4 possible League Starter builds to try in Path of Exile 2 Dawn of The Hunt (patch 0.2.0)

Path of Exile 2 Dawn of The Hunt is kicking off soon, and with that in mind, we’ve been pondering hard what some potentially great League Starter builds could be. It’s worth pointing out that we wrote this before the patch officially goes live, so there’s only so much theorycrafting and consideration we can do. These might not work, but I have a feeling they’ll do quite well for the most part.

For example, I planned on playing Lich and at least one Amazon build because they look to be wild fun. We’ll go over a few points about each of the builds and how confident we are in their being powerful in the coming Path of Exile 2 Dawn of the Hunt update.

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Potential League Starter builds to try out in Path of Exile 2’s Dawn of the Hunt update

1) Eye of Winter Lich (theorycrafted by Jungroan)

If jungroan believes in it, that's good enough for me (Image via Grinding Gear Games/@jungroan)

• Skills: Eye of Winter, Lightning Warp, Despair, Flame Wall, Withering Presence, Blasphemy, Temporal Chains, Disengage
• Leveling Skills for Day One: Frostbolt, Eye of Winter, Disengage, Fire Wall
• Build Confidence: High
• Advantage: Easy to set up cold damage, solid clear when Lich is unlocked
• Disadvantage: Clear may be slower until you get Rupture the Soul and other curse buffs in Lich Ascendancy

I already thought Witch was incredible in Path of Exile 2, but thanks to bug fixes and buffs, Eye of Winter Lich shows a truly incredible amount of progress. The skill now gains 75% of damage as damage of the corresponding Type when passing over an Elemental Ground Effect. That’s up from 50%, so that’s a solid, reliable buff.

It also runs Embitter (Support Gem) to turn your Ground Effects into Cold Damage. You’ll get Lightning from Disengage using Shocking Leap and Fire Ground Effects via Despair with Burning Inscription attached. You can easily get those two effects on the ground using your skills and start spamming Eye of Winter. Later, you can swap the Embitter for Chaos Support instead for even greater potential damage.

This is all enabled through the Lich Ascendancy. This is partially thanks to Rupture the Soul, which gives cursed enemies a chance to explode. You use this alongside other useful curses like Blasphemy and Enfeeble.

Note: According to datamined information on PoE2DB, it appears that Eye of Winter has lost its Critical Weakness application on-hit, which certainly diminishes the potential of this build.

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2) Gas Grenade Witch Hunter (theorycrafted by Fearless Dumb0)

FearlessDumb0's Gas Grenade build offers tons of damage for not a whole lot of effort (Image via Grinding Gear Games/@FearlessDumb0)

• Skills: Gas Grenade, Oil Grenade, Flash Grenade, Herald of Ash, Wind Dance, Attrition, Stormcaller Arrow, Explosive Grenade
• Leveling Skills for Day One: Gas Grenade, Oil Grenade, Explosive Grenade
• Build Confidence: Medium
• Advantage: Incredible mapping and bossing due to Explosion buffs
• Disadvantage: Requires unique to make it as potent as possible (Radiant Grief), Explosive Grenade was nerfed a bit

Unfortunately, Witch Hunters simply weren’t played as much in Path of Exile 2 as Grinding Gear Games had hoped they would. I believe the specific number of players was 2%. However, with the explosion damage buffs, among other things, I think Gas Grenade Witch Hunter could wind up being a secret op option.

You don’t have to do it the most optimal way possible, but by having the Radiant Grief unique, you essentially automate your Gas Grenades. You lob the grenade, and the aura causes them to explode, giving you a 1-button map clear. If they’re a bit tougher than you’d like, just throw an Oil Grenade first.

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3) Lightning Arrow Deadeye

Scorpius may have the best and easiest Lightning Arrow build around (Image via Grinding Gear Games/@Scorpius)

• Skills: Lightning Arrow, Lightning Rod, Tailwind, Orb of Storms, Herald of Ice, Barrage, Conductivity, Wind Dancer
• Leveling Skills for Day One: Lightning Rod, Lightning Arrow, Orb of Storms, Herald of Ice
• Build Confidence: High
• Advantage: Incredibly easy to play, simple, and a devastatingly powerful leveling build that transitions nicely into the endgame
• Disadvantage: Very much a glass cannon, so build/gear is very important

Of course, a Deadeye Ranger build would be on this Path of Exile 2 League starter build list! It’s so powerful, especially Lightning Arrow builds. You maximize your damage and movement speed and blaze through areas, obliterating everything you come across with almost no effort involved.

The actual meat and potatoes of combat in this build are incredibly simple. Lightning Rod, then Lightning Arrow it to create a Lightning Burst. With the right support gems, this creates a maelstrom of lightning blasts and lasers that incinerate enemies before they ever have a chance to get to you.

Orb of Storms is the primary boss killing skill, so drop it near the Lightning Rod, though Barrage will help as well when cast before lightning arrow. We also run Herald of Ice to create icy explosions that hit surrounding enemies, making our waves of damage even more reliable. Wind Dancer is the other buff we want to run to keep you safe. While having a buff is nice, like Herald of Ice, you also want a Curse for bosses to lower their lightning resistance - grab Conductivity.

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4) Lightning Spear Amazon

I didn't play much Javazon in Diablo 2, but now I can redeem myself in Path of Exile 2 with the Amazon (Image via Grinding Gear Games/@Peuget2 & ZiggyDGaming)

• Skills: Lightning Spear, Twister, Storm Lance, Spear of Lunaris, Tame Beast (maybe), Explosive Spear, Thunderous Leap
• Leveling Skills for Day One: Lightning Spear, Storm Lance
• Build Confidence: High
• Advantage: Feels similar to Diablo 2’s classic Lightning Amazon/Javazon, easy to play, tons of damage

We’ve got a really good feeling about the Amazon being a powerful Ascendancy for the Huntress class, so I think this Path of Exile 2 League starter build will be quite satisfying. Sure, it probably won’t be as overpowered as the Spiritborn was in Diablo 4, but that’s okay! We could be wrong, and it could be the most devastating thing in the game, too.

Clearing maps is pretty simple, as it leans heavily on Lightning Spear and its fun chain lightning bursts. Twister is another solid clear ability, but I prefer Lightning Spear. There’s also Storm Lance, which we can use as a boss-killing tool, as with Spear of Lunaris. This is also a build that uses Frenzy Charge generation to enhance your skills. You’ll want to use Bucklers/Parry skills to create those charges.

There’s also been some speculation about adding Tame Beast and picking up a powerful monster to help you fight. However, we don’t know how tanky these are and how often they’ll be dead. So, it’s certainly something to keep an eye out for, for potential damage. It’s just such a powerful clearing machine, and I have high hopes for this Path of Exile 2 League starter build.

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Check out our other Path of Exile 2 guides and features

• Path of Exile 2: A quick summary of what’s new in Dawn of the Hunt
• Path of Exile 2 Dawn of the Hunt patch notes
• Path of Exile 2’s upcoming content update is holding back PoE 1’s next league