In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put together theSacrificial Huntress buildfor you to use to get into thelate-gameorendgameof the game.Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount of skills and build possibilities available in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensive skill tree and multitude of skill gems. This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of the campaign and prepare yourself for yourcruel playthroughsorendgame.
Introduction
TheSacrificial Huntressis a melee-focused build using thespear, and we will be focusing oninflicting bleedon our enemies, maximizing our damage output with a hugedamage over timewhile also dealing raw damage. This build is really great for bringing any type of enemy down, both regular and bosses alike, as we buff ourselves with variousmodifiers.
Starter Class
For this build, we will be starting with theHuntress Class, which is one of the seven available for now.
On the expansiveskill tree, the Huntress class will start on the southeast side. This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related toEvasion,Attack Speed, andflat damage increases, which we will be taking advantage of to maximize our damage—but mainly, we will be focusing onskill nodesthat improveinflicting bleedand increasebleeding damage.
Passive Skill Tree
Progression for this build will emphasize increasing ourattack speedanddamage output, trying to put as many points into skill groups that will help with ouroffensive abilities. As you progress down the skill tree, you will notice there are also nodes and skill groups that are more defensively oriented, such asEvasion nodesandParry nodes, but we will not be investing in those early on. Instead, we will be focusing on nodes and skill groups that amplify thehybrid playstylewe are going for using the spear as our main weapon.
Nodes such asStalkand Leapare the core of this build using the spear, as we will be alternating seamlessly betweenmelee and ranged attacksusing the same weapon and its different skills.
As you level up and are putting this build together, you will want to focus on skill groups that amplify this effect and go for nodes such asAdaptable Assault.
The earliest skill group we will be able to reach for this build is theIncision skill group.
This passive skill group will make it so that if your attacks do not inflictbleeding, they will have a higher chance to inflict bleeding on subsequent attacks. This passive group guarantees that you will inflictbleedon your target sooner or later and will contribute to increasing ourdamage output.
From this skill group node, we can head straight downward, selecting only theattribute axial nodesuntil we reach another skill group important for this build.
This includes theCrimson Assaultnode, which changes all our bleeds intoaggravated bleedingwithout needing the target to move, increasingbleed damageby 100%.
The passive skill node close by also helps in increasing ourdamage outputquite considerably, because it increases ourcritical hit chanceagainstbleeding enemies.
After this node, for the purpose of this build, we will veer toward the southern part of the skill tree to maximize ourbleeding damageand make our way toward theAggravationpassive skill group. The reason for this is that investing in this skill group will increase ourbleed chance,bleed duration, andmagnitudeof the affected bleed.
We can leave outAggravationandDeep Woundson this skill node on account ofCrimson Assault, which will make all our bleeds into aggravated bleeds.
But if you want alonger duration, you may skip theCrimson Assaultnode and take the two nodes from this tree.
After this skill group, one last passive group that will form thecoreof this build is further to the south on the skill tree, and this includes theBleeding Outskill node.
This group will increase thedamage you deal to bleeding targetsin addition to flat-out increasing the chance toinflict bleedon your targets.
These skill groups form thecore passive skillsof this build. After this point, you can invest inCrit Chance nodesand skill groups to increase yourcritical chance, orEvasion groupsto help with yoursurvivability.
Ascendancy
For this build, we will be choosing theRitualist Ascendancyfor theHuntress, and this is because we will be buffing ourselves greatly by getting themodifiers from rare monstersusing the skill obtained from taking the“As the Whispers Ask”node,Ritual Sacrifice.
Once we have taken the“As the Whispers Demand”node, we will be able to use theRitual Sacrificeskill to obtain one random modifier without the need of arare monster corpse, instead costing20% of maximum life.
Even though there are a handful of modifiers that can be obtained, most of them greatly enhance us and bring out the potential of this build. Even though we will besacrificing our healthwhenever we buff ourselves, the build can help with oursustainthrough theWildwood Persistencenode, which will increase thelife recovery ratein relation tomissing health, helping with recovery when we arelow on health.
We will also be taking theUnfurled Fingernode, which will allow us to equip anadditional ring, and theMystic Attunementnode, which will increase the bonuses by25%.
But on the way, we will have to go through at least onenegative node, and we will be taking theReduction in Mananode, as it will affect our build the least.
Active Skills Setups
This build will rely mainly on the melee skills of thespear weaponand will take full advantage of thebleedinginflicted by the skills.
The main skill we will be using when we aremapping and clearing out mobs of enemiesis theRakeskill.
This skill will allow you to jump a short distance and slash in front of you, inflictingbleedon all the enemies hit. If the initial damage does not kill them, the bleeding will surely take care of most enemies before they reach you.
A good skill to combo into after using theRakeskill isCull the Weak, which is anexecute skillthat can instantly kill an enemy that is low on health in a single strike.
This will be shown with ablue indicatoron top of a weak enemy, and whenever you cull or kill an enemy with the skill, you will gain aFrenzy Charge.
you’re able to have up to three Frenzy Charges by default, and these will increase and amplify some of the spear attacks and skills, which includes our next core skill for this build.
The next skill that is really great for using in this build, especially againstbosses and tougher enemies, is theRapid Assaultskill.
Even though this skill does not inherently have the ability to cause bleeding on its initial strikes, thesixth attackinflictsbleedingby itself. But even before that, this skill has a high chance of inflicting bleed early on owing to thepassive skill nodeswe are using.
This skill has a secondary effect where it will leave behindspearheadsthat can be triggered to explode by using aDetonating skill. For the spear, this can be eitherExplosive SpearorThunderous Leap. It does not have to be a spear skill to cause this explosion, and you’re able to use any detonator skill of your choosing, but for simplicity, I went withExplosive Spear, causing massive damage from both sources of detonation.
Another skill that forms a crucial part of the skill rotation of this build is theBlood Huntskill.
This skill will lunge towards a target, and if it’s suffering from bleeding,Blood Huntwill cause anexplosion, consuming the bleeding. The explosion is really good for dealing withmobs of enemies, as you may quickly take them out in rapid succession after inflicting bleeding using your other skills.
One final skill that increases thedamage outputandmob clearingof this build quite considerably is theBloodhound’s Mark.
Although this skill only marks a target and does not deal damage by itself, it increases the effectiveness of skills such asBlood Huntby releasing abig explosionif the marked target is heavily stunned or killed after suffering from bleeding. These two explosions from both theBlood HuntandBloodhound’s Markskills can make quick work of most mobs of enemies, even if they take a little more time to set up compared to other builds.
These four skills form thecore of this buildand will allow you to deal with any kind of enemies, ranging from mobs to bosses. But there are also skills that can help with theefficiencyof this build.
One such skill is theSpearfieldskill, which will cause spears to burst from the ground in a cone in front of you,maimingandslowingtargets that get hit.
This allows a form ofcrowd controlfor this highlyDPS-focusedbuild and will make it easier for you to kite around some enemies.
Another skill that will help with the build by giving aranged optionis theLightning Spearskill, which will fire offlightning boltsat nearby targets after the spear hits an initial target.
This skill is a reliable skill to deal with mobs during mapping and can quickly take out most groups of enemies without even needing to rotate to other skills with this build.
Lastly, the active skill we will be using quite often is the one obtained from theAscendancy, and it is theRitual Sacrifice.
Ideally, we are looking for“Haste Aura”and“Physical Damage Aura”modifiers, but generally, most modifiers can be extremely beneficial for various situations.
Spirit Gems
For theSpirit Gem, theHerald of Bloodis the best choice for this build, and it will give us an additional source ofarea-of-effect damagein the form of anunavoidable explosionwhen killing enemies with blood loss, helping us immensely when clearing mobs during mapping.
Another Spirit Gem that is great to use with this build is theWind Dancer, as this gives usincreased evasionwhile there are charges, in addition to theknockbackfrom theGaleforcewhen you are attacked.
Although it doesn’t seem significant, theseWind Chargesreally give added survivability when surrounded by a lot of enemies.
Support Gems
Since we will be focusing oninflicting bleedon our enemies, we will be prioritizingSupport Gemsthat work well with bleed in general.
TheRakeskill is one of the most common skills we will be using with this build, and we will putExecuteas one of the support gems.
This will increase the damage done by this skill against enemies that are onlow life.
The second support gem that is good to have onRakeis theAmbushgem, as it will make it so that the first attack against a full-health enemy is always acritical hit.
For ourCull the Weakskill, we will be using theProfusionsupport gem and theUntouchablesupport gem.
TheProfusiongem will give the skill a 50% chance to gain anadditional charge, helping with gainingFrenzy Charges.
TheUntouchablegem will increase theevasion ratingwhile we are using the skill.
TheRapid Assaultskill, which is our main tool for dealinghuge amounts of damage to bosses, will benefit fromBloodlustandMartial Tempogems.
TheBloodlustsupport gem will make it so that the skill will not cause bleeding by itself, but since we will not be relying onRapid Assaultto inflict bleed in our skill rotation, the gem is not interfering and will help withincreasing our damage output.
Since theRapid Assaultskill is a relatively long skill with its six attacks, theMartial Tempogem willincrease its speedand help us land all six attacks of the skill, allowing for more spearheads to be detonated.
For theBlood Huntskill, we will be using theBlood in the Eyessupport gem.
This is great as it will decrease theevasion statof the targets inflicted by bleed from this skill byhobblingthem. Although evasion is not a big issue early on, there are some evasive enemies that can be quite hard to hit, and this support gem will give us areliable skillto use against such enemies.
Another support gem this skill greatly benefits from is theMurderous Intentsupport gem, which will allowBlood Hunttocull low-life enemies, enhancing the skill’s ability to quickly clear out mobs.
These support gems help with thecore of this buildand are recommended to be prioritized when you are putting this build together, as they will greatly improve theefficiencywhen mapping and clearing mobs using this build.
Regarding theBloodhound’s Mark, we will be using theRuthlesssupport gem and theConcentrated Effectsupport gem.
TheRuthlessgem will increase thestun buildupfor every fifth explosion of the mark, and theConcentrated Effectgem will increase thearea of damagedealt by the explosion released upon consumption of the mark.
With ourSpearfieldskill, we will be slotting in theLacerateandMagnified Effectsupport gems.
TheLacerategem gives the skill the ability tobleedour targets using theSpearfieldskill, and theMagnified Effectwill increase thearea of the coneat which the spears spawn from the ground, helping with bothclearing mobsandfighting bosses.
For ourranged skill, theLightning Spear, we will be using theLightning Infusionand theConductionsupport gems.
TheLightning Infusiongem will give an additional 25% of damage asLightning Damage, and theConductiongem will increase thechance to shockour targets using the skill by 100%.
With ourRitual Sacrificeskill, we will slot in thePersistencesupport gem and theUnbreakablesupport gem.
ThePersistencegem will increase thedurationof the buff we gain from using the skill, and theUnbreakablesupport gem will increase thestun thresholdwhile the buff is active.
Regarding ourSpirit Gemskills, with theHerald of Bloodskill, we will be using theBrutalityandControlled Destructionsupport gems.
TheBrutalitysupport gem will increase thephysical damageof the explosions, and theControlled Destructiongem will increase thedamage by an additional 25%at the cost of the ability to dealcritical hits.
With theWind Dancerskill, we will be using theWind Waveand thePrecisionsupport gems.
TheWind Wavegem will give an additionalwind blastto the skill if you get stunned, and thePrecisionsupport gem will increase ouraccuracy ratingwhile the charges are active.
Gear and Equipment
This build relies heavily onmelee spear attacksthatinflict bleedand will benefit fromevasion-based gearwith increases inattack speed,movement speed, anddexterity.
This build does not require any specificUniquesto perform well and will scale reliably with equipment of other qualities as well.
Rare itemswith+1 to melee skills, increases toattack speed, andmovement speedwill really help when putting this build together.
We will be focusing on gear that mainly increases ourphysical damage, as ourbleeding scaleswith physical damage only.
We will also take full advantage of the bonuses we gain fromamulets and ringsand theextra ring slotto maximize thedamage outputwhen using this build.
Leveling Guide
The build levels smoothly by using the combo ofRakeandCull the Weak. This combo will allow you to go through most of the mobs, as it can easily take out most enemies—especially when combined withHerald of BloodandBlood Boilexplosions, making short work of mobs during mapping.
As you level up, it is beneficial to have someIntelligence attribute nodes, since this will allow us to equip more Intelligence support gems in addition to increasing the mana pool.
You can either start investing into moreattack speedordamage nodesto maximize the damage output.
Mapping and Bossing
Although your mapping can feel slower compared to other builds when using this one, keeping the buff up withRitual Sacrificewill greatly help. If we get aHaste AuraorIncreased Physical Damage Aura, it will immensely increase our mapping speed.
Bossingis a major strength of this build, as thebleedingwill deal consistent damage throughout the entire fight. Combined with theincreased damageandcritical chance against bleeding targets, you will be able to deal massive amounts of damage.
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But you do need to be more mindful of thebosses’ attacks, as you will be in close most of the time and it can be quite devastating if you get caught in one of the boss’s huge attacks.
In addition, efficient gameplay involves regularly alternating betweeninflicting bleedand thencausing blood explosions, while keeping the modifiers up with regularRitual Sacrificeswhen mapping to quickly take care of mobs.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scalingis enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseAttack Speed,Movement Speed, andAttack Damage. The build has great options to scale by investing into eitherpure attack damageorcritical hit chance and damage, while benefiting fromhigh-Dexterity gearto further boost damage.
This build performs well inSSFandHardcore, thanks to itshigh damageandhigh mobility. It is not reliant on expensive uniques and offersgreat damagewithfast-paced mobility and movement, leading to satisfying gameplay.
So, this wraps up my guide for theSacrificial Huntressbuild inPath of Exile 2. I hope you found this guide helpful, and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
