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In Path of Exile 2, the Double Herald setup is a tech that allows for Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice to proc off each other simultaneously, triggering a chain reaction that can clear entire screens with one hit.
Understanding how the Herald skills interact with each other in order to pull this off isn’t strictly required, but it’s helpful information nonetheless, especially for players wanting to theorycraft their own build ideas later on. Here’s how to implement this tech in your build and an explanation on how it works afterward.
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How to Use Double Herald (Herald of Ice + Herald of Thunder) in PoE 2
Four things are needed for the Double Herald setup to work:
-
Herald of Ice
Skill Gem socketed with the
Lightning InfusionSupport Gem
-
Herald of Thunder
Skill Gem socketed with the
Cold InfusionSupport Gem (
Glaciationis also recommended).
- 60 Spirit
- A way of inflicting Cold damage.
Remember to toggle on Herald of Ice and Thunder in the skills menu by right-clicking the skill icon in the skills menu.
Inherent skills like the Monk’s Ice Strike are the most effective at proccing Herald of Ice, which is needed to start the chain reaction, but there are other ways to do it as well. Some of these are:
- Passive skills that increase Freeze build-up with a weapon or glove that has flat cold damage.
-
Against the Darkness
Time-Lost Diamond Jewel with +Cold damage percentage.
How Do Herald Of Ice And Thunder Work Together in PoE 2
Herald of Ice triggers when an enemy is Shattered, which is an effect that occurs when you attack an enemy that is frozen, creating an AoE cold damage explosion. To prevent this from triggering a chain reaction on its own, the cold damage from Herald of Ice can never Freeze an enemy and, therefore, cannot shatter them.
Herald of Thunder, on the other hand, triggers when you kill an enemy that has the Shocked status effect, creating bolts of electricity that damage enemies when you hit an enemy. Like Herald of Ice, Herald of Thunder cannot inflict Shock itself; it can only be triggered by Shock inflicted by other sources of damage.
Now, Herald of Ice cannot Freeze, but it can Shock, and Herald of Thunder cannot Shock, but it can Freeze. This means we can use one to trigger the other with reliable success. The way to do it is by putting the Lightning Infusion Support Gem on Herald of Ice and the Cold Infusion Support Gem on Herald of Thunder. These Support Gems convert a portion of the damage of Herald of Ice into Lightning, which can Shock, and a portion of the damage of Herald of Thunder into Cold, which can Freeze.
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In optimal conditions, this means you can create chain reactions that continue indefinitely, with Herald of Ice proccing Herald of Thunder, which procs Herald of Ice again, and so on. In realistic scenarios, this mostly happens once, maybe twice, before the effect fizzles out. This is because to continue to perpetuate, you need a constant stream of monsters for the Heralds to leapfrog off of. This is also why Breaches are where the Double Herald setup shows the most value, due to the sheer number of enemies they can spawn.
To start this chain reaction, you will first need to proc Herald of Ice by Freezing, then shattering an enemy using a cold damage skill like the Monk’s Ice Strike. This will create an icy explosion near you, which will also Shock to create a chain reaction. The reason we opt to proc Herald of Ice first is because Freeze is vastly easier to inflict than Shock and because the lightning bolts from Herald of Thunder can travel farther to target enemies that are far away better than Herald of Ice.
