As the Path of Exile 2 Early Access release date, which players have been waiting for almost a decade, approaches, the developers are leaking more and more information about this new game. Some time ago, some class-specific mechanics and gameplay were announced in POE 2, and now we will focus on the new elements of the passive skill tree: Keystone.
It’s a unique node in POE 2’s passive skill tree that can provide huge benefits to your build, but it also presents some problems. Most versions of the original game are based on one or more cornerstones that can provide positive factors. In this case, you can effectively overcome some shortcomings of your build, but in POE 2, this will be difficult to achieve because there are more cornerstones.
But no matter how it changes, it’s always a good idea to know in advance what passive effects these keystones that this guide will introduce you to can provide you with, because this will help you complete your build faster and easier in Early Access, and even allows you to Create corresponding combat strategies faster than other players in battle.
Here we must remind you that these contents are summarized based on information from various parties and are not the final version. Everything is subject to the final release version.
Solved technique
If you’re an old POE player, you’ll be very familiar with it because it’s a cornerstone carried over from the original game. And his skill hasn’t changed much: no matter what your accuracy rate is, you can get a 100% chance of hitting. Likewise, Resolute Technique’s drawback of not being able to withstand any type of critical hit also remains, but you can use some items from Path Of Exile 2 in your build to make it more well-rounded.
Gaze blows
Another keystone carried over from the original game is Glancing Blows. But it is very surprising that its current properties are what it had before being weakened: doubling its attack chance and spell blocking.
This is splendid news for some old Path of Exile players, because in the previous league, this keystone was too powerful, so it had to be retuned and finally disappeared from the players’ sight. But, fortunately, it will see the light again in the sequel.
It’s important to note that while Glancing Blows increases the defense of both, it only blocks up to 50% of the damage taken from enemies that can deal with it. Then you might want to spend a little more. POE 2 Coin in your build to compensate for this deficiency and make it more invulnerable.
Giant’s blood
Unlike the first two, Giant’s Blood is a very interesting keystone that allows you to use your two-handed weapons such as axes, maces, or two-handed swords with one hand. This is very important for some classes or builds that need these weapons to deal devastating damage, because it will double the amount of damage that can be dealt.
However, the required attribute values for these weapons have also been doubled. For example, in the original game, using Coronal Maul or Impact Force Propagator only requires 220 Strength, but in POE 2, 440 Strength is required to use this powerful weapon.
blood magic
Blood Magic is also a preserved cornerstone of the original game. It can remove all of your mana and replace all of your mana consumption with very significant health. This keystone is very useful in POE 2 for some classes or builds with low mana or low mana conversion rate in the passive skill tree, because it can greatly increase the survivability of the class or build at the same time guarantees that you have continuous damage.
Whispers of doom
In the original game, Whispers of Doom was the main node of the passive skill tree, but in POE 2 it has become a keystone with special abilities. This means it has been improved over the original game, from players being able to apply just one curse to being able to use two naturally.
But it should be noted that the delay between applying the curse and activating the curse effect will be doubled, which may not be a good option for some less flexible builds.
Chaos Inoculation
As the most distinctive cornerstone of POE 2, Chaos Inoculation is very popular in many gaming communities. It can make your character immune to chaos damage thrown at you by enemies or bosses, which is not in the original game. Many players also call her the most useful existence in POE 2.
However, it is not perfect. When you equip this special node, your character’s health will be set to 1 and cannot be modified in any way. So when you choose Chaos Inoculation, you should spend as much POE Coin as possible to obtain a large amount of energy shields, so that you can resist some damage from other elements.
If you want to improve the survivability of your build in the POE 2 ending, but don’t want to create items with high chaos resistance, you can rely on Chaos Inoculation. But it’s worth reminding you that this may cost you more.
The above are some of the known features and shortcomings of Keystones in the upcoming Early Access of Path of Exile 2. Again, the introduction of this guide is for reference only and everything is subject to the final version. I hope that with the help of this guide, you can formulate some build ideas for a certain class in advance and explore them more effectively in the early access version. I wish you happy gaming!