The Mercenary is a warrior who uses their knowledge of advanced weapons and technology to destroy their foes. Here’s the best Mercenary build in Path of Exile 2 early access.
The Mercenary is a different kind of character class to the others in Path of Exile 2 and are very much the thinking person’s class of choice. While the character is a battle-hardened soldier, it’s their knowledge of special weapons like grenades and crossbows that sets them apart from the rest.
They’re also a hybrid build, one that is comfortable fighting with monsters up close, but is always at its best when using some dirty trick to get the upper hand in battle. If you’re jumping into Path of Exile 2 early access, you’ll want the best Mercenary build.
What’s The Best Mercenary Build in Path of Exile 2?
The most effective Mercenary build we’ve used so far is the Grenade Mercenary.
This build is excellent when leveling through the campaign, but really comes alive once endgame sets in.
Of course, any upcoming update could change the meta and cause a different build to rise to the top, but as of right now, the Grenade Mercenary is the best build we’ve seen.
What’s The Best Ascendancy in Path of Exile 2?
When picking your Ascendancy for the Mercenary, pick the Gemling Legionnaire. This is an Ascendancy that allows the Mercenary to tinker with his deadly toys to maximize their damage output on the battlefield.
However, it’s important to point out that once you confirm this Ascendancy, you’ll not be able to change it. That is, unless you start a new character. Even if you respec your build, you’ll need to stay within the bounds of this Ascendancy.
What Are The Best Skills for Mercenary Build in POE 2?
With the Ascendancy selected, now it’s time to pick the best key Passive Skills for this build, as you can imagine we’re going to prioritize skills that buff grenade damage such as Grenadier and Repeating Explosives.
So, for the Grenade Mercenary, select the following passives from the Skill Tree:
- Volatile Catalyst
- Cluster Bombs
- Grenadier
- Repeating Explosives
- Adrenaline Rush
- Volatile Grenades
- Giantslayer
- Perfect Opportunity
- Distracting Presence
- Cull the Horders
- Giantslayer
You’re welcome to add more passives as you continue to level your character beyond this point, so keep on buffing your Dexterity, Strength, and Intelligence for best results.
Which Skills And Support Skills Should You Pick?
As this is a Grenade-based build, we’ll be focusing on skills like Oil, Flash, and Explosive Grenades.
With your main passives chosen, you’ll now need to pick your Main Skills next. These are the main attack skills we’ll be using, as well as the Support Skills or “Gems”.
Pick the below Main Skills for this build along with the following Support Gems/Skills:
| Main Skill | Support Gem 1 | Support Gem 2 | Support Gem 3 | Support Gem 4 | Support Gem 5 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Explosive Shot | Martial Tempo | Pierce | Nimble Reload | – | – |
| Oil Grenade | Persistance | Strip Away | Encumbrance | – | – |
| Flash Grenade | Scattershot | Overpower | Heft | – | – |
| Explosive Grenade | Fire Infusion | Primal Armament | Payload | – | – |
| Gas Grenade | Corrosion | Armor | Explosion | – | – |
| Overwhelming Presence | Clarity | Vitality | – | – | – |
| Time of Need | Clarity | Vitality | – | – | – |
As your character grows, you can add more Support Gems to tailor the build to your preferred setup.
What Are The Best Items to Equip?
The armor, weapons, and other gear you find in Path of Exile 2 are an important part of your build. That’s because the buffs they offer help it become even more effective, and in this build’s case, overpowered. So items like the Skull Core Bombard Crossbow will come in handy.
If this gear isn’t your bag, just try to find items that have similar buffs. This is far more crucial than the gear itself and the base stats it offers. If you do choose this gear, don’t worry if you find an item too early and level out of it; you’ll likely find a more powerful version of the same item later.
| Item Type | Item Name | Key Buffs |
|---|---|---|
| Weapon | Skull Core Bombard Crossbow | Boosts Physical Damage, Attack Speed, Accuracy |
| Offhand | – | – |
| Helm | Dusk Guardian Spired Greathelm | Boosts Life and Resistances |
| Armor | Gale Shelter Vagabond Armor | Boosts Life, Evasion, and Resistances |
| Gloves | Torment Hand Layered Gloves | Adds Cold Damage and boosts Life |
| Boots | Entropy League Braced Sabatons | Boosts Movement Speed and Life |
| Belt | Dire Buckle Plate Belt | Boosts Life, Strength, and Resistances |
| Ring 1 | Doom Spiral Ruby Ring | Adds Fire Damage and boosts Resistances |
| Ring 2 | Brood Eye Topaz Ring | Boosts Strength and Resistances |
| Amulet | Viper Locket Stellar Amulet | Boosts all Attributesand Resistances |
| Charm 1 | Silver Charm | Fire Resistance |
| Charm 2 | Blooming Thawing Charm of the Practitioner | Life recovery |
| Charm 2 | For Utopia Stone Charm | Immune to Stun |
It takes a while to find every item on a recommended build guide, so don’t worry if you have to equip other gear on and off. Just keep an eye out for the above items or consider them examples of the buffs you want to aim for.
Will you be using the Mercenary class to blast monsters with grenades in the early access of Path of Exile 2 build? Let us know over on the Insider Gaming forum.
Don’t forget, we also have the best build guides for the other Path of Exile 2 classes, such as the Monk, Warrior, Witch, Sorceress, Huntress, and Ranger.
