The Huntress is a melee/ranged hybrid class in Path of Exile 2 that utilizes the spear to adapt to any situation. While the Huntress can easily move in and out of melee range, she is just as strong at long range, especially with the Lightning Spear skill, which will be the center of the build we'll be looking at today.

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Path Of Exile 2: Huntress Class Guide

Here's everything you need to know about the Huntress class in Path of Exile 2, including details on its Ascendancies.

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At first, leveling with Lightning Spear can be tricky due to its low damage, but this quickly changes as you slot in more Support Gems and other Skills. Below, we'll take a look at everything you need to know about leveling through the campaign with the Lightning Spear Amazon.

Build Overview

Pros

Cons

  • High damage
  • Fast
  • Built-in defense
  • Slow to start
  • Highly gear dependant

The core of this build is Lightning Spear, and everything else essentially revolves around getting its damage as high as possible while using defensive tools like Wind Dancer, Ghost Dance, and the built-in Electrocute effect provided by the Support Gem of the same name.

For bosses and tankier enemies, we are also using Storm Lance as a secondary attack, which has much higher single-target DPS, but is buffed in many of the same ways as Lightning Spear, so it's easy to alternate between the two depending on the circumstances.

This build also utilizes Evasion Rating and Energy Shield for two defensive layers. These, combined with Ghost Dance, will give enemies a hard time inflciting any actual damage to you, making this build quite tanky.

Leveling Skills And Support Gems

Skill Gem

Support Gems

Skill Gem Level 1-4

Lightning Spear

Martial Tempo

Volt

Electrocute

Spirit Gem Level 4

Herald of Thunder

Supercritical

Wind Dancer

Pin

Skill Gem Level 5

Storm Lance

Lightning Infusion

Primal Armament

Bullseye

Barrage

Perpetual Charge

Twofold

Premeditation

Skill Gem Level 7

Sniper's Mark

Profusion

Inspiration

Ingenuity

Spirit Gem Level 8

Combat Frenzy

Precision

Ascendancy Skill

Infuse Weapon

Conduction

Lightning Exposure

Concentrated Effect

Before you gain access to Combat Frenzy, use Cull the Weak to generate Frenzy Charges by executing low-health enemies. Frenzy Charges can be spent by your next Lightning Spear or Storm Lance to greatly boost its damage and effect.

Once you get Combat Frenzy, this build really starts to take off. With Lightning Spear's Electrocute build-up, combined with having Pin linked with Wind Dancer, you'll be able to constantly generate Frenzy Charges, meaning your Lightning Spears will repeatedly get powered-up.

Early on, you may want to use Explosive Spear linked with Expedite to Detonate Storm Lance's spears before you switch over to Lightning Spear, as this combo's damage is higher in the early game. You can still use Lightning Spear for clearing groups of enemies, especially if you're taking advantage of Cull the Weak or the Parry mechanic to build Frenzy Charges.

Additionally, hold off on using Sniper's Mark until you unlock your first Ascendancy points and get Critical Strike. Until then, your Critical Hit Chance will be too low to make use of Sniper's Mark.

Once you have Critical Strike and a few Critical Hit-boosting nodes on the Passive Tree, you can make use of Sniper's Mark for extra damage and Frenzy Charges against bosses and high-health enemies.

Barrage can be used to double up on Lightning Spear throws, as it will consume Frenzy Charges to throw additional Lightning Spears. This one skill provides a high DPS buff, so use it as you level, Mana permitting.

As you approach the end of the campaign and your Evasion Rating is higher, slot in Ghost Dance for another defensive layer. This buff will restore your Energy Shield based on your Evasion Rating when you're hit, consuming a stack of the buff in the process.

With high Evasion Rating, you won't really take hits that often, meaning when you do, you'll almost always have a stack ready to restore your Shield.

Passive Tree And Ascendancy

For the Passive Tree, you mainly be focusing on damage-boosting nodes early on to get Lightning Spear and Storm Lance's damage up to respectable levels. This is accomplished through nodes like Primal Instinct, Catalysis, Maiming Strike, Falcon Dive, and all of the Spear-specific nodes: Javelin, Focused Thrust, Precise Point, and Roll and Strike.

From there, you'll want to move into more defensive nodes such as Mindful Awareness in the Monk portion of the Tree, Beastial Skin, Enhanced Reflexes, and Spectral Ward.

For primary attribute nodes, use a mix of Dexterity, Strength, and Intelligence, depending on what you need at the time for Skill Gem and Equipment Requirements. These can change over the course of the leveling process, so be sure to keep an eye on them as you level. Make use of Passive refunds early when the cost is lower.

Ascendancy

  1. Critical Strike
  2. Elemental Infusion
  3. Predatory Instinct
  4. Penetrate

Your first two Ascendancy points after unlocking Amazon should be spent on the first Accuracy node and Critical Strike. This represents a massive DPS buff, allowing you to begin stacking Accuracy on your gear and various nodes in the Passive Tree to boost your Critical Hit Chance.

From there, get Elemental Infusion next for another DPS boost for Lightning Spear. Using Infuse Weapon, which is granted by the Ascendancy node, will infuse your next two Lightning Spears, causing them to explode for additional Lightning Damage on impact.

You can get Predatory Instinct or Penetrate in either order, as they both provide similar DPS boosts. If you already have high Accuracy by the time you unlock your fifth and sixth Ascendancy Points, Penetrate may be better to unlock first.

Equipment And Stats

As you level this build through the campaign, the most important thing to be on the lookout for is a strong Spear. If you find anything with increased Physical Damage or Lightning Damage, set it aside and use your currencies to craft it up. Use an Artificer's Orb to add a slot to your Spear if necessary, and slot in an Iron Rune (or a Greater Iron Rune, if you have one) for the highest damage increase.

Be sure to salvage items with Quality or Sockets to get the items you need to improve your Spear once you craft one with the stats you need.

For armor, try to stack up your Evasion Rating early on, while also getting flat Dexterity on items where possible. Additionally, if you can find a pair of boots with Movement Speed, hang on to them for as long as you can. Movement Speed is one of the best stats in Path of Exile 2, as it will let you escape fast enemies without having to rely on the slow dodge roll.

Be sure to stay on top of your Resistances as you progress through the campaign. These are one of the biggest sources of damage reduction, so get them up to the 75 percent cap in any way you can. Make use of Runes on your armor to reach these caps.

Dawn of the Hunt has buffed almost every enemy, making the early game even harder. Upgrade your potions as frequently as possible to deal with the extra damage you'll be taking in every new area you explore.

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