Blog Tag: Poe 2 Crowd Control Effects

In Path of Exile 2, fighting monsters is not only about dealing damage but also about Crowd Control effects. In some cases, it can be even more critical than dealing damage directly. The success of many powerful combinations depends on the correct application of these control effects, so understanding the mechanics of Crowd Control and how to deal with them is as important as understanding Ailments.

This article will take a thorough analysis of Crowd Control effects in PoE 2 and their importance, helping players better understand how to use these effects to shape your character.

A Crowd Control effect is any mechanism that can hinder or completely prevent an entity from performing an action. In PoE 2, these effects are not only very useful in daily combat but also particularly important when facing powerful enemies that are difficult to defeat, such as rare monsters with tough modifiers, or unique bosses like Mighty Silverfist.

This guide lists several currently known Crowd Control effects in Path of Exile 2:

1. Stun/Heavy Stun

Stun is an important Crowd Control effect that can temporarily interrupt the target’s actions, usually for a short period. However, if the target is stunned multiple times, especially in a short period, it will usually cause the enemy to die, increasing Path Of Exile 2 Currency drop. It is worth noting that Stun effect can also affect the player, so the player needs to be vigilant at all times to avoid being hit by the enemy and unable to fight back.

The generation of Stun is usually related to the accuracy of the attacker. Physical hits have a certain chance to cause Stun, especially when the attacker’s accuracy is high. In addition, A Heavy Stun is another more powerful Stun effect.

A Heavy Stun not only temporarily completely prohibits all actions of the target but also lasts for a long time. When Heavy Stun Meter located below the enemy’s health bar is filled, the target will enter Heavy Stunned. When the target recovers, Stun Buildup will gradually decrease over a short period, which may provide the player with an additional attack window.

In order to effectively use Heavy Stun, players can use some specific skills and passives to enhance Stun effect. For example, Seismic Cry Mace Skill and Surprising Strength Titan passive can significantly enhance the stun effect, especially the control ability of the enemy, thus creating more output opportunities for players.

2. Pin And Knockback

Pin is a control effect that restricts the target’s movement, but does not prevent the target from attacking, as the enemy can still attack. However, it can be very valuable for certain character builds that rely on delayed damage, long cast times, or continuous area damage skills.

For example, a spellcaster or ranged character can use Pin to pin an enemy in place, ensuring that skills can hit the target accurately, especially if the enemy is difficult to reach or leaping.

Knockback, on the other hand, has a completely different effect. It pushes the target out of its current location, creating more space, which is especially useful for spellcasters. Knockback can help players get away from enemies and avoid being attacked by enemies in close range or interrupting spells. Although there are fewer mechanics around Knockback, it can be very important in certain situations, especially when fighting enemies with area attacks.

3. Freeze

Cold damage is a powerful effect that freezes the target. Hitting an enemy with Cold damage can slow their movement speed until they are completely frozen and unable to take any actions. This effect is very useful against fast-moving or high-damage enemies.

When a target takes Cold damage, a freeze icon will appear next to its health bar, showing the enemy’s current freeze progress. When the freeze reaches 100%, the target is completely frozen and cannot make any actions, including attacking or casting skills.

Frozen state is very disadvantageous to enemies because they are exposed to more attacks after being frozen, especially some skills can be more powerful specifically against frozen targets.

For example, Cold Snap from Elemental tree can use the enemy’s frozen state to cause AoE damage. In addition, Fragmentation Rounds from Crossbow tree for Mercenary builds will also consume the target’s frozen state, releasing range attacks to cause AoE damage.

4. Electrocute

In POE 2, certain skills or skills enhanced by Support Gems can trigger Electrocute, which is similar to Stun, but it mainly interrupts the enemy’s actions through Lightning damage and temporarily locks it in place, usually for five seconds, restricting the enemy’s actions.

Electrocute not only interrupts enemy attacks, but is also often triggered with Shock effect, which causes enemies affected by Electrocute to take an additional 20% more damage.

It is worth noting that, unlike Stun, Electrocute can only be triggered if the skill itself supports it or through a specific Support Gem. Therefore, when building a character, players need to evaluate whether it is worth using additional gem slots to trigger Electrocute. In particular, Monks or Sorceresses are very powerful against bosses through a dual Lightning ailment build, which can greatly increase your efficiency in farming PoE 2 Exalted Orbs.

5. Monster-Related Effects

Some monsters have CC effects that can cause players to cannot apply themselves. For example, Drowning effect caused by the water globes cast by River Hags will distort the player’s vision and significantly slow down the player’s movement speed. If the player is drowned for about two seconds, they will die directly.

Besides drowning, monsters that cause elemental damage often have special control effects, such as Freeze or Electrocute. Additionally, Stun is another crowd control effect that all players, especially melee players, must be wary of.

Overall, mastering these crowd control effects and learning to exploit their synergy with skills and passives is key to successfully building a character and taking on high-difficulty challenges.