News Tag: Poe 2 Mercenary

Although Path of Exile 2, which has received a lot of attention in the past two days, has to postpone the release of the early access version because of some force majeure, this cannot prevent us from exploring some new content in the existing POE 2 trailer, especially the exploration of the new class.

Among the 6 new classes, there is one that is very abrupt in this MMO game, that is Mercenary. It has a new weapon type Crossbow in this game, and has a unique mobile attack combat mechanism, which makes POE 2 a game very much like a shooting game.

So in this three-week wait, it is better to learn more about the new Mercenary Class and how to maximize its effectiveness. In this way, when you enter the early access version, you can quickly choose the best build for Mercenary according to this kind of build idea.

Mercenary Overview

As I just said, the main weapon of Mercenary is Crossbow. Unlike Ranger’s Bow, Crossbow can be fired immediately without having to pull back, so it will attack faster and with greater power than Bow. So you can equip several Crossbows designed to be very much like traditional guns in your Mercenary build, such as Sniper Rifles, Shotguns, and Assault Rifles.

Or you can switch back and forth between two Crossbows, so you can carry different types of ammunition and attachments to win the battle in the fastest and most comfortable way and pick up the final POE2 Currency reward.

And because Crossbow is a weapon type that focuses on causing huge damage and armor-piercing shooting damage, in many of the gameplay trailers of Mercenary, it looks like a player holding a gun and exploring the game world, which is why I said earlier that it is very much like a shooting game.

About Crossbow

Mercenary focuses on high-damage shooting, but has many crowd control skills and is equipped with two crossbows to set up and execute combos, which is an additional benefit. Each crossbow reacts depending on the ammunition you use, including armor-piercing, incendiary, and permafrost.

Besides focusing on high-damage shooting, Mercenary also has a lot of crowd control skills. These skills, coupled with the shooting combination set by the two Crossbows, can make it easy for you to face some difficult groups of enemies, and most importantly, it will save you a lot of time exploring a place because your time to clear everything will become very short.

What we know so far is that there will be 3 types of Crossbows in POE 2, and the effect of each Crossbow depends on the ammunition you choose for it, including Armor Piercing Ammo, Incendiary Ammo, and Permafrost Ammo. Here is how each ammunition performs in different types of Crossbows.

Burst Shot Crossbow

• Armor Piercing: It fires a barrage of armor-piercing rounds that penetrate multiple enemies.
• Incendiary Ammo: It fires a projectile that ignites more powerfully when it hits a target.
• Permafrost Ammo: It has a chance of freezing enemies with cold air.

Rapid Shot Crossbow

• Armor Piercing: It fires quickly to destroy armor quickly, best combined with the burst shot crossbow.
• Incendiary Ammo: When charged and fired, the crossbow will deal more and more damage as it heats up, and the grenade will add extra firepower.
• Permafrost Ammo: Shoot the ground to create ice crystals, then step back to attract monsters onto the crystals, which will explode and freeze enemies.

Power Shot Crossbow

• Armor Piercing: If an enemy’s armor is destroyed, it deals high damage to a single target weak spot and has a chance to stun the enemy.
• Incendiary Ammo: A rocket launcher that can explode grenades on the ground.
• Permafrost Ammo: Creates an ice wall that is effective for crowd control. When the wall is destroyed by a monster, the monster explodes, dealing a small amount of damage.

About Attachments

In Path of Exile 2, Attachments are new skill gems that are exclusive to Crossbow. These gems can be inserted into the off-hand slot, just like a bow character in other games can equip a quiver.

While these Attachments don’t provide additional properties like a quiver does, they actually allow you to have an additional skill slot over the other classes. This is very useful for Mercenaries who want to fill out their arsenal with a variety of shooting skills and ammunition skills.

Like the skill gems that other classes have, these Attachments can also be improved by supporting gems, allowing you to further enhance your shooting skills in Mercenary. Here are the types of Attachments we know about so far and their effects.

• Explosive Grenade Launcher: Fires an explosive grenade.
• Flash Grenade: It doesn’t do much damage, but it does cause a large stun.
• Oil Grenade Launcher: It covers the ground with oil, slowing down enemy movement.

Build Ideas

Given that Mercenary can use two different Crossbows, you don’t have to worry too much about the choice of weapon, anyone will do. It is recommended that you choose Rapid Shot Crossbow and Power Shot Crossbow. The former has a large magazine capacity, and the latter has great damage potential.

Then you can adjust the ammunition and attachments required in Crossbow to achieve some combinations that can cause a lot of damage. For example, use Armor Piercing to deal with frozen enemies, or use the super ability of Incendiary Ammo to clear some low-level enemies quickly in the early and mid-term, and then Permafrost Ammo can be used for retreat and crowd control.

Then you can choose the appropriate attachments according to your current combat status and play style. Here I need to remind you that the proper use of skill combinations can make your Mercenary play the best effect.

The above is an overview of the new Mercenary Class in Path of Exile 2 and some build ideas. I hope this guide can help you understand this brand new game better and look forward to the release of the early access version in December. Please believe that you will definitely have a perfect game by then. I wish you a happy game!