/Bleed do nothing for the signature mod, and you still pay the speed penalty.
- Switch to a Rare Glove with real stats.
- If you want Electrocution on a DoT build, use a different enabler, not this glove.
video
Video walkthrough
PoE 2 build forum contributor
Lightning Spear & Primal Strikes Build (Amazon) - uses Kitoko's Current for Electrocute
What to watch for: Shows a live Lightning Spear Amazon that runs Kitoko's Current to Electrocute enemies and generate Frenzy Charges via Combat Frenzy, illustrating the real speed trade-off in a map.
Open source ↗MEDIA GALLERY
Media gallery
Unique Jewelled Gloves showing the (30-50)% increased Energy Shield, +(10-20) Dexterity, (10-15)% reduced Attack and Cast Speed, and the Lightning Hits Contribute to Electrocution Buildup line.
↗Illustrative comparison of the two lightning ailments: stun (control) versus increased damage taken (offence).
↗In-game view of the glove on a lightning attack build feeding Combat Frenzy.
↗PATCH HISTORY
Patch history and current vs legacy
Kitoko's Current drops from the general unique pool with its current mod line: (30-50)% increased Energy Shield, +(10-20) Dexterity, (10-15)% reduced Attack and Cast Speed, and Lightning damage from Hits Contributes to Electrocution Buildup.
Electrocution is a current-gen ailment; the glove's redirect is valid against the live ailment threshold system.
The item has been in the game since 0.1.0 with the same core mod line; there is no older 'different' version that changed the Electrocution redirect or the speed-penalty range.
Because the only variable rolls are Energy Shield, Dexterity and the 10-15% speed penalty, 'legacy' here mainly means an older dropped roll range, not a functionally different item. A Divine Orb re-rolls the existing ranges; it cannot add or remove the Electrocution mod.
Kitoko's Current introduced to the game.
SOURCES & VERIFICATION
Sources and verification
Path of Exile 2 0.5.4 Patch Notes (official forum).
PoE2Wiki - Kitoko's Current item data and mod ranges.
PoE2DB - Kitoko's Current stat lines and requirement.
GameRant - How Electrocute works in Path of Exile 2.
SSEGold - How Electrocute works in Path of Exile 2.
Reddit r/PathOfExile2 - player questions on uniques and ailments.
Path of Exile official forum - Lightning Spear Amazon build using Kitoko's Current.
YouTube - Lightning Spear & Primal Strikes build showcasing Kitoko's Current.
changelog
Changelog
- Initial publication covering Kitoko's Current in 0.5.4: Electrocution vs Shock, the 10-15% reduced speed penalty and offset math, best skills for buildup, and Rare Glove swap conditions.
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