Path of Exile 2 continues to evolve, introducing more complex builds, skill combinations, and exciting ways to decimate your enemies. One such build that has gained attention recently is the Grenadier Mercenary, capable of annihilating tier 2 map bosses with ease, dealing up to 600,000 DPS. With explosive grenades as the primary source of damage, this build takes advantage of unique item synergies, POE 2 Currency Orbs strategic passive tree choices, and optimized skill gem setups.

In this article, we'll break down the essential components of the Grenadier Mercenary build, how it works, and why it's an excellent choice for both high-level mapping and bossing.

Build Overview

The core strength of the Grenadier Mercenary lies in its ability to deal high damage over a short period using explosive grenades. With a solid DPS of 600,000+, you can effortlessly clear tier 2 bosses with 1.8 million HP in around 3 seconds. The combination of explosive grenades, projectiles, and area of effect scaling makes this build highly efficient for clearing maps and engaging in boss fights, particularly against challenging pinnacle bosses like King of the Mist.

Key Components of the Build

Main Skill Gem: The explosive grenade is the primary attack skill used in this build. By utilizing the Scattershot support gem, it shoots multiple grenades, creating a significant damage burst. To optimize grenade explosions, the Expedite support gem is used to reduce the detonation time, allowing for faster explosions.

Weapon Choice: The Canonade Crossbow is used for this build. It provides the essential implicit bonus, allowing grenades to fire additional projectiles, massively increasing your damage output.

Explosive Damage Scaling: To push damage even further, we utilize the Cluster Bombs node in the passive tree and support gems like Fire Infusion and Execute Support. Fire Infusion gives extra fire damage, while Execute Support increases the damage against low-life enemies.

Ascendancy Choice: This build uses the Witch Hunter ascendancy. The low-life nodes in the passive tree increase your damage significantly, especially when paired with the Deepest Tower Helmet that makes enemies count as being on low life within a specific radius.

Skill Gems and Their Support

Explosive Grenade

Scattershot: This gem fires two additional projectiles, multiplying the number of grenades and significantly increasing DPS.

Expedite: Reduces the detonation time of the grenades, allowing them to explode faster.

Fire Infusion: Adds more fire damage to the grenades.

Elemental Focus: Increases elemental damage but doesn't affect poison or chaos damage. If you have enough slots, this can be used in place of Primal.

Execute Support: Increases the damage against low-life enemies. This gem works synergistically with the Deepest Tower Helmet, ensuring that enemies within the radius of effect are considered low-life, providing a massive damage boost.

Supporting Grenades

Oil Grenade: Applies fire exposure, lowering enemy fire resistance by 20%. Paired with Strip Away for extra exposure, this will allow your fire damage to do even more work.

Flash Nade: This grenade stuns enemies by increasing stun build-up. Supporting this with Overpower and Maim makes it easier to stun bosses and group mobs.

Gas Grenade: Useful for armor break on enemies. Gas grenades apply a corrosive poison effect that reduces enemy armor by 80% of the poison damage dealt, helping you deal more physical damage with grenades.

Defensive Skills and Utility

Windancer: Increases your evasion with every stage, providing greater defenses in dodging attacks.

Time of Need: Provides extra life recovery and removes curses and elemental ailments every 10.4 seconds.

Cannibalism and Herbalism: These nodes help with sustain by offering life recovery on kill and boosting life flask effectiveness.

Gear Selection

The right gear is critical to maximizing the Grenadier Mercenary's potential. While the Deepest Tower Helmet is optimal for ensuring enemies are considered low-life within the radius, it is not mandatory. If you lack this helmet, the build remains strong with alternatives. Here's a breakdown of the key gear slots:

Weapon:

Canonade Crossbow: This crossbow provides the key benefit of shooting additional projectiles. Ensuring high physical damage and increased elemental damage with attacks is essential, as the explosive grenades convert 80% of physical damage into fire.

Gloves:

Look for high life and strength on your gloves, along with resistances. Max life is essential for staying alive in higher-tier maps.

Chest:

A well-crafted chest with high life, armor, and evasion ensures survivability. The additional resistances will help you cap out all your resistances and stay in top condition during mapping and boss fights.

Boots:

Movement speed is crucial, along with max life and resistances. You want to be fast enough to dodge hazards while clearing the map efficiently.

Helmet:

The Deepest Tower Helmet is the preferred choice, as it makes enemies within your radius count as being on low life, but if you don't have it, a helmet with high armor, evasion, and max life will suffice.

Rings:

For your rings, prioritize accuracy, fire damage, max life, and resistances. Accuracy is surprisingly important, especially when fighting enemies outside your effective range.

Belt:

A well-crafted belt with max life, strength, resistances, and flask recovery can give a significant boost to both survivability and sustain during combat.

Passive Tree

The Witch Hunter ascendancy provides fantastic synergy with the Grenadier Mercenary. Here are some key passive tree choices:

Low Life Nodes:

These nodes increase damage against low-life enemies, and with Deepest Tower, enemies in your radius will be considered low-life, boosting your DPS.

Damage Against Burning Enemies:

Many of your grenades will ignite enemies, making nodes that increase damage against burning enemies vital.

Area of Effect:

To maximize the blast radius of your grenades, focus on area of effect nodes, especially in the grenade cluster.

Crossbow Nodes:

Opt for nodes that increase damage with two-handed weapons (crossbows in this case). This will ensure your damage output is maximized for each grenade explosion.

Grenadier Nodes:

These nodes provide extra projectiles, cooldown reductions, and more grenade damage. Prioritize nodes like Cluster Bombs and Grenadier for faster grenade explosions and more damage.

Presence Area of Effect:

As Deepest Tower reduces the presence area of effect, make sure to pick up jewels and nodes that increase the presence area and help maximize your area of effect.

Gameplay Tips

When engaging in mapping, the key is to keep moving. The explosive grenades cover a large area, and you can continue to clear enemies by rolling and throwing grenades. Always aim to drop grenades on groups of enemies and use your flash grenade for crowd control or to stun bosses. Against bosses, keep a safe distance and utilize your grenades to both deal damage and control the fight with stuns and armor breaks.

Conclusion

The Grenadier Mercenary is an exciting and powerful build for POE 2 that shines in both mapping and bossing scenarios. With the combination of explosive grenades, strategic support gems, and effective gear choices, you can deal massive DPS while staying safe and mobile. Whether you're targeting tier 2 bosses or clearing large mobs, this build excels in delivering devastating damage and offering excellent utility and cheap POE 2 Orbs.

If you're looking for an explosive, high-DPS build that's efficient at clearing maps and bosses alike, the Grenadier Mercenary is a fantastic choice!