Path of Exile 2, much like its predecessor, offers a deep and complex combat system with a variety of skill gems that players can utilize to tailor their characters to specific playstyles. One such skill that continues to stand out is Enfeeble — a powerful curse that drastically weakens enemies by reducing their chance to hit and lowering their critical strike chance. This article explores the mechanics of Enfeeble in Path of Exile 2, how it synergizes with builds, and strategies to maximize its effectiveness in both solo and group play.

What is Enfeeble?

Enfeeble is a curse skill gem that primarily focuses on weakening enemy offensive capabilities. In Path of Exile 2, Enfeeble reduces:

Enemies' chance to deal critical strikes, making them far less likely to land devastating crit hits.

Enemies’ chance to hit, which effectively reduces the frequency with which they land attacks, increasing your overall survivability.

Unlike many other curses, Enfeeble does not reduce damage dealt by enemies directly, but it significantly diminishes the frequency and impact of their attacks through these two important debuffs.

Why Use Enfeeble?

1. Superior Defensive Utility

Enfeeble shines as a defensive tool, especially in high-end content like bosses, maps, and league mechanics where enemy damage can be overwhelming. Reducing enemy crit chance means fewer one-shot or high burst hits. Meanwhile, lowering their chance to hit increases your overall dodge and block effectiveness indirectly by reducing incoming hits.

2. Enhances Evasion and Dodge Builds

Players focusing on evasion and dodge mechanics will find Enfeeble exceptionally powerful. Because it reduces enemy accuracy and crits, it synergizes perfectly with evasion-based defenses that rely on enemies missing attacks entirely. This combination can make you near untouchable, especially with additional layers of evasion, dodge, and on-hit effects.

3. Works in Group Play

In party play, applying Enfeeble to enemies benefits the entire team. Unlike curses that only affect damage dealt, Enfeeble protects everyone by reducing the enemy’s offensive output. This makes it a valuable utility curse in hardcore groups and tougher boss fights.

How to Use Enfeeble Effectively

1. Linking Enfeeble to the Right Supports

To maximize Enfeeble's effectiveness, players should use support gems that increase its curse application speed and duration, or increase area of effect to hit multiple enemies:

Swift Affliction Support: Greatly increases curse duration, allowing Enfeeble to last longer without needing to be recast frequently.

Void Manipulation Support: Boosts chaos damage, which can be helpful if you’re also dealing chaos damage or want to apply a DoT alongside Enfeeble.

Increased Area of Effect Support: Enlarges the radius so that Enfeeble hits more enemies at once.

Less Duration Support: Useful if you want to recast Enfeeble frequently for burst utility.

Spell Echo Support: Allows casting Enfeeble twice rapidly, doubling the curse application.

Choosing the right supports depends on your build and playstyle—whether you want to maintain a long-lasting curse or frequently refresh the effect.

2. Utilizing Cast on Hit / Cast on Crit Mechanics

Enfeeble can be automated through Cast on Hit Support (CoH) or Cast on Crit Support (CoC) setups, which is particularly useful for builds with fast attack speeds or high critical strike rates. This method allows the curse to be applied continuously during combat without manually casting it.

For example:

Link Enfeeble with Cast on Hit Support, and then connect that with your main attack skill. Every time you hit an enemy, Enfeeble is automatically applied, ensuring consistent uptime.

This automation is especially effective in fast-paced fights or when juggling multiple mechanics during boss battles.

3. Positioning and Timing

Since Enfeeble’s curse radius is limited, positioning is critical:

Stand close enough to enemies to apply the curse, but not so close that you expose yourself to danger.

Use movement skills (like Flame Dash or Dash) or minions to maintain a safe distance while keeping enemies within the curse radius.

Timing is important for bosses: apply Enfeeble before they enter high-damage phases to mitigate damage from critical hits and frequent attacks.

4. Synergies With Other Defensive Layers

While Enfeeble reduces chance to hit and crit chance, it’s best combined with other defensive mechanics to build an almost unbreakable defense:

Fortify: Increases your damage reduction from hits.

Energy Shield: Absorbs damage before your life pool is hit.

Block and Dodge: Further reduces incoming damage and avoids hits.

Mind Over Matter: Converts a percentage of damage taken to mana, which can be regenerated.

The key is to stack defensive layers so Enfeeble’s mitigation multiplies with other effects.

5. Pairing Enfeeble With Other Curses

In some builds, it is beneficial to run Enfeeble alongside other curses that reduce enemy damage or increase your damage output:

Temporal Chains: Slows enemies, reducing their attack speed.

Flammability or Assassin’s Mark: Reduces enemy resistances or increases your critical strike chance.

Projectile Weakness or Conductivity: Lower specific enemy defenses for your damage type.

By combining Enfeeble with curses that debilitate enemies in different ways, you maximize your combat effectiveness both defensively and offensively.

Build Examples Using Enfeeble

1. Evasion-Based Ranger or Shadow

This build focuses on evasion and dodge to avoid damage, while Enfeeble reduces enemies’ chance to hit and crit. It uses:

High evasion gear with additional dodge stats.

Enfeeble linked with Swift Affliction and Increased Area of Effect.

Cast on Hit Support linked to a fast attack skill (like Tornado Shot or Flicker Strike).

Other defenses like Acrobatics and Phase Acrobatics ascendancy nodes.

2. Minion-Based Necromancer

Here, the player uses minions to tank and apply curses:

Enfeeble is cast manually or through minions.

Minions tank hits, and Enfeeble lowers enemy offensive capabilities.

Necromancer ascendancy nodes increase curse effectiveness and minion survivability.

Additional curses like Temporal Chains or Assassin’s Mark are also used.

3. Spellcaster CI Build

Chaos or cold-based spellcasters often use Enfeeble for survivability:

Cast Enfeeble with Spell Echo and Swift Affliction for high uptime.

Use Cast on Crit or Cast on Hit to automate curse application.

Combine with Mind Over Matter and Energy Shield to tank hits.

Use other curses like Conductivity to reduce resistances.

Conclusion

Enfeeble is a powerful defensive curse that provides invaluable mitigation against enemy critical strikes and hit chance in Path of Exile 2. Its ability to drastically reduce the frequency and potency of enemy attacks makes it a cornerstone of many endgame builds, especially for evasion and dodge-based characters. By combining Enfeeble with the right support gems, positioning strategies, POE 2 Currency and other defensive layers, players can survive the most punishing encounters in the game with relative ease.

Whether you’re a solo player taking on challenging bosses or part of a team tackling hardcore league content, Enfeeble’s benefits extend to everyone, making it a must-have skill gem for any serious Path of Exile 2 adventurer.