Mechanic

Orb

Orb is a Skill Gem tag for skills that create a lasting damaging effect. The five current Orb skills have different placement, duration, limit, trigger, pulse, and expiry rules, so the tag does not give them one shared set of numbers.
0.5.4d
Current data

Catalog version 0.5.4d

No direct 0.5 patch change is linked to this page. The displayed values are current for catalog version 0.5.4d.

What Orb does

Current rules

Use the Orb tag to find the current skill family, then read the individual skill for its actual behaviour. Frost Bomb, Orb of Storms, Galvanic Field, Solar Orb, and Elemental Storm are the five current Orb skills. An item named Orb, such as a crafting currency, is not an Orb skill merely because Orb appears in its name.

Orb is a skill tag
The Orb tag groups skills that create a lasting damaging effect. It identifies a skill family; it is not a currency category and does not classify item names that happen to contain the word Orb.
The current roster has five skills
The current Orb skill roster is Frost Bomb, Orb of Storms, Galvanic Field, Solar Orb, and Elemental Storm. Eye of Winter can interact with certain Orb effects, but it does not have the Orb tag and is not part of this five-skill roster.
Placement is skill-specific
Most Orb skills create an effect at a location. Galvanic Field instead attaches its Orb to an enemy after the skill's Shock condition is met. The Orb tag does not require every effect to remain fixed on the ground.
Duration and damage timing are skill-specific
Each Orb skill defines when it pulses, fires, detonates, or deals damage and how long it remains. The Orb tag itself does not grant one duration, pulse interval, bolt count, or damage frequency.
Limits belong to the created effect
Read the individual skill for its active Limit. If a new effect is created while that Limit is full, the general Limit rule removes the oldest effect unless another rule says otherwise. Secrets of the Orb grants Orb Skills +1 to Limit, but it does not make their other values identical.
Tags do not copy interactions
An interaction written on one Orb skill is not automatically shared by the other four. Exposure, Elemental Infusions, automatic bolts, Ignite, Trigger conditions, and another skill centring on an Orb apply only where the current skill text states them.

Current Orb skills

6 cases
01
Frost Bomb

Creates a pulsing Cold Orb. Its pulses apply Elemental Exposure, and its expiry detonation deals Cold damage and leaves a Cold Infusion.

Related: Frost Bomb, Exposure, Elemental Infusions
02
Orb of Storms

Creates a Lightning Orb that fires Chaining bolts at nearby enemies. It can fire when a Spell is cast near it and leaves a Lightning Infusion when it expires.

Related: Orb of Storms, Chain, Elemental Infusions
03
Galvanic Field

Grants a Shock-related Buff, then consumes that Buff to attach an electrical Orb to the enemy that was Shocked. The attached Orb fires bolts at nearby enemies until it expires.

Related: Galvanic Field, Shock
04
Solar Orb

Creates a fiery Orb that releases pulses. Enemies very close to it are Ignited, and Flameblast can be centred on the Solar Orb instead of the player's location.

Related: Solar Orb, Ignite, Flameblast
05
Elemental Storm

Creates a stationary Fire, Cold, or Lightning storm based on the highest Elemental Damage type of the Hit that triggered it. A Hit with no Elemental Damage does not trigger the storm.

Related: Elemental Storm, Trigger, Elemental
06
Eye of Winter interaction

Eye of Winter can gain extra elemental damage by passing over certain elemental ground effects or Orbs. That interaction does not give Eye of Winter the Orb tag or add it to the Orb skill roster.

Related: Eye of Winter

Limits and exceptions

5 rules
  • Orb is a Skill Gem tag, not a rule that applies to currency items whose names contain Orb.
  • The tag does not supply a shared duration, active Limit, damage interval, target, trigger condition, or expiry effect.
  • Galvanic Field attaches its Orb to an enemy, so not every Orb remains at a fixed ground location.
  • Eye of Winter interacting with an Orb does not make Eye of Winter an Orb skill.
  • Exposure, Infusions, Ignite, Chaining, Triggering, and skill-to-skill interactions remain specific to the skill that states them.