Best Beginner Mercenary Build in Path Of Exile 2

With its straightforward skill progression, high damage potential, and effective CC, this Starter Mercenary Build is a top choice for beginners in Path of Exile 2. Utilize this guide to dominate early-game content and develop your character into an unstoppable force!

Best Mercenary Skills

The Mercenary’s skills are a mix of crowd control, AOE damage, and high-impact boss-killing abilities. Below are the key skills you’ll use starting in Act 1, each with its detailed explanation and recommendations.

1. Permafrost Bolts

Permafrost Bolts is the first skill I recommend using as a Mercenary, providing excellent crowd control early in the game. This skill builds up frost on enemies, freezing them in place after a few hits. It is especially useful against bosses and small groups of enemies, as it allows you to immobilize them for additional attacks. While Permafrost Bolts are effective in the early game, you’ll likely replace it as you progress and unlock more versatile CC skills.

Recommended Support Gems

• No support gems are recommended for Permafrost Bolts, as it is quickly replaced.

2. Fragmentation Rounds

Fragmentation Rounds is the bread-and-butter skill for crowd clearing. It fires a powerful shotgun-like spread that deals significant physical damage. Fragmentation Rounds synergize exceptionally well with Permafrost Bolts, as frozen enemies explode upon impact, spreading shrapnel for additional damage. This skill is your go-to for clearing rooms and even chunking early boss health bars.

Recommended Support Gems

• Brutality: Increases physical damage by 35%.
• Leverage: Boosts critical hit chance against immobilized enemies.

3. Explosive Grenades

Explosive Grenades serve as a major source of AOE damage for the Mercenary. This skill scales incredibly well, especially when paired with passive skill tree enhancements. The key to using Explosive Grenades effectively is to time their use when enemies are frozen or in the middle of an animation, ensuring maximum impact. The ability to fire multiple grenades at once makes it highly effective for mob clearing and damaging grouped bosses.

Recommended Support Gems

• Scattershot: Fires additional grenades for wider coverage.
• Magnified Effect: Increases grenade area of effect by 40%.

4. High Velocity Rounds

High Velocity Rounds is your primary boss-killer skill. This long-range snipe ability has high base damage and excellent range, allowing you to stay safe while dealing significant damage. High Velocity Rounds is especially effective when combined with synergies that stun bosses, giving you opportunities to unleash high-damage combos. Its long range makes it ideal for avoiding dangerous mechanics while maintaining consistent pressure on the boss.

Recommended Support Gems

• Overpower: Accelerates stun buildup by 50%.
• Ruthless: Amplifies damage and stun effects every fifth attack.

5. Gas Grenades

Gas Grenades add a layer of poison damage to your arsenal and provide useful synergies with other skills. These grenades spread poison across an area and can weaken enemy defenses, making them an excellent tool for sustained damage over time. They also synergize well with armor-breaking effects, enhancing the effectiveness of your other attacks.

Recommended Support Gems

• Corrosion: Reduces enemy armor for increased damage.
• Bursting Plague: Amplifies poison damage over time.

By using these skills effectively and pairing them with the recommended support gems, the Mercenary build becomes a versatile and high-damage option for beginners in Path of Exile 2.

Weapons And Armor

Primary Weapon: Crossbow

The Crossbow is your main starting weapon as a Mercenary which all of your skills are tied to. Your main stats to look out for are Physical Damage, Accuracy Rating, Plus To Projectile Skills, and Gain Life or Mana on kills.

Secondary Weapon: Bow

Using the Bow on a Mercenary build may seem unusual but it actually helps add some much needed mobility and a means to escape tricky situations. As it is simply a utility skill you don’t need to worry about stats or even rarity.

Best Mercenary Armor

Boots – Prioritize finding boots that increase movement speed. This is a huge upgrade for the Mercenary class as it will let you strafe more quickly to avoid damage and reposition, plus line up your shots and grenade fire more easily.

Everything Else – prioritize pieces of gear with Max Life, Max Mana, Dexterity and Life On Kill / Mana On Kill.

Passive Skills

Passives play a crucial role in enhancing your build in Path Of Exile 2. Here’s the best path to take early.

Recommended Starting Mercenary Passives

1. 10% Increased Projectile Damage
2. 10% Increased Projectile Damage
3. 10% Increased Projectile Damage
4. 10% Increased Projectile Damage
5. 15% Increased Projectile Damage – 30% Increased Stun Buildup – +5 STR/DEX
6. 10% Increased Projectile Damage
7. 10% Increased Projectile Damage
8. 15% Increased Projectile Damage – Projectiles have chance to Chain
9. 10% Increased Projectile Damage
10. INT or DEX
11. INT or DEX
12. 8% Increased Knockback
13. 20% Knockback Distance
14. 8% Increased Knockback
15. STR
16. 12% Grenade Damage
17. 12% Grenade AOE
18. 15% Grenade Recovery
19. Finish out Grenade Circle beyond this point

How To Play The Mercenary Class

The Mercenary’s playstyle revolves around maintaining distance, controlling the battlefield, and dealing high bursts of damage through synergistic abilities. Whether facing large groups of enemies or challenging bosses, the Mercenary is equipped to handle encounters with efficiency and precision.

When fighting groups of enemies, the key is to capitalize on your crowd control (CC) abilities and area-of-effect (AOE) damage. Start by applying a freezing effect to enemies, using skills like Permafrost Bolts early on or other ice-based skills as you progress. Freezing enemies not only stops them in their tracks but also sets up synergies with your explosive abilities.

Once enemies are immobilized, follow up with Fragmentation Rounds or Explosive Grenades. These skills can shatter frozen enemies, dealing massive damage to clustered mobs. The overlapping AOE from multiple grenades or shotgun-like fragmentation attacks ensures that large groups are cleared quickly and efficiently. Proper positioning is essential—maintain a safe distance while lining up your shots to hit as many enemies as possible.

Against bosses, the Mercenary’s playstyle shifts slightly, emphasizing precision and stuns to dominate the encounter. Use High Velocity Rounds as your primary damage-dealing ability. This skill allows you to snipe bosses from long range, avoiding dangerous mechanics while building up the stun meter.

Combining this with stun-focused support gems ensures that most bosses are stunned within five to six hits, giving you a crucial window of opportunity to unload your grenades for massive burst damage. During these moments, prioritize skills like Explosive Grenades to maximize your damage output while the boss is immobilized. Rinse and repeat this sequence, maintaining distance to stay out of harm’s way while continuously applying pressure with your long-range attacks.

Mobility is another important aspect of the Mercenary’s playstyle. While the Mercenary lacks innate movement abilities, skills like Escape Shot can provide vital repositioning during chaotic fights. Use this to create space when enemies or bosses close the distance, allowing you to reset and continue your assault from a safe vantage point. This not only ensures survival but also enables you to maintain consistent damage without interruption.

Overall, the Mercenary excels at controlling the battlefield, dealing high damage from range, and avoiding incoming threats. By mastering these mechanics and focusing on proper timing and positioning, you’ll turn challenging encounters into manageable and rewarding victories.

The Final Word

I hope you enjoyed this beginner build for the Mercenary Class in Path Of Exile 2! Stay tuned for more POE2 Builds and Guides as this game continues to progress through Early Access into full release!