Path of Exile 2: Mercenary Leveling Guide

This Path of Exile 2 Mercenary leveling guide outlines optimal skills, support gems, passive skills, and item choices for a smooth progression to endgame. While Mercenaries are considered easy to level, strategic choices are key to maximizing their potential.

Optimal Skills and Support Gems

Early game relies on Fragmentation Shot (effective close-range, multi-target) and Permafrost Shot (quick freeze for damage boosts). However, the build truly shines once Grenade skills are unlocked.

The table below details core skills and recommended support gems:

Use Lesser Jeweller's Orbs to add support gem sockets to Explosive Grenade, Explosive Shot, and Gas Grenade. Prioritize available support gems until you acquire the recommended ones. Note that Glacial Bolt can replace Permafrost Shot for general leveling, while Oil Grenade is a boss-specific swap for Glacial Bolt. Galvanic Shards replaces Fragmentation Shot for safer horde clearing. Herald of Ash provides additional damage.

Essential Passive Skill Tree Nodes

Focus on these three key passive skills:

• Cluster Bombs: Increases Grenade projectile count.
• Repeating Explosives: Chance for double Grenade explosions.
• Iron Reflexes: Converts Evasion to Armor, mitigating the downside of the Sorcery Ward Ascendancy skill (recommended for Witchhunter Ascendancy).

Other important nodes include Cooldown Reduction, Projectile & Grenade Damage, and Area of Effect. Prioritize these over Crossbow skills (Reload Time, Damage) and Armor/Evasion nodes unless necessary for survivability.

Itemization and Stat Priorities

Crossbow upgrades significantly impact power. Always replace the weakest equipped item. Prioritize stats in this order:

1. Dexterity
2. Strength
3. Armor
4. Evasion
5. Elemental Resistances (excluding Chaos)
6. Physical and Elemental Damage
7. Attack Speed
8. Mana/Life on Hit/Kill
9. Item Rarity
10. Movement Speed

Bombard Crossbows are highly recommended due to their extra projectile, making them excellent candidates for crafting.

This guide provides a solid foundation for leveling a Mercenary in Path of Exile 2. Remember to adapt your strategy based on your available items and encountered challenges.