Channelled skill

Channelling is a skill mechanic that effects how certain skills are used to attack or cast.

Mechanics

Using Channelled Skills

Most skills in Path of Exile are considered "Fire and Forget". Meaning that once the player uses a skill, the effect is triggered the specified number of times denoted by said skill, and upon the completion of that action being performed, the skill is finished and ready to be used again. Unlike fire and forget skills, when you use a channelled skill the effect doesn't finish until you release the relevant button/key. Your character will continue performing the same skill repeatedly.

Similar to other skills, when the player initiates a channelled skill, the mana cost is used to start the ability. While the player continues to channel a skill by holding the corresponding trigger key, the mana cost of the skill must be paid relative to the attack/cast speed of the associated skill. Having insufficient resources to continue using a channelled skill will end the channell of the skill and trigger any end of channelling effects, such as the additional hits from Blade FlurryBlade FlurryAttack, AoE, Channelling, Melee
Radius: 14 / 17 / 19
Mana Cost: 4
Cast Time: 1.00 sec
Damage Effectiveness: (45% to 56%)Requires Level 28Repeatedly strike at enemies in a circle in front of you while channelling, dealing damage to and around the struck enemy. The damage is continually boosted while channelling. You unleash an additional strike for each stage reached once the channelling ends. Requires a Dagger, Claw or One-Handed Sword.Per 1% Quality:
0.5% increased Attack SpeedDeals (45-56.4)% of Base Damage
60% more Attack Speed
20% more Damage with Hits and Ailments for each stagePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket..

Example

A player casts an unsupported level 1 IncinerateIncinerateProjectile, Spell, Fire, Channelling
Mana Cost: (6 to 9)
Cast Time: 0.20 sec
Damage Effectiveness: 30%
Projectile Speed: 700Requires Level 12Continuously launches a torrent of fire from your hand. The longer you channel this spell, the larger and more damaging the flames become.Per 1% Quality:
2% increased Projectile SpeedDeals (6-136) to (9-204) Fire Damage
50% more Damage with Hits and Ailments for each stage
Projectiles Pierce all TargetsPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket..

At the start of the cast the player must pay the mana cost of 6. If the player continues to hold the key needed to continue channelling, after .2 seconds of casting another 6 mana is spent to sustain the cost of continuing channelling the skill. This cycle of 6 mana every .2 seconds will continue in perpetuum until the key is released and channelling stops or insufficient mana is available to continue casting.

Other than insufficient mana, channelling can be halted by:

• Being subjected to a stun
• Becoming inflicted with a silence curse (if the skill used is a spell)
• Death

Triggered effects

On use triggers

Effects which trigger when you use a skill will only trigger when you initially start channelling, regardless of how long you maintain a channelled skill. As long as a player continues to channell an ability, this counts as the same single use of the skill. This makes effects such as gaining an power charge using Power Charge On Critical SupportPower Charge On Critical SupportSupport
Icon: P
Mana Multiplier: 110%Requires Level 18Supports any skill that hits enemies.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills have 1% increased Critical Strike ChanceSupported Skills have (35-54)% chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical StrikeThis 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., life regeneration for casting a spell with LifesprigLifesprig
Driftwood WandWands
Quality: +20%
Physical Damage: 4.8–9.6
Critical Strike Chance: 7.00%
Attacks per Second: 1.40
Weapon Range: 120Requires 14 Int(8-12)% increased Spell Damage+1 to Level of Socketed Spell Gems
(20-28)% increased Spell Damage
(5-8)% increased Cast Speed
+(15-20) to maximum Life
+(15-20) to maximum Mana
Regenerate (6-8) Life over 1 second when you Cast a SpellFrom the smallest seeds
To the tallest redwoods,
Life endures in Wraeclast. equipped, and other on use effects are limited to one event per channelling regardless of the number of times the trigger criteria is met during the same channell.

This mechanic can have limiting effects for certain supports such as Power Charge On Critical SupportPower Charge On Critical SupportSupport
Icon: P
Mana Multiplier: 110%Requires Level 18Supports any skill that hits enemies.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills have 1% increased Critical Strike ChanceSupported Skills have (35-54)% chance to gain a Power Charge on Critical StrikeThis 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., but can also be used to great advantage. Critical Strike chance is only rolled once per channelling. This means that if the first hit of a channelled skill scores a critical strike, all other hits while that skill is channelled will be critical strikes as well. The exception to this is when a hit is made a critical due to a conditional Critical Strike Chance modifier such as Assassin's MarkAssassin's MarkCurse, Spell, AoE, Duration
Radius: 22
Mana Cost: (24 to 50)
Cast Time: 0.50 secRequires Level 24Curses all targets in an area, making them more vulnerable to Critical Strikes. Killing the cursed targets will grant life and mana, and a chance to gain a power charge.Per 1% Quality:
Cursed enemies have a 0.5% chance to grant a Power Charge when slainBase duration is (6-9.8) seconds
Cursed enemies take 20% increased Extra Damage from Critical Strikes
Cursed enemies have an additional (5-9)% chance to receive a Critical Strike
Cursed enemies grant (16-25) Life when Killed
Cursed enemies grant (16-25) Mana when Killed
Cursed enemies have a (21-30)% chance to grant a Power Charge when slain
+(0-10) to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. or the Assassin notable passives Ambush and Assassinate.

On hit triggers

Effects which trigger on hit will trigger as with any other skill in the game that produces a hit. Life gain, leech, power charge per enemy hit while wearing Voll's ProtectorVoll's Protector
Holy ChainmailQuality: +20%
Armour: 349
Energy Shield: 70Requires Level 35, 53 Str, 53 Int5% reduced Movement Speed (Hidden)60% increased Armour and Energy Shield
50% reduced maximum Mana
Gain a Power Charge for each Enemy you hit with a Critical StrikeAlthough a great leader during the war,
Voll proved disastrous in times of peace., Curse On Hit SupportCurse On Hit SupportCurse, Trigger, Support
Icon: &Requires Level 38Must support both a skill that hits enemies, and a curse skill to work. The curse will be applied when enemies are hit by the other skill. Cannot support totems, traps, or mines. Minions cannot apply curses this way.Per 1% Quality:
0.5% increased Effect of Supported CursesSupported Skills apply supported Curses on Hit
Supported Skills have (50-12)% reduced Curse Duration
You cannot Cast Supported CursesThis 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., Cast On Critical Strike SupportCast On Critical Strike SupportSupport, Spell, Trigger
Icon: &
Mana Multiplier: 140%
Can store 1 use(s)
Cooldown Time: 0.50 secRequires Level 38Must support both an attack skill and a spell skill to work. The attack skill will trigger a spell when it critically strikes an enemy. Cannot support totems, traps, or mines. Vaal skills and skills that reserve mana cannot be triggered.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills have 1% increased Critical Strike ChanceSupported Attacks will Trigger a Supported Spell when you Crit an Enemy
Supported Skills deal (20-39)% more Spell Damage
You cannot Cast Supported Triggerable Spells directlyThis 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., and other on hit effects will all trigger as normal.

Multistrike and Spell Echo

Channelled skills cannot be supported by Multistrike SupportMultistrike SupportAttack, Melee, Support
Icon: 3
Mana Multiplier: 180%Requires Level 38Supports melee attack skills, making them repeat twice when used, targeting a random enemy each time. Cannot support Vaal skills, totem skills, channelling skills, or triggered skills.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills deal 0.5% increased Melee Physical DamageSupported Skills Repeat 2 additional times
Supported Skills have (75-94)% more Melee Attack Speed
Supported Skills deal 30% less Attack DamageThis 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. or Spell Echo SupportSpell Echo SupportSpell, Support
Icon: k
Mana Multiplier: 140%Requires Level 38Supports spell skills, making them repeat when cast. Cannot support Vaal skills, totem skills, channelling skills, triggered skills, or skills which reserve mana.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills deal 0.5% increased Spell DamageSupported Skills Repeat an additional time
Supported Skills have (51-70)% more Cast Speed
Supported Skills deal 10% less DamageThis 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. because they operate in continuous fashion while they are being channeled; they do not consist of discrete attacks or casts that can be repeated.

Related skills

The skill gems below have the Channeling gem tag.

Skill gem
Blade FlurryBlade FlurryAttack, AoE, Channelling, Melee Radius: 14 / 17 / 19 Mana Cost: 4 Cast Time: 1.00 sec Damage Effectiveness: (45% to 56%)Requires Level 28Repeatedly strike at enemies in a circle in front of you while channelling, dealing damage to and around the struck enemy. The damage is continually boosted while channelling. You unleash an additional strike for each stage reached once the channelling ends. Requires a Dagger, Claw or One-Handed Sword.Per 1% Quality: 0.5% increased Attack SpeedDeals (45-56.4)% of Base Damage 60% more Attack Speed 20% more Damage with Hits and Ailments for each stagePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A			28
Charged DashCharged DashMovement, AoE, Channelling, Attack, Lightning, Melee Mana Cost: 4 Cast Time: 1.00 secRequires Level 28Channel to project a mirage forward in the direction you're facing, based on your movement speed. Release to teleport to the mirage dealing area of effect damage multiple times along the way. Travelling further applies a bonus to the damage as well as dealing damage in larger areas. Faster attack speed and lower movement speed will both cause damage to be dealt more frequently along the path.Per 1% Quality: 0.5% increased Attack SpeedDeals (99.5-99.61)% of Base Damage 40% more Attack Speed 50% of Physical Damage Converted to Lightning Damage 100% more Damage with Hits at Maximum Dash DistancePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A		N/A	28
BlightBlightSpell, Chaos, AoE, Channelling, Duration Radius: 26 Mana Cost: (2 to 4) Cast Time: 0.30 secApply a debuff to enemies in front of you which deals chaos damage over time. Enemies who aren't already debuffed by Blight are also hindered for a shorter secondary duration, slowing their movement. Continued channelling adds layers of damage to the debuff, each with their own duration.Per 1% Quality: 0.5% increased Area of EffectDeals (1.7-209.9) Base Chaos Damage per second Base duration is 2.5 seconds Base secondary duration is 0.8 seconds 80% reduced Movement Speed Debuff can have up to 20 layers of Damage Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect +(0-4) to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A	N/A		1
Cast while Channelling SupportCast while Channelling SupportSupport, Channelling, Spell Icon: W Mana Multiplier: 140%Requires Level 38Must support both a channelling skill and a non-channelling spell skill to work. The channelling skill will trigger a spell periodically while channelling. Cannot support totems, traps, or mines. Vaal skills and skills that reserve mana cannot be triggered.Per 1% Quality: Supported Skills deal 0.5% increased DamageTrigger a Supported Spell every (0.45-0.35) seconds while Channelling Supported Skills You cannot Cast Supported Triggerable Spells directly Supported Skills deal (0-9)% more DamageThis 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.	N/A			38
FlameblastFlameblastSpell, AoE, Fire, Channelling Mana Cost: (6 to 9) Cast Time: 0.20 sec Critical Strike Chance: 5.00% Damage Effectiveness: 50%Requires Level 28Channels to build up a large explosion, which is released when you stop using the skill. The longer you channel, the larger the area of effect and damage of the explosion.Per 1% Quality: 1% increased DamageDeals (32-241) to (48-362) Fire Damage 110% more Spell Damage for each stage 55% more Damage with Ailments for each stagePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A	N/A		28
IncinerateIncinerateProjectile, Spell, Fire, Channelling Mana Cost: (6 to 9) Cast Time: 0.20 sec Damage Effectiveness: 30% Projectile Speed: 700Requires Level 12Continuously launches a torrent of fire from your hand. The longer you channel this spell, the larger and more damaging the flames become.Per 1% Quality: 2% increased Projectile SpeedDeals (6-136) to (9-204) Fire Damage 50% more Damage with Hits and Ailments for each stage Projectiles Pierce all TargetsPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A	N/A		12
Scorching RayScorching RaySpell, Fire, Duration, Channelling Mana Cost: (4 to 10) Cast Time: 0.50 secRequires Level 12Unleash a beam of fire that burns enemies it touches, and decreases their fire resistance. Remaining in the beam intensifies the burning, adding a portion of the beam's damage in stages. Enemies who leave the beam continue to burn for a duration. Increasing cast speed also increases the rate at which the beam can turn.Per 1% Quality: 0.5% increased beam lengthDeals (8.2-388.4) Base Fire Damage per second Base duration is 1.5 seconds Additional Debuff stages add 60% of Damage Burning Debuff can have a maximum of 8 stages Debuff applies -3% Fire Resistance per stage Total Fire Resistance penalty from all Beams cannot exceed -24% Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effectPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A	N/A		12
Storm BurstStorm BurstProjectile, AoE, Spell, Lightning, Channelling Mana Cost: (5 to 10) Cast Time: 0.65 sec Critical Strike Chance: 5.00% Damage Effectiveness: 10%Requires Level 28Unleash a stream of projectiles while you channel this spell, which pierce through enemies, dealing lightning damage. When you stop channeling, the projectiles explode, dealing significant damage in an area around them. Additional projectiles are added in sequence.Per 1% Quality: 0.5% increased Area of EffectDeals (9-50) to (13-76) Lightning Damage 250% more Area Damage Adds an additional ProjectilePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A	N/A		28
WitherWitherSpell, AoE, Duration, Chaos, Channelling Mana Cost: (4 to 10) Cast Time: 0.28 secRequires Level 10Casts a debilitating effect on enemies in an area, Hindering their movement and applying a stacking debuff that increases the Chaos Damage they take. This effect can stack up to 20 times.Per 1% Quality: 1% increased Skill Effect Duration(30-36)% reduced Movement Speed 7% increased Chaos Damage taken Base duration is 0.5 seconds Base secondary duration is 2 seconds (0-19)% increased Area of EffectPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.	N/A	N/A		10

Mock Channelled Skills

Channelled skills are relatively new to Path of Exile (implemented in Version 2.4.0), and while some older skills were intuitively restructured to abide by the new channelling rules, some other related skills were not.

• Lightning TendrilsLightning TendrilsSpell, AoE, Lightning
  Radius: 22
  Mana Cost: (6 to 26)
  Cast Time: 0.80 sec
  Critical Strike Chance: 6.00%
  Damage Effectiveness: 35%Lightning is released from your hands four times in quick succession, damaging all enemies in an arc in front of you.Per 1% Quality:
  1% increased Lightning DamageDeals (1-24) to (3-461) Lightning Damage
  +(0-6) to radiusPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.
• CycloneCycloneAttack, AoE, Movement, Melee
  Mana Cost: 12
  Cast Time: 1.00 sec
  Damage Effectiveness: (45% to 56%)Requires Level 28Damage enemies around you, then perform a spinning series of attacks as you travel to a target location. Cannot be supported by Multistrike.Per 1% Quality:
  0.5% increased Area of EffectDeals (45-56.4)% of Base Damage
  50% more Attack Speed
  30% less Movement Speed
  First Hit deals 50% less Damage
  +(0-3) to Melee rangePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket.

These two skills exhibit properties very similar to Channelled Skills, but lack the proper mechanics and tags to be considered Channelled. As such, neither skill can be supported by Cast while Channelling SupportCast while Channelling SupportSupport, Channelling, Spell
Icon: W
Mana Multiplier: 140%Requires Level 38Must support both a channelling skill and a non-channelling spell skill to work. The channelling skill will trigger a spell periodically while channelling. Cannot support totems, traps, or mines. Vaal skills and skills that reserve mana cannot be triggered.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills deal 0.5% increased DamageTrigger a Supported Spell every (0.45-0.35) seconds while Channelling Supported Skills
You cannot Cast Supported Triggerable Spells directly
Supported Skills deal (0-9)% more DamageThis 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.. Additionally these skills follow their own specific rules for attacking/casting. For example, Lightning Tendrils can be supported by Spell Echo SupportSpell Echo SupportSpell, Support
Icon: k
Mana Multiplier: 140%Requires Level 38Supports spell skills, making them repeat when cast. Cannot support Vaal skills, totem skills, channelling skills, triggered skills, or skills which reserve mana.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills deal 0.5% increased Spell DamageSupported Skills Repeat an additional time
Supported Skills have (51-70)% more Cast Speed
Supported Skills deal 10% less DamageThis 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., but Cyclone cannot be supported by Multistrike SupportMultistrike SupportAttack, Melee, Support
Icon: 3
Mana Multiplier: 180%Requires Level 38Supports melee attack skills, making them repeat twice when used, targeting a random enemy each time. Cannot support Vaal skills, totem skills, channelling skills, or triggered skills.Per 1% Quality:
Supported Skills deal 0.5% increased Melee Physical DamageSupported Skills Repeat 2 additional times
Supported Skills have (75-94)% more Melee Attack Speed
Supported Skills deal 30% less Attack DamageThis 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..

There are other skills that arguably exhibit mock channelled functions. If in doubt about whether or not a skill truly qualifies as a channelled ability, check the skill gem for the Channelling gem tag.