Are you looking for the best PoE 2 builds to start your adventure? With new weapons and skill gems, the game is very different from the first version. A good build helps you level up fast and farm currency without dying constantly. Whether you like melee combat or casting spells, we have a setup for you. Here is our list of top-tier builds that work well in 0.4.0.
Best PoE 2 Builds Overview
What Makes a Strong Build?
Picking a class in Path of Exile 2 is about balance. You cannot just focus on damage; you must survive the hard content. We judge every build based on four main factors to ensure you have a smooth experience.
- Damage Output: The build must kill bosses quickly and clear maps fast. Low damage makes the game feel slow and dangerous.
Survivability: You need strong defenses like armor, evasion, or block. A good build allows you to make mistakes without dying instantly.
Budget: The best starters work well with cheap gear found on the ground. Some builds are strong but require expensive items to function.
Playstyle: The skills should feel good to press. We look for smooth animations and mechanics that are not annoying to use for long periods.
Our Tier List System Explained
We rank builds from S to C based on their power level in the current meta. This helps you understand what to expect from your character before you start leveling.
Meta Leaders: These are the absolute best builds. They have huge damage, great defense, and are easy to play. If you want the easiest path to the endgame, pick one of these.
Strong Contenders: These are excellent choices. They can clear all content, but they might be slightly slower or cost a bit more currency than the S-Tier options.
Viable Options: Good builds that get the job done. They often have one weakness, like lower movement speed or needing a specific, unique item to work properly.
Niche Picks: These builds struggle in the current patch. They are usually for experienced players who want a challenge or enjoy a very specific mechanic despite the low power.
Tier-S
These are the best builds in the game right now. They offer the perfect mix of high damage and safety. If you want to clear the hardest content without frustration, pick one of these.
Spark Sorceress
This build fills the screen with electric projectiles that bounce off walls. It is the best choice for clearing maps quickly.
- Damage: Very High (Screen-wide coverage)
- Survivability: High (Energy Shield based)
- Budget: Low to Start
- Playstyle: Ranged / Caster
How it works: You cast the Spark spell, which releases erratic lightning orbs. In tight corridors or small boss arenas, these sparks bounce multiple times, hitting the same enemy repeatedly. This multiplies your damage significantly.
Advice: Focus on “Cast Speed” and “Projectile Speed” on your gear. The faster the sparks move, the farther they travel and the more enemies they hit.
- + Clears maps instantly
- + Safe distance playstyle
- – Bad in wide-open areas without walls
- – Can cause visual clutter
Sunder Warrior
This is the ultimate melee starter. It is very tanky and hits hard, making it perfect for learning boss mechanics without dying.
- Damage: High (Physical Bursts)
- Survivability: Very High (Armor and Block)
- Budget: Very Low
- Playstyle: Melee / Slam
How it works: You slam the ground to send out a shockwave. This wave hits enemies in a line and releases secondary waves. It allows you to hit enemies from a medium distance while still being a melee character.
Advice: Look for a two-handed mace with high physical damage. You do not need attack speed as much as raw damage per hit.
- + Extremely tanky
- + Simple one-button gameplay
- – Slower movement speed
- – Not the fastest for killing bosses
Infernal Summoner Witch
If you want a relaxed playstyle, this is the build for you. Your army of minions does all the work while you focus on looting items.
- Damage: High (Passive Damage)
- Survivability: Medium (Minions are meat shields)
- Budget: Medium
- Playstyle: Passive / Walking Simulator
How it works: You raise zombies and skeletons that scale with fire damage. They aggressively hunt down enemies. Your job is to apply curses to weaken the monsters so your minions kill them faster.
Advice: Prioritize items that give “+1 to Level of Minion Gems.” This single stat boosts your damage more than anything else.
- + Very easy to play
- + Bosses focus on minions, not you
- – Minions can die in hard encounters
- – Requires many buttons to resummon army
Lightning Arrow Ranger
This is the fastest build in Tier S. It is designed for players who want to farm currency and items as efficiently as possible.
- Damage: Extreme (Burst)
- Survivability: Low (Evasion-based)
- Budget: High to Optimize
- Playstyle: Fast / Hit and Run
How it works: You fire arrows that turn into lightning bolts and chain between enemies. One shot can often wipe out an entire pack of monsters. Speed is your defense; you kill them before they hit you.
Advice: This build relies on critical strikes. Ensure your critical hit chance is high, or your damage will feel inconsistent.
- + Fastest map clearing speed
- + Very satisfying visual effects
- – Can die easily if you stop moving
- – Expensive to gear up fully
Tier-A
Tier A builds are reliable and strong. They can beat all bosses and clear maps efficiently. The main difference between these and Tier S is that they might be slightly slower, cost more gold to set up, or require more skill to play correctly.
Storm Druid
This build uses nature magic to call down lightning strikes. It is very safe because you can cast your spells and move away while the lightning hits enemies.
- Damage: High (Area of Effect)
- Survivability: Medium (Hybrid Armor/Evasion)
- Budget: Medium
- Playstyle: Caster / Kiting
How it works: You cast a storm spell that persists in an area. Bolts of lightning randomly hit monsters inside that area. You can layer multiple storms on top of a boss to deal massive damage over time.
Advice: Focus on increasing the duration of your spells. The longer the storm lasts, the more damage you do with a single cast.
- + excellent for controlling large groups
- + safe playstyle
- – damage is delayed
- – Visual effects can block your view
Burst Mercenary
The Mercenary uses a crossbow to act like a shotgun. This build is for players who enjoy shooter mechanics and want high burst damage at close range.
- Damage: Very High (Close Range)
- Survivability: Medium (Requires positioning)
- Budget: High (Needs a good weapon)
- Playstyle: Shooter / Active Reload
How it works: You use “Burst Shot” ammo. You must get close to the enemy and fire. If all projectiles hit one target, the damage is huge. You also need to manage your ammo and reload at the right time.
Advice: Do not just hold the fire button. Time your shots and use your movement skills to dodge attacks while reloading.
- + extremely high boss damage
- + fun and engaging combat
- – risky because you must
- – risky because you must stand close to bosses
Bleed Warrior
This build focuses on damage over time. You hit the enemy once with a heavy axe, and they lose health while they move to chase you. It is a very consistent build for leveling.
- Damage: High (Damage over Time)
- Survivability: High (Armor and Health)
- Budget: Low
- Playstyle: Melee / Hit and Run
How it works: You use the “Cleave” or “Lacerate” skill to apply a bleed status effect. If the enemy moves, they take extra damage. You can hit a boss, run away to dodge their attack, and they will die from the bleed damage while following you.
Advice: Use a two-handed axe with high physical damage. Do not worry about elemental damage types like fire or cold; they do not help your bleeding effect.
- + very cheap to build
- + safe because you do not need to stand still
- – damage is not instant
- – struggles against bosses that do not move
Ice Sorceress
Control the battlefield by freezing your enemies. This build is excellent for survival because frozen monsters cannot attack you.
- Damage: High (Critical Hits)
- Survivability: High (Crowd Control)
- Budget: Medium
- Playstyle: Ranged / Sniper
How it works: You use “Ice Spear” or “Frostbolt.” These spells have a high chance to freeze enemies solid. When you shatter a frozen enemy, they often explode and damage monsters near them.
Advice: Position yourself carefully. Ice Spear does more damage in its second form after it travels a short distance. Do not stand too close to your target.
- + safest way to fight dangerous mobs
- + great single-target damage
- – you must aim your skills well
- – if you cannot freeze a boss, defense is low
Tier-B
Tier B builds are decent choices. They can complete the game, but they usually have a clear downside. They might be slower, have lower defense, or need very specific items to feel powerful. They are often good for a second character, but harder to start with.
Werebear Druid
This build transforms you into a massive bear. You become a tank that can take a lot of hits, but you move and attack very slowly.
- Damage: Medium (Slow heavy hits)
- Survivability: Very High (Huge Health Pool)
- Budget: Low
- Playstyle: Melee / Tank
How it works: You use the “Maul” skill to crush enemies. While in bear form, you gain extra health and armor. You do not need to dodge as much as other classes because you can simply absorb the damage.
Advice: Focus on “Stun Threshold” on your gear. Since you hit hard, you can stun bosses, stopping them from attacking you for a short time.
- + extremely hard to kill
- + simple gameplay
- – very slow movement speed
- – bad at clearing spread-out map enemies
Poison Assassin
This build uses daggers to apply deadly toxins. It deals massive damage to bosses over time, but the character is very fragile and can die instantly if caught.
- Damage: High (Ramps up over time)
- Survivability: Low (Evasion only)
- Budget: Medium
- Playstyle: Melee / Hit and Run
How it works: You use “Viper Strike” or “Cobra Lash.” These skills stack poison on the enemy. You hit the boss a few times, then run away while their health bar turns green and drains to zero.
Advice: You need high attack speed. The more times you hit quickly, the more poison stacks you apply, which makes the damage grow exponentially.
- + melts high-health bosses
- + allows you to focus on dodging while damage ticks
- – you will die often to random hits
- – damage is not instant for small mobs
Fireball Sorceress
A classic mage build. It is visually satisfying and easy to understand, but it struggles with mana management and defending against fast enemies.
- Damage: High (Burst Area)
- Survivability: Low (Glass Cannon)
- Budget: Low
- Playstyle: Caster / Artillery
How it works: You cast a large ball of fire that explodes on impact. It kills groups of weak monsters instantly. However, you must stand still to cast, which makes you vulnerable.
Advice: Look for “Area of Effect” radius on your passive tree. A larger explosion means you do not have to aim as precisely.
- + great range
- + satisfies players who like big explosions
- – runs out of mana very fast
- – locked in place while casting
Spear Huntress
This is a mid-range fighter using a spear and shield. It is a balanced build but lacks the speed of the bow builds or the raw power of two-handed weapons.
- Damage: Medium (Physical Poke)
- Survivability: Medium (Shield Block)
- Budget: High (Needs good weapon)
- Playstyle: Mid-range Melee
How it works: You use spear skills to poke enemies from a safe distance without being fully ranged. You have a shield for defense, making you tankier than a bow user, but you clear maps much slower.
Advice: This build feels weak without a high-damage weapon. Prioritize upgrading your spear at the blacksmith constantly while leveling.
- + decent mix of offense and defense
- + engaging combat rhythm
- – feels very weak with bad gear
- – range is awkward (not melee, not ranged)
Tier-C
Tier C builds are considered weak in the current meta. They struggle to clear high-level content efficiently. You should only play these if you really love the specific skill or want a very hard challenge. They often require expensive items just to perform at an average level.
Heavy Strike Warrior
This build hits one enemy very hard but cannot kill groups efficiently. It feels very clunky because you must target each monster individually.
- Damage: High (Single Target Only)
- Survivability: High (Tanky)
- Budget: Low
- Playstyle: Slow Melee
How it works: You swing a heavy weapon to crush the enemy in front of you. It has a chance to deal double damage. It is great for bosses but terrible for maps with hundreds of monsters.
Advice: You must get a “Melee Splash” effect from your passive tree or items. Without it, you will get overwhelmed by small enemies.
- + high boss damage on a budget
- + very satisfying sound and impact
- – extremely slow map clearing
- – you have to walk up to every single monster
Flame Channeler Sorceress
This build turns you into a human flamethrower. The damage is good, but you must stand perfectly still to use it, which is the most dangerous way to play.
- Damage: High (Cone Area)
- Survivability: Very Low (Stationary target)
- Budget: Medium
- Playstyle: Stationary Caster
How it works: You hold down the button to release a stream of fire. The longer you hold it, the wider the flame gets. If you move, the flame resets to its smallest size.
Advice: Focus on “Turn Rate” or cast speed. Enemies will try to run behind you, and if you turn too slow, you cannot hit them.
- + looks very cool visually
- + melts enemies that run at you in a straight line
- – you die instantly if you stand still too long
- – struggles against fast bosses
Explosive Trapper Huntress
You throw traps on the ground and wait for enemies to step on them. The delay between throwing and exploding makes this feel awkward and unreliable.
- Damage: Medium (Delayed)
- Survivability: Medium (Kiting)
- Budget: Low
- Playstyle: Tactical / Waiting
How it works: You do not attack directly. You toss a device that arms itself after a second. When a monster walks over it, it explodes. If the monster moves too fast, the trap misses completely.
Advice: Throw traps ahead of the enemy, not at them. You have to predict where they will walk.
- + safe playstyle from a distance
- + immune to damage reflection
- – enemies often walk past your traps
- – damage is never instant
Physical Archer Ranger
This build tries to use a bow without elemental magic. It relies purely on the arrow hitting the target. It is very expensive to make this work compared to lightning or fire arrows.
- Damage: Low (Without expensive gear)
- Survivability: Low (Glass Cannon)
- Budget: Very High
- Playstyle: Ranged FPS
How it works: You shoot standard arrows. To do damage, you need to rely on the “Impale” mechanic, which stores damage and releases it later. Without magic, you lose the ability to freeze or shock enemies for defense.
Advice: Do not play this as your first build. You need a weapon with very high physical damage numbers, which is rare and costs a lot of gold.
- + good for bossing if you have infinite money
- + pure physical damage is rarely resisted
- – very weak starter
- – boring visual effects
