Path Of Exile 2 Accounts

Thanks to buffs for Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy, specifically changes to Advanced Thaumaturgy Notable Passive Skill, Mercenary class has become increasingly popular in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0.

In this guide, we'll explain the new effects of Advanced Thaumaturgy and introduce a build designed to maximize the potential of Mercenary and Gemling Legionnaire. Read on to learn more!

The value of the reworked Advanced Thaumaturgy

As a signature skill for Gemling Legionnaire, Advanced Thaumaturgy now grants a bonus effect based on the quality of your socketed gems.

For Mercenary's Cluster Grenade, this change transforms it into a skill that detonates instantly, delivering a shotgun-like blast capable of one-shotting bosses.

Here's why: Previously, Cluster Grenade's effect involved an initial explosion followed by multiple stages of spread. The four initial projectiles would split into 18 micro-projectiles each, potentially resulting in 72 total hits.

Now, with the reduced detonation time and the gem quality bonus, all 72 hits detonate at the exact same point. When focused on a single boss, this burst damage makes one-shotting them entirely possible!

However, to fully realize this build, you'll need to complete the initial leveling phase and craft the rest of your gear. Don't worry, we've outlined a plan for you below!

Leveling as a Mercenary

First, it's important to note that while this new Cluster Grenade Mercenary build is incredibly powerful, it doesn't require high-end gear; the skill itself carries most of the weight.

That said, if you have the budget and want to perfect your character, you can buy PoE 2 currency at IGGM to further boost the build's power.

Act 1

After landing and picking up your starter gear, defeat The Bloated Miller and acquire Permafrost Bolts, Fragmentation Rounds, and Entangle skills.

Entangle allows you to cast while moving quickly, eliminating the need to reload your crossbow or grenades and removing the need to wait around. Permafrost Bolts can freeze bosses, allowing you to shatter them with Fragmentation Rounds.

You will later unlock Multishot and Magnified Area support gems, but it is best to save them for your next skill, Explosive Grenade. After defeating The Rust King with this setup, you can also add Flash Grenade to your arsenal.

Regarding passive skills, focus on stacking projectile damage and increasing cooldown recovery speed during this phase; this ensures Flash Grenade is ready sooner, thereby boosting your overall projectile damage output.

For defense, prioritize pure armor; evasion rating is not a concern at this stage. It is worth noting that Essence of Virtue, a new talent for Gemling Legionnaire, will prove highly valuable for defense later on.

Also Read: FPS Boost! Recommended Graphics & Game Settings for Path of Exile 2 0.5.0

Act 2

Upon reaching level 22, you can acquire Explosive Shot and enhance it with Double Barrel support gem. Simultaneously, upgrade Multishot 1 to Multishot 2 and apply it to Explosive Shot as well. You can now remove Permafrost Bolts and Fragmentation Rounds from your setup.

In Act 2, rely primarily on Flash Grenade to handle enemies; use quick taps of Explosive Shot to finish off any stragglers.

When facing elite monsters, throw two Explosive Grenades in quick succession, then rapidly switch to Explosive Shot to detonate them for a burst of massive damage.

Before defeating Jamanra, the Abomination, remember to adjust your passive skills to enable instant reloading for Explosive Shot. To achieve this, utilize the weapon-swapping mechanic to gain bonuses for both crossbow reload speed and grenade damage.

Act 3

Vendors in this act will begin selling Bombard Crossbow; you definitely need one, as its effect allows grenade skills to fire an additional projectile. You can also combine three crossbows at Reforging Bench to craft a superior version.

Next, add Oil Grenade skill to the build. It lowers enemy elemental resistance and grants you bonuses from Persistent Ground and Potent Exposure.

If you have spare support gem slots, equip Magnified Area to this skill, and use Jeweller's Orbs to secure Elemental Armament bonus for Explosive Grenade.

Additionally, you should incorporate Wind Dancer. The evasion rating it provides on its own isn't particularly significant, but when paired with Blind Support gem, Wind Dancer ensures your survival as you weave rapidly through enemy ranks.

This is because enemies attempting to attack you are countered and blinded, rendering them unable to land effective hits, while you strike them with greater precision than ever.

Even if you make a mistake while dashing and find yourself swarmed by enemies, you can withstand the pressure; your armor provides enough damage reduction to help you turn a dangerous situation around.

Finally, during this act, you can enter Temple of Chaos to complete your second ascendancy; upon completion, be sure to select Advanced Thaumaturgy immediately.

If you have currency available to improve gem quality, I recommend investing it into Explosive Grenade to gain at least one additional projectile.

Viable gear upgrade strategies

While gear isn't critical for this build, if you wish to further optimize it, a good first step in reaching the endgame is to use Abyssal Crafting on your amulet to obtain a modifier granting +5% quality to all skills.

Alternatively, if you have enough Divine Orbs, you can trade for Lineage Support Gem Dialla's Desire that grants +5% quality to socketed skill gems.

That concludes our leveling strategy for Mercenary Gemling Legionnaire Cluster Grenade build. The name might sound a bit complex, but the combat performance is straightforward and highly effective, give it a try if you're interested!

Two new Ascendancy classes in Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients are exceptionally strong and rank among the best choices for Patch 0.5.1. This league also introduces Runic Ward and Kalguuran skills, which give several other builds great potential as well.

One of the biggest frustrations for PoE 2 players is having too many options, making it hard to know which skills and builds are truly the best. Therefore, let us take a look at the powerful and popular builds in Patch 0.5.1.

Here are the top 10 builds:

1. Whirling Assault Martial Artist
2. Twisters Spirit Walker
3. Ice Shot Deadeye
4. Vivid Stampede Spirit Walker
5. Disciple of Varashta Minion
6. Companion Spirit Walker
7. Ice Shot Amazon
8. Grim Pillar Totem Oracle
9. Plants Abyssal Lich
10. Grenades Gemling Legionnaire

No.1 Whirling Assault Martial Artist

Martial Artist is one of the strongest Ascendancy classes in POE 2 Runes of Aldur League. Whirling Assault, in turn, is the best and most efficient clear skill in this league.

The core interaction of this build relies on the synergy between Hollow Form and Lochtonial Caress Tempered Mitts. Hollow Form generates a clone that performs Whirling Assault. The glove effect grants Power, Frenzy, and Endurance charges to an ally when you use Whirling Assault. Since the skill is performed by the clone, your character is considered an ally and thus receives these charges.

In terms of both offense and defense, Whirling Assault Martial Artist performs at the highest level. Notably, Way of the Stonefish node greatly enhances your gloves and boosts your defensive capabilities. Meanwhile, Whirling Assault's area of effect covers almost the entire screen. This build has virtually no weakness in any aspect.

No.2 Twisters Spirit Walker

Spirit Walker is already an excellent choice for a twister build, because Primal Bounty node grants two additional projectiles and projectile speed bonus to empowered skills.

This build deals tremendous damage, clears maps incredibly fast, and is the strongest early-game starter among all builds. Its only drawback is slightly less survivability compared to Whirling Assault Martial Artist.

No.3 Ice Shot Deadeye

Ice Shot Deadeye already has top-tier clear speed in Path of Exile 2. When paired with Snipe, her single-target boss damage is also excellent, and she can almost delete bosses instantly. In the late game, as bow damage scales to its peak, you can fully transition into a pure Ice Shot setup.

In POE 2 Patch 0.5, buffs to evasion and deflection have raised Deadeye to a mid-to-high level of survivability. This build is extremely powerful at all stages of the game and in all aspects. It is a great fit for players who enjoy high-damage builds.

No.4 Vivid Stampede Spirit Walker

Vivid Stampede has high base damage and consumes one Vivid Wisp to deal 362% damage, with the ability to consume up to four Vivid Wisps at once. You only need to move 10 meters to obtain a Wisp.

You can stack dodge roll distance and movement speed to consistently generate Wisps, then use other skills to trigger Vivid Stampede. Although its survivability and boss damage are somewhat lacking, its clear speed in the endgame is very fast, making it excellent for farming.

No.5 Disciple of Varashta Minion

This build was already strong in the previous version. Runes of Aldur League further buffed command skills, providing bonuses to minion damage, reduced movement speed penalties, skill speed, and more.

This build offers good survivability and solid damage. The reduction in movement speed penalty removes its biggest weakness, greatly improving its clear speed. While it is not as efficient as the top-tier builds, it is still very strong compared to ordinary builds.

No.6 Companion Spirit Walker

Companion system received multiple buffs in Runes of Aldur League. Spirit Walker is also a Companion Ascendancy, allowing you to capture beast bosses as your companions.

Companion Spirit Walker boasts the highest boss damage in the entire game. Its survivability is moderate, but your companions surround you and absorb damage on your behalf. Another weakness is that its clear speed is not top-tier, which is expected since this is a non-command minion build.

No.7 Ice Shot Amazon

In Patch 0.4, Ice Shot Amazon had better survivability than Deadeye because of its Stalking Panther Ascendancy Skill. However, in Patch 0.5, Deadeye's survivability has greatly improved, while Amazon has become relatively weaker in survival because it struggles to benefit from leech.

Even though Ice Shot Deadeye has a higher ceiling, Amazon remains extremely strong when you do not have much PoE 2 currency to invest in gears.

No.8 Grim Pillar Totem Oracle

Oracle has always been a powerful spellcasting Ascendancy class. Force Outcome node provides a massive amount of critical strike damage and critical strike chance, while Unseen Path allows you to access unique and strong nodes on the passive skill tree.

This build has decent clear speed and respectable boss damage. Unfortunately, unless you invest a large amount of PoE 2 currency into gearing the character, its survivability will struggle to reach a comfortable level.

No.9 Plants Abyssal Lich

Plants Abyssal Lich excels in clear speed and has far better survivability than Oracle. It utilizes the classic low-life Lich build, with Atziri's Disdain Gold Circlet directly applying damage to your health. While your energy shield is active, your health remains constant, effectively granting damage reduction.

This build's boss damage is somewhat average, but you can handle that properly by incorporating Bonestorm. Although it requires a significant investment in gear, it remains a very fun playstyle.

No.10 Grenades Gemling Legionnaire

The playstyle of this build is to throw grenades and walk away, letting them detonate automatically behind you. Cluster Grenades serve as an excellent burst skill and can instantly delete bosses as well.

The main drawback of this build is that its area of effect is not large enough, leading to somewhat slow clear speed. Nevertheless, if you want to play a grenade build, this is likely your best option.

If future patches released during POE 2 Runes of Aldur League make balance adjustments, this ranking may change. However, as of now, every build listed above is very reliable.