In Path of Exile 2, effective damage scaling often comes down to the right combination of POE2 Currency critical strikes and elemental bonuses. One such powerful passive that can enhance both is Storm Charge. This passive provides a straightforward yet impactful boost to elemental damage and critical strike chance, making it an excellent choice for builds focused on crits and elemental scaling.

What Is Storm Charge?
Storm Charge is a passive skill that grants two important benefits:

20% increased Critical Strike Chance

40% increased Elemental Damage if you've dealt a Critical Hit recently

The term "recently" means within the last 4 seconds. When you land a critical hit, your elemental damage will receive a 40% increase for the next 4 seconds. Importantly, this bonus applies to all elemental damage, not just the damage from the critical hit itself. This makes Storm Charge ideal for builds that deal elemental damage in various forms, such as spells, attacks, or damage over time (DoT) effects.

How Storm Charge Benefits Your Build
Storm Charge is effective because it provides a consistent damage boost through critical hits. Here’s how it works in practice:

Land a Critical Hit: Every time you land a critical hit, the 40% elemental damage boost is triggered.

Apply the Boost to All Elemental Damage: This boost affects not just the skill that triggered the critical hit but all your elemental damage for the next 4 seconds. This includes damage over time (e.g., Ignite, Poison, Shock), minions, and auras.

Maintain Uptime: The bonus lasts for 4 seconds, and as long as you can land another critical hit within that time, you can maintain the Storm Charge buff, allowing you to keep the damage boost active for extended periods.

This creates a smooth synergy between critical strike builds and elemental damage builds, especially for those who want to boost their DoT or crit-based elemental scaling.

How to Infuse Storm Charge into an Amulet
If you don’t want to take Storm Charge directly from the passive tree, you can infuse it onto an amulet. This is done using Distilled Emotions, which are special consumable items required to apply passives to your gear. To infuse Storm Charge, you will need the following Distilled Emotions:

Distilled Fear

Distilled Terror

Distilled Envy

These are dropped by Delirium enemies in Ultimate Delirium maps or can be exchanged for Distilled Mood through Alva in your Hideout. Distilled Mood is a currency used to acquire the Distilled Emotions, but Infused Waystones will prevent Distilled Mood from dropping.

Infusion Process – Step-by-Step
To infuse Storm Charge onto an amulet, follow these steps:

Prepare the Materials: Place your amulet and the three Distilled Emotions into your inventory.

Right-click on one of the Distilled Emotions to open the Infuse window.

Place the Amulet in the top slot of the window.

Insert the Distilled Emotions in the following order:

Distilled Fear

Distilled Terror

Distilled Envy

Once the items are correctly placed, you should see “Storm Charge” in the confirmation box.

Click Infuse to finalize the process.

Once infused, equipping the amulet will grant the Storm Charge passive effect, activating the 40% elemental damage boost after each critical hit.

Why Storm Charge Is a Great Choice
Storm Charge is a versatile and powerful passive that works well in many different builds. Here’s why it’s so effective:

Elemental and Crit Synergy: The combination of increased crit chance and elemental damage boost makes it an ideal choice for builds that rely on high critical strike chance and elemental scaling.

Damage Over Time (DoT) Builds: Even if your DoTs don’t crit, you can still benefit from the 40% increased elemental damage applied to Ignite, Shock, Poison, or other elemental effects.

Sustained Damage Boost: If you can consistently land critical hits every 4 seconds, the Storm Charge buff will stay active, allowing you to maximize damage output in long fights or high-tier content.

Amulet Infusion Flexibility: Infusing Storm Charge onto an amulet gives you the option to avoid investing points in the passive tree, freeing up space for other important passives. It also allows you to keep your gear flexible without sacrificing powerful buffs.

Storm Charge is one of the most powerful passives for builds that focus on critical strikes and elemental damage. Its synergy with critical hits makes it easy to maintain the 40% elemental damage boost for extended periods, enhancing both burst damage and sustained elemental output. Whether you choose to pick it up via the passive tree or infuse it into an amulet, Storm Charge can provide a substantial damage increase for nearly any elemental build.

If you're looking to boost your critical hits while amplifying your elemental damage, Storm Charge should be at the top of cheap POE 2 Currency your list in Path of Exile 2.