Path of Exile: How does Unbound Ailments work?

Unbound Ailments Support Gem Guide in Path of Exile

Unbound Ailments is a Support Gem in Path of Exile that enhances all facets of Ailments players can inflict on enemies. It is an absolutely crucial part of any damage-over-time build, and it also synergizes well with mechanics that amplify non-damaging Ailments.

Support Gems, as their name suggests, are slotted alongside Skill Gems to boost the player’s primary and secondary skills. In Path of Exile, Support Gems are some of the strongest sources of damage and defense multipliers, usually offering flat damage boosts while enabling additional mechanics such as increased screen coverage and faster skill usage. For example, slotting the Fortify Support gem with any melee skill grants the player the Fortify buff when enemies are hit.

What is the Role of Unbound Ailments?

Much like other Support Gems, Unbound Ailments can be linked with any skill in the game. However, it specifically benefits the Ailments inflicted by that skill. According to the gem description, Unbound Ailments provides the following bonuses:

(35-54)% increased Duration of Ailments inflicted with supported Skills
(35-54)% increased Effect of non-Damaging Ailments on enemies
(10-19)% more Damage with Ailments from supported Skills

These values represent the range of buffs based on the gem’s level, as Support Gems gain ranks like Skill Gems. Additionally, buffs from Support Gems can be further increased by stacking gem levels through item affixes and corrupting the item to level 21.

Unbound Ailments can also gain increased Duration of Ailments (from 0.5% up to 10%) by applying Quality to the Support Gem using a Gemcutter’s Prism or similar methods.

It is important to note that Unbound Ailments specifically boosts the effect and duration of inflicted Ailments, so you still need a 100% chance to inflict these Ailments to gain full value from the Support Gem.

Non-Damaging Ailments Affected by Unbound Ailments

Unbound Ailments is one of the few sources in the game that affects all non-Damaging Ailments. These non-damaging Ailments include:

Chill
Brittle
Freeze
Shock
Sap
Scorch

As the name suggests, these Ailments do not directly deal damage but instead affect enemy actions and their damage mitigation. For instance, Chill reduces enemy action speed, while Sap reduces the outgoing damage of affected enemies. If you apply Chill multiple times with Unbound Ailments, the effect on the enemy’s action speed will be even greater.

How to Acquire Unbound Ailments

There are several ways to obtain the Unbound Ailments Support Gem, depending on your class and progression.

Unbound Ailments becomes usable starting at level 12.
Witches and Scions can get it easily by completing The Caged Brute quest, after which it can be purchased from Nessa.
This Support Gem can also be bought from Nessa if you are playing as a Witch, Templar, Scion, or Shadow.
Duelists and Marauders can purchase it from Siosa in Act 3 or Lily Roth in Act 6.
If you are having trouble finding it, you can ask other players in the global chat to sell you one.

Best Use Cases for Unbound Ailments

Given its bonuses, Unbound Ailments is a near-universal Support Gem for any ailment-focused build—this includes builds based on Ignite, Bleed, and Poison. Examples of suitable classes and builds include:

Bleed Gladiator
Ignite Elementalist
Poison Pathfinder
Poison-based Assassin

Unbound Ailments is also a core Support Gem in the popular Poisonous Concoction Pathfinder, a leading choice for starter builds in the ongoing Keepers of the Flame League.

One of the most interesting use cases for the non-damaging Ailments aspect of Unbound Ailments involves the Reverse-Chill interaction. By using skills that inflict Chill on yourself, then enhancing Chill’s effect with Unbound Ailments and other sources, and equipping the Winterweave Unique Sapphire Ring, you can flip the Chill effect to boost your action speed instead of reducing it. This enables extremely fast movement and actions during endgame content.

On a more general note, Unbound Ailments works well with skills like Summon Skitterbots. This skill summons two invulnerable minions that constantly inflict Chill and Shock on nearby enemies. Using Unbound Ailments with these minions boosts the effect of the Chill and Shock Ailments, increasing the damage enemies take.