In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put together theCommander buildfor you to use to get into the late-game or endgame of the game.Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer number of skills and build possibilities available in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensive skill tree and multitude of skill gems. This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of the campaign and prepare for your Cruel playthroughs or endgame.
Introduction
TheCommanderis a build that will be using theCrossbowand its skills as the build’s main tool, utilizing the various summons available for maximum effect. For this build, we will be focusing on increasing the effectiveness of our variousfire support totemsthrough passive nodes and support gems.
Starter Class
For this build, we will be starting with theMercenary Class, which is one of the seven available for now. On the expansive skill tree, the class starts on the south side.
This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related toattack speedandflat increases in projectile damage, which we will be taking advantage of to maximize our damage output.
Passive Skills
With theCommander build, we will be aiming formaximum damage outputas quickly as possible using the crossbow by amplifying the weapon’s strength. We will be investing mainly inprojectile damageandattack speedas we go down the southern section of the passive skill tree.
The first skill group we will be going for is theattack speed passive groupcontainingMass Hysteria.
This group includes passive nodes that increase your attack speed and will also increase the attack speed of your teammates.
After investing inMass Hysteria, we will go down the opposite branch on the southern side of the skill tree and go throughRemorselessandRicochet.
These nodes will increase your damage using crossbow bolts and give you a chance for your bolts to hit multiple enemies by ricocheting. After these two nodes, we will branch eastward to pick up nodes that provide survivability, namely theFortifying Bloodnode.
This node and its corresponding skill group will increase theLife Leechyou have, but it’s important to note that they will not grant Life Leech by themselves. You need to haveLife Leech on your gearfor these nodes to provide their benefits. You can either invest in the whole group or just go for Fortifying Blood and move on to other branches. It’s also a good investment to allocate points to theDispatch Foesbranch to gain some additionalcritical hit chance, which is extremely useful since this build ishigh attack speedfocused.
After these two small branches, we will continue further south on the skill tree until we reach theouter ringof the whole tree.
It is a good idea to pick up theAdrenaline Rushnode along the way, as it will grant increasedattack speedandmovement speedafter killing an enemy—which we will be doing quite frequently—and it will help increasemap clearing speed.
One of the most important skill groups for this build is thetotem skill groupon the outer ring.
This group contains theWatchtowersnode, which allows us to summon anadditional totem.
In addition, the other nodes in this group will also increase thedamage done by totems, boost theirlife, andincrease placement speed. This group forms an essential component of this build alongside the damage from your crossbows.
Although there are many great passive nodes that work well with this build, thecore skill groupwe are aiming for is thecrossbow passive skill group, which increasesdamage, improvescritical strike chance, and grants a passive chancenot to consume bolts upon firing.
This really helps withsingle-bolt reloading skillsand can deal significant damage in a short time whenever it procs.
The node that offers a majordamage increaseisFull Salvo, which grants a damage bonus for eachdifferent ammo typeused in the last 10 seconds.
Since it scales with the number of ammo types used (and not a set limit), rotating betweenfast-firing, low-count ammunitions cansignificantly ramp up damage, especially against bosses.
These skill groups form thecore of this build, and after investing in them, the build’s efficiency is further enhanced by allocating points intoprojectile damage,attack speed, andcrossbow reload speed. If you want additional survivability, you’re able to also opt to go for moreLife Leechnodes, allowing you tofacetank most mobsduring mapping.
Ascendancy
Regarding theAscendancy, we will be using theTactician subclassfor theMercenary, because we will be taking theUnleash Hellnode and theCannons, Ready!node.
TheUnleash Hellnode allows us tocall down a firing squadthat unleashes ahail of shotson your targets.
TheCannons, Ready!node increasestotem skill speedand allows yourtotems to fire in syncwith your projectile attacks.
Active Skill Setup
For this build, we are going with the simple and effective route and will not be focusing on a variety of skills, but sticking with a handful that work extremely well and will let you deal with any situation the game throws at you.
We will be using theArmour Piercing Roundsas our main type of ammunition and skill for this build.
Loading these bolts will allow you to fire offrapid-firing shotsthat can easily break down the armor of your targets and increase the damage they take.
The second type of ammunition or skill that we will be using quite often is theHigh Velocity Rounds.
This skill will load a single bolt that can dealhigh damage, but it has the advantage of being able to ensure acritical hitagainst any target that has their armor broken, consuming the status effect when doing so. The main rotation of your ammo type is armor piercing followed by a high velocity shot, and repeat—especially when fighting against tougher enemies and bosses.
The last skill that we will be using that greatly increases our damage output is theRapid Shotskill.
This skill loads your crossbow with a heavy clip containing at least 50 bolts and will fire like a heavy machine gun after a small period of winding up.
This skill is different from other crossbow shots in that Rapid Shot willaccumulate heatfor your crossbow, which will in turn increase the damage dealt by each of your bolts. As we will be unloading hundreds of bolts within seconds—quite literally—you will see the boss’s health bar going down within a short time frame.
The damage output is especially visible once you have broken the concentration of the boss, and it will give you the most satisfying enjoyment of laying waste to a tough enemy.
These three ammunition types or skills are the ones we will be mainly using, especially against bosses, but sometimes they can have trouble dealing with large mobs of enemies. In such instances, shots such asIncendiary ShotsandGalvanic Shardswork really well, as they will let you fire off multiple shrapnel in a cone in front of you—much like a shotgun—allowing you to quickly deal with large groups of enemies while also having considerable knockback force.
The first of the essentialtotem skillswe will be using is theArtillery Ballistaskill from the crossbow weapon.
This skill will lay down a ballista totem that firesexplosive shotsthat rain down from the sky, dealing damage in a wide area. Combined with the nodes we’ve invested in on the passive skill tree, we will be able to put downmultiple Artillery Totems, laying waste to the entire screen as they launch multiple explosive shots.
Another totem that you may use is theRipwire BallistaTotemfrom the Crossbow skill tree.
This placement will slow down and pin enemies, so it can provide you with an additional form ofcrowd control, alongside the ice shots.
Spirit Gems
For theSpirit Gemskill, the first is theHerald of Ash, and this persistent buff will cause anexplosion that ignites every enemy in rangewhenever you Overkill an enemy. Owing to the high damage we can inflict with the High Velocity Rounds, we can overkill mobs of enemies easily.
Another Spirit Gem skill that works amazingly with the crossbow is theShard Scavengergem.
This passive will allow us toinstantly reload our crossbow boltsupon consuming the Broken Armor ailment, allowing us to repeat the High Velocity Shot instantly without needing to reload, adding to our damage output.
Support Gems
TheSupport Gemsreally bring out the best ability of this build, and we will be focusing on maximizing our effectiveness using ourmain three shots.
For theArmor Piercing Rounds, it is best to put in theChain Support Gemas early as possible into this skill when you are putting this build together, as this will cause our bolts tochain to multiple enemies, allowing us to take them all out quickly without the need for more close-range shots.
The second support gem that really amplifies the function of this skill is theDemolisher Gem, which increases thearmor-breaking ability by 50%, making it so that you will break down armor with fewer shots—in turn, increasing the damage you deal against armor-broken enemies.
For theHigh Velocity Rounds, we will want to put in theAmmo Conservationgem, as this will give a25% chance not to consume a bolt, giving the opportunity to fire off two consecutive high-damage shots in a short time.
To further add to this advantage, we will be slotting aDouble Barrel Geminto the skill, as this will give usan additional bolt per reload.
Although there is a downside ofincreased reload timewhen using this gem, the effect is negligible and will not significantly impact the playstyle of this build.
ForRapid Shot, as the skillconverts 60% of our damage to fire damageand gives our bolts thechance to ignite enemies, we will be using theIgnition Support Gem, which increases thechance to ignite by 100%, and combine it with theEternal Flame Gem, which increases theduration of the igniteat the cost of a25% reduction in ignition chance. With our high attack speed rapid shots, we can easily set enemies ablaze.
These form thecore of the build, and having this setup will allow you to quickly deal with any enemy, including bosses—putting them down before they know what bolt hit them.
For ourIncendiary Shots, we will be using theFire Infusion Support Gemand theMartial Tempo Support Gem.
TheFire Infusion Gemwill give our shots25% additional fire damage, increasing our output, andMartial Tempowill increaseattack speedwhen using Incendiary Shot, helping with quickly dealing with mobs.
With ourGalvanic Shards, we will be using theConductionandLightning Infusion Support Gems.
TheConduction Gemwill give a100% increased chance to shock, andLightning Infusionwill add25% lightning damage, increasing our output with this bolt type.
For ourTotem Skills, with theArtillery Ballista, we will be using theOverabundanceandPersistencegems.
TheOverabundance Gemwill allow us to put down anadditional artillery, and thePersistence Gemwill helpoffset the reduction of durationfrom Overabundance.
With ourRipwire Ballista, we will be using theEncumbranceandConcentrated Effectsupport gems.
TheEncumbrance Gemwillincrease the slowinflicted by the wire, helping with crowd control, and theConcentrated Effect Gemwill increasedamage at the cost of area of effect. Since we will not rely on the wire to control huge areas, this reduction is negligible, and the added damage boosts our overall effectiveness.
Regarding our support gems, for theHerald of Ash, we will be slotting in theExecuteandMagnified Effect Support Gems.
TheExecute Gemwill allow the explosions from the spirit skill todeal more damage against enemies on low life, and theMagnified Effectgem willincrease the area of effectof the explosions.
With theShard ScavengerSpirit Gem skill, we will be using theVitalityandClarity Support Gems.
TheVitality Support Gemwill help usrecover healthwhile the buff is active, and theClarity Support Gemwill help usrecover manaby increasingmana regenerationwhile the buff is active.
These gems help us with oursustain, even though they can be hard to use due to theadditional spirit reservation requirement, which can only be achieved throughgear for this build.
Gear and Equipment
This build is mainly built to work well with any kind of gear, as it does not require any specificuniques, but there are some gears that will greatly increase the effectiveness of this build.
When choosing acrossbow, the ideal choice will be one with a high amount ofphysical damage, as theroundswe will be mainly using scale best with physical damage rather than elemental types, and having a crossbow with high physical damage will go a long way in boosting thedamage outputof this build.
Among the different crossbow types, theDyad Crossbow/ Twin Crossbowworks really well with this build, as the weapon has the built-in property of loading an additionalboltfor all of your skills, allowing you to fire off one more additional shot with theHigh Velocity Roundsbefore needing a reload.
Rare gearswith increases toattack speedandmovement speed, and gear givinglife leech, work really well with this build and will enhance clearing mobs when you aremapping.
Leveling Guide
The build levels smoothly without having much trouble, being aranged buildthat can quickly take down enemies. And if you happen to gather a sizable amount,Galvanic ShardsorIncendiary Shotscan quickly take care of groups of enemies, giving you little trouble.
Although the build is not reliant on uniques, if you happen to come across theMist Whisper Makeshift Crossbow, it will significantly hasten your leveling process up to the end ofAct 2.
Mapping and Bossing
Although you’re able to clear mobs duringmappingquite fast,bossingis a major strength of this build. You cankitearound the boss and deal a lot of damage, especially in instances where the boss isstunned, where you can unload one or two full clips ofrapid shots, quickly whittling down the health bar while yourfiring squadfromUnleash Helland yourtotemsprovide additional consistent sources of damage.
Path of Exile 2 The Snow Sorceress Build
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at how to put together The Snow Sorceress Build for getting into the endgame
Efficient gameplay in theendgamecan be achieved by alternating betweenclose-ranged shotssuch asGalvanic Shardsandlong-ranged shotssuch asArmor Piercing Roundsdepending on the situation, and taking full advantage of theUnleash HellandArtillery Totemsto maximize the damage output.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scaling is enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseAttack Speed,Movement Speed, andAttack Damage. The build has great options to scale by investing into eitherpure attack damageorCritical Hit Chance and Damage, while benefiting fromhigh-Strength gearandCritical Chance gearto further boost damage.
This build performs well inSSFandHardcore, thanks to its high damage and high mobility. It is not reliant on expensiveuniquesand offers great damage withfast-paced mobilityandmovement, allowing you to quickly go through many aspects of the game without much trouble.
So, this wraps up my guide for theCommander buildforPath of Exile 2. I hope you found this guide helpful, and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
