In Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2), you can boost your defense by equipping armor, acquiring unique boss drops and quest items, selecting the right passives, wearing charms, and upgrading your Life Flasks. Explore the different types of defense and learn how to improve them in our comprehensive guide!

How to Increase Defense

How to Increase Defense
Equip Higher-Tier Armor Obtain Unique Boss Drops And Quest Items Choose Defensive Passives Equip a Charm on Your Belt Equip a Shield Upgrade to Higher-Tier Life Flasks

Equip Higher-Tier Armor

Equipping higher-tier armor is one of the most straightforward ways to boost your defenses. Armor enhances various defensive stats, such as Life, Energy Shield, Armour, and Evasion, offering protection against a wide array of threats. Choosing the right armor for your build can significantly improve your survivability.

Obtain Unique Boss Drops And Quest Items

Unique boss drops or quest items also play a critical role in enhancing your defenses. These items often come with powerful modifiers that can bolster your ability to withstand damage. For instance, the Head of Winter Wolf, a drop from Beira of The Rotten Pack, grants a permanent +10% to Cold Resistance, providing valuable protection against Cold-based damage and giving you an edge in certain encounters.

Beira of the Rotten Pack Boss Guide

Choose Defensive Passives

Investing in Passive Skills is another effective way to strengthen your defenses. The passive skill tree offers options to increase maximum Life, improve Energy Shield Recharge rates, boost Resistances, and enhance damage mitigation. Tailoring your passive skill allocation to your build’s defensive needs is essential for surviving the challenges of Wraeclast.

Equip a Charm on Your Belt

Charms are a new feature in Path of Exile 2, replacing the potions from the first game. Charms are equipped on your belt, offering unique, conditional benefits. Each Charm holds a set number of charges that activate when certain conditions are met, such as a Charm with Lightning Resistance triggering when you're hit by Lightning Damage. You can refill these charges by visiting Wells or by defeating enemies.

Equip a Shield

Equipping a Shield provides additional protection by increasing your Block Chance, allowing you to negate incoming strikes and projectiles. Shields can also offer added bonuses such as increased Energy Shield or Resistances, further boosting your defenses. Make sure to choose a shield that complements your build and enhances your ability to survive in tough battles.

Upgrade to Higher-Tier Life Flasks

Lastly, upgrading to greater Life Flasks ensures you can recover Life more effectively during combat. A well-timed flask use can make all the difference, allowing you to endure prolonged battles and avoid death at critical moments.

How to Refill Flasks

Types of Defense

All Types of Defense

Defense	What It Does
Life	・The foundation of your survival. ・Life is lost whenever you take damage of any kind. ・If your Life hits 0, you die—simple as that. Remember that you can lose items when you die.
Energy Shield	・Acts as a buffer, absorbing damage before it affects your Life. ・Absorbs damage first but does not protect against Bleeding or Poison, which bypass it directly. ・Chaos Damage is extra tricky, dealing double damage to your Energy Shield. ・Recharges at 12.5% per second after a 4-second delay without taking damage. Further damage resets this delay, interrupting the recharge process.
Armour Mitigation	・Reduces Physical Damage taken from Attacks and Spells. ・Effectiveness scales with the damage taken, but reductions max out at 90%. ・Offers no defense against other damage types (e.g., Chaos, Elemental).
Block Chance	・Provides a chance to block incoming strikes and projectiles, negating all damage from those attacks. ・Absorbs damage first but does not protect against Bleeding or Poison, which bypass it directly.
Evasion	・Provides a chance to dodge enemy attacks and projectiles. ・Some attacks from larger and more dangerous enemies cannot be blocked.
Resistances	・Reduce damage taken from specific types: Fire, Cold, Lightning, or Chaos. ・Fire, Cold, and Lightning Resistances are collectively called Elemental Resistances. ・Each resistance has a maximum limit, which caps how much damage reduction it can provide. ・Player Resistances decrease as you progress through the game, increasing the challenge. It's always a good idea to max your resistances with Equipment, Passive Skills, and certain Quest Rewards to stay protected.

Path of Exile 2 Related Guides

Beginner's Guide

Gameplay Mechanics

Game and Character Progression

Gear and Crafting

Stats and Skills Guides

Settings and Multiplayer