The Ranger is a class that is commonplace in every good ARPG, and Path of Exile 2 is no different. While there’s already another ranged Class in the form of the Mercenary, the Ranger uses a mixture of elemental skills and quick, nimble, movements to get in and out while dealing heavy damage. 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 Ranger has many useful Passives to get early on in Path of Exile 2, such as the Master Fletching passive.
Ranger 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 |
|---|---|
| Honed Instincts | 8% increased Attack Speed, 8% increased Projectile Speed |
| Eagle Eye | 10% increased Accuracy Rating, +30 to Accuracy Rating |
| Blur | 20% increased Evasion Rating, 4% increased Movement Speed |
| Vile Wounds | 33% increased Damage with hits against enemies affected by Elemental Ailments |
| Master Fletching | 30% increased bonuses from Equipped Quiver |
| Surging Currents | Damage penetrates 15% Lightning Resistance |
| Harness the Elements | 15% increased Damage for each type of Elemental Ailment on enemy |
| Catalysis | 20% increased Elemental Damage with attacks, 5% of Physical Damage from hits taken as Damage of a Random Element |
| Stand and Deliver | Projectiles deal 25% increased Damage with hits against enemies within 2m, Projectiles have 40% increased Critical Damage Bonus against enemies within 2m |
As with a lot of Classes, the majority of these will feel like Passives you check off as you naturally progress through the tree until you get to the more important ones. The first of these is Vile Wounds, a skill that benefits from you using a build that makes the most out of the Ranger’s Elemental Damage capabilities. With this passive, you’ll increase your damage against any enemies suffering from Ailments from said damage by 33% (not to mention the smaller nodes on the way).
The Quiver is an important piece of any Ranger’s setup, so it makes sense to take a small detour to grab the Master Fletching passive. This will increase all bonuses from your Quiver by 30% (the smaller nodes take this to a whopping 70%), this becomes especially powerful if you manage to get a unique drop in the early acts!
Surging Currents will make your powerful Lightning-based skills hit even harder, so that’s good to aim for as soon as possible, and then we get to both Harness the Elements and Catalysis, the centerpiece of the objective for any early Ranger player. Both of these will increase the damage from Elemental attacks, and then further if you inflict Element Ailments on your foe. It’s at this point that a Lightning-based build begins to feel really powerful.
There you have it; you now know the best early game passive skills to aim for as a Ranger. While you can get more specialized, especially for specific builds, these core fundamentals will serve you in pretty much every Ranger Build.
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