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There are a lot of great endgame builds forPath of Exile 2, Mercenaries have access to a few of the best ones forclearing high-level Atlas maps. Though some of the best Mercenary buildsPoE 2players have made optimize its damage with Galvanic Shards and other Crossbow abilities, the Grenade Mercenary offers a more bombastic, but still extremely effective, endgame setup.
By the time you’ve worked through the campaign and are ready to take yourPoE 2Grenade Mercenarybuild into the endgame, there are a lot of things you must start to consider to be effective in the Atlas. But once you master the Grenade Mercenary’s playstyle and fine-tune its complex interconnected parts, you will feel unstoppable as you blast high-tier Waystones apart with a barrage of FPS-lowering explosions.
Best Grenade Mercenary Skill & Support Gems
When you get to the endgame, Grenade Mercenary builds must start to consider more than damage output as enemies continue to get stronger and stronger the further youprogress in the Atlas. Of course, thePoE 2endgame Mercenary build needs damage output to map efficiently, but you must also start to rotate in abilities that control and debuff enemies, too, or you will get overwhelmed.
This list assumes that you have at least four Support Gem slots for the listed skills. If you only have three, follow the recommendations in the first three Support Gem columns.
Fire Mastery
Lightning Mastery
WhileExplosive Grenade and Explosive Shot are our primary means of damage output, you should start touse Flash Grenade regularly, too. Flash Grenade helps to thin out herds of enemies and interrupts just about everything except Stun-resistant Rares and Bosses, especially with the Overpower, Scattershot, and Payload Support Gems.
It has a very short fuse, and is great for making room when you get backed into a corner. Though you also get flashed by the Flash Grenade, you don’t need Accuracy to Detonate grenades on the ground, so it has practically no effect on this build.
Gas Grenade and Oil Grenade will Slow and Poison enemies and can be Ignited with a Detonator skill (Explosive Shot). Withthe correct Support Gems, these two AoE effect grenades can also make enemies more vulnerable to Fire damage or reduce their Fire Resistance.
Because Explosive Grenade is primarily Fire damage, this combination results in a significant boost in damage while also slowing and Poisoning enemies.Rotate through these abilities to deal with almost every enemy that comes your way.
Ripwire Ballista can be used to help distract enemies and is invaluable in wave-based events like Rituals and certain rooms in Trials.
Glacial Bolt is not a skill we use a lot for this build, but it can be incredibly handy for walling off enemies to create some space – especially with the Fortress and Glacier Support Gems.
The bestGrenade Mercenary Spirit abilityis Herald of Ash, which blows up targets on death, dealing the amount of overpower damage to nearby enemies.
Sorcery Ward is a skill gained from the Witchhunter Ascendancy, and because it counts as a Cold, Fire, and LIghtning skill, you can use the appropriate Masteries to raise its level by up to 3 higher than normal.
Grenade Mercenary Build Passive Skills & Ascendancy
Essential Passive Skill Tree Notable Nodes
Inthe Passive Skill Tree, the best Grenade Mercenary Passives are those that add Area of Effect size, Elemental/Crossbow/Projectile damage, or otherwise increase the effectiveness of your Grenade arsenal. You should be able to get all of these Notable nodes by Level 75, or about 10 levels into the endgame forPath of Exile 2.
There area few Notable nodesthat can be handy for survivability, including the group of defensive Evasion and Armor nodes to the left of the Crossbow and Grenade constellation at the bottom of the Passive Skill tree. But generally, if you can Stun, debuff, and blow up enemies faster than they can damage you, you don’t need to focus too much on increasing Defenses.
If you are having trouble at higher Waystone tiers, consider increasing your Elemental Resistances first before re-speccing to more defensive Skills.
Best Ascendancy: Witchhunter
The best Ascendancy for thePoE 2Grenade Mercenary endgame build is the Witchhunter. ThisAscendancy grants us a few powerful abilities, most notably the ability to cull enemies, gain a shield for all non-physical damage, and another way to blow up enemies on death to pair with Herald of Ash.
As you complete Trials and gain Ascendancy points to spend, go for the notable Witchhunter nodes in the order listed above. You will notice Culling Strike almost immediately, Sorcery Ward comes in handy in the mid-tier Waystones when elemental damage becomes a real concern, and Zealous Inquisition is a powerful upgrade but ultimately just makes your mapping more efficient.
Area of Effect is required to get to Zealous Inquisition, but thankfully it works for this build, too.
Best Grenade Mercenary Gearing & Modifiers
Required Equipment: Bombard Crossbow
The number one most important piece of gear to make the Grenade Mercenary endgame build work is theBombard Crossbow. This base alwaysadds an extra Projectile to all Grenade attacks. When added to the Cluster Bombs passive skill, you willalways fire at least three Grenadeswith every Grenade skill, practically tripling our AoE range and damage to single targets.
When a Magic or Rare Bombard Crossbow drops, or when crafting onto a common Bombard Crossbow base,prioritize these Modifiers.
It isessential to have extra Physical and Elemental damage(both flat and percentage) bonuses, as these contribute significantly to the power of your skills, particularly Explosive Grenades. If a Bombard Crossbow does not have significant upgrades to your Physical or Fire damage,it’s not worth using for this build.
When you get a good Bombard Crossbow with high Physical and Elemental damage modifiers,use two Artificer’s Orbsto create two Rune Slots on it.Add two Iron Runesinto these slots to boost its Physical damage by a further 40%, which compounds with percentage-based damage modifiers.
Grenade Mercenary Endgame Gear Modifier Priority
For all of your other gear, the best modifiers mostly look the same, with a few key differences that will only appear on non-weapon equipment. In addition to yourElemental Resistances and Rarity of Items(two Modifiers that you should have at least a few of in the endgame), these are the gear modifiers that you should prioritize in thePoE 2endgame Grenade Mercenary build.
Additionally,keep an eye out for Belts that grant extra Charm slots. You only have one by default, but all Belts have a chance to have a modifier that adds up to two more. This means more ways to mitigate morestatus effects with more Charms, and is arguably one of the most powerful modifiers on a piece of gear in terms of survivability.
Grenade Mercenary Build Endgame Strategy & Playstyle
The Grenade Mercenary playstyle is onecharacterized by lengthy setups and satisfying payoffs. Your Grenades don’t dealdamage instantly like other class abilities, they take a second or two to activate. Be prepared to dodge often and kite enemies efficiently to avoid being killed while waiting for your Grenades to go off.
You can’t face-tank enemies with Sorcery Ward, as it reduces your Physical defenses, but Mercenaries are well-equipped to deal with ranged casters.Stay at mid to long range whenever you can.
When confronting a group of enemies, fire off a Gas Grenade deep into the pack, then set off an Oil Grenade at the front. The enemies will be drawn to your location and the Gas will catch any stragglers while everyone else gets coated in Fire Resistance-reducing Oil.
Then, fire off a few Explosive Grenades, and ignite the Oil to set off a chain reaction that will deal ridiculous damage to enemies in the AoE. This is your essential rotation for most groups, though there are some skills we need to use for more specific situations.
If you everget into a tight cornersurrounded by more enemies than you can handle, fire off aFlash Grenade. This will quickly clear out any low-level, low HP enemiesand knock back or Stuneverything stronger, giving you a path for escape.
Because it deals decent damage, and we’ve modified it to go off twice with 5x total Projectiles, Flash Grenade is also great as a way to open combat with a large group. It will cull low-life enemies quickly and give you a second to assess what remains.
Ripwire Ballista can be extremely handy for these situations, too. If you are about to take on a Ritual or other wave-based event, or see a group of enemies in the distance you know will be too large to handle quickly, pop off your Ripwire Ballista as a distraction.
This is also really useful for bosses, who can also become distracted by the Ballista and give a valuable few seconds to set up a Grenade wombo combo.
Glacial Bolt is an ability we won’t use often in this build, but in certain maps, it’s incredibly handy. In the Crypt map, for example, this single skill can completely lock off hallways and prevent enemies from joining a horde you’re currently fighting. In high-tier Waystones, pre-emptively firing off some Glacial Bolts to block off entrances can make a serious difference.
Bossing With The Grenade Mercenary Build
In terms of bosses, theFlash Grenade skill is surprisingly effective at Stunningmost unique enemies incredibly fast, especially with theSupport Gems we have slotted. When you enter a boss arena (or see a Rare enemy off-screen),set up your Gas Grenades and Oil Grenades from a distance, then wait for its Life bar to appear. It should instantly become Poisoned and vulnerable to Fire damage.
Set off a few Flash Grenade blasts to rapidly Stun it, then fire away with your Explosive Grenades as their stagger meter drains. Repeat this synergy over and over to keep the boss Stunned and melt its life bar with Fire damage.
When it comes down to it, the Grenade Mercenary build playstyle is really as simple as that – set up your synergies ahead of time, have a way out of every situation, and know the order you need to use skills to maximize damage and you’ll have few issues taking this endgamePoE 2Mercenary build through to thehighest Waystone tiers.
