Path of Exile Ranger Builds

Path of Exile is an action RPG that focuses on dungeon raids and clearing, much like Diablo. As such, it has features like its forebearer. One of these is the class system where players choose a class based on the attribute(s) they want to focus on. There are three “Pure” character classes and four “Hybrid” character classes. The Pure character classes have one focus attribute: Dexterity (Ranger), Strength (Marauder), and Intelligence (Witch). Meanwhile, Hybrid classes have two or three focus attributes: Strength and Dexterity (Duelist), Strength and Intelligence (Templar), Dexterity and Intelligence (Shadow), and lastly Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence (Scion). In this article, we will focus on the Ranger class and suggest some ideal builds.

What is the Ranger Class?

Rangers are long-distance damage dealers that produce high damage output while moving in and out of the enemy’s area of attack. Their primary attribute is Dexterity which makes this character class very nimble. With the right build, the Ranger and its Ascendant sub-classes (Raider, Deadeye, Pathfinder) can provide enough firepower to clear the whole game.

Ranger Builds for 3.24 (Necropolis)

There are many optimum builds for Ranger and its sub-classes. The following are the most used builds because they can deal high damage, don’t require too much PoE currency, and can slay bosses.

• Spectral Shield Throw Raider: This build for the Raider sub-class, as the name implies, makes use of the Spectral Shield Throw skill as the main attack dealer. The Spectral Shield Throw skill scales damage-per-second based on the armor value of your shield. Paired with a cold effect, this skill can use one of the strongest auras in the game (Hatred), while taking advantage of the Raider ascendancy. What you’ll get is a great damage-dealer that can finish off bosses. This build has an open slot for main-hand weapon, making it a very versatile build.

• Ice Shot Deadeye: This is a cheap build that does high damage while taking advantage of the Ranger’s mobility. The main attack for this build is Ice Shot which converts some physical damage to cold. Pair this with Barrage and you will be darting arrows from anywhere on the screen.

• Molten Strike Pathfinder: A rather different build that relies on the Pneumatic Dagger to deal Poison damage. This makes it a melee build than a ranged build. But this build can do a lot of damage and benefits from the Ranger’s mobility. While the damage output of this build is capped at 35 million, it can still provide mob-clearing and boss-slaying capabilities.

• Poison Tornado Shot Pathfinder: This build relies on the interaction of the Poison Tornado Shot skill and the item Zerphi’s Heart. Zerphi’s Heart gives you the Soul Eater stack that grants an additional 5% attack speed per stack. Since poison is infinitely stackable towards enemies, having a fast attack speed means the poison will keep raining and affecting your enemies.

• Lightning Arrow Deadeye: This build relies on the Lightning Arrow skill that has critical chance and damage, all while being relatively low budget. The build has two Active Skills in Lightning Arrow and Artillery Ballista and another two Movement Skills in Blink Arrow and Flame Dash. Players coming from the Diablo series will be very familiar with this build as it resembles a Demon Hunter build, relying on elemental arrows and item builds that boost critical chance and damage.

• Venom Gyre Deadeye: This mid-cost build uses Venom Gyre as the main attack skill. This should be complemented with attack speed buffs to be efficient. While this build has good mob-clearing capabilities, it is not a boss-slayer. It also falls short on defense, making it a squishy/glass cannon build.

• Flicker Strike Raider: This build is on the cheaper side and is best paired with the Raider ascendancy. The build relies on high damage output while using a very peculiar combination of skill(s) and ascendancy. Flicker Strike builds are likely to rely on Farrul’s Fur to build Frenzy charges that decrease the cooldown of Flicker Strike. This makes the Raider’s attributes a perfect complement to Flicker Strike especially in the early stages of the build where Flicker Strike needs a cooldown.

• Tornado Shot Deadeye: This high-budget build is probably one of the strongest builds in PoE. The build relies on the Tornado Shot skill that deals area-of-effect damage and single-enemy damage. As an expensive build, the reward of using this build is massive. It clears mobs, slays bosses, and has very little learning curve.

• Poison Scourge Arrow Pathfinder: Another unconventional build that relies on poison damage rather than physical damage. As mentioned in the Poison Tornado Shot Pathfinder build, poison stacks infinitely towards enemies. This benefits the Scourge Arrow skill if the skill has the right number of multipliers and at what stage the skill is. This build is perfect for PoE

Conclusion

Ranger builds are exciting to play in PoE. Their high damage output and diverse array of attacks that can clear mobs and bosses makes this an exciting beginner’s starter class. Players coming from the Diablo series will feel right at home with this class, since it has some similarities with the Demon Hunter class.