Game Mechanics
Master guide to POE2's elemental and status effect mechanics
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PoE2 combat blends fast action with deep scaling. Success comes from combining offence, layered defences, positioning and resource management.
Attacks must hit: your chance to hit depends on your Accuracy versus the target's Evasion, and accuracy also suffers a distance penalty. Spells skip the hit check entirely and cannot be evaded.
You gain +6 base Accuracy per character level and +6 Accuracy per Dexterity point.
Attacks take a distance penalty: there is no penalty within about 2 metres, scaling up to a maximum of around 90% less Accuracy beyond roughly 9 metres. (Older guides citing a 2-12 m window use a community approximation rather than a confirmed constant.)
Only attacks use accuracy and the distance penalty - spells always hit if in range.
Main skills are scaled with up to five support gems plus passives and gear. Look for 'more' multipliers and conversion synergies rather than just piling on 'increased' modifiers.
Layer defences: armour or evasion, block or deflection, energy shield or runic ward, and reliable recovery. Relying on a single layer is rarely enough for endgame.