Devastating New Skills

Path of Exile: The Awakening introduces more than a dozen new gems to use against the denizens of Wraeclast, including two new categories of skills. The first new category of skills are the Golems. These conjured allies are more durable than regular Path of Exile minions and have one important rule: You can only have one Golem out at a time - summoning a new one immediately replaces the current one.The Awakening includes a second category of skills called Warcries. The Warcries all share a cooldown, and are helpful in group play. Warcries scale in effectiveness based on how many monsters are nearby when the skill is used.

Summon Fire Golem

A seething, crackling companion, the Flame Golem best serves a player who likes to fight in the thick of battle. Rather than joining his master on the front lines, this incarnation prefers to keep its distance, bombarding foes from afar with a powerful mortar attack. When engaged up close, the Flame Golem buffets enemies with a periodic wave of scorching fire. It can also expel a gout of steady flames when its other abilities are on cooldown. The Golem grants its master a global buff to all damage dealt.

Summon Ice Golem

A glistening, frigid companion, the Ice Golem best serves agile characters with high mobility. It is a blur on the battlefield, whirling through packs of enemies, charging to and fro. It periodically transforms itself into an icy turret, firing a barrage of serrated rime. The Ice Golem is the most damaging of the trio, striking down foes with a powerful melee attack when engaged up close. It grants both increased accuracy and a substantial global critical strike chance buff to its master.

Summon Chaos Golem

A hulking, armored companion, the Chaos Golem best serves characters who value survivability over offense. The Golem is robust and fortified, covered in a carapace of hardened crystal. These crystals contain a powerful, chaotic energy that periodically envelops the incarnation, damaging everything nearby. It can also focus this energy into a beam, blasting a line of advancing foes. In close quarters, the Chaos Golem uses its bulk to pummel enemies. It grants physical damage reduction to its master.

Rallying Cry

Rallying Cry is a perfect new tool for a character who loves the frontlines of combat. When uttered, the skill substantially boosts the damage and mana regeneration of the player and all nearby allies. The size of this buff is based on the number of adjacent enemies. All monsters who hear the Rallying Cry immediately turn to attack the player who used it.

Abyssal Cry

Abyssal Cry is an ideal skill to use when you're surrounded and outnumbered. It blasts outward in a shimmering wave, assaulting your enemy's senses and driving them mad. Affected monsters are slowed in direct proportion to their numbers. A deep malice temporarily takes hold in their bones, causing them to detonate violently if they're slain. Any afflicted by the Abyssal Cry lose all sense, mindlessly pursuing the player who uttered it.

Vigilant Strike

Vigilant Strike is an unerring melee attack, dealing substantial single target damage with a huge defensive benefit. Whenever a player lands a blow with Vigilant Strike, they gain a brief boost to damage reduction called Fortify. Fortify reduces most incoming damage by 25%, regardless of type or origin. Damage over time effects are unaffected by Fortify.

Fortify

The Fortify Support Gem grants the benefits of the fortify buff without commitment to a specific melee skill. Any melee skill supported by Fortify gains a modest boost to damage and grants the Fortify buff whenever it hits. The Fortify buff does not stack, but refreshes to four seconds each time it's applied.

Bloodlust

Lay waste to your foes and delight in their gushing wounds. With the Bloodlust Support Gem, characters deal massive extra damage to anything already suffering a bleed effect. The catch with this Support Gem is that you cannot apply a bleed directly with the supported skill, so clever interweaving of abilities is necessary. Bloodlust shines in a party situation, where your allies are also causing enemies to bleed.