In Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.3 Return of the Ancients, players have developed many powerful builds to handle various high-difficulty endgame scenarios.
Among these builds, six character builds are so powerful they can “dominate game”. Each possesses overwhelming map clearing and damage output capabilities, and each has multiple variations, allowing players to adjust them according to their equipment and preferences.
Next, POECURRENCY.com will introduce these builds and gameplay styles one by one to help you create your own build.
Gemling Legionnaire Build
First up is Gemling Legionnaire build.
The core of this build relies on a key Ascendancy Node for Gemling Legionnaire – Advanced Thaumaturgy. This node doesn’t simply enhance skill effects; it provides additional quality bonuses to all Skill Gems.
For example, it can improve the quality of Cast on Dodge Gem, increasing the character’s roll distance and allowing you to trigger your own attack while dodging enemy attacks;
It can also enhance effects of Gem skills that reduce casting time. If you then look for Uniques that further reduce casting time, you can easily stack 100% Reduced Skill Effect Duration.
Many POE 2 Gemling Legionnaire players like to use this method in Patch 0.5.3 Return of the Ancients to achieve instant skill casting.
Witchhunter Build
The second POE 2 build I’ll introduce is for Witchhunter. This build revolves around a powerful mechanic: Culling Strike.
Culling Strike’s effect is that when a monster’s health drops below a certain percentage, your attack can instantly kill it.
To better achieve this instant kill effect, you need to enable Witchhunter’s Pitiless Killer Ascendancy Passive Skill.
In actual combat, you need to significantly increase the health threshold for triggering a Culling Strike by stacking numerous health checks – to an absurd degree – so that Normal and Magic monsters can be instantly killed at full health, Rare monsters at 50% health, and Unique monsters at 25% health.
To achieve such high instant-kill health requirements, you’ll need certain equipment: for example, Horror’s Flight Engraved Bracers, which provide the powerful Fear Incarnate buff, greatly enhancing the “execution” effect.
In addition, equipment like Myris Uxor Covert Hood and relevant nodes on Passive Skill Tree are also essential.
Brutus’ Lead Sprinkler Build
This build doesn’t rely on a specific class, but on a weapon from POE 2 – Brutus’ Lead Sprinkler.
This weapon possesses two key attributes: First, every 25 points of Strength adds 5-10 points of fire damage to your attacks; second, upon hitting an enemy, every 25 points of Strength has a 5% chance to trigger Molten Shower skill.
Therefore, you only need to first use various Uniques to maximize your Strength stat, then convert fire damage into lightning damage specifically, thus enabling you to use Herald of Thunder Aura Skill.
Herald of Thunder’s hit effect triggers the weapon’s built-in Molten Shower, and Molten Shower’s damage triggers Herald of Thunder.
Once this loop is activated, it creates a self-sufficient damage “perpetual motion machine”, automatically dealing devastating damage to all enemies on the screen.
For Patch 0.5.3 Return of the Ancients, POECURRENCY.com recommends choosing Spirit Walker class when playing this build, as it further enhances this mechanic.
Oil Barrage Build
This build can be applied to multiple classes in POE 2, with POECURRENCY.com recommending it for Martial Artist.
The core skill of this build is Oil Barrage, which has a unique mechanic: when you fire multiple projectiles simultaneously, the same enemy can be hit by all projectiles at once and take full damage.
Oil Barrage also replicates the number of projectiles from Salvo Gem, further increasing the projectile count. Therefore, you only need to stack up the projectile count through various uniques and passive skills, and then, with a single cast of the skill, a massive barrage of projectiles will erupt, crushing enemies.
Even more valuable is that it’s a powerful build usable from level 31, with enough damage to quickly kill some low-level bosses.
However, collecting Uniques in POE 2 Return of the Ancients is difficult. If you own enough, you can buy cheap POE 2 currency from POECURRENCY.com and apply them into getting gear; we offer 24-hour service and the cheapest prices.
Repulsion and Living Lightning Build
This build is also applicable to multiple classes. Its core is utilizing the interplay of two mechanisms to create an automated explosion loop.
Specifically, it leverages the synergy between Repulsion and Living Lightning. Repulsion triggers an explosion effect upon hitting an enemy, while Living Lightning triggers an automatic attack effect upon hitting an enemy.
When Living Lightning hits an enemy, it triggers Repulsion’s explosion effect; Repulsion explosion is then considered a “hit”, triggering Living Lightning to attack again. The two effects trigger each other, creating an automatic loop.
Players simply need to initiate this loop, and then wait for the entire screen of monsters to be cleared away in a continuous chain of explosions.
Nightfall Build
The core of this build is a shield called Nightfall from POE 2 Patch 0.5.3, offering a very unique gameplay style.
Nightfall’s special mechanic is: when you throw the shield and then reactivate the skill, the character will instantly dash to the shield’s location, triggering a massive explosion.
While it works for multiple classes, POECURRENCY.com recommends using Oracle to complement this mechanic. Oracle’s Ascendancy Passive Skill helps increase critical strike chance, allowing Nightfall to deal explosive critical damage.
Furthermore, combining Nightfall with Oracle’s Choir of Storm triggers additional lightning spells, dealing lightning damage.
These are six powerful builds in POE 2 Patch 0.5.3 Return of the Ancients, brought to you by POECURRENCY.com. You can choose the build that best suits your preferred class and combat style to try.
