Light Radius is the most ignored stat in Path of Exile. At base level, it does nothing but increase your visibility across low-light maps. Naturally, when you’re hitting enemies with millions of damage, or having your minions deal with them, there’s really no need for you to see. However, the new Scion Ascendancy may finally have a use for it.
Additionally, if you’re looking to make use of Light Radius elsewhere, there are still some ways to make it useful and even increase your damage in Path of Exile. Here’s how to do it.
Luminary can become a dedicated support for their permanently hired Mercenaries, and one of the Ascendancy Passives, Oath of Fealty, grants you infinite Link duration. If we’re talking about support, Flame Link grants a large amount of flat Fire damage. Additionally, it also removes the death penalty if the Linked target dies.
But that’s not Light Radius? Right after Oath of Fealty, you have Golden Glory that allows Increases and Reductions in Light Radius to also apply to your Link Skill buffs. Meaning the flat fire damage will become even stronger. You can still get blinded, so getting the Blind Mastery is necessary.
Along with Luminary, there are uniques that can influence Light Radius. And among them, a few can have it affect other things in your build. Here are some Uniques worth checking out:
1) Wreath of Phrecia
Wreath of Phrecia allows your Increases and Reductions to Light Radius to also apply to Damage and is the best example of how you can weaponize the stat. The downside is that it’s a starter Unique with no defenses whatsoever. And unlike Path of Exile 2, we cannot upgrade it by any means.
2) Eclipse Solaris
A Unique Wand that adds more Fire damage to your attacks for every 1% your Light Radius is above the base value. However, it’s also an early game Unique, and for Ubers and Pinnacle enemies, it’s not a good idea to take an item with 40 base damage.
3) Incandescent Heart
A Unique body armor that adds more Chaos damage and increases your Light Radius by 30%. Additionally, it means your Light Radius is based on Energy Shield rather than Life. In theory, good Leech builds with Chaos Inoculation that can keep the ES topped can benefit from this Unique, as the stats are also not terrible. It may be the only usable item among the bunch if you’re planning to build around Light Radius in Path of Exile.
Looking at the Uniques that do make a difference, it’s clear why no one bothers to build around it. However, with the Legion rework, you can now transfer inherent traits from one Unique to another using Enshrouding Crystals. If you can rip the “Increases and Reductions to Light Radius to also apply to Damage” and get it on another Unique like Voll's Vision, there’s a chance to make this stat work.
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