In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put together theRitualist Hunter buildfor you to use to get into thelate-gameorend-gameof the game.Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount ofskillsandbuild possibilitiesavailable in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensiveskill treeand a multitude ofskill gems. This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of thecampaignand prepare for yourCruel playthroughsorendgame.
Introduction
TheRitualist Hunteris amelee-focused buildusing thespear, and we will be focusing on inflictingbleedon our enemies, maximizing our damage output withhuge damage over timewhile also dealingraw damage. This build is really great for bringing any type of enemy down—both regular and bosses alike—by bleeding them out.
Starter Class
For this build, we will be starting with theHuntress Class, which is one of the seven available for now.
On the expansiveskill tree, the Huntress class will start on thesoutheast side. This side of the skill tree consists mainly ofpassivesrelated toEvasion,Attack Speed, andflat increases in damage, which we will be taking advantage of to maximize our damage—but mainly we will be focusing onskill nodesthat improveinflicting bleedand increasebleeding damage.
Passive Skill Tree
Progression for this build will emphasize increasing ourattack speedanddamage output, trying to put as many points intoskill groupsthat will help with ouroffensive abilities. As you progress down the skill tree, you will notice there are alsonodesandskill groupsthat are more
defensively oriented—such asEvasion nodesandParry nodes—but we will not be investing in those early on. Instead, we will be focusing onnodesandskill groupsthat will amplify thehybrid playstylewe will be going for using thespearas our main weapon.
Nodessuch asStalkandLeapare the core of this build using the spear, as we will be alternating seamlessly betweenmeleeandranged attacksusing the same weapon and the different skills the weapon offers.
As you level up and are putting this build together, you will want to focus onskill groupsthat amplify this effect and go for nodes such asAdaptable Assault.
The earliestskill groupthat we will be able to reach for this build is theIncisionskill group. This passive skill group will make it so that if your attacks do not inflictbleeding, they will have a higher chance to inflictbleedingon subsequent attacks.
This passive group guarantees that you will inflictbleedon your target sooner or later and will contribute to increasing ourdamage output.
From thisskill group node, we can head straight downward, selecting only theattribute axial nodesuntil we reach another skill group important for this build.
This includes theCrimson Assaultnode, which changes all ourbleedsintoaggravated bleedingwithout needing the target to move, increasing the damage output frombleedby 100%.
Thepassive skill nodeclose by also helps in increasing our damage output quite considerably because it increases ourcritical hit chanceagainstbleeding enemies.
After this node, for the purpose of this build, we will veer towards thesouthern partof the skill tree to maximize ourbleeding damageand make our way toward theAggravationpassive skill group.
The reason for this is that investing in this skill group will increase ourbleed chance,bleed duration, andmagnitudeof the affectedbleed. We can leave outAggravationandDeep Woundson this skill node on account ofCrimson Assault, which will make all ourbleedsintoaggravated bleeds—but if you want a longer duration, you can skip theCrimson Assaultnode and take the two nodes from this tree.
After this skill group, one last passive group that will form the core of this build is further to thesouthon the skill tree, and this includes theBleeding Outskill node.
This group will increase the damage you deal tobleeding targetsin addition to flat out increasing thechance to inflict bleedon your targets.
Theseskill groupsform thecore passive skillsof this build, and after this point, you may invest incrit chance nodesandskill groupsto increase yourcritical chanceorevasion groupsto help with yoursurvivability.
Ascendancy
For thisRitualist build, we will be choosing theRitualist Ascendancyfor theHuntress, and this is because we will be able to increase our damage more and deal moredamage over timeusingBlood Boils.
This skill node will allow enemies in our presence to accumulateBlood Boilsthat will applyCorrupting Bloodto nearby enemies on death.
The build will also help with oursustainthrough theWildwood Persistencenode, which will increase thelife recovery ratein relation to missing health—helping with recovery when we are low on health.
We will also be taking theUnfurled Fingernode, which will allow us to equip anadditional ring, and theMystic Attunementnode, which will increase the bonuses by 25%.
But on the way, we will have to go through at least onenegative node, and we will be taking thereduction in mananode as it will affect our build the least.
Active Skills Setups
This build will rely mainly on themelee skillsof thespear weaponand will take full advantage of thebleedinginflicted by the skills.
The main skill we will be using when we are mapping and clearing out mobs of enemies is theRakeskill.
This skill will allow you to jump a short distance and slash in front of you, inflictingbleedon all the enemies hit. If the initial damage does not kill them, thebleedingwill surely take care of most enemies before they reach you.
A good skill to combo into after using theRakeskill isCull the Weak, which is anexecute skillthat can instantly kill an enemy that is low on health in a single strike.
This will be shown with ablue indicatoron top of a weak enemy, and whenever youcullorkillan enemy with the skill, you will gain aFrenzy Charge.
You can have up tothree Frenzy Chargesby default, and these will increase and amplify some of thespear attacksandskills, which includes our next core skill for this build.
The next skill that is really great for using in this build—especially againstbossesandtougher enemies—is theRapid Assaultskill.
Even though this skill does not inherently have the ability to causebleedingon its initial strikes, thesixth attackinflictsbleedingby itself. But even before that, this skill has a high chance of inflictingbleedearly on owing to thepassive skill nodeswe are using.
This skill has asecondary effectwhere it will leave behindspearheadsthat can be triggered to explode by using adetonating skill. For thespear, this can be either anExplosive Spearor aThunderous Leap. It does not have to be aspear skillto cause this explosion, and you can use anydetonator skillof your choosing—but for simplicity, I went with theExplosive Spear, causing massive damage from both sources of detonation.
Another skill that forms a crucial part of theskill rotationof this build is theBlood Huntskill.
This skill willlunge toward a target, and if it’s suffering frombleeding,Blood Huntwill cause anexplosion, consuming thebleeding. The explosion is really good for dealing withmobs of enemies, as you can quickly take them out in rapid succession after inflictingbleedingusing your other skills.
One final skill that increases thedamage outputandmob clearingof this build quite considerably is theBloodhound’s Mark.
Although this skill only marks a target and does not deal damage by itself, it increases the effectiveness of skills such asBlood Huntby releasing abig explosionif the marked target isheavily stunnedorkilledafter suffering frombleeding.
These twoexplosionsfrom both theBlood HuntandBloodhound’s Markskills can make quick work of mostmobs of enemies, even if they take a little more time to set up compared to other builds.
Thesefour skillsform thecore of this buildand will allow you to deal with any kind of enemies ranging frommobstobosses—but there are alsoskillsthat can help with theefficiencyof this build.
One of such skills is theSpearfieldskill, which will causespears to burstfrom the ground in aconein front of you,maimingandslowingtargets that get hit.
This allows a form ofcrowd controlfor this highlyDPS-focusedbuild and will make it easier for you tokitearound some enemies.
Another skill that will help with the build by giving aranged optionis theLightning Spearskill, which will fire offlightning boltsat nearby targets after thespearhits an initial target.
This skill is a reliable skill to deal withmobs during mappingand can quickly take out mostgroups of enemieswithout even needing to rotate to other skills with this build.
Spirit Gems
For theSpirit Gem, theHerald of Bloodis the best choice for this build, and it will give us an additional source ofarea-of-effect damagein the form of anunavoidable explosionwhen killing enemies withblood loss, helping us immensely when clearing mobs duringmapping.
AnotherSpirit Gemthat is great to use with this build is theWind Dancer, as this gives usincreased evasionwhile there arecharges, in addition to theknockbackfrom theGaleforcewhen you are attacked.
Although it doesn’t seem significant, theseWind Chargesreally give addedsurvivabilitywhen surrounded by a lot of enemies.
Support Gems
Since we will be focusing oninflicting bleed on our enemies, we will be prioritizingsupport gemsthat work well withbleedin general.
TheRakeskill is one of the most common skills we will be using with this build, and we will putExecuteas one of the support gems.
This will increase the damage done by this skill against enemies that are onlow life.
The second support gem that is good to have onRakeis theAmbushgem, as it will make it so that the first attack against a full-health enemy is always acritical hit.
For ourCull the Weakskill, we will be using theProfusionsupport gem and theUntouchablesupport gem.
TheProfusiongem will give the skill a 50% chance to gain an additional charge, helping with gainingFrenzy Charges.
TheUntouchablegem will increase theevasion ratingwhile we are using the skill.
TheRapid Assaultskill, which is our main tool for dealing huge amounts of damage to bosses, will benefit from theBloodlustandMartial Tempogems.
TheBloodlustsupport gem will make it so that the skill will not causebleedingby itself, but since we will not be relying onRapid Assaultto inflict bleed in our skill rotation, the gem is not interfering and will help with increasing ourdamage output.
Since theRapid Assaultskill is a relatively long skill with its six attacks, theMartial Tempogem will increase its speed and will help us with landing all six attacks of the skill, allowing for morespearheadsto be detonated.
For theBlood Huntskill, we will be using theBlood in the Eyessupport gem.
This is great as it will decrease theevasion statof the targets inflicted bybleedfrom this skill byHobblingthem. And althoughevasionis not a big issue early on, there are some evasive enemies that can be quite hard to hit, and this support gem will give us a reliable skill to use against such enemies by usingBlood Hunt.
Another support gem this skill greatly benefits from is theMurderous Intentsupport gem, which will allowBlood Hunttoculllow-life enemies, enhancing the skill’s ability to quickly clear out mobs.
Thesesupport gemshelp with the core of this build and are recommended to be prioritized when you are putting this build together, as they will greatly improve efficiency when mapping and clearing mobs using this build.
Regarding theBloodhound’s Mark, we will be using thePersistencesupport gem and theConcentrated Effectsupport gem.
ThePersistencegem will prolong theduration of the markon the target, and theConcentrated Effectgem will increase thearea of damagedealt by the explosion released uponconsumption of the mark.
With ourSpearfieldskill, we will be slotting in theLacerateandMagnified Effectsupport gems.
TheLacerategem gives the skill the ability tobleedour targets usingSpearfield, and theMagnified Effectwill increase thearea of the conefrom which the spears spawn from the ground, helping with both clearing mobs and fighting against bosses.
For our ranged skill, theLightning Spear, we will be using theLightning Infusionand theConductionsupport gems.
TheLightning Infusiongem will give an additional 25% of damage aslightning damage, and theConductiongem will increase thechance to shockour targets using the skill by 100%.
Regarding ourSpirit Gemskills, with theHerald of Bloodskill, we will be using theBrutalityandControlled Destructionsupport gems.
TheBrutalitysupport gem will increase thephysical damageof the explosions, and theControlled Destructiongem will increase thedamage by an additional 25%at the cost of the ability to dealcritical hits.
With theWind Dancerskill, we will be using theWind Waveand thePrecisionsupport gems.
TheWind Wavegem will give an additionalwind blastto the skill if you get stunned, and thePrecisionsupport gem will increase ouraccuracy ratingwhile the charges are active.
Gear and Equipment
This build relies heavily onmelee spear attacks that inflict bleedand will benefit fromevasion-based gearwith increases inattack speed,movement speed, anddexterity.
This build does not require any specificUniquesto perform well and will scale reliably with equipment of other qualities as well.
Rare itemswith+1 to melee skills, increases toattack speedandmovement speedwill really help when putting this build together.
And we will be focusing on gear that mainly increases ourphysical damage, as ourbleeding scales with physical damage only.
We will also take full advantage of thebonuses we gain from amulets and ringsand theextra ring slotto maximize thedamage outputwhen using this build.
Leveling Guide
The build levels smoothly by using the combo ofRakeandCull the Weak.
This combo will allow you to go through most of the mobs, as it can easily take out most enemies, especially when combined withHerald of BloodandBlood Boilexplosions, making short work of mobs during mapping.
As you level up, it is beneficial to have someintelligence attribute nodes, since this will allow us to equip moreintelligence support gemsin addition to increasing themana pool, and you can either start investing into moreattack speedordamage nodesto maximize the damage output.
Mapping and Bossing
Although yourmappingcan feel slower compared to other builds when using this build,bossingis a major strength.
Yourbleedingwill dealconsistent damageduring the entire fight, and combined with theincreased damageandcritical chance against bleeding targets, you will be able to dealmassive amounts of damage.
Path of Exile 2 The Grenadier Build
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at how to put together The Grenadier Build for getting into the endgame
But you do need to be more mindful of theboss’s attacks, as you will be in close most of the time and can be quite devastated if you get caught in one of the boss’shuge attacks.
In addition, efficient gameplay involves regularly alternating betweeninflicting bleedand thencausing blood explosionswhen mapping to quickly take care of mobs.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scalingis enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseAttack Speed,Movement Speed, andAttack Damage.
The build has great options to scale by investing into eitherpure attack damageorcritical hit chance and damage, while benefiting fromhigh-Dexterity gearto further boost damage.
This build performs well inSSF and Hardcore, thanks to itshigh damageandhigh mobility.
It is not reliant onexpensive uniquesand offersgreat damagewithfast-paced mobility and movement, leading to satisfying gameplay.
So, this wraps up my guide for theRitualist Hunter buildguide forPath of Exile 2.
I hope you found this guide helpful, and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
