PoE 2: Persistent Buffs & Auras Explained

A Persistent Buff is a type of Skill that provides a constant effect, such as Herald of Ice. These effects are primarily character power buffs, but can also be buffs that only affect your allies or debuffs that only affect nearby enemies.

Engraving

Right-clicking on an Uncut Spirit Gem will open a new panel, allowing you to select and engrave a new Persistent Buff Gem. You can choose to view all of the options by selecting the drop down menu on the left. If you do not meet the requirements of a selectable Skill Gem, such as Attributes or Level, it will be greyed out.

Auras

However, some Persistent Buffs are granted by items such as Sceptres. One example is Malice, a Persistent Buff which emits an Aura around your character, constantly applying Critical Weakness to enemies in your Presence.

Meta Gems

Some Meta Gems are Persistent Buffs that Trigger socketed Skills when a certain condition is met.

For example, Cast on Minion Death is a Persistent Buff Meta Gem that gains Energy when one of your Minions dies and Triggers all socketed Spells on reaching maximum Energy.

Tip: check out our guide on Meta Gems to learn about the Energy mechanic!

Persistent Buff Skill Gems reserve an amount of Spirit based on the Gem, such as Herald of Ash which reserves 30 Spirit. Importantly, Persistent Buffs granted by items such as the Malice Skill shown above, do not require a Spirit reservation.

Note: Support Gems with a Cost Multiplier do not increase Spirit reservation unless they also specify a Reservation Multiplier.

Unlike in Path of Exile 1, persistent abilities are not enabled via the Skill UI at the bottom right of the screen. Instead, you'll need to activate the Persistent Buff by opening the Skill Panel (default: G) and right-clicking the icon above the socketed Persistent Buff Gem. Persistent Buffs granted by items are automatically active.

Note: you must have enough unreserved Spirit to be able to activate it.

There are also Support Gems that provide a Persistent Buff. These Support Gems can socketed into a Persistent Buff Skill to provide an additional Persistent Buff at the cost of an additional Spirit reservation.

For example, Vitality I is a Persistent Buff Support that makes your character Regenerate 1% of Life per second while the supported Persistent Buff Skill is active, but it does so at the cost of an additional 20 Spirit reserved.

Note: the Supported Skill does not need to reserve any Spirit to allow the use of Support Gems which provide Persistent Buffs.