This guide explains the Double Herald setup in Path of Exile 2, a technique combining Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder for devastating area-of-effect damage.

Key Components of the Double Herald Setup:

1. Herald of Ice: Socketed with the Lightning Infusion Support Gem.
2. Herald of Thunder: Socketed with the Cold Infusion Support Gem (Glaciation is recommended).
3. 60 Spirit: Required for sufficient mana.
4. Cold Damage Infliction Method: Essential to initially trigger Herald of Ice.

Implementing the Double Herald Setup:

Remember to activate both Herald skills in your skill menu. Effective initial procs for Herald of Ice include:

• Monk's Ice Strike (highly effective).
• Passive skills boosting Freeze buildup.
• Weapons/gloves with flat cold damage.
• Against the Darkness Time-Lost Diamond Jewel (+Cold damage percentage).

How the Heralds Interact:

• Herald of Ice: Triggers on Shattering a frozen enemy. Crucially, its cold damage cannot freeze, preventing self-perpetuation.
• Herald of Thunder: Triggers on killing a shocked enemy. Similarly, it cannot inflict shock independently.

The synergy lies in the Support Gems: Lightning Infusion converts a portion of Herald of Ice's damage to lightning (which can shock), and Cold Infusion converts a portion of Herald of Thunder's damage to cold (which can freeze). This allows a chain reaction: Herald of Ice (via cold damage) freezes, then shatters, triggering itself and shocking; this shock triggers Herald of Thunder, which freezes, triggering Herald of Ice again, and so on.

While ideally this creates an infinite chain, realistically it often stops after one or two cycles due to the need for a constant supply of enemies. Breaches are particularly advantageous due to their high enemy density.

The process begins by using a cold skill (like Ice Strike) to freeze and shatter an enemy, triggering Herald of Ice. Prioritizing Herald of Ice's activation is strategic because Freeze is easier to inflict than Shock, and Herald of Thunder's lightning bolts have better range.