Path of Exile Guide: How to Use Support Skill Gems to Link Your Skills

Path of Exile (PoE) is a game that thrives on complexity. Its character customization system, passive skill tree, and massive item variety make it one of the deepest ARPGs ever created. But one of the most defining and important mechanics in PoE—and now in Path of Exile 2 as well—is the skill gem and support gem system. Understanding how to properly use support skill gems to link your active skills can make the difference between a weak build and a world-destroying powerhouse to get Path of exile currency.

This guide explains how support skill gems work, how to link them to your active skills, what limitations and requirements exist, and how to maximize their potential for your build.

Understanding the Basics of Skill Gems

Every skill in Path of Exile comes from a skill gem. These gems are socketed into your equipment—typically weapons, armor, or helmets. Active skill gems grant you abilities such as Fireball, Cyclone, or Raise Zombie.

Each skill gem requires certain attributes (Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence) and scales in power as you level it up. By themselves, these gems define the core of your build—what you do in combat.

However, the real power of PoE’s skill system lies in support skill gems. These modify and enhance active skill gems in different ways, from increasing damage to altering the way a skill functions entirely.

What Are Support Skill Gems?

Support skill gems don’t provide new abilities. Instead, they augment active skill gems that they’re linked to through sockets. When linked properly, they grant bonuses such as increased damage, faster cast or attack speed, additional projectiles, or even complete behavior changes (for example, turning a single projectile into an area-of-effect blast).

For example:

Lesser Multiple Projectiles Support changes single-shot skills into multi-shot attacks.

Spell Echo Support lets you cast the same spell twice automatically.

Elemental Damage with Attacks Support boosts elemental attack damage dramatically.

Each support gem has a specific list of compatible skills. If a skill cannot be supported by a gem, the game will indicate it by greying out the support icon.

The Concept of Linking

Linking is the system that allows support gems to connect to active skill gems. Simply socketing gems into an item isn’t enough—they must be linked by lines between the sockets.

Here’s the core rule:

A support gem only affects active gems that it is linked to directly.

If two gems are in the same item but the sockets aren’t connected, the support gem has no effect.

For example:

If your 3-link chest piece has a Fireball gem connected to a Spell Echo and an Elemental Focus support gem (Fireball ↔ Spell Echo ↔ Elemental Focus), all are linked. Fireball will benefit from both supports.

But if the Fireball is not connected to one of the support gems by a link, it will not receive the bonus.

The Role of Equipment

Each piece of equipment in PoE has a different socket and linking potential. Typically:

Weapons and Shields: Up to 3–6 sockets, depending on item type.

Body Armour: Up to 6 sockets, and often used for your main skill setup.

Helmets, Gloves, Boots: Usually up to 4 sockets each.

The maximum number of linked sockets is six—commonly referred to as a 6-link. A 6-link setup allows you to use one active skill gem with up to five supporting gems, which often defines your primary damage skill.

Getting a 6-link item is one of the most significant power boosts you can achieve.

How to Link Sockets

Linking sockets requires currency items known as Orbs of Fusing. When used on an item, an Orb of Fusing will reroll how the sockets are linked.

The higher the quality of the item, the better the chances of achieving more links.

You can use the Crafting Bench (in your hideout) to guarantee a specific number of links, but it costs a large number of Orbs of Fusing.

Common link setups include:

3-link: Early game, often used for utility or mobility skills.

4-link: Mid-game, good for secondary damage setups.

5-link / 6-link: Late game, essential for main DPS skills.

Attribute and Socket Colors

Each socket has a color—red (Strength), green (Dexterity), or blue (Intelligence)—and this determines which skill gems can be placed in it.

Red sockets are for Strength-based gems (e.g., Heavy Strike, Melee Physical Damage Support).

Green sockets are for Dexterity-based gems (e.g., Split Arrow, Faster Attacks Support).

Blue sockets are for Intelligence-based gems (e.g., Fireball, Spell Echo Support).

Hybrid gems may require multiple attributes (e.g., Strength and Intelligence) and can fit in either corresponding socket color.

Using Chromatic Orbs, you can reroll the colors of sockets. Understanding how socket colors relate to the base item’s attribute type (Strength, Dexterity, or Intelligence) helps you optimize your linking setup without wasting too many resources.

Combining Active and Support Gems

Now that we know how linking works, let’s talk about how to build your skill setups effectively.

Suppose you’re using Fireball as your main skill. You might link it with the following supports:

Spell Echo Support (casts twice)

Elemental Focus Support (boosts elemental damage)

Controlled Destruction Support (increases spell damage but reduces crit chance)

Increased Area of Effect Support (expands explosion radius)

Empower Support (increases gem level for more base damage)

Together, this 6-link Fireball setup creates an immensely powerful single skill chain, capable of obliterating enemies.

However, different skills have different optimal supports. For example:

Cyclone benefits from Melee Physical Damage, Fortify, and Brutality.

Tornado Shot benefits from Greater Multiple Projectiles, Mirage Archer, and Elemental Damage with Attacks.

Summon Skeletons benefits from Minion Damage, Melee Splash, and Multistrike.

Experimenting and understanding compatibility is essential for building powerful combinations.

Gem Level and Quality

Support gems can be leveled up just like active skill gems. As they level, their bonuses increase—but so do their attribute requirements.

You can also improve the quality of a gem using Gemcutter’s Prisms (GCPs). Each prism increases a gem’s quality by 1% (up to a maximum of 20%), and quality enhances a gem’s effectiveness depending on its type.

For example:

A 20% quality Faster Attacks Support increases attack speed more significantly.

A 20% quality Minion Damage Support grants more minion damage.

In endgame builds, players often seek 20/20 (level 20, 20% quality) gems or even corrupt them for extra power.

Advanced Linking Mechanics in Path of Exile 2

In Path of Exile 2, the linking system evolves. Instead of linking sockets on gear, gems themselves are linked. Each skill gem can have its own support slots built into it.

This change makes build creation more flexible and removes the frustration of chasing perfect 6-link items. You can now focus on crafting your perfect gem combinations directly rather than depending on gear RNG.

However, the underlying logic remains the same: support gems only affect compatible active skills, and how you choose those supports still defines the strength and flavor of your build.

Tips for Efficient Gem Linking

Plan Your Build in Advance – Before investing currency, know which supports you need for your main skill. Tools like Path of Building can help you simulate combinations.

Use 4-links Wisely – Don’t underestimate smaller setups for utility skills like movement (Flame Dash + Faster Casting + Arcane Surge) or curses.

Don’t Overspend Early – Save your Orbs of Fusing until you reach endgame items. You’ll replace gear frequently in early acts.

Check Compatibility – Not every support gem works with every skill. Always read the “Supported Skills” section in the gem’s description.

Upgrade to 6-link Strategically – Only go for 6-links on strong endgame bases or unique items you plan to use long-term.

Conclusion

Support skill gems are the beating heart of Path of Exile’s build system. They take your active skills and elevate them from basic attacks or spells into customizable, devastating abilities. Understanding how to buy POE currency effectively—balancing socket colors, compatibility, and gear choices—is one of the most important steps toward mastering the game.

Whether you’re launching fiery meteors across the battlefield, commanding undead armies, or cleaving through hordes of monsters, your success depends on how well you combine and link your skill gems. Master this system, and you’ll unlock the true potential of your exile.