So, you’ve decided to take up a Crossbow and the role of a Mercenary in Path of Exile 2? You’ve just gained your first skill point, opened up the massive passive skill tree and got completely overwhelmed. Fret not, this page will give you some advice on what passive skills to aim for as you progress through the first few Acts of Path of Exile 2.
The Passive Skill Tree can be intimidating, learn what skills to aim for as a Mercenary early on in Path of Exile 2.
Mercenary Passive Skill Choices for Act 1 and 2¶
As mentioned above, we’re looking at the kind of Passive Skills you should aim for in Acts 1 and 2, while still being useful in Act 3. This is mainly due to Early Access only covering these three Acts for now, and when it comes to endgame, you’re going to get more options to choose from, which we’ll cover in another page. As such, the Passive Skills below are the ones we suggest you shoot for as soon as possible:
| Passive Skill | Description |
|---|---|
| Remorseless | +15% increased Projectile Damage, 30% increases Stun Buildup against enemies within 2 meters, +5 to Strength and Dexterity |
| Feel no Pain | 20% increased Armor and Evasion Rating, 20% increased Stun Threshold |
| Ricochet | 15% increased Projectile Damage, Projectiles have 10% chance to chain an additional time from terrain |
| Heavy Ammunition | 5% reduced Attack Speed, 40% increased Projectile Damage, 40% increased Projectile Stun Buildup |
| Exposed Wounds | 15% increased chance to Inflict Ailments, Break 30% Increased Armor on enemies affected by Ailments |
| Overwhelm | 5% reduced Attack Speed, 20% increased Stun Buildup, 40% increased damage with Two-Handed Weapons |
| Quick-change Act | 50% increased Weapon Swap Speed |
| Instant Reload | 40% increased Crossbow Reload Speed |
A lot of these are skills you’ll naturally unlock as you work to the more important ones, of which the first one that is crucial is Ricochet. Increasing projectile damage (which is on a lot of these skills) buffs your main source of damage as a Mercenary, but being able to chain your shots is very useful. Following that skill, you’ll want to try and get to Heavy Ammunition as soon as possible, which means you’ll have to take a quick trip to the right and the Ranger tree to get it, but it gives you a massive increase to both Projectile Damage and Stun Buildup.
For similar reasons, getting down to Overwhelm is also useful to get done as soon as possible for another 20% Stun Buildup but also a flat 40% increase to any damage dealt when using Two-Handed Weapons, of which your Crossbows are classed as.
Finally, and the skill that is the furthest down the tree for you, is arguably the most important for any Mercenary Build and should be your ultimate goal in the early game, Instant Reload. As a Mercenary, you’re going to be reloading constantly, especially as you change ammunition, and getting this and the smaller nodes nearby will give you a huge increase to your Reload Speed, making it a real game changer.
There you have it; you now know the best early game passive skills to aim for as a Mercenary. While you can get more specialized, especially for specific builds, these core fundamentals will serve you in pretty much every Mercenary Build.
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