In this article, we're going to be discussing a few broken mechanics and unintentional interactions in Path of Exile that are currently present in the game. These mechanics are quite powerful and may be subject to change in the next patch. While I don't believe they are game-breaking for this league, I anticipate they will be addressed in the future. If you're interested in making a character and building around these mechanics, now is the time to do so before they potentially get removed from the game.

 

• Mitigated physical damage
• Curse Mastery notable passive
• Broken Mechanic Builds Guides

 

↖ Mitigated physical damage

The first broken mechanic involves the Juggernaut ascendancy class and mitigated physical damage. It turns out that if you have 100% reduced reflected physical damage taken and deal significant physical damage in a reflect map or any area with reflect active, that damage counts as mitigated physical damage for the purpose of the Juggernaut's Unflinching node. 

 

 

This can result in an enormous amount of regeneration. Imagine dealing 20-30 million damage and stacking up an incredible amount of regen with this node. This mechanic also works with Divine Flesh, where the reduced reflected damage taken is considered mitigated damage for the node.

 

It's unclear if this interaction is intended or a bug, as reduced reflected physical damage taken is technically mitigated the damage. However, it's likely that this mechanic will be tweaked in the next patch to prevent such excessive regen.

 

↖ Curse Mastery notable passive

The second broken mechanic revolves around the Curse Mastery notable passive. This notable grants 1% of life and mana recovery when you curse a non-cursed enemy. Typically, you would curse an enemy using Curse on Hit or self-cast curses. 

 

 

If you curse the same enemy repeatedly, the passive wouldn't trigger since the enemy was already cursed. However, there's a ring in the game called Replica Doedre's Damning, which reduces your maximum curse limit to zero. When you have a zero curse limit and utilize a curse on a hit mechanic from a ring or other sources, a peculiar interaction occurs. 

 

When you hit an enemy, the curse briefly attempts to be applied, although it's immediately stripped off again due to the lack of curse slots. Despite not technically applying a curse, you still recover life and mana from the Curse Mastery passive. 

 

This interaction scales with the number of curse-on-hit mechanics in your build, such as multiple corrupted gloves, rings, or unique items with curse-on-hit. Each hit on an enemy will result in recovering a significant amount of life and mana. 

 

This broken mechanic can be especially powerful when combined with trigger setups as Archmage builds. Although it provides incredible mana and life recovery, this interaction is undoubtedly a bug and will likely be fixed in the next patch. It's simply too broken to remain in the game.

 

↖ Broken Mechanic Builds Guides

It's important to note that building around these mechanics comes with certain limitations and considerations. 

For the Juggernaut interaction, you would need to roll reflect on your maps or encounter reflect mechanics to take advantage of the immense regen. 

The Curse Mastery bug requires using the Replica Doedre's Damning ring and sacrificing equipment slots for curse-on-hit mechanics, which may impact your overall damage output. 

However, with careful planning, it's still possible to create powerful and fun builds around these mechanics.

 

Overall, these broken mechanics, along with other powerful aspects like the exploding totems and the strength of Vengeance Cascade, contribute to the excitement of the current league. While they may feel out of place and potentially overshadow other league mechanics, they add an element of interest and variety to the gameplay. We would love to hear your thoughts on these game-breaking mechanics.