PoE 2 Ailments Explained — Ignite, Freeze, Shock, Bleed & Poison (0.2.0)

Ailment Overview (0.2.0)

Ignite — Fire Damage Over Time

Ignite is a Fire ailment applied by fire damage hits above a minimum damage threshold. When a hit Ignites a target, it deals Fire Damage Over Time equal to a percentage of the igniting hit's fire damage over a 4-second duration. Multiple hits can re-apply Ignite, but only the highest-damage Ignite is active on a target at any one time — stacking Ignites does not add their values together as Poison does.

Ignite scales with fire damage modifiers, DoT multipliers, and the fire damage of the initial hit. Larger hits apply stronger Ignites — which means a Fireball with stacked fire damage + crit creates a tougher base Ignite than spamming a low-damage skill. Infernalist Witch is the natural Ignite ascendancy in 0.2.0: it scales fire damage, has Pyromantic Pact freeing mana for spell casts, and Demon Form (life-fueled spell stacks) amplifies Ignite ceiling further.

Ignite proliferation — Ignites spreading to nearby enemies when an Ignited target dies — is a passive cluster you take on the tree (and/or via specific support gems). Combined with Herald of Ash (real PoE 2 Herald that creates an Ash explosion on overkill fire kills), Ignite Infernalist builds turn map clear into a chain reaction.

Freeze & Chill — Cold Control Ailments

Freeze is the most powerful crowd control ailment in PoE 2. A Frozen target cannot move, attack, or use skills. Freeze duration scales with overkill cold damage: the more cold damage the freezing hit deals above what was needed to kill the target, the longer the Freeze lasts. Bosses have higher Freeze thresholds, but even a half-second Freeze creates breathing room.

Chill is a lesser cold ailment that reduces action speed by up to 30% (proportional to how much cold damage the chilling hit dealt relative to target's max life). Any cold hit below the Freeze threshold applies Chill instead. It is a free passive defensive layer for cold builds.

Brittle is a secondary cold ailment that increases YOUR critical strike chance against the Brittle target. It is less common than Freeze or Chill but very powerful for crit-based cold builds. The Invoker Monk's cold infusion paths into Brittle-applying nodes, creating a rotation where Chill stacks into Brittle which amplifies critical hits which apply more cold which deepens Chill.

Shock — The Universal Damage Amplifier

Shock is the most universally powerful offensive ailment in PoE 2. A Shocked target takes increased damage from ALL sources — not just lightning — by a magnitude scaling from 5% to 50% based on how much lightning damage the shocking hit dealt relative to target max life. A hit dealing 1% of the target's max life applies minimum Shock; a hit dealing 10%+ caps it at 50%.

Because Shock amplifies all damage types, it benefits melee, bow, spell, and DoT builds equally. Many builds invest in a single secondary lightning skill or aura purely to maintain Shock on bosses. The Invoker Monk's Lightning infusion excels at Shock application because Tempest Flurry's rapid hit frequency builds Shock magnitude quickly. Mercenary Witchhunter with Galvanic Shards (chained lightning bolts) is another natural Shock applier.

Curses that increase Shock effect or apply a minimum Shock are real in PoE 2 and a common buy for any boss-focused build — verify the current curse name in 0.2.0 against poe2db.tw before claiming a specific name, as GGG has renamed several curse skills between patches.

Bleed & Poison — Damage Over Time Stacking

Bleed is a Physical ailment applied by physical damage hits. Bleed stacks are fully additive — multiple Bleeds active simultaneously each deal their own damage. However, Bleed deals INCREASED damage while the target is moving (the move multiplier is significant). Bosses that stand still during phases take reduced Bleed damage during those moments. Warrior Earthshatter / Stampede builds are natural bleed appliers.

Poison is a Chaos ailment applied by physical or chaos hits. Like Bleed, Poison stacks — each separate Poison application deals Chaos DoT independently and accumulates. High-stack-count Poison (20+ Poisons on a single target) deals astronomical sustained damage on bosses with long fights. The most effective Poison appliers in PoE 2 0.2.0 are the Mercenary's Gas Grenade (which leaves a poison cloud that detonates for lightning when hit by Voltaic Grenade) and the Huntress's spear skills with chaos infusion. Witch's Contagion + Essence Drain combo is the chaos-DoT equivalent (a damage-over-time chaos archetype) — verify whether it scales as Poison stacks or as a flat DoT in current patch.

Poison and Bleed are the two ailments that benefit most from raw attack speed / cast speed scaling because each new hit applies a new independent ailment stack — twice the casts per second equals twice the stacks per second.

Which Ailment Should You Build Around?

• Build Ignite if: you play Infernalist Witch or any fire spellcaster — scales very well with fire damage and DoT multiplier investment.
• Build Freeze/Chill if: you play Invoker Monk cold infusion, Sorceress cold archetype (Ice Nova / Comet / Cold Snap), or any cold caster — best crowd control for solo play.
• Build Shock if: every build benefits from Shock on bosses — include one lightning skill or shock-applying source in every build's boss rotation. Witchhunter Mercenary with Galvanic Shards is a natural fit.
• Build Bleed if: you play Warrior with physical slam skills (Earthshatter, Stampede) — Bleed stacking deals enormous sustained DPS on bosses through their movement phases.
• Build Poison if: you play Mercenary with grenade chains (Gas + Voltaic detonation), Huntress with chaos-infused spear skills, or Witch with Contagion + Essence Drain — Poison stacking is the highest single-target DPS ceiling with maximum investment.
• Brittle is a bonus effect, not a primary build focus — it accrues on cold-focused builds without dedicated investment.