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There are no balance changes in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, so if your Minion build performed consistently well in Patch 0.5.0, you can continue using it.

Of course, you can also switch to stronger Minion builds. However, since they use different types of Minions, the overall gameplay experience can vary significantly, so you can choose one based on the playstyle you prefer.

Tier S

Spirit Walker Zookeeper

Spirit Walker has a clear advantage during the early leveling experience. During the campaign, you can use Twister as a transition skill until you obtain Bear.

After completing your second Ascendancy, you can unlock the ability to tame beasts and switch to Mighty Silverfist. It has a 25% base critical hit chance, along with 100% increased critical damage, giving it extremely high damage that can help you clear the campaign with ease.

However, finding and taming Mighty Silverfist is a long and troublesome process. Once you have tamed it, your build is basically complete. From that point onward, your main job is positioning, while most of the damage is dealt by your monkey.

Spirit Walker Zookeeper is less efficient at clearing maps during the mid-game than Gemling Legionnaire Unearth, but if you can invest more PoE 2 currency into it, its ceiling is higher.

Since Mighty Silverfist has very high base stats, you can save a large number of gear affixes for improving survivability. You can also invest more resources into equipping it with aura support gems, further improving Mighty Silverfist's map-clearing efficiency.

With an extreme budget, Spirit Walker Zookeeper can already match the map-clearing efficiency of Gemling Legionnaire Unearth while offering slightly better single-target damage and maintaining extremely high survivability.

Gemling Legionnaire Unearth

The core idea of this build is to sacrifice your Skeletal Clerics to create corpses, then use Unearth to summon large numbers of fast and powerful Bone Constructs from those corpses, forming an army of skeleton-like constructs.

Gemling Legionnaire typically uses Crossbow Grenade setup while leveling. This playstyle may not appeal to every player, but its efficiency is genuinely high. Although the overall leveling experience is less smooth than Spirit Walker, it makes up for that with consistency.

Immediately after completing the campaign, Gemling Legionnaire Unearth has significantly faster map-clearing speed than Spirit Walker's Mighty Silverfist,

Its single-target damage is comparable to the monkey setup, while its damage scaling requires relatively fewer resources. More importantly, you do not need to tame your Minions. Once you obtain the skill, you can start using it immediately.

At the high budget stage, Gemling Legionnaire's Defensive Layers can match or even surpass those of Spirit Walker.

Although Spirit Walker has advantages in the number of beasts it can tame through Ascendancy passives such as Loyalty and Path of Brilliance, Gemling Legionnaire is by no means inferior when it comes to survivability.

Once investment reaches the super high budget stage, the damage gains of Gemling Legionnaire Unearth begin to plateau, leaving it somewhat behind Spirit Walker Zookeeper.

Tier A

Acolyte of Chayula Minion

The main Minions used by this build are usually Skeletal Reavers. They deal high damage, are highly aggressive, and can make excellent use of Chaos damage increases you provide.

Your core Ascendancy passive, Into the Breach, periodically causes Flames of Chayula to spawn around you.

You need to actively walk over and pick up these remnants. Combined with Ascendancy passive Choice of Power, the remnants you collect will grant you and nearby Minions stacks of Chaos Remnants.

Each stack of Remnants grants additional Chaos damage to your Minions. At level 90, the maximum effect of 10 stacks can provide more than 180% of Physical Damage as Extra Chaos Damage.

Acolyte of Chayula build has almost no significant weak period throughout its progression. Once you enter Early Mapping, its efficiency does not drop at all, and it can still tear through almost every type of content.

However, it is not as effortless to play as Spirit Walker Zookeeper, and its endgame ceiling may also be somewhat lower.

Infernal Legion Builds

The core idea of this playstyle is to use Infernal Legion Support Gem to make your Minions continuously burn themselves, dealing Fire damage to nearby enemies.

This playstyle was nerfed in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0. Not only was the highest-damage Infernal Legion III Support Gem removed, but the base Burning damage was also reduced from 20% to 10% of Minion's maximum Life.

To make up for the lost damage, the current version of this build looks for a Tame Beast with extremely high base Life. Through gear and passive skills, the goal is to maximize the pet's Life and skill level.

There are two mainstream variants of this build:

• Using Elephant as the core.
• Using Chimera as the primary damage dealer.

Both variants perform very well, with solid single-target damage that can be raised to a respectable level with further investment. Although they still fall short of S-Tier builds, they are more than capable of handling most content.

The map-clearing efficiency of this build relies on a somewhat cumbersome playstyle. You need to repeatedly press the weapon swap key while progressing through maps to increase your damage.

Tier B

Specters Builds

With Bind Spectre skill, you can resurrect elite monsters killed in specific maps or areas as permanent Minions. These Spectres retain their original forms and skills, and they can benefit from all Minion bonuses provided by your passive tree and gear.

You can copy a Spectres build template across multiple classes, and it can work well on all of them. Based on the mainstream builds in PoE Patch 0.5, several Spectres stand out:

• Gargantuan Wasp
• Vaal Guard
• Starlit Harvester
• Powered Zealot

You can choose different Spectres based on different situations. The main advantage is its flexibility, although its ceiling is not particularly high.

If you simply want to progress through the early game quickly, Acolyte of Chayula is the most recommended choice in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.5. If you prefer traditional Minions, Spirit Walker offers a smoother leveling experience. Overall, there are no balance changes to Minion builds in the current version, so just choose the build you enjoy.

Although Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.5, launching on September 4, is not a full standalone update, Forbidden Rites event league it introduces will trigger an economic reset, meaning progression within the league starts from scratch.

Therefore, to quickly complete the new challenges and encounters in Forbidden Rites and unlock further progress and rewards, utilizing proven league-starter builds is essential.

While the league-specific content isn't fully detailed yet, we can infer which builds will excel in Patch 0.5.5 based on known information regarding Trial of Chaos and endgame optimizations. These include:

• Bone Cage Oracle Build
• Bleed Bow Blood Mage Build
• Smith of Kitava Ancestral Warrior Totems Build
• Martial Artist Melee Build
• Shield Wall Titan Build

Bone Cage Oracle Build

This build relies on the cast on critical strike mechanic. Its core gameplay loop involves casting a vine-based skill to trigger a critical hit, which in turn activates Bone Cage skill, dealing massive damage to enemies.

The build offers straightforward damage output and has modest gear requirements, making it ideal for the league-start phase.

Even if you plan to take it into the endgame, you don't necessarily need to acquire new items; simply investing PoE 2 currency to upgrade your existing gear will suffice.

In combat, the build delivers fast map-clearing speeds while maintaining a reliable source of Energy Shield to ensure your survivability.

In other words, whether you are a newcomer trying Path of Exile 2 for the first time with Patch 0.5.5 or someone planning to dive in at the 1.0 launch, Bone Cage Oracle Build is a viable choice.

Of course, the build isn't without flaws; its main issue is high mana consumption, which may require you to reroll specific item modifiers or carry sufficient consumables to manage your resources.

Bleed Bow Blood Mage Build

This build is expected to function primarily based on Essence Drain and Contagion during the early league-start phase of Patch 0.5.5, before transitioning into a Bleed Bow playstyle in the later stages.

The essence of Bleed Bow build lies in accumulating massive physical damage to trigger bleeding; this bleed effect deals additional damage over time based on a percentage of the initial physical hit.

Building on this foundation, you can leverage Blood Mage Ascendancy class to boost elemental damage and gain converted bleed damage, resulting in explosive power capable of instantly eliminating enemies.

As you upgrade your gear, your character's survivability (tankiness) will also increase, as this playstyle offers ample opportunity to stack maximum health.

Smith of Kitava Ancestral Warrior Totems Build

This build is based on a variant of PoE 2 Smite skill, utilizing Ancestral Warrior Totems combined with Sunder to deal massive area-of-effect damage, allowing for rapid currency and XP farming during the early game.

Generally, you can use Shield Charge as a transitional skill before fully committing to the totem setup once the totem skills are unlocked.

By choosing Smith of Kitava Ascendancy, you can allocate specific passive points to grant your body armor a 30% Spirit bonus.

Furthermore, unlocking Ancestral Bond keystone passive allows you to sacrifice your own direct damage output in exchange for superior totem capabilities and deployment options. Of course, opting for this playstyle depends on your personal preferences.

Martial Artist Melee Build

This build relies on various wind-based skills, centered around Whirling Assault, to achieve excellent screen-clearing efficiency.

Specifically, equipping Decree of Flight leggings and a Duality Warding Quarterstaff allows you to maintain a permanent guard state, ensuring reliable survivability. Additionally, allocating Deflection passive node increases your effective hit pool.

To map more quickly with this build, incorporate Tempest Flurry skill and either swap Duality staff for one with the highest possible attack speed or reroll Duality staff's attack speed modifier.

Shield Wall Titan Build

The advantages of this PoE 2 build are clear: Shield Wall skill provides substantial armor, ensuring robust defense throughout the campaign and making the leveling process much smoother.

You will also need to continuously upgrade your shield and ensure that any attack speed modifiers on your main-hand weapon apply globally. Additionally, pay attention to the balance between survivability and damage output when selecting your gear.

Regarding specific gear choices, prioritize finding and equipping a shield with high armor values and gloves that provide damage bonuses. For other gear slots, focus on attributes such as life regeneration and armor.

As for skill gem setups, this build initially utilizes Rolling Slam and Boneshatter. The former requires support gems like Fist of War and Fire Attunement, while the latter needs Impact Shockwave.

Another crucial skill is Infernal Cry, as it ultimately enables you to deal higher slam damage.

Once you unlock Shield Wall, you can replace the initial dual-skill setup with it, fully transitioning into a dedicated shield-based build. Furthermore, incorporating Leap Slam will enhance your ability to handle groups of monsters.

The builds mentioned above are recommendations based on known changes in Patch 0.5.5 and past Path of Exile 2 league-start experiences; their actual performance in Forbidden Rites event will depend on the specific mechanics of the event itself.

Additionally, once Patch 0.5.5 goes live, you can adapt other PoE 2 builds you enjoy to suit the new league's progression!

Path of Exile 2 1.0 will officially launch on December 11th, bringing with it a new class - Duelist.

Duelist is the game's second hybrid Strength/Dexterity class. Its passive skill tree starts at the bottom center, in the same area as Mercenary. This advantageous starting position allows Duelists to easily specialize in various talent nodes such as armor, evasion, melee, and projectiles, providing players with a high degree of build freedom.

Weapons and Combat Style

Duelist's signature weapon is the sword, which can be chosen as follows:

• One-handed sword: Dual-wielding/Single-wielding (with shield or staff)
• Two-handed sword: For higher damage output

The core of swords in Path of Exile 2 lies in stance switching and a smooth combat experience. Players can seamlessly switch between different skills, weaving together various stances to create chained, coordinated combos.

Notably, swords possess a unique Parry mechanic - the ability to parry when dual-wielding swords. This mechanic provides Duelists with a crucial defensive tool, allowing them to unleash powerful attacks in melee combat while also deflecting fatal blows at critical moments.

Unlike other melee classes in PoE 2, Duelists have a complete stance system. Combat isn't simply about pressing skills and waiting for cooldowns; it revolves around switching between ready stance and blood/sand stance.

Many sword skills have different effects in ready stance, and the performance of subsequent skills changes upon entering blood/sand stance. This stance-driven design gives Duelists a higher skill ceiling and greater combo depth.

It's clear that Duelists' high build freedom is reflected not only in the skill tree but also in weapon combinations. For players who want to explore diverse combat styles using different swords, Path of Exile 2 currency reserves are equally important. After all, a complete build requires not only a suitable weapon but also proper equipment and continuous enhancement to truly unleash its full potential.

Core Skills Explained

Bloodied Blade

Bloodied Blade is the key skill for entering Blood Stance. Using this skill after parrying an enemy will apply bleeding to the target. If Frenzy Charge is consumed, each hit will apply bleeding to all targets hit. The character will automatically enter Blood Stance after the attack ends.

Sand Scour

Sand Scour is one of the primary means for Duelists to enter Sand Stance. Using this skill causes the character to step back slightly and inflict a heavy stun on armored enemies. A successful hit will enter Sand Stance.

If Frenzy Charge is consumed, Sand Scour gains additional effects. In combos, this skill is often used in conjunction with Engage (mentioned later) to create a rhythmic cycle of stepping back and then dashing forward.

Cyclone

Cyclone is one of the most iconic skills in PoE. In Duelist's two stances, Cyclone is presented in two distinct versions:

• Blood Stance: Presented with a red effect, focusing on damage output and granting additional attack bonuses.
• Sand Stance: Presented with a yellow effect, it fires sand discs while rotating, increasing area-of-effect damage.

This stance-switching design gives the classic Cyclone different tactical values ​​in different scenarios - switch to Blood Stance for maximum damage against bosses, and switch to Sand Stance for efficient clearing of mobs.

Perforate

Perforate is a classic skill from PoE 1, but it has been redesigned. Unlike the original version which stabs the ground to summon spikes, the new version stabs enemies, penetrating the target and striking all enemies behind it. The skill performs three rapid, consecutive stabs, with the final strike always inflicting bleeding.

In Blood Stance, multiple spikes erupt from the ground, hitting enemies multiple times; in Sand Stance, the spikes spread outwards. However, using this skill in a ready stance allows you to skip the first two thrusts and directly deliver a higher-damage, guaranteed-bleeding finishing blow.

Earth Rend

Earth Rend can be understood as a sword-based version of Earth Shatter from PoE 1. Upon use, it creates a fissure in front of you, ending with a blade. If used in a ready stance, blades will be generated along the entire path of the fissure.

While the skill itself doesn't deal high damage, its true value lies in its synergy with other skills - the generated blade can be detonated, enhanced, or converted by subsequent skills, making it a cornerstone of the entire sword combo system.

Blade Conduit

Blade Conduit infuses the blade generated by Earth Rend with lightning damage. When used, the character uses their sword as a lightning conduit, summoning a surging nova around themselves and leaving shocked ground. This skill converts 100% of physical damage into lightning damage.

Blades enhanced by Blade Conduit gain additional lightning damage. Furthermore, Shocked Ground works exceptionally well with Cyclone - causing a shock with every spin.

Blade Plunge

Blade Plunge is the ultimate combo skill with the highest damage potential in the entire sword skill tree. Similar to Earth Rend, it plunges the sword into the ground, creating three fissures around the character, each ending in a blade. You can channel to detonate all blades - not only those generated by Blade Plunge itself, but also those generated by Earth Rend.

Extending the channel time grants supercharge to the blades, further increasing their damage and area of ​​effect. Crucially, this skill utilizes stance synergy:

• Blood Stance: Creates a Blood Pool at each blade location, dealing continuous damage.
• Sand Stance: Creates a Sand Disc at each blade location, dealing continuous damage.

Since the area-of-effect damage from multiple blades stacks, this combo's single-target burst damage is already terrifying.

Summary

As a major addition to Path of Exile 2 version 1.0, Duelist offers players who enjoy melee swordplay a new option that combines depth of gameplay with flexible build options. Its unique stance switching mechanism and rich sword skill set allow for high versatility in clearing maps, single-target burst damage, and survivability.

For players who love melee combat and pursue the ultimate in skillful gameplay, Duelist will undoubtedly be one of the first features to experience upon the official launch of Path of Exile 2. As more game content is revealed, we look forward to seeing this class shine even brighter on the continent of Wraeclast.