Path of Exile 2 Spells & Elemental Skills Glossary
The ten names on this page come up in Path of Exile 2 build talk, but they are not all PoE 2 spell gems. Some are real gems with a specific job, some are Path of Exile 1 skills that never arrived, and some exist only as a monster attack or an item skill. Each section says what the name does in PoE 2 today, what it needs, and what to use instead when it is missing.
All numbers match Path of Exile 2 patch 0.5.5 (Forbidden Rites, released 4 September 2026) and its hotfixes, part of the 0.5 "Return of the Ancients" cycle. Gem values are level 1 to level 20 ranges. The game is still in early access, and version 1.0 is scheduled for 11 December 2026.
| Term | Player skill gem in PoE 2? | Type |
|---|---|---|
| Bane | No (PoE 1 gem; game data only in PoE 2) | Chaos damage over time |
| Blazing Lance | No (monster spear attack) | Fire attack |
| Contagion | Yes, tier 1 | Chaos damage over time |
| Discharge | No (PoE 1 gem) | Charge-based nova |
| Mana Tempest | Yes, tier 7 | Lightning buff zone |
| Orb of Storms | Yes, tier 3 | Lightning orb |
| Phantasmal Spark | No gem with this name | Not a skill |
| Shock Nova | No (PoE 1 gem) | Lightning nova |
| Solar Orb | Staff skill, not a gem | Fire orb |
| Storm Wave | Yes, tier 7 | Quarterstaff attack |
Damage over time and curses
Bane
Bane is a Path of Exile 1 spell: it applies a chaos damage over time debuff in an area and also applies the hex curses linked to it. It cannot be used by totems, traps or mines, and it gets stronger for every curse it carries. In Path of Exile 2 the skill description survives in the game files, but there is no Bane gem to socket in patch 0.5.5.
| PoE 1 Bane (patch 3.29) | Value |
|---|---|
| Requirement | Character level 24, Intelligence |
| Damage per curse | 28% to 42% more damage per curse applied |
| Duration per curse | 100% increased debuff duration per curse (raised from 50% in 3.29.0) |
| Drawback | Carried curses have 25% less effect |
| Curse limit | Only hexes from gems requiring up to level 24 to 70 (by Bane level) |
If you want the same idea in PoE 2, the closest working pair is a curse gem plus Hexblast, which detonates curses for chaos damage. Both are explained in the curses and marks glossary.
Contagion
Contagion is a tier 1 chaos spell for Intelligence characters. It afflicts one enemy with a damage over time debuff, and when that enemy dies the debuff spreads to nearby enemies, carrying curses and other chaos damage over time debuffs with it and refreshing their durations.
| Value | Gem level 1 to 20 |
|---|---|
| Mana cost | 8 to 83 |
| Cast time | 1.0 s |
| Chaos damage per second | 2 to 93.9 |
| Spread radius | 1.7 m |
| Debuff duration | 5 s |
The key mechanic is the escalating damage: the debuff deals 100% more damage each time it has spread, up to 300% more. Reanimating or detonating a corpse that carried Contagion makes the minion or explosion spread it on hit. Since patch 0.3.0, gem quality makes Contagion hit up to 2 extra enemies when cast (instead of raising the spread bonus) and adds up to 50% more area of effect. Contagion is a good pack-clearing opener for chaos and minion builds, and it pairs naturally with curses, because it carries them to every enemy it spreads to.
Lightning and storm skills
Orb of Storms
Orb of Storms is a tier 3 lightning spell that creates an orb which fires chaining lightning bolts at nearby enemies. It is a sustained skill: only one orb can exist at a time (limit 1), and it lasts 12 seconds.
- Fires a bolt every 4 seconds, and also when you cast a spell near the orb.
- Expires after 6 bolts, radius 3.6 metres, and each bolt chains 3 to 5 times.
- Damage: 1 to 14 minimum and 8 to 260 maximum lightning damage by gem level 20.
- When the orb ends, it leaves behind a Lightning Infusion remnant that your next suitable spell can consume.
- Cast time 0.8 seconds, base critical chance 10%; quality adds up to 3 chains and up to 6 extra bolts.
Patch 0.3.0 rewrote it: it now reacts to any spell cast in its radius, not only lightning spells, and the bolt count was fixed at 6. It is a placed turret that you cast alongside your main spell, not a direct "lightning strike". Stand inside its radius when you use your main spell. Spell Echo and Spell Cascade still cannot support it, a known issue since patch 0.3.0c.
Mana Tempest
Mana Tempest is a tier 7 lightning buff skill that you cast, not a passive mechanic. It creates a storm on the ground. While you stand in it, your mana-costing spells are empowered: they gain 40% to 78% of their damage as extra lightning damage and split to 1 to 3 additional targets.
The price is upkeep. The storm drains 1% of your mana per second and 30% of the mana and life you spend inside it is added to that drain, so heavy casting makes it drain faster. The storm ends when you leave or run out of mana. The effects linger for 2 seconds after you step out; that lingering was added in patch 0.4.0. Cooldown is 1 second and does not recover while the buff is running. Since patch 0.2.0e it works with all spells and makes them split to extra targets rather than chain or fork, and since 0.3.0 the gem starts at level 7. At 0.60 seconds cast time it is quick to place, but it needs a mana pool large enough to pay for both the spells and the storm.
Storm Wave
Storm Wave is a tier 7 lightning attack that needs a quarterstaff. You sweep the staff and send a bolt of lightning through the ground as a long fissure: 8 metres long and 1 metre wide at base.
- Attack damage 110% to 343% of base, attack speed 75% of base.
- Converts 80% of physical damage to lightning.
- 100% more chance to shock (added in patch 0.2.0).
- Costs 8 to 54 mana and needs Dexterity and Intelligence.
Patch 0.3.0 made it also hit targets slightly to the side of your character. Quality adds up to 1 metre of width and 4 metres of length. It is a staff attack for Monk-style melee builds, not a caster spell, even though its name sounds like Orb of Storms or Spark.
Shock Nova
Shock Nova is a Path of Exile 1 skill gem, and Path of Exile 2 has no Shock Nova gem in patch 0.5.5. In PoE 1 it casts a ring of lightning around you followed by a larger nova; the ring always shocks, the skill needs character level 28, and it adds 10% to the maximum effect of Shock. PoE 1 patch 3.29.0 cut its cast time to 0.6 seconds.
In PoE 2 the lightning area role is split across other Sorceress spells:
| PoE 2 skill | Tier | What it does |
|---|---|---|
| Arc | 5 | Lightning that chains from enemy to enemy |
| Lightning Conduit | 13 | Lightning in a cone, much stronger against Shocked enemies (8 s cooldown) |
| Ball Lightning | 11 | Slow projectile that zaps enemies as it passes |
| Orb of Storms | 3 | Placed orb, see above |
Phantasmal Spark
Phantasmal Spark is not a skill in Path of Exile 2 or in the first game. The name mixes up two real things: Spark, a tier 1 lightning projectile spell, and Phantasmal Arrow, a bow attack whose arrow embeds in the ground and explodes in spectral flame. In PoE 1, "Phantasmal" was also the name of an alternate quality type, which is where many players first saw the word next to a gem.
Spark as of 0.5.5:
- Fires 4 to 9 sparks that wander along the ground for 2 seconds; the same target can be hit at most once per 0.66 seconds by sparks fired together.
- Base critical chance 9%, cast time 0.70 seconds, 5 to 56 mana.
- Since patch 0.3.0 it consumes a Cold Infusion if you have one and fires 12 to 16 icy sparks in a circle instead, adding cold damage; the cast takes 0.5 seconds longer.
- Quality gives up to 30% increased projectile speed and up to 4 extra projectiles.
If you meant a "ghostly" version of Spark, the cold-infused circle is the closest real thing. For a full Spark build, see the Archmage Spark guide below.
Fire skills
Blazing Lance
Blazing Lance is not a skill gem players can use in Path of Exile 2 or in PoE 1. It is a monster spear attack: the monster throws a spear that leaves a trail of fire and burns enemies, then throws a second spear in the same direction that makes the fire expand outwards. It converts 100% of physical damage to fire, adds 3 to 5 fire damage and pierces all targets. It is not a channelled fire beam.
Monsters that use it include the Bloodrite Guard, Draven, the Eternal Praetor, Tycho, the Black Praetor, Thane Wulfric and Varloch, the Ashen Lord. Treat it as an enemy attack to dodge sideways, since both spears travel along the same line. For a player fire spear option, Explosive Spear (tier 1) is the spear skill with a fire explosion.
Solar Orb
Solar Orb is a fire orb that periodically pulses and ignites enemies standing very close to it. It is limited to 1 orb at a time, lasts 10 seconds and pulses every 1.4 seconds with a 2.5 metre explosion radius.
Important change in patch 0.3.0: Solar Orb stopped being a normal gem. It is now an inherent skill on Pyrophyte Staves, and it no longer costs mana. Living Bomb took its place as a tier 3 gem. Existing items were not changed. So you get Solar Orb from the staff, not from a gem vendor. The pulse deals 4 to 5 fire damage at skill level 1 and 181 to 271 at level 20, and quality adds up to 20% more damage with hits against Burning enemies. The Flameblast spell can be centred on a Solar Orb instead of on you. Patch 0.5.0 also fixed a bug where the Prism of Belief unique jewel could roll modifiers for it.
Charge skills and auras
Discharge
Discharge is a Path of Exile 1 spell. It removes every Power, Endurance and Frenzy Charge you have and turns them into a nova: lightning damage per Power Charge, fire per Endurance Charge and cold per Frenzy Charge. Base radius is 3 metres, plus 15% area per charge removed, and it deals 60% less damage with ailments. In patch 3.29.0 its cooldown was cut from 2 seconds to 1 second and its base damage per charge rose by 15%.
Path of Exile 2 has no Discharge gem. The one thing with a similar name is the support gem Elemental Discharge (tier 3), which works through ailments, not charges: when a supported spell consumes Freeze, Shock or Ignite on hit, it triggers a 2 metre discharge with a 1 second cooldown. The discharge deals only the elements that were consumed: 40% to 60% of your Intelligence as fire, 80% to 120% as cold, and 1% to 120% as lightning damage. The supported spell can no longer inflict those ailments itself, so another skill must apply them. See the support gems glossary.
Wrath
Wrath is covered on its own page: Wrath aura in PoE 2. In short, it is a PoE 1 aura (50% mana reservation) that adds lightning damage to attacks and gives 15% to 21% more spell lightning damage. PoE 2 has no Wrath gem. The similar-sounding Thundergod's Wrath is a different PoE 2 meta skill granted by the unique Mjölner: it gains Energy from melee hits and triggers socketed lightning spells.
Common mistakes
- Looking for Shock Nova, Discharge or Phantasmal Spark in the PoE 2 gem list. They are not there; Arc, Elemental Discharge and Spark cover similar roles.
- Expecting Solar Orb from a gem vendor. It comes from Pyrophyte Staves.
- Treating Mana Tempest as a passive. It is a buff gem that drains mana.
- Using Orb of Storms alone. Its bolts fire every 4 seconds unless you keep casting spells next to it.
Related terms
- Curses and marks glossary
- Support gems glossary
- Minion skills glossary
- Classes, ascendancies and passives glossary
- Wrath aura
Guides and services
The Onlyfarms guides on Archmage Spark Stormweaver and the Witch guide show these spells in full builds. Gem purchases are listed in the PoE 2 gems category, and the PoE 2 build service covers finished builds.
FAQ
Is Contagion good in Path of Exile 2?
Yes, as a chaos opener for packs. It is a tier 1 gem, costs little mana, and its damage grows up to 300% as it spreads. It is less useful on single bosses where it cannot spread.
Why can I not find Discharge or Shock Nova in PoE 2?
Both are skills from the first Path of Exile. Path of Exile 2 has no gem with either name on 1 November 2026. The nearest PoE 2 skill to Discharge is the Elemental Discharge support gem.
Where do I get Solar Orb?
From Pyrophyte Staves, which grant it as an inherent skill since patch 0.3.0. It is no longer a gem you slot.
Does Orb of Storms only work with lightning spells?
No. Since patch 0.3.0 it triggers from any spell you cast within its radius.
