Ammunition
Attack, AoE, Projectile, Lightning, Chaining
Tier: 5 (Mercenary)
Level: 6
Cost: 15 Mana
Attack Speed: 50% of base
Requires: Level 18, 25 Str, 25 Dex
Requires: Crossbow
Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fire in bursts, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clips.
Skills can be managed in the Skills Panel.
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Galvanic Shards is a versatile Ammunition-based skill gem in Path of Exile 2 that combines projectile-based attacks with the power of Lightning damage and chaining effects. Perfect for players who enjoy ranged combat with high AoE (Area of Effect) damage potential, Galvanic Shards offers burst damage through Chaining Lightning beams that can decimate enemy groups with speed and precision.
This skill is ideal for players who want to maximize their crossbow’s potential while taking advantage of the lightning-based mechanics to deal substantial damage to multiple enemies. Let’s break down the key details of Galvanic Shards and explore how it can fit into your build.
Effect: Loads your Crossbow with charged bolts that fire in bursts, releasing Chaining Lightning beams on hit. The skill reloads the clip each time it’s used.
How Galvanic Shards Works
Galvanic Shards is a highly dynamic Ammunition-based skill, combining the crossbow’s ranged capabilities with the power of Lightning damage. Here’s how it functions:
1. Projectile and Lightning Damage
Galvanic Shards fires charged bolts from your Crossbow in quick bursts, each shot delivering lightning damage to enemies in the projectile’s path.
Upon hitting a target, the bolts trigger Chaining Lightning beams, spreading the damage to nearby enemies and causing a secondary burst of lightning damage. This makes the skill incredibly effective at clearing crowds of enemies and dealing with high-density mobs.
2. Chaining Mechanic
The Chaining Lightning mechanic allows the projectiles to bounce off multiple enemies in close proximity, ensuring that the damage doesn’t stop at the first target. This is perfect for crowd control in group fights or for clearing waves of enemies.
The Chaining effect is especially effective in areas where enemies are clustered together, as it ensures that no enemy is left behind when your bolts hit.
3. Ammunition-Based Reloading
Galvanic Shards operates on an ammunition clip system, where the charged bolts are loaded into the crossbow before being fired. When the bolts are used, the skill automatically reloads the clip, readying it for another burst of lightning projectiles.
This reloading system makes the skill feel dynamic and fluid, requiring timing and control to unleash a consistent barrage of lightning damage.
4. Attack Speed and Burst Damage
With 50% of base attack speed, Galvanic Shards fires quickly but not as fast as some other attack skills. However, the Chaining Lightning makes up for this by maximizing AoE damage with each shot. This allows you to deal substantial damage in a short burst, making it effective for damage over time in quick encounters.
5. Crossbow Requirement
This skill requires the use of a Crossbow, making it ideal for ranged builds focused on projectile-based attacks. Crossbows can support large AoE effects with multiple projectiles, allowing Galvanic Shards to maximize its damage potential across a wide area.
If you’re focused on building a Crossbow-based Mercenary or lightning damage build, Galvanic Shards is a great skill gem to complement your weapon.
Synergies with Other Skills and Builds
Galvanic Shards works well with builds that focus on lightning damage, AoE projectiles, and crossbows. Below are some key synergies to consider:
1. Lightning Damage Scaling
Galvanic Shards deals Lightning damage with Chaining effects, so any lightning damage scaling will significantly increase the skill’s effectiveness. Combine it with passive nodes and gear that boost lightning damage, critical strike chance, and projectile damage to make it more deadly.
Support gems like Added Lightning Damage, Elemental Focus, or Increased Lightning Damage will help further increase damage output and AoE potential.
2. Projectile-Based Synergies
Since Galvanic Shards is a projectile-based attack, combining it with projectile support gems like Greater Multiple Projectiles or Pierce Support can allow the lightning bolts to hit even more targets in crowded situations.
For an even larger spread of projectiles, Lesser Multiple Projectiles or Chain Support can make Galvanic Shards more versatile by increasing the number of targets affected by the lightning chain.
3. Ammunition and Reload Synergies
There are a number of synergies available for ammunition-based crossbow skills. Using support gems like Ammunition Support or Faster Projectile Support can increase the overall speed and damage of the projectiles fired by Galvanic Shards. These synergies help reload times and ensure faster bursts of lightning projectiles.
4. Critical Strike Builds
Galvanic Shards has a critical strike potential, meaning that if you’re focusing on critical strike builds, you can greatly benefit from increasing the critical chance of your projectiles. Supporting gems such as Critical Strikes, Increased Critical Damage, or Critical Multi can make Galvanic Shards hit even harder and trigger more damaging lightning explosions.
5. Elemental Focus Builds
Combining Galvanic Shards with an Elemental Focus build can allow you to focus purely on lightning damage without worrying about elemental damage interference from other elements. This can make your lightning bolts more effective in dealing consistent damage to enemies, particularly in elemental vulnerability scenarios.
Pros and Cons of Galvanic Shards
Pros:
High AoE Lightning Damage: The Chaining Lightning effect makes Galvanic Shards ideal for crowd control and clearing groups of enemies in seconds.
Projectile Burst: Fires multiple projectiles per burst, allowing for large damage output in one skill activation.
Dynamic Reloading: The reloading system provides a dynamic feel and allows for a consistent barrage of projectiles, making it highly effective in sustained combat.
Great for Elemental and Projectile Builds: Perfect for builds focused on lightning damage and projectile mechanics.
Cons:
Mana Cost: The 15 Mana cost can limit sustainability in prolonged encounters if not managed well, especially when using multiple burst abilities.
Attack Speed: With only 50% of base attack speed, Galvanic Shards may feel slower than some other high-speed projectile skills, which may impact its overall damage output in very fast-paced encounters.
Crossbow Requirement: Since it requires a crossbow, it limits the skill to crossbow builds and may not be ideal for those using other weapon types.
Tips for Using Galvanic Shards
Maximize Chaining Potential: Use Galvanic Shards in dense crowds or areas with grouped enemies to maximize the Chaining and AoE damage effects. The more enemies in range, the more effective this skill will be.
Focus on Lightning Damage: Since this skill is lightning-based, it is most effective when combined with lightning damage scaling and critical strike chance.
Manage Mana Usage: Be mindful of mana cost. Combining Galvanic Shards with mana regeneration or mana leech will help maintain sustained use of the skill.
Reloading Efficiently: Time your reloads carefully to ensure Galvanic Shards can be used to its fullest potential. Constant reloading during crowd control or enemy engagements will keep the skill in your rotation.