The Mercenary is one of the new classes in Path of Exile 2 but it’s already become a fan-favorite. Mercenaries are another ranged class, but they have the ability to hit much harder than the standard Ranger. With the right gear, skills, and gameplay loop, enemies and bosses become trivial to the Mercenary.
However, to get to that point, you need a proper build guide for the Mercenary in Path of Exile 2. Fortunately, we have a complete build guide below, including the best skills, Support and Spirit Gems, and Ascendancy to use for the Mercenary.
Mercenary Overview in Path of Exile 2
As we said before, the Mercenary is a ranged class in Path of Exile 2 but utilizes a different skillset compared to the Ranger. Instead of a bow and arrow, you use a crossbow in the primary slot, which is what most of your top skills will be based around.
Mercenaries use the crossbow to wield a plentiful amount of ammunition types. You can switch to each of these ammo types the same way you cast different skills on another class, such as the Sorceress. While this switching back and forth to different ammo might feel clunky at first, you’ll understand what ammo to use for certain situations as you continue leveling with the Mercenary.
With your crossbow, you can primarily deal two kinds of elemental damage, fire and frost. Other skills allow for regular crossbow bolts and armor-piercing rounds, though, so you’re not limited to just elemental damage. Luckily, the Mercenary doesn’t have to rely on a single elemental damage type for any build, so you’re free to use any skill that deals the most damage.
Your main attribute as a Mercenary will be Dexterity, as this improves the accuracy of your shots. However, since the Mercenary is a well-rounded class, some of your gear could require extra points in Intelligence or Strength. For the most part, though, your skills are based around Dexterity and Strength, so that’s where you’ll want to put a majority of your attribute points.
Best Mercenary Skills in Path of Exile 2
Now that you have a basic understanding of the Mercenary, it’s time to equip the class with its best skills. The Mercenary doesn’t necessarily rely on super late-game skills, as the early skills you can unlock deal a ton of damage right out of the gate.
The best skills for the Mercenary are a mixture of different elemental damage plus other types of rounds that can be fired quickly or have more ammo before needing to be reloaded. Most of your elemental ammo must be reloaded after a single shot. While these skills tend to deal more damage, reloading during the middle of a fight isn’t prudent at all times. As such, having access to skills that can be shot quicker or for longer are always good to have in your back pocket.
Here are the skills we recommend for the Mercenary in Path of Exile 2:
- Armor Piercing Rounds
- Permafrost Bolts
- Flash Grenade
- Explosive Shot
- Gas Grenade, then Oil Grenade, then Cluster Grenade
- Ripwire Ballista
- Galvanic Shards
In addition to all these skills, you can also slot in the basic “Crossbow Shot,” which comes from equipping any type of crossbow. This is the most basic attack possible, but it’s nice to have for weaker enemies and consistent damage against bosses.
Cluster Grenade is the one skill on the list that you’ll have to wait to use, as you likely won’t unlock it until you reach Cruel difficulty. You’ll also see we initially have Gas and Oil Grenade slotted in for Cluster Grenade, as they are unlocked a smidge earlier. The rest of the skills are at Level 12 or below, so they can be used mid-way through the campaign. You have a wide range of ammo types available with these skills, including multiple kinds of elemental damage and rounds with more shots and higher fire rates.
Best Mercenary Support and Spirit Gems
After equipping some of the skills above, you can move on to slotting in the recommended Support Gems for those skills. Also, you don’t want to forget about Spirit Gems, as the Mercenary has access to some great persistent buffs.
Here are some Support Gems we recommend for a few skills, as well as the best Spirit Gems to use:
Support Gems
- Second Wind (Flash Grenade)
- Glaciation (Permafrost Bolts)
- Persistence (Oil/Cluster Grenade)
- Magnified Effect
- Lockdown (Ripwire Ballista)
- Ingenuity (Flash Grenade)
- Wildfire (Explosive Shot)
- Lightning Infusion (Galvanic Shards)
- Double Barrel (Armor Piercing Rounds)
Spirit Gems
Best Mercenary Passive Skills
Moving on, you’ll want to follow several key paths on the Mercenary’s Passive Ability skill tree. For the most part, sticking with increases to projectile damage, reload speed, AoE effects, and attribute buffs for Strength and Dexterity is the best route. However, if you want a more defensive-minded Mercenary, boosting armor and evasion rating are also viable options.
Here are some Passive Abilities we suggest for the Mercenary:
- Remorseless
- Instant Reload
- Reusable Ammunition
- Volatile Catalyst
- Cluster Bombs
- Adrenaline Rush
- Repeating Explosives
Best Mercenary Ascendancy in Path of Exile 2
Finally, after leveling the Mercenary, you can select an Ascendancy for it. There are two options available for the Mercenary in early access: Witch Hunter and Gemling Legionnaire.
Witch Hunter is where you want to go in most cases, as it has the best damage-boosting abilities and it’s much simpler overall. The Ascendancy also has great explosion properties, allowing you to make your explosions longer, deal more damage, and even interrupt enemies during casting.
That does it for our Mercenary build in Path of Exile 2. If you’re looking to run another class, we recommend the Monk, which has a spectacular and balanced build.
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