Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) continues to captivate players with its deep and complex gameplay mechanics, offering countless ways to customize your character and optimize damage output. One of POE2 Currency the standout passive skills in this system is Storm Charge, a skill that synergizes critical hits and elemental damage in a powerful way.
In this article, we’ll break down how Storm Charge functions, why it’s valuable, and how you can apply it to your character via the passive skill tree or by infusing it onto an amulet. Whether you’re a returning PoE player or new to the sequel, understanding Storm Charge can enhance your build and improve your damage potential.
Storm Charge is a passive skill available in Path of Exile 2 that provides two distinct but complementary bonuses:
20% increased critical chance
40% increased elemental damage if you have dealt a critical hit recently
This dual effect offers both a boost to your chance to land critical hits and a conditional elemental damage multiplier that activates after you score a critical strike.
How Storm Charge Works: The Mechanics Explained
The core concept behind Storm Charge is elegantly simple yet highly effective for elemental-based builds:
The first part of Storm Charge is a flat 20% increased critical chance that is always active when you have the skill. This bonus directly improves your likelihood of landing critical hits with attacks or spells, which is essential for many builds focused on burst damage.
The second, and more unique, part of Storm Charge is the 40% increased elemental damage buff that triggers when you deal a critical hit on an enemy. This buff lasts for the next 4 seconds — which is what the game means when it says “recently.” Any elemental damage you deal during those 4 seconds will benefit from this 40% increase.
This elemental damage boost applies broadly to all elemental damage, not just the damage dealt by the critical hit that triggered it. For example, if you deal a critical hit with a lightning spell, then your subsequent fire, cold, or lightning damage (even if it’s not critical) will get the 40% boost for the next 4 seconds.
In Path of Exile 2, many elemental skills or spells do not naturally deal critical hits or have a very low critical strike chance. Storm Charge helps bridge this gap by allowing your build to benefit from critical hits landed by other sources. So even if your main damage skill doesn’t crit often, you can trigger the elemental damage boost by landing critical hits with a secondary skill, weapon attack, or other means.
This design enables hybrid builds that combine critical hit triggers with steady elemental damage output. For instance, you might have a build where a fast-hitting skill has high crit chance to maintain the Storm Charge buff, while your primary damage comes from elemental spells that rarely crit but get amplified by the buff.
There are two primary ways to acquire Storm Charge:
By investing passive skill points in the passive skill tree
This method involves spending points allocated on the skill tree during character leveling or respec.
By infusing the Storm Charge passive onto an amulet
This method uses the game’s infusion crafting system to add Storm Charge to your gear, giving flexibility if you want to keep your passive points elsewhere.
How to Anoint (Infuse) Storm Charge onto an Amulet
For players who want to gain Storm Charge benefits without spending points on the passive tree, you can infuse the passive skill onto an amulet. Here’s how:
Required Materials: Distilled Emotions
To infuse Storm Charge, you’ll need three special crafting items called Distilled Emotions, which must be used in the correct order:
Distilled Fear
Distilled Terror
Distilled Envy
These Distilled Emotions are obtained as random drops from Delirium enemies found in the Ultimate Delirium map. Be aware that monsters in maps accessed via an Infused Waystone will not drop these items, so make sure to farm in appropriate areas.
If farming these directly seems challenging, you can also acquire a currency called Distilled Mood by talking to Alva at the Currency Exchange in your Hideout. Distilled Mood can be traded for the specific Distilled Emotions needed for the infusion.
Step-by-Step Guide to Infusing Storm Charge
Gather Your Materials
Collect the required Distilled Emotions — Distilled Fear, Distilled Terror, and Distilled Envy — and select the amulet you want to infuse.
Open the Infuse Window
Right-click any Distilled Mood item in your inventory. This will open the infusion interface.
Place the Amulet
Put your chosen amulet into the top slot of the infusion window.
Insert Distilled Emotions in the Correct Order
Place the Distilled Emotions in the row below the amulet, in this precise sequence:
First slot: Distilled Fear
Second slot: Distilled Terror
Third slot: Distilled Envy
Check for Confirmation
If the order and items are correct, the bottom text box will say “Storm Charge.”
Complete the Infusion
Click the Infuse button to finalize the process and bind the Storm Charge passive to your amulet.
Equip the Amulet
Whenever you equip this infused amulet, you will gain the Storm Charge passive skill’s benefits.
Tips for Maximizing Storm Charge’s Effectiveness
Keep Your Critical Hits Consistent
Since the 40% elemental damage buff lasts only 4 seconds after a critical hit, try to maintain a steady stream of critical strikes to keep the buff active as much as possible.
Use Skills or Attacks with High Crit Chance
Even if your primary damage skill has a low crit chance, a secondary skill with frequent critical hits can sustain the Storm Charge buff.
Stack Elemental Damage Modifiers
Combine Storm Charge with other elemental damage boosts for explosive damage potential.
Consider Infusing Storm Charge If Passive Points Are Limited
If your passive tree is already heavily invested, using an infused amulet allows you to gain Storm Charge without sacrificing other passives.
Storm Charge is a versatile and powerful passive skill in Path of Exile 2 that enhances your elemental damage and critical hit chance simultaneously. Its unique mechanic of temporarily boosting elemental damage after landing a critical hit allows for exciting hybrid builds that make the most of both crits and elemental damage sources.
Whether you pick it up by allocating passive skill points or infuse it onto an amulet with the required Distilled Emotions, Storm Charge can dramatically increase your damage output and bring a new dynamic to your gameplay.
Understanding and leveraging Storm Charge can help you build a more efficient, high-damage character ready to take on the challenges of POE 2 Currency for sale Wraeclast and beyond.
