Path of Exile 2's genius theorycrafters have already put together some wild builds, so we've plucked out a few of our favorites that you need to try

GamesRPGPath of Exile 2Path of Exile 2’s genius theorycrafters have already put together some wild builds, so we’ve plucked out a few of our favorites that you need to tryWhen you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

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(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

A Path of Exile 2 sorceress casting flaming skulls in a hellish landscape

Path of Exile 2hit early access last Friday, and although I’m sure it will be weeks or even months before the community hammers out the finely tuned killing machines that will form the top meta, we’ve got some early contenders. I spent most of my weekend tinkering around with a fire Chronomancer and learning to aim Ember Fusillades, but I took enough time to forage around the web and dig up a potent build for each class in case you’re looking for something way better than my scuffed jank.

Path of Exile 2 Sorceress build: Making magicPath of Exile 2 Monk build: Flow like waterPath of Exile 2 Warrior build: Shock and awePath of Exile 2 Mercenary build: Hail of boltsPath of Exile 2 Witch build: Summoned army

Path of Exile 2 Sorceress buildPath of Exile 2 Monk buildPath of Exile 2 Warrior buildPath of Exile 2 Mercenary buildPath of Exile 2 Witch build

Sorceress

Sorceress looks to be an early winner, with its ranged focus and plentiful crowd control keeping players safely away from the punishing monsters. With 4 Stormweavers in the top 10 Standardladderat time of writing, it seems you can’t go wrong slinging elemental destruction.

Once you hit Act 3 and kill the Bog Witch for your second chunk of Spirit, you’ll get access to the Cast on Freeze meta gem, and this is where things really pop off. Socket that with Comet and Spell Echo, and now every time you shoot off a volley of Frostbolts it’ll freeze all the monsters, triggering 2 waves of gigantic ice comets to fall from the sky and obliterate them. So satisfying.

Level with the usual Flame Wall / Spark / Frost Bomb setup, and you can make the switch to Frostbolt and Cold Snap (use this until you get comet) as early as Act 2 when you pick up your first ascendancy points.

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Warrior

My Build DOES BIG DAMAGE!! - Totem Slammer Warbringer Build Update - YouTubeWatch On

My Build DOES BIG DAMAGE!! - Totem Slammer Warbringer Build Update - YouTube

Warriors in Path of Exile 2 are mace specialists—heavily armored goliaths roaming battlefields of their lessers. Reviews have been a bit of a mixed bag though, with some complaining that they’re a bit sluggish or lack clear speed. There is, however, one thing they do better than just about anyone right now.

Bonk.

Zizaran’stotem slammer Warbringeralso brings the big bonk energy, but uses a totem setup to do it. He leans on the incredible stunning capacity of Shockwave Totem slotted with Overpower combined with the Warbringer ascendancy node Anvil’s Weight to deal massive AE damage, stun, and armor break to everything he can point a totem at. This has the benefit of making things a bit safer since the monsters are often stunned, and the damage is very respectable.

To take things to the next level however, he adds a fourth totem to the mix with Overabundance (take Watchtowers and Ancestral Artifice to get to 3). This one is set up with the meta gem Ancestral Warrior Totem, which casts Sunder to deal giga damage to all those armor-broken enemies.

This results in a pretty safe build with decent clear speed, lots of flexibility in how you level, and a really sweet one-two boss killer combo. Highly recommended.

Ranger

Mag Salvo Deadeye - One of The Best Builds Currently - Path of Exile 2 - YouTubeWatch On

Mag Salvo Deadeye - One of The Best Builds Currently - Path of Exile 2 - YouTube

Ranger is one of the classes that carried over from the first Path of Exile, and traditionally they’ve been known for shooting stuff with bows and going fast. That hasn’t changed, but now they get nutty boss damage on top!

Magnetic Salvo is a huge mana hog, so you’ll want to use Lightning Arrow or Rain of Arrows to level and switch to this skill once you’ve gotten some mana on your gear. Having a few extra passive points at later levels to spend on nodes like Mental Toughness also helps a lot.

Witch

MELT EARLY ENDGAME CONTENT WITH THIS! - Path of Exile 2 Infernalist Build Guide - YouTubeWatch On

MELT EARLY ENDGAME CONTENT WITH THIS! - Path of Exile 2 Infernalist Build Guide - YouTube

Every once in a while, one of the galaxy brain builders in Path of Exile finds something truly broken. This next build falls into that category, and it’s one with a vaunted history in Path of Exile. Theautobomber.

When you have Raging Spirits active, casting a Flame Wall summons a bunch of them. Socketing Feeding Frenzy, Infernal Legion, and Minion Instability makes it so your little skullbuddies degen their HP and eventually explode. Before last weekend’s nerf, if your Flame Wall was socketed to Cast on Minion Death, all those exploding skulls (are we playing PoE here, or just really excited about Doom: The Dark Ages?) triggered the meta gem, summoning a bunch more spirits.

This infinite loop of undead minions was a little bit too strong, unfortunately, and the Cast on Minion Death trick no longer works. But the builders have already been making tweaks to account for the change, removing Cast on Minion Death but still letting you run around with an army at your beck and call.

Ghazzy’sminion autobomber Infernalistuses Skeletal Arsonist for most of the damage, with all sorts of other summons providing buffs, debuffs, and support. It’s a fiddly build, though, with lots of moving parts, so maybe not one for beginners.

Mercenary

Path Of Exile 2 - Gemling Grenadier Is Busted [Guide] - YouTubeWatch On

Path Of Exile 2 - Gemling Grenadier Is Busted [Guide] - YouTube

Sometimes when you’re playing an ARPG, you just wanna blow stuff up. In stark contrast to the complicated fussiness of the Infernalist build above, this one couldn’t be simpler. Launch grenades, watch monsters explode. Thoomp!

Wudijo’sGemling Legionnaire grenadieruses a tried and true combination—launch a big gas cloud, and blow it up. This ascendancy lets you use two copies of the same support gem, which he uses to give both Gas Grenade and Explosive Grenade the Scattershot and Magnified Effect supports. This results in a one-two punch withhugecoverage that does great damage both to everyday packs and bosses alike.

You’ll want a bombard crossbow for the extra grenade, preferably with lots of flat and percentage physical damage, but apart from that it’s all pretty straightforward. Attack speed, area damage, and anything that lets your grenades explode faster (reduced skill effect duration, Volatile Grenades) make for good choices on the passive tree.

It’s a build as simple as a grenade launcher. Two button rotation, lots of room for a weapon swap Leap Slam, and very respectable damage make this a decent choice for anyone wanting to check out the Mercenary.

Monk

Path of Exile 2: Endgame Lightning Monk | Build Guide - YouTubeWatch On

Path of Exile 2: Endgame Lightning Monk | Build Guide - YouTube

The Monk class embodies peace, serenity, and harmony with the elements. That’s why this build mostly revolves around thwacking a bell with a zappy stick over and over until everything on the screen explodes in lightning bolts, which makes sense.

Tuadh’sTempest Flurry Invokeruses Tempest Flurry and Charged Staff to shock enemies and trigger massive Herald of Thunder lightning bolts. The Herald is actually your main damage skill here, linked with Primal Armament, Elemental Focus, and Lightning Infusion. Tempest Flurry acts as an enabler and is your main active skill, making this play out essentially like a one button build.

You’ll use Profane Ritual to generate power charges for your Charged Staff (Unleash lets you get three at once, with Arcane Tempo because you won’t get cast speed elsewhere). Once the Charged Staff buff is up and running, your flurries will proc tons and tons of shockwaves and Herald bolts, incinerating everything.

The combination is so effective that he spends a lot of his passive points on defense, which sounds great to me. The combination of evasion and energy shield in PoE2 is a potent one, especially with the Invoker ascendancy node …and Protect me from Harm giving us physical reduction on top.

Add in Tempest Bell for additional single target damage for bosses, and you’ve got a simple, potent build that frankly, I can’t wait to try.

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Sorceress#

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Warrior#

Ranger#

Witch#

Mercenary#

Monk#