Path of Exile 3.28 Return of the Ancestors event brings back Phrecian Ascendancy classes, and this time around Idol system from Phrecia 2.0 does not return. Instead, new Ascendancy tattoos have been introduced, so the range of viable builds is even broader than before.

Among them, Behemoth - Phrecia variant of Marauder Ascendancy - stands out as one of the most worthwhile options to try during this event. You can stack Armour to gain a massive damage bonus and then use an Ascendancy tattoo to negate its inherent drawback.

Armour Stacking Behemoth Mechanics

Rampager

Rampager is the keystone that defines this build, yet it also comes at a cost. It disables your aura skills, prevents spell skills from dealing damage, and makes warcries disabled. In exchange, your melee hits trigger and sustain Rampage effect.

You can use a tattoo to overwrite Rampager keystone, thereby regaining the ability to use auras. This is a prerequisite for Armour Stacking Behemoth; without it, the build cannot work.

In practice, any tattoo works, and there are good alternatives in both Duelist and Marauder sections of the tree. One particularly strong choice is Champion tattoo, which synergises well with Fortify stacking and yields impressive results.

If you prefer to conserve your PoE currency for other gear or upgrades, you can opt for a more modest temporary solution like Forbidden Tattoo of the Scion. Even Forbidden Tattoo of the Duelist is not hard to come by, so you have flexible options at different levels of investment.

Strength Stacking Considerations

Some players might consider stacking Strength to boost their Armour, but the flat Armour gained from that approach alone is limited and will not produce a qualitative leap in defence.

Iron Reflexes keystone is very helpful here because it converts Evasion into Armour; without this conversion, your Armour numbers will fall far short of expectations.

Similarly, Power of Purpose keystone converts 80% of your mana into double the armour, but this introduces a serious problem: your attack skills still consume mana, and after your mana pool is severely reduced, your sustain drops dramatically.

Auras that reserve a percentage of mana are unaffected, because mana reservation is calculated after the conversion. However, fixed-reservation support skills such as Vitality, Clarity, and Precision become almost impossible to enable. To address this, you have several workarounds:

• Equip gear with modifiers that reduce mana costs.
• Use Eldritch Battery to shift your energy shield to cover mana costs.
• Redirect a portion of mana costs to life.

Viable Build Variants

Melee

The most straightforward way to get started with an Armour Stacking Behemoth build is to mimic the passive tree and gear of an Armour Stacking Champion, then make a few adjustments. This approach allows players who have just finished the campaign (around level 70) to get up and running quickly.

For weapons, Replica Dreamfeather gives 1% increased damage per 450 Armour. When combined with Steel Willed notable - which grants 2% increased damage per 450 Armour - you effectively wield the equivalent of three Replica Dreamfeathers, resulting in terrifying damage amplification.

Because Behemoth Ascendancy already provides ample damage scaling, you can also forgo Replica Dreamfeather and instead use a Two-Handed Sword with Molten Strike of the Zenith.

For this route, you need to pay special attention to defence; you can patch that gap by taking Divine Flesh node, which converts 50% of elemental damage taken into chaos damage.

Ranged

Armour stacking on Behemoth is not limited to melee weapons. You can experiment with a Bow Armour Stacker, a Wand Armour Stacker, or even a setup built around Kinetic Blast of Clustering.

These unconventional configurations are rarely viable on traditional ascendancies, but Behemoth's unique bonuses make them possible. While they are generally less powerful than their melee counterparts, they offer a lot of fun and novelty.

Gear Selection

If you choose the melee path, your equipment choices closely resemble those of a traditional Champion Armour Stacker.

Replica Dreamfeather remains the best weapon option. For the helmet, Alpha's Howl provides valuable mana reservation efficiency and lets you run more auras.

For the body armour, Doryani's Prototype sets enemies' lightning resistance equal to yours. By lowering your own lightning resistance to extremely low levels while relying on high Armour to mitigate physical damage, you can deliver enormous lightning damage output.

Alternatively, if you want to keep your PoE currency for other purposes, you can also use a rare body armour with high Evasion or Energy Shield.

Auras and Skills

Once the restriction is lifted, Determination and Grace become mandatory core auras. You can also activate Anger to add fire damage and pair it with the lightning aura from Smite, easily triggering Trinity support gem.

For your main attack, Smite works well, but you are free to choose any other melee attack skill you prefer. The build is flexible enough to even allow bows or wands, so you have plenty of room for experimentation.

Armour Stacking Behemoth is an endgame build, so it is advisable to wait until you are at least level 70 and have finished the campaign before transitioning into it. At the same time, you will need to invest in the required gear, skills, and tattoos ahead of time. Nevertheless, it is a highly promising build that opens up multiple playstyle directions beyond pure melee, and it is well worth exploring.

Path of Exile 3.28 Return of the Ancestors event is now underway. If you choose to skip Trial of the Ancestors mechanic, you can essentially treat this event as Legacy of Phrecia 3.0.

During Return of the Ancestors event, you have the opportunity to experiment with Phrecian Ascendancy classes, and a variety of unique tattoos also open up interesting build possibilities. Many of you may still feel uncertain about which build to pursue in this short-lived event, so below we offer some best builds for Return of the Ancestors.

Kinetic Fusillade Ballista Whisperer

Kinetic Fusillade proved exceptionally powerful during Mirage League, and the developers have admitted that they forgot to nerf this skill in PoE 3.28. Consequently, it will very likely face a reduction in the next official league.

This build revolves around stacking mana to gain massive base damage, while using the ballistas’ automatic targeting mechanism to deliver efficient output.

Whisperer ascendancy itself also relies on mana stacking. Not only does it boost your maximum mana, but it also grants various bonuses scaled off that maximum mana value.

Kinetic Fusillade Ballista Whisperer is friendly for league starts - equipping the skill at level 31 already yields respectable damage, and it requires very little PoE currency. Even without a Mageblood, you can comfortably clear all content.

However, compared to Hierophant ascendancy, its mana regeneration is lower, so you will need to rely on an Eternal Mana Flask or specific passive nodes to compensate.

Void Sphere Wildspeaker

Void Sphere Wildspeaker is a specialized build designed explicitly for Trial of the Ancestors. Your primary objective is not to kill enemies but to control them and destroy opposing totems.

Wildspeaker’s Greatwolf’s Call shares charges with your allies, Primal Instinct grants 100% spell suppression and converts that into 75% spell dodge, and Flash of Teeth provides Aspect of the Cat skill.

Your core skill is Void Sphere, which pulls and controls enemies, and when combined with the snaring effect of Ensnaring Arrow, you can completely lock down the opposing team.

This build cannot handle regular content because it deals negligible damage, so it is not suitable as a league starter. Nevertheless, putting it together is very straightforward, and you hardly need any gear that boosts damage.

Ignite Herald

Ignite Herald build mainly leverages Coming Calamity node, which substantially reduces the mana reservation of herald auras, allowing you to easily activate all herald auras and socket Divine Sentinel Support.

Ignite Herald excels at clearing maps, as it can apply ignite, freeze, and shock simultaneously. Thanks to its outstanding crowd control capabilities, it also performs well in Trial of the Ancestors.

Yet compared with the Elementalist ascendancy, it lacks cast speed and mana regeneration, and both require ignite triggers, which demand additional investment in Lost Unity and Stormfire rings. That said, the damage gap between the two is not large.

Strength Stacking Ancestral Commander

Ancestral Commander offers top-tier defensive and recovery capabilities. You will need to stack strength and endurance charges, then convert that strength into chaos damage via Replica Alberon’s Warpath.

You can use ascendancy tattoos to obtain Juggernaut’s Undeniable, Unflinching, or Unstoppable nodes. Undeniable solves attack speed issues, Unflinching provides extra endurance charges and damage reduction, while Unstoppable grants immunity to slows.

With Defiance of Destiny Amulet and Commander’s own nodes, your character will enjoy high life, attack speed, and damage mitigation, enabling you to handle virtually any situation.

Strength Stacking Aristocrat

Aristocrat’s Illicit Gains node offers a 40% bonus to strength, and Dreadful Attitude node further adds damage based on your lowest attribute. Among all builds that use Replica Alberon’s Warpath, this one deals the highest damage.

You will also want to use ascendancy tattoos to acquire Juggernaut’s Undeniable, or alternatively obtain Templar’s Righteous Providence to convert intelligence into critical strike chance.

Armor Stacking Behemoth

Behemoth has a drawback node that disables all auras, but you can replace that node via ascendancy tattoos. At the same time, Behemoth has a built-in double effect from Replica Dreamfeather, granting attack damage per point of armour.

Thus you can remove the aura-disabling penalty with tattoos, then normally activate Determination, Grace, and other auras. By stacking millions of armour and combining that with the "armour applies to elemental damage" crafted modifier, you reach 99% physical and elemental damage reduction. Meanwhile, that armour also converts into attack damage.

This build boasts astonishing survivability and damage, yet it demands a large amount of armour and aura-effect gear, so the overall gear investment is not trivial.

Animate Weapon of Ranged Arms Servant of Arakaali

Servant of Arakaali ascendancy provides a free-reserved level-15 Envy aura, which gives Animate Weapon of Ranged Arms a massive amount of chaos base damage even at very low levels.

You will summon numerous ranged animated weapons, using Covenant body armour to grant an additional level-29 added chaos damage, while The Surrender shield provides energy shield recovery on block. Combined with Eldritch Battery and Mind Over Matter, these nodes boost your survivability.

This build works well on both a modest and a generous budget. The high-end version can summon 40 to 50 minions, allowing you to obliterate everything, whereas the lower-budget version requires careful management of life consumption, so you will need to keep life flasks for sustain.

Blade Vortex Bog Shaman

Bog Shaman’s Toad Pact provides a 75% bonus to skill area of effect and duration. Sanguine Power node converts all your energy shield into life.

Nightblood and Runegraft of the Witchmark cause skills to consume life and grant additional base physical and chaos damage based on the amount of life consumed.

You simply stack energy shield and life, then use Sanguine Power to turn that energy shield into life as well, and finally convert that life pool into damage through life consumption.

Because you stack such a high life total, your survivability is extremely strong, and you are nearly impossible to kill. All of Bog Shaman’s nodes are powerful, so you can complete the build without relying on tattoos.

However, Toad Pact does require you to focus on elemental resistances early on, and since casting skills consumes life, you must pay attention to life flask sustain.

All of the builds above make full use of Phrecian Ascendancy classes and tattoos available in Return of the Ancestors, and nearly every one of them proves exceptionally potent in the endgame. You can choose according to your preferred playstyle.

Most players are already familiar with Path of Exile Return of the Ancestors, a three-week limited-time event that begins on June 25th at 3 PM (Pacific Time).

This timeframe isn't particularly long, so to ensure everyone can better experience this nostalgic yet rewarding event, we've compiled a build list highly recommended for this period:

• Tier S: Static Strike Scavenger, Cyclone of Tumult Paladin
• Tier A: Poison Blade Vortex Servant of Arakaali, Explosive Arrow Ballista Ancestral Commander
• Tier B: Power Siphon Wildspeaker, Righteous Fire Scavenger

Because PoE Patch 3.28 Phrecia League will introduce more unique Ascendancy classes, the strength of these builds will be subject to change. Players can check if these builds meet their expectations.

Tier S

Static Strike Scavenger

This build utilizes specific nodes of Scavenger to allow Beams released by Static Strike to stack and remain on the battlefield, automatically tracking and shocking nearby enemies.

Because this creates a large number of lightning orbs surrounding your character and automatically killing enemies, you can think of this Static Strike Scavenger as an Autobomber build.

When combined with General's Cry, it can also create a non-summoning playstyle, further enhancing Static Strike Scavenger's damage and map clearing capabilities.

In this PoE Return of the Ancestors, we can start with Spectral Throw for early game progression, gradually switching to Sunder in conjunction with General's Cry to complete the story, and finally officially switching to Static Strike Scavenger.

Static Strike Scavenger is not an exaggeration in Tier S, as it is very suitable for lazy players who prefer auto-attacks in the early game of the event, and can provide top-tier damage output in the late game.

Cyclone of Tumult Paladin

Similarly, this build uses a special ascendancy instead of the standard one. The core is leveraging Paladin ascendancy talent Elemental Valiance, which grants a 25% chance to trigger level 20 Summon Elemental Relic upon killing or hitting rare enemies. This effectively gives the build a permanent presence of Anger, Hatred, and Wrath auras.

Because our Cyclone of Tumult has an exceptionally high hit rate per second, this trigger coverage is close to 100%.

By utilizing Trinity Support gem and repeatedly switching between cold damage and lightning damage, we can gain a massive elemental damage bonus.

A Perseverance Vanguard Belt will significantly benefit our Cyclone of Tumult Paladin. By stacking armor and evasion, this belt can provide tens of millions of damage increases and is very easy to obtain on the first day of progression.

The biggest advantage of this build is its smooth gameplay; clearing maps is incredibly satisfying because you only need to press one button to make Cyclone of Tumult spin. Combined with Void Shockwave Support gem, you can achieve screen-filling clearing.

It's also very smooth for early play in Return of the Ancestors, and transitioning later isn't difficult either. However, crafting staffs requires a significant amount of PoE currency.

Tier A

Poison Blade Vortex Servant of Arakaali

Poison Blade Vortex Servant of Arakaali has two damage sources: Envy and Spiders. Their synergy results in the high damage output of Poison Blade Vortex Servant of Arakaali.

Envy aura adds a significant amount of base Chaos Damage to Spiders, making their attacks extremely lethal, helping you clear monsters more effectively, and triggering Raise Spiders.

Additionally, our Ascendancy talent, Skincrawlers, gives Spiders' attacks a 20% chance to inflict Withered, then inflicts an additional 6% Chaos Damage. This stacks up to 15 times, meaning a 90% Chaos Damage!

Imagine your poison damage output being amplified infinitely. Poison Blade Vortex Servant of Arakaali truly deserves its Tier A status.

Explosive Arrow Ballista Ancestral Commander

Most Explosive Arrow builds focus on damage over time, but this Tier 1 build, Explosive Arrow Ballista Ancestral Commander, prioritizes direct hit damage from Ballista arrows.

With the buffs from several defensive nodes in the special Ascendancy class, Ancestral Commander, this build is exceptionally tanky.

First is Forest of Ancestors, which not only increases Totem but also transfers 20% of hit damage to surrounding Totems.

Next is Ancestral Endurance, which significantly reduces elemental and physical damage from Explosive Arrow Ballista Ancestral Commander.

This build, similar to the previous Static Strike Scavenger, is perfect for lazy players. No aiming is required; it automatically attacks after placing Totem, making it extremely suitable for Trials of the Ancestors mechanic.

Tier B

Power Siphon Wildspeaker

The Power Siphon Wildspeaker is a ranged attack build that utilizes Power Siphon skill and Wildspeaker Ascendancy to deal high damage by stacking Power Charges and Frenzy Charges.

Although it's in Tier B, it remains a very strong progression build in Path of Exile: Return of the Ancestors.

Because Power Siphon Wildspeaker skill itself fires multiple projectiles and generates Power Charges, the damage output of this build largely depends on the amount of Power Charges you have.

Wildspeaker Ascendancy's Fearful Symmetry provides a stable supply of full Power Charges and Frenzy Charges, making it ideal for early-game progression in the event.

Righteous Fire Scavenger

And again, Scavenger Ascendancy! The classic Righteous Fire continuously inflicts Fire Damage on surrounding enemies, centered on your character.

Scavenger Ascendancy grants you Obliteration effect.

When you charge into a group of enemies, Righteous Fire begins burning them, and Obliteration has a chance to explode. Combined with Ignite Proliferation Support, the burning effect from the explosion quickly spreads to nearby enemies, creating a chain reaction of devastating explosions.

Because Righteous Fire Scavenger is already a well-established build, it works perfectly fine in Patch 3.28.

So, that's the build for Path of Exile Return of the Ancestors starting June 25th. Give it a try!

The grinding process in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 can be incredibly tedious, and many players wish their characters could farm on their own. While full automation is nearly impossible, you can lower your expectations and put together a build that works while you are away from the keyboard.

The Immortal AFK Ritualist boasts formidable defensive layers and, thanks to the infinite rebounding of projectiles, clears entire maps without any input from you. It is especially well suited for remaining idle in Simulacrum.

Immortal Simulacrum AFK Ritualist Core Mechanics

Infinite Projectiles

The engine of this build is Mirror of Refraction skill, which comes from Atziri's Rule staff. Every few seconds, it summons a mirror beside you. If a spell projectile strikes that mirror, the mirror shatters and duplicates the projectile. When you hit it with a Frostbolt, the mirror spawns nine copies of that Frostbolt. With the projectile return effect from Drillneck Penetrating Quiver, those duplicated Frostbolts fly back toward you and, on their way, strike newly summoned mirrors next to you, setting off an endless loop.

The crucial factor in this loop is that, as long as you summon mirrors fast enough, the returning projectiles will constantly trigger fresh mirrors, which in turn generate ever more Frostbolts.

All you need to do is start the cycle once inside a map or in Simulacrum; then you can turn off your active skills. As you move around, new mirrors keep appearing beside you, carrying the storm of Frostbolts along with you.

Scaling Damage

Base Damage

You amplify Frostbolt's damage mainly through Drillneck, whose modifiers increase damage and critical strike chance for each enemy your projectile pierces. In high-density maps, or when you cast Frost Wall actively, your Frostbolts will pierce an enormous number of times, pushing the damage up exponentially.

Projectile Speed

You can find projectile speed on the corrupted implicit of Drillneck and on the passive tree. Higher speed means Frostbolts return quicker, the loop sets up faster, and your DPS naturally rises.

Cooldown Recovery

More cooldown recovery shortens the interval between mirror spawns, so mirrors are shattered more frequently and produce more Frostbolts, creating a positive feedback loop that accelerates further.

Snapshotting

You can exploit snapshotting to boost your damage even more. Cast Frostbolt while wielding Widowhail – it will snapshot all the bonuses from both Widowhail and Drillneck. Then swap quickly to your other weapon set. With Atziri's Rule, the built-in Mirror of Refraction automatically casts and generates mirrors. Except for the initial Frostbolt cast using Widowhail and Drillneck, you should stay on Atziri's Rule at all other times so that mirrors keep spawning indefinitely and you achieve an auto-bomber effect.

How Do You Improve Survivability?

For an AFK build, survival is paramount. This setup relies mainly on weakening enemies and enhancing recovery to keep you alive.

Curses

Whispers of Doom notable on the passive tree allows you to apply two curses simultaneously. Then you socket Blasphemy with these two curses:

• Enfeeble: reduces the damage dealt by enemies.
• Temporal Chains: slows enemies and extends the duration of debuffs on them.

Recovery

You want to stack the percentage of physical damage and global damage that is recouped as high as possible. This means that even if you take a large hit, the lost life will be restored shortly afterward.

Mana Recoup, combined with Damage Taken from Mana before Life, greatly increases your effective health pool because damage is split onto your mana. Sacrosanctum body armour also grants you energy shield recoup. With additional mechanics like Damage Bypass ES, you can roughly distribute incoming damage across your life, mana, and energy shield pools, and then leverage the high recoup rates of each pool to push your survivability much higher.

Other Defensive Components

Sacrifice of Flesh Keystone can reduce the damage taken on being hit; the reduced portion is then deducted slowly as a DoT effect.

Adverse Growth and its surrounding nodes provide effects such as damage recouped as mana and mana taking damage first. You can use a From Nothing jewel to skip the connections and allocate these nodes directly.

For gear, prioritise capping your resistances – ideally overcapping them to counter Elemental Weakness curses. After that, look for maximum life, energy shield, and mana. On boots, seek modifiers that increase the effect of socketed support gems and recoup speed instead of movement speed, since this is an idle build. Apart from a few core pieces, the required PoE2 currency for the rest of the gear is actually very modest.

Ascendancy Class

Ritualist is an excellent choice for idling in Simulacrum. If you find cooldown management troublesome, you can also opt for Chronomancer ascendancy. The more notable Ritualist nodes include:

• Wildwood Persistence: boosts life recovery rate based on your unreserved life.
• Corrupted Lifeforce: on killing a high-life enemy, stacks Corrupted Blood that deals damage based on the target's maximum life percentage.

Intricate Sigils and Unfurled Finger also let you equip extra rings and amulets, offering a lot of room for further development.

Immortal Simulacrum AFK Ritualis Skills

Although you swap weapons, the skill gems themselves remain the same.

Immortal Simulacrum AFK Ritualist Gear

Widowhail needs at least 300% increased effect of bonuses from your quiver. The runes socketed in the bow can be enchanted with extra damage to trigger ailments like Shock – the damage type does not matter.

For your second weapon set, simply replace the main-hand weapon with Atziri's Rule. Aim for a level-20 skill gem to obtain a shorter mirror-spawn interval. On boots, you can look for modifiers that raise the level of Frostbolt, further increasing your damage.

This build is an ideal choice for the late stage of the Runes of Aldur League when you just want to idle. Whenever you are unsure what to farm, you can enter Simulacrum, start the loop, and then go do something else. Although its movement speed is not high and it is not suited for fast map clearing, its dominance inside Simulacrum is beyond question.

Dear players, do you find Smith of Kitava in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 too difficult to play and lacks any real power? Indeed, some players often get crushed when playing this Ascendancy build, especially when using Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava. But does this mean this build is hopeless?

The following Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava might just change your perception of slam builds, proving far superior to your expectations.

Core Skill

Supercharged Slam, the core damage skill of this build, has a unique operation unlike other mace channeling slam skills - it requires the character to charge, stacking up to four layers.

Each charge level not only increases skill damage but also generates an additional Aftershocks effect. This means that at full charge, a single cast can trigger five initial hits and four Aftershocks. The range of these Aftershocks expands with each consecutive trigger, covering a considerable combat area with only a small investment in area control.

The most special aspect of Supercharged Slam skill is that its charge speed cannot be increased by regular attack speed bonuses; it's fixed at a base speed and can only be affected by special effects such as Temporal Chains or specific shrines.

This limitation dictates that Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava must maximize the value of each charged attack, rather than relying on high-frequency casts to compensate for insufficient damage.

Weapon Selection

In PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, traditional crafted hammers have fallen into difficulty because of the weakening of level-based affixes, making it difficult to craft ideal endgame weapons even with an enormous investment of PoE 2 currency.

However, Twisted Empyrean Aberrant Sledge, a unique two-handed mace, perfectly solves this problem.

This boss-dropped weapon boasts excellent base physical, fire, and cold damage, and provides an additional average of about 110 damage based on the character's mana.

More importantly, while Twisted Empyrean Aberrant Sledge lacks skill level bonuses, in the current Path of Exile 2, even top-tier crafting only achieves +5 skill level, so the lack of skill level bonuses isn't as fatal, especially since it can be compensated for with Prism of Belief Diamonds or gloves.

Since Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava requires prolonged stationary DPS, having this weapon runemastered to continuously freeze enemies creates a very satisfying window of opportunity for damage output during boss fights.

Damage Mechanics

To further maximize the damage cap of Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava, we first cast Frost Wall with Effigy of Cruelty. This reliably stacks 20 layers of Critical Weakness on Frost Wall, effectively adding an extra 10% to the weapon's existing 10% base Critical Hit Chance.

Second, we use Infernal Cry with Vruun's Aftermath Lineage Gem. This gem allows Infernal Cry to directly detonate Ice Crystals generated by Frost Wall, increasing the number of usable enhanced attacks with minimal operational cost.

Therefore, when facing high-health bosses, simply casting Frost Wall and Infernal Cry grants a whopping 60% bonus to fire damage and 10% Critical Hit Chance.

Vruun's Aftermath Lineage Gem has become one of the most valuable gems in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, and players should consider investing in it. 

Defensive System

As mentioned before, Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava requires prolonged stationary DPS, and standing still to charge for more than two seconds places extremely high demands on defensive capabilities.

Fortunately, Smith's Masterwork provides several powerful bonuses to normal quality armor, including increased Spirit, immunity to critical strike damage, and immunity to Damaging Ailments. Furthermore, the character can use Ward on top of armor.

In terms of equipment selection, Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava doesn't need to use the powerful Mageblood belt; instead, Darkness Enthroned would be more suitable for this build.

Regarding stun, Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava is paired with the high stun threshold of Chernobog's Pillar Blacksteel Tower Shield, utilizing Runic Ward, which provides +8 stun for every 10 points of Runic Ward.

Combined with the double protection of Ignore Pain and Temporal Chains on Blasphemy (which slows enemies), Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava is virtually immune to interruption during its charge-up phase.

This entire defensive mechanism makes Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava extremely tanky, making it very suitable for Ritual, Expedition, and boss battles.

Support Gem Flexibility

Regarding the damage-oriented Rakiata's Flow Lineage Gem, switching from Fire Penetration II to this gem only provides about a 50% damage increase, but the damage difference is almost imperceptible when killing The Arbiter of Ash.

This means that new players can definitely start this Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava build without this expensive gem, although map clearing efficiency will be slightly reduced, but this is still acceptable for players with limited budgets.

Furthermore, players have reported in the community that Supercharged Slam can trigger the full charge animation and autocomplete the attack sequence by simply tapping the skill button instead of holding it down.

It works well at least at four charge levels, reducing operator fatigue. However, it's unclear whether this discovery is a bug in PoE 2. Players can try this Supercharged Slam trick to see if it still works.

Overall, Supercharged Slam Smith of Kitava doesn't rely on expensive gear, has a relatively low creation cost, and offers excellent damage and survivability. Ignoring this build in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0 would likely be a loss for players!

Among the many ranged builds in Path of Exile 2: Return of the Ancients, Mercenary stands out with its unique crossbow and elemental grenades attack style. If you're looking for a playstyle that combines the ease of freezing and crowd control with the thrill of burst damage, then this Permafrost Bolts Witchhunter build is definitely worth a try. Today, I'll break down the core mechanics, gear strategy, and practical tips for this build.

Core Mechanics

In Path of Exile 2, Mercenary possesses a unique crossbow combat mechanic, and Witchhunter playstyle, centered around Permafrost Bolts and Fragmentation Rounds, is currently one of the most popular early-game and transitional builds in the community. The most distinctive feature of this build is its use of Permafrost Bolts to quickly stack freeze, followed by Fragmentation Rounds to detonate frozen targets, creating wide-area damage and balancing map clearing efficiency with single-target damage.

Permafrost Bolts are essentially an ammunition skill. The arrows fired shatter upon impact, creating a cone-shaped damage area behind the target, thus quickly freezing enemies. However, the true core of this build isn't relying on Permafrost Bolts for direct damage, but rather utilizing the unique mechanics of Fragmentation Rounds.

Fragmentation Rounds possess extremely high burst damage against frozen enemies. When a target is frozen, using this skill immediately triggers an explosion, instantly killing frozen mobs and using the blast wave to wipe out nearby enemies, achieving a chain-reaction screen-clearing effect. Therefore, this build revolves around a fixed loop:

1. Use Permafrost Bolts to create a freeze.
2. Switch to Fragmentation Rounds after the enemy is frozen.
3. Finish off the enemy with an explosion and spread damage.

Compared to builds in Path of Exile 2 0.5.0 that rely on sustained damage, this dual-skill loop offers extremely high burst efficiency. The freeze itself also reduces enemy threat, improving the character's survivability.

Why Witchhunter Suits This Build?

While Mercenary has multiple Ascendancy classes, Witchhunter and Permafrost Bolts have a high synergy.

Firstly, Witchhunter provides excellent finishing capabilities, and her Sorcery Ward skill provides additional protection based on the character's Armor and Evasion, allowing the character to maintain mobility while offering good defensive capabilities. Since this build relies on freezing to control monsters, it further increases the uptime of Sorcery Ward, making the overall margin for error higher.

It's worth noting that Witchhunter leans towards sustained progression and efficient map clearing, requiring fewer unique items to fully utilize its mechanics, making it more friendly to both early gamers and SSF players.

Weapon Switching - Key to Operation

Many players find Crossbow's controls complex when first encountering Mercenary, primarily due to ammo switching. Permafrost Bolts and Fragmentation Rounds are two different types of ammo, requiring reloading each time. To reduce reload time, a common approach is to manage them using Weapon Sets.

Players can lock the same Crossbow to two Weapon Sets, binding them to Permafrost Bolts and Fragmentation Rounds respectively. This allows the character to quickly switch between the two ammo types via the weapon set without frequent manual reloading, significantly improving the combat pace.

With practice, the entire cycle becomes very natural: Permafrost Bolts freeze enemies – immediately switch to Fragmentation Rounds - explosion clears the screen - continue pushing the next wave of monsters.

Defensive Attribute Selection

Although this is a ranged build, defense remains crucial. For gear, prioritize maximizing Evasion, Armor, Life, and Elemental Resistance. Since the Sorcery Ward provides additional shields based on Armor and Evasion, a mixed defensive build is generally more beneficial than simply stacking one type.

Additionally, invest in passive skills such as Freeze, Cold Damage, Projectile Damage, Attack Speed, and Deflection to improve overall damage output and survivability.

Gear Requirements

A major advantage of Permafrost Bolt Witchhunter build is its relatively low gear requirements. The build doesn't require any unique/mythic items; ordinary rare gear is sufficient to complete the story and enter Atlas.

However, as POE 2 becomes more difficult in the later stages, you can gradually switch to a higher physical damage Crossbow and add critical strike chance, attack speed, and frost-related affixes to further improve freeze efficiency and burst damage in Fragmentation Rounds.

If you have difficulty obtaining gear with these affixes, you can buy POE 2 currency from POECURRENCY.com to speed up the affixes rerolling process, resulting in better performance in the endgame.

Pros & Cons

Overall, Permafrost Bolt Witchhunter build is a very mature Mercenary playstyle.

Its advantages include the ability to use core skills from level one, resulting in a smooth leveling path. Its freeze mechanic balances damage output and control, making map progression safer; Fragmentation Rounds offer excellent area-of-effect burst damage, making it highly efficient at clearing large groups of monsters. Furthermore, because it doesn't rely on expensive unique items, it's relatively friendly to POE 2 beginners.

The disadvantages mainly lie in the operational aspects. Since Crossbow requires frequent ammo and Weapon Set switching, new Mercenary players will need some time to adapt. Additionally, player damage against bosses relies heavily on the freeze window; if Permafrost Bolts fail to freeze enemies, overall damage will drop significantly, requiring careful management of skill rotations and timing of attacks.

Overall, this is a build that balances early game progression, map exploration, and mid-to-late game progression. For players who enjoy ranged attacks, freezing control, and high burst damage, Permafrost Bolts paired with Fragmentation Rounds remains one of the most representative playstyles in Path of Exile 2 0.5.0 Witchhunter system.