Best Skill Gems For Mercenary Builds In Path Of Exile 2

Summary

• Mercenary excels with Armor Piercing Rounds for armor-breaking and AoE damage.
• Explosive Grenade deals fire damage, ignites enemies, and effective for crowd control.
• Galvanic Shards is ideal for clearing waves with electric shock, AoE damage, and spread.

The Mercenary is a class designed to make Path of Exile 2 players feel like a commando blasting through hordes of enemies. Using a Crossbow with some cool features like the ability to turn bolts into spread shots, launch various kinds of grenades, and use several types of elemental ammo, the Mercenary is a force to be reckoned with.

This list will shine the spotlight on the best Skill Gems for Mercenary builds, including the strongest of them all, and feature information on the most optimal combinations of Support gems and passive skills to make the most out of them.

12 Armor Piercing Rounds

Ideal For Physical Damage And Armor Breaking

Armor Piercing Rounds will accompany mercenaries from the lowest levels to the endgame like a faithful one-click skill that requires little combo. It is basically focused on breaking armor, piercing several targets, and can even be modified to bounce between them and cause severe AoE damage.

The Skill loads a cartridge of fast-flying piercing rounds that will penetrate the first targets they hit, and do consecutively less damage to the targets behind them. At the same time, it will create a debuff in the target called Armor Breaking, which will eventually become Broken Armor. Enemies with Broken Armor take more Physical Damage.

11 Explosive Grenade

A Powerful Fire Damage Skill

The Explosive Grenade fires a lob of Elemental Fire that has a 3-second delay fuse, after which it explodes in a medium AoE that causes Fire Damage and ignites Gas and Oil. Ignited enemies take additional fire damage over time for a brief period. These grenades are quite useful in dealing with huge chunks of enemies.

When modified with Grenade Fuse Time Reduction, it explodes faster becoming even more lethal for regular enemies. During boss battles, Explosive Grenades serve a better purpose: to combo with other grenade types to create powerful AoEs where boss enemies will constantly lose health and help players deal with summoned minions.

10 Galvanic Shards

Perfect For Clearing Waves Of Enemies

Galvanic Shards are a powerful AoE attack (in a conical pattern) that looks like an Electric Shotgun blast and causes Shock and Electrifying build-up on hit. Electrified enemies take even more damage from projectiles and lightning elemental attacks, and spread shock to nearby enemies.

This Skill Gem can wipe entire waves of enemies if combined with Herald of Thunder and Support Gems that increase Shock build-up and Lightning Damage. Combine it with a decent crossbow equipped with two Storm Runes for an even more powerful effect. If players build for Elemental Damage and Projectile.

9 Herald Of Thunder

The Perfect Buff For Lightning Damage Builds

Herald Of Thunder is the first Herald skill Mercenary players should unlock since it offers a powerful buff that empowers Electric Damage after shocking an enemy. This translates into a powerful AoE blast that can be modified to blind, cause even more damage, and even chain between more enemies. It will require 30 Spirit from the player reserve to be constantly active, but the payoff is great.

It can be improved using certain support gems, but the spirit cost will increase. To cope with this, select the Herald AoE Damage Passive Skill section alongside its Herald Reservation decrease which reduces the cost of the skill by 4% with each node.

8 Rapid Shot

Deletes Bossess And Buffs Fire Damage

Rapid Shot is a skill similar to a Gatling gun, it has a brief period of “cooldown” and then it starts shooting a barrage of fire elemental projectiles that can cause Ignition on targets. This skill can be further improved by taking the Ignition, Fresh Clip, Martial Tempo, and Primal Armament support gems. By doing so, it turns bosses into mincemeat in a matter of seconds.

Combine it with Elemental Damage, and Projectile Damage passives, and top it off with Emergency Reload to create a stream of fiery darts that will melt down any foe, no matter how big and powerful they are. Rapid shot also generates Heat, a passive that empowers Grenades and makes them gain extra Fire Damage when per Heat charge.

7 Gas Grenade

Creates A Poison AoE That Melts Enemies

Launches a lob that bounces over surfaces and then, after a brief period (2.5 sec) explodes into a cloud of toxic gas that causes damage over time and poisons enemies. Targets who get out of the toxic cloud will remain poisoned for a brief period, and continue to lose health.

Combining it with Bursting Plague, Primal Armament, and Ingenuity will ensure Mercenaries can fill the battlefield with toxic gas, which can be ignited by Explosive Shot, or Explosive Grenade effects for a powerful combo.

6 Explosive Shot

Knockback, Detonates Other Skills, Great For Grenade Combos

This Skill Gem will load the Crossbow with a powerful single-use shot that explodes upon contact with surfaces (like the floor, the walls, or enemies) and creates an AoE that ignites Oil and Gas and pushes back foes. It also causes Ignition and can spread this status Ailment to other enemies if modified with the Wildfire support gem or become a Poisonous Elemental explosion by applying Envenom on it.

Since it is a slow but powerful attack, players might want to invest in Elemental Damage and Fire Damage passives from their skill three and ensure they are also using a crossbow that causes Fire Elemental Damage. Ideally, using an Artificer Orb and applying Desert Runes on it will suffice to create the ideal conditions for Explosive Shot’s maximum damage output.

5 Ripwire Ballista

The Perfect Crowd Control Companion

One of the most useful Mercenary Skill Gems currently available. It creates a totem that spawns a Ballista that will periodically shoot arrows attached with chains to the enemies, creating Pin-Down build-up. When it hits 100 %, enemies will be locked in place for 5 seconds, which will give the Mercenary enough time to cause them incredible amounts of pain.

Modify it with Overabundance to summon 2 Ballistas that last 50% less, but accumulate Pin Down faster, and complete with Lockdown, which causes 100% more Pin-Down build-up the closest players are from the enemy. Players can cheese their way out of any tricky bosses like Geonor with this.

4 Stormblast Bolts

Lay Down The Trap, See Your Enemies Fall

This is one of the most tricky-to-understand Skills in the Mercenary’s repertoire, but once players get the hang of it, it is a game-changer. It starts by shooting arrows into a designated area, which act similarly to the Lightning Rod skill from the Ranger. Once they land, they create a link between them that can be detonated using Exploding Arrow or Galvanic Shards to create a powerful Electric Damage AoE that Shocks and Electrifies foes.

For skill gems pick Lightning Infusion, Ingenuity, Innervate, and Conduction, and combine them with extra Lightning Damage and Elemental Damage in both equipment and passive skills for a maximized effect. Enemies will never know what hit them.

3 Oil Grenade

Perfect For Getting Out Of Sticky Situations

Fires a lobbed grenade that explodes on contact, releasing a mire of sticky oil that slows down enemies and makes them vulnerable to Fire Damage and Ignite effects. The oil can be ignited by explosive damage from Grenades or Explosive Bolts and will create a persistent curtain of fire that extends through the oily surface.

It doesn’t last for long, so better buff it with Ingenuity to reduce its cooldown period, and Grenade Effect Duration to improve the persistent slow/vulnerability effect. Encumbrance is another good choice for Support Skill Gem since it adds an improved slow effect to the mix. Combine this with Gas Grenade to create a torture trap for every monster and boss in the game.

2 Emergency Reload

Powerful Buff That Instantly Reloads Ammo

A self-explanatory skill that will immediately reload the Crossbow with the latest used Bolt and buff its damage by 15 %. This might sound simple, but combining it with powerful skills like Rapid Shot or Galvanic Shards, it becomes a true menace.

Players should also think about reducing its cooldown with Skill Gems and Passives since it will make the skill shine even brighter. Complete it with two Premeditation runes (if players are going for the Gemling Legionnaire ascendancy) to gain 30% extra damage buff for a total of 45 % extra damage. It feels like cheating.

1 Plasma Blast

Basically A Gauss Cannon

After a brief period of charge, this skill will launch a powerful laser beam similar to a Gauss Rifle that deletes everything in its path. It causes high Lightning Damage and knocks back surviving enemies. On the downside, it takes 2 seconds to charge and leaves the Mercenary quite exposed.

But nothing a couple of Martial Tempo Skill Gems cannot solve. Each of them will decrease the charge time y 25%, given that the players have selected the Gem Studded passive from the Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy.