After the announcement of the Path of Exile Bestiary League There is now also detailed information about the new gems. The Spectral shield throw many fans have longed for it. For the first time there is a skill that takes the defensive stats of a shield as the basis for damage.

Captain America in Path of Exile

There are different ways to maximize the damage, depending on which type of shield you choose. Here is the official explanation:

“For example, you can focus entirely on armor or evasion to maximize physical damage. You get 2-3 physical damage per 15 armor or evasion value of the shield, which is why tower shields, round shields and fist shields are particularly suitable for this.

In addition, a shield's energy shield value becomes an additional critical strike chance calculated. High-level dragon shields and spiked shields not only increase the damage, but also improve the critical hit chance. But you can also focus entirely on the critical hit chance by opting for a ghost shield and relying entirely on the additional damage, as the skill grants a lot of additional damage, which also increases with the level of the gem. As a result, the skill deals solid damage, even if the armor and evasion values of the shield are not quite as high. "

This turns the previous situation by 180 °, so far objects or shields were often worn offhand, purely for the modifications and not their direct damage values. With the new ability it will now be the other way around and the damage of the main hand weapon takes a back seat. Instead, you will focus more on attack speed or other effects.

As a projectile skill benefits Spectral shield throw also from the various support gems:

Concatenation causes extreme damage, especially for many opponents in one place crotch the splinter doubled. This also affects the splintering of the splinters. The range of the fragments, however, can be improved with increased projectile speed.

The skill cannot benefit from additional projectiles. it would only affect the splinters, but since these already offer 8 additional projectiles, this is no longer necessary. Also can Projectile volley not combined with the spectral shield throw, that would be the Path of Exile equivalent of an atomic bomb.

The video of the Path of Exile Developers with the demonstration of the new skill can be found at the beginning of the article.

Also has Bex from GGG given a sneak peek at the new unique items on Reddit: