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Although nearly four months have passed since the initial release of Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, the new Ascendancy classes introduced then remain solid choices; Spirit Walker, for instance, has several viable builds available in 0.5.5 league.

If you are looking to significantly boost your damage, particularly against single targets, Freezing Shards Spirit Walker Build, which relies on the specific Gelid Staff item, is a reliable option. Here, we will outline the crafting strategy for this build.

What is the core mechanic of this build?

Freezing Shards skill in this build is granted to you upon equipping Gelid Staff. By default, the skill fires six projectiles, all of which can strike the same enemy.

This means that when facing single targets, stacking many projectiles allows you to deal massive damage through shotgunning (hitting a single target with multiple projectiles simultaneously).

By combining this with Spirit Walker's Primal Bounty skill, you can further increase projectile count and damage, enabling you to instantly kill bosses and smoothly clear high-difficulty content.

However, it is worth noting that under current PoE 2 mechanics, Freezing Shards appears to have some bugs; certain modifiers that should provide additional projectiles do not seem to be functioning correctly.

It is unclear whether this is intentional or a technical error, but it results in a significant loss of combat power. Fortunately, even before a fix is implemented, other viable strategies can be developed around Primal Bounty.

Passive skill and gem options

Freezing Shards Spirit Walker Build establishes its core defensive and offensive setup by combining Energy Shield, high critical strike potential, and damage mitigation via minions.

To this end, the most crucial element in Spirit Walker's passive tree is Primal Bounty. Serving as the primary source of burst damage, this skill allows you to accumulate three stacks of Owl Feather charges over six seconds; these charges are then consumed by performing a dodge roll to empower your next skill.

The empowered skill fires six additional projectiles and significantly increases projectile speed. Additionally, unlocking Mhacha's Gift node in Spirit Walker passive tree further accelerates the rate at which Owl Feather charges are generated.

Mana Tempest skill grants a buff that causes projectiles to split, thereby increasing the total number of projectiles. Additionally, Breachlord's Amalgam Lineage Support Gem allows all projectiles to return to you after traveling, dealing damage a second time.

Wild Protector is another key PoE 2 Ascendancy passive that summons a bear. By boosting the bear's survivability, you can have it soak up damage on your behalf.

For instance, unlocking Sacred Unity node grants the bear Embrace of the Wild effect, allowing it to share 8% of the damage you take. Further enhancing the bear's tankiness is possible by combining this with support gems like Hulking Minions and Meat Shield.

Another Lineage Support Gem, Zarokh's Revolt, introduces a long-cooldown mechanic that lets you cast Freezing Shards five times in rapid succession. You should also pair this with Pinpoint Critical to boost your critical strike chance, which is crucial for this build.

PoE 2 Projectile Acceleration III provides increased projectile speed and damage, making it an excellent synergy with Primal Bounty.

What does the gear setup entail?

The key to maximizing the effectiveness of Freezing Shards Spirit Walker Build is ensuring every projectile hits the target enemy. However, achieving this in actual combat is difficult; even when facing a boss at point-blank range, many projectiles often fly off-target.

In other words, hit registration is a highly inconsistent factor for this build, but fortunately, this issue can be resolved by equipping Ghostmarch Threaded Shoes.

These unique boots allow you to pass through enemies while performing a dodge roll. You can use this maneuver to position yourself inside the enemy's hitbox, thereby significantly increasing the likelihood that your Freezing Shards projectiles will connect with the target.

While this phasing technique requires some practice to master, it is currently the most reliable method in Path of Exile 2 to ensure all projectiles hit the boss.

For your core gear, Gelid Staff, ideally, you should reroll the stats to prioritize +Cold Skill Levels, Spell Damage, Critical Strike Chance, Critical Strike Multiplier, Cast Speed, and any other high-quality damage modifiers.

Of course, don't forget to increase the staff's quality, as doing so grants an additional projectile for Freezing Shards.

Another excellent gear upgrade for this build is to roll modifiers on your gloves that grant +2 to the level of projectile skills, along with increased projectile speed and damage bonuses, resulting in a significant boost to your overall damage output.

Additionally, equipping two Pearl Rings with increased cast speed modifiers can drastically improve your casting speed, while also helping to cap your resistances and provide extra cold damage.

The amulet slot is another prime location to boost your damage in Path of Exile 2. Prioritize finding modifiers that offer increased cast speed and bonuses to projectile skill levels, while focusing other stats on defense, maximum life, and resistances.

For your body armor, ensure you have reserved enough Spirit to accommodate all necessary gems as well as defensive and resistance-boosting modifiers. Apply the same logic to your helmet, prioritize stacking defensive stats wherever possible.

That covers everything for this guide. If this build aligns with your plans for your next PoE 2 session, why not give it a try right away? Good luck!

In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, Expedition remains a highly profitable endgame farming method. Here, I introduce a streamlined speed-farming strategy for Grand Expeditions: instead of aiming to clear the entire map, you quickly scan for Runic Remnants, engage only with high-value rewards, and exit immediately, thereby maximizing profit per unit of time.

This farming method requires a certain level of character power. If you have a build with high movement speed and efficient map-clearing capabilities, consistently generating dozens of Divine Orbs per hour is entirely achievable. However, if your character clears monsters slowly, the time cost will erode the profits gained from repeatedly entering and exiting maps; it is recommended to upgrade your build before attempting this strategy.

Core Mechanic: How do Runic Remnants work in Grand Expeditions?

Grand Expeditions are specialized maps unlocked via Logbooks. Unlike standard map Expeditions, Grand Expeditions feature a large number of Runic Remnants, each with a varying number of Rune Slots.

Placing and detonating explosives on a Runic Remnant spawns enemies affected by specific Runic Modifiers. Defeating these enemies grants the rewards associated with that Remnant. Generally, more Rune Slots mean a greater impact on enemies and a larger scale of rewards, making multi-slot Remnants the primary targets of interest.

This is the heart of the speed-farming strategy: prioritize high-value Runic Remnants rather than clearing the entire Grand Expedition map. Upon entering, quickly scout the area to check the rewards offered by various Remnants; if you find a target worth pursuing (using a value of 1 Divine Orb as a benchmark), place your explosives and complete the encounter. If the map contains no worthwhile rewards, do not waste time - simply detonate one charge and exit immediately.

Expedition Atlas Passive Tree: Two Key Nodes

As of PoE 2 Patch 0.5.4, Expedition has its own dedicated Atlas Passive Skill Tree, comprising 24 nodes in total, 12 of which are Notables. These talent points are earned by defeating bosses in Grand Expedition questline and are completely independent of the standard Atlas Tree points.

For Grand Expedition speed-farming strategy, two nodes are particularly important.

Feeling Lucky?

The first is Feeling Lucky?. Allocating this node causes Farrow to start selling Liquid Verisium. This is a kind of POE 2 currency used on Runic Remnants that allows you to directly reset Runic Inscription on that Remnant - essentially a free reroll.

When you encounter a Runic Remnant with good slot placement but a poor reward list, using Liquid Verisium to reroll it offers a chance to transform it into a high-value target, significantly boosting the expected yield per map.

Extra Remnant

The second node is Extra Remnant. It directly increases the number of Runic Remnants encountered during an Expedition. For speed-farming, a higher number of Remnants means more rewards can be checked within a given timeframe, making it easier to find high-value targets worth using explosives on.

The remaining 22 nodes can be allocated according to personal preference. However, there is one more node to consider: Extreme Archaeology. It alters the explosive mechanics, replacing the standard multiple small-scale placements with a single, large-area blast.

While this significantly simplifies the explosive placement process, it also activates more enemies at once, placing higher demands on your character's clear speed and survivability. Therefore, if your goal is simply to execute a consistent speed-farming strategy, there is no need to rush into allocating this node.

Map and Logbook Selection and Usage

Grand Expedition speed-farming places almost no requirements on the map itself. Whether the map is Normal, Magic, Rare, or Unique, as long as your character can complete it quickly and locate Expedition, it is suitable for use.

Since the primary returns from this strategy come from Runic Remnant rewards rather than the map's inherent drops, there is no need to invest excessive resources into Waystone. For high-speed builds, minimizing the time spent per map is usually more important than maximizing the returns from map modifiers.

Logbooks are crucial resources for accessing the Ocean region and locating Grand Expeditions. Using a Logbook reveals a new exploration zone within the Atlas's Ocean region, featuring standard Expeditions, Grand Expeditions, and other special encounters. Note that a Grand Expedition is not a standalone map launched directly by Logbook; instead, it appears as content within the revealed Ocean exploration zone. Therefore, the basic gameplay loop is quite simple: obtain Logbooks from standard Expeditions found in regular Path of Exile 2 maps, use them to explore oceanic zones, and hunt for Grand Expeditions. Once inside a Grand Expedition, focus on inspecting Runic Remnants and engage only with high-value targets that justify the time investment.

Standard map Expeditions are also a crucial part of this cycle. Runic Monsters have a chance to drop Logbooks, creating a continuous resource loop between standard Expeditions and Grand Expeditions.

Overall, the core strategy for speed-farming Grand Expeditions in Path of Exile 2 is straightforward: use a high-speed build to quickly clear maps, selectively target high-value Runic Remnants, and concentrate your time on objectives that truly offer the best returns. This approach is best suited for players who prioritize efficiency - maximizing profit per unit of time - and whose characters already possess strong mobility and clear speed.

If you regularly farm Abyss content in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, using Heart of the Well to make currency is a strategy well worth trying.

Acquiring them isn't complicated: simply spawn Rogue Exiles on top of Abyss, and they have a chance to drop Heart of the Well diamond. These diamonds are inexpensive, typically costing between 16 and 18 Chaos Orbs.

The goal is straightforward: take this cheap material and use Desecrate to craft it into a high-value jewel, profiting from the price difference. Sounds tempting, doesn't it?

Affix Rules

Before diving in, you need to understand the affix distribution for Heart of the Well.

The first and last Desecrate steps always grant a prefix, while the intermediate steps grant a suffix. This makes the initial prefix crucial; you'll usually want to activate an Omen of Abyssal Echoes to gamble for a beneficial affix.

Among prefixes, Lightning and Cold damage bonuses are the most valuable. Fire bonuses are usable, but Chaos bonuses are the least desirable.

If the first step doesn't yield a beneficial affix, continuing the process is usually not cost-effective; it's best to stop there rather than stubbornly pushing on.

There are plenty of good options for suffixes - such as Rage, Attack Speed, Cast Speed, Mana on Kill, Critical Strike-related mods, Rage on Melee Hit, and Skill Effect Duration - all of which have a market.

Memorize the valuable affixes so you can make quick decisions during the crafting process.

Crafting Process

First, head to The Well of Souls to perform the crafting.

Next, activate Omen of Abyssal Echoes and perform the first Desecrate on the diamond.

If you land a Lightning or Cold bonus, you can happily proceed. A Fire bonus is also worth keeping, but be cautious with Chaos bonuses, as they rarely fetch a high price.

During the intermediate steps, aim for the useful suffixes mentioned earlier; these significantly boost the final sale price.

Finally, use the last Desecrate to gamble for another beneficial prefix, aiming to secure a double-bonus item.

If you end up with a dud, don't rush to throw it away; Reforging Bench in PoE 2 allows you to combine three jewels of the same type to recoup some value - or even turn trash into treasure.

Throughout the process, constantly evaluate whether the base item is worth continuing with; avoid wasting time on jewels that lack potential.

When crafting in bulk, try focusing on the first prefix roll across all items first. Discard any that don't yield the desired bonus before processing the rest; this approach is significantly more efficient.

Also, patience is key during crafting. Not every Heart of the Well will roll a great combination of modifiers, but when you do hit a good one, the payoff is often substantial.

Comparing Market Prices

Keep in mind that the price variance for finished jewels in Path of Exile 2 is huge, so always check the market before selling.

A near-perfect Heart of the Well can fetch around 65 PoE 2 Divine Orbs - a single sale that could recoup the majority of your total crafting costs.

A Heart of the Well with both Fire and Lightning bonuses goes for about 14 Divines; adding a Critical Spell Damage bonus pushes the price to 20 Divines, and including Critical Hit Chance can bring it close to 50 Divines (listing it at 49 Divines often makes it easier to sell).

Similarly, Cold and Lightning bonus combination is highly sought-after in PoE 2; adding Critical Hit Chance allows for a price of around 24 Divines, while adding Mana Regeneration can push it to 34 Divines.

However, as mentioned earlier, combinations like Fire and Chaos bonuses are cheaper; a pure Chaos bonus version might only sell for 1 Divine Orb.

Unless, of course, you also roll Spell Damage bonus or Mana on Kill, which could raise the price to 5 or 6 Divines.

Heart of the Well, featuring other useful modifiers - such as Movement Speed ​​or Attack Speed - can also command prices ranging from 18 to 35 Divine Orbs.

Finally, when setting your price, it is best to check what other players are asking for similar Heart of the Well.

Listing yours slightly lower usually helps it sell faster without sacrificing too much profit. If a jewel sits unsold for a long time, you can lower the price appropriately, but avoid dropping it too far below your cost.

Returns and Risks

The cost of this strategy - profiting from the price spread of Heart of the Well jewels - is around 75 Divine Orbs. Since there is potential to nearly double your investment, the profit margins are indeed attractive.

Of course, not every Heart of the Well you craft will yield a profit; producing duds is inevitable. You will need to rely on Reforging Bench and smart pricing strategies to minimize losses.

However, you must approach this with the right mindset: view it as a steady, long-term jewel-trading business rather than a gamble for an overnight fortune.

You must strictly adhere to the rules for filtering modifiers during every craft: abandon the item immediately if the initial roll lacks beneficial stats, or stop if the suffix rolls are subpar. Only by maintaining this discipline can you ensure consistent profitability.

This type of jewel has performed strongly across multiple leagues in PoE 2, and it remains a powerful option in the current Patch 0.5.5. Consequently, if you regularly farm Abyss content, this strategy will generate a reliable stream of extra income.