Our comprehensive Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Guide will provide you with all the needed knowledge about this PoE 2 new class. We share the details about the gameplay basics and Mercenary class mechanics, provide information about Ascendancy classes and their skills, as well as outline the basic Mercenary Active and Passive Skills. You’ll learn about the Crossbow — Mercenary signature weapon — and its peculiarities. Also, check our PoE 2 Overview to be awarded of the game features and releases.
4.9Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Overview
Range classes are often popular among all sorts of players due to their ability to stay out of bosses’ range and shot their enemies from afar. An excellent example of such class is Path of Exile 2 Mercenary. Mercenary is a mix of Strength and Dexterity, who carries Crossbows and overwhelms enemies with rapid attacks. Thanks to their attack range, they can play relatively safe, and their Crossbow skills mechanics will help you to clear even huge waves od mobs.
Depending on your Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Build you can achieve impressive results in DPS and playstyle opportunities. Therefore, we offer you to check our PoE 2 Grenade Mercenary Build — one of the best current options for your Mercenary.
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Changes
Mercenary is another new class to Path of Exile 2, and nothing ties it to the original PoE game. But, as a new class, it might get some adjustments or fine tuning. For now, with the Dawn of the Hunt and Patch 0.2.0, PoE 2 Mercenary received its third ascendancy — the Tactician, and in this guide, we review this new adjustment.
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Basics
Mercenary in Path of Exile 2 is a STR/DEX class that takes all the best skill points from these two branches of a Passive Skill Tree. The class utilizes Crossbows. There’s a special mechanic related to this weapon — Heat, accumulated via Rapid Shot skill, and increasing the damage of your stream of flaming bolts. But it’s not the only skill that will allow your Mercenary to deal tons of damage. You will also have Power Shot Skill, Brust Shot skill, and a variety of Ammo skills, but we are going to discuss the details further in our guide.
Leveling up your character is always the most tiring part of the game before you enter the endgame. It can be fun at first, but then the process becomes routine. If that’s the case for you, we can offer you our help with Power Leveling. Our pro team is eager to assist and ensure that you enjoy your game.
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Movement
Path of Exile 2 tests new mechanics, and among those is the WASD movement, which can complement the basic mouse-click-movement. Previously unavailable in the PoE series, this feature will significantly increase your gameplay capabilities. And it especially synergizes with the Mercenary class.
How to use WASD movement for Mercenary? You can move around the map using the WASD key while shooting enemies using mouse clicks and switching between your attack types. This feature is really beneficial for Mercenary and allows it to use its full potential and shoot in various directions.
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Ascendancy Classes
PoE 2 introduced 2 Ascendancy classes for each playable class for early access, and one more class is said to be added later. Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Ascendancy classes are The Witchhunter and The Gemling Legionnaire. One more class will become available after the early access.
The process of PoE2 Mercenary Ascendancy is a series of various tasks and tests. You’ll need to fight tough enemies and bosses to prove that you are worthy of Ascending as one of three available classes. Want to test your skills? Get Campaign Boost and prepare yourself for Ascending with the help of our professionals.
The Witchhunter Ascendancy
The Witchhunter is one of the first ascendancies for Mercenary that you can unlock, but many players believe it’s not the best one.
“The Witchhunter specializes in taking down the most deadly of foes. With extra defenses against magic, and the ability to break the concentration of his enemies, he is perfectly suited for slaughtering spellcasters”.
The skills granted by The Witchhunter Ascendancy to Path of Exile 2 Mercenary are:
| Skill | Modifiers |
|---|---|
| Weapon Master | 20 Passive Skill Points become Weapon Set Skill Points |
| Pitiless Killer | Culling Strike: Kill normal enemies if their life is at 30% or below. Magic enemies are instead killed at 20%, Rare at 10%, and Unique at 5% |
| Judge, Jury, and Executioner | Decimating Strike: Hits against Full Life enemies remove 5-30% of Life before the damage of the Hit is applied |
| Witchbane | Enemies have a Maximum Concentration equal to 40% of their Maximum Life Break enemy Concentration on Hit equal to 100% of Damage Dealt Enemies regain 10% of Concentration every second if they haven’t lost Concentration in the past 5 seconds |
| No Mercy | Deal up to 30% more Damage to Enemies based on their missing Concentration |
| Obsessive Rituals | Grants Skill: Sorcery Ward 50% less Armour and Evasion Rating |
| Ceremonial Ablution | 50% increased effect of Sorcery Ward. Sorcery Ward recovers 50% faster |
| Zealous Inquisition | 10% chance for Enemies you Kill to Explode, dealing 100% of their maximum Life as Physical Damage Chance is doubled against Undead and Demons |
The Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy
The Gemling Legionnaire is another PoE 2 Mercenary ascendancy that is used for the best class builds.
“Enhance your abilities by embedding Gems directly into your flesh. The Gemling Legionnaire can use more skills than any other class, and the more he uses, the more powerful he becomes”.
With this PoE 2 Mercenary Ascendancy, you’ll receive the following abilities:
| Skill | Modifiers |
|---|---|
| Crystalline Potential | +10% to Quality of all Skills |
| Implanted Gems | +1 to Level of all Skills |
| Advanced Thaumaturgy | 30% less Cost of Skills. Skill Gems have 30% more Attribute Requirements |
| Integrated Efficiency | Grants 3 additional Skill Slots |
| Gem Studded | You can use two copies of the same Support Gem in different Skills |
| Thaumaturgical Infusion | +1% to Maximum Cold Resistance per 4 Blue Support Gems Socketed +1% to Maximum Fire Resistance per 4 Red Support Gems Socketed +1% to Maximum Lightning Resistance per 4 Green Support Gems Socketed |
| Adaptive Capability | Attribute Requirements of Gems can be satisfied by your highest Attribute |
| Enhanced Effectiveness | Inherent bonuses from Intelligence, Strength, and Dexterity are doubled |
The Tactician Ascendancy
The Tactician is the newest ascendancy for PoE 2 Mercenary, released with the Dawn of the Hunt update.
“The Tactician class is a former soldier trained in the way of the Blackguard Elite. The training comes in the form of many skills, such as the ability to Pin enemies, place multiple Banners at once or even carpet an entire area with Arrows”.
Small Passives:
- 8% increased Spirit;
- 20% increased Presence Area of Effect;
- Banner Skills have 20% increased Area of Effect;
- 20% increased Pin Buildup;
- 15% increased Armour and Evasion Rating;
- Minions deal 20% increased Damage;
- 20% increased Totem Damage.
Notables:
- A Solid Plan:
Persistent Buffs have 50% Less Reservation. - Watch How I Do It:
Allies in your Presence gain Added Attack Damage equal to a 25% of your main hand Weapon’s Damage. - Whoever Pays Best:
Can place multiple Banners. - Suppressing Fire:
Projectile Damage builds Pin. - Right Where We Want Them:
Pinned enemies cannot perform actions. - Polish That Gear:
Gain 100% of Armour as extra Stun Threshold.
Gain 100% of Evasion Rating as extra Ailment Threshold. - Stay Light, Use Cover:
Defends with 200% of Armour.
Enemies have an Accuracy Penalty against you based on Distance.
Maximum Evade Chance is 50%.
Maximum Physical Damage Reduction is 50%. - Cannons, Ready!:
Totems have 30% more Skill Speed.
Totems only use skills when you fire an Attack Projectile. - Unleash Hell!:
Grants Skill: Supporting Fire.
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Abilities
In Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Active Skills come from the so-called Skill Gems. They are slotted in your items and allow you to unleash an attack, cast a spell, or even activate any support effect that you may want.
Mercenary Skill Tree in PoE2 is a wide web of interconnected Passive Skill Nodes. They allows you to gain PoE 2 Mercenary Passive Skills. Passive bonuses will give a lot to your character by increasing statistics, survivability, and overall performance. You will be able to create your unique and personalized playstyle by using all of them together.
However, gemming in PoE 2 is a unique system, which allows you to enhance gear. If you want to become a master of this craft, our pro players can teach you Gear Crafting, so you’ll get the understanding of how to optimize your gear.
All Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Skill Gems can be divided into tiers, and in the table below you can check them all:
| Tier | Skill Gems |
|---|---|
| 1 | Explosive Grenade, Fragmentation Rounds, Armour Piercing Rounds, Permafrost Bolts |
| 3 | Flash Grenade, High-Velocity Rounds, Incendiary Shot |
| 5 | Gas Grenade, Rapid Shot, Ice Shards, Galvanic Shards |
| 7 | Ripwire Ballista, Gas Grenade, Explosive Shot, Glacial Bolt |
| 9 | Artillery Ballista, Oil Grenade, Stormblast Bolts |
| 11 | Hailstorm Rounds, Shockburst Rounds, Emergency Reload |
| 13 | Siege Cascade, Plasma Blast, Cluster Grenade |
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Skill Gems
Here we have gathered a full list of PoE2 Mercenary Skills that you’ll use throughout your challenging and exciting playthrough. But keep in mind that the final version of your Skill Gem’s list depend on the PoE 2 Mercenary Build of your choice.
| Name | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Gas Grenade | Fire a bouncing grenade that discharges an Electrocuting Lightning blast when its fuse expires. | Requires: Crossbow |
| Explosive Grenade | Fire a bouncing grenade that unleashes a devastating blast when its fuse expires. Converts 20% of Physical Damage to Fire Damage. The fuse duration is 2.5 seconds. The explosion radius is 1.9 meters. | AoE, Projectile, Duration Tier: 1 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 18 Mana Cooldown Time: 3.00 sec (3 uses) Attack Speed: 75% of base Attack Damage: 285% Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Fragmentation Rounds | Load your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that fire in a burst. Bolts that hit a Frozen enemy or Ice Crystal consume the Freeze or shatter the Crystal and cause an explosion of shrapnel. Attack Damage: 50%. Consumes Freeze on enemies to deal 300% more Damage. Multiple Bolts from one burst can hit the same target. Bolts Pierce 2 Targets. Fires 10 Bolts per Burst. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Physical Tier: 1 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 7 Mana Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Armour Piercing Rounds | Load your Crossbow with a clip of bolts that can be fired rapidly and Break enemy Armour. Using this skill again reloads the clip. Attack Speed: 425% of base. Attack Damage: 28%. Hits Break 7 Armour. Knocks Back Enemies. It can fire 14 Bolts before reloading. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Physical Tier: 1 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 15 Mana Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Permafrost Bolts | Loads your Crossbow with icy bolts that fire in a burst, damaging enemies on hit and in a small cone behind the target. The icy coating on the bolts makes them extremely potent at Freezing enemies. Attack Damage: 17% Converts 80% of Physical Damage to Cold Damage. Knocks Back Enemies. 300% more Freeze Buildup. Multiple Bolts from one burst can hit the same target. Bolts shatter on impact, dealing Damage in a 1.6-meter cone. Fires 10 Bolts per burst. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Cold Tier: 1 (Mercenary) Level: 4 Cost: 6 Mana Requires: Level 10, 15 Str, 15 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Flash Grenade | Fire a bouncing grenade that unleashes a Blinding, Stunning explosion when its fuse expires. This explosion can Blind both Allies and Enemies. Blind Enemies. 1000% more Stun buildup. Fuse Duration is 0.85 seconds. The explosion radius is 2.6 meters. | AoE, Projectile, Duration Tier: 3 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 15 Mana Cooldown Time: 4.00 sec Attack Speed: 75% of base Attack Damage: 142% Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Gas Grenade | Fire a bouncing grenade that causes a burst of Poison gas when its fuse expires, damaging enemies and leaving behind a growing Poison cloud. Burning effects or Detonator skills will cause the cloud to explode in a fiery blast. The impact radius is 1.6 meters. The fuse duration is 2 seconds. | AoE, Projectile, Chaos, Duration Tier: 3 (Mercenary) Level: 7 Cost: 26 Mana Cooldown Time: 3.00 sec (3 uses) Attack Speed: 75% of base Attack Damage: 66% Requires: Level 22, 30 Str, 30 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| High Velocity Rounds | Load your Crossbow with Piercing bolts that can consume Fully Broken Armour on enemies to deal extra damage. Attack Damage: 249%. Knocks Back Enemies. Consumes Fully Broken Armour on enemies to deal 150% more Damage. Bolts Pierce 6 Targets. | Attack, Projectile, Physical Tier: 3 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 10 Mana Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Incendiary Shot | Load your Crossbow with flaming bolts that fire in a burst, damaging and Igniting enemies on hit and in a small cone behind the target. Attack Damage: 19%. Hits always Ignite. Converts 80% of Physical Damage to Fire Damage. Knocks Back Enemies. Multiple Bolts from one burst can hit the same target. Bolts shatter on impact, dealing Damage in a 1.4-metre cone. Fires 10 Bolts per burst. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Fire Tier: 3 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 18 Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Rapid Shot | Loads your Crossbow with a large clip of heavily modified bolts that cause Heat to build up on your crossbow, before unleashing a stream of flaming bolts that gain Fire Damage based on your Heat. Heat also grants bonus damage to Grenades you fire, but dissipates rapidly when not building up. Using this skill again reloads the clip. Attack Speed: 550% of base. Attack Damage: 14%. Converts 60% of Physical Damage to Fire Damage. Knocks Back Enemies. It can fire 70 Bolts before reloading. Maximum 11 Heat. 1 to 2 Added Fire Damage per Heat. Requires 7 Heat to fire Bolts. Grenades consume all Heat to deal 2 to 2 added Fire Damage per Heat. | Attack, Projectile, Fire Tier: 5 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 46 Mana Attack Speed: 50% of base Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Ice Shards | Load your Crossbow with a clip of icy bolts that rapidly fire at the ground, leaving a shard of ice at the impact location unless the bolt hits an enemy. The ice shards shatter when enemies step on them, dealing damage to nearby enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clip. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Cold Tier: 5 (Mercenary) Level: 5 Cost: 18 Requires: Level 14, 20 Str, 20 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Galvanic Shards | Load your Crossbow with a clip of charged bolts that fire in bursts, releasing Chaining Lightning beams when they Hit enemies. Using this skill again reloads the clips. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Lightning, Chaining Tier: 5 (Mercenary) Level: 6 Cost: 15 Mana Attack Speed: 50% of base Requires: Level 18, 25 Str, 25 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Explosive Shot | Loads your Crossbow with flaming bolts that explode on impact. The explosion will detonate any grenades in its area of effect. Converts 30% of Physical Damage to Fire Damage. Knocks Back Enemies. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Fire, Detonator Tier: 7 (Mercenary) Level: 7 Cost: 17 Mana Attack Speed: 70% of base Requires: Level 22, 30 Str, 30 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Glacial Bolt | Load your Crossbow with icy bolts that create two walls of Ice Crystals on impact. Converts 60% of Physical Damage to Cold Damage. Knocks Back Enemies. 100% more Freeze Buildup. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Cold Tier: 7 (Mercenary) Level: 7 Cost: 15 Mana Requires: Level 22, 30 Str, 30 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Oil Grenade | Fire a bouncing grenade that releases a pool of oil and covers nearby enemies in oil after a delay. The oil can be ignited by Burning or Fire Areas. The base Duration is 1.60 seconds. The base secondary duration is 5.00 seconds. Radius is 2.4 meters. | AoE, Projectile Tier: 9 (Mercenary) Level: 14 Cost: 41 Mana Cooldown Time: 4.00 sec (3 uses) Attack Speed: 150% of base Attack Damage: 75% Requires: Level 52, 63 Str, 63 Dex |
| Stormblast Bolts | Load your Crossbow with charged bolts that land around the target location and explode if hit by a Detonator Skill. Using this skill again reloads the clip. Attack Damage: 36%. Converts 60% of Physical Damage to Lightning Damage. Can fire 3 bolts before reloading. The impact radius is 0.8 meters. Charged Bolt duration is 8 seconds. Fires 3 Bolts. | Attack, AoE, Projectile, Lightning Tier: 9 (Mercenary) Level: 9 Cost: 24 Mana Attack Speed: 50% of base Requires: Level 33, 40 Str, 40 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
| Cluster Grenade | Fire a bouncing grenade that explodes when its fuse expires, throwing out a nova of smaller grenades that also explode after a further duration. Converts 20% of Physical Damage to Fire Damage. The explosion radius is 2.5 meters. The fuse duration is 2 seconds. | AoE, Projectile, Fire, Duration Tier: 13 (Mercenary) Level: 13 Cost: 59 Mana Cooldown Time: 10.00 sec Attack Speed: 75% of base Attack Damage: 155% Requires: Level 52, 66 Str, 66 Dex Requires: Crossbow |
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Weapon
The primary Path of Exile 2 Mercenary weapon is a Crossbow. But there’s an important thing to mention about this type of weapon: it works more like a gun than a bow. Crossbows have 3 basic attacks:
- Rapid Shot Skill — Rapid attacks resembling an assault rifle;
- Power Shot Skill — Attacks are slower, the shooting mechanic is closer to a sniper rifle;
- Brust Shot Skill — A Shotgun-like skill with medium attack speed.
Now, let’s outline the available Crossbows for PoE 2 Mercenary:
| Weapon | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Bombard Crossbow | Grenades Skills Fire an additional Projectile | Crossbow Physical Damage: 12-47 Critical Strike Chance: 5.00% Attack per Second: 1.65 Requires: Level 33, 43 Str, 43 Dex |
| Daedalian Crossbow | Grants Skill: Power Shot | Crossbow Physical Damage: 63-93 Critical Strike Chance: 5.00% Attack per Second: 0.90 Requires: Level 52, 89 Str, 89 Dex |
| Light Crossbow | Grants Skill: Rapid Shot | Crossbow Physical Damage: 17-25 Critical Strike Chance: 5.00% Attack per Second: 0.90 Requires: Level 8, 16 Str, 16 Dex |
| Makeshift Crossbow | Grants Skill: Burst Shot | Crossbow Physical Damage: 10-15 Critical Strike Chance: 5.00% Attack per Second: 0.90 |
Crossbow Ammo Skills
Now it’s time to discuss the features of the Crossbow. This weapon is not an ordinary one, and it can be augmented with Ammo types. In the official gameplay walkthrough, we have noticed three available Ammo types:
- Armour Piercing Ammo — You can pierce enemies and take down mobs faster;
- Incendiary Ammo — This Ammo ignites enemies, allowing further explosions;
- Permafrost Ammo — Unlike Incendiary Ammo, this one freezes or slows enemies.
Crossbow Attachments
The PoE 2 Mercenary Crossbow features and advantages are not limited to Ammo skills only. We also have Crossbow Attachments that can improve your performance and help to take down mobs faster and more effectively.
Crossbow Attachments are unique Skill Gems that are only available to the character when equipping a Crossbow. These kinds of gems consume the offhand slot similar to Quivers for Bow characters.
Unlike Quivers, Attachments provide no stat bonuses. However, they provide an additional Skill slot and are thus a must for any multiple Firing and/or Ammo Skills dependent Mercenary. Like other Skill Gems, Attachments can be modified by using an arsenal of Support Gems that enhance their power and potency.
4.9All in all, Path of Exile 2 Mercenary is an excellent choice for players who appreciate survivability and ranged attacks. The power of the Crossbow and its special attacks will help you to manage waves of mobs, and a pack of STR/DEX Passive skills paired with Active Skill Gems will allow smooth and enjoyable gameplay.
