Why Is Patch 0.2.0 Dawn Of The Hunt The Key To Change Path Of Exile 2 State?
Mar 24, 2025 Source: POECURRENCY
The first major patch during Path of Exile 2 Early Access is finally coming, and the new season mechanism brought by this update will also be fully unveiled. We will be able to see the results of GGG’s busy work in the past 4 months, and see whether the new season mechanism can make POE 2 completely break through the limitations of the original and create a new myth.
There is no doubt that this patch 0.2.0 will bring a lot of new content, new classes, Ascendancy system expansion, new Skill and Support Gems, new weapon base types, new Passive Skill Tree and Keystones, as well as new maps and stories waiting to be explored. Many players who quit the game before because of the limited content in the early access can come back, and this update provides a lot of fresh content to play.
However, although the content of this update is exciting, I must say that these are not the most important part of this patch, because this will be the first time GGG really has the opportunity to solve the problem of the state of the game.
Original Update Plan Disrupted
The original plan was that GGG would release updates to Path of Exile 2 Early Access when they needed to address issues such as interaction bugs or over- and under-mechanics, and they did exactly that in the beginning.
They released several updates that fixed major bugs and toned down over-performance builds. However, the latter was not particularly well received, after all, many players follow creator builds. Therefore, when creators walk a fine line between expected interactions and bug abuse, it is bound to end badly, and a group of players are left with an empty shell of a build with no good way to rework them.
The solution here could be to temporarily reduce the cost of respec skill points. Although players may still be disappointed that their builds are crushed, these changes can save the character without having to launch a brand new one. After all, players should understand that it is only Early Access at the moment, and anything can change at any time.
But as time went on, these changes seemed to become less and less popular, so much so that GGG made a major decision. Instead of patching the game regularly during Early Access, they decided to go against their original plan and release larger league-style updates that bundled all the changes and new additions together. They are now starting to treat POE 2 Early Access as a complete product, just like they did with POE 1.
But this change in plan was not directly communicated to players, and the ridiculously unbalanced mechanics and economic systems were not controlled. Anyway, at the moment, we are on the verge of the next big update, so for us, the question is what exactly will Path of Exile 2 be after patch 0.2.0 is released on April 4th?
Endgame And Campaign Are Too Different
Now, the game basically feels like it has been divided into two parts. If you haven’t played Path of Exile before, you can even think that the campaign and endgame are two completely different games.
The campaign from Act 1 to Act 3 feels like the game they have been presenting for many years, with a slower and more methodical gameplay and a focus on engaging boss battles. However, once you start Cruel Difficulty, the pace of the game gets out of control.
Honestly, this isn’t actually a big problem, though, as replacing Cruel Acts with Act 4-6 in the future may solve this problem.
The focus of this problem is in the endgame. You get the exact opposite in the endgame, and the pace is completely lost. At this point, the characters are much faster, and the monster power is ridiculous, with white monsters doing more damage than even elite enemies. Hordes of monsters rampage through the endgame, and the balance is completely off.
We don’t know if this is really the intention of the endgame. Because if you want to survive in the endgame, your only way out seems to be to buy POE 2 Currency and achieve a rapid leap in character power. Is pay-to-win the ultimate destination of every game?
POE 2’s Subsequent Development Speculation
However, as of now, we simply don’t know whether Path of Exile 2 is intended to be just an upgraded version of the first game, with system updates such as a new gem and slot system, a more refined entry experience, and a fresh start to deal with the inevitable growth in power.
Or, as we speculate, POE 2 endgame should be more like what we have seen in all the previews and demos over the past 5 years or so, gradually shifting to slower gameplay, emphasizing skill combinations, and more meaningful combat.
Endgame Gameplay
At ExileCon 2023, developer Rory Rackham answered a question discussing character recovery in the endgame and how players should deal with dangerous moments when being hit by monsters.
Looking at POE 1, constant regeneration or other means of recovery means that enemies need to deal tremendous damage to kill you, and any changes to leech or recovery in POE 2 are designed to counter it. This is definitely a good thing, making your character pay a higher price to get high regeneration.
Additionally, they rebalanced around boss fights again, bringing all of this stuff to a window where the character is in great danger after getting hit hard. The presence of a danger window that allows players to react to getting hit is a good idea compared to POE 1, but it’s not what we have right now in POE 2’s endgame. So to be honest, we don’t really know if POE 2 will be as fast as the original in the endgame, or if it will be the slower, more methodical game we expect.
But even if they don’t immediately state their intentions in the reveal, the patch notes tell the story for us. It can be seen that at the moment, we are at a crossroads for POE 2, and patch 0.2.0 is about to take it in a direction. What can you expect to see in this Dawn of the Hunt update? Everything is waiting to be revealed in the live broadcast on March 27th. Stay tuned!
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What Options Does Gas Grenade Deadeye Build In Path Of Exile 2 Need For Different Stages? - Skills & Gear
Of the all classes currently available in Path of Exile 2 Early Access, Deadeye is the character with the fastest movement speed, so you can create a highly flexible character build around it.
You might choose a bow as a more practical weapon for this build, but it is worth mentioning that this class with extraordinary mobility can interact very interestingly with crossbows. Under this combination, Gas Grenade Deadeye build comes into being, which uses Explosive Shot to detonate groups of enemies while you throw Gas Grenades.
If you choose the right options for this Gas Grenade Deadeye build, you will have a very good tool for running maps and farming loot, and even completing some challenges in the endgame stage. But choosing the right and effective skills or gear for a build in POE 2 can be a very troublesome thing, but don’t worry, this guide will show you one by one.
About Gas Grenade Deadeye Build
While Witchhunter, which also uses a crossbow, has its own detonation effect, Deadeye’s additional skill speed, movement speed, and additional projectiles make it the best choice for quickly clearing maps.
When you first make this build, you may want to focus on Lightning Arrow, and then fully transition to Gas Grenade when you reach level 22. Although you need to press multiple buttons when you fight with this component, you may feel that it is very smooth and not hectic due to the powerful abilities of Deadeye itself.
Skill Gems
As mentioned above, you can use Lightning Arrow and Lightning Rod together at the beginning, so your basic skill rotation is to throw Lightning Rod near the enemy and then cast Lightning Arrow to deal heavy damage to the enemy.
You can use this skill combination until you unlock Orb of Storms. After this skill is available, you can cast it before Lightning Rod to lay a good foundation for all subsequent heavy damage.
If you have a Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem, remember to cut it into Herald of Thunder, which can help you get a super buff to your clearing speed. During this skill rotation, you may encounter some mana problems. You can use Thief’s Torment to help you alleviate the impact of this problem on you.
However, its farming cost and trading cost are very high, and it is difficult to obtain for low-level characters. So the best way here is to buy POE 2 Currency to upgrade your current mana bottles or upgrade gear that can provide you with enough spirit to maximize the utilization of Herald of Thunder.
At around level 22, you can start using Gas Grenade, remember to change your weapon to Crossbow. Then focus on obtaining those nodes related to grenades and those unspecified grant Pierce, Chain, etc.
At this time, your skill rotation can become throwing Gas Grenade into the previously cast Flame Wall and firing some Gas Grenades at it. If you have a free skill gem slot, you can also add Flash Grenade to your build to easily stun bosses.
In addition, Oil Grenade can help you slow down the enemy’s advance and attack speed, which is also a very useful skill gem. If you want to deal more damage to the enemy, you can apply Fire Exposure to it, and remember to use Encumbrance and Strip Away to increase the effect of these two debuffs.
It is worth mentioning that after you unlock Explosive Shot, you can move the lower-level skill gem Flame Wall out of your build to deal with more challenging battles. If you find the multi-button play style troublesome, you can always use Radiant Grief or Birth of Fury to automate your Ignites, making it essentially a one-button build.
Best Passive Skills
When choosing passive skills, consider Blur, Eagle Eye, Clean Shot, Heavy Ammunition, and Careful Aim before you reach level 22, which will give your Lightning Arrow a higher Projectile Damage node to quickly farm POE 2 currency and experience points.
Once you reach level 22, you can focus on the effect of Gas Grenade. But before switching, you need to get Cluster Bombs, Volatile Catalyst, and Volatile Grenades to maximize the benefits of this important skill.
In addition, you can also invest in some defensive passive nodes in Gas Grenade Deadeye build, such as Leather Bound Gauntlets and Feel No Pain. Since Evasion is an important operation for you to defend in battle, Afterimage and Backup Plan, which are beneficial to it, are also your focus.
What’s more, passive nodes that increase Attack Speed, Accuracy Rating, Area of Effect, Cooldown Recovery, and Damage to Two-Handed Weapons are also the key points you can unlock.
For some players who like to use super high damage capabilities to defeat enemies or bosses in one fell swoop, the three passive skill points of Jack of all Trades, Repeating Explosives, and Sand in the Eyes may give them the best gaming experience.
About Gear
Since DPS of Gas Grenade Deadeye build scales directly with the level of Crossbow, spend some POE 2 Divine Orbs to upgrade it after every 10-15 levels of your character, and regularly look for crossbows with higher physical damage and faster attack speed, such as Bombard Crossbow.
For the other gear slots, the attribute gains you focus on are similar to other builds, such as Max Life, Elemental Resistances, Attributes, and Mana Regen. You may also focus on Life Regen when facing bosses or enemies with high damage capabilities.
These are some of the skills and gear options that can be selected for Gas Grenade Deadeye build in the current POE 2 Early Access. I hope that with the help of this guide, you can quickly unleash the power of this build and use it for more fun exploration. I wish you a happy game!
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How To Get Richer In The New Season Of Path Of Exile 2? - 4 Currency Farming Methods
How have you been doing in Path Of Exile 2 Early Access lately, Exiles? I’m sure you’ve all heard the news that the latest season update, Dawn Of The Hunt, will be officially launched on April 4, so how can you prepare for it? It’s a cliché, but it has to be mentioned that a lot of currency and resources are always essential.
I’m sure you don’t want to always buy POE 2 Currency by spending real money, so it’s crucial to understand how to get these currencies in the game. The best way to do this is actually to simply play the game and optimize everything in a direction that can earn a lot of currency. Without further ado, let’s take a look!
1. Increase Item Rarity
The first suggestion focuses on improving your Item Rarity. This modifier can usually be found on your equipment, such as Boots, Rings, Gloves, Helmets, and Amulets. Equipping these items can increase your Item Rarity by a certain amount. You should strive to reach at least 50 to 100 rarity. Note that 100 is a really good threshold, and having more than 100 is also good, such as 120-150 is also good, but exceeding this number is generally not advisable, because it will not be higher reward, so it is not worth the effort.
2. Upgrade Waystones
In addition to gaining Item Rarity on equipment, you can also increase the difficulty of Waystones to get more rarity. In Path of Exile 2, Waystones used to enter the map are divided into 16 tiers, which can be enhanced with modifiers to increase the difficulty of the map, and maintaining them can be challenging, especially at higher levels.
Waystones range from 1 to 16 tiers, where higher levels represent more challenging maps, and of course, the loot you can get from them is also more valuable. Moreover, there will be more monster packs in the more difficult maps, and more monsters also mean that there will be more opportunities for currency items to drop. So this is definitely a farming method that has both challenges and risks.
Typically, you can use POE 2 Exalted Orbs to add modifiers to Waystones, which can increase map difficulty or improve loot drops, but be aware that you don’t have to upgrade them all the time, as this can backfire.
For example, maybe you just want to make an Orb of Transmutation, Augmentation, or Regal Orb, and you can use some Waystones that have been upgraded two or three times to advance through the map.
When you have high Item Rarity on both your gear and Waystones, you’ll find that you can always find good drops, with Exalted and Chaos Orbs dropping everywhere!
3. Sell Crisis Fragment
Next, we get to the most important thing. Once you start moving from your starting point, the first thing you have to do is look for a Citadel Map. In Path of Exile 2, a Citadel is a unique map node that comes in three types: Iron, Copper, and Stone. Each Citadel is home to a different Boss. When you defeat these bosses, each will drop a Crisis Fragment, which is used to open the portal to Arbiter of Ash encounter at Burning Monoliths.
You can also choose to sell these Crisis Fragments, which are also very valuable as they are required to unlock the fight with Arbiter of Ash, Pinnacle boss. These Crisis Fragments come in three different types, and you need to collect all 3 fragments to open Burning Monoliths. Their current prices are:
- Ancient Crisis Fragment: 250 Exalted Orbs
- Faded Crisis Fragment: 392 Exalted Orbs
- Weathered Crisis Fragment: 248 Exalted Orbs
What’s more, the price of these fragments actually changes with supply and demand, and there is a lot of room for growth. So if you want to farm orbs quickly, then hurry up and pick a great build and kill people in Citadel!
4. Complete The Endgame
There is one last thing you can do, you can complete any POE 2 endgame you can, such as Delirium, Ritual, or Breach.
Path of Exile 2 endgame puts you in a massive map called Atlas, where you are tasked with clearing the land of corruption. Starting at the Ziggurat, you can use Waystones to open portals and choose a tier to conquer, which, when successful, will open up more areas to explore. There are countless rewards waiting for you to loot as you explore.
Breach is currently quite popular, as it seems to spawn a lot of rare monsters, which will give you glorious rewards for killing them. If you are a new player, you can also make money by taking advantage of the smaller drops in Breach, such as catalysts and fragments. Don’t underestimate them, these items are quite expensive and can be an excellent source of money.
Delirium, like Breach, spawns a lot of additional monsters, which you can use to get additional drops. Delirium monsters also drop Simulacrum Splinters, which are materials for making a full Simulacrum, which you can sell for quite a bit.
Surprisingly, Ritual is one of the most unexpected and huge sources of currency in the current meta-game. Ritual is a mechanic where you kill enemies in a circle to collect tribute, which can be spent on selected rewards. The big items in Ritual are several Omens and an item called An Audience with the King.
If you want to make some quick money, each Omen can be sold on Currency Exchange for multiple Exalted Orbs. As for An Audience with the King, it can currently be sold for multiple Divines each. So if you keep doing Ritual, you will become very rich.
Of course, the above is definitely not all the ways to make money in POE 2. As a game as complex and multifaceted as it is, players can always find various ways to earn orbs, but the most important thing is to find one that you like and stick with it. Good luck!
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Completing These 5 Little Things May Make Your Boss Fights In Path Of Exile 2 Much Easier!
The recently popular Path of Exile 2 is much more difficult than the original game, and even the most skilled players can easily fail in this game, especially when facing the many bosses in POE 2. From werewolves to Djinns, you will encounter at least ten bosses with different attacks.
But no matter how fast you dodge or how hard you attack in these encounters, some bosses just can’t be defeated easily. It can be very frustrating to face these unbeatable bosses, especially when there are very tempting loot and rewards hidden behind this boss.
In this case, you may need some tips and strategies for defeating bosses introduced in this guide. I believe that after you complete these little things, some bosses may no longer be your opponents, and you can complete most encounters with ease and smoothness.
1. Find And Equip More Runes
In POE 2, runes are one way you customize the properties of your weapons and armor, providing you with higher damage capabilities and resistances. But it should be noted that once you equip runes, you will not be able to remove them.
Thanks to its effectiveness, runes can be an effective way to fight bosses, because with their help you can deal higher additional damage to bosses that are vulnerable to certain types of damage, or add more resistance to the defense capabilities provided by your current amulets and rings.
This requires you to understand the elemental damage types used by the bosses you are about to fight and the damage to those elemental types that you have no resistance to. For example, bosses with high resistance to fire damage are not worth using desert runes, and thunder runes will not give you enough defense against bosses that cast cold damage.
So during the exploration process, you should try to find as many runes as possible and understand their specific effects, so that you can accurately place these runes in your slots at the checkpoint closest to the arena where the boss and you fight, and buy POE 2 Currency to make up for other gaps in your offensive and defensive capabilities.
2. Challenge More Optional Bosses That Can Provide You With Buffs
You may think this tip is self-contradictory, but in fact there are many optional bosses in POE 2 that are more valuable than some required bosses, because they will provide you with some very important permanent buffs, which will help you gain some advantages in subsequent encounters.
For example, in Act 1, you can fight Beira Of The Rotten Pack in The Clearfell, the second explorable area, and get a Unique that can permanently increase your resistance to cold damage, and the final boss you encounter in this scene will cause you a lot of cold damage.
This means that before you can challenge this more powerful boss, you must first defeat Beira to get this very important resistance buff. Similarly, throughout the exploration journey of POE 2, many optional bosses will provide you with such items or buffs, but be aware that they are often hidden behind quests and may require your careful search.
3. Tempering Better Gear
Since all loot in Path of Exile 2 appears randomly, it is difficult to find a more advantageous weapon or item in daily exploration or boss encounters, especially without a loot filter.
However, among the many POE 2 Items, gear with Unique or Rare rarity usually has better properties and affixes, and they also have the ability to equip runes, so their customization is also very strong, so you can completely choose the corresponding gear based on the boss’s weaknesses or the type of damage used.
But it is worth introducing to you that any gear with additional skill attributes, armor, or damage capabilities needs to be retained. If its rarity level is low, just invest some POE 2 Currency in it. For gear that provides other benefits, you can discard it when you find new gear with better properties or higher rarity levels, because they will make some boss encounters easier for you.
4. Cooperation
POE 2 adds the two major features that players dream of in many action role-playing video games, multiplayer and couch co-op, so when you can’t complete a very difficult boss encounter alone, you can ask a few high-level friends to join your exploration team and defeat it with their additional damage.
Note that higher-level friends will be expanded according to the instance they join, so the damage you deal and the degree of hits you take in this encounter are roughly the same as if you were exploring alone. The main advantage of cooperative challenges is that the boss will be subject to more diverse attacks and effectively distract the enemy, making its single-target attacks much less effective.
5. Leveling up
Leveling up is very important in any game with a leveling system, and POE 2 is no exception. Regardless of which playstyle class you choose, farming monsters and clearing maps will give you a lot of experience points to improve your passive skill levels.
For completing regular boss encounters, the passive skills you may want to focus on are those that help increase health regeneration, armor, or dodge rating. For bosses with higher health points, it will be more helpful to invest more experience points from farming into elemental (physical) damage or critical strike chance.
The above are some tips and strategies you can use before completing the many boss encounters in POE 2. Hopefully, with their help, you can complete all the encounters you encounter in the game faster and more smoothly, and use the numerous loot to enhance your build for the next challenge. I wish you a happy game!
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What Options Should You Choose For The Best Rolling Slam Warrior Build In Path Of Exile 2? - Skills & Gear
In Path of Exile 2, Warrior with Maces is one of the least-liked classes by players because of its slow movement and combat speed. But if you choose the right options for Warrior build, such as some powerful skills, it can easily kill enemies all over the map, even bosses. Among the skills you can choose for it, Rolling Slam will alleviate Warrior’s sluggish movement to a certain extent.
So focusing on this skill build will smoothly lead you from the early game content to the endgame. In order to reduce the time and effort you spend on making the best Rolling Slam Warrior build, this guide will introduce you to some of the best skills and gear options for this build.
But it is worth reminding you that this Rolling Slam Warrior build is more suitable for your early and mid-game exploration of POE 2, because Rolling Slam is a more primitive skill and may lack stronger effectiveness in subsequent game content.
Best Skill Gems
To solve the problems that Warrior has, the mobility provided by Rolling Slam is one of the best Mace skills you can choose in the early exploration of POE 2. Because most Mace skills have very long casting times and long cooldowns, Rolling Slam has a casting time of only two seconds and can cancel the next casting after the first slam, making it a very flexible skill.
So in this Warrior build, this skill that can provide both super high damage and some flexibility will become your focus, and then you can choose some skills that can help you quickly deal with bosses and other powerful enemies as your secondary skill gems. Here are some other skill options that can be recommended to you and their effectiveness.
- Boneshatter: This is a melee skill that severely stuns enemies that have been hit by Shock effect and creates a shockwave that deals a huge area damage.
- Armour Breaker: It will perform a powerful attack that will knock back enemies and reduce their armor value, making them more vulnerable to damage.
- Sunder: After casting, your character will slam the ground once and create a rolling crack that damages enemies in a series of areas in front of you. On top of that, those enemies hit by the crack will release a shockwave that damages other enemies.
- Leap Slam: You will jump into the air and use your Mace to damage and knock back enemies where you land.
- Seismic Cry: In this skill, you will let out a destructive war cry and knock back enemies. If you are lucky enough to hit an enemy that is suffering from a severe stun, your next slam will gain the effect of additional aftershock; if not, the cooldown of this skill will be reset.
Best Rotation
After you have all your skills equipped and enter the fight, you can use Rolling Slam for general cleanup and use it as your main source of stun accumulation in POE 2. If you are facing lower-level enemies, the first hit of Rolling Slam plus Boneshatter can easily clear them.
For those enemies with armor, you can use Armour Breaker on top of these two skills to deal full physical damage to them. This skill can also be used against bosses, but it should be noted that when completing such encounters, buy POE 2 Currency as much as possible to upgrade the rarity and affixes of gear that greatly increase your damage ability so that they have greater effectiveness.
For enemies with higher health, you can use Leap Slam for extra mobility and a strong area stun ability, so that you can use Boneshatter again to deal higher damage to the enemy. In addition, use Seismic Cry to ensure the generation of Aftershocks in Sunder.
Best Passive Skills
The passive skills in Rolling Slam Warrior build are more focused on Stun Buildup, Heavy Stun Damage, and Armor Break mechanic. Since Rolling Slam deals an additional 50% damage to heavily stunned enemies, the passive skills you choose should focus on these mechanics while still allowing the build to be flexible enough to survive in combat.
With this in mind, the following passive skill nodes are recommended. Please note that since every player’s build style and play style is different, and you can unlock any node in the huge passive skill tree in POE 2, you can modify it accordingly.
- Brutal
- Smash
- Sturdy Metal
- Relentless
- Skullcrusher
- Made to Last
- Titanic
- Polished Iron
- Singular Purpose
- Pile On
- Cruel Methods
Recommended Gear
In fact, just like passive skills, because of the different exploration methods of players, here we can only recommend the benefits of gear that are beneficial to this Rolling Slam Warrior build, rather than specific items.
For example, in terms of weapon selection, you can try to farm those Two-Handed Maces with extremely high physical damage, so that you can reduce the enemy’s physical resistance to zero with the help of Armour Breaker.
In addition, the accuracy level and melee skill level of the weapon also need to be high, so that after you use Rolling Slam to hit or stun the enemy, the damage caused is very threatening.
For Warriors with strong survivability, the armor requirements are relatively lower, and they only need to provide high Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances and Life Regeneration gains.
The above are the most recommended skills and gear options for Rolling Slam Warrior build in the current POE 2 Early Access. Hopefully, with their help, you can complete the farming of experience points and loot in the early game content faster and prepare for the challenges of the endgame stage. I wish you a happy game!
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How To Have A Sorceress Frozen Explosion Build With Powerful Combat In Path Of Exile 2? - Gear & Skills
When making a Sorceress build in Path of Exile 2, you may prefer to focus on ice damage, as this element performs very well in situations such as clearing maps and defeating enemies.
Among the many build options that focus on this ice element, Sorceress Frozen Explosion build successfully stands out because it can maintain the entire arena in permanent winter, making enemies unable to move.
To help you quickly create the optimal build, complete all campaigns with ease, and run maps smoothly in the endgame, this guide will show you the gear and skills you need for this Sorceress Frozen Explosion build.
Gear
In fact, since each player’s play style in POE 2 is completely different, and the gear you put in the build slots is the drops you get from regular exploration or campaigns, it may be impossible to give you some specific gear recommendations here, except for weapons.
The only gear I can recommend for a Sorceress Frozen Explosion build is Gelid Staff, as it not only rolls some keyword affixes that increase the level of the spell skill gems you used to increase damage and mana regeneration, but also gives you Freezing Shards skill.
It is worth noting that as you enter the latter content and maps of POE 2, you may not use Freezing Shards skill too much, but it does make for a good freeze accumulation and help with the explosion of Frost Wall.
In addition, it is best to buy POE 2 Currency directly after you get Gelid Staff to upgrade it to the highest rarity and choose the best affix with extremely high buffs for it, so that your combat and damage capabilities will be maximized at this moment, which will greatly help your farming and exploration.
Skill Gems
After picking out the gear for your Sorceress Frozen Explosion build, you can start choosing skill gems that can amplify its effectiveness and support gems that can assist it. Here are the recommended skill gems for this build and how they work and the support gems to choose for it.
Frost Wall
Since you’ll be using Frost Wall pretty often, you can put the support gem Ingenuity in its support slot to increase the cooldown recovery rate of this skill. Combined with Deep Freeze, this will make Frost Wall freeze enemies for longer. The last slot is where you can put Spell Echo, which will allow you to cast Frost Wall twice while it’s active.
While this extra cast may not seem like much, when you stack two walls together, you’ll do double the damage to enemies. But be careful not to lock yourself in a corner or get caught between enemies, which will hinder your other skills.
Cast On Freeze
Another skill gem worth recommending is Cast on Freeze, a powerful skill that will allow you to freeze an enemy and then all skills in your support gem slots will be released. To do this, the first support gem you want to put in is Impetus, which will trigger the energy generated by this active skill, allowing the linked skills to be cast more frequently.
For support gems with skills, you can choose Comet, which will summon a large rock to smash into the ground to clean up other enemies that other skills have not been able to deal with. In addition, Frostbolt, which can send a projectile that reduces the enemy’s movement speed, is also very suitable for placement in the support gem slot of Cast on Freeze.
Finally, please note that all skills activated when Cast on Freeze is used require mana consumption, and this skill also requires 60 Spirit to activate, so when choosing gear, you should try to choose those that can help you generate spirit, or use POE 2 Exalted Orbs to make it roll out a related affix.
Hypothermia
Hypothermia curses enemies in a target area, and they become less cold resistant after one second of being in the affected area. Given this ability, you can enhance this by using Hex Bloom, which will spread the curse to other monsters within 3 meters after the original cursed monster is killed.
Another gem that can be placed in the auxiliary slot is Cursed Ground, which removes the delayed activation debuff of Curse and makes the curse in Hypothermia take effect immediately as long as the monster stays within its area of effect.
Ice Nova
Ice Nova is one of the most powerful freeze accumulation tools in POE 2, allowing any monster caught in its area of effect to be quickly frozen and trigger the freeze skill. Therefore, you can use Unleash to assist it, which will establish a seal after a short window of time, allowing Ice Nova to be cast multiple times, further increasing its freezing ability.
Not only that, inserting Glaciation can also increase freeze accumulation. In addition, Astral Projection allows you to release this active skill to any target position, not just the bottom of the character. With their help, you can combine Ice Nova with Frost Wall and Ice Bomb very effectively, making this combination more damaging.
Passive Skills
The skill nodes you choose for your Sorceress Frozen Explosion build in POE 2’s massive passive skill tree should be those that provide a lot of support for stacking freeze damage, freeze accumulation, mana regeneration, and critical strike chance.
Early in your exploration, you can use Eldritch Battery to convert all energy shields into mana to solve the problem of low mana in the early stages until you have a very high maximum mana. This will be the only passive skill recommended for you in this guide, as you can unlock and activate any node in this passive skill tree as long as it benefits your build.
If you choose Stormweaver Ascendancy, you will need to take a few paths to maximize the potential of this build: such as Arcane Surge for increased maximum mana, and Force of Will for increased damage capabilities.
These are the current gear and skill options for Sorceress Frozen Explosion build in POE 2. I hope you can use their help to maximize the capabilities of this build more quickly and use it to clear maps and explore more easily. I wish you a happy game!
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How To Get Waystones To Unlock Higher Tier Maps In Path Of Exile 2?
In Path of Exile 2 Early Access, you will need Waystones of different Tiers to unlock the maps you need to explore. Higher-tier Waystones unlock the ability to fight enemies in the map at higher levels, and improve the quality of the drops you get in them, ensuring that each run of the map is more profitable.
While Tier 15 Waystones are the highest level of Waystones you can get in POE 2, with the introduction of this guide, you will have the opportunity to get Tier 16, 17, 18 and even 19 Waystones to unlock higher-tier maps and earn more rewards.
About Tier 16 Waystones
The only way to get Tier 16 Waystones in the current game is to gamble with POE 2 Vaal Orbs on non-corrupted Tier 15 Waystones. You will face four results: upgrade to Tier 16 Waystones, downgrade to Tier 14 Waystone, randomly modify a modifier in Tier 15 Waystone, and nothing happens.
Although from the test, the probability of upgrading to Tier 16 Waystone is less than 5%, but the possibility of downgrading to Tier 14 Waystone is also very rare, the other two possibilities are more common. So if you have a lot of Vaal Orbs by farming in some low-level maps, this gambling method is also a valid method of producing Tier 16 Waystones in Path of Exile 2, as the risk involved is much smaller.
It is worth reminding you here that you cannot use Reforging Bench to upgrade three Tier 15 Waystones to Tier 16 Waystones. When you place Tier 15 Waystones on Reforging Bench, you will find that you cannot perform subsequent operations, because this method only applies to Tier 1-14 Waystones.
Also Read: Diablo 4 Season 8, Please Stop Blindly Benchmarking Path Of Exile 2!
About Tier 17 & 18 Waystones
It is important to remind you that there are no real Tier 17 and Tier 18 Waystones in POE 2, but you can use the map modifiers in Atlas nodes to achieve the effect of these two high-tier Waystones - modifying the enemy level in the map you explore.
For Tier 17 Waystones, you can use Tier 16 Waystones with the Corrupted or Irradiated Modifier on the map node, so that you will unlock an explorable map with monster level increased, about level 81.
Similarly, using Tier 16 Waystones with Corrupted and Irradiated Modifiers on the map stage will get you a map with a monster level of 82. Note that Corrupted modifiers are pre-generated by Atlas and cannot be affected by themselves, but you can use Irradiated Precursor Tablet in the nearby Tower to add Irradiated modifiers to the specified map node.
In these maps with higher-level monsters, you will have a good chance to get Level 19+ Skill Gems and Level 19+ Spirit Gems (Level 19 drops in maps with Tier 17 Waystones, Level 20 drops in maps with Tier 18 Waystones).
In addition, all Boss Atlas skill points on the very large skill tree in POE 2 will be randomly awarded to you in these high-level maps. On top of that, they contain a lot of higher item level loot with unique modifiers, which you can’t get by rolling.
But it is worth reminding you that the maps unlocked with Tier 17 & 18 Waystones are also very challenging because of Bosses with high level, so buy POE 2 Currency as much as possible before running maps to enhance the defensive capabilities of your build so that you can safely complete the exploration of these maps.
About Tier 19 Waystones
In theory, you can gamble with Tier 17 Waystones to get Tier 19 Waystones and unlock maps with level 83 enemies. All you need to do is use a Tier 16 Waystone with Corrupted and Irradiated Modifier on a map node, then select Corrupted Infusion passive skill in Atlas Tree and activate it.
Since Corrupted Infusion passive skill causes Waystones to be additionally corrupted when used on the map, this will cause the already corrupted Tier 16 Waystone to be corrupted again, allowing you to obtain Tier 17 Waystones.
However, it is worth noting that injecting a Corrupted Infusion node into a Tier 16 Waystone will also have four results: upgrading to Tier 17 Waystones, downgrading to Tier 15 Waystones, Tier 16 Waystone’s own modifiers being randomly rolled, and nothing happens.
This means that if you are lucky, you will get Tier 19 Waystones and the level of monsters in this map will increase by three levels; but if you are unlucky, you can still challenge the level 81 enemies unlocked by Tier 17 Waystones.
The above is the specific method to obtain higher-tier Waystones and unlock higher-level maps in the current Path of Exile 2 Early Access. I hope you can get the best results when gambling with these Waystones, and can run these higher-difficulty maps smoothly to get more loot from them. I wish you a happy game!