Chaos Inoculation
Chaos Inoculation (often referred to as CI) is a keystone passive skill that grants immunity to chaos damage, but sets maximum life to 1.
Although the character must survive entirely on energy shield instead of life, immunity to chaos damage can be a significant advantage.
Interactions
The chance and duration of both being stunned and receiving an elemental status ailments is based on your maximum life before CI takes effect[1]. Maximum Life modifiers such as increased maximum Life, reduced maximum Life, etc. apply to the life before CI is applied. Since this base life value is then overwritten by CI, the only advantage life modifiers provide to a CI character is the reduction on stun and status ailment thresholds.
Low life conditions will never take effect while CI is enabled. Effects such as Pain Attunement and On Low Life mods on gear will not activate. For these effects, you must have 50% or less of your current maximum life. Chaos Inoculation sets your maximum life to 1. The exception to this is if you have 
Coward's LegacyCoward's Legacy
Chain BeltRequires Level 52+(9-20) to maximum Energy Shield+(15-20) to all Attributes
(5-10)% increased Movement Speed
50% increased Effect of Curses on you
You count as on Low Life while you are Cursed with Vulnerability
You are Cursed with VulnerabilityDeath is your most important duty.
Face it, or curse your bloodline for all eternity.
equipped.
Full life conditions will always take effect because you are always at 100% of 1 life, making the condition of 
Damage on Full Life SupportDamage on Full Life SupportAttack, Support
Icon: f
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%Requires Level 18Supports attack skills, providing a bonus to all damage dealt by those skills while your life is full.Supported Attack Skills deal (20-34)% more Damage while on Full Life
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Supported Skills deal (0.5-10)% increased DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
easy to maintain.
Interaction with life reduction
Life reductions apply before CI which sets life to 1. For example from 
Ephemeral EdgeEphemeral Edge
Dusk BladeOne Handed Sword
Physical Damage: 19-54
Elemental Damage: 1-75
Critical Strike Chance: 5.00%
Attacks per Second: 1.30
Weapon Range: 1.1 metresRequires Level 32, 57 Str, 57 Dex40% increased Global Accuracy Rating+10 to Intelligence
50% increased Global Critical Strike Chance
(40-50)% increased maximum Energy Shield
25% reduced maximum Life
Adds 1 to 75 Lightning Damage
Attacks with this Weapon have Added Maximum Lightning Damage equal to 20% of Player's Maximum Energy ShieldIn the rift between future and past,
life passes quickly.
. Obtaining 100%+ reduced Maximum Life will not affect the 1 Life value.
Blood Magic
When linked with 
Lifetap SupportLifetap SupportSupport, Duration
Icon: T
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 300%Requires Level 8Supports any non-blessing skill. Minions cannot gain the Lifetap buff.Supported Skills Cost Life instead of Mana
Gain Lifetap after Spending a total of (23-273) Life on Upfront
Costs and Effects of a Supported Skill
Supported Skills deal (10-19)% more Damage while you have Lifetap
Lifetap lasts 4 seconds
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Lifetap lasts +(0.1-2) secondsThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
or 
Arrogance SupportArrogance SupportAura, Support
Icon: B
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: (220-201)%Requires Level 31Supports any non-blessing skill with a reservation.Supported Skills have (10-19)% increased Aura effect
Supported Skills Reserve Life instead of Mana
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Supported Skills have (0.25-5)% increased Aura effectThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.
, or while taking the Blood Magic Keystone or other similar effects, affected skills (including auras) cannot be cast, unless the skill has 0 Cost and/or Reservation. The mod Skills Cost no Mana or Life while Focussed thus allows CI builds to cast skills with Life Costs (e.g. 
ReapReapSpell, Physical, AoE, Duration
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (25-46) Life
Cast Time: 0.80 sec
Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
Effectiveness of Added Damage: 210%Requires Level 28A bloody scythe swipes across a selected area, applying a physical damage over time debuff and hitting enemies with physical damage. If any survive, you gain a blood charge which raises the damage and cost of the skill. Players can have 5 maximum blood charges.Deals (57-943) to (86-1414) Physical Damage
Deals (120.2-1463.3) Base Physical Damage per second
Base duration is 1.00 seconds
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Gain a Blood Charge if this Skill Hits Enemies and none of them Die
Lose a Blood Charge when an Enemy Dies while affected by this Skill's Debuff
Costs 20% more Life per Blood Charge
Deals 15% more Damage per Blood Charge
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Deals +(0.25-5)% more Damage per Blood ChargePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
, 
Corrupting FeverCorrupting FeverSpell, Duration, Physical
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (78-520) Life
Cooldown Time: 1.00 sec
Can Store 1 Use(s)
Cast Time: InstantRequires Level 16Draws out your own blood to power a buff for a duration, letting this skill inflict the Corrupting Blood debuff on enemies you hit, dealing physical damage over time for a short secondary duration. The buff's duration will be refreshed if you spend enough life before it expires.Deals (7.8-335.4) Base Physical Damage per second
Base duration is 6.00 seconds
Base secondary duration is 1.00 seconds
Buff Duration is refreshed after you spend a total of (26-205) Life
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
(1-20)% increased Skill Effect DurationPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
or 
Blood RageBlood RageSpell, Duration, Physical
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (12-29) Life
Cooldown Time: 1.00 sec
Can Store 1 Use(s)
Cast Time: InstantRequires Level 16Adds a buff that deals Physical Damage over time, while increasing Attack Speed and Life Leech. Killing an enemy while this buff is active refreshes the buff duration, and can grant a Frenzy Charge.Base duration is (7.00-10.80) seconds
Grants (5-15)% increased Attack Speed
1.2% of Attack Physical Damage Leeched as Life
You take 4% of your Maximum Life per second as Physical Damage
You take 4% of your Maximum Energy Shield per second as Physical Damage
25% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge on Kill
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Grants (0.25-5)% increased Attack SpeedPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
).
Chaos resistance reduction/penetration
Since CI grants a flat-out immunity to chaos damage, effects that reduce or penetrate chaos resistance (i.e. Occultist's Void Beacon) have no effect against CI.[2]
Being Poisoned
Being Immune to Chaos Damage means that Chaos Damage cannot inflict poison (to the entity immune to chaos damage), although physical damage can still inflict poison.
CI builds
It is generally best to wait until you have high energy shield before taking CI because it's much easier to survive on life at lower levels. Don't be afraid to take life passive skills for survivability while leveling up, since you can remove them later.
Characters with CI are usually more susceptible to stun and status ailments because of their low base life. Rather than taking otherwise useless life nodes as described above, Stun can be mitigated by obtaining Stun Immunity (e.g Vile Bastion), stacking Chance to Avoid Stuns, or through niche items such as 
SkyforthSkyforth
Sorcerer BootsEnergy Shield: (51-59)Requires Level 67, 123 Int+(60-120) to maximum Mana
30% increased Movement Speed
25% chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical Strike
12% increased Reservation Efficiency of Skills
You have no Life Regeneration
Stun Threshold is based on 500% of your Mana instead of LifeThe quick die young, the brilliant go mad,
and the powerful stand alone in a wasteland of their own creation.
or 
ValyriumValyrium
Moonstone RingRequires Level 38+(15-25) to maximum Energy Shield+(30-40) to maximum Energy Shield
+(30-40)% to Fire Resistance
-40% to Cold Resistance
Stun Threshold is based on Energy Shield instead of LifeThey will rise and fall in fire and blood.
. Status ailments can be mitigated or avoided in a variety of different ways, including Pantheon Powers, 
Purity of ElementsPurity of ElementsAura, Spell, AoE
Level: (1-20)
Reservation: 50% Mana
Cooldown Time: 1.20 sec
Can Store 1 Use(s)
Cast Time: Instant
AoE Radius: 36Requires Level 24Casts an aura that grants elemental resistances and elemental ailment immunity to you and your allies.+(0-1.9) metres to radius
You and nearby allies gain +(20-34)% to all Elemental Resistances
You and nearby allies are Immune to all Elemental Ailments
Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
You and nearby allies gain +(0.25-5)% to all Elemental ResistancesPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
, Chance to Avoid Ailments, Reduced Effect/Duration of Ailments on You, or niche items such as 
AuxiumAuxium
Crystal BeltRequires Level 79+(60-80) to maximum Energy Shield+(60-70) to maximum Energy Shield
+(45-55) to maximum Mana
Chill Effect and Freeze Duration on you are based on 100% of Energy Shield
(20-25)% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills per Power Charge
0.2% of Attack Damage Leeched as Mana per Power ChargeAs long as the soul is unfettered, so is the body.
.
Chaos Inoculation works well with some other keystone passives, such as:
- Ghost Reaver converts sources of life leech into energy shield leech, at the cost of disabling ES recharge.
- Zealot's Oath applies life regeneration to energy shield. The amount recovered is based on the same % of your max ES, rather than your max life. Flat regeneration recovers the same amount. Note that "regeneration" does not include life flasks, as they are just "Recovery".
- Divine Shield can provide a large amount of regeneration to builds that also stack large amounts of Armour and Physical Damage Reduction.
- Ghost Dance can instantly recover ES on builds that have a decent amount of Evasion, at the cost of capping your energy shield by your evasion rating.
- Wicked Ward can be used by builds relying on recharge, sacrificing some recharge rate for uninterruptible recharge.
Location
Chaos Inoculation is located on the northeast edge of the skill tree.
| Class | Distance from start |
|---|---|
| Witch | 9 |
| Shadow | 11 |
| Scion | 14 |
| Templar | 16 |
| Ranger | 19 |
| Marauder | 23 |
| Duelist | 25 |
Related unique items
| Item | Base Item |  | Stats |
|---|---|---|---|
Midnight Bargain Midnight BargainEngraved WandWand Physical Damage: 21-38 Critical Strike Chance: 7.00% Attacks per Second: 1.50Requires Level 40, 131 Int(22-26)% increased Spell Damage+(10-20) to Intelligence Minions have (20-30)% increased Movement Speed Minions deal (50-70)% increased Damage +1 to maximum number of Raised Zombies +1 to maximum number of Skeletons +1 to maximum number of Spectres Reserves 30% of Life Cannot be used with Chaos InoculationA chilling hush, a scraping sound Of things no more entombed in ground. A shambling horde is on its way To crush the very light of day.  | Engraved Wand | 40 | (22-26)% increased Spell Damage+(10-20) to Intelligence Minions have (20-30)% increased Movement Speed Minions deal (50-70)% increased Damage +1 to maximum number of Raised Zombies +1 to maximum number of Skeletons +1 to maximum number of Spectres Reserves 30% of Life Cannot be used with Chaos Inoculation |
| Replica Midnight BargainReplica Midnight Bargain Engraved WandWand Physical Damage: 21-38 Critical Strike Chance: 7.00% Attacks per Second: 1.50Requires Level 40, 131 Int(22-26)% increased Spell Damage+(10-20) to Intelligence Minions have (40-50)% increased Movement Speed Minions deal (50-70)% increased Damage +6 to maximum number of Raging Spirits +3 to maximum number of Summoned Phantasms Reserves 30% of Life Cannot be used with Chaos Inoculation"Simply incredible. I caught an escaping test subject myself with swarms of burning skulls. Delightful!" - Researcher Olesya | Engraved Wand | 40 | (22-26)% increased Spell Damage+(10-20) to Intelligence Minions have (40-50)% increased Movement Speed Minions deal (50-70)% increased Damage +6 to maximum number of Raging Spirits +3 to maximum number of Summoned Phantasms Reserves 30% of Life Cannot be used with Chaos Inoculation |
Version history
| Version | Changes |
|---|---|
| 3.14.1 |
|
| 3.14.0 |
|
| 3.0.0 |
|
| 2.3.2 |
|
| 0.10.0 |
|
| 0.9.10e |
|
| 0.9.7d |
|
| 0.9.6 |
|
| 0.9.5h |
|
| 0.9.5 |
|
| 0.9.4 |
|
References
- ↑ https://fr.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/18201/page/1
- ↑ Dan_GGG (February 11, 2016). "Chaos Penetration vs CI?". Official Path of Exile Forums. Retrieved February 11, 2016.
- ↑ Mark_GGG (April 17, 2021). "re: CI (Chaos Inoculation) not granting 100% chaos immunity as it's supposed to with this patch". Official Path of Exile Forums. Retrieved April 20, 2021.