Path Of Exile 2 Boosting

Since Path of Exile 2 entered its Early Access phase, the game has finally received its most massive update to date: Patch 0.5.0 Return of the Ancients. Based on current reveals, this update may very well be the final major patch before the full 1.0 release.

In terms of sheer scope, 0.5.0 certainly does not disappoint. It introduces not only brand-new Ascendancies and an Atlas Tree rework but also a completely new Runes system. This system allows you to customize your gear, construct new defensive fortifications, and even upgrade otherwise mediocre unique items, fundamentally revolutionizing the existing build meta.

Do you want to avoid pitfalls, quickly identify the best starter build for your playstyle, and get a head start as you dive into Runes of Aldur League? That is exactly where this guide comes in handy! Below, drawing upon current patch previews and hands-on experience, we will break down the absolute best choices for your initial league start and progression in PoE 2 0.5.0!

Way of the Stonefist Monk

First up is Way of the Stonefist Monk, an evolution of the wildly popular Hollow Palm Monk build from Patch 0.3.0. In Update 0.5.0, the new Martial Artist Ascendancy introduces Way of the Stonefist skill, elevating unarmed combat to unprecedented heights and truly transforming your bare fists into solid stone.

By fully investing in Stun Buildup nodes on Passive Skill Tree, stunning bosses becomes incredibly effortless while simultaneously unlocking massive damage output. More importantly, the brand-new Hollow Resonance Technique perfectly resolves a major pain point of previous builds, the need to frequently place Bells. Now, players can permanently carry a Bell on their back, granting them a constant bonus to their stun capabilities.

It is also worth noting that the reworked Hollow Form, which enables the use of Channeling Skills, can be effectively paired with Whirling Assault skill to deliver sustained, channeled damage. Additionally, we can fully leverage Way of the Mountain passive within Martial Artist Ascendancy to further bolster our defensive capabilities.

And our exploration does not end there. With the debut of a new array of Rune options in Patch 0.5.0, there is no doubt that we now possess a vast arsenal of tools to utterly crush our opponents. By utilizing Runic Meridians, we can embed brand-new Runes into our gear; simultaneously, we can tactically switch to a Charged Staff to unleash the Triskelion Cascade skill.

Natural Order Huntress

Next up, we present a build that is as entertaining as it is powerful: Pokémon Master, you've likely already guessed what we're getting at! This build takes full advantage of Huntress's brand-new Spirit Walkers Ascendancy. Within this talent tree, we can unlock The Natural Order node, granting us the ability to tame and capture unique Beast Bosses.

That's right: in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, you can recruit former enemies to your cause, turning them into your very own combat pets. When paired with The Catha's Balance node, which boosts your companions' damage by a massive 60%, you can effortlessly obliterate anything that stands in your way.

Depending on the specific boss captured and the chosen weapon path, this build branches into two incredibly potent variants:

• Bahlak, the Sky Seer: Visually reminiscent of the legendary Zapdos from the original Pokémon games, this variant synergizes with Huntress's Spear skills to trigger a frenzy of Twister and Hurricane effects, overwhelming enemies beneath a storm-filled sky.
• Land Shark: This pet-centric build focuses on physical damage over time. By leveraging the numerous Bleed-related nodes within Spear skill tree, combined with the Land Shark's unique visual effects and biting attacks, you can watch your enemies collapse as they bleed out endlessly.

Which boss are you most eager to capture and raise as your very own legendary Pokémon?

Twisted Empyrean Smith of Kitava

Now, let's turn our attention to Twisted Empyrean Smith of Kitava. This is a highly specialized build that relies heavily on specific unique items, yet offers an incredibly high damage ceiling right from the early game. If you have access to sufficient PoE 2 currency early on to optimize your gear, this build can even facilitate a seamless transition directly into the endgame.

Of course, the entire strategy hinges on Twisted Empyrean Two-Handed Mace. The true power of this weapon lies in its ability to completely convert Fire Trail damage from all your Mace skills into Cold damage, a transformation that is also visually reflected in the game world. 

Just imagine: your originally orange-red Volcanic Fissure suddenly transforms into a brilliant azure glacial rift, it's absolutely thrilling! This means we can focus entirely on Cold damage builds, crafting a brand-new aesthetic style and character build playstyle that is both visually stunning and incredibly innovative.

Furthermore, this piece of gear comes with an exclusive skill called Starborn Onslaught. However, casting this skill consumes Glory resources; this is precisely why we chose Smith of Kitava Ascendancy, as it provides us with increased Glory generation efficiency.

Of course, Titan is also an excellent choice. The additional stun buildup it provides, combined with Area of Effect (AoE) damage bonuses from slam skills, is sure to deliver a breathtaking combat experience that offers both powerful crowd control and a visual spectacle.

Builds Centered on New Unique Items

If the three mainstream league-start strategies mentioned above don't pique your interest, several brand-new Unique items introduced in Path of Exile 2 version 0.5.0 offer some highly promising alternative directions for your league start:

Periphery Spirit Walkers

Once Spirit Walkers unlock all Spirits, they grant Sacred Unity effect, allowing all Spirits to be active simultaneously. Additionally, Periphery unique item comes with an exclusive skill called Azmerian Swarms, which summons even more Azmerian Wisps. When combined with the extra idols provided by Idolatry gear, the resulting damage is absolutely cataclysmic, making it perfect for high-speed farming in the endgame.

Liminal Coil

This staff allows players to unleash a potent Chaos projectile; with just a flick of the wrist, you can use a torrent of green chaotic energy to clear an entire map.

The Ordained Grand Spear

The Ordained comes with high inherent Life Leech and Lightning Damage, and its attacks trigger wide-ranging Lightning Chains. When activating specific skills, your character will leap high into the air before smashing down onto the ground, effortlessly clearing every pack of trash mobs on your screen.

In summary, for players who prioritize stability and enjoy the visceral impact of melee combat combined with powerful crowd control, Way of the Stonefist Monk is an absolute Tier 0, top-tier choice for starting the league. For those seeking novel mechanics and eager to farm maps alongside their minions, Natural Order Huntress offers not only a fun and engaging playstyle but also powerful damage-amplification mechanics capable of easily carrying you all the way through T16 maps. 

We hope this Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 league starter build guide helps all Exiles successfully clear Return of the Ancients! Good luck!

Among the two new Ascendancy classes in Path of Exile 2, Spirit Walker offers one of the most varied - and arguably the most entertaining - playstyles. It allows you to capture beasts from the story campaign and have them fight by your side, much like taming creatures in a certain monster-collecting franchise.

These beasts are not limited to rare monsters; you can even use this skill to capture some troublesome bosses. Turning a difficult enemy into an ally is a remarkably cool idea, and players interested in this build will naturally want to know which beasts can become their most powerful companions.

Natural Order

Spirit Walker Ascendancy class's most impactful skill is called Natural Order. This ability permits players to tame Unique Beasts - that is, boss-level monsters. Moreover, tamed beasts receive a movement speed bonus and are possessed by random Azmeri Spirits, granting them additional area-of-effect abilities.

During an interview, the official development team behind Path of Exile 2 stated that tamed beasts would receive a triple damage bonus - they want players to truly rely on these bosses for dealing damage. However, they have not revealed which bosses can be tamed. Therefore, the evaluations below are speculative, based on players' combat experiences with these bosses, not on official data. For different bosses serving as followers, factors such as skill frequency, AI behavior, and survivability will all affect their actual performance.

Act 1

The Devourer (Tier C)

• Location: Mud Burrow

The Devourer frequently burrows underground to avoid damage, during which it does not attack. This passive behavior is a major flaw in a follower - players need an aggressively offensive ally. Lacking effective area damage, its overall performance is likely poor.

The Crowbell (Tier B)

• Location: Hunting Grounds

The Crowbell moves swiftly and has clean, crisp attack animations. It strikes a giant bell to deal respectable melee area damage. Since enemies won't deliberately dodge, its clear speed should be promising. However, a pure melee style may lead to survivability issues, and its health pool is lower than that of other bosses, so it might die frequently.

Count Geonor (Tier S)

• Location: The Iron Manor

In his wolf form, Count Geonor possesses terrifying area damage and a powerful guided ice spear ability. However, since he transforms from a humanoid leader, he likely cannot be classified as a beast. If capturable, he would undoubtedly be S-tier.

Act 2

Rathbreaker (Tier C)

• Location: Vastiri Outskirts

Rathbreaker has acceptable attack speed, with most attacks being narrow cones or small circles. But it lacks large-area AoE, and its signature arrow volley may come from off-screen minions rather than its own skill. If that ability does not belong to it, its value drops significantly.

Ekbab, Ancient Steed (Tier C)

• Location: The Bone Pits

Ekbab, Ancient Steed moves slowly. Its large size provides decent base area coverage, but it is also pure melee. It gains an enrage skill after another summoner boss dies, but that may not carry over as a follower. However, if its health pool is extremely high, it could work well with builds that scale off life.

Constrictor Queen Kabala (Tier B)

• Location: The Lost City of Keth

Constrictor Queen Kabala is a ranged-attack boss with solid area skills. If the snakes it summons during combat count as its own abilities, that could bring extra summoning synergies. It also has a projectile basic attack. If it uses that attack frequently and creates overlapping ground explosions, its potential increases further.

Act 3

Silverback Blackfist (Tier A)

• Location: Jungle Ruins

Silverback Blackfist has an excellent design. It delivers large-area AoE and high damage. The only drawback is that some of its slam animations have a wind-up, which may reduce damage output efficiency.

Xyclucian, the Chimera (Tier A)

• Location: Chimeral Wetlands

This creature has many different skills, each dealing different damage types. Its animations are fast and clean. The downside is that its skill set is too scattered to receive effective bonuses from a single damage type or curse. It is a cool follower but difficult to build around.

Act 4

Great White One (Tier A)

• Location: Whakapanu Island

Great White One's tail swipe is a wide-area sweep. The key is its summoned tornado skill - if the tornado is the boss's own ability rather than a terrain mechanic, it would greatly improve clear speed.

Blind Beast (Tier D)

• Location: Isle of Kin

Blind Beast, compared to other bosses in Path of Exile 2, feels more like an ordinary rare monster than a unique boss. Its model is small, its movements are slow, its attacks are weak, and it has no distinctive features.

Yama the White (Tier B)

• Location: Halls of the Dead

Yama the White is fast and has decent AoE, but its combat mechanics are numerous, and it is uncertain which will carry over. Some of its flashy animations may also slow down the pace of battle.

Scourge of the Skies (Tier S)

• Location: Shrike Island

Scourge of the Skies barely moves, but all its skills have enormous range and extremely high damage. It can summon small birds, and has abilities like tornadoes, blood rain, and a channeled vomit attack. It deals primarily physical damage - a single damage type - meaning you can further enhance its output through support gems. Overall, it holds great potential.

Diamora, Song of Death (Tier D)

• Location: Singing Caverns

Diamora, Song of Death has a human form and a beast form that differ greatly. Its core abilities - water spouts and shrieks - have small areas, and many of its mechanics are likely exclusive to its arena. As a follower, its performance may be completely different from its boss version.

Interlude

The Abominable Yeti (Tier A)

• Location: Howling Caves

The Abominable Yeti shares similar moves with Silverback Blackfist - AoE, damage, and speed - making it equally powerful. However, Silverback Blackfist appears as early as Act 3, giving it a relative advantage.

Rakkar, the Frozen Talon (Tier A)

• Location: Glacial Tarn

Rakkar, the Frozen Talon has respectable AoE and solid damage, but some of its skills have a casting time of up to three seconds, which would slow down the pace during fast clear mapping.

Trial of Chaos

Uxmal, the Beastlord (Tier A)

• Location: Temple of Chaos

Uxmal is essentially the same as Xyclucian, the Chimera - three-headed, winged, with a wide variety of moves, large-area AoE, and multiple damage types. Its strengths and issues are identical.

Chetza, the Feathered Plague (Tier S)

• Location: Temple of Chaos

Chetza can be considered an upgraded version of Scourge of the Skies. Its tornado skill is exceptionally powerful, and many players have fallen to it on their first encounter. Its damage is beyond question. As long as its AI favors frequent tornado use, you will have unparalleled clear speed.

Bahlak, the Sky Seer (Tier A)

• Location: Temple of Chaos

Bahlak, the Sky Seer also possesses highly promising tornado-based clear skills. However, it has a variety of other moves as well, so it may not prioritize using its best clearing ability.

The above is a list of all currently discovered tamable leaders. Please note that all ratings involve uncertainty; actual performance can only be verified after the version goes live. Hopefully, this guide helps you plan which targets you want to tame in advance.

Spirit Walker Ascendancy class will be a popular choice in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, which will also increase the value of related gear. But don't worry, you can buy cheap and fast PoE 2 currency at IGGM, allowing you to easily trade for the gear and weapons you want even during the early stages of the game!