On this page
- Quick Answer: Freeze / Electrocute / Pin Trigger Charges
- Key Stats and Acquisition
- Persistent Buff and Spirit
- Frenzy Charge Generation
- Trigger Comparison
- Internal Cooldown and Same-event Rules
- Quality
- Support Compatibility
- Spirit Budget Trade-offs
- Skill Interactions
- Mapping Rotation
- Bossing Rotation
- Where It Is Used
- Troubleshooting
- Community Evidence
- Video Walkthrough and Timestamps
- Sources and Verification
- Patch History
- Changelog
Quick Answer: Freeze / Electrocute / Pin Trigger Charges
Combat Frenzy grants a Frenzy Charge whenever your hits cause Freeze, Electrocute or Pin. Those are the only three valid events.
Chill, Shock and normal Stun do NOT generate charges — only the fully applied ailment counts, not the buildup. This is the single most misunderstood part of the skill.
Key Stats and Acquisition
- Category
- Spirit Gem · Buff · Persistent · Charge Generator
- Tagged buff, persistent, charge-generator, frenzy.
- Spirit cost
- 30 Spirit
- Reserves 30 Spirit while enabled; confirm current client value.
- Valid events
- Freeze / Electrocute / Pin
- Only fully applied ailments trigger a charge.
- Internal cooldown
- Per event, scales with Gem Level
- Confirm the current client cooldown by level.
- Quality
- Extra charge chance
- Quality adds a chance for an additional charge.
Persistent Buff and Spirit
Combat Frenzy is a persistent buff: enable it once and it reserves 30 Spirit for the whole map, watching your hits in the background for valid ailments.
You do not activate it per kill; it passively awards charges whenever the condition is met and the internal cooldown is clear.
- Reservation
- 30 Spirit (persistent)
- Count it against your total Spirit pool.
- State
- Always on while enabled
- Passively awards charges on valid events.
Frenzy Charge Generation
Exactly three events generate a charge: causing Freeze, causing Electrocute, and causing Pin. Each must be the fully applied ailment, not just the buildup meter.
If one attack both Freezes and Pins a target in the same hit, you still only get the charges the cooldown allows — the game does not necessarily grant one per ailment type if they land on the same event window. Verify stacking behaviour on the current client.
- Freeze
- Valid (full Freeze)
- Chill buildup does not count.
- Electrocute
- Valid (full Electrocute)
- Shock buildup does not count.
- Pin
- Valid (completed Pin)
- Pin buildup does not count.
Trigger Comparison
| Ailment you cause | Generates charge? | Needs full ailment or buildup? | Common mistake |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freeze | Yes | Must fully Freeze | Chill is not Freeze |
| Electrocute | Yes | Must fully Electrocute | Shock is not Electrocute |
| Pin | Yes | Must complete Pin | Pin buildup is not Pin |
| Chill | No | — | Cold hit does not auto-trigger |
| Shock | No | — | Lightning hit does not auto-trigger |
| Stun | No | — | Not a valid condition |
Internal Cooldown and Same-event Rules
Combat Frenzy has an internal cooldown between charge grants. Gem Level changes that cooldown — higher level means charges come back faster, which is the main scaling lever for sustained Frenzy.
Because of the cooldown, mapping (where enemies are constantly frozen / pinned) floods you with charges, while bossing (where the boss resists or is slow to Freeze) leaves you charge-starved. That gap is expected, not a bug.
Quality
Quality on Combat Frenzy adds a chance to generate an extra Frenzy Charge on a valid event, on top of the normal one. It does not shorten the cooldown — it adds a probability of a bonus charge.
Verify the exact quality roll on the current client; it scales the extra-charge chance, not the cooldown.
- Quality effect
- Extra charge chance
- Confirm the current client roll.
Support Compatibility
Charge Profusion I / II directly improve the charge economy Combat Frenzy feeds, making them near-mandatory on charge-hungry builds. Persistent supports that keep the buff running and Spirit supports that ease the 30 reservation also help.
- Charge Profusion I / II
- Core
- Improves the Frenzy economy the gem creates.
- Persistent / Spirit supports
- Situational
- Keep the buff up and ease reservation.
Spirit Budget Trade-offs
At 30 Spirit, Combat Frenzy competes with Herald buffs and Mirage Archer for the same pool. On a build that already causes Freeze / Electrocute / Pin constantly, the sustained Frenzy is usually worth more than a damage aura.
Charge-based builds (Barrage, Ice-Tipped Arrows) treat Combat Frenzy as the engine, so they prioritise it over auras.
- Cost
- 30 Spirit
- Same pool as Herald / Mirage Archer.
- Trade-off
- Sustain vs aura
- Drop only if Spirit is the bottleneck.
Skill Interactions
Barrage and Ice-Tipped Arrows both spend Frenzy Charges, so Combat Frenzy is their sustain engine — you bank charges from freezes / pins, then spend them on the empowered volley. Spear skills that Pin also feed the loop.
The ordering matters: Combat Frenzy must generate the charge before Barrage or Ice-Tipped Arrows consume it, so proc the ailment first, then fire the charge-spender.
- Barrage
- Spender
- Needs charges Combat Frenzy generates first.
- Ice-Tipped Arrows
- Spender
- Same charge economy.
- Spear (Pin)
- Generator
- Pin events feed Combat Frenzy.
Mapping Rotation
- Constant ailmentFreeze / Pin packs as you clearCharges flood in from the high enemy count.
- SpendUse Barrage / Ice-Tipped Arrows on tough packsVolley paid for by the sustained charges.
Bossing Rotation
- Pre-bankFreeze / Pin adds or opening windowsEnough charges for the first big spend.
- MaintainKeep proccing ailments during the fightCharges trickle in to refill between spends.
Where It Is Used
Twister (Spirit Walker) builds use Combat Frenzy to keep Frenzy up for Barrage volleys. Ice Shot and Glacial Lance builds use it because they constantly apply freeze / pin and then spend the charges on empowered attacks.
In every case the build already causes one of the three valid ailments reliably, so the sustain is real rather than occasional.
- Twister: Frenzy sustain for Barrage.
- Ice Shot: freeze-fed charges.
- Glacial Lance: pin-fed charges.
Troubleshooting
- No charges appearOnly Chill / Shock / Stun are landingCause full Freeze / Electrocute / Pin instead.
- Charges too slowInternal cooldown or low Gem LevelRaise Gem Level and add Charge Profusion.
- Buff on but no chargeNo valid ailment event occurredApply one of the three valid ailments to an enemy.
Community Evidence
Community titles like 'infinite Frenzy' describe builds that constantly freeze / pin mapping packs, which genuinely floods charges. On bosses the same build is charge-starved because the boss resists the ailment — that gap is by design.
The most common mistake is assuming Chill or Shock triggers it. Client testing confirms only full Freeze, Electrocute and Pin grant charges.
Video Walkthrough and Timestamps
P4wnyhof
Bleed Huntress 0.5 — charge sustain
Showcase that demonstrates Frenzy Charge sustain from repeated ailments on mapping packs.
What to watch for: Watch how constant freezes / pins keep charges flowing.
Open source ↗SnooBAE85
Twister build 0.5
Twister-centric build showing the Combat Frenzy → Barrage charge loop on bosses.
What to watch for: Good reference for pre-banking charges before the empowered attack.
Open source ↗Sources and Verification
GGG official forum Patch Notes confirm Combat Frenzy's charge triggers (Freeze / Electrocute / Pin) and cooldown tuning in the current 0.5.4 client.
PoE2DB and Community Wiki provide skill id, tags, Spirit cost and hidden charge behaviour.
Mobalytics Twister / Ice Shot builds and the P4wnyhof / SnooBAE85 showcase videos, used to cross-check the charge loop.
Reddit and official forums surface real issues like 'no charges', cooldown and Spirit, reproduced on client and answered directly.
Official GGG forums where staff confirm Spirit gem and charge mechanics and patch changes.
Reddit r/PathOfExile2 discussions and help threads for Combat Frenzy, useful for version feedback and mainstream builds.
Patch History
- 0.2 / 0.3: Combat Frenzy introduced with Freeze / Electrocute / Pin charge triggers.
- 0.4: internal cooldown tuning by Gem Level.
- 0.5 Return of the Ancients: charge behaviour retained; current client numbers used in this guide.
Changelog
- Initial release: valid charge events, trigger table, internal cooldown, Quality, Charge Profusion, Spirit budget, skill interactions, mapping and bossing rotations, troubleshooting and community evidence.
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