Players can stun bosses and enemies in Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) to immobilize them momentarily. See what stunning is, the mechanics of stunning, how to stun enemies, what skills and gems that have the Stun tag, the affixes, Uniques, and what Stun is!

What is Stun?

Status Ailment That Imobilizes

Stun refers to a status ailment which immobilizes and interupts enemies or players very briefly. It has a chance to proc on hits and attacks, with higher damage increasing the chances.

Stun In-Game Description

Hits against any target have a chance to Stun them, with a stun being more likely the more damage was dealt. Stunning a target interruptes their current action and prevents them from taking another action for a short time.
Physical damage, and player (but not monster) Melee Damage, are each 50% more likely to Stun targets. For players, these bonuses are multiplicative with each other.
All Hits that could potentially influct a Stun also cause Heavy Stun buildup.

How to Stun Bosses and Enemies

Fill-up the Stun Meter to Heavy Stun

Players must buildup and fill the enemy's stun bar to stun or stagger bosses or enemies. Once they do, the enemy becomes momentarily immobilized, allowing players to deal damage or defeat them.

Hit Enemies to Stun Them by Chance

Only applicable to normal map monsters, there is a chance for enemies to be stunned or staggered shortly upon getting hit. Players should note that bosses generally cannot be stunned in this manner and can only be stunned by filling up their Stagger bar.

Stun Mechanics Explained

Stun Mechanics
Stun Meter Stun Build-Up Depends on Damage Dealt Stun vs. Heavy Stun Primed for Stun Increasing and Modifying Stun Stun Threshold

Stun Meter

Every enemy and monster in the game has a Stun Meter located below their Health Bar. When players hit enemies, this meter fills up, with the yellow line indicating their current stun buildup. Enemies will be heavy stunned and immobilized briefly when this meter is filled.

Players should note that enemy stun buildup will begin depleting if they do not attack the enemy for approximately eight seconds.

Stun Meter Cooldown

After enemies get heavy stunned, the Stun Meter will start to deplete. The time it takes for the meter to fully deplete shows how long the enemies are stunned or staggered (i.e., Stun Duration).

Additionally, once the enemy is heavy stunned, their stun resistance greatly increases, and the stun buildup indicator turns orange. This state lasts approximately eight seconds and does not end when the enemy's immobilized period is over.

Stun Build-Up Depends on Damage Dealt

At its core, the amount of stun buildup depends on the damage dealt by an attack, meaning the higher the attack damage a player has, the faster they can fill an enemy's stagger bar.

More Stun Build Up With Physical and Melee Damage

While every attack can fill up an enemy's Stagger Bar, Physical and Melee attacks or damage increase stun buildup 50% more, making classes like the Warrior or Monk more suitable for stun or stagger mechanics.

List of Classes and Ascendancies

Stun vs. Heavy Stun

	Stun	Heavy Stun
Duration	Shorter	Longer
Trigger	Random Chance on Hit	Stagger Bar is Filled Up

While similar, there is a difference between a Stun and a Heavy Stun. Stuns or Staggers last very briefly and have a chance to occur when players hit or attack the enemy. The chances for random staggers depend on the damage of the attack, with higher damage increasing the chances.

Meanwhile, Heavy Stuns last longer than a normal stagger and only occur when an enemy's Stun Meter fills up. The table above summarizes the differences between the two.

Primed for Stun

Enemy Type	Threshold
Normal	40%
Magic	60%
Rare	70%
Unique	80%

Primed for Stun is a unique mechanic that only activates with skills like Staggering Palm and Boneshatter. When enemies are primed for stun, indicated by a white orb on their head, players can immediately heavy stun them with the mentioned skills.

Different enemies get primed for stun at different stun buildups or stagger levels. Listed in the table above are the thresholds per enemy type.

Increasing Stun Build-up and Modifiying Stun Effects

Players can improve their ability to stun enemies and modify stun effects using passive skills, equipment and gems. They can also utilize temporary status ailments like Daze to do so.

Passive Skills, Equipment, and Gems

Players can increase their stun buildup and modify stun effects through Skills, Equipment, and Gems. For example, passive skills like Breaking Blows and Honourless increase stun buildup and melee damage against heavy stunned enemies.

For Equipment, martial weapons like maces can have modifiers that increase stun buildup and duration. Lastly, Support gems like Overpower or Ruthless increase stun buildup under certain conditions.

Daze Effect

In the game, players can inflict a status called Daze, which increases the player's stun buildup by 50% against enemies that have it. As of Early Access, only the Dazing Cry, Break Posture, and Discombobulate support gems grant players the ability to Daze enemies.

Ailment Explained

Stun Threshold

Players and enemies have a Stun Threshold stat. For players, this dictates the amount of damage they can take within a brief period before getting stunned. Meanwhile, for enemies, this dictates the amount of damage it takes to fill up their Stun Meter.

Enemies Have Different Stun Thresholds and Duration

Players will notice that different enemies will have different Stun Thresholds and Durations. Generally, the higher the monster rarity, the higher their stun threshold and duration. As such, bosses are typically more difficult to stun but are staggered for longer, unlike normal map monsters.

Stun Uniques

Unique Gear with Stun

We're still checking out the Uniques that has this tag!

List of Unique Equipment

Stun Affixes

All Affixes with Stun

We're still checking out the affixes. Please come back for more updates!

Stun Skills

Stun in Ascendancy Skills

We're still checking out this skill tag. Please come back for more updates!

List of Ascendancy Skills

Stun in Passives

We're still checking out this skill tag. Please come back for more updates!

Passive Skill Tree Guide and List of Passives

Stun Gems

All Stun Skill Gems

Gem	Effects
Flash Grenade	・400% more Stun Buildup ・Explosion radius is 2.5 meters ・Fuse duration is 0.85 seconds ・Blinds enemies and allies
Rolling Slam	Rolling Slam: ・1.5 seconds to Total Attack Time ・While Dual Wielding, both weapons hit with 30% less damage First Slam: ・Attack Damage: 88% ・50% more Stun buildup ・Impact radius is 1.4 metres ・Causes Daze buildup equal to 0-50% of Physical Damage dealt (from Quality) Second Slam: ・Attack Damage: 176% ・Impact radius is 1.8 metres ・Causes Daze buildup equal to 0-50% of Physical Damage dealt (from Quality)
Seismic Cry	・Deals 50-75 Physical Damage ・20% increased Warcry Speed ・200% increased Knockback distancel400% more Stun Buildup ・Knockback enemies on hit ・Hits ignore enemy Physical Damage Reduction ・Empowers the next Melee Slam Attack ・Additional Attack per Endurance Charge consumed ・Warcry radius is 4M
Skeletal Brute	None
Staggering Palm	Staggering Palm: ・10 to 16 added Attack Physical Damage ・Can't be Evaded ・+7% to Critical Hit chance ・Buff Duration is 6s Projectile (Quarterstaff): ・Projectiles Pierce all targets Projectile (Unarmed): ・Projectiles pierce all targets ・10 to 16 added Physical damage ・+7% to Critical Hit chance
Vaulting Impact	・1 Second to total Attack Time ・30% more Stun Buildup ・Consume Daze on Enemies to Cause 300% more Stun Buildup ・Impact Radius is 2.4 Metres

List of Skill Gems

All Stun Support Gems

Gem	Effects
Auto Reload	・Supported skills reload automatically on Heavy Stunning an enemy
Devastate	・Supported skills fully break Armour when inflicting a Heavy Stun
Impact Shockwave	・Supported skills create an Aftershock when they Heavy Stun an enemy, dealing the same damage to enemies within 1.4 metres
Overpower	・Hits with Supported Skills cause 50% more Stun Buildup.
Pin	・Supported skills do not cause stun build up ・Physical damage from supported skill is pinning
Rupture	・Supported skills aggravate bleeding on hitting heavy stunned enemies
Ruthless	・Every Fifth use of Supported Attacks causes 500% more Stun Buildup.
Unbreakable	・200% more Stun threshold while using supported skills
Wind Wave	Support: ・Trigger Wind Wave when Stunned while using supported skills Wind Wave: ・knocks back enemies ・Knock enemies back on hit

List of Support Gems

All Stun Spirit Gems

Gem	Effects
Boneshatter	・+2 Melee strike range ・While Dual Wielding, both weapons hit with 30% less damage ・Cannot cause Stun Buildup
Dread Banner	・10% more Aura per Valour ・Banner Aura radius is 4 meters ・Banner duration is 6.65s, or until you leave the Aura ・Aura grants 0.17 Flask charges per second ・Aura grants 14% more Stun Threshold and Elemental Ailment Threshold
Overwhelming Presence	・Enemies in your presence have 18% reduced Elemental Ailment threshold ・Enemies in your presence have 19% reduced Stun threshold

List of Spirit Gems

Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) Related Guides

Glossary and Basic Game Mechanics

All Glossary Guides

Adding to Stat Totals	Aftershocks	Ailment
Ammunition	Ancestral Boost	AoE
Arcane Surge	Armour Break	Attack
Aura	Blind	Block
Buff	Chaining	Channelling
Chaos	Chill	Chilled Ground
Cold	Combo	Concentration
Corpses	Covered in Oil	Critical Damage Bonus
Critical Hits	Crossbow Ammunition Skills	Crushing Blows
Culling Strike	Curse	Damage Conversion
Damage Gained as Extra X	Daze	Debuff
Decimating Strike	Detonator	Dexterity
Dual Wielding	Duration	Effect Consumption
Empowered Skills	Energy Shield	Evasion
Exposure	Fire	Flame of Chayula
Freeze	Grenade	Heavy Stun
Herald	Hit Damage	Ignite
Ignited Ground	Intelligence	Jagged Ground
Knockback	Life Leech	Lightning
Magic Find	Magnitude	Mark
Melee	Meta	Minion
Minion Commands	Nova	Orb
Payoff	Persistent	Physical
Pierce	Pinned	Poison
Primed for Stun	Projectile	Resistance
Reviving Minions	Shield	Shock
Shocked Ground	Slam	Spell
Spirit	Strength	Strike
Stun	Sustained	Tailwind
Totem	Travel	Trigger
Warcry