What is the best Path of Exile 2 Ranger build? The Ranger returns in Path of Exile 2, but this time with an emphasis on speed and agility. We’ll be able to move while shooting and also build out in either long or short-range combat, depending on what suits your playstyle.
Sometimes it’s chaotic to play a ranger with hordes of fast-moving enemies in an RPG like Path of Exile 2, but seeing as the devs are aiming to have this ranger feel like Legolas, expect swift movement, high jumps, and quick getaways. Now that the Path of Exile 2 release date is here, we’ve gone through all the skills and gems we’ve seen to determine the best PoE 2 build for this ranged expert.
Path of Exile 2 Ranger overview
The Ranger uses different types of arrows and shots in combinations, making the most of the elements: lightning, poison, fire, and frost, as well as using plants and vines. While it depends on what kind of build you’re going for, each element and skill can be used to create powerful combinations. For example, you can use poison-based skills with plant skills, as the plants feed and grow more powerful from the poison.
By far the most significant change coming to the Ranger in Path of Exile 2 is the mount. The Ranger can mount Rhoas, firing arrows as the Rhoa moves about without receiving a movement penalty. You can also leap from its back using your vaulting skills and the Rhoa will join in the fight by attacking monsters.
There are two Ascendancies for the Path of Exile 2 Ranger:
- The Deadeye: Featuring skills that focus on movement and never missing your mark, this subclass is for those that like to avoid getting hit and making sure they take down enemies before they get the chance.
- The Pathfinder: A master of flasks and poison, the Ranger can throw explosive bottles to apply different ailments while also having many passive skills that improve her poison abilities.
All Path of Exile 2 Ranger skills
The Ranger has skill shots, escape shots, and cooldown skills, utilizing elements like lightning to electrocute enemies and quickly vault away by shooting an arrow at the ground. If you want to keep it simple, the sniper skill shot can be used with freeze skills to inflict AoE damage. There are also poison, gas, and plant skills to consider, alongside powerful detonating arrows.
All Path of Exile 2 Ranger active skills
| Skill Name | Requirements | Effect |
| Poisonburst Arrow |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Bow |
Fires an arrow that creates a burst of poison on hit, affecting all enemies nearby. |
| Escape Shot |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Bow |
Leap backwards and fire an arrow which can chill or freeze enemies around the escaped location. |
| Lightning Arrow |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Bow |
Fires a charged arrow that sets off chained lightning when hitting an enemy or a wall. |
| Lightning Rod |
Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem Bow |
An arrow drops from above to cause a lightning burst. Triggers more chained lightning from other skills. |
| Snipe |
Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem Level 6 16 Dexterity |
Charge up your bow before releasing a powerful shot. Releasing right when it’s fully charged will always deal a critical hit. |
| Vine Arrow |
Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem Level 6 16 Dexterity |
Fire an arrow that lands after a short time. A plant springs up that latch onto nearby enemies, slowing movement and dealing Chaos damage. Poison the plant to cause more damage. |
| Stormcaller Arrow |
Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem Level 6 16 Dexterity |
Fires an arrow that embeds where it lands for a short time. After, a lightning bolt strikes the arrow, damaging nearby enemies and applying Shock. |
| Barrage |
Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 14 34 Dexterity |
Fire a barrage of arrows. Your next bow attack will repeat multiple times. Consumes Frenzy Charges to add additional repeats. |
| Toxic Growth |
Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 14 34 Dexterity |
Leap into the air and fire a volley of arrows. They sprout toxic pustules on impact that explode after a delay and can be poisoned to deal more damage. |
| Freezing Salvo |
Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 14 34 Dexterity |
Spawns icy missiles over time that move toward a target. |
| Electrocuting Arrow |
Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 14 34 Dexterity |
Leap forward and fire downward, attaching an electrocuting rod to enemies. This builds up the Electrocution ailment. |
| Sniper’s Mark |
Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 22 52 Dexterity |
Mark a target. When hit with a critical, deal extra damage and gain a Frenzy charge. |
| Gas Arrow |
Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 22 52 Dexterity |
Fire a noxious arrow at the ground, creating flammable poisonous gas, exploding when exposed to a detonation or ignited enemy. |
| Voltaic Mark |
Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 22 52 Dexterity |
Mark a target, making them easier to apply the Shock ailment to. A lightning nova erupts when the target dies. |
| Rain of Arrows |
Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 31 72 Dexterity |
Arrows rain down from the sky. Consume Frenzy Charges to fire more arrows. |
| Detonating Arrow |
Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 31 72 Dexterity |
Build up power and fire off a burning arrow. At max charge, it will detonate and cause an explosion when it hits a target. |
| Ice Shot |
Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 31 72 Dexterity |
Fires an icy arrow that triggers a cone of ice shards when it hits its target. |
| Tornado Shot |
Level 11 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 41 95 Dexterity |
Fires a shot skyward that summons a tornado where it lands, dealing physical damage and hindering enemies standing in it. Arrows and crossbow bolts fired into it create damaging novas. |
| Shockchain Arrow |
Level 11 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 41 95 Dexterity |
Fires an arrow that homes in on Shocked enemies. Hitting an enemy will consume the Shock ailment and release a damaging shockwave and beams to two nearby targets. If the next target is Shocked, the chain will continue. |
| Spiral Volley |
Level 13 Uncut Skill Gem Level 52 119 Dexterity |
Load your Bow with enchanted arrows and fire them in a circle as you spin. Consume Frenzy Charges to deal more damage and chain to other targets. |
| Magnetic Salvo |
Level 13 Uncut Skill Gem Bow Level 52 119 Dexterity |
Aim skyward and fire energy missiles at lingering arrows or bolts created by other lightning attacks, dealing damage in a larger area and destroying the arrows and bolts. |
All Path of Exile 2 Ranger persistent Spirit buffs
| Skill Name | Requirements | Effect |
| Herald of Thunder |
Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem Martial Weapon Level 10 25 Dexterity Reservation: 30 Spirit |
After killing Shocked enemies, subsequent attacks release lightning bolts. |
| Plague Bearer |
Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 10 25 Dexterity Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Stores all poison dealt. Using the Plague Nova skill unleashes all stored poison. |
| Wind Dancer |
Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 10 25 Dexterity Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Getting hit by a melee attack resets this and knocks back enemies. |
| Combat Frenzy |
Level 8 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 26 61 Dexterity Reservation: 30 Spirit |
While active, grants a Frenzy Charge when you Freeze, Electrocute, or Pin an enemy. Can only occur once every few seconds. |
| Herald of Plague |
Level 8 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 26 61 Dexterity Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Killing a poisoned enemy spreads its poison to other nearby enemies and has a chance to hinder them. |
| Attrition |
Level 14 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 58 73 Strength 73 Dexterity Reservation: 60 Spirit |
The longer you fight rare and unique enemies, the more damage you do to them, gaining Culling Strike if you’ve been fighting long enough. |
| Alchemist’s Boon |
Level 14 Uncut Spirit Gem Level 58 133 Dexterity Reservation: 30 Spirit |
Grants Flask charges passively and causes Life and Mana recovery from your Flasks to apply to allies nearby. |
Best Path of Exile 2 Ranger build
The best mid-game Ranger build is:
- Key skills: Poisonburst Arrow, Escape Shot, Snipe, Vine Arrow, Gas Arrow, Detonating Shot
- Key persistent Spirit buffs: Plague Bearer, Herald of Plague
- Key passives: Blur, Crippling Toxins, Stacking Toxins, Stimulants, Wasting, Pierce the Heart
- Ascendancy: Pathfinder
Key skills
This poison-heavy build wants to stack poison, which deals Chaos-type damage, while also keeping enemies at a safe distance. At first, you’re going to want to stick with Poisonburst Arrow and Escape Shot to stay mobile. These two skills alone can take you through most of the early to mid-game, and things get easier with Snipe and Vine Arrow. After you stack some poison, you can use these skills to keep enemies in place while charging up for critical hits.
Gas Arrow and Detonating Shot are helpful as you venture into mid to endgame, as they’re great for clearing out mobs of enemies. Combine these skills with passive abilities from the Pathfinder Ascendancy that buff up poison skills, and you’ve got a very potent build on your hands.
Key persistent Spirit buffs
As you might’ve guessed, you want to target persistent Spirit buffs that help you deal additional poison damage. Plague Bearer, when active, will let you build up all your poison damage before releasing it in a massive burst; however, do keep in mind you may not want to have this active against certain bosses. Herald of Plague, on the other hand, you always want on, as it spreads poison to other enemies if they die while poisoned.
Key passives
Most poison-focused passives that fit this build are taken early in the Ranger skill tree, making for a rather potent build right from the get-go that only gets better with your Ascendancy. Grab Blur right away before heading toward Crippling Toxins and Stacking Toxins. From there, you can take the branch that leads to Stimulants, grabbing Attribute bonuses along the way, before winding down to the powerful Wasting notable.
Round out this build by heading far to the right to grab the most potent nodes for the Bow, increasing both attack speed and the number of targets you can pierce per attack.
Ascendancy
While Deadeye has numerous positives to it, including perfect accuracy, Pathfinder’s buffs to a poison build are just too valuable to pass up. Contagious Contamination spreads most poisons you apply to other enemies within a large radius, while Overwhelming Toxicity allows you to add more poison stacks. Finally, Running Assault will keep you nimble, as enemies will no longer be able to slow you down.
Now you’re caught up on the Path of Exile 2 Ranger. If you’re wondering how to improve your characters, check out our Path of Exile 2 support gems guide to see how these items can drastically change your build. Not sure if the Ranger is for you? Take a look at our Path of Exile 2 classes guide to get an overview of each archetype in the game.