Defensive Synergies
While Human Form relies on ranged combat and Path of Exile 2 Currency elemental magic, Shapeshifting Forms provide increased defensive utility, allowing you to tank or mitigate damage. Combining both forms allows you to switch between offensive and defensive roles, depending on the situation.
Elemental Shield + Tanking (Human Form + Bear Form)
Elemental Shield in Human Form can absorb fire, cold, or lightning damage, giving you temporary damage resistance. Once the shield is depleted, you can switch to Bear Form, which provides damage reduction and increased survivability.
Synergy: The combination of Elemental Shield and Bear Form’s tanking allows you to stay safe while casting elemental spells from afar, then tank damage up close if the enemies break through your shield. This synergy ensures that you can take the hits while dealing damage and controlling enemies with your elemental attacks.
Crowd Control + Melee Survivability (Human Form + Bear Form/Wolf Form)
Crowd Control Spells (Cold + Lightning): Use Ice Shards to freeze enemies or Chain Lightning to shock them in Human Form, providing crowd control and damage debuffs. When enemies get too close, switch to Bear Form to tank damage or Wolf Form for increased speed and dodge.
Synergy: The freeze and shock effects from your cold and lightning spells give you the space to engage in melee combat with Bear Form, which provides extra resistance and health. Alternatively, Wolf Form grants movement speed and evasion, which allows you to avoid damage while continuing to use elemental spells.
3. Offensive Synergies for Hybrid DPS Builds
The Hybrid DPS Playstyle allows you to combine both elemental spellcasting and physical attacks, using Human Form to deal ranged elemental damage and Shapeshifting Forms for melee combat. This creates synergies that enhance both your damage output and versatility.
Elemental Overload + Shapeshifting
Elemental Overload (if available) significantly boosts your elemental damage. After casting lightning spells like Lightning Storm, you can switch to Bear Form or Wolf Form for melee combat, adding physical damage to your elemental-based attacks.
Synergy: The elemental overload boosts your fire, cold, or lightning damage, and transitioning into Bear Form provides you with the tankiness to endure hits while using melee attacks. Switching to Wolf Form for faster melee attacks allows you to deal both ranged elemental damage and physical melee damage in quick succession.
Weapon Scaling + Elemental Buffs
Weapon Scaling: When in Bear Form or Wolf Form, your weapon-based attacks gain significant scaling. If you focus on weapon enhancements (such as physical attack boosts or crit multipliers), you can further increase your overall DPS.
Synergy: Using elemental spells to soften up enemies before engaging in physical combat is highly effective. For example, cast Volcano to deal fire damage over time while transitioning into Bear Form for physical melee damage. This creates an uninterrupted flow of POE 2 Currency both elemental and physical damage, maximizing your DPS in any given encounter.