Path of Exile 2 boasts a variety of different classes to choose from when starting a new playthrough, and the Mercenary’s more down-to-earth approach to mudering scores of enemies promises to infuse a good amount of shooter-style gameplay into the ARPG sequel.
PoE 2’s Mercenary class uses the crossbow as its signature weapon. As opposed to regular bows, it fires instantly, more closely resembling weapons normally found in shooter titles. To this extent, Grinding Gear Games has introduced variants of the weapon that work in a similar way to sniper rifles, shotguns, or assault rifles.
Path of Exile 2 Mercenary Class
The addition of WASD movement – confirmed to be available to all classes – is an alternative to the more classic mouse-driven controls that allows you to move your avatar using the keyboard, independently of where it is aiming.
PoE 2’s Mercenary class can only hold two crossbows at a time, but ammo skills provide plenty of potential combinations to discover.
A Burst Shot crossbow using Armor Piercing Ammo not only hits enemies in a wide cone in front of the character but also pierces through them.
Incendiary ammo ignites targets, the effect becoming stronger the more projectiles hit targets. Permafrost Burst Shot then slows enemies down, potentially freezing them.
Shooting a frozen foe with Armour Piercing Burst Shot explodes the ice surrounding them, dealing a high amount of damage to nearby opponents.
Crossbows can also equip various attachments, like grenade launchers. They behave much like skill gems, effectively granting extra skill slots. In addition, they can be augmented using support gems.
Aside from regular grenades which explode dealing direct damage, Path of Exile 2’s Mercenary class also has access to flash grenades that stun enemies and oil grenades, which coat the ground and enemies in oil, slowing them down.
A burning foe or explosive attack can then set enemies coated in oil on fire for extra burning damage.
The Rapid Shot crossbow allows Path of Exile 2’s Mercenary class to shoot while running. On top of that, its version of the Armor Piercing ammo skill slowly erodes the armor of its targets up to the point it eventually breaks, preventing it to protect against other attacks, like Burst Shot.
Using Permafrost ammo with a Rapid Shot crossbow creates ice crystals when shot at the ground. These crystals then explode, chilling foes that chase you.
The third crossbow available to PoE 2’s Mercenary class is the Power Shot. Resembling a sniper rifle, with its slower single shots, its Armour Piercing ammo outright penetrates an enemy’s armor, becoming an excellent choice against tougher opponents.
When it breaks an enemy’s armor, it hits a weak spot and deals heavy single target damage while stunning the target.
The Incendiary version of Power Shot behaves more like a rocket launcher, launching a projectile that explodes.
The Power Shot crossbow’s Ice version then creates frost walls at a distance, providing a tool for those instances when crowd control is necessary.
These walls deal small amounts of damage when shattered, but if shot with Armour Piercing Burst Shot attacks, the amount of damage is significantly increased.
Path of Exile 2’s Mercenary class enters the fray with a varied arsenal of powerful ranged weapons, shaking up things both mechanically and in terms of how characters control.
For more on the ARPG, check out how the Druid, Monk, and Sorceress compare.
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