PoE 2 Fragmentation Rounds
It is a Skill Gem.
Ammunition
Attack, AoE, Projectile, Physical
Tier: 1 (Mercenary)
Level: 5
Cost: 7 Mana
Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex
Requires: Crossbow
Load your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that fire in a burst. Bolts that hit a Frozen enemy or Ice Crystal consume the Freeze or shatter the Crystal and cause an explsion of shrapnel.
- Attack Damage: 50%
- Consumes Freeze on enemies to deal 300% more Damage
- Multiple Bolts from one burst can hit the same target
- Bolts Pierce 2 Targets
- Fires 10 Bolts per Burst
Skills can be managed in the Skills Panel.
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Fragmentation Rounds is an Ammunition-based skill gem in Path of Exile 2, designed for Mercenary builds focusing on crossbows. This skill enables players to load their crossbows with powerful piercing bolts that explode on impact, dealing significant damage and causing shrapnel explosions. Notably, it interacts with Frozen enemies or Ice Crystals, consuming these effects to trigger devastating secondary explosions.
Key Details of Fragmentation Rounds
- Gem Type: Skill Gem
- Skill Type: Ammunition, Attack, AoE, Projectile, Physical
- Tier: 1 (Mercenary)
- Level Requirement: 5
- Cost: 7 Mana
- Requires Attributes: Level 14, 20 Strength, 20 Dexterity
- Required Weapon: Crossbow
- Effect: Fires a burst of piercing bolts that hit enemies and explode upon contact with Frozen targets or Ice Crystals, dealing increased damage.
How Fragmentation Rounds Works
Fragmentation Rounds is an Ammunition skill that fires piercing bolts in a burst. The projectiles are designed to pierce through multiple enemies, and they can hit up to two targets per bolt, making it an efficient skill for clearing crowds of enemies. Here’s a breakdown of the skill’s mechanics:
1. Burst of Piercing Bolts:
- When activated, Fragmentation Rounds fires a burst of 10 bolts, each dealing 50% of your base attack damage.
- These bolts can pierce through up to 2 targets, allowing you to hit multiple enemies in a single burst.
- Each burst has the potential to deal multiple hits to the same target, maximizing the damage output against high-priority enemies.
2. Interaction with Frozen Enemies:
- Fragmentation Rounds has a unique synergy with Frozen enemies or Ice Crystals. Bolts that hit Frozen enemies or Ice Crystals will consume the Freeze effect or shatter the Crystal, triggering an explosive burst of shrapnel.
- This additional explosion causes a secondary AoE damage effect, allowing you to deal devastating explosive damage to nearby enemies after your bolt hits the target.
- This explosive shrapnel can deal up to 300% more damage compared to the base bolt damage, significantly increasing the potential damage of each shot.
3. Piercing and Multi-target Hits:
- Fragmentation Rounds bolts pierce 2 targets, meaning that if the first target is hit, the remaining part of the bolt can continue to strike a second enemy. This makes it very effective against dense groups of enemies where multiple targets can be hit with a single burst of projectiles.
- The skill fires 10 bolts per burst, and each of these bolts can pierce through multiple enemies, ensuring that even large groups of mobs can be cleared efficiently with high damage output.
Synergies with Other Skills and Builds
Fragmentation Rounds is designed to fit well into Mercenary builds that focus on crossbows and projectile damage. This skill has strong synergy with Cold Damage, Freeze effects, and AoE damage builds. Here are some potential synergies:
1. Cold Damage and Freeze Builds:
- The skill works particularly well with Cold Damage and Freeze effects. If you have skills or items that inflict Freeze on enemies (like Frostbite, Frost Wall, or Cold Snap), the Fragmentation Rounds bolts will explode with enhanced damage when hitting those Frozen targets.
- You can further enhance the effect of Fragmentation Rounds by increasing your Freeze duration or Cold Damage modifiers to ensure that the enemies stay Frozen longer, increasing your chances to trigger the explosive burst.
2. AoE Damage Builds:
- The burst nature of Fragmentation Rounds is perfect for AoE (Area of Effect) builds. By enhancing the skill’s AoE modifiers, you can increase the coverage of the explosive damage, allowing you to clear mobs more efficiently.
- Skills that increase projectile damage and AoE (such as Greater Multiple Projectiles or Pierce Support) can further boost the number of enemies hit by each bolt, maximizing the skill’s crowd control potential.
3. Crossbow and Projectile Focused Builds:
- Fragmentation Rounds requires a Crossbow to use, so it fits naturally into builds that specialize in crossbow attacks or projectile-based damage. You can focus on boosting Crossbow damage through passive nodes, gear, or supports.
- If your build emphasizes Piercing Projectiles, Fragmentation Rounds will work excellently with additional Piercing or Projectile Speed bonuses to allow each bolt to travel farther and pierce through more enemies.
4. Explosive and Shrapnel Synergy:
- Explosive damage scaling items or supports (like Elemental Explosions or Blast Damage) can augment the shrapnel explosions triggered by Frozen targets or Ice Crystals. These synergies will increase the secondary explosive damage that occurs after your bolt impacts and consumes a Freeze or shatters an Ice Crystal.
Pros and Cons of Fragmentation Rounds
Pros:
- High AoE Damage: The skill fires 10 bolts per burst, which can hit multiple targets, dealing substantial damage across large groups of enemies.
- Synergy with Freeze Effects: The shrapnel explosion triggered by Frozen enemies or Ice Crystals adds a powerful secondary damage effect, dramatically boosting your overall damage.
- Piercing Bolts: The bolts pierce 2 targets per shot, allowing you to hit multiple enemies with a single bolt, ensuring maximum efficiency in crowd control.
- Increased Damage on Freeze: Consuming Frozen enemies or Ice Crystals provides a 300% damage boost, allowing for massive damage against enemies that are incapacitated by Freeze.
Cons:
- Limited Damage without Freeze: Without Frozen targets, Fragmentation Rounds won’t trigger the explosive secondary effect, meaning that the base damage of 50% attack damage may feel underwhelming against non-Frozen enemies.
- Mana Cost: The 7 Mana cost per shot is relatively low, but when firing in bursts, the mana consumption can add up. Consider pairing with mana regeneration mechanics or managing your Mana Pool efficiently.
- Requires Freeze Effects: The skill’s full potential relies heavily on having Freeze effects in your build. If your build doesn’t focus on Cold Damage, you may not see the explosive benefits from this skill.
Tips for Using Fragmentation Rounds
- Freeze Enemies: Make sure you have some way to Freeze enemies, either through Cold Damage skills, Cold-based traps, or Freezing Support Gems. The shrapnel explosion triggered by Frozen targets is what truly makes Fragmentation Rounds shine.
- Use with Ice Crystals: If you’re running a build that can create Ice Crystals, such as Frost Wall or Ice Barrage, make sure to position your enemies near these Crystals to trigger the additional explosion effect.
- Increase Pierce and AoE: Boosting the Piercing and AoE capabilities of Fragmentation Rounds will allow you to maximize the number of enemies hit by each bolt, improving its crowd control and clearing capabilities.
- Manage Mana: Since Fragmentation Rounds fires in bursts, it’s essential to have a good mana management strategy or use mana regeneration to ensure you can continuously fire without running out of mana.
Conclusion
Fragmentation Rounds is a powerful Ammunition-based skill gem in Path of Exile 2 that focuses on piercing bolts, AoE damage, and explosive shrapnel effects. By leveraging synergies with Freeze effects and Ice Crystals, you can trigger devastating secondary explosions that drastically increase your damage output. This skill excels in crowd control and burst damage, making it ideal for Mercenary builds that specialize in crossbows and projectile attacks.
Whether you’re building around Freeze mechanics, piercing projectiles, or AoE damage, Fragmentation Rounds provides a satisfying and effective way to deal with groups of enemies while packing an explosive punch. Be sure to incorporate freeze effects into your build to unlock the full potential of this skill, and enjoy the burst of destruction that Fragmentation Rounds can unleash on the battlefield.