Some of the most confusing PoE 2 testing happens when a build seems to work perfectly in ordinary mapping, yet the numbers stop lining up the moment a kill condition enters the picture. That's exactly why reports around Grip of Kulemak have caught attention, especially for players who are already juggling Path of Exile 2 Currency, gear choices, and weird edge-case interactions that can affect progression in ways the game never really spells out.

Why this ring test got people talking

The issue centres on Grip of Kulemak, the Abyssal Signet with the modifier that says targets affected by Abyssal Wasting in your Presence have double Power. On paper, that sounds straightforward enough. In practice, Power-related mechanics in PoE 2 can be tricky to verify, because you usually don't get a clean readout of the actual value being counted. That means players end up leaning on indirect tests, which is where the uncertainty starts to creep in. For a lot of people, the real question isn't whether the ring looks strong, but whether the game is actually applying the effect when it matters most.

What the Runefather setup was trying to prove

The test used Eyes of the Runefather, with Runefather's Challenge and Runefather's Boast acting as the measuring stick. The logic is pretty elegant, at least for players who like to poke at mechanics: Runefather's Challenge raises a target's Power, and Runefather's Boast grants stacks based on the Power of enemies you kill while they're affected. That gives you a way to estimate whether extra Power from Abyssal Wasting is being counted, even if the game won't show you the number directly. In this kind of setup, a lot hinges on timing and on whether the debuffs are stacking the way the tester expects, which is exactly where most of these interactions become messy.

Why the normal monster result looks suspicious

Against a normal enemy, the reported result was six stacks of Runefather's Boast after the kill, even though both Abyssal Wasting and Runefather's Challenge were visible before the monster died. That matters because six stacks lines up neatly with Runefather's Challenge alone: a base Power of one, plus five from the challenge effect. If Grip of Kulemak were doubling the target's Power in a way that applied cleanly in this situation, many players would expect the total to be higher. A common mistake here is assuming that any visible debuff must be contributing in a way you can immediately feel. PoE 2 doesn't always work that cleanly, especially when two mechanics seem like they should stack but may actually be competing for the same slot in the ruleset.

What the unique enemy test adds to the picture

The later test with Sadist's Mercy and Gruelling Madness made the report even more interesting. In that setup, the observed Power for a unique enemy came out to thirty-five, which fits a model of twenty base Power, plus ten from Gruelling Madness, plus five from Runefather's Challenge. That means additive Power sources were clearly being counted, but the Abyssal Wasting doubling still didn't show up in a way the tester could confirm. From a player's perspective, that's the part worth watching. If you're building around Power scaling, especially in harder content where unique monsters matter more than trash packs, you really want to know whether the game is multiplying values, replacing them, or quietly prioritising one debuff over another. I'd keep an eye on that before committing too hard to the interaction, because this is the sort of thing that can look amazing in theory and feel underwhelming once you're actually grinding through endgame.

What I'd keep in mind before planning around it

Until there's clearer confirmation, I'd treat Grip of Kulemak's double Power line as something to test carefully rather than something to build a whole setup around. If you're using Power-based mechanics for bossing or progression, it's probably smarter to assume that visible debuffs aren't always telling the full story. That's especially true in PoE 2, where a lot of value comes from interactions you only notice after a string of kills, bad drops, or a few failed test runs. If you're the sort of player who likes to verify your own setup before sinking more resources into it, poe 2 buy currency can be part of that planning mindset, but the real win here is avoiding assumptions and checking whether the mechanic actually behaves the way the tooltip suggests.

If you're testing PoE2 mechanics like Grip of Kulemak, Abyssal Wasting, and Runefather's Challenge, U4GM is a solid place to grab Path of Exile 2 currency without the faff. See more at https://www.u4gm.com/path-of-exile-2/currency and keep your builds ready, your grind lighter, and your next setup moving fast.