Exiles, what are you doing while you wait for Path of Exile 2 Early Access? Are you looking forward to learning about the new content of this brand new sequel to better prepare for it? If so, this guide is right for you.
Here we will introduce a brand new mechanic introduced in POE 2 that brings crazy power to your character build based on some possible Skill Gem combinations, that is Jagged Grounds.
Mechanic Explained
Jagged Grounds is a new Ground effect in Path of Exile 2 that can trigger Explode effects using certain ability combinations, and the damage caused by the explosion depends on the skill that created Jagged Grounds or the skill that caused it to explode according to the skill description.
Many skills will create Jagged Grounds by default, and any slam skill can create it with Jagged Grounds Support, but the damage numbers caused still scale with their skill level, so don’t be stingy with your POE 2 Currency to optimize this skill effect.
Synergies
Next, we’ll talk about what mechanics will work well with Jagged Grounds in POE 2 to maximize the full potential of this skill’s effects.
Earthquake
For example, Earthquake functions almost exactly like it did in POE 1. The character performs an initial attack, then leaves behind a delayed aftershock that subsequently explodes for more damage.
But the big difference with Path of Exile 2 is that Earthquake’s delayed aftershock damage is caused by Jagged Grounds, which means it can interact directly with other skills. In the case of Earthquake, it increases the effect of Jagged Grounds by 100%, thus improving the slowing effect on enemies stuck in the effect.
Shockwave Totem
What’s interesting here, however, is how the added effect modifier on Jagged Grounds affects the damage done by the explosion if it’s triggered by another skill.
For example, Shockwave Totem in POE 2, this skill is an attack rather than a spell, and it has its own base damage rather than relying on your weapon. Therefore, it’s essential to spend some POE 2 Gold to re-roll the base damage of the Totem.
Shockwave Totem is a slam skill that, if triggered within an Area of Effect, will detonate Earthquake’s Jagged Grounds. Now, this is a combo that can be used to hasten the initial trigger of Earthquake. A well-timed Earthquake will immediately detonate the aftershock before Shockwave Totem triggers its attack, and Shockwave Totem slam itself will deal two AOE damage.
Jagged Grounds Support
But Jagged Grounds doesn’t stop there, in fact, there are more interactions across the several skills we’ve seen. As we said before, Jagged Grounds Support can be linked to any slam skill, causing it to create Jagged Grounds when it hits.
This version of Jagged Grounds applies 30% less movement speed and has a larger area of effect. This is where things start to get pretty interesting, as you can use any slam skill to create Jagged Grounds.
Stampede
If you’re willing to invest more POE 2 Currency to get Stampede Boots, then not only will you create more Jagged Grounds as you move forward during the animation, but you’ll also have all of them blow up at the end of the slam.
Also, one other thing to note in this skill description is the wording about creating many Jagged Grounds, which means they can stack on top of each other. This could be skill specific, but it’s also possible that it’s referring to Jagged Grounds from multiple sources stacking back together, and if that’s the case, taking advantage of this mechanic could be very powerful.
Ancestral Warrior Totem
There’s also Ancestral Warrior Totem, which is similar to Shockwave Totem, attacking with its own base damage, and likewise not using your weapon.
But the crazy thing about this skill is that the totem uses a socketed slam skill similar to Earthbreaker from POE 1. This means you can use Ancestral Warrior Totem to create a bunch of Jagged Grounds, use the slam associated with Jagged Grounds Support, or use the totem to blow up other Jagged Grounds you created with Stampede, or even crazier.
You can have two of the totems with limited support, leaving you free to create as many Jagged Grounds as possible with other skills, or even better, have two Ancestral Warrior Totems that both use Earthbreaker.
As we know, Earthbreaker used by the first phase totems is a unique instance of each totem, allowing you to bypass the limit of using a single Aftershock at a time. And using two Earthbreaker Totems at the same time allows you to constantly detonate Jagged Grounds they create.
And the application of a good POE 2 item is also very important for character builds, because the basic attack time of Ancestral Totem is much faster than the trigger rate of Shockwave Totem, even taking into account Earthbreaker attack speed multiplier. Remember, this is just the effect of skills and support gems.
Outro
So far, we have seen that there may be interactions with Jagged Grounds in POE 2. They may come from other skills or Ascendancy, or even the passive skill tree. At least based on what we have seen so far, if the numbers remain the same, this mechanic will be very powerful.
If you’re looking forward to a better melee experience in Path of Exile, this might be a good choice to start when Early Access is released, although Jagged Grounds stacking can be a bit broken, but the visual feast produced by constant explosions is impressive enough.
Currently, there are about 2 weeks left before the release of Path of Exile 2 Early Access. While waiting for it to arrive, you can also try other games such as Diablo 4, or you can follow some great POE 2 game guides in POECurrency.com to kill time and prepare for the official entry into this brand new game!
