Mastering Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Build Guide

Key Highlights

This guide shows you the best Witch Hunter Grenadier Mercenary build in Path of Exile 2.
Learn to use the powerful combination of Explosive Grenade and Explosive Shot for great damage.
Take advantage of Spirit buffs like Shard Scavenger and Attrition for better offense and defense.
Explore the passive skill tree to boost your grenades, attack speed, and survivability.
Equip a strong crossbow, focus on resistances, and don't ignore movement speed!

Introduction

Are you ready to explore the exciting world of Path of Exile 2? With a great build for beginners, you’ll be set. The Early Access version has introduced the awesome Mercenary class. This class mixes strong moves with smart strategies. Made by Grinding Gear Games, Path of Exile 2 makes action RPG games even better. With this guide, you will conquer battles as a Witch Hunter Grenadier Mercenary. Get ready to unleash fiery attacks on your enemies!

Understanding Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Basics

The Mercenary focuses on having an edge in both strength and speed. They use different crossbows and strong skills to strike enemies from a distance. You can shoot enemies with rounds that go through armor or launch big explosive attacks. Playing as a Mercenary is fun and can be very effective.

For those new to Path of Exile, the Mercenary is easy to learn. Their style is based on ranged combat, so you don’t have to be an expert to deal damage. However, if you want to improve, understanding ammo types, how to reload, and using skills together will take your gameplay further!

The Role of a Mercenary in Path of Exile 2

As a Mercenary, your main job in the early game is to deal steady damage from far away. This helps you control how the battle goes and take advantage of enemy weaknesses. The crossbow has different ammo types. This lets you adjust to many fight situations. This makes the Mercenary a flexible and useful member of any team.

But don't think being at a distance means being weak! While staying alive isn’t their main goal, Mercenaries have ways to reduce damage and manage the battlefield. The secret is to make the most of your merc's strengths. Focus on their speed, crowd control, and smart use of skills. Keep in mind, a Mercenary that is dead can't deal any damage. Stay sharp, learn where to stand, and let your crossbow do the work.

Key Terms and Mechanics for Beginners

Navigating the complex POE2 means you need to understand some important terms and mechanics. Let's look at a few key ideas:

Support Gems: These are special gems. When you put them in gear with skill gems, they make your skills stronger and more useful. Try different combinations to find powerful synergies.
Passive Skill Tree: This is a detailed map of your character's passive skills. You need to spend points wisely to improve your Mercenary's skills and make them stronger.
Physical Damage: This is the main type of damage for many Mercenary skills. It's important to boost your physical damage using gear, passives, and support gems to get the most out of your character's power.

Preparing for Your Mercenary Journey

Before you start your exciting adventure, make sure you have the knowledge and tools to face any challenge. Getting ready is important for a smooth and good journey through the tough world of Path of Exile 2!

Understanding the main mechanics, looking up effective builds, and collecting important gear will help you become a true master of destruction.

Essential Equipment and Resources

As you go on your adventure, you will find many items. However, knowing which gear to focus on can really help your early game. Look out for these important equipment pieces:

Crossbow: This is your reliable companion. Choose crossbows that have high physical damage and good extras, like faster attack speed or extra elemental damage.
Primal Armament Support Gem: This strong support gem boosts your skills and gives a big jump to your elemental damage. It's great for increasing your powerful hits.
Uncut Skill Gem: These gems are very valuable. Use them to add more skills to your collection and try out different gameplay styles.

Setting Up Your Game Environment

Don't ignore how important a good game setup is. Adjusting your settings and changing your interface can really make your gameplay better. Here are some tips to help you:

Adjust Graphics Settings: Make your game run better by balancing how it looks and how smoothly it plays. Try different settings to see what fits best for your system.
Customize Your Interface: Change your HUD so it shows the most important information clearly. This way, you can make quick decisions when the game gets intense.
Practice Movement Speed: Moving well is key to staying alive in POE2. Go to town areas and practice your movements to improve your character's speed.

Step-by-Step Guide to Building Your Mercenary

Now that you have finished preparing, it's time to gather your powerful weapons and take action against your foes. This easy-to-follow guide will show you how to create a strong Witch Hunter Grenadier Mercenary.

Step 1: Choosing the Right Class and Ascendancy

For this build, we will look at the strong Witch Hunter Ascendancy. This role mixes good attack and defense skills that work well with the Grenadier playstyle.

Witch Hunter Ascendancy: The Witch Hunter is great at taking down enemies fast. Their Ascendancy skills break enemy defenses, increase damage on weak enemies, and can even set off explosive chain reactions when they defeat cursed enemies.

Step 2: Skill Selection and Early Game Strategy

Begin by getting and prioritizing these skills:

Explosive Shot: This skill is key to our build. It lets you blow up your grenades right away.
Explosive Grenade: This is your main source of damage. Upgrade this skill to create powerful explosions.
Permafrost Bolts: This skill helps control crowds by freezing enemies. It allows for explosive finishes using Fragmentation Rounds.

Early Game Strategy

Get Explosive Shot first. This skill will greatly increase your damage.
Use Permafrost Bolts to control how enemies move. This creates chances for powerful Explosive Grenade attacks.
Look for gear that boosts physical damage and projectile damage to increase your early game damage.

Advanced Tactics and Strategies

Once you have a strong base, it's time to improve your skills and look into advanced strategies. Learning these ideas will boost your gameplay. This will help you overcome the hardest challenges that POE2 can present!

Optimizing Your Skill Tree

To increase your grenade damage, attack speed, and survivability, explore the passive skill tree. Look for these important nodes:

Cluster Bombs: This unlocks the Cluster Grenade skill. It fills the area with many mini-grenades, causing significant damage.
Grenadier: This boosts your grenade skills by giving you one more use. It also increases your total damage.
Instant Reload: This improves your reload speed for the crossbow. It helps maximize your damage.

Mastering Mercenary Combat Techniques

Hit and Run: The Mercenary can move quickly. Use hit-and-run tactics to deal a lot of damage and stay safe.
Exploit Enemy Weaknesses: Try using different ammo types. For example, Permafrost Bolts can freeze enemies, and Fragmentation Rounds can break frozen enemies.
Master Grenade Placement: Practice throwing grenades. This will help you get their area of effect right. You can catch many enemies in big explosions.

Conclusion

In summary, to be great at the Path of Exile 2 Mercenary build, you need both strategy and skill. It is important to know the basics, gear up properly, and improve your tactics for a successful mercenary adventure. By picking the best class, sharpening your combat skills, and wisely choosing your skill points, you can build a strong mercenary ready to face challenges. This guide can help beginners and those ready for advanced tactics. Are you ready to start your journey? Gear up, plan your strategy, and let your mercenary skills shine!

Find the full build here - https://mobalytics.gg/poe-2/builds/lolcohol-grenadier-mercenary