His blade in Path of Exile 2 is at your service: How to make a Mercenary build

Conquer Path of Exile 2 as a Mercenary: A Beginner's Guide

Tired of fantasy tropes in Path of Exile 2? The Mercenary class offers a refreshing change of pace, transforming the game into a top-down shooter experience. Ditch the swords and bows; embrace the crossbow and unleash a hail of projectiles upon your enemies! This guide will walk you through building an effective Mercenary in the early stages of PoE2 (version 0.1.0f). Note that GGG may implement changes affecting this guide's accuracy in future updates.

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Core Mercenary Strengths:

The Mercenary, while capable of wielding any weapon, excels with crossbows. This versatile weapon acts as a blend of automatic rifle, shotgun, and grenade launcher, providing diverse combat options. Forget close-quarters combat; maintain distance and dominate the battlefield.

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Key Attributes:

Prioritize Dexterity to boost your damage and evasion. Evasion is far more crucial than Armor. Movement speed is also vital for dodging attacks. Allocate Strength and Intelligence as needed for equipment or skill requirements.

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Early Game Skill Choices:

• Fragmentation Rounds: A decent starting skill, but quickly outclassed. Consider Brutality and Leverage support gems for increased damage and critical strike chance against immobilized foes.

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• Permafrost Bolts: A strong early-game choice. Freeze and immobilize enemies, then capitalize on increased critical strike chance with Leverage. Double Barrel support gem adds more bolts per shot at the cost of reload speed. Remember that attack speed influences reload speed.

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• Explosive Grenade: Essential for crowd control. Scattershot support gem allows for three grenades at once, albeit with reduced damage. Second Wind is a useful addition. Remember grenade trajectory and physics when aiming.

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• Gas Grenade: Releases a cloud of poison gas. Corrosion support gem reduces enemy armor, while Bursting Plague boosts damage. Detonate the gas with fire skills (like Explosive Grenade) for massive damage increases.

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• Galvanic Shards (Act 2): Transforms your crossbow into an automatic shotgun. Conduction and Lightning Infusion support gems significantly boost damage.

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• Herald of Thunder: A powerful buff, especially when combined with Galvanic Shards and Conduction. Requires 30 spirit units.

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• Explosive Shot: Excellent for ranged combat and triggering grenade detonations. Fire Infusion support gem increases fire damage.

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Passive Skill Tree Progression:

Focus on nodes increasing projectile damage. Prioritize:

• Remorseless: Increased projectile damage, stun buildup, and attribute bonuses.
• Ricochet: Increased projectile damage and chaining.
• Blur: Increased movement speed and evasion.
• Heavy Ammunition: Increased projectile damage and stun buildup (reduced attack speed).
• Careful Aim: Increased projectile damage and accuracy at close range.
• Cluster Bombs: Increased grenade fuse duration and additional projectiles (for Explosive Shot users).
• Adrenaline Rush: Increased movement and attack speed after kills.
• Doomsayer: Increased area of effect and damage for Herald skills.
• Instant Reload: Significantly increased crossbow reload speed.
• Volatile Grenades: Reduced grenade fuse duration (only if not using Explosive Shot).

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Experiment and find your optimal build! The Mercenary's flexibility allows for diverse and powerful playstyles.