Projectile

"Projectile Damage" redirects here. For the passive skill, see Projectile Damage (passive skill).

"Pierce" redirects here. For the support gem, see Pierce (support gem).

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Projectiles are entities which are produced by a spell or ranged attack which travel independently of their creator until they collide with an enemy or obstacle. Skills that create projectiles have the Projectile or Bow keyword.

Speed and duration

All projectiles have a speed, which can be altered by Projectile Speed modifiers. All projectiles also have a duration (which can be infinite), although in most cases this duration is not mentioned anywhere and cannot be modified, unless explicitly stated such as with the skill .

The speed and duration combined determine the distance the projectile will travel, up to its maximum range. This is important when considering projectiles that have a limited lifetime.

For example, creates projectiles which deal full damage initially, but deal less and less damage the longer they are alive. Increasing the Projectile Speed of Freezing Pulse will cause the projectiles to arrive at the target sooner, and therefore they will deal more damage than a slower-moving Freezing Pulse that traveled the same distance.

Increasing the Projectile Speed of limited duration projectiles will allow them to travel a further distance before they expire.

However, there are effects that occur based on the projectile's total distance traveled since launched. For instance:

• will always arm (change into its second form) at a certain distance from its launching point, regardless of its speed
• The damage modifiers from Point Blank and Chin Sol are based the projectile's total distance traveled, not how long the projectile has been alive. Note that, in the case of , the total distance traveled may be greater than the current distance from the player.

Ground and airborne projectiles

Most projectiles fly through the air, however there are some that travel along the ground.

Airborne projectiles can be aimed up and down cliffs and other height transitions, and can impact with the ground or ceiling. This can sometimes make them difficult to aim when dealing with a steep vertical angle, as they might fly over the heads of enemies or harmlessly impact the ground at the enemy's feet. Airborne projectiles will pass through most low obstacles such as small chests and rocks.

Projectiles that travel along the ground are subject to the same restrictions as a walking player. This means they cannot be fired up or down height transitions, and will instead collide with the edge. They will never impact with the ground or ceiling, but they are much more likely to be obstructed by small obstacles around the environment. Skills that create earthbound projectiles include , Lightning Strike, and .

Death

When a projectile collides with an enemy or obstacle, it explodes and is destroyed. This happens even if the projectile is the result of an attack that is evaded or dodged. Intuitively a projectile that is evaded or dodged would continue along its trajectory, but that is not the case in Path of Exile.

Subprojectiles

Normally a projectile attempts to hit the first enemy it encounters, explodes if the projectile has an explosion effect, and disappears. However, some effects change the projectile hit behavior.

Effect types

At most one effect may be applied per hit. The effects are listed in order of priority.

Pierce

The projectile passes through the enemy and continues along its previous trajectory. Piercing may have less than a 100% chance. Pierce chance is rolled independently for every hit. If a projectile fails to pierce one of the other effects listed in this section may apply. A projectile with a chance to pierce of 100% or more will always pierce.

Sources of chance to pierce include:

• Passive nodes near the center-east side of the tree.
• Penetrating Arrow QuiverPenetrating Arrow QuiverRequires Level 25Arrows Pierce an additional Target, including the unique DrillneckDrillneck
  Penetrating Arrow QuiverRequires Level 36Arrows Pierce an additional Target(8-12)% increased Attack Speed
  +350 to Evasion Rating
  +(40-50) to maximum Life
  (10-14) to (19-24) Added Physical Damage with Bow Attacks
  Arrows deal 50% increased Damage with Hits and Ailments to Targets they Pierce"Why waste such a fine arrow on just one man?"
  - Kiravi, Vaal Archer
• InfractemInfractem
  Decimation BowBow
  Physical Damage: (117.3-142.2) to (258.4-289.8)
  Critical Strike Chance: (6.50-7.50)%
  Attacks per Second: 1.20Requires Level 53, 170 Dex(30-50)% increased Critical Strike Chance+(20-30) to Dexterity
  (70-80)% increased Physical Damage
  Adds (25-35) to (36-45) Physical Damage
  10% increased Movement Speed
  +(350-400) to Accuracy Rating
  Cannot Leech Life
  Arrows Pierce all TargetsMark us with mercy, then press on with care,
  Execute us steadily, notch away at our despair.
• Poacher's AimPoacher's Aim
  Viridian JewelLimited to: 1Projectiles Pierce an additional Target
  10% increased Projectile DamageA sharp eye can be more deadly than a sharp blade.Place into an allocated Jewel Socket on the Passive Skill Tree. Right click to remove from the Socket.

Also, some skills always pierce, including:

• (initial arrow)
• (first form)
• Incinerate

Fork

The projectile splits into two identical projectiles which each travel at a 60 degree angle from the projectile's original path. A projectile can only fork once.

Sources of fork include:

• Possible implicit from corrupting a bow using a Vaal OrbVaal OrbStack Size: 20Corrupts an item, modifying it unpredictablyRight click this item then left click an item to corrupt it. Corrupted items cannot be modified again..

Chain

The projectile chooses a target within a certain radius, and travels in the direction of that target. A target cannot be hit twice in a row, but can be hit again if the chain proceeds back and forth between two targets. If there are no valid targets in range of the original enemy, it will not chain. Chain has a specified number of iterations.

Sources of chain include:

• MjölnerMjölner
  GavelOne Handed Mace
  Physical Damage: (97.2-118.8) to (181.8-222.2)
  Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
  Attacks per Second: 1.15
  Weapon Range: 1.1 metresRequires Level 60, 412 Str, 300 Int15% reduced Enemy Stun ThresholdTrigger a Socketed Lightning Spell on Hit, with a 0.25 second Cooldown
  Socketed Lightning Spells have no Cost if Triggered
  +300 Intelligence Requirement
  +200 Strength Requirement
  (80-120)% increased Physical Damage
  Skills Chain +1 times
  (80-100)% increased Lightning DamageLook the storm in the eye and you will have its respect.

Also, and Vaal Arc chain, though they are not projectile skills.

Return

The projectile returns to the original firer. The same target cannot be hit again by the returning projectile. Its priority is after pierce/fork/chain. See Mark's explanation [1].

This may be crafted by Tora, Master of the Hunt's workbench. The crafted mod does not allow your spells to return, as it only applies to attacks made by the weapon (bow or wand) The modifier can also be found on the Descent: Champions-exclusive Relic of the CycleRelic of the Cycle
Crude BowBow
Physical Damage: 10-26
Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
Attacks per Second: 1.54100% increased Physical Damage
10% increased Attack Speed
+30 to Accuracy Rating
Projectiles Return to youInto darkness, horror, madness...
So goes the descent..

Explosions

Some projectiles explode on every hit, while other projectiles only explode when they disappear, dealing only normal, non-area damage on non-exploding hits.

The following skills explode on every hit:

• Ice Shot

Furthermore, all single-target on-hit effects apply on every hit.

The following skills only explode when the projectile is destroyed:

Example projectile

Imagine a that has 50% Chance to Pierce, Projectiles Fork, and Chain +2 Times, and has been launched towards a pack of enemies:

1. It hits the first enemy and succeeds its piercing check. The enemy is damaged and the projectile continues on its course.
2. It hits a second enemy and this times fails to pierce. It forks, and there are now two projectiles which fly in different directions.
   • The first projectile

   1. The first projectile hits an enemy, and succeeds its piercing check, and continues on.
   2. There are no more enemies in its flight path, and it flies into a wall and explodes.

   • The second projectile

   1. The second projectile hits an enemy but fails its piercing check. Since it is the descendant of a projectile that forked, it cannot fork. The projectile and none of its ancestors have chained yet, so it can still chain two times. It chains and flies backwards towards the previous enemy.
   2. It hits the enemy, succeeds its piercing check, and continues on.
   3. It hits another enemy and fails to pierce, but can still chain one more time. It chains towards a nearby enemy.
   4. It hits the enemy and again fails to pierce. It cannot fork, and has run out of chains, so it finally explodes, dealing Fireball's area of effect damage.

Passive skills

There are passive skills that grant projectile bonuses.

Projectile damage

These passive skills grant increased projectile damage.

Projectile speed

These passive skills grant increased projectile speed.

Chance for projectiles to pierce

These passive skills grant additional chance for projectiles to pierce.

Miscellany

These passive skills are related to projectiles, but do not fit into any other category.