Cruelty - Path of Exile

1. PoE Cruelty Explained	2. Cruelty Source	3. Damage Over Time Effects	4. Cruelty Buff	5. Cruelty Support

1. PoE Cruelty Explained

Cruelty makes all Skills Supported by Cruelty Support deal up to 40% more Damage over Time, based on the amount of Damage in the Hit which grants it.

Source: Cruelty Support(Hits from Supported Skills grant Cruelty), Damage Over Time Mastery(30% increased Effect of Cruelty).
Cruelty is a buff. It grants more Damage Over Time. The DOT value based on the percent of maximum life removed by a damaging hit. For a level 20 Cruelty Support,

Hit does x% of the monster’s maximum life Grants y% more Damage Over Time

0.01% 15.85%

3.2% 40%
Maximum Cruelty Effect is 40%. It cannot bypass even you stack Cruelty Support gem quality. No matter how much “increased effect of Cruelty” you have, you will still be limited to 40% increased DOT taken.
Cruelty has a Base Duration of 4 seconds. Divergent Cruelty Support: Cruelty granted by Supported Skills has (0–20)% increased Duration.
The effect of Cruelty calculator: E = (5 / 6) * (D / L)^0.2 * (1 + M). where D is the is the percent of life removed by damage, L is the enemy’s maximum life, and M is the sum of increases to Cruelty effect.
Traps don’t work well with cruelty. In order for a trap to get the damage bonus, your character must have another source of cruelty AS WELL as support the trap with cruelty support. This is because a trap supported by cruelty support will give itself the cruelty buff, but it only will benefit from buffs attached to your character.

Hit does x% of the monster’s maximum life	Grants y% more Damage Over Time
0.01%	15.85%
3.2%	40%

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Can totems benefit from the Cruelty buff? And what about traps/mines?

Totems, Traps, and Mines use your skills. If you have Cruelty, your skills that are supported by Cruelty Support will deal more damage over time. This is true regardless of whether those skills are used by you or by your totems, traps or mines.

If a totem somehow gained the Cruelty buff itself, that would do nothing, because even if it had skills of its own, those wouldn't be supported by Cruelty support.

2. Cruelty Source

2.1 Cruelty Support

Supports any skill that hits enemies.

Supported Skills deal (15–24)% more Damage with Hits
Cruelty has a Base Duration of 4 seconds
Hits from Supported Skills grant Cruelty
(0–19)% increased Effect of Cruelty granted by Supported Skills

Additional Effects From Quality: (0–5)% increased Effect of Cruelty granted by Supported Skills.

2.2 Passive: Damage Over Time Mastery

30% increased Effect of Cruelty
+10% to Damage over Time Multiplier if you’ve Killed Recently
15% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies, 15% increased Skill Effect Duration
10% less Damage Taken from Damage over Time

3. Comparison of Common Damage Over Time Effects

Damage over time (often refered to as DoT) is a damage inflicted continuously over a period of time. Unlike the other three damage sources, damage over time does not hit.

All damage over time effects are a kind of debuff. A creature can have multiple applications of these debuffs of the same type but usually only the one with the highest damage per second works at any given time (except for poison where all applications stack cumulatively); this is true even in the case of effects applied by different players or sources.

For example, if two players each apply the ignite status ailment to the same target, only the higher damage per second of the two ignites will affect the target, at least until the higher fades and leaves the second ignite to become the new highest. In this context, two damage over time effects are to be considered the same only if they have the same name; a target may be affected by multiple effects that deal burning damage (such as Righteous Fire, ignite and burning ground).

Name	Inflicting hit damage as DPS	Default duration	Total bonus damage per stack	Max. stacks	DPS at max. stacks	Total bonus damage from max. stacks	CollapseDefault DoT damage type
Bleed	70% of Physical	5 s	350%	1	70%	350%	Physical
Bleed, target moving	210% of Physical	5 s	1050%	1	210%	1050%	Physical
Bleed, with Crimson Dance	35% of Physical	5 s	175%	8	280%	1400%	Physical
Ignite	50% of Fire	4 s	200%	1	50%	200%	Fire
Ignite, 1 Emberwake	30.30%–33.3% of Fire	6–6.6 s	200%	2	60.6%–66.7%	400%	Fire
Ignite, 2 Emberwakes	21.7%–25% of Fire	8–9.2 s	200%	3	65.2–75%	600%	Fire
Ignite, 1 Replica Emberwake	67.5%–72.5% of Fire	2.7–2.9 s	200%	1	67.5–72.5%	200%	Fire
Ignite, 2 Replica Emberwakes	85%–95% of Fire	2.1–2.4 s	200%	1	85%–95%	200%	Fire
Ignite, 1 Emberwake, 1 Replica Emberwake	40.9%–48.3% of Fire	4.1–4.8 s	200%	2	81.8%–96.7%	400%	Fire
Poison	20% of Physical + Chaos	2 s	40%	∞	∞	∞	Chaos
Poison from Viper Strike	20% of Physical + Chaos	4 s	80%	∞	∞	∞	Chaos

4. Cruelty Buff

Cruelty is a buff associated with Cruelty Support that grants more damage over time to supported skills.

Icon	Description
	Skills supported by Cruelty Support deal more damage over time.

5. Cruelty Support

Cruelty Support is a Strength/Intelligence support gem. It supports skills that hit enemies, causing them to deal more damage with hits. You also gain a Cruelty buff, which makes all supported skills deal up to 50% more damage over time, based on the amount of damage of the initial hit.

Supports any skill that hits enemies. Minions cannot gain Cruelty.

Support, Duration. Level: 1–20. Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 140%. Requires Level 18.

Supported Skills deal (15–24)% more Damage with Hits
Cruelty has a Base Duration of 4 seconds
Hits from Supported Skills grant Cruelty
(0–19)% increased Effect of Cruelty granted by Supported Skills

This is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Active Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket.

Name	Additional Effects From Quality	Weight
Cruelty Support	(0–5)% increased Effect of Cruelty granted by Supported Skills	100

Cruelty Support Build

Main Skill	Builds
Vaal Earthquake or Earthquake	Vaal Earthquake + Brutality Support + Fist of War Support+ Deadly Ailments Support + Less Duration Support + Cruelty Support(or Fortify Support, Melee Physical Damage Support)
Lancing Steel	Lancing Steel + Brutality Support + Impale Support + Vicious Projectiles Support + Maim Support + Cruelty Support(or Pierce Support, Bloodthirst Support)
Reckoning (item provided)	Reckoning + Cruelty Support + Culling Strike Support+ Life Gain on Hit Support
Split Arrow	Split Arrow + Brutality Support + Vicious Projectiles Support + Chance to Bleed Support + Deadly Ailments Support + Cruelty Support(or Chain Support)

Deal up to 50% more damage over time, based on the amount of damage of the initial hit

At gem level 20, The Cruelty buff provides:

15.85% more damage over time to skills supported by Cruelty when the hit does 0.01% of the monster's maximum life.
50% more damage over time to skills supported by Cruelty when the hit does 3.2% of the monster's maximum life.

Cruelty Support Build Example

The Cruelty Support Gem grants a buff called Cruelty which increases the damage over time you deal with supported skills. It also boosts the hit damage from supported skills, and the Cruelty buff gets stronger the harder you hit. This gem is designed as an additional option for builds that focus on both hits and damage over time.

Cruelty Support Alternate Quality

Name	Additional Effects From Quality	Weight
Cruelty Support	(0–5)% increased Effect of Cruelty granted by Supported Skills	100
Anomalous Cruelty Support	Supported Skills have (0–20)% increased Critical Strike Chance	50
Divergent Cruelty Support	Cruelty granted by Supported Skills has (0–20)% increased Duration	50

Level Effect

Level	Requires Level	Strength	Intelligence	#% increased Effect of Cruelty granted by Supported Skills	Supported Skills deal 15% more Damage with Hits	Experience
1	18	21	14		15	69,833
2	22	24	17	1	15	128,549
3	26	28	19	2	16	154,553
4	29	31	21	3	16	225,374
5	32	34	23	4	17	320,672
6	35	37	25	5	17	447,718
7	38	40	27	6	18	615,318
8	41	42	29	7	18	834,639
9	44	45	31	8	19	1,570,760
10	47	48	33	9	19	1,633,987
11	50	51	35	10	20	2,151,030
12	53	54	37	11	20	2,812,189
13	56	57	39	12	21	3,655,184
14	58	58	40	13	21	3,017,327
15	60	60	42	14	22	7,818,905
16	62	62	43	15	22	15,256,013
17	64	64	44	16	23	26,260,555
18	66	66	46	17	23	62,855,887
19	68	68	47	18	24	212,002,638
20	70	70	48	19	24
21	72			20	25
22	74			21	25
23	76			22	26
24	78			23	26
25	80			24	27
26	82			25	27
27	84			26	28
28	86			27	28
29	88			28	29
30	90			29	29
31	91			29	29
32	92			30	30
33	93			30	30
34	94			31	30
35	95			31	30
36	96			32	31
37	97			32	31
38	98			33	31
39	99			33	31
40	100			34	32

Quest Rewards

Cruelty Support is now offered to the Marauder, Templar, Witch and Scion for completing Sharp and Cruel, and can be purchased from Yeena.

Cruelty Support Popularity in Different Classes

Class	Cruelty Support Popularity
Gladiator	31%
Elementalist	19%
Hierophant	14%
Juggernaut	5%
Occultist	5%
Champion	5%
Inquisitor	5%
Trickster	5%
Chieftain	2%
Deadeye	2%
Pathfinder	2%
Necromancer	2%
Assassin	2%

Cruelty Support Screenshots

PoE 3.14.1

Fixed a bug where the Duelist was unable to purchase Cruelty Support from Yeena after completing Sharp and Cruel.