PoE 2 v0.4 has a bunch of flashy stuff, but the Druid setup people keep sleeping on is the Rage-to-Cold damage swing with Bhatair's Vengeance Support. It doesn’t look wild on paper until you actually play it and watch bosses drop a full phase faster than they should. If you’re already farming gear and stacking resources like PoE 2 Currency, this is one of those low-effort tweaks that makes your whole character feel a tier higher without rebuilding from scratch.

What the gem is really doing

The key is the conditional buff on Bhatair's Vengeance Support: it checks your Rage the moment you freeze something, then turns that Rage into extra Cold damage. Simple rule, nasty outcome. Sitting around 90 Rage is pretty normal on a tuned Druid, so one freeze can translate into roughly 90% added Cold damage on your output for a decent chunk of time. It’s not a “hit it once and pray” gimmick either. The duration is long enough that you can play like a normal human, clear, reposition, dodge, and still ride the bonus through the important part of the fight.

Use a trigger skill, not your main skill

Where a lot of players mess up is trying to force the freeze with their main damage button. Don’t. You want a small, reliable trigger setup that you can throw out on demand. Lunar Assault is perfect for that job because it leans into cold conversion and builds chill/freeze quickly without needing you to invest your whole build into ailment scaling. Link it with Freeze Support so it sticks even when the hit is tiny, and add Prolonged Duration Support so you’re not reapplying the buff every time you blink. You tap, something freezes, the buff turns on, and you go back to doing real damage.

How to keep it up in real fights

The trick is accepting that bosses are often the worst freeze targets. Their ailment thresholds are chunky, and you’ll just stand there wasting time. Instead, you “bank” the buff off a weak enemy. In arenas, rituals, or boss rooms with adds, tag a basic white mob with your Lunar Assault links, get the freeze instantly, and then swap straight back to your main skill while the timer’s fresh. If the fight has no adds, you plan for it: bring the buff in from the last pack before the gate, or rely on any spawned trash the encounter provides. Keep one eye on the buff icon, refresh it when it’s safe, and you’ll notice your damage feels steady instead of spiky and awkward.

Once you get the rhythm down, it stops feeling like “tech” and starts feeling like part of your movement kit: enter, tag a soft target, light up the Cold bonus, then play the fight normally while the numbers stay high. It’s also flexible, since you’re not locking your main links into weird choices just to chase freezes. If you’re gearing up or swapping pieces around and need a quick power bump without drama, this Rage-freeze interaction is worth building around, and it scales nicely as you tighten your setup with u4gm poe2 in the mix for upgrades.