Path of Exile - Mana-based Gems and Stormbind Demo

Posted: 04 Mar 2020 03:53 PM PST

Alongside Path of Exile: Delirium, we are introducing gems that allow you to translate mana investment into damage. This post shares more information about the new Stormbind and Arcane Cloak Skill Gems as well as the Archmage Support.

While there are some existing options in Path of Exile that facilitate using mana as a source of damage or defense, these usually come from quite niche sources. Since mana is such a fundamental mechanic, we felt that there could be more support for players who are interested in builds that fully invest in mana. Introducing new gems facilitates this desire while also having the bonus of allowing you to gain damage from your mana pool in a way that is distinct from reserving it for auras.

Arcane Cloak
Arcane Cloak is a Guard skill and, like other Guard skills, it is instant with a cooldown that does not expire during the skill's effect. The extent of your build's mana investment will scale both the offensive and defensive properties of Arcane Cloak.

It uses a percentage of your unreserved mana to grant a buff that absorbs 75% of all damage from hits before that damage affects your life or energy shield (similar to Steelskin and Molten Shell). The amount of damage Arcane Cloak's buff can absorb is determined by how much mana was used.

While the buff is active, you also gain additional lightning damage proportional to the mana used by the skill. The damage bonus relies on the buff being active so you'll need to ensure that you don't take more damage than your buff allows for or you'll lose the effect of both until the cooldown resets.

The flexible nature of this skill allows you to use it in different scenarios, perhaps as a burst of damage against bosses or as a quick layer of defense against incoming damage spikes - just make sure you have plenty of mana to spare!

Stormbind
Stormbind is a level 28 channelling spell that works in a fashion that's similar to Mines but with a channelling component. The initial channeling aspect of Stormbind lays a grid of runes that Hinder enemies. As a second layer of offence, Stormbind also grants the Rune Blast ability, a channelling spell that upgrades the area of effect and damage of Stormbind's runes. The more mana you spend while channeling Rune Blast, the greater the area of effect and damage your upgraded runes will have. When you stop channelling, all of your Stormbind Runes will detonate in a sequence, dealing Lightning damage to an area. Your character will also be teleported to the location of the first rune that was detonated.

Because of its various components, Stormbind can be used in several ways - either as a single layer to Hinder enemies, a sizable blast for your foes or as an option for movement. Because of the way it scales, you'll be rewarded for having a high mana cost and fast cast speed as these allow the runes to be upgraded quickly and to a higher capacity.

Archmage Support
The Archmage Support can be used with any spell that deals damage with hits and has a mana cost. It converts the supported spell into one that scales with mana investment.

Instead of using the skill's inherent mana cost, the Archmage Support causes it to use a percentage of your unreserved maximum mana. The larger the size of your unreserved mana pool, the greater the cost of your supported spell. Mana multipliers from other support gems will further modify this cost.

As a trade-off for this higher mana cost, you'll gain lightning damage based on the new amount of mana your supported skill costs. The higher your skill's mana cost, the more damage you'll gain from the Archmage Support.

This support naturally increases in power as you level and gain a larger mana pool but further investment into mana on your Passive Skill Tree will greatly improve its damage.

Check out the new gems in action in the video below!