Path of Exile 2's 0.5 expansion, Return of the Ancients, brings an enormous batch of new unique items that promise to redefine build possibilities across every class. From a wand that removes the curse limit entirely to a jewel that replicates one of PoE1's most coveted chase items, these uniques introduce mechanics that didn't previously exist in the game - fire-to-cold full conversion, permanent companion armies, righteous fire-style auras, and more.
PoE 2 0.5 New Chase Unique Items (Return of the Ancients)
The 0.5 expansion adds roughly 40 new unique items, many of which were showcased during the Return of the Ancients Livestream on May 7, 2026. These items range from build-defining weapons and armor pieces to utility items that slot into existing archetypes and push them further. Several of them grant entirely new skills, while others modify game rules in ways that open up previously impossible interactions. Below is a ranked list of the most impactful new uniques, starting with the strongest and most build-warping options available.
1. Voices (Sapphire Jewel)
Allocates 2 [SinisterJewelSockets|Sinister] Jewel sockets
Corrupted
Voices was one of the most sought-after items in Path of Exile 1, and it returns in PoE 2 with a similar concept adapted to the new jewel system. It consumes a jewel slot but allocates 2 Sinister Jewel sockets, effectively giving you more room to stack powerful jewels on your passive tree. Since jewel slots are widely considered the strongest scaling mechanism in PoE 2 right now, Voices functions as an endgame chase item that fits into virtually any build. The more copies you can slot in, the more jewel real estate you gain—allowing for extreme min-maxing of stats, damage, and defenses through stacked rare or unique jewels.
Best For: Any build looking to maximize passive tree scaling; particularly valuable for builds that rely on specific jewel mods for damage conversion, critical multiplier, or attribute stacking.
2. Twisted Empyrean (Aberrant Sledge)
Grants Skill: Level 18 Starborn Onslaught
94% increased Physical Damage
Adds 166 to 372 Cold Damage
+319 to maximum Mana
+4.43% to Critical Hit Chance
10% of Damage is taken from Mana before Life
Attacks with this Weapon have Added Cold Damage equal to 6% to 10% of maximum Mana
Convert 100% of Fire Damage with Mace Skills to Cold Damage
This two-handed mace converts 100% of Fire Damage with Mace Skills to Cold Damage, which opens up an entirely new archetype: full cold conversion melee. It also grants the Starborn Onslaught skill, a cold meteor shower-style ability that was shown during the livestream creating massive AoE ice impacts. Combined with its added cold damage scaling from maximum Mana and a base addition of 166 to 372 Cold Damage, this weapon turns any fire-based mace skill into a cold variant with enormous raw numbers.
Best For: Cold conversion mace builds, Mana-stacking melee builds, Warrior or Monk characters who want to turn Volcanic Fissure or similar fire skills into cold variants for freeze and shatter gameplay.
3. Liminal Coil (Twisted Wand)
Grants Skill: Level 17 Coiling Bolts
71% increased Spell Damage
11% increased Cast Speed
Magnitudes of Curses you inflict are zero
Curses you inflict ignore Curse limit
Spell Hits Gain 27% of Damage as Extra Chaos Damage per Curse on target
Spell Hits Gain 27% of Damage as Extra Physical Damage per Curse on target
This wand completely removes the curse limit from your character and then rewards you for stacking as many curses as possible. Each curse on a target grants 27% of Damage as Extra Chaos Damage and 27% of Damage as Extra Physical Damage to your spell hits. With five or six curses applied simultaneously, the bonus damage scaling becomes astronomical. The tradeoff is that the magnitudes of your curses are reduced to zero—meaning your curses provide no slowing, no resistance reduction, and no other debuff effects. They exist purely as damage multipliers through this weapon's unique interaction.
Best For: Curse-stacking spellcasters, Witch builds, any character that can efficiently apply multiple curses and then follow up with high base damage spells. The Coiling Bolts skill provides a built-in delivery method for bouncing projectiles that spread curses across packs.
4. The Raven's Flock (Perching Staff)
Grants Skill: Level 18 Spiraling Conspiracy
14% increased Cast Speed
+24 to Intelligence
Minions deal 111% increased Damage
Minions have 12% chance to inflict [GruellingMadness|Gruelling Madness] on Hit
34% increased Spirit Reservation Efficiency of Skills
This staff creates what the community is already calling "Raven Righteous Fire"—an aura of minion ravens that orbit your character and destroy nearby enemies. It grants the Spiraling Conspiracy skill, provides 111% increased Minion Damage, and gives minions a 12% chance to inflict Gruelling Madness on hit. The 34% increased Spirit Reservation Efficiency means you can run additional auras alongside this setup. Since the ravens count as minions, they scale with all minion damage modifiers, creating a passive damage field that grows more lethal as you invest in minion scaling.
Best For: Minion builds that want a Righteous Fire-style mapping experience, Witch characters, any summoner archetype that benefits from passive area damage while minions handle single-target fights. Likely to be extremely popular if the damage scales well into high-tier content.
5. Ironbound (Warden Bow)
(20—30)% chance to Chain an additional time
+119 to Armour
9% increased Attack Speed
+12% to Block chance
5% increased Block chance per 100 total [ItemArmour|Item Armour] on Equipped Armour Items
Hits with this weapon have 1 to 4 Added Physical Damage per 1% Block Chance
Arrows Return if they have Pierced a target which had Fully Broken Armour
Ironbound introduces chaining and returning arrow mechanics that could be transformative for skills like Essence Drain and Contagion-style spreading abilities. Arrows that pierce a target with fully broken armour return to you, and hits gain added physical damage per 1% Block Chance—a stat this bow also helps stack with its +12% to Block and scaling per 100 total Item Armour. The 20-30% chance to chain an additional time adds another layer of projectile coverage across packs.
Best For: Physical bow builds that stack armour and block, Ranger or Mercenary characters running projectile skills that benefit from chaining and returning mechanics. Potentially god-tier for Essence Drain Contagion if the chaining interaction works as expected.
6. Horror's Flight (Engraved Bracers)
Grants Skill: Level 18 Crushing Fear
213% increased Evasion Rating
14% increased Attack Speed
+22 to Dexterity
Adds 19 to 34 Chaos Damage to Attacks
Gain 1 [FearIncarnate|Fear Incarnate] when you Cull a target
These gloves introduce the Culling/Execute mechanic in a powerful way. When you cull a target (kill them at a life threshold), you gain Fear Incarnate stacks. The text suggests this can push your culling threshold dramatically higher—potentially to the point where you execute enemies at very high life percentages, effectively one-shotting entire screens. The gloves also provide strong offensive stats with 14% Attack Speed, Chaos Damage to Attacks, and the Crushing Fear granted skill.
Best For: Fast-hitting attack builds that can rapidly accumulate Fear Incarnate stacks, Ranger or Monk characters focused on clearing maps at speed, any build that invests in cull threshold scaling.
7. Periphery (Heartwood Shortbow)
Grants Skill: Level 17 Azmerian Swarms
Adds 49 to 90 Fire Damage
Adds 38 to 70 Cold Damage
Adds 1 to 135 Lightning Damage
12% increased Attack Speed
Elemental Damage from Hits Contributes to Flammability, Ignite, and Chill Magnitudes, Freeze Buildup, and Shock Chance
This bow breaks the normal ailment rules by allowing all elemental damage types to contribute to all ailment types. Fire damage can now chill and shock, cold damage can ignite, and lightning damage can freeze. This opens up multi-element bow builds that stack all three damage types and apply every ailment simultaneously. It also grants the Azmerian Swarms skill, which summons small minions that run around and damage nearby enemies—providing additional clear alongside your main attacks.
Best For: Elemental bow builds that want full ailment coverage, Ranger characters running multi-element setups, any bow build that benefits from applying shock, chill, freeze, and ignite simultaneously for defensive and offensive layering.
8. The Ordained (Grand Spear)
Grants Skill: Spear Throw
25% increased Melee Strike Range with this weapon
Grants Skill: Level 18 Righteous Descent
243% increased Physical Damage
Adds 1 to 209 Lightning Damage
+6.47% to Critical Hit Chance
Life Leech recovers based on your Lightning damage as well as Physical damage
Create a [DivineFragment|Fragment of Divinity] in your Presence every 4 seconds
The Ordained is a melee weapon that adds lightning-based life leech and grants the Righteous Descent skill, a divine leap ability that looks visually striking and provides strong mobility. Every 4 seconds, it creates a Fragment of Divinity in your presence, which appears to function as a pickup that empowers your next action. With 243% increased Physical Damage, added Lightning Damage up to 209, and +6.47% Critical Hit Chance, the raw stats alone make this a competitive endgame weapon before considering its unique mechanics.
Best For: Melee spear builds focused on lightning damage, Monk or Warrior characters who want strong life sustain through leech, any build that values the combination of high crit, mobility skills, and self-sustain.
9. Sylvan's Effigy (Stoic Sceptre)
Grants Skill: Level 3 Discipline
Grants Skill: Level 18 Azmerian Wolf
54% increased Spirit
Allies in your Presence Regenerate 64 Life per second
+9 to all Attributes
Companions deal 85% increased damage to your Marked targets
You can have any number of Companions of different types
This sceptre removes the restriction on companion types, allowing you to have any number of companions of different types simultaneously. Normally, builds are limited in how many companion types they can field—this item eliminates that cap entirely. It also provides 54% increased Spirit, 85% increased companion damage to marked targets, and grants the Discipline aura at Level 18. For companion-focused builds, this is a centerpiece item that enables army-style gameplay with wolves, birds, and other companion types all active at once.
Best For: Companion/summoner hybrid builds, Ranger or Spirit Walker characters who want to run multiple companion types, any build that invests in marking targets and letting companions handle damage.
10. The Unleashed (Revered Vestments)
+1% to all Maximum Elemental Resistances
183% increased Armour and Energy Shield
100% increased Spell Damage
+17 to Strength and Intelligence
17% of Damage taken from Hits bypasses Energy Shield if Energy Shield is below halt
Lose all Runic Bindings when you Shapeshift to gain an equal amount of Unbound Potential
Gain 1 Runic Binding on Hit with Spells, no more than once each second
This body armour introduces a unique resource system called Runic Bindings that interacts with shapeshifting. You gain 1 Runic Binding on hit with spells (no more than once per second), and when you shapeshift, you lose all Runic Bindings to gain an equal amount of Unbound Potential. The armour also provides +1% to all Maximum Elemental Resistances, 100% increased Spell Damage, and 183% increased Armour and Energy Shield. The tradeoff comes from 17% of damage bypassing Energy Shield when ES is below half.
Best For: Shapeshift-spell hybrid builds, Druid characters who alternate between caster and shapeshift forms, any build that can stack Runic Bindings through rapid spell hits before converting them into burst power through shapeshifting.
11. Brutus' Lead Sprinkler (Morning Star)
Grants Skill: Level 18 Molten Shower
Hits with this Weapon have 5% chance to Trigger Molten Shower per 25 Strength
102% increased Physical Damage
7% increased Attack Speed
+23 to Strength
5 to 10 Added Attack Fire Damage per 25 Strength
A returning favorite concept from PoE1, Brutus' Lead Sprinkler scales fire damage based on Strength. For every 25 Strength, you gain 5 to 10 Added Attack Fire Damage and a 5% chance to trigger Molten Shower on hit. In a Strength-stacking build with 1000+ Strength, this translates to massive flat fire damage and frequent meteor-style procs raining down on enemies. The 102% increased Physical Damage and 7% Attack Speed provide a solid baseline even before the Strength scaling kicks in.
Best For: Strength-stacking attack builds, Warrior characters investing heavily in Strength through gear and passive tree, any melee build that can reach high Strength totals to maximize both the flat fire damage and Molten Shower trigger frequency.
12. Eventide Petals (Veridical Chain)
Grants Skill: Level 18 Midnight Zenith
+32 to maximum [Ward|Runic Ward]
32% increased Critical Hit Chance
+26 to Intelligence
49% increased Light Radius
Ice Crystals have 2% increased maximum Life per 5% Cold Resistance you have
This amulet grants the Midnight Zenith skill and scales Ice Crystals based on your Cold Resistance. Each 5% Cold Resistance you have gives Ice Crystals 2% increased maximum Life, making them more durable and presumably more effective as they persist longer. The item also provides Ward (Runic Ward), Critical Hit Chance, Intelligence, and Light Radius bonuses. The exact function of Midnight Zenith and the Ice Crystal mechanic is still being detailed, but the Cold Resistance scaling suggests this fits into cold-focused builds that already invest heavily in that stat.
Best For: Cold-focused caster or attack builds, characters that stack Cold Resistance beyond the cap for scaling purposes, any build that uses Ice Crystal mechanics and wants them to survive longer in combat.
13. Serle's Grit (Kalguuran Forgehammer)
Has 3 Sockets
Grants Skill: Level 19 Runic Tempering
Adds 30 to 35 Physical Damage
+31 to Strength
Skills which Empower an Attack have 14% chance to not count that Attack
113 to Physical Thorns damage per active Protective Rune
Maximum Quality is 40%
This unique hammer serves a dual purpose as both a combat weapon and a crafting tool. It grants the Runic Tempering skill (Level 19), provides Physical Thorns damage per active Protective Rune, and has a Maximum Quality cap of 40% instead of the standard 20%. The 14% chance for Empower skills to not count an attack means you can sustain empowered attacks more frequently. Its thorns damage scales with Protective Runes, rewarding builds that maintain multiple active runes during combat.
Best For: Rune-focused Monk or Martial Artist builds, characters that run multiple Protective Runes, crafting-oriented players who value the elevated quality cap for item modification.
The Return of the Ancients unique items represent a major expansion of build possibilities in Path of Exile 2. Items like Voices and Liminal Coil will likely define chase targets for the entire league, while weapons like Twisted Empyrean and The Raven's Flock introduce entirely new archetypes that didn't exist before 0.5. Many of these uniques also interact with the new Rune and Kalguuran mechanics introduced in this expansion, meaning their full potential may only become clear once players experiment with the new crafting systems and runic augmentation options that launch alongside them on May 29, 2026.
