Path of Exile 2: How Do Herald Of Ice And Thunder Work Together

Mastering the Double Herald Setup in Path of Exile 2

Path of Exile 2's Double Herald strategy combines Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder for devastating area-of-effect damage. This guide explains how to implement and understand this powerful technique.

Implementing the Double Herald Setup

This setup requires four key elements:

1. A Herald of Ice Skill Gem supported by a Lightning Infusion Support Gem.
2. A Herald of Thunder Skill Gem supported by a Cold Infusion Support Gem (Glaciation is highly recommended).
3. 60 Spirit.
4. A method to inflict Cold damage.

Remember to activate both Heralds in your skill menu. Effective Cold damage procs for Herald of Ice include:

• Monk's Ice Strike.
• Passive skills boosting Freeze buildup.
• Weapons/gloves with flat cold damage.
• Against the Darkness Time-Lost Diamond Jewel (+Cold damage percentage).

How the Heralds Interact

The synergy lies in the Heralds' limitations and the Infusion Support Gems:

• Herald of Ice triggers on Shattering (attacking a frozen enemy). However, its cold damage cannot Freeze, preventing self-sustaining chains.
• Herald of Thunder triggers on killing a Shocked enemy. Its damage cannot Shock.

Lightning Infusion converts a portion of Herald of Ice's damage to Lightning, enabling Shock. Cold Infusion similarly converts a portion of Herald of Thunder's damage to Cold, enabling Freeze. This creates a chain reaction: Herald of Ice (Lightning) shocks, triggering Herald of Thunder, whose cold damage freezes, triggering Herald of Ice again, and so on.

While theoretically infinite, this chain usually ends after one or two cycles due to the need for continuous enemy presence. Breaches are ideal due to their high enemy density.

Initiating the chain requires initially proccing Herald of Ice via Freeze and Shatter (using a skill like Ice Strike). Prioritizing Herald of Ice is recommended because Freeze is easier to inflict than Shock, and Herald of Thunder's lightning bolts have better range.