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One of the most intriguing unique skills currently being tested by the Path of Exile 2 community is Raven’s Flock, a unique staff ability centered around the skill Spiraling Conspiracy. Since its discovery, players have been experimenting with various ascendancies, support gems, and scaling methods to determine whether the build can compete in endgame content.
Recent testing has revealed several important discoveries that significantly change how the build functions. While Raven’s Flock may not be the top-tier powerhouse many players hoped for, it has proven to be far more viable than initial impressions suggested. After extensive experimentation, theorycrafting, and POE2 Currency, a clearer picture of the build’s strengths and weaknesses has emerged.
Gem Levels Actually Work
One of the biggest sources of confusion surrounding Spiraling Conspiracy involved its interaction with gem levels.
Initially, many players believed the skill wasn’t benefiting from additional gem levels because the damage displayed on the character sheet remained unchanged when allocating certain passive nodes. However, further testing revealed that the skill is functioning correctly—the user interface simply fails to update immediately.
When players allocated or removed gem level bonuses, the displayed damage remained static until they changed zones or re-equipped gear. Once the game refreshed the calculations, the damage values updated correctly.
This discovery is significant because gem levels are currently one of the strongest ways to scale Raven’s Flock. The fact that the mechanic works correctly opens up additional progression paths for players looking to maximize their damage output.
At the same time, the discovery highlighted another issue: even when gem levels are properly applied, the skill’s overall damage remains lower than expected.
Why Players Are Switching to Infernalist
Early versions of the build commonly utilized the Lich ascendancy. However, testing revealed that Raven’s Flock does not currently interact properly with effects tied to nearby allies or nearby minions.
Abilities such as Pain Offering appear to provide little or no benefit because the ravens themselves do not seem to have a traditional physical presence within the game world. Since many Lich mechanics rely on nearby minions, players found themselves losing access to a significant portion of the ascendancy’s potential.
As a result, many testers transitioned to the Infernalist ascendancy.
Infernalist offers several advantages that fit the build much better:
Higher Spirit scaling
Access to powerful curse setups
Improved utility options
Better overall synergy with the build’s current mechanics
Through Spirit scaling, players can reach approximately 213 Spirit without requiring a scepter. This provides enough room to run multiple powerful reservations and support mechanics simultaneously.
Core Damage Scaling Setup
The current version of the build relies on several interconnected damage multipliers.
Blasphemy and Despair
One of the most important damage sources comes from Blasphemy linked with Despair.
Despair reduces enemy Chaos Resistance, effectively increasing all Chaos Damage dealt by Raven’s Flock. Additional support gems further improve the curse by increasing its area of effect and effectiveness.
This setup allows enemies to remain permanently cursed while the player simply moves through maps, perfectly matching the build’s hands-off playstyle.
Withering Presence
Another major contributor is Withering Presence.
The build attempts to maintain multiple stacks of Withered on enemies, increasing the Chaos Damage they take. While maintaining maximum stacks consistently can be difficult during actual gameplay, even partial uptime provides a substantial damage increase.
Muster Support
Perhaps the most creative scaling solution comes from Muster Support.
Players fill their Spirit pool with numerous minion summons, not because the minions deal meaningful damage, but because each summoned minion grants a damage bonus through Muster.
Every active minion contributes approximately 7% more damage, transforming what would otherwise be utility summons into powerful offensive multipliers.
This creates a unique hybrid playstyle where minions exist primarily to buff Raven’s Flock rather than serve as primary damage dealers.
The Damage Problem
Despite stacking numerous sources of damage amplification, Raven’s Flock continues to struggle with one critical issue: base damage.
Current Path of Building calculations paint a concerning picture.
With:
30 active ravens
Multiple damage supports
Several additional gem levels
Five Withered stacks
Full curse setup
Multiple minion damage multipliers
The build reaches roughly 90,000 DPS.
Even after pushing additional min-maxed upgrades and obtaining more gem levels, damage only climbs into the 120,000–130,000 DPS range.
For an endgame-focused setup, these numbers are relatively modest.
What’s particularly surprising is how much investment is required to achieve them.
Testing revealed that the build can accumulate:
Over 500% increased damage
Nearly 500% more damage multipliers
These are enormous scaling values that would typically produce exceptional results on many other skills.
Yet Raven’s Flock still struggles to achieve the damage output players expect.
The conclusion reached by many theorycrafters is straightforward: the issue is not scaling multipliers. The issue is the skill’s underlying base damage.
Why Gem Levels Matter So Much
Because base damage is the primary weakness, gem levels become disproportionately valuable.
Every additional skill level directly increases the base damage of Spiraling Conspiracy before all the massive multipliers are applied.
As a result, a single gem level often provides more damage than many traditional offensive investments.
Current sources of gem levels include:
Passive tree bonuses
Helmet modifiers
Amulet modifiers
Belt modifiers
Ascendancy bonuses
This explains why some players believe Gemling Legionnaire may eventually become the strongest ascendancy choice for Raven’s Flock.
The ascendancy grants additional gem levels directly, addressing the build’s most important weakness rather than simply adding more percentage-based damage.
Real Gameplay Performance
While spreadsheet numbers appear underwhelming, actual gameplay tells a more encouraging story.
The build performs surprisingly well during regular mapping.
At the start of a map, players begin with zero ravens and must build up their flock by killing enemies. Once the maximum number of ravens is reached, the build settles into a smooth rhythm.
Normal monsters die passively as players move through the map.
Rare monsters and tougher encounters are handled using the command skill, which consumes the accumulated ravens and creates a powerful damage zone.
This creates a simple gameplay loop:
Build raven count.
Move through packs.
Use the command skill on tough enemies.
Rebuild raven count.
Repeat.
The result is a highly relaxed mapping experience that requires minimal button presses.
For players seeking a comfortable farming build rather than a high-intensity boss killer, Raven’s Flock offers a surprisingly enjoyable alternative.
Bossing Capabilities
Boss encounters reveal both the strengths and limitations of the build.
Against stationary bosses, the command skill performs reasonably well because enemies remain inside the damaging area for extended periods.
However, mobile bosses significantly reduce overall effectiveness.
Since the command ability creates a stationary damage zone, bosses that frequently reposition can avoid large portions of the damage.
Despite this weakness, testing against endgame encounters demonstrated that the build remains capable of completing pinnacle content.
Boss kills may not be especially fast, but they are consistent.
The build’s strong defenses and low mechanical complexity help compensate for its lower damage output.
Upcoming Bug Fixes Could Help
There may be good news on the horizon.
Community members recently reported comments from Grinding Gear Games indicating that several Raven’s Flock issues are scheduled for future patches.
According to these reports:
Ravens will properly count as nearby allies.
Gem level scaling functionality has been confirmed.
Area-of-effect scaling has been confirmed.
Additional related issues are being investigated.
If ravens begin functioning as nearby allies, several previously unusable support options could suddenly become viable.
This would potentially open entirely new scaling avenues and improve ascendancy choices beyond Infernalist.
Although these changes have not yet been fully verified, they provide hope that the build’s ceiling could rise significantly in future updates.
Is Raven’s Flock Worth Playing?
The answer depends entirely on your expectations.
If you’re looking for:
Top-tier boss damage
Meta-defining performance
Record-breaking clear speeds
Raven’s Flock is probably not the right choice.
The skill’s base damage limitations currently prevent it from competing with the strongest builds in Path of Exile 2.
However, if you’re interested in:
Relaxed gameplay
Minimal button presses
Comfortable mapping
Unique mechanics
Creative build experimentation
Then Raven’s Flock becomes much more appealing.
Despite its flaws, the build is fully capable of completing endgame content. It can clear maps, defeat bosses, and progress through challenging encounters without major issues.
Its damage may not be spectacular, but it is sufficient.
Final Verdict
Raven’s Flock currently occupies an unusual position within Path of Exile 2.
The skill is stronger than many players initially believed, thanks to the confirmation that gem level scaling functions correctly. At the same time, extensive testing has revealed a clear limitation: the build suffers from low base damage that even massive scaling investments struggle to overcome.
Infernalist currently appears to be one of the strongest ascendancy options due to its Spirit scaling and curse synergy, while Gemling Legionnaire may ultimately emerge as the highest-damage choice because of its additional gem levels cheap POE2 Currency.
Most importantly, Raven’s Flock is no longer viewed as a failed experiment. It has proven itself capable of handling real endgame content, even if it falls short of the game’s strongest builds.
For players who value comfort, simplicity, and a laid-back playstyle, Raven’s Flock offers a refreshing alternative to the high-speed, high-input builds dominating the current Path of Exile 2 meta. And with future bug fixes potentially improving its interactions even further, the flock’s best days may still be ahead.
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