Category
Damage
Use
Delivery
Skills
Ball Lightning Skill Guide: Bolt Frequency, Fire Infusion and Shock
Ball Lightning launches a slow projectile that does not hit directly but discharges lightning bolts every 0.2 seconds at nearby enemies.
Gas Grenade Skill Guide: Poison Clouds, Detonation and Cooldown
Gas Grenade creates a growing poison cloud that can be ignited or detonated for a fire blast, with up to six clouds active at once.
Lightning Spear Skill Guide: Frenzy Charge Split, Bolts and Shock
Lightning Spear throws a spear that bursts into five lightning bolts and consumes a Frenzy Charge when available to split the main spear toward three targets.
Tornado Skill Guide: Elemental Ground Absorption, Limits and Damage over Time
Tornado creates a moving physical damage-over-time storm that pulls enemies and absorbs elemental ground debuffs for additional elemental damage.
Cast on Elemental Ailment Guide — Trigger, Energy and Socketed Spell
Cast on Elemental Ailment (CoEA) is the Meta trigger gem created in 0.3.0 by merging Cast on Freeze / Cast on Shock / Cast on Ignite. This guide explains why you can no longer find a standalone Cast on Freeze, how Freeze / Shock / Ignite each generate Energy, how your Socketed Spell's cast time sets the maximum Energy, why you see Missing Socketed Skill, and how to keep single-target bosses triggering.
Wind Dancer Guide — Stages, Evasion, Hit Consumption and Spirit Value
Wind Dancer is a Spirit gem that reserves 30 Spirit. It is a persistent defensive buff that grants Stages; each Stage gives increased Evasion. When you are Hit by an enemy, you lose Stages. Since the 0.2 change it consumes on any Enemy Hit rather than only Melee Attacks, making it a general defensive layer for evasion builds.
Biting Frost Support Guide — Tiers, Freeze Consumption and Valid Skills
Biting Frost is a Support Gem family (I / II / III) for Cold skills. Socketed into a Cold Hit, it makes that Hit Consume Freeze on the enemy to deal extra Cold Damage. The target must already be Frozen, and the Freeze is consumed by the hit. It shines on packs and Frozen rares, and is weaker on bosses that resist Freeze.
Cast on Critical Strike Guide — Energy, Critical Hits, Triggered Spells and Spirit
Cast on Critical Strike is a Meta gem that reserves 100 Spirit. Your Critical Hits build Energy; when the Energy bar fills, the Spell socketed into the gem is triggered automatically. It rewards a Critical-Hit build, not a raw-damage build, and it is different from Cast on Elemental Ailment, which triggers on ailments instead of crits.
Charge Profusion Support Guide — Tiers, Extra Charges and Valid Generators
Charge Profusion is a support gem family (Tier I and Tier II) that grants extra charges to skills that generate charges. It only works on charge-generating skills, and Tier II can also roll random extra charges. This guide covers what each tier does, why it is limited to charge generators, the probability math, valid generator matrix, and how it interacts with meta-skill support cost.
Comet Guide — Cast Time, Fire Infusion, Trigger Setups and Supports
Comet is a delayed-impact spell that lands at a target location after a cast time. It is a staple single-target spell for cast-on-crit and cast-on-ailment builds. This guide covers base cast time versus total cast time, why close casts hop backward, impact radius, Fire Infusion, Repeat quality, and self-cast versus trigger tradeoffs.
Flame Wall Guide — Projectile Added Damage, Ignite, Wall Limits and Infusion
Flame Wall creates one or more walls of fire. Projectiles that pass through a wall gain added Fire Damage, and enemies in the wall can be Ignited. It is a strong support layer for fire and projectile builds, and for minion projectile builds. This guide covers wall direction, ignite, wall limits, Lightning Infusion consumption and boss placement.
Galvanic Shards Guide — Fragments, Chaining Beams, Reload and Supports
Galvanic Shards is the Lightning Crossbow mapping skill: each shot fires a fan of Fragments that hit enemies, and every Fragment hit spawns a Chaining Beam connecting nearby targets. The 0.3 rework replaced the old five-round magazine with a single fast-reloading clip, removed the reload-speed penalty, raised Fragment count, and moved Quality from magazine size to Fragment count.
Ghost Dance Guide — Ghost Shrouds, Evasion-based ES Regeneration and Spirit
Ghost Dance is a Spirit gem that grants Ghost Shrouds. When you take a hit that does not completely avoid damage, you consume a Shroud and recover Energy Shield equal to a portion of your Evasion. The 0.5 version was reworked, so old 'instant recover on shroud loss' advice no longer applies. This guide covers Shroud stacking, hit rules, Evasion-to-ES recovery, Spirit cost and synergy with Wind Dancer.
Herald of Thunder Guide — Shocked Enemy Kills, Storm Activation and Supports
Herald of Thunder is a Spirit gem that reserves 30 Spirit. While active, when a Shocked enemy dies, a Storm is triggered that calls down Lightning bolts. The kill can come from you, your Minions, Totems or triggered skills, but the enemy must be Shocked at the moment it dies. It is a strong mapping tool and a weaker boss tool.
Mana Tempest Guide — Mana Drain, Spell Empowerment, Split and Positioning
Mana Tempest creates a stationary storm that drains your mana per second while active and empowers spells cast inside it with added lightning damage based on your mana. It is the core enabler for mana-stacking Oracle and Titan builds. This guide covers the drain math, what costs count, spell empowerment scope, Split, and how long the buff lingers after you leave.
Mobility vs Deliberation Support — Movement Speed or More Damage?
Mobility and Deliberation are two support gems that change how movement-casting skills feel. Mobility reduces the movement-speed penalty of skills you can use while moving; Deliberation adds More Damage but increases the movement penalty. This guide compares them, lists which skills can socket each, explains the damage scope, and gives mapping versus bossing decisions.
Oil Grenade Guide — Oil Ground, Ignite, Slow and Fire Damage Setup
Oil Grenade throws a bottle that covers enemies in oil and leaves an Oil Ground. Oiled enemies are Slowed and take increased Fire Damage. Igniting the Oil Ground turns it into a burning patch that deals Fire Damage, and the ignited ground adds part of that Fire Damage into your Ignite. It is the Fire Grenade setup's debuff-and-damage layer, not just a resistance shredder.
Overwhelming Presence Guide — Ailment Threshold, Stun Threshold and Aura Value
Overwhelming Presence is a Spirit gem that radiates an aura reducing enemies' Elemental Ailment Threshold and Stun Threshold inside its radius. It does not directly add damage; it makes your existing ailments and stuns easier to apply. This guide covers the aura radius, what the threshold reductions affect, Aura Magnitude scaling, the current cap, and synergy with Combat Frenzy, Freezing Mark and Herald of Thunder.
Shockburst Rounds Guide — Shock Payoff, Pulse Damage and Boss Rotation
Shockburst Rounds is the Lightning Crossbow single-target payoff skill. Each round that hits a Shocked enemy triggers a Pulse explosion of extra lightning damage. It does almost nothing if the target is not Shocked, so the skill is the natural boss half of a Lightning Crossbow setup that uses Galvanic Shards for clear.
Spark Guide — Chaining Projectiles, Infusion and Cast on Crit Scaling
Spark fires a burst of projectiles that chain between nearby enemies, travel a short distance, and leave a short beam. It is a core clearing spell for cast-on-crit and mana-stacking builds, and it benefits heavily from Cold Infusion and projectile speed. This guide covers hit rules, infusion, terrain behaviour, support loadouts and boss rotation.
Stormblast Bolts Guide — Charged Bolts, Detonators and Weapon Set Rules
Stormblast Bolts fires Charged Bolts that stick into the ground and enemies. They do almost no damage on their own — you must detonate them with a Detonator skill (Explosive Shot, Explosive Grenade, Voltaic Grenade, Oil Grenade, or a Ballista) to deal a big lightning burst. The classic Tactician plan preloads bolts, then detonates all of them at once on a boss.
Barrage Guide — Repeats, Frenzy Charges, Cooldown and Valid Skills
Barrage is a Spell Buff, not a Bow Attack: casting it empowers your next use of a repeatable Bow or Spear attack so that attack fires multiple repeats. Base repeats scale with Frenzy Charges, each repeat deals reduced damage, and the empowered attack's Attack Time becomes Barrage's cooldown. This guide explains why Barrage is a buff, which skills can repeat, the correct Ice-Tipped Arrows → Barrage → Twister order, the Frenzy Charge cost, the cooldown cap, and the mapping / bossing rotations used by Spirit Walker, Gemling and Ritualist builds.
Combat Frenzy Guide — Freeze, Electrocute, Pin and Frenzy Charge Sustain
Combat Frenzy is a Spirit gem that generates a Frenzy Charge whenever you cause Freeze, Electrocute or Pin on an enemy. Chill, Shock and ordinary Stun do NOT count — only the fully applied ailment triggers it. This guide explains the three valid events, the internal cooldown, how Gem Level and Quality change the rate, Charge Profusion, the Spirit budget vs Herald / Mirage Archer, and the mapping / bossing rotations used by Twister, Ice Shot and Glacial Lance builds.
Explosive Shot Guide — Ammunition, Reload, Grenade Detonation and Rotations
Explosive Shot is a crossbow skill gem: pressing it first loads a special bolt into the crossbow, and the next crossbow attack fires that bolt, which explodes on impact and instantly detonates any Grenades inside its blast radius. This guide explains the load/fire/reload cycle, why the skill sometimes will not fire, how Grenade detonation actually triggers, the correct Explosive Shot → Grenade order, Weapon Set splitting, and the leveling / mapping / bossing rotations used by Explosive Witchhunter, Grenade Gemling and Tactician builds.
Grim Feast Guide — Grim Remnants, Minion Revival and the Reworked Skill
Grim Feast no longer restores Energy Shield — in the current 0.5.4 client it is a Spirit gem that turns fallen minions into Grim Remnants, each storing a portion of the minion's Life, and can revive minions through Grim Resurrection. This guide explains why old build guides are obsolete, which minions create remnants, how much Life is stored, how revival chooses which minions return, the 30 Spirit cost, Quality, the 0.5 cooldown change, and the mapping / bossing rotations used by Lich, Infernalist and Gemling minion builds.
Ice-Tipped Arrows Guide — Empowered Attacks, Ice Fragments and Frenzy Charges
Ice-Tipped Arrows is a buff that empowers your next few Bow or Projectile Spear attacks: it converts their physical damage to cold and makes hits spawn Ice Fragments that explode. This guide explains how the empowerment count is spent, why Twister can be empowered, how Barrage repeats interact with it, how a Frenzy Charge bypasses its cooldown, the Weapon Set rule that breaks it, and why old 8-second / 3-fragment numbers are outdated after 0.4.
Lightning Rod Guide — Rod Limits, Charge-up, Lightning Arrow and Boss Setup
Lightning Rod is a deployed-object skill: you place a lightning pillar at a location, it charges up, and Lightning Arrow (or any chain that reaches it) triggers a burst from the rod. This guide explains the rod limit, the charge-up requirement, why pre-0.4 'instant trigger all rods' videos are outdated, how Lightning Arrow actually triggers the burst, the Mirage Archer interaction limits, and the mapping vs bossing rod counts.
Mirage Archer Guide — Dodge Trigger, Socketed Attacks, Cooldown and Limits
Mirage Archer is a Meta gem that, when you Dodge Roll, spawns a Mirage that uses the attacks socketed into it. The Mirage mimics your ranged attacks (Bow / Spear / Crossbow) with a damage penalty, has its own object limit separate from yours, and cannot use supports that say 'Skills you use yourself'. This guide explains the dodge trigger, cooldown, multiple Mirages, socketed-attack priority, the Lightning Rod / Lightning Arrow interaction, and the mapping / bossing rotations used by Deadeye, Witchhunter and Gemling builds.
Tempest Flurry Guide — Four-hit Sequence, Final Strike, Shock and Bell Setup
Tempest Flurry is a Quarterstaff attack that plays out as a four-use sequence: the first two uses hit once each, the third use lands three hits, and the fourth use is the Final Strike that launches a Shocking Bolt. This guide explains what happens on each use, when the sequence resets, how Attack Speed changes the feel, Quality, why some builds keep it at low gem level, and how to build a combo into Tempest Bell for bossing.
Chain Support Guide — Bounce Count, Range and Projectile Behavior
Chain Support is a Support gem: it makes the supported projectile (or skill) bounce to additional enemies several times after hitting the primary target, forming a chain. This guide explains bounce count and per-jump range, how Chain fundamentally differs from Fork / Pierce / Returning Projectile, why it naturally fits Lightning Arrow / frost projectile builds, and common 'won't bounce / hits repeat targets' causes.
Contagion Skill Guide — Chaos Spread, Debuff Propagation and Why It Won't Spread
Contagion is a chaos spell: it applies a chaos DoT to itself, and on target death (or pulse) spreads all chaos Debuffs carried (including Essence Drain) to nearby enemies. This guide explains its self-damage vs spread value, which Debuffs it spreads, why Quality adds initial targets, and a troubleshooting checklist for 'why it won't spread'.
Dark Effigy Guide — Chaos DoT Totem, Decoy and Damage Over Time
Dark Effigy is a Totem skill: you plant a totem that continuously applies Chaos damage over time (Chaos DoT) to enemies in range. This guide explains how it acts as a 'decoy' so you don't have to stand in the damage, how its DoT scales with your chaos DoT multipliers, how it splits duties with Contagion / Essence Drain, totem count and duration limits, and why it is a great supplemental damage source for Lich chaos builds.
Essence Drain Skill Guide — Chaos Projectile, DoT and Contagion Synergy
Essence Drain is a chaos spell: the projectile applies a chaos damage-over-time Debuff on hit, and the real core damage is that DoT, not the projectile itself. This guide covers projectile-hit vs Debuff-DoT as two segments, why Spell Damage scales the DoT, Chain's different value for clear vs boss, who casts first with Contagion, and how often the boss needs reapplication.
Explosive Grenade Skill Guide — Bounce, Fuse, Cooldown and Detonation
Explosive Grenade is a thrown / crossbow grenade skill: it bounces after throwing, explodes after a fuse timer dealing fire area damage and leaving an igniting ground. This guide covers bounce and fuse, Cooldown charges, Detonator tag synergy with other skills, 80% phys-to-fire, Heat source and value, why the landing is unstable, and Mapping vs Boss configuration differences.
Freezing Mark Guide — Mark Spread, Freeze Buildup and Hunter's Mark
Freezing Mark is a Mark skill: you apply a freeze mark to an enemy, the marked enemy takes increased Freeze Buildup, and when it is killed or critically hit the mark spreads to nearby enemies. This guide explains how the mark is applied, what triggers the spread, how it differs from Sniper's Mark / Overwhelming Mark, why it naturally serves Frost builds, and the common 'mark won't spread / won't freeze' causes.
Frost Darts Skill Guide — Ice Darts, Cold Infusion and the Post-Freeze Explosion
Frost Darts is a cold spell: it fires multiple ice darts that, after hitting already chilled / frozen targets, create an Ice Chunk and pin-explode. This guide explains why the base projectile can't self-chill / freeze, how Cold Infusion is gained and consumed, the pin-explode behaviour after Infusion, that projectile and explosion are different damage segments, and Mapping vs Boss setup skills.
Herald of Ice Guide — Cold Aura, Shatter Explosion and Spirit
Herald of Ice is a Herald (aura) skill: it grants you extra cold damage, and when a frozen enemy dies (shatters), it triggers an icy explosion dealing cold damage to nearby enemies. This guide explains how it competes for Spirit, the shatter-explosion trigger condition, the loop with Ice Shot / Freezing Mark, how it differs from Herald of Thunder / Ash, and why it is the clear core of frost bow builds.
Ice Shot Skill Guide — 80% Phys-to-Cold, Arrow vs Shards, Freeze and Burst
Ice Shot is a bow attack that converts 80% of physical damage to cold and bursts into a fan of ice shards at the arrow's end. This guide covers what 80% conversion means for weapon choice, the Arrow vs Shards relationship, why clear is strong but boss freeze fails, Freezing Mark and Snipe synergy, and Non-Crit vs Crit support tradeoffs.
Lightning Arrow Guide — Bow Lightning Chain, AoE Burst and Chaining
Lightning Arrow is a bow attack gem: the arrow deals lightning damage and, on hit, arcs lightning chains to nearby enemies for a small AoE lightning burst. This guide explains how its chain picks targets, why it 'looks like it only hits one spot', how it interacts with Greater Multiple Projectiles / Chain / Fork, what Quality actually does, and why it is often used as a single-target burst alternative inside an Ice Shot build.
Snipe Guide — Charge Stages, Perfect Window and Bow Marksman
Snipe is a bow channel skill: holding to aim accumulates stages that raise damage and crit, and at full charge it opens a brief 'perfect' release window granting extra crit and damage. This guide explains how stages build, why the perfect window is hard to catch, the cost of releasing too early or too late, how it splits duties with Ice Shot / Lightning Arrow, and why it fits Deadeye's ranged single-target play.
Tempest Bell Guide — Quarterstaff Combo Object, Shockwave Interval and Placement
Tempest Bell is a deployable Quarterstaff object skill: build Combo, drop a bell, then strike it so it emits periodic shockwaves. This guide explains where Combo comes from, how many bells you can have / how long they last / how many hits they take, why attack speed can't break the strict shockwave interval, how elemental ailments add damage to the bell, and the controller vs mouse-keyboard targeting difference.
Twister Skill Guide — Whirlwind Stages, Elemental Ground, Supports and Rotation
Twister is a Spear attack that spends Whirlwind stages generated by Whirling Slash to add extra blades and damage. This guide explains why it is weak on its own, how stages stack, how elemental ground interacts, the best support gems, Mapping vs Boss rotations, and why the skill 'works but feels low-damage'.
Walking Calamity Skill Guide — Glory, Meteors, Bear Form and Buff Pause
Walking Calamity is a 'cast a buff, move to drop meteors' skill: the tooltip shows 0% base attack damage, the real damage comes from periodically summoned Meteors. This guide explains why the tooltip shows 0%, how Glory is generated and consumed, small / large meteor differences, how enemy count changes frequency, why entering / leaving bear form seems to interrupt the buff, and how Shaman Bear and Fire Bear use the same skill.
Whirling Assault Skill Guide — Moving Spin, Multi-hit Zones, Melee Positioning
Whirling Assault is a melee attack: you advance while spinning, dealing repeated area damage around you. This guide covers total attack time and movement, consecutive strikes and multiple damage zones, the 0.5 melee splash rule impact, what the Quality-to-attack-speed change means, why it gets stuck on walls or crowd-controlled, and how Tempest Bell and Hollow Form connect.