Path of Exile 2 blocking system basics, explained
The blocking system in Path of Exile 2 is much more active and elaborate than it was in the first game. Unsurprisingly, you still need a shield to block, and it provides a passive chance to shrug off any hit as it did in PoE 1. However, to truly utilize the shield, you can get hands-on and physically raise it to block attacks coming from the front.
Much like the dodge-roll system in Path of Exile 2, blocking has a few nuances in what it can and cannot prevent. In this guide, we'll try to explain how it all works (at least so far in the Early Access).
How to actively block in Path of Exile 2
Once you've equipped a shield on your off-hand slot in Path of Exile 2, you get an exclusive skill called Raise Shield. You have to bind it to a key in the Skills panel, like any other Gem-added Skill. This, as you would expect, completely nullifies all incoming hits from a frontal cone of a bit over 120 degrees.
You can block almost all projectile and melee attacks, but not attacks that apply damage over an area, even if the area damage is being applied by an enemy you're facing.
During boss fights, the general rule of thumb is to avoid projectiles that come from above (such as Asinia's spirit call-down attack inside the bone cage), damage that covers an area, and any move that follows the stinger noise.
Setting up a shield on another weapon set
What's neat is that you can also use Raise Shield with a two-hander or otherwise occupied off-hand, by cheesing the weapon set system. Set up your second weapon set with a shield. You still get access to the Raise Shield skill when your first set is equipped, and once you cast it, your shield is automatically equipped without needing to switch weapon sets.
With this trick, you can use a low-level shield to utilize the blocking mechanic as an additional layer of situational protection even on non-martial classes. Note that only shields can block, Focuses cannot.
Blocking meter and Stun Threshold
There's a limit to how much damage you can block off through Raise Shield. This can be gauged via a gold-colored meter to the bottom-left corner of the screen (on top of Flasks) that fills up as you tank damage with a raised shield. If this meter fills up fully, you're shield-broken, meaning you cannot block for a while after this.
The total amount of damage you can tank till it fills up, i.e. the overall resilience of your active block, depends on your Stun Threshold. In other words, Stun Threshold-enhancing effects and skills like Dread Banner will let you block more damage.
The block meter slowly subsides a few seconds after you stop tanking damage through your shield, even if you continue to keep your guard up.
Blocking interactions
There are a few other mechanics to note with the blocking system in Path of Exile 2. For one, you can initiate many martial Skills from a guarded state while using Raise Shield.
A few Skills also have direct interaction where you're intended to use it with a shield, especially on the Warrior class. Shield Charge blocks all attacks from the front when you're charging, the same as Raise Shield. The Magma Barrier Metagem, on the other hand, lets you essentially time your block to damage enemies directly.
Shield Wall is an exemplary skill that actually scales with the defensive stats on your equipped shield. It's very viable to build a Warrior around a shield, and there are many Passive Skill nodes that enable this playstyle.
Check out our other guides on the game:
- Path of Exile 2: All Classes and Ascensions available in Early Access
- All Path of Exile 2 Keystone Passives (known so far)
- Path of Exile 2: All returning League mechanics confirmed so far
- Does Path of Exile 2 have crossplay and cross-save?