Mercenary Class Guide for Path of Exile 2: Best Builds and Tips
THE Mercenary Class Guide: Best Builds, Ascendancies, and Tips
So you’ve decided to dabble in some asskickery with the Mercenary class in Path of Exile 2? Congrats!
You’re in for a wild ride with one of the most versatile, technical, and skill-demanding classes in the game.
Whether you’re looking to dish out caster-busting damage as a Witch Hunter or take the customization chaos to the next level as a Gemling Legionnaire, this guide will help you get started with the best builds, general strategies, and ascendancy insights for this badass class.
Let’s dive in!
What Makes a Merc Tick?
The Mercenary class is all about adaptability and efficiency. While other classes might rely on brute strength or mind-melting magic, Mercenaries are the ultimate pragmatists—combining raw precision with tactical prowess.
Think of them as the action movie hero who’s always one step ahead, dodging attacks, setting traps, and striking where it hurts the most.
Strengths:
Incredible mobility for repositioning during fights.
Crazy build options catering to physical, elemental, and even poison damage.
Synergy with both ranged and melee playstyles.
Weaknesses:
- Gear dependency can make early-game progression challenging.
- Not as tanky as Marauders or as mana-efficient as Witches.
- Demands a high skill ceiling to master its advanced mechanics.
If you’re up for a challenge and love the thrill of outsmarting your enemies, the Mercenary is the perfect pick.
Playstyle Overview: Nimble and Deadly
Playing as a Mercenary requires precision and adaptability. You’ll need to keep moving, plan your attacks, and understand your build’s core strengths. Here are a few key pointers to keep in mind:
Kite Aggressively: Stay on the move, especially in early levels when your defenses are paper-thin. Mercenaries shine at dealing damage while evading blows.
Embrace Versatility: Your class has access to a variety of skill gems and passives, allowing you to tweak your strategy based on the encounter.
Cooldown Management: Many Mercenary builds rely on cooldown-based skills. Learning when to unleash your heavy hitters is crucial for sustained success.
Tips for Early Gameplay
Prioritize Speed: Speed in everything! Movement Speed, Weapon Swap Speed, Attack Speed, Reload Speed – it all works into the run-and-gun playstyle so grab them early to improve your mobility and avoid sticky situations.
Experiment With Skills: The Mercenary’s versatility means you should try different setups to see what feels best. Don’t worry about respeccing—it’s part of the process and your future gamer can deal with all that another day.
Farm Efficiently: Focus on farming early-game zones and checking vendors regularly to improve your gear. I can’t stress enough that Mercenaries can feel underwhelming without the right equipment and you shouldn’t find yourself holding onto trash gear for too long.
Adapt to the Meta: As the meta shifts, keep an eye on patch notes and community forums for updates on builds and mechanics. They just nerfed gas grenades in a hotfix (sad), but they still hit like a truck, so life goes on.
Mercenary Stat Priorities
In the early game, it might be more “beggars can’t be choosers, but if you see these in your drops – here’s what I would recommend focusing on:
MAIN ATTRIBUTE STATS
Dex and Strength is pretty obvious, but you’ll want to make sure to snag yourself a little bit of Intelligence for abilities like Herald of Ash and some of the stronger gems too.
- Dexterity
- Strength
- Intelligence
DEFENSIVE ATTRIBUTE STATS
These stats will help you with your run-and-gun playbook and if you’re planning on going Witch Hunter down the line, there’s skills that will convert your Evasion and Armor so don’t skip those either.
- Evasion
- Movement Speed
- Armor
WEAPON STATS
These might change a bit depending on your focus (e.g., if you’re going hard into grenades, you might want to prioritize AoE), but use your best judgement.
- + Lvl to Skills
- Projectile Damage
- Weapon Swap Speed
Ascendancy Breakdown
Until the 3rd Ascendancies get released later for all of the classes, Mercenary has the option of powering up to either Witch Hunter or Gemling Legionnaire.
How to Unlock Ascendencies
In order to unlock these paths, you need to finish the specific Ascension Trial for the class upgrade that you want to take (which will be another guide I post later on so stay tuned).
Witch Hunter
The Witch Hunter is for those who want to deal an epic ton of burst damage while mitigating caster/elemental damage.
This is a very good Ascendency for dealing with bosses later on, as you gain access to skills to break enemy concentration while constantly applying pressure.
Gemling Legionnaire
The Gemling Legionnaire, however, is an Ascendency that’s able to increase their abilities and stats by embedding gems into their very flesh.
Not only does this offer a wide variety of customization options with different gems, but the gems themselves can be upgraded in quality through the Ascension as well.
With how crazy this Ascendency can be, I think it’s going to take a while for players to thoroughly tinker around and find the best uses for this though.
Wrapping Up: Mercenary Mayhem
The Mercenary class is an absolute blast to play if you’re up for the challenge. It’s versatile, rewarding, and has some of the most funderful build options in Path of Exile 2.
Whether you’re poisoning your enemies into oblivion, critting them into next week, or laying traps for some explosive funsies, there’s a build for every playstyle. As the meta continues to evolve, don’t be afraid to experiment and find your own path!
Now get out there, Mercenaries, and show Wraeclast what you’re made of. Just don’t forget to bring your A-game—this isn’t a class for the faint of heart.
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