Ward Items & Build Guide - Path of Exile

PoE Ward Guide	Ward Items	Ward Strength	Ward Build Guide
Ward Mods & Items	How to restore Ward?	Ward Uniques

PoE Ward Guide

Ward: An alternate Defence introduced in the Expedition League. Ward intercepts an amount of Damage taken from a single Hit, up to the total amount of Ward you have, before that Damage would be taken from your Energy Shield or Life. When this happens, Ward Breaks, and will be Restored after a short delay. Ward has no effect on further Hits while it remains Broken, but such Hits will also not reset the delay before it is Restored.

Path of Exile: Expedition introduced a new defence type, Ward. For Expedition base type items, instead of Armour, Evasion and Energy Shield, these items have Ward. Ward is a new defensive property. It protects you from all damage types, taking damage from a hit before your energy shield or life up to the amount of Ward you have. Ward is broken when any damage is taken from it, even if the damage taken was lower than the amount of Ward you have. Ward is instantly restored after 5 seconds. As the right example shown, the outmost is Ward, Shield is in the middle, and Life is in the innermost. A rare Runic Helm grants 73 Ward and get +39 to ward mods that improve it. Ward is a defence and Ward Restoration Time is 5 seconds. For the undead enemies you unearth in Expedition encounters, they also have Ward rather than traditional defenses.

Ward, Exile, a beacon of hope against the relentless onslaught of enemy blows! It stands as a shield before your life, absorbing a portion of incoming damage and giving you precious moments to react. Let's delve into its intricacies and empower you to harness its defensive potential!

What is Ward?

Ward is a unique defense mechanic introduced in Path of Exile: Expedition League. Unlike traditional defenses like armor or evasion, Ward absorbs a set amount of damage from the first hit it takes each second. Think of it as a temporary barrier that shatters upon impact, buying you valuable breathing room in the heat of battle.

How does it work?

Ward has unique characteristics compared to other defenses:

Full Absorption: Each hit Ward absorbs its entire value, regardless of the damage dealt.
Single Hit Trigger: Ward only activates once per second against the first hit. Subsequent hits within that second ignore Ward and damage your life or other defenses directly.
Recharge Timer: Upon activation, Ward enters a 5-second cooldown before becoming operational again.

Where do I find Ward?

Ward is primarily found on specific item bases from Expedition and Blight content:

Body Armor: Chests, Loricas, and Leather Jackets can have inherent Ward rolls.
Iron Flasks: Certain flasks provide temporary Ward bonuses with specific charges.

Benefits of Ward:

Ward offers several advantages for a savvy Exile:

Strong against Burst Damage: It mitigates the initial impact of heavy hits, protecting your life pool from sudden spikes.
Versatile Defense: Works against all damage types, making it valuable against diverse enemies.
Independent Scaling: Scales independently from other defenses, offering additional layers of protection.

Considerations for Ward:

Remember, Ward has limitations:

Single Hit Limitation: It only triggers once per second, offering limited protection against rapid attacks.
Cooldown Period: The 5-second recharge can leave you vulnerable during high-pressure situations.
Item Availability: Ward items are less common than standard equipment, requiring specific farming strategies.

Integrating Ward into your Build:

Ward Synergies: Consider skill interactions like Endurance Charge generation or life regeneration to complement Ward's cooldown and sustain your defenses.
Balanced Approach: Don't neglect traditional defenses like resistances and mitigation alongside Ward. Aim for a layered approach to ensure comprehensive protection.
Active Play: Remember that Ward provides an opportunity, not a guarantee. Be ready to dodge, reposition, and use recovery measures as needed to maximize its effectiveness.

Embrace Ward, Exile, and watch your survivability soar! Use its unique strengths wisely, synergize it with your build, and let it stand as a testament to your resilience in the face of peril.

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PoE 3.19 Changes

Problem: Ward is a relatively niche defensive mechanic, but currently is mainly strong when paired with the Olroth's Resolve unique flask, and not worth investing in otherwise.

Solution: Reduce the base ward restoration time, which is already bypassed by Olroth's Resolve but a limiting factor for ward's usefulness in other cases. Allow builds to invest further in faster ward restoration if they so desire.

Ward is now instantly restored after 4 seconds (previously 5 seconds).
Added 5 tiers of a new Suffix modifier that can roll on Ward base types, granting up to 58% faster Restoration of Ward.
The Faithguard Unique Helmet now has 40–60% faster Restoration of Ward (previously 20–30%). Existing versions of this item can be updated to the new values with a Divine Orb.

Ward Items

Base Type	Category	Ward Value⁽¹⁾	Uniques	Requirement
Runic Helm	Helmet	41 - 200	Faithguard Runic Helm	Level 25, 30 Str, 30 Dex, 30 Int
Runic Crest	Helmet	97 - 404		Level 49, 55 Str, 55 Dex, 55 Int
Runic Crown	Helmet	164 - 629	Cadigan's Crown Runic Crown	Level 68, 66 Str, 66 Dex, 66 Int
Runic Greaves	Boots	20 - 132		Level 24, 20 Str, 20 Dex, 20 Int
Runic Sollerets	Boots	52 - 359	Olroth's Charge Runic Sollerets	Level 48, 37 Str, 37 Dex, 37 Int
Runic Sabatons	Boots	85 - 388	Vorana's March Runic Sabatons	Level 69, 46 Str, 46 Dex, 46 Int
Runic Gloves	Gloves	24 - 141		Level 24, 16 Str, 16 Dex, 16 Int
Runic Gages	Gloves	62 - 272	Nightgrip Runic Gages	Level 48, 31 Str, 31 Dex, 31 Int
Runic Gauntlets	Gloves	102 - 416	Medved's Challenge Runic Gauntlets	Level 69, 38 Str, 38 Dex, 38 Int
Iron Flask	Flask	+200 to Ward Restores Ward on use	Elixir of the Unbroken Circle Iron Flask Olroth's Resolve Iron Flask Starlight Chalice Iron Flask Vorana's Preparation Iron Flask	Level 40

(1) Note that the ward value is only a reference and is not precise.

Ward Strength 3.16

Increase base Ward on Expedition base types and adjust unique Expedition items that scale from ward.

The Runic Helm base type now grants 41 base Ward (previously 34).
The Runic Crest base type now grants 97 base Ward (previously 81).
The Runic Crown base type now grants 164 base Ward (previously 137).
The Runic Greaves and Runic Gloves base types now grant 24 base Ward (previously 20).
The Runic Sollerets and Runic Gages base types now grant 62 base Ward (previously 52).
The Runic Sabatons and Runic Gauntlets base types now grant 102 base Ward (previously 85).
The Nightgrip Unique Gloves provided a bit too much Added Chaos from Ward. It now has “Gain Added Chaos Damage equal to 20% of Ward” (previously 25%). Existing items can be updated to these worse values using a Divine Orb.

Ward Build Guide

Ward does not modify damage taken, it changes how/where you take damage. For example, a skill supported by CWDT will still count damage that breaks ward.

Damage breaks Ward before being taken from your life or energy shield, and breaking Ward is treated the same as taking an amount of that damage up to the value of your ward (thus that much damage from the hit doesn't get taken from life/mana/es). Aegises, Guard Skills, etc get at the damage first, so if all damage is taken from "external" things like those, there will be none left to break ward, and thus ward will not break.

However unlike all the other things that damage is taken from, Ward is not a pool that can be depleted. The value of ward is always the same, that value just doesn't do anything while it's broken. There is no "Maximum Ward" with a current value that changes to zero, there's just "Ward", and whether or not it's broken, which is a boolean state.

Ward is restored (stops being broken) after a set delay from when it was broken (default 5 seconds). As you correctly surmised, taking more hits while ward is broken has no effect on this.

Ward Mods & Items

Mods: +x to Ward
Mods: x% increased Ward
Helmet: Runic Helm, Runic Crest, Runic Crown. It provides 34 - 629 wards.
Boots: Runic Greaves, Runic Sollerets, Runic Sabatons. It provides 20 - 388 wards.
Gloves: Runic Gloves, Runic Gages, Runic Gauntlets. It provides 20 - 416 wards.
Flask: Iron Flask. +200 to Ward. Restores Ward on use.

Currently, there is no passive skill tree or gem related to ward.

How to restore Ward?

When you’re hit, your Ward is completely depleted and reduces the damage dealt to you by that amount.

It will restore automatically after 5 seconds. If you are dealt with damage, it also restore after five seconds. Your ward replenishes itself and you’re protected from the next hit.
Restores Ward instantly on using one of these flasks: Elixir of the Unbroken Circle, Olroth's Resolve, Starlight Chalice, and Vorana's Preparation.

As the following example shown, when you are dealt with damage, Ward removes firstly, then decreases Shield, last decreases Life. Meanwhile, Ward will restore automatically after 5 seconds.

How to restore Ward

List of Ward Uniques

Name	Stats	Notes
Cadigan's Crown	Never deal Critical Strikes Battlemage(Gain Added Spell Damage equal to the Damage of your Main Hand Weapon)	Base Type: Runic Crown Requires Level 68, 66 Str, 66 Dex, 66 Int Ward: 137
Elixir of the Unbroken Circle	Restores Ward on use (20–40)% increased Duration 0% reduced effect Recover 4% of Life per Endurance Charge on use Lose all Endurance Charges on use Gain 1 Endurance Charge per Second during Flask Effect	Base Type: Iron Flask Requires Level 40 Lasts 3 Second Consumes 40 of 60 Charge on use Currently has 60 Charge +200 to Ward
Faithguard	+(20–30) to Intelligence (25–35)% increased Ward (20–30)% faster Restoration of Ward (15–25)% increased Light Radius Increases and Reductions to Maximum Energy Shield instead apply to Ward	Base Type: Runic Helm Requires Level 25, 30 Str, 30 Dex, 30 Int Ward: 43
Medved's Challenge	800% increased Attribute Requirements (30–50)% increased Ward +(15–25)% to all Elemental Resistances 80% less Flask Charges gained from Kills Flasks gain 1 Charge per second if you've Hit a Unique Enemy Recently (Attributes are Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence) (Recently refers to the past 4 seconds)	Base Type: Runic Gauntlets Requires Level 69, 342 Str, 342 Dex, 342 Int Ward: 114
Nightgrip	(33–48)% increased Ward +(17–23)% to Chaos Resistance Gain Added Chaos Damage equal to 25% of Ward 75% of Damage bypasses Ward	Base Type: Runic Gages Requires Level 48, 31 Str, 31 Dex, 31 Int Ward: 73
Olroth's Charge	(50–80)% increased Ward (30–50)% slower Restoration of Ward 20% increased Movement Speed Gain Adrenaline for 3 seconds when Ward Breaks (Adrenaline grants 100% increased Damage, 25% increased Attack, Cast and Movement Speed and 10% additional Physical Damage Reduction)	Base Type: Runic Sollerets Requires Level 48, 37 Str, 37 Dex, 37 Int Ward: 86
Olroth's Resolve	Restores Ward on use (40–50)% increased Charges used Ward does not Break during Flask effect 70% less Ward during Flask Effect	Base Type: Iron Flask Requires Level 40 Lasts 3 Second Consumes 40 of 60 Charge on use Currently has 60 Charge +200 to Ward
Starlight Chalice	Restores Ward on use (20–30)% increased Charge Recovery Inflict Fire, Cold and Lightning Exposure on nearby Enemies when used (20–30)% increased Effect of Non-Damaging Ailments you inflict during Flask Effect (Each Exposure applies -10% to the matching Resistance for 4 seconds) (Ailments that do not deal Damage are Scorched, Chilled, Frozen, Brittle, Shocked, and Sapped)	Base Type: Iron Flask Requires Level 40 Lasts 3 Second Consumes 40 of 60 Charge on use Currently has 60 Charge +200 to Ward
Vorana's March	Has no Sockets Triggers Level 20 Summon Arbalists when Equipped 25% increased Movement Speed Summoned Arbalists have (10–20)% chance to inflict Cold Exposure on Hit Summoned Arbalists have (10–20)% chance to Intimidate for 4 seconds on Hit Summoned Arbalists Convert (30–50)% of Physical Damage to Fire Damage (Cold Exposure applies -10% to Cold Resistance for 4 seconds) (Intimidated enemies take 10% increased Attack Damage)	Base Type: Runic Sabatons Requires Level 69, 46 Str, 46 Dex, 46 Int Ward: 85
Vorana's Preparation	Restores Ward on use (-10–10)% reduced Charges used Debilitate nearby Enemies for 2 Seconds when Flask Effect ends Flask Effect is removed when Ward Breaks Culling Strike during Flask Effect (Enemies that are Debilitated have 20% less Movement Speed and deal 10% less damage) (Culling Strike means enemies that are on 10% or lower life after your Hit are Killed)	Base Type: Iron Flask Requires Level 40 Lasts 3 Second Consumes 40 of 60 Charge on use Currently has 60 Charge +200 to Ward

Ward Unique Item Example

Faithguard is a unique Runic Helm. This unique helmet allows you to go all-in with Ward as a defensive option for your character. It causes all increases to Energy Shield to affect your Ward instead, grants you a bunch of Ward, and helps it recover faster. Requires Level 25, 30 Str, 30 Dex, 30 Int. Ward: 43. +30 to Intelligence 25% increased Ward 26% faster Restoration of Ward 23% increased Light Radius Increases and Reductions to Maximum Energy Shield instead apply to Ward Flavour text: The priests of the Kalguur worshipped knowledge, not gods.

Ward Mechanics & Explained

The way that Ward works is that you have a certain amount of it, and that amount is fully deducted from the first incoming hit that you receive. Your Ward is then disabled, and takes five seconds to re-enable. At that point, the next hit you receive is substantially mitigated in the same way. It’s quite a different style of defensive property, and works very well in conjunction with systems like Evasion, Block or Dodge.