Best Level 3 Support Gems In Path Of Exile 2, Ranked

There are a lot of support gems in Path of Exile 2, and by the time players get to the end game and start seeing tier 3 support gems, they likely already have a whole host of slotted supports they like. If players want to work outside the limited suggested gems system, then by this point they have hundreds of support gem options.

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The third tier of support gems opens up 57 new options. With this level of choice, it can be difficult for players to know what the best options are to add to or replace support gems in their specific build. The following support gems are some of the best either for specific purposes or that work across multiple builds and skill types, from the third tier of support gems.

15

Deep Cuts

Bigger Bleeds

• Category: Strength
• Cost to slot: +5 Strength
• Effect: Skills have 75% more magnitude of bleeds inflicted, 25% less damage on hit

With a bleed-focused set of skills, Deep Cuts is a powerful tier 3 support gem. The gems effect means that the initial damage of the hit inflicting the bleed will be 25% lower, but the magnitude of the bleed inflicted will be 75% higher.

The initial damage of a hit determines the bleed strength, but the increased magnitude more than outweighs the lowered initial damage. For builds that can aggravate bleed, this can be an especially potent way to deal damage over time.

14

Supercritical

Critical Booster

• Category: Intelligence
• Cost to slot: +5 Intelligence
• Effect: Skills have a 100% more critical damage bonus, 20% less critical hit chance

Supercritical has a harsh trade-off for its large increase in critical damage. The 20% less critical hit chance means that some skills will have little chance of actually making use of the damage bonus. However, for skills that can deal with guaranteed critical hits like Snipe, the downside is negated and the damage bonus is incredibly powerful.

13

Rageforged

Enraged Power

• Category: Strength
• Cost to slot: +5 Strength
• Effect: Skills consume 10 Rage to deal 35% increased damage

Rageforged can consume Rage to increase the damage of supported skills significantly. The support gem requires a reliable way to generate rage to be used effectively, but for setups that have Rage-generating skills and support gems, this is a powerful reusable buff. The gem can support any damaging skill triggered by the player, so it can be used with a number of hard-hitting skill gems.

12

Deadly Poison

Powerful Poison Procs

• Category: Dexterity
• Cost to slot: +5 Dexterity
• Effect: Skills have a 75% increased magnitude of poisons inflicted, 25% less damage on hit

Like Deep Cuts for Bleed damage, Deadly Poison increases the magnitude of Poisons inflicted on enemies, at the cost of less damage on hit for the supported skill.

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The trade-off has the same math as Deep Cuts, so the increased magnitude is worth the lowered base damage if players are focusing poison damage over time on a particular skill. This is especially potent when players are able to stack poisons through other support gems and passives.

11

Chaotic Freeze

Cold Chaos

• Category: Intelligence
• Cost to slot: +5 Intelligence
• Effect: Skills that deal chaos damage over time help accumulate freeze buildup

The mechanics of Chaotic Freeze aren’t necessarily obvious on the surface. The gem makes chaos damage over time inflicted by the supported skill contribute to freeze buildup when the enemy is hit by other skills that inflict freeze buildup.

This makes it especially effective in minion builds that make use of the Skeletal Frost mages, as associated skills like Contagion can spread chaos damage over multiple enemies and make freezing groups of foes easier.

10

Mastery Gems

Skill Boosters For All Types

• Category: Intelligence
• Cost to slot: +5 Intelligence
• Effect: Supported skills gain +1 to level (Chaos / Cold / Fire / Lightning / Physical / Minion)

Currently, all the mastery gems are contained in the Intelligence support gem category, but there’s one for each type of elemental skill, as well as physical skills and minion skills. Each respective gem increases skills of a given type by one level.

So slotting Chaos mastery into a Chaos skill gives that skill an extra level, and so on. Each level of skill brings some pretty hefty bonuses in Path of Exile 2, so the respective gems are worth looking into for a player’s specific skill focus.

9

Tremors

Repeating Aftershocks

• Category: Strength
• Cost to slot: +5 Strength
• Effect: Skills have a chance to create up to three additional aftershocks, 35% less base damage

The strength support gem Tremors is an effective tier 3 support gem for skills that are intended to spread damage over a wide area to damage groups of lower-health enemies. The gem works with slam moves, so skills like Leap Slam and Sunder can be modified to deal lower damage, but repeat that damage up to 3 times. Combined with a larger area of effect and other melee support gems, Tremors makes these skills effective mob clearing tools for melee-focused builds.

8

Biting Frost

Freezing Cold

• Category: Intelligence
• Cost to slot: +5 Intelligence, 120% cost multiplier
• Effect: Skill consumes freeze on enemies to deal 50% more damage, skill cannot cause freeze

Biting Frost can be used to devastating effect by players who are focusing on Cold damage and freezing enemies. This support gem consumes the freeze effect on an enemy to give the supported skill a 50% damage boost. The use is self-explanatory; freeze an enemy, then use a big damage skill with this support gem to finish them off.

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7

Heft

Weighty Physical Hits

• Category: Strength
• Cost to slot: +5 Strength, 120% cost multiplier
• Effect: Skills have 30% more maximum physical damage

Skills have variable damage in Path of Exile 2. Players will quickly notice that both weapons and skill descriptions give damage ranges rather than flat damage numbers. What Heft does is increase the maximum physical damage a skill can deal, meaning the damage cap of the attack is increased rather than a flat damage buff. That doesn’t make it any less effective, and Heft is a great way to get more damage for physical builds.

6

Payload

Double Grenade Chance

• Category: Dexterity
• Cost to slot: +5 Dexterity
• Effect: Grenade skills have a 50% chance of activating twice, 70% increased cooldown

Mercenaries can make good use of Grenade skills in Path of Exile 2, and Payload is one of the more effective gems for boosting their overall damage. The gem gives Grenades a 50% chance of activating twice, meaning players can spread damage or crowd control effects over a wide area depending on the skill. It reduces the cooldown recovery rate by 70% though, so there is a trade-off.

5

Despoiler

Lasting Ground Effects

• Category: Strength
• Cost to slot: +5 Strength
• Effect: Skills have 50% more duration of ground effects created

Despoiler supports skills that create ground effects and increases the duration of those effects by 50%. It’s a powerful bonus for builds that rely on persistent ground effects for spreading damage over time, debuffs, or elemental ailments to enemies. That gives the support gem a wide variety of applications.

4

Enraged Warcry

Cry Of Rage

• Category: Strength
• Cost to slot: +5 Strength
• Effect: Warcry skills consume 10 Rage to empower attacks for 30% increased damage

Warcries can already grant powerful bonuses in their own right, but Enraged Warcry can boost that even further. This support gem consumes Rage to give attacks empowered by a Warcry an additional 30% damage. Like other Rage-based support gems, it requires a reliable source of Rage generation to use effectively, but it can be powerful nonetheless.

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3

Neural Overload

Electrocution

• Category: Dexterity
• Cost to slot: +5 Dexterity, 120% cost multiplier
• Effect: Skills cause Electrocution on primed enemies

Lightning-based builds in Path of Exile 2 can make use of the elemental ailment shock, as well as the Electrocution status. Shock buildup on enemies can prime enemies for Electrocution, and the support gem Neural Overload can provide a guaranteed way to proc Electrocution on enemies that are primed. Shock increases the damage taken by enemies, while Electrocution immobilizes them, so making use of both effects can be a strong combination.

2

Overcharge

Shock Magnitude

• Category: Dexterity
• Cost to slot: +5 Dexterity
• Effect: Skills have a 75% greater magnitude of shocks inflicted, and have 50% less shock duration

Overcharge can be very effective for increasing the damage of lightning-based builds. Supported skills get a 75% increased magnitude of shocks, but a 50% reduced shock duration. That means to be used effectively, players should have some investment in increased shock duration, so their effective damage window isn’t too heavily penalized. Magnitude of shocks increases the additional damage an enemy will take while shocked though, so it can be a strong bonus when stacked.

1

Nimble Reload

Crossbow Handling

• Category: Dexterity
• Cost to slot: +5 Dexterity
• Effect: Crossbow skills have a 60% increased reload speed

Nimble Reload seems like a fairly humble gem compared to some other tier 3 options. For crossbow users, though, this support gem is a must-have. It works with ammunition skills to give the player 60% faster reloads with the supported skill. There’s no downside, so it’s just a flat buff to consistent damage output for crossbow skills.

Systems

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Nudity, Violence