Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2)

Glossary and Basic Game Mechanics

Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) Walkthrough Team

Last updated on: September 23, 2025 05:34 AM

POE 2 - Glossary and Basic Game Mechanics

Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) features many in-game terms and acronyms that can get confusing to players new to the game. Check out our guide for the terminologies and tags used in the game.

List of Contents

Path of Exile Terms
Other Common ARPG Terms
Related Guides

Path of Exile 2 Terms

Path of Exile 2 Terms
Stats	Skill Tags

Stat Terms

Term	Definition
Armour	Determined by Strength, it acts as your additional defenses against physical hits..
Dexterity	A character's attribute that determines their Evasion and expertise in range-aligned weapons and skills.
Energy Shield	Determined by Intelligence, it acts as additional health displayed as a blue light in your health orb.
Evasion	Determined by Dexterity, it is the measure of the likelihood of dodging an attack.
Intelligence	A character's attribute that determines the strength of their Energy Shield and magic-based weapons and skills
Spirit	Acts similar to Mana, it is a resource that allows you to maintain buffs, aura effects, and minion summons.
Strength	A character's attribute that determines the physical power of their melee attacks, Defense, and Armour.

Skill Tag Terms

Term	Definition
Adding to Stat Totals	Adding to the Total value of a stat occurs after all other calculations have been performed.
Aftershocks	Aftershocks are bursts of area damage that occur after the initial impact of the skill causing them
Ailment	An effect as a result of taking damage that is usually elemental in nature.
Ammunition	Refers to the number of shots that your ranged weapon can cast before needing to reload.
Ancestral Boost	An Ancestral Boost Skill has 20% more damage and area of effect.
AoE	Abbreviation for “Area of Effect”, this refers to inflicting damage, a buff, or debuff over a general area affecting multiple targets.
Arcane Surge	Arcane Surge grants 10% more Cast Speed and 20% more Mana Regeneration Rate.
Armour Break	Some Skills, Items, Support Gems and other effects can Break Armour which lowers a target's Armour by a specified amount. When it reaches 0, Armor is fully broken for 12 seconds.
Attack	Attacks are skills that directly use your equipped weapon to damage enemies.
Attributes	The three primary attributes are Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. They’re mainly needed for Equipment and Gem requirements, and each grants a unique bonus.
Aura	Auras apply Buffs to Allies within a radius, or Debuffs to enemies within a radius of the source of the Aura.
Banner
Barrageable
Blind	Being Blinded causes 20% less Accuracy Rating and Evasion Rating, and lasts for 4 seconds unless otherwise specified.
Block	Blocking completely prevents the damage of an incoming Strike or Projectile.
Buff	Buffs are effects that boost a player or monster's stats for a duration or while a condition is met.
Chaining	Linking and redirecting effects to another target after hitting an enemy.
Channelling	Skills that can gain power over prolonged use.
Chaos	One of the five damage types, removes twice as much energy shield as the damage value when taken.
Charges	Charges (Endurance, Frenzy, Power) are temporary stacks that last 15s and refresh on gain. They give no inherent benefit but are consumed to fuel skills; players can have up to 3 of each by default.
Chill	An effect of Cold Damage, it slows down a unit and reduces overall movement speed.
Chilled Ground	Chilled Ground inflicts Chill upon those standing in it, and lasts 6 seconds by default.
Cold	One of the five damage types, applies Chill and build up Freeze damage over time.
Combo	Built by successfully Striking Enemies; count will fall off after a short duration of not building or sustaining further.
Concentration	Enemies have a less Cooldown Recovery Rate the lower their Concentration, scaling down to 50% less Cooldown Recovery Rate when Concentration is 0%.
Cooldown Recovery Rate	Cooldown Recovery Rate speeds up Skill cooldowns. At 100% increase, cooldowns are halved.
Corpses	Corpses are left behind by slain Enemies and can be used or consumed by a number of different Skills or effects.
Covered in Oil	Enemies covered in Oil have their movement speed Slowed are inflicted with Fire Exposure and have 200% more chance to be Ignited.
Critical Damage Bonus	Multiplies the damage dealt by Critical Hits.
Critical Hits	Critical Hits deal +100% extra damage (i.e. twice as much damage) by default.
Crossbow Ammunition Skills	Using a Crossbow Ammunition Skill replaces your Crossbow's basic attack with the skill indicated.
Crushing Blows	Crushing Blows cause a Heavy Stun on enemies that are Primed for Stun.
Culling Strike	Culling Strike kills enemies if their life is at or below a certain threshold which are checked before the damage of the Hilt is applied.
Curse	Curses significantly debuff affected targets.
Damage Conversion	Damage can be converted from one type to another.
Damage Gained as Extra	Damage gained as a specific damage type only scales with modifiers to the new type, not with modifiers to the source damage's type (unless they're the same type).
Daze	Daze builds up on a target, and becomes Dazed when the build up reaches 100%. Dazed enemies take 50% more Stun Buildup.
Debuff	Debuffs are negative effects that deal damage or penalize an entity's stats, either for a set duration or when a condition is met.
Decimating Strike	Hits against Full Life Enemies remove between 5% and 30% of Life, before the damage of the Hit is applied.
Detonator	Skills that can cause flammable gas, oil, and similar effects to explode on contact.
Dual Wielding	Dual Wielding refers to using two Martial Weapons, one in each hand.
Duration	Refers to how long an effect lasts.
Effect Consumption	Consuming a Debuff on an enemy causes that enemy to be immune to that Debuff for 1 second.
Empowered Skills	Empowered Skills do not have any inherent bonuses, but a number of stats and modifiers specifically apply to Empowered Skills.
Exposure	Exposure is a type of Debuff that lowers the affected enemy's Resistance to the corresponding damage type.
Fire	One of the five damage types, applies Ignite and deals Fire damage over time.
Flame of Chayula	Red Flames leech 7% of maximum Life. Blue Flames leech 7% of maximum Mana. Purple Flames grants a buff of 7% of damage as Chaos damage for 5 seconds.
Flammability	Flammability is a debuff that increases the chance for Hits to Ignite based on Fire damage dealt. It stacks up to 100%, lasts 8s by default, and is boosted by Ailment chance modifiers.
Freeze	Freeze is an Ailment caused by Cold Damagerendering targets to be unable to move or act, and lasts 4 seconds by default.
Glory	Glory is a resource spent on powerful Skills. Each Skill generates and tracks its own Glory from enemy actions, with limits on how often it’s gained. Glory decays if unused, and can’t be gained while that Skill is active (except Banners).
Grenade	Explosive weapon with cooldowns and fuse countdowns, usable only when weilding a Crossbow.
Guard	All damage taken from Hits is taken from this buff before your Life or Energy Shield
Heavy Stun	Hitting an enemy builds towards a Heavy Stun based on the damage dealt.
Herald	Persistent Buffs that apply to yourself to deal additional damage, often resulting from killing enemies.
Hit Damage	Any damage that isn't damageover time is Hit damage.
Ignite	Ignite is an Ailment that deals Fire damage over time, and lasts for 4 seconds by default.
Ignited Ground	Ignited Ground inflicts Ignite upon enemies as long as they are standing on it.
Immobilisation	A target is immobilised when it cannot move, such as from Freeze, Pin, Heavy Stun, or Electrocute.
Invocation
Iron Grip	1% Increased Projectile Attack damage per 2 strength.
Iron Will	1% Increased Spell Damage per 2 Strength
Jagged Ground	Jagged Ground slows the movement speed of enemies in its area by 20%.
Knockback	Knockback pushes Enemies away when Hit.
Life Leech	An attack that also heals you as you deal damage to enemies.
Life Recharge	Lost Life will start Recharging at a rate of 12.5% per second after a base delay of 4 seconds.
Lightning	One of the five damage types, applies a buildup of Shock damage over time.
Lineage
Magnitude	The Magnitudes of a Buff or Debuff are the values of the stats it applies to the target.
Mark	Marks are a family of debuffs that apply powerful effects to a single enemy, usually for a limited duration.
Melee	A physical attack dealt by a weapon or a skill at close range.
Meta	Meta Gems are skill gems that can use, trigger, or otherwise apply the effects of other skill gems.
Minion	Minions are summoned Allies which will accompany and fight alongside you.
Minion Commands	Some Minions can be Commanded to perform certain actions.
Nova	An area of effect that circles around the user upon activation.
Onslaught	Onslaught grants 20% increased Skill Speed and 10% increased movement speed.
Orb	Orb Skills create lasting effects at a location which damage enemies in an area around them.
Payoff	Payoff refers to extra effects when hitting enemies inflicted with a certain debuff, often consuming the debuff itself.
Persistent	Persistent skills are toggled in the skills panel instead of being used normally, often needing Spirit to be activated.
Physical	One of the five damage types, reduces a target's armor stat.
Pierce	Projectiles that Pierce can pass through a target while still damaging them.
Pinned	Certain skills and effects allow damage to build up Pinned. Once condition is met, your target is immobilized for a duration.
Poison	Poison is an Ailment that deals Chaos damage over time bypassing Energy Shield and lasts 2 seconds by default.
Presence	Presence is a 4 m radius around your character where Auras and similar effects apply. Only Presence Area modifiers change its size.
Primed for Stun	Enemies are Primed for Stun when they have sustained a certain amount of Heavy Stun buildup.
Projectile	Any moving attack or spell casted from a distance intended to cause damage.
Resistance	Resistances reduce damage taken of the corresponding damage type up to a Maximum.
Reviving Minions	Reviving Minions heal after avoding damage for a short time, and automatically revive after a short delay when killed.
Shield	Shields are armour items that are equipped in your off hand. While holding a Shield you have a chance to passively Block.
Shock	Shock is an Ailment that caused by Lightning damage rendering targets to take 20% increased damage, and lasts 4 seconds by default.
Shocked Ground	Shocked Ground inflicts Shock upon those standing in it, and lasts 6 seconds by default.
Slam	Any melee attack that does not directly hit with weapons or body parts, instead causes an area of effect.
Slow	Slows are debuffs that make actions take longer, applying to specific stats or all actions.
Spell	Spells are skills that use raw magic to destroy your enemies.
Spreading Ailments	Spreading an ailment applies the same ailment to another target, which can spread further but not back to the same target twice.
Strike	Any melee attack that directly hits using a weapon or body part.
Stun	Hits against any target have a chance to Stun them, with a stun being more likely the more damage was dealt.
Support
Sustained	Skills that cause more damage over time, often over successive hits.
Tailwind	Tailwind is a stacking Buff which grants increased movement, Skill speed, and Evasion Rating for 10 seconds.
Totem	Totems are allied constructs that use skills for you. Unlike minions though, Totems' skills benefit from your stats.
Travel	Travel skills cover a large amount of distance and don't need to target an enemy.
Trigger	Abilities that automatically activate upon meeting specific conditions.
Unholy Might	Unholy Might is a Buff that grants 30% of all damage as extra Chaos Damage.
Volatility	Volatility explodes after 4s, dealing 100 Physical per stack and granting 1% Chaos Damage per stack for 10s.
Warcry	Warcries are skills which count enemy Power within their area and Empower your subsequent Melee Attacks.

Other Common ARPG Terms

Commonly Used ARPG Terms

Term	Definition
Magic Find	Refers to the stat that increases the rarity of items found. Lots of builds are centered around Magic Find so players have a higher chance in getting Uniques and rare currency items.
DPS	Damage per second. This term is often used as a measurement of how much damage a class, weapon, or skill can unleash over one second.
AoE	Area of effect. This term usually refers to a Skill or effect that covers a large area instead of a single target.
DoT	Damage over time. This term usually refers to Skills or effects like Poison or Bleeding, which slowly tick down a target's health over time.
CD	The acronym for cooldown. This term refers to the time it takes before you can recast a particular Skill or ability after recently using it.
Buff	A positive gameplay effect, such as increased Attack Speed or enhanced Lightning Resistance.
Debuff	A negative gameplay effect, such as lowered Movement Speed or Armor Reduction.
Critical Hit	An attack that deals massively increased bonus damage based on a character or Skill's Critical Hit Chance.
Crowd Control (CC)	A type of effect which allows players to kill or disrupt multiple enemies at once. Typical Crowd Control effects include Slow, Chill, Stun, and Fear.
Proc	This term refers to the likelihood of an attack or Skill activating the chance or trigger-based effect from an item or another Skill.

Path of Exile 2 Related Guides

PoE 2 Wiki Partial

Path of Exile 2 Guides

Path of Exile 2 Wiki Contents
Builds	Classes
Tips and Tricks	Bosses
Walkthrough	Quests
Gems	Items
Weapons	Armors
Accessories	Passives
Skills	Ascension Trials
Glossary	Atlas of Worlds
Leagues	Characters
Cosmetics	Microtransactions
Spectres	Uniques
News and Updates	-

## List of Recommended Guides

How to Prepare for Dawn of the Hunt	Best Stash Tabs to Buy
Best Class Tier List	Best Stash Tabs to Buy
Which Class Should You Play?	Easiest Class to Play
Twilight Order Reliquary Guide and Sharing Board	How to Use Loot Filters
Diablo 4 Player's Guide to PoE 2	Best Minions to Summon
Best Ways to Farm Currency	Best Unique Equipment
Best Charms to Use	Best Spectres
Best Companions	List of Spectres
All Spirit Quests and Bosses	-

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Glossary and Basic Game Mechanics

Path of Exile 2 Terms

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Other Common ARPG Terms

Commonly Used ARPG Terms

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