The Impaler

The Impaler

Keystone

When your Hits Impale Enemies, also Impale other Enemies near them
Inflict 4 additional Impales on Enemies you Impale
For 4 seconds after you Impale Enemies, they cannot be Impaled again, and Impales cannot be Called from them [1]

Punish your enemies with the excessive cruelty of a tyrant, then move on without a second thought.

The Impaler is a keystone passive skill. Whenever a hit from you or your skills impales a target, that hit also impales all nearby enemies, and applies an additional 4 impale debuffs to each (for a total of 5). It then causes each affected enemy to avoid impale for 4 seconds, during which impales cannot be Called from them with Call of Steel.

Mechanics

The Impaler causes hits to inflict 4 additional impale debuffs, for a total of 5, to all enemies in an area, with the downside of preventing the application of more impale debuffs to those enemies for 4 seconds. This can be useful in combination with slow but powerful impaling hits, or potentially in a scenario with low available impale chance.

• Example: A character attacks with a slow or limited hit such as an exerted Vaal Ground SlamVaal Ground SlamAttack, AoE, Vaal, Slam, Melee
  Level: (1-20)
  Souls Per Use: 15
  Can Store 4 Use(s)
  Soul Gain Prevention: 1 sec
  Attack Speed: 90% of base
  Attack Damage: (190-375)% of base
  Effectiveness of Added Damage: (190-375)%Slams the ground in front of you, creating a wave that travels in all directions that damages enemies with an increased chance to stun. The wave deals more damage to closer enemies. Requires an Axe, Mace, Sceptre, Staff or Unarmed.25% reduced Enemy Stun Threshold
  +(0-0.9) metres to radius
  200% increased Stun Duration on enemies
  Can't be Evaded
  Deals up to (40-49)% more Damage with Hits to closer targets
  This Attack can be Exerted as though it was not a Vaal Skill
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  Deals up to +(1-20)% more Damage with Hits to closer targetsCorruptedPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. used during Phase RunPhase RunSpell, Duration, Movement, Physical, Travel
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: (8-13) Mana
  Cooldown Time: 4.00 sec
  Can Store 1 Use(s)
  Cast Time: InstantRequires Level 34Gain a buff that makes you faster, harder to detect, and grants Phasing, letting you pass through enemies. Performing any skill replaces this buff with one that boosts melee physical damage of skills you use yourself (it will not apply to your melee skills used by totems). Consumes Frenzy Charges to increase duration.Base duration is 1.80 seconds
  Base secondary duration is 0.20 seconds
  (30-39)% increased Movement Speed
  (20-30)% more Melee Physical Damage
  100% increased Skill Duration per Frenzy Charge removed
  Grants Phasing
  100% increased Stealth
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  (0.5-10)% increased Movement SpeedPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., applying 5 powerful impale debuffs to an enemy and all other enemies nearby. A faster-hitting secondary skill such as Storm BrandStorm BrandLightning, Spell, AoE, Chaining, Duration, Brand
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: (8-21) Mana
  Cast Time: 0.75 sec
  Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
  Effectiveness of Added Damage: 30%Requires Level 12Creates a magical brand which can attach to a nearby enemy. It periodically activates while attached, firing beams which deal damage to nearby enemies and those around them. The brand will detach if the enemy dies.Deals (3-92) to (8-277) Lightning Damage
  Activates every 0.5 seconds while Attached
  Increases and Reductions to Cast Speed also apply to this Skill's Activation frequency
  Can be Detached for a total Duration of 6.00 seconds
  Can be Attached for a total Duration of 5.00 seconds
  Sends beams to 3 Enemies, including the Branded Enemy
  Deals (80-130)% more Damage with Hits against Branded Enemy
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  Sends beams to +(0.05-1) EnemiesPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. or CycloneCycloneAttack, AoE, Movement, Channelling, Physical, Melee
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: 2 Mana
  Attack Speed: 300% of base
  Attack Damage: (44-59)% of base
  Effectiveness of Added Damage: (44-59)%
  AoE Radius: 1.6Requires Level 28Channel this skill to move towards a targeted location while spinning constantly attacking enemies in an area around you. While channelling this skill, you cannot be knocked back.(5-28) to (8-42) Added Attack Physical Damage
  10% increased Area of Effect per 0.1 metre additional Melee Strike Range
  30% less Movement Speed
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  (0.5-10)% more Movement SpeedPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. can then 'cash out' the stored impale damage, before the debuffs' duration expires.

Impales cannot be Called from an enemy or their corpse by using Call of Steel until 4 seconds after the initial impale. Enemies that die in a single hit do not get impaled.

Due to its ability to inflict multiple impales with one hit, the Impaler can stack impales on enemies beyond typical methods. For example, by impaling an enemy, waiting for 4 seconds, then impaling them again, an enemy can be left with 5 debuffs that have 5 hits remaining, and 5 debuffs that have 4 hits remaining, for a total of 10. (Or even more through impale duration or Temporal ChainsTemporal ChainsSpell, AoE, Duration, Curse, Hex
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (16-33) Mana
Cast Time: 0.50 secRequires Level 24Curses all enemies in an area, lowering their action speed and making other effects on them expire more slowly.Base duration is (5.00-8.80) seconds
+(0-1) metre to radius
50% less Effect of Curse against Players
Cursed Normal and Magic Enemies have (15-29)% less Action Speed
Other effects on Cursed enemies expire 25% slower
Cursed Rare and Unique Enemies have (9-18)% less Action Speed

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
(1-20)% increased Curse DurationPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket..) While likely impractical, it may become meaningful in combination with for each Impale on Enemy modifiers.

Because the impaler's effect on enemies causes them to avoid impales from all sources, The Impaler may conflict with impaling party members or minions.

Damage calculations

This article's tone is highly subjective and should be rewritten in a way that presents facts rather than opinions.

feels closer to recommendations than theory in parts. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page.

All calculations assume 100% impale chance to make them simple. For characters using impale damage, The impaler keystone has the potential to raise or lower the total damage done. Whether or not the impaler can raise or lower the total damage is dependent on the following factors:

• Hits per second: The more hits per second on enemies, the less likely the impaler is to be a better option. The reason for this is because hitting a lot will make the impales run out before you can apply more after the 4 second impale cooldown. Slow attack builds do not have to worry about the 4 second cooldown lowering their damage.
• Damage Variance: When a player is capable of doing a lot more damage with 1 single hit occasionally and mostly doing less impale damage afterwards, this increases the damage of the impaler keystone. The reason for this is because The impaler gives 5 times the impale damage for the higher damage skill, than without it.
• Maximum impales: For players with 5 impales max, this factor will not matter. For players with over 5 max impales, the total damage potential will go down in a longer fight that involves more than 6 total hits. For fights with fewer than 6 hits on an enemy, the 5 impale limit will not matter.

This example will try to use all of these factors to their highest potential to show that The Impaler does higher damage for certain specific builds.

• A slow attack speed vaal ground slam build.

• no maximum impales (It doesn't hurt, it just doesn't help in most short term fights)

• Even higher damage variance by using as many temporary damage modifiers that raise the hit damage.

• For most enemies clear trash with your favorite skill, cause they are easier to kill. For harder enemies, use as many temporary damage modifiers right before vaal ground slam. Make sure Vaal ground slam is your first hit on tough enemies or they will get weaker damage impales for 4 seconds.

• Long Fights For characters with 100% chance to impale, using a 4 second cooldown instant skill or 4 second duration flask right after the impale lands will remind you when you will land impales on hit again. Always use your higher damage skill with as many temporary damage modifiers that affect the outgoing damage to maximize the impale damage.

Location

The Impaler is located on the south side of the tree, on the left side of outer part of the Duelist's area across Crimson Dance.

Class	Distance from start
Duelist	12
Marauder	12
Ranger	15
Scion	16
Templar	18
Shadow	22
Witch	25

Related unique items

Item	Base Item		Stats
Skin of the LordsSkin of the Lords Simple RobeMovement Speed: -3%Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Sockets cannot be modified +2 to Level of Socketed Gems 100% increased Global Defences You can only Socket Corrupted Gems in this item Item has 6 Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) <Random Keystone>CorruptedThe Lords are chosen so carefully. Only they may grace His flesh.	Simple Robe	1	Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Sockets cannot be modified +2 to Level of Socketed Gems 100% increased Global Defences You can only Socket Corrupted Gems in this item Item has 6 Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) <Random Keystone> Acrobatics Ancestral Bond Arrow Dancing Avatar of Fire Blood Magic Call to Arms Conduit Crimson Dance Divine Shield Hex Master Eldritch Battery Elemental Equilibrium Elemental Overload Eternal Youth Ghost Dance Ghost Reaver Glancing Blows Iron Grip Iron Reflexes Iron Will Lethe Shade Magebane Mind Over Matter Minion Instability Pain Attunement Perfect Agony Point Blank Precise Technique Resolute Technique Runebinder Imbalanced Guard Solipsism Supreme Ego The Agnostic The Impaler Unwavering Stance Vaal Pact Versatile Combatant Wicked Ward Wind Dancer Zealot's Oath Corrupted

Related modifiers

Scourge

Scourge is not added to the core game so that these mods can only be found in existing items in the permanent leagues

Name		Stats	Spawn Weighting
HellscapeUpsideKeystoneTheImpaler_	68	The Impaler	body_armour 10

Sentinel

Sentinel mechanic is not added to the core game so that these mods can only be created in the permanent leagues by using legacy currency Recombinators

Name		Stats
of the Sentinel	68	The Impaler

In addition, during Sanctum leagues, players can use Lycia's Invocation of the Impaler to add the mod The ImpalerSanctumSpecialCorruptionKeystoneTheImpaler
Corrupted
The Impaler to a relic. However, Lycia's Invocation is not added to the core game after the league end and the subsequent rework of The Forbidden Sanctum mechanic.

Version history

Version	Changes
3.13.0	Now prevents Call of Steel removing any Impales inflicted within the last 4 seconds.
3.11.0	Introduced to the game.