Path of Exile 2 best Ranger build

Looking for the best Ranger build in Path of Exile 2? The Ranger is a highly capable straight shooter in Path of Exile 2 with the ability to perform well with both regular bows and crossbows. She's quite similar to the Mercenary, who's more of a demolitions specialist, but she has greater Dexterity and elemental capabilities at the end of the day.

Playing well as the Ranger means becoming the best ranged specialist possible and maintaining the balance between solid damage and good mobility. In this guide we'll dive into the best Ranger build for Path of Exile 2's Early Access, focusing on the Deadeye Ascendancy for a truly unlimited projectile spree that'll deliver high DPS numbers like nothing else.

Best Ranger build in Path of Exile 2

The Ranger build we're presenting here could be called a Lightning Grenade build. It ultimately boils down to using Gas Grenades and exploding them with Explosive Shot in the final stretches of the game, along with occasional usages of Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp. However, you're going to start out by depending on bow-based skills like Lightning Arrow before finally switching over to crossbow grenade attacks around level 20. Once you've got the Deadeye Ascendancy via the Trial of Sekhemas, you absolutely want to take the Endless Munitions node, which makes your skills fire an additional projectile and will go a long way towards upping your damage.

There's a bit of crossover here with our best Mercenary build guide, which focuses on a more varied selection of grenades. This is slightly due to my own personal bias, since I like the grenade-exploding skills that crossbow usage encourages. But our Ranger will be speedier than our Mercenary thanks to skills like Wind Dancer and Escape Shot, her effectiveness will be greater against single targets, and she'll have flexibility to go back to her bow-based skills as needed if the gas + explosion combo isn't working out. Since the Ranger also starts squishier than the Mercenary, it's also important to veer south on the Passive Skill Tree and pick up nodes that amplify her Strength along with her Dexterity.

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Ranger build: Best skills

The following skills are the ones you'll use the most with this build. Remember that you'll start with Lightning Arrow and other bow skills before making your way towards crossbow grenade attacks.

Lightning Arrow

Your starting skill, Lightning Arrow, will be a handy go-to through most of Path of Exile 2's beginning. Build this one up and then swap to grenades around level 20 or so.

Lightning Rod

Lightning Rod shoots an arrow upwards that falls to the ground, creating a nice AoE burst. Fire a Lightning Arrow into this burst and you can make a chaining lightning effect that occurs multiple times. This combination becomes even more effective when you use the Scattershot support gem (see our support gem section below), which will cause more Lightning Rods to spawn.

Escape Shot

While using a bow, Escape Shot will be your go-to mobility skill for navigating out of a fix. It deals cold damage and freezes enemies while sending the Ranger backwards. Very effective in tight corridors when you're getting pinned back by waves of foes, Escape Shot is also a nice skill against early bosses, especially if you're sick of relying on rolls.

Freezing Salvo

Freezing Salvo works well with the freeze caused by Escape Shot, passively creating icy missiles in the air around you and amplifying freeze buildup. Use it for a nice burst effect, especially after you've just popped Escape Shot to get out of a tight spot.

Wind Dancer

Once you switch over to crossbows you won't be able to use Escape Shot any longer, but Wind Dancer serves as a good means of making your Ranger somewhat tankier. This skill makes a buff that gives you multiple stacks of Evasion - whenever a melee attack hits you while Wind Dancer is active, all stacks will be consumed and you'll knock back enemies.

Explosive Shot

Now it's time to start looking at grenade skills, which you're going to want to start investing in once Act 2 of the game kicks off. Explosive Shot will be the go-to for igniting the gas clouds left by your Gas Grenades, and it's a spectacular AoE option that can create chains of explosions over and over again.

Gas Grenade

Gas Grenade is the other pivotal skill in our setup. This fires a bouncing grenade that inflicts poison damage and leaves behind a poison cloud. Any burning or detonation effects will cause the poison cloud to erupt and deal additional damage in a super effective and undeniably deadly combo.

Oil Grenade

You'll be less reliant on Oil Grenade as a Ranger as the Mercenary, but this is still a slick skill to have that drenches enemies in oil. Hit 'em with your Explosive Shot and watch them ignite.

Ball Lightning

Once you reach Act 3, you'll be able to cut some skill gems that use lightning and aren't limited to bows. Ball Lightning is a powerful projectile that fires off lightning bolts at all foes within range. It's slow but effective, and we're going to use it as more of a mobility tool with our last skill below...

Lightning Warp

Use Lightning Warp in conjunction with Ball Lightning to teleport into a target's body and cause it to explode. Alternately, you can also use it to teleport into the projectiles that Ball Lightning sends out. This will be your ultimate movement combination in Path of Exile 2's endgame, ensuring that your Ranger is able to pop in and out of the playfield as she wishes, leaving behind trails of crackling electricity in her wake.

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Ranger build: Best support gems

The following mixture of support gems have served me well across both the bow and crossbow skills utilised by the Ranger in this build:

Martial Tempo

Use Martial Tempo alongside Lightning Arrow in the early game to give you 25% more attack speed. This will make a noticeable difference when it comes to defeating bosses quickly and increasing your Ranger's survivability.

Lightning Conduit

Lightning Conduit is another vital support gem for Lightning Arrow that calls down additional bolts to attack all enemies in a cone in front of you. There's also a useful mobility element here, as targeting enemies close to you causes your Ranger to jump back.

Scattershot

Scattershot supports all projectile skills, making them fire additional projectiles and lowering their attack and cast speed. This is a vital gem that works great with Lightning Arrow but also with Explosive Shot.

Magnified Effect

Magnified Effect is very useful for increasing the range of any AoE skill by 40%. I use it in the early game to make Lightning Rod more effective; you should too.

Nimble Reload

The Ranger can be squishy if she gets stuck in the middle of a wave or two of enemies, so Nimble Reload is an excellent support gem to take once you have to start fiddling with the reload feature of crossbows. Use it alongside Explosive Shot to ensure that you'll never be waiting too long before letting off another burst of firepower.

Encumbrance

Use this with Oil Grenade and Wind Dancer. This gem works with any skills that inflict slow, and is a great assist to ensure that your Ranger is the fastest presence on the map.

Overcharge

Stick the Overcharge support gem in Lightning Warp as soon as you're able. This will increase the magnitude of Lightning Warp's shocks by 75% in exchange for a shorter duration. The tradeoff is worth it in my eyes for greater electrical power.

Acceleration

Use Acceleration with Ball Lightning to make your lightning projectiles travel faster with 40% more speed. Remember, we're using Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp as a unique mobility set of skills, and if you want to make the most out of teleporting into the same space inhabited by your projectiles, you had best ensure that they're moving speedily.

Arcane Tempo

Last but certainly not least is Arcane Tempo, which lets you cast spells faster. This gem has a lot of uses, but I like to combine it with Ball Lightning to once again quicken the speed at which you're firing off projectiles.

That's all we've got on the best ranger build; now get out there and start shooting! For more on the mechanics that power Grinding Gear Games' epic ARPG, see our guides to the Passive Skill Tree, Attributes, and crafting. We've also got a look at the best character class for beginners, as well as a list of what to do first if you're just getting started with Path of Exile 2's early game. And if you'd like to learn how to take your class to greater heights, see our guide on how to Ascend via the Trial of the Sekhemas.