It is a Support Gem.
Support
Curse
Tier: 1
Cost Multiplier: 200%
Reservation Multiplier: 150%
Requires: Level 1
Support Reqirements: +5 Int
Supports Curse Skills, magnifying their power.
Place into a Skill’s Support Gem socket in the Skills menu to apply its effects to that Skill. You cannot have multiple copies of the same Support Gem socketed at the same time.
The Heightened Curse Support Gem in Path of Exile 2 offers a powerful tool for Curse builds by amplifying the effect of curses applied to enemies. This gem boosts the effectiveness of any curse skill, making it an invaluable addition to builds focused on debuffing enemies and applying debilitating effects during combat. Whether you’re looking to reduce enemy resistance, slow their actions, or weaken their defenses, the Heightened Curse gem enhances the potency of your curses, allowing you to control the battlefield with greater efficiency.
In this article, we will examine the functionality of the Heightened Curse Support Gem, its applications, and how it can synergize with other skills and builds.
The Heightened Curse Support Gem enhances the strength of any Curse skill by increasing its effectiveness. Here’s a breakdown of the key features:
25% Increased Effect of Curses:
The Heightened Curse gem provides a 25% increase in the effectiveness of any curse skill it supports. This means that the negative effects of your curses — such as reduced enemy resistances, slower movement, lower damage output, or reduced defense — will be applied more strongly to enemies. For instance, a curse that reduces enemy resistance will now reduce their resistance even more, making it easier to apply damage from other sources.
Cost and Reservation Multipliers:
The Heightened Curse gem has a 200% cost multiplier, which means that it will significantly increase the mana cost of the skill it supports. Additionally, it has a 150% reservation multiplier, which means it will take up more of your available mana or reservation pool when used with curse skills that require mana reservation (like Enfeeble or Temporal Chains). These costs must be managed carefully, especially in builds where mana management is a concern.
Support Skill Synergy:
The Heightened Curse gem can support any Curse skill, meaning that it works with curses like Enfeeble, Flammability, Temporal Chains, Elemental Weakness, Frostbite, and more. The increased effectiveness of these curses makes it easier to control enemies and support your team, especially in multiplayer scenarios or endgame content like boss fights or high-tier mapping.
The Heightened Curse gem works best when combined with Curse-based skills and Curse-focused builds. Here are some examples of how Heightened Curse can enhance your skills and overall effectiveness:
Defensive Curses (e.g., Enfeeble, Temporal Chains):
Enfeeble and Temporal Chains are two of the most common defensive curses in Path of Exile 2. Enfeeble reduces the damage enemies deal and Temporal Chains slows down enemy actions. With Heightened Curse, these defensive curses will become even more potent, making enemies significantly weaker and less dangerous. In scenarios where you face swarms of enemies or bosses with high damage output, enhancing the effectiveness of these curses can greatly reduce the threat they pose.
Offensive Curses (e.g., Flammability, Vulnerability):
Offensive curses like Flammability and Vulnerability reduce enemy resistances to specific types of damage. With Heightened Curse, the effectiveness of these curses is magnified, allowing you to penetrate enemy resistances more easily and deal more damage with your skills. This is particularly beneficial for elemental damage builds, as it boosts the overall damage output of your attacks by increasing the effectiveness of your debuffs.
Curse-based Elemental Damage Builds:
Heightened Curse is especially useful in elemental damage builds that rely on Curse skills to maximize damage. For example, a Fire-based build using Flammability will benefit from the increased effectiveness of Heightened Curse, allowing you to reduce enemy Fire resistance more significantly, which boosts the damage output of your Fire skills.
Curse-Aura Builds:
For Curse-aura builds, where you use curses like Enfeeble or Temporal Chains to reduce the power of enemies while supporting your allies, Heightened Curse becomes an essential gem. The additional effectiveness it provides can make your curses last longer and have a more profound impact on the enemies around you, allowing you to mitigate incoming damage and crowd control threats more effectively.
The Heightened Curse Support Gem provides several key benefits to your build:
Increased Curse Effectiveness:
The most significant advantage of Heightened Curse is the 25% increased effectiveness of your curses. This makes it an essential gem for Curse-focused builds that rely on debuffing enemies. Whether you are using defensive curses to weaken enemy offense or offensive curses to penetrate enemy resistances, this gem will maximize the impact of your curses, making them more impactful and allowing you to control enemies more effectively.
Versatility in Curse Skills:
The gem can support any Curse skill, allowing it to be used with a wide variety of curses. Whether your build uses single-target curses or AoE curses, Heightened Curse can amplify the effectiveness of each one. This makes it versatile and adaptable to different build types, whether you are running a Curse-based support build or a damage-dealing curse build.
Improved Crowd Control:
By increasing the effectiveness of curses like Temporal Chains or Enfeeble, you can significantly improve your ability to crowd control large groups of enemies. The slower or weaker enemies become, the more manageable they are, especially in high-density maps or encounters with large packs of enemies.
Increased Damage for Elemental Builds:
For elemental damage builds, Heightened Curse enhances the impact of curses that reduce enemy elemental resistances, such as Flammability or Frostbite. This leads to higher damage output for your elemental skills, allowing you to maximize your elemental penetration and deal devastating damage to enemies.
While Heightened Curse is a powerful gem, there are some considerations to keep in mind:
High Mana Cost and Reservation:
The 200% cost multiplier and 150% reservation multiplier significantly increase the mana cost and reservation required to use Curse skills. As a result, you may need to carefully manage your mana pool or use other gems and items to reduce the cost of your skills. This could potentially limit the number of curses you can apply simultaneously or require more careful resource management.
Not Ideal for Non-Curse Builds:
If your build doesn’t focus on curses, Heightened Curse won’t offer any benefit. The gem is specifically designed for Curse-based builds, and its effectiveness is dependent on your ability to apply curses effectively to your enemies. If your build does not use curses, this gem will be ineffective.
Dependency on Curse Application:
The effectiveness of Heightened Curse depends on your ability to apply curses to enemies consistently. If your curse application is unreliable or if you’re unable to land curses on fast-moving or elusive enemies, you may find it harder to maximize the effectiveness of this gem.
The Heightened Curse Support Gem is an excellent choice for Curse-focused builds, enhancing the effectiveness of any Curse skill. With a 25% increase in curse effectiveness, it makes your debuffs significantly more powerful, whether you are weakening enemies with Enfeeble, Temporal Chains, or boosting your elemental damage with curses like Flammability.
However, it comes with a high cost multiplier and mana reservation increase, so it requires careful consideration of your mana pool and curse setup. For builds that rely on Curse mechanics, this gem is a must-have to amplify the impact of your debuffs and gain better control over your enemies, especially in high-tier content and endgame encounters.