Path of Exile: How does Unbound Ailments work?

Unbound Ailments is a Support Gem in Path of Exile that affects all facets of Ailments that players can inflict on enemies. It is an absolutely crucial part of any damage-over-time builds, but also plays really well into any player mechanics that hinge on amplifying non-damaging Ailments.

Support Gems, as the name suggests, are slotted with Skill Gems to enhance the player’s primary and secondary Skills. Path of Exile’s Support Gems are some of the strongest damage and defense multipliers in the game, offering mostly flat damage boosts while enabling additional mechanics that amplify screen coverage and speed of use. For example, slotting in Fortify Support with any Melee Skill to grant players the Fortify buff when enemies are hit with said Skill.

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What is the role of Unbound Ailments in Path of Exile?

You'll pick it up around level 12 and never leave it again (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

Much like the aforementioned Support Gem, Unbound Ailments can be slotted in with any Skill in the game, but can only benefit any Ailments inflicted by said Skill. As per the Gem description, Unbound Ailments can grant the following benefits:

• (35-54)% Increased Duration of Ailments inflicted with Supported Skills
• Supported Skills have (35-54)% increased Effect of non-Damaging Ailments on Enemies
• Supported Skills deal (10-19)% more Damage with Ailments

These numeric values represent the threshold of said buffs at every Gem level, as Support Gems also gain ranks like Skill Gems. And similar to Skill Gems, buffs granted by Support Gems can also be increased by stacking more Gem levels from item affixes and corrupting the item to Level 21. Furthermore, Unbound Ailments can also gain an additional (0.5-10)% increased Duration of Ailments inflicted with Supported Skills, from applying Quality to the Support Gem through Gemcutter’s Prism and other means.

Just to be clear, Unbound Ailments specifically targets the effect and duration of inflicted Ailments, so you’ll still need a 100% chance to inflict Ailments to get value from the Support Gem. Interestingly, Unbound Ailments is one of the few sources in the game that affects all non-Damaging Ailments. Non-Damaging Ailments in this case are the following:

• Chill
• Brittle
• Freeze
• Shock
• Sap
• Scorch

These Ailments, as their designation suggests, do not inflict damage on enemies but affect their action and incoming damage mitigation. For example, Chill reduces Action Speed, while Sap reduces the outgoing damage of affected enemies. However, if a skill with Unbound Ailment Chills the same enemy, their Action Speed will be reduced even further.

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How can you get Unbound Ailments?

There are multiple ways to acquire the Support Gem, but it depends on which class you're playing as. Unbound Ailments primarily becomes usable at and after level 12, which is also when it becomes available as a purchase option or a drop from an enemy. Witches and Scions have the easiest acquisition, for they can claim it as a reward for completing The Caged Brute quest.

After completing said quest, the Support Gem is available as a purchasable option from Nessa. However, only Witches, Templars, Scions, and Shadows can make use of this option. As for Duelists and Marauders, they can purchase it from Siosa in Act 3 or from Lily Roth in Act 6. If you are truly desperate, ask players in global chat to buy one for you, and someone will usually do so.

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Also Read: Path of Exile: Hive Fortress guide

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What are the best use cases for Unbound Ailments in Path of Exile?

Lily Roth can salvage all of your Gem needs once you reach Act 6 (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

As the Gem’s description and affixes suggest, it is almost a universal Support Gem for any ailment-oriented build, basically any build that uses Ignite, Bleed, and Poison. Bleed Gladiator, Ignite Elementalist, Poison Pathfinder, and Poison-based Assassin are some of the easiest examples. It is, in fact, one of the first Support Gems on the Poisonous Concoctoon Pathfinder, one of the leading League starter builds for the ongoing Keepers of the Flame League.

Perhaps one of the best use cases for the Non-Damaging Ailment aspect of Unbound Ailments involves using skills to inflict Chill on yourself, increasing the ailment’s effect with Unbound Ailment and other sources, then using the Winterweave Unique Sapphire Ring to flip the Chill’s effect to boost your Action Speed. This interaction, called Reverse-Chill, is one of the cooler (no pun intended) interactions in Path of Exile's endgame that allows one to move and interact extremely fast.

On a more generic front, Unbound Ailments can be used with Summon Skitterbots. This Skill Gem summons two invulnerable minions that constantly inflict Chill and Shock on enemies around them. Using Unbound Ailments with these minions, players can boost the effect of Shock and Chill inflicted on enemies and, in turn, deal increased damage.

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Check out our other Path of Exile guides and articles:

• 7 best League starters for Path of Exile 3.27
• All Bloodline Ascendancies in Path of Exile known so far
• Path of Exile: Biggest winners and losers of patch 3.27

Edited by Arnab Chakrabarti