They Just Buffed Totems Even More | Bone Cage Looks Interesting | Path of Exile 2 0.5
Summary
- Totem Balancing: The current community discussion regarding “pre-nerfing” Spell Totems stems from a misunderstanding of the inherent limitations of the archetype in Path of Exile 2.
- Fundamental Constraints: Totems face significant disadvantages compared to attack-based builds, including the inability to use Cast on Critical Strike (CoC), lack of access to on-kill effects, and the absence of scaling through flat damage on gear.
- Necessity of Scaling: Spellcasters require specific scaling vectors like Archmage or Life Stacking to remain viable; removing these would render the playstyle ineffective.
- Spell Cascade Changes: The update allows Spell Cascade to be linked with Spell Totems, opening new potential for skills like Bone Cage.
- Bone Cage Mechanics: Bone Cage shows promise due to its high base damage and crit chance. While Spell Cascade reduces damage by 30%, its ability to hit multiple times per target via overlapping rings makes it a viable choice.
- Archetype Challenges: Players are restricted to using only one Spell Totem at a time, making gem-swapping or hybrid self-casting necessary for single-target encounters.
The Totem Power Debate
There is currently a push from segments of the community to nerf Spell Totems, specifically concerning mana costs. However, these calls ignore the realities of the caster archetype. Spellcasters without dedicated scaling vectors—such as Archmage or Life Stacking—are objectively weaker than attack-based counterparts. Attack builds benefit from stacking flat damage on gear, whereas spellcasters do not have equivalent opportunities.
Totems are further disadvantaged by:
- Inability to use Cast on Critical Strike.
- Inability to trigger Infusion or use skills associated with it.
- Lack of on-kill effects (including Onslaught or passive tree node benefits).
- Inability to leech mana or life, as they are considered separate entities from the player.
Spell Cascade Buffs
A significant change in the latest patch is the ability to use Spell Cascade with Spell Totems. While many skills are limited by global maximums or slow cast times—making them suboptimal—certain skills benefit from this interaction.
Bone Cage and Future Potential
Bone Cage stands out as a high-potential skill for this archetype.
- Characteristics: It deals purely physical damage, has a high base critical strike chance (15%), and provides defensive utility by pinning enemies.
- Interaction: When used with Spell Cascade, it generates multiple rings that can hit the same target, effectively compensating for the 30% less damage penalty associated with the support gem.
- Testing Notes: Tests confirm that Bone Cage totems can coexist simultaneously without being unsummoned, allowing for multiple instances to be active.
- Limitations: The archetype is limited to one Spell Totem at a time. This creates a friction point where players must either gem-swap for bossing or adopt a hybrid self-casting approach, as Bone Cage lacks exceptional single-target damage compared to dedicated bossing skills.