Path of Exile 2 Herald of Thunder and Ice combo, explained

Much like the first game, Path of Exile 2 does not disappoint when it comes to surprise combos that open up new build possibilities. The dual-Herald (Thunder + Ice) setup is one of the earliest examples of such unintuitive, quirky, but completely functional pairings that got figured out.

This new tech essentially makes it so that the Buff Gems — Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice — can trigger each other, thus setting up a chain reaction that can clear mobs quite easily.

If you're hearing about the dual-Herald setup in Path of Exile 2 for the first time, or wondering what's needed to set it up, you've come to the right guide.

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How does Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder combo work in Path of Exile 2?

Shattering enemies is the easiest, guaranteed way to start the jam (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

The idea of combining Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice in Path of Exile 2 is a surprisingly simple concept when you see it in action. Before we go over how the dual-Herald combo functions, let's discuss the actual Buff Gems we'll be using.

Herald of Thunder makes your next few attack hits automatically drop Lightning Bolts on the targets of your hit. This deals a percentage of your attack damage as Lightning Damage in a 1.6-meter radius. To trigger it, you need to kill an enemy under the Shock Ailment, but Herald of Thunder's Lightning bolts cannot cause Shock build-up themselves.

When Herald of Ice is active, shattering frozen enemies will cause a 1.8-meter explosion of Ice Damage that deals a percentage of your main hand attack damage.

By this point, you may have already begun to see how the puzzle fits together. Herald of Thunder cannot cause Shock, but it indeed can cause other Ailments, including Freeze — all we have to do is give it Cold damage.

On the other hand, Herald of Ice's damage can be augmented with Lightning damage, meaning that Shattered enemies will automatically have Shock build-up on those caught in the blast AoE.

In this way, Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder can feed off each other in Path of Exile 2, causing a cascade of lightning and Cold and Lightning explosion. The Support Gems that we use for this process reduce the base damage of these explosions, but, the chain reaction can proc so reliably, that it's a big net gain in terms of mobbing prowess.

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How to set up the dual-Herald (Ice + Thunder) combo in Path of Exile 2

Both have to be active, and you have to use the right Support Gems on each (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

The net requirement for the dual-Herald setup in Path of Exile 2 is two open Skill Gem slots and 60 Spirit. In other words, all martial characters will have enough of the base Spirit resource to use this tech when they defeat the Ignaduk boss in Act 3.

With that, we are going to activate both Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder, and add the following Support Gems:

• Herald of Ice: Lightning Infusion - Lightning Exposure - Magnified Effect/Innervate
• Herald of Thunder: Cold Infusion - Cold Exposure - Ambush

If you do not have Jeweller's Orbs to get more Support Gem sockets for your Heralds, simply use the first two Support Gems listed above. They are placed in order of priority.

The Rationale behind Ambush is that Herald of Thunder's Lightning can proc on an enemy at the edge of your screen; so it will almost certainly get to it before Herald of Ice explosion does.

This setup can be used for any class that uses a martial weapon and has access to either Freezing or Shocking enemies to jump-start the chain reaction. It is specifically great for Monks, as their entire kit involves elemental hits like Ice Staff and Tempest Flurry, and their mobbing is only average without this tech.

Check out our other guides on the game:

• Path of Exile 2 Skill Gems and Gemcutting guide
• Path of Exile 2 Endgame systems guide
• Path of Exile 2 Item Crafting guide
• Path of Exile 2 Runes and Sockets guide