In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put together theSupport Gunnerfor you to use to get into the late game or endgame of the game.Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount of skills and build possibilities available in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensive skill tree and a multitude of skill gems. This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of the campaign and prepare for yourCruelplaythroughs or endgame.
Introduction
TheSupport Gunneris a unique build that is designed for team play and will bring out its maximum potential when you are playing with a group of people. As the name suggests, this build focuses on providing support fire and helping our allies using various banners instead of being the main source of damage in your group, but it can also function well solo, even if not as efficiently as other builds.
Starter Class
For this build, we will be starting with theMercenary Class, which is one of the seven available for now.
On the expansive skill tree, the class will start on the south side. This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related toattack speedand a flat increase inprojectile damage, which we will be taking advantage of to maximize our damage output.
Passive Skills
With this build, we will be trying to go for maximal damage output as quickly as possible using the crossbow by amplifying the weapon’s strength. We will be investing mainly inprojectile damageandattack speedas we go down the south of the passive skill tree.
The first skill group we will be going for is theattack speedpassive group containingMass Hysteria.
This group includes passive nodes that increase your attack speed and will also increase the attack speed of your teammates.
After investing inMass Hysteria, we will be going down the opposite branch of the southern side of the skill tree and going throughRemorselessandRicochet.
These nodes will increase your damage using your crossbow bolts and will give a chance for your bolts to hit multiple enemies by ricocheting. After these two nodes, we will be taking the branch towards the east to go for nodes to provide some survivability by going for theFortifying Bloodnode.
This node and the corresponding skill group will increase theLife Leechyou have, but it is important to know that they will not give Life Leech by themselves. You need to have Life Leech on your gear for these nodes to provide their benefits. You can either invest in the whole group or just go forFortifying Bloodand move on to other branches. It is a good investment to put your points in theDispatch Foesbranch to provide some additionalCritical Hit Chance, which is extremely useful since this build is a highattack speedbuild.
After these two small branches, we will continue further south on the skill tree until we reach the point just above the first gem slot on the central southern branch.
First, we will be taking the group of nodes to the east including thePresence Presentnode.
These nodes will increase the area of yourpresenceand will increase yourattack damagewhenever there is an ally—who can be another player, minions, or other companions—within your vicinity.
After the circular group, we will take the four nodes immediately to the east of the ring as they will increase ourattack damageas well as ouraccuracy rating.
TheUnexpected Finessenode will also increase ouraccuracy ratingequal to ourstrength rating, giving us the potential to scale.
One of the important skill groups for this build is to the west from the central axis and will improve the effectiveness of thebannersthat we will be using with this build.
This skill group contains theRallying Iconnode, which will allow us to regainValourwhen we leave thebanner’s area, helping with the resource management for the banners.
On our route to theValourgroup, we will pass through nodes which will increase ourarmorandevasion ratings, and theDefiancenode will increase ourarmorandevasion ratingby as much as120%when we get tolow lifestatus, giving us a better chance to survive and recover.
Afterwards, we will go south down to the gem slot and go west from there towards the second group of skills that will enhance ourbanners. This group contains five passive nodes, with the middle one being the major one,Bannerman, which will make it so that thebufffrom thebannerslingers for 4 seconds after we leave the area.
The minor nodes will increase thedurationof the banner while also increasing theValourgained, enabling us to put down the banners more often.
Although there are many great passive nodes that work well with this build, we are aiming to maximize the effectiveness of ourbannersand provide support to our allies. To that end, we will be aiming for the nextbannergroup on the outer ring, which is four minor nodes to the west once we reach the outer ring from the southern axis.
This group will buff our banners in multiple ways by increasing thearea of effect, themagnitudeof the buff they provide, increasing ourmaximum Valouralong with ourValour gain, and finally, with theInspiring Leadernode, addingElemental Resistancesto all within the area of ourbanners.
These skill groups form the core of this build, and after investing points in these, the efficiency of this build is further enhanced by going for thecrossbowpassive group on the other ring, which will substantially enhance ourdamage outputusing thecrossbow.
We can also go for nodes providing increases inprojectile damage,attack speed, and thecrossbow reload speednodes.
If you want additional survivability, you can also opt in towards going for theLife Leechnodes, which will allow you toface tankmost mobs duringmapping.
Ascendancy
Regarding theAscendancyof this build, we will be using theTacticianclass for theMercenary, because we will be going for theWhoever Pays Bestnode.
This node will allow us to put down multiplebannersof various types, making sure the team has access to whatever support they need in the moment.
For that, we will be going through theA Solid Plannode, which will reduce the amount ofSpirit Reservationrequired for us to use the banners.
For our later ascendancy points, we will be taking theSuppressing Firenode, which will allow us topin down enemiesusing ourprojectile attacks, and theRight Where We Want Themnode, which will preventpinned enemiesfrom performing any actions—providing a very good form ofcrowd controlthat allows you and your team to heavily punishpinned enemies.
Active Skill Setup
For this build, we are going with the simple and effective route and will not be focusing on a variety of skills, but sticking with a handful that work extremely well and will let you deal with any situation the game throws at you.
We will be using theArmour Piercing Roundsas our main type of ammunition and skill for this build.
Loading these bolts will allow you to fire off rapid-firing shots that can easily break down the armor of your targets and increase the damage they will be taking.
The second type of ammunition or skill that we will be using quite often is theHigh Velocity Rounds.
This skill will load a single bolt that can deal high damage, but it has the advantage of being able to ensure a critical hit against any target that has their armor broken, consuming the status effect when doing so.
The main rotation of your ammo type is armor piercing, followed by a high velocity shot and repeat—especially when fighting against tougher enemies and bosses.
The last skill that we will be using that greatly increases our damage output is theRapid Shotskill.
This skill loads your crossbow with a heavy clip containing at least 50 bolts and will fire like a heavy machine gun after a small period of winding up.
This skill is different from other crossbow shots in that rapid shots will accumulateheatfor your crossbow, which will in turn increase the damage dealt by each of your bolts.
As we will be unloading hundreds of bolts within seconds in the quite literal sense, you will see the boss’s health bar going down within a short time frame.
The damage output is especially visible once you have broken the concentration of the boss, and it will give you the most satisfying enjoyment of laying waste to a tough enemy.
These three ammunition types or skills are the ones we will be mainly using, especially against bosses, but sometimes they can have trouble dealing with large mobs of enemies.
In such instances, shots such asIncendiary ShotsandGalvanic Shardswork really well, as they will let you fire off multiple shrapnels in a cone in front of you, much like a shotgun, allowing you to quickly deal with large groups of enemies while also having considerable knockback force.
Next, we will be using a skill that will ensure we still get the damage buffs of ourPresencepassives even when we are playing alone by using theTame Beastskill.
This skill will allow us to capture an enemy of the beast variety and help us, and ideally, we will want to tame a rare monster that contains aHaste AuraorPhysical Damage Aurafor maximal effectiveness.
Having the tamed beast will count towards having an ally within your presence, allowing us to benefit from additional increased damage from ourPresence Presentpassive node.
Spirit Gems
For the spirit gem skill, we will be usingbannerswith this build, and the first one available to us is theWar Banner.
Putting down this banner will increase the attack damage of all friendlies in its radius and grant additional accuracy rating, enhancing our damage output.
The next banner that we gain access to is theDefiance Banner.
This banner is a defensive option and provides armor and evasion rating as well as increasing the movement speed of all allies within its radius. This helps in both mapping and bossing situations where the increase in movement speed greatly improves dodging attacks and overall efficiency.
The last banner that we gain access to is theDread Banner.
This banner is a recovery-focused banner that will grant usflask charges, providing us with an extra way to regain the charges in addition to killing enemies, and can help with sustain during boss fights where there are no mobs to kill to regain the flask charges. In addition, the banner also increases the stun threshold and elemental ailment threshold of all allies within its area.
Support Gems
Thesupport gemsreally bring out the best ability of this build, and we will be focusing on maximizing our effectiveness using our main three shots.
For theArmor Piercing Rounds, it is best to put in theChain Support Gemas early as possible into this skill when you are putting this build together, as this will cause our bolts to chain to multiple enemies, allowing us to take them all out quickly without the need for more close-ranged shots.
The second support gem that really amplifies the function of the skill is theDemolisher Gem, which increases the armor-breaking ability by 50%, making it so that you will break down armor with fewer shots, in turn increasing the damage you deal against armor-broken enemies.
For theHigh Velocity Rounds, we will want to put in theAmmo Conservation Gem, as this will give a 25% chance not to consume a bolt, giving the opportunity to fire off two consecutive high-damaging shots in a short time.
To further add to this advantage, we will be slotting aDouble Barrel Geminto the skill, as this will give us an additional bolt per reload.
Although there is a downside of increased reload time when using this gem, this effect is negligible and will not have a significant impact on the playstyle with this build.
ForRapid Shot, as the skill converts 60% of our damage to fire damage and gives our bolts the chance toigniteenemies, we will be using theIgnition Support Gem,which increases the chance by 100%, and combined with theEternal Flame Gem, which increases the duration of the ignite at the cost of a 25% reduction in ignition chance, we can easily set enemies ablaze with our high attack speed rapid shots.
These form the core of the build, and having this setup will allow you to quickly deal with any enemy, including bosses, putting them down before they know what bolt hit them.
For ourIncendiary Shots, we will be using theFire InfusionandMartial Temposupport gems.
The Fire Infusion gem will give our shots an additional 25% fire damage, increasing our damage output, and Martial Tempo will increase the attack speed when using the Incendiary Shot, helping with quickly dealing with mobs of enemies.
With ourGalvanic Shards, we will be using theConductionandLightning Infusionsupport gems.
The Conduction gem will give a 100% increase in chance to shock using the skill, and Lightning Infusion will give an extra 25% lightning damage, increasing our damage when using this bolt type.
For theTame Beastskill and your companion, as having them around longer helps with your survivability by tanking hits, it helps to amplify this aspect by using support gems such asMeat ShieldandElemental Army, which will reduce the damage they take and increase their elemental resistances.
Regarding our banners, for theWar Banner, we will be slotting in thePersistenceandMagnified Effectsupport gems.
The Persistence gem will increase the duration of the banner, and the Magnified Effect support gem will increase the area of effect, allowing the banner to cover more area.
With theDefiance BannerandDread Bannerspirit gem skills, we will be using theVitalityandClaritysupport gems.
The Vitality support gem will help us recover our health while the buff is active, and the Clarity support gem will help us recover our mana by increasing the mana regeneration while the buff is active.
These gems help us with our sustain even though they can be hard to use owing to the additionalspirit reservationrequirement, which can only be achieved through gear for this build.
Although we cannot use the same support gem at the same time, we will likely have only one type of the two defensive banners equipped on our skills at any point, depending on the preferences, and as such, the support gems can be moved around depending on the banner that you are using.
Gear and Equipment
This build is mainly built to work well with any kind of gear, as it does not require any specificuniques, but there are some gears that will greatly increase the effectiveness of this build.
When choosing acrossbow, the ideal choice will be one with a high amount ofphysical damage, as the rounds we will be mainly using scale best with physical damage rather than elemental types, and having a crossbow with high physical damage will go a long way in boosting the damage output of this build.
Among the different crossbow types, theDyad Crossbow / Twin Crossbowworks really well with this build, as the weapon has the built-in property of loading an additional bolt for all of your skills, allowing you to fire off one more additional shot with theHigh Velocity Roundsbefore needing a reload.
Rare gearwith increases toattack speedandmovement speed, and gear givinglife leech, work really well with this build and will enhance clearing mobs when you are mapping.
Leveling Guide
The build levels smoothly without having much trouble, being aranged buildthat can quickly take down enemies. And if you happen to gather a sizable amount,Galvanic ShardsorIncendiary Shotswill quickly take care of groups of enemies, giving you little trouble.
Although the build is not reliant on uniques, if you happen to come across theMist Whisper Makeshift Crossbow, it will significantly hasten your leveling process up to the end ofAct 2.
Mapping and Bossing
Although this build functions best when playing with a group of players, providing the best efficiency by buffing the whole team, it can still perform reliably when you are playing alone.
While both mapping and bossing, you can adapt to the situation and provide either anoffensive buffwith theWar Banneror thedefensive buffwith theDefiance Banner.
Laying down banners consistently will help greatly whether you are playing with a team or by yourself.
Path of Exile 2 The Sanguine Elementalist Build
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at how to put together The Sanguine Elementalist Build for getting into the endgame.
TheSuppressing Fire, pinning down bosses and preventing their actions will provide you and your team with a huge window for dealing damage and will help with quickly taking down your enemies.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scaling is enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseAttack Speed,Movement Speed, andAttack Damage.
The build has great options to scale by investing into eitherpure attack damageorCritical Hit Chance and Damage, while benefiting fromhigh-Strength gearandCritical Chance gearto further boost damage.
This build has the potential to perform well inHardcore, but is recommended only if you have a team to get through the experience together to bring out the max potential of everyone.
As this build requires allies to be within yourpresence area, it is not advisable to play through the Hardcore challenge solo.
So, this wraps up my guide for theSupport Gunnerbuild forPath of Exile 2. I hope you found this guide helpful, and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
