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This is a leveling build for the Mercenary in Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2)'s Dawn of the Hunt update that uses Galvanic Shards to fast clear mobs and finish Act 3. Check out this Lightning Mercenary leveling build, including its progression, equipment, socketables, skills, recommended builds, and playstyle!
List of Contents
This leveling build starts off with Fragmentation Rounds and seamlessly transitions into Galvanic Shards to fast clear mobs and eliminate elites easily. Just make sure to swap out your Wind Dancer for Herald of Thunder to maximize your DPS while progressing.
Date | Changes Made |
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04/05/2025 | ・ Leveling Build Act 1-3 Created. |
Build Notes |
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Galvanic Shards is one of the best Crossbow skills throughout the game simply due to the fast attack speed and larger clip size. Compared to its other variants such as Permafrost Bolts and Incendiary Shot, this skill provides the best damage output for both leveling and taking on endgame content.
One thing to take note for Fragmentation Rounds is the Bolts Pierce 2 Targets modifier it has. Since Pierce take precedence over other effects, this means that having Chain or Fork will not trigger until Pierce has been used to its full effect. This makes Fragmentation Rounds problematic against Bosses since it has to Pierce through 2 targets in order for other effects to trigger.
During Act 1 you can choose to equip any crossbow you can obtain with the highest damage. Once you reach Act 2, aim for picking up a Dyad Crossbow to provide your Galvanic Shards with an additional bolt for maximum damage output before reloading. On Act 3, continue upgrading your Dyad Crossbow with higher modifiers to prevent any damage fall offs while progressing.
Focus on getting equipment that has Armor and Evasion Rating as these are stats that defensively benefit the Mercenary best. The most important stats to watch out for in the early game is Increased Movement Speed on your Boots for faster progress and a few Increased Rarity of Items Found on other Armors to help you pick up good equipment while you are progressing through the campaign.
Once you reach Act 3, focus on maximizing your Elemental Resistances and taking Attribute modifiers so you have better survivability against most of the bosses.
As for Ring accessories, we recommend equipping Iron Rings to give you a small damage boost while you are leveling. Try to look for ones with the Increased Rarity of Items Found modifier in the early game since you will be progressing for quite awhile so might as well collect some materials and equipment along the way.
As for your Amulet, make sure to get an Amber Amulet to provide you with more Strength for survivability, paired with Maximum Mana and Increased Rarity of Items Found modifiers for maintaining your skill usage and helping with campaign progression.
Equipment | Sockets |
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Weapon | |
Armor |
We recommend ignoring Runes until you reach Act 3, since you will be constantly switching gear. However, if you're stuck on a certain area and want to increase your damage output, you can slot in two Iron Runes on your Weapon to give you a 40% Physical Damage boost. As for your Armor Runes, slot in Body Runes for more health or Rebirth Runes for life regeneration if you are having trouble with survivability.
All Runes and Soul Cores | |
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List of Runes | List of Soul Cores |
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・Increased Duration
・Increased Charges ・Gain Charges Per Second |
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・Increased Duration
・Increased Charges ・Gain Charges Per Second |
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・Increased Duration
・Increased Charges ・Gain Charges Per Second |
We recommend equipping the Sapphire Charm to help you combat the cold attacks of Count Geonor at the end of the Act 1. Just make sure to keep dodging his attacks since they can still take a chunk of your health even with the resistance Charm equipped.
For Act 2, your main problem would be Jamanra, the Risen King so make sure to equip the Topaz Charm to help mitigate his attacks. Lastly, equip an Antidote Charm when you reach Act 3 since a lot of the bosses in this Act can deal large amounts of poison damage.
※ The Support Gems' priority are arranged in a descending order. The first one being the most important and the last being the least crucial.
Skill | Support Gems |
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![]() Fragmentation Rounds Loads your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that fragment in flight. Bolts that hit a frozen enemy consume the Freeze and cause an explosion of Shrapnel. Bolts that hit an Ice Crystal cause it to explode. | ![]() Lacerate Supports any skill that hits enemies, giving it a chance to inflict Bleeding. ![]() Double Barrel Supports Crossbow Ammunition skills, causing them to load an extra bolt at the cost of reload speed. |
![]() Flash Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies. | ![]() Scattershot Supports Projectile skills, making them fire extra Projectiles. Also lowers Attack and Cast speed of supported skills, as well as lessening their damage. ![]() Ruthless Supports Attacks, causing repeated uses to be more effective at Stunning enemies. |
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you. | ![]() Magnified Effect Supports any skill with an area of effect, making it larger. |
![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip. | ![]() Double Barrel Supports Crossbow Ammunition skills, causing them to load an extra bolt at the cost of reload speed. ![]() Lightning Infusion Supports attacks, causing them to gain Lightning Damage but deal less Cold and Fire Damage. |
![]() Herald of Thunder While active, killing Shocked enemies with Attack damage, will cause subsequent Attack hits to release lightning bolts which deals Attack damage to all surrounding enemies. | ![]() Concentrated Effect Supports any skill with an area of effect, causing that area to be smaller but any area damage it deals to be higher. |
Skill | Support Gems |
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![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip. | ![]() Double Barrel Supports Crossbow Ammunition skills, causing them to load an extra bolt at the cost of reload speed. ![]() Lightning Infusion Supports attacks, causing them to gain Lightning Damage but deal less Cold and Fire Damage. |
![]() Flash Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies. | ![]() Overpower Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing it to build up Stun more quickly. ![]() Ruthless Supports Attacks, causing repeated uses to be more effective at Stunning enemies. |
![]() Voltaic Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blasts when its fuse expires | ![]() Scattershot Supports Projectile skills, making them fire extra Projectiles. Also lowers Attack and Cast speed of supported skills, as well as lessening their damage. ![]() Conduction Supports any skill that hits enemies, making it more likely to Shock. |
![]() Herald of Thunder While active, killing Shocked enemies with Attack damage, will cause subsequent Attack hits to release lightning bolts which deals Attack damage to all surrounding enemies. | ![]() Concentrated Effect Supports any skill with an area of effect, causing that area to be smaller but any area damage it deals to be higher. ![]() Magnified Effect Supports any skill with an area of effect, making it larger. |
Skill | Support Gems |
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![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip. | ![]() Primal Armament Supports Attacks that use a weapon, causing them to deal more weapon Elemental Damage. ![]() Lightning Infusion Supports attacks, causing them to gain Lightning Damage but deal less Cold and Fire Damage. ![]() Ammo Conservation Supports Crossbow Ammunition Skills, granting a chance to not consume a Bolt when firing. |
![]() Shockburst Rounds Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts which releases damaging pulses upon hitting an enemy affected by a lightning ailment. Using this skill again reloads the clip. | ![]() Martial Tempo Supports Attacks, causing them to Attack faster. ![]() Fresh Clip Supports Crossbow skills, granting them more damage for each bolt reloaded by that skill in the last 6 seconds. |
![]() Emergency Reload Instantly relaods your active Crossbow Ammunition and Empowers the loaded bolts to deal more damage. | ![]() Premeditation Supports skills that can Empower skills other than themselves, causing skills they Empower to deal more damage. ![]() Murderous Intent Supports skills that can Empower skills other than themselves, causing skills they Empower to Cull enemies. |
![]() Flash Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies. | ![]() Overpower Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing it to build up Stun more quickly. ![]() Ruthless Supports Attacks, causing repeated uses to be more effective at Stunning enemies. |
![]() Voltaic Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blasts when its fuse expires | ![]() Scattershot Supports Projectile skills, making them fire extra Projectiles. Also lowers Attack and Cast speed of supported skills, as well as lessening their damage. ![]() Conduction Supports any skill that hits enemies, making it more likely to Shock. |
![]() Herald of Thunder While active, killing Shocked enemies with Attack damage, will cause subsequent Attack hits to release lightning bolts which deals Attack damage to all surrounding enemies. | ![]() Concentrated Effect Supports any skill with an area of effect, causing that area to be smaller but any area damage it deals to be higher. ![]() Magnified Effect Supports any skill with an area of effect, making it larger. |
Skill | Support Gems |
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![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip. | ![]() Primal Armament Supports Attacks that use a weapon, causing them to deal more weapon Elemental Damage. ![]() Lightning Infusion Supports attacks, causing them to gain Lightning Damage but deal less Cold and Fire Damage. ![]() Ammo Conservation Supports Crossbow Ammunition Skills, granting a chance to not consume a Bolt when firing. ![]() Lightning Penetration Supports any skill that hits enemies, making those hits penetrate enemy Lightning Resistance. ![]() Lightning Exposure Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing it to deal less damage but inflict Lightning Exposure when it shocks and enemy. |
![]() Shockburst Rounds Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts which releases damaging pulses upon hitting an enemy affected by a lightning ailment. Using this skill again reloads the clip. | ![]() Martial Tempo Supports Attacks, causing them to Attack faster. ![]() Fresh Clip Supports Crossbow skills, granting them more damage for each bolt reloaded by that skill in the last 6 seconds. ![]() Nimble Reload Supports Crossbow Ammunition skills, causing them to Reload bolts significantly faster. ![]() Culling Strike Supports Attack skills, causing them to Cull Rare and Unique enemies on hit. ![]() Mobility Supports skills that can be used while moving, allowing you to move faster while using them. |
![]() Emergency Reload Instantly relaods your active Crossbow Ammunition and Empowers the loaded bolts to deal more damage. | ![]() Premeditation Supports skills that can Empower skills other than themselves, causing skills they Empower to deal more damage. ![]() Murderous Intent Supports skills that can Empower skills other than themselves, causing skills they Empower to Cull enemies. ![]() Persistence Supports any skill that has a duration, making that duration longer. |
![]() Flash Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies. | ![]() Overpower Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing it to build up Stun more quickly. ![]() Ruthless Supports Attacks, causing repeated uses to be more effective at Stunning enemies. ![]() Brutality Supports any skill that deals damage, boosting its physical damage at the expense of all other damage types. ![]() Heft Supports Skills which deal damage, increasing the maximum Physical Damage of their Hits. |
![]() Voltaic Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blasts when its fuse expires | ![]() Scattershot Supports Projectile skills, making them fire extra Projectiles. Also lowers Attack and Cast speed of supported skills, as well as lessening their damage. ![]() Conduction Supports any skill that hits enemies, making it more likely to Shock. ![]() Magnified Effect Supports any skill with an area of effect, making it larger. ![]() Payload Supports skills which fire Grenades, giving fired Grenades a chance to activate again, but lengthening their cooldowns. ![]() Ingenuity Supports skills with Cooldowns, increasing the rate at which those Cooldowns recover. |
![]() Herald of Thunder While active, killing Shocked enemies with Attack damage, will cause subsequent Attack hits to release lightning bolts which deals Attack damage to all surrounding enemies. | ![]() Clarity Supports Persistent Buff Skills, causing you to gain increased mana Regeneration while the skill is active. ![]() Vitality Supports Persistent Buff Skills, causing you to gain Life Regeneration while the skill is active. ![]() Cannibalism Supports Persistent Buff Skills, causing you to recover Life on kill while the skill is active. |
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you. | ![]() Blind Support any skill that Hits enemies, causing them to Blind on hit. ![]() Unbreakable Supports any skill that you can use, making you harder to Stun while using it. |
Passive Nodes | |||
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The leveling passive tree for the Mercenary focuses on providing more damage, attack speed, and movement speed to help you progress through the campaign faster. For your first few passives, make your way down to Remorseless for additional damage and Ricochet to give your projectiles a chance to bounce against the terrain.
Once you have reached an attribute node, head straight for Overwhelm to provide you with up to 100% more Damage since Crossbows are considered as Two-Handed. You can opt to take both Curved Weapon and Colossal Weapon nodes if you want more Strength and Dexterity but is completely optional. Next, make sure to get Adrenaline Rush to help with your clear speed and Instant Reload to combat the reduced reload speed that Double Barrel gives.
Lastly, both Lightning Rod and Flash Storm will greatly boost your Lightning damage so your Galvanic Shards can clear mobs much faster. Reusable Ammunition pairs well with the Ammo Conservation support gem so make sure to only get this once you have that equipped.
Passive Skill Tree Guide and List of Passives
Jump to an Act! | ||
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Act 1 | Act 2 | Act 3 |
To progress through Act 1 and beat Count Geonor using the Lightning Mercenary leveling build, follow these steps:
# | Step by Step Guide to Act 1 Leveling |
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1 | Equip
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2 | Head for the Mysterious Campsite at Clearfell to get an extra Level 1
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3 | Defeat
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4 | |
5 | Proceed to Grelwood and defeat
![]() ![]() Note: Make sure to loot the Witch Hut to get Medium Flasks. |
6 | Defeat
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7 | Progress to The Grim Tangle and defeat
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8 | Look for the Haunted Treasure Inside the Tomb of the Consort and defeat the rare enemy to acquire a Level 1 Uncut Support Gem (To be used later). Note: Once you find a Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem, use it to equip ![]() ![]() ![]() |
9 | Defeat
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10 | Search and complete your first Ritual in the same area to get a Level 4 Uncut Support Gem and use this to upgrade your Fragmentation Rounds.
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11 | Start looking for the Dryadic Ritual in the same area to get an extra Level 1 Uncut Support Gem (To be used later).
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12 | Enter Freythorn to defeat
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13 | Complete The Lost Lute at the Ogham Farmlands to obtain a Book of Specialisation for more passive points.
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14 | Search for the Crop Circle in the same area to defeat
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15 | Proceed to Ogham Village and defeat
![]() Note: Use the Uncut Skill Gem to get ![]() ![]() |
16 | Head for The Manor Ramparts and look for The Gallows to get a free Level 1 Uncut Support Gem (To be used later).
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17 | Search and defeat the
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18 | Continue and defeat
![]() Note: Make sure you have Medium Flasks since this boss fight has 2 Phases so you will be spending a good amount of time learning and surviving the mechanics. |
To progress through Act 2 and beat Jamanra, the Abomination using the Warrior leveling build, follow these steps:
# | Steps |
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1 | Complete the Earning Passage quest for an
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2 | Defeat
![]() Ascendancy: You can attempt to finish the Sekhema's Trial to get your first Ascendancy Skill: ┣
![]() ┗
![]() ┗ Tactician: Get the Spirit and A Solid Plan nodes to transition to one of our Tactician builds. |
3 | Clear Mobs in Keth until you get the
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4 | Defeat
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5 | Defeat
![]() Note: Make sure to slot in this Jewel in your passive tree as you progress. |
6 | Open the Guarded Sarcophagus for an
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7 | Three Elemental Offering Ring choices: Ruby Ring, Sapphire Ring, and Topaz Ring for flame, cold, and lightning resistance respectively. It is recommended to choose the Topaz Ring to prepare for
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8 | Clear The City of Seven Waters for an Uncut Support Gem (To be used later).
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9 | Destroy the Effigy located in the Shrine of Bones for an Uncut Support Gem Level 1 (To be used later). Note: If you find an Uncut Skill Gem Level 7, use this to equip ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
10 | Clear Mobs in The Bone Pits until you get the
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11 | Complete A Theft of Ivory quest for an Uncut Support Gem Level 1 (To be used later).
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12 | Place both Relics in the Valley of Titans to complete the Ancient Vows quest. Choose the Sun Clan Relic for more Mana Flask Recovery.
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13 | Complete A Crown of Stone quest for an Uncut Support Gem Level 1 (To be used later).
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14 | Complete the Tradition's Toll quest to get a
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15 | Defeat the
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To progress through Act 3 and beat Doryani using the Lightning Mercenary leveling build, follow these steps:
# | Step by Step Guide to Act 3 Leveling |
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1 | |
2 |
Loot the basket found in the Orok Campfire at Sandswept Marsh to get a
![]() Note: Use this on your Galvanic Shards and use your extra Uncut Support Gem to slot in ![]() |
3 | |
4 |
Complete The Slithering Dead to get the
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5 |
Look for the Jungle Grave and interact with the Ravaged Corpse to summon Servi and get a rare Belt. We recommend taking Rawhide Belt for better survivability. |
6 |
Defeat
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7 |
Submit the Tribal Vengeance to get a charm. Choose the Antidote Charm for increased defenses against Poison. |
8 |
Defeat
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9 |
Use the Paquate's Mechanism to Corrupt gear. We suggest corrupting the
![]() Note: Along the way you may pick up an Uncut Support Gem Level 2, use this to swap out Double Barrel with ![]() |
10 |
Obtain an
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11 |
Offer the Mushrooms in Apex of Filth to obtain
![]() ![]() Note: If you find an Uncut Skill Gem Level 11, use this to equip ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
12 |
Ascendancy: By this time, you can complete the Trial of Chaos to get your third and fourth Ascendancy Point.
┣
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![]() ┗ Tactician: Get the Presence Area and Watch How I Do It nodes to transition to one of our Tactician builds. |
13 |
Use the
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※ Press on what type you are fighting for a more detailed explanation on the playstyle and skill rotation.
Type | Skill Rotation |
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Mobbing | ![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip.
▶
![]() Flash Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies.
▶
![]() Voltaic Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blasts when its fuse expires
▶
![]() Voltaic Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blasts when its fuse expires
▶
![]() Emergency Reload Instantly relaods your active Crossbow Ammunition and Empowers the loaded bolts to deal more damage.
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Bossing | ![]() Flash Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies.
▶
![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip.
▶
![]() Voltaic Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blasts when its fuse expires
▶
![]() Voltaic Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blasts when its fuse expires
▶
![]() Shockburst Rounds Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts which releases damaging pulses upon hitting an enemy affected by a lightning ailment. Using this skill again reloads the clip.
▶
![]() Emergency Reload Instantly relaods your active Crossbow Ammunition and Empowers the loaded bolts to deal more damage.
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For general mobbing, you will adopt a shotgun playstyle that makes use of grenades between reloads. The rotation is as follows:
For bossing, you will adopt a single-target playstyle that switches between shotgun and rifle ammunitions. The rotation is as follows:
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The builds recommended here are not yet updated for Patch 0.2.0: Dawn of the Hunt, thus is subject to change. The team will be suggesting different builds as we play through the update, so please stay tuned! |
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After completing Act 3, these are the recommended build options that will allow you to progress through Cruel Mode and clear the Endgame pinnacle content:
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![]() Herald of Ash While active, enemies you sufficiently Overkill with attacks will cause an explosion that ignites nearby enemies based on the Overkill damage dealt.
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
![]() Armour Piercing Rounds Load your Crossbow with a clip of bolts that can be fired rapidly and Break enemy Armour. Using this skill again reloads the clip.
![]() Oil Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that bursts in a spray of Oil when the fuse expires or when it impacts an Enemy, dealing minimal damage but covering the ground and nearby enemies in Oil. Oil created this way can be Ignited by Detonator Skills or Ignited Ground.
![]() Ripwire Ballista Deploys a Balista Totem that fires Pinning bolts which Maim enemies.
![]() Artillery Ballista Deploys a Ballista Totem that fires bolts skyward, to explode a short time after landing.
![]() Siege Cascade Loads your Crossbow with enemy-seeking payloads which are fired into the air, dropping a bolt near every enemy in the target area. These bolts lodge in the ground and explode after a short delay .
Focus: Totem, Physical, Fire, Mobbing, Bossing |
If you would like to transition into the new Technician ascendancy, we recommend using our Ballista Technician build. Just make sure to save up some Gold so you can respec your passive tree easily.
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![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
![]() Fragmentation Rounds Loads your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that fragment in flight. Bolts that hit a frozen enemy consume the Freeze and cause an explosion of Shrapnel. Bolts that hit an Ice Crystal cause it to explode.
![]() High Velocity Rounds Loads your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that can consume Fully Broken Armour on enemies to deal extra damage.
![]() Herald of Plague While active, killing a Poisoned enemy spreads its Poison to other nearby enemies, and has a chance to also Hinder them.
![]() Attrition While active, causes you to deal more Hit damage to Rare and Unique enemies the longer you've been fighting them, and gain Culling Strike against them once you've been fighting them for long enough.
![]() Cast on Freeze While active, gains Energy when you Freeze enemies and triggers socketed spells on reaching maximum Energy.
![]() Emergency Reload Instantly relaods your active Crossbow Ammunition and Empowers the loaded bolts to deal more damage.
![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip.
![]() Withering Presence While active, periodically Withers enemies in your Presence.
![]() Blink Replaces your dodge roll with a short-cooldown Spell that allows you to tunnel through space, instantly reappearing a medium distance away.
Focus: DoT, Crowd Control, Bossing |
If you would prefer to fully hone in on the build's original concept, you can continue the leveling build and seamlessly transition into the Gunslinger Gemling Legionnaire build. This may require a few passive tree respecs so make sure you have enough Gold for it.
![]() UP |
![]() Herald of Ash While active, enemies you sufficiently Overkill with attacks will cause an explosion that ignites nearby enemies based on the Overkill damage dealt.
![]() Gas Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that causes a burst of Poison gas when its fuse expires, damaging enemies and leaving behind a growing Poison cloud. Burning effects or Detonator skills will cause the cloud to explode in a fiery blast.
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
![]() Incendiary Shot Loads your Crossbow with flaming bolts that fragment in flight, damaging and igniting enemies on hit and in a small cone behind their final target.
![]() Blasphemy Turns socketed Curse skills into vile Auras, applying their effects to all nearby enemies.
![]() Oil Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that bursts in a spray of Oil when the fuse expires or when it impacts an Enemy, dealing minimal damage but covering the ground and nearby enemies in Oil. Oil created this way can be Ignited by Detonator Skills or Ignited Ground.
![]() Explosive Shot Loads your Crossbow with flaming bolts that explode on impact. The explosion will cause any Grenades in its area of effect to also explode.
Focus: DoT, AoE, Mobbing |
On the other hand, if you would prefer to transition into a different playstyle you can use our Fire Grenade Witchhunter build. Keep in mind that you need to respec a lot of your passives so try to farm a good mount of Gold before transitioning into this.
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List of Builds by Class | |||||||||||
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Other Build Guides | Dawn of the Hunt Leveling Builds | How to Make a Good Build |
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![]() Barrage Ready a volley of arrows or spears, Empowering your next Bow or Projectile Spear Attack to repeat multiple times. Consumes your Frenzy Charges on use to add additional repeats.
![]() Snipe Channel to charge up your bow before releasing a powerful shot. Releasing the moment you fully charge causes the arrow to explode on impact for a guaranteed Critical Hit.
![]() Sniper's Mark Marks a target. The next Critical Hit the target receives consumes the Mark to deal extra damage and grant you a Frenzy Charge.
![]() Rain of Arrows Fire arrows into the air, causing them to rain from above. Consumes your Frenzy Charges to fire more arrows.
![]() Spiral Volley Loads your Bow with a volley of enchanted arrows and fires them in a circle as you spin forward, firing directly at targets if possible. Consumes Frenzy Charges to cause the arrows to deal more damage and Chain to other targets. Each target can only be Hit once.
![]() Combat Frenzy While active, grants you a Frenzy Charge when you Freeze, Electrocute, or Pin an enemy. This can only occur once every few seconds.
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
Focus: DoT, Burst Damage, Bossing, Mobbing |
![]() UP |
![]() Herald of Ash While active, enemies you sufficiently Overkill with attacks will cause an explosion that ignites nearby enemies based on the Overkill damage dealt.
![]() Gas Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that causes a burst of Poison gas when its fuse expires, damaging enemies and leaving behind a growing Poison cloud. Burning effects or Detonator skills will cause the cloud to explode in a fiery blast.
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
![]() Incendiary Shot Loads your Crossbow with flaming bolts that fragment in flight, damaging and igniting enemies on hit and in a small cone behind their final target.
![]() Blasphemy Turns socketed Curse skills into vile Auras, applying their effects to all nearby enemies.
![]() Oil Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that bursts in a spray of Oil when the fuse expires or when it impacts an Enemy, dealing minimal damage but covering the ground and nearby enemies in Oil. Oil created this way can be Ignited by Detonator Skills or Ignited Ground.
![]() Explosive Shot Loads your Crossbow with flaming bolts that explode on impact. The explosion will cause any Grenades in its area of effect to also explode.
Focus: DoT, AoE, Mobbing |
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![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
![]() Fragmentation Rounds Loads your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that fragment in flight. Bolts that hit a frozen enemy consume the Freeze and cause an explosion of Shrapnel. Bolts that hit an Ice Crystal cause it to explode.
![]() High Velocity Rounds Loads your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that can consume Fully Broken Armour on enemies to deal extra damage.
![]() Herald of Plague While active, killing a Poisoned enemy spreads its Poison to other nearby enemies, and has a chance to also Hinder them.
![]() Attrition While active, causes you to deal more Hit damage to Rare and Unique enemies the longer you've been fighting them, and gain Culling Strike against them once you've been fighting them for long enough.
![]() Cast on Freeze While active, gains Energy when you Freeze enemies and triggers socketed spells on reaching maximum Energy.
![]() Emergency Reload Instantly relaods your active Crossbow Ammunition and Empowers the loaded bolts to deal more damage.
![]() Galvanic Shards Loads your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fragment in flight, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip.
![]() Withering Presence While active, periodically Withers enemies in your Presence.
![]() Blink Replaces your dodge roll with a short-cooldown Spell that allows you to tunnel through space, instantly reappearing a medium distance away.
Focus: DoT, Crowd Control, Bossing |
![]() UP |
![]() Explosive Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a devastating fiery blast when its fuse expires.
![]() Flash Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies.
![]() Gas Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that causes a burst of Poison gas when its fuse expires, damaging enemies and leaving behind a growing Poison cloud. Burning effects or Detonator skills will cause the cloud to explode in a fiery blast.
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
![]() Attrition While active, causes you to deal more Hit damage to Rare and Unique enemies the longer you've been fighting them, and gain Culling Strike against them once you've been fighting them for long enough.
![]() Oil Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that bursts in a spray of Oil when the fuse expires or when it impacts an Enemy, dealing minimal damage but covering the ground and nearby enemies in Oil. Oil created this way can be Ignited by Detonator Skills or Ignited Ground.
![]() Cluster Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade That explodes when it's fuse expires, throwing out a nova of mini Grenades that explode when they come to a stop.
Focus: AoE, Burst Damage, Crowd Control |
![]() NEW |
![]() Herald of Ash While active, enemies you sufficiently Overkill with attacks will cause an explosion that ignites nearby enemies based on the Overkill damage dealt.
![]() Wind Dancer Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Being Hit by a Melee Attack while you have this buff consumes all stages to damage and Knock Back enemies around you.
![]() Armour Piercing Rounds Load your Crossbow with a clip of bolts that can be fired rapidly and Break enemy Armour. Using this skill again reloads the clip.
![]() Oil Grenade Fires a bouncing Grenade that bursts in a spray of Oil when the fuse expires or when it impacts an Enemy, dealing minimal damage but covering the ground and nearby enemies in Oil. Oil created this way can be Ignited by Detonator Skills or Ignited Ground.
![]() Ripwire Ballista Deploys a Balista Totem that fires Pinning bolts which Maim enemies.
![]() Artillery Ballista Deploys a Ballista Totem that fires bolts skyward, to explode a short time after landing.
![]() Siege Cascade Loads your Crossbow with enemy-seeking payloads which are fired into the air, dropping a bolt near every enemy in the target area. These bolts lodge in the ground and explode after a short delay .
Focus: Totem, Physical, Fire, Mobbing, Bossing |
Base Class | ||
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Ascendancies | ||
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PoE 2 0.2.0 Lightning Mercenary Leveling Build
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