The Annihilating Light Quarterstaff - Path of Exile

The Annihilating Light Quarterstaff

IconDescription
The Annihilating Light

The Annihilating Light is a unique Quarterstaff. Staves. Physical Damage: 51-86. Critical Strike Chance: 6%. Attacks per Second: 1.3. Weapon Range: 13.

Requires Level 68, 78 Str, 78 Int.

  • +18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff

  • (60–70)% reduced Elemental Resistances
  • Deal Triple Damage with Elemental Skills

Flavour Text: There is no force more destructive in the heavens than the scintillating light of utter clarity.

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Mechanics

  • "Elemental Skills" refer to any skill with the Fire, Cold, or Lightning tags. This includes Spells, Attacks, and Warcries. This also includes other difficult-to-scale things such as Glove enchantments and Heralds.
    • Minions skills do not inherently deal damage; they summon a minion which deals damage. Triple damage would not apply to Elemental Minions in this case.
  • #% reduced resistances (NOT a -#% to Resistances) is an additive modifier to other increase/reduced Resistances mods. Similar mod can be found on Blight unique helmets and other items such as Glimpse of Chaos; while Tempered by War has 50% less Cold/Lightning Resistance, which is multiplicative to increase/reduce Resistances instead of being additive.
  • Negative Resists will become less negative, so it has antisynergy with Doryani's Prototype.
  • There is a cap of 100% reduced resistances in-game so that you can never invert positive resistances into negative, or vice versa. At 100% reduced Resistances, your Resists will permanently be at 0.
    • With a 60% reduced Elemental Resistances roll, starting from -60% baseline (post Act 10 Kitava), you would need a total of +247.5% to Fire Resistance to reach 75% fire resistance. (same for cold/lightning)
    • With a 70% reduced Elemental Resistances roll, starting from -60% baseline (post Act 10 Kitava), you would need +310% to Fire Resistance to reach 75% fire resistance. (same for cold/lightning)

Strategies

  • Using this staff with any Cowl helmet (e.g. Cowl of the Thermophile; consequentially gaining >100% reduced Resistances) will cause your non-overridden resist to permanently be at 0, and will not invert them. Even with Thermophile + Divine Flesh or Tempered by War, you would still be taking half of all Cold and Lightning damage to 0 Cold/Lightning Res.
  • Incandescent Heart + Divine Flesh is an option to take 75% of Elemental Hits and 50% of Elemental DOTs as Chaos damage (to avoid investing into elemental resists); this allows the use of Glimpse of Chaos as long as you remove the line Chaos Resistance is Zero with a Vaal Orb.
  • Transcendence is another option, stacking Armour and additional Physical Damage Reduction.
  • Crystallised Omniscience can provide large amounts of Elemental Resistances, as well as Elemental Penetration, making it a nice synergistic unique.

Item acquisition

The Annihilating Light has restrictions on where or how it can drop. It cannot be chanced. Drops from the Searing Exarch.

Monster restrictions

This item can be acquired from the following monsters:

  • The Searing Exarch