Path of Exile 2: Full Defence Calculation Order
When your character is hit in Path of Exile 2, the game runs through a detailed sequence of Path of Exile 2 Currency defensive checks and calculations before damage is applied. Knowing the exact defense order of operations will help you build your character to withstand hits from even the toughest enemies. Whether you're stacking armor, evasion, resistances, or "damage taken as" mechanics, this guide breaks down what happens step-by-step from the moment a monster attacks to when your life or energy shield is affected.

1. Attack Roll: Accuracy vs. Evasion
Before anything else, the game checks if the hit lands:

If it’s an Attack, the game compares the attacker’s Accuracy Rating with your Evasion Rating to determine if the hit connects.

Evaded attacks do no damage and stop the process here.

Spells bypass this and continue.

2. Block or Spell Suppression Check
Next, the game checks for additional avoidance mechanics:

Block Chance (Attack or Spell Block) is rolled.

If successful, you block the hit and take no damage unless it’s a partial block (via specific mechanics).

Spell Suppression can trigger if the hit is a spell:

Suppressed spells deal less damage (usually 50% reduced).

3. Ailment Immunity and Avoidance
If the hit connects, the game checks whether any ailments would be applied:

Chill, Shock, Ignite, Bleed, Poison, etc., are rolled.

Any Ailment Avoidance or Immunity mods are checked.

These don’t reduce damage directly but prevent nasty effects that follow.

4. Resistance Calculations
Resistances are now applied:

Elemental and Chaos Resistances reduce incoming elemental and chaos damage types.

Penetration from the attacker reduces the effectiveness of your resistances.

E.g., if you have 75% Fire Resistance and the attacker has 20% Fire Penetration, you're treated as having 55%.

5. Armor and Flat Damage Reduction
Here’s where your armor, endurance charges, and any flat damage reduction apply:

Armor only affects physical damage from hits, reducing more damage against smaller hits.

Endurance Charges provide physical damage reduction, stacking multiplicatively.

Some skills or gear provide flat reductions like "−X Physical Damage Taken."

6. Damage Taken As Conversions
Next, the game looks at conversion mechanics like:

"X% of Physical Damage Taken as Fire"

"25% of Cold Damage Taken as Chaos"

These split the damage across different mitigation layers, which can be used to your advantage (e.g., converting to Chaos if you have Divine Flesh or Chaos Inoculation).

This step redirects incoming damage types but doesn’t reduce them yet.

7. Damage Taken Multipliers
Now, modifiers to how much damage you take apply:

"X% less Damage Taken"

"Y% increased Damage Taken"

These are multiplicative and applied after resistance and conversion, but before the damage hits your health.

Common sources:

Fortify (less damage from hits)

Pantheon-like effects

Unique gear modifiers

8. Reactive Defenses Trigger
If the hit connects, any on-hit triggered defenses now activate:

Molten Shell, Immortal Call, Steel Skin — if they're instant cast or auto-triggered, they activate now but after the damage begins processing.

Damage is still taken during this hit, but future hits might be mitigated.

9. Damage Is Applied to Life, Energy Shield, or Mana
At this stage, final damage is delivered:

Energy Shield takes damage first unless bypassed.

Some mechanics like Mind Over Matter redirect a % of incoming damage to Mana.

If Energy Shield and Mana are depleted, Life is hit.

If Life reaches 0, you die — unless you have Cheat Death mechanics.

Optional: Over-Time Damage Is Separate
Over-Time Damage (DOTs like Poison, Bleed, Ignite):

Do not trigger any of the above steps except resistances.

Are not hits, so they bypass dodge, block, and suppression.

Armor does not reduce DOTs.

You mitigate them through:

Resistances

Reduced Damage Taken over Time

Immune to Ailment or specific DOT mods
Final Notes
Layering defenses is key: Don't rely on just one mechanic. Use avoidance (evasion/block), mitigation (resists/armor), and absorption (ES/mana) together.

Understand your build’s weak spots. If you convert too much damage into path of exile 2 trade Chaos, and don’t have Chaos Resistance, you’ll explode.

The more damage layers you control, the more survivable your character becomes in Path of Exile 2's deadly endgame.