What is the best Path of Exile 2 Ranger build? The Ranger returns in Path of Exile 2, but this time with an emphasis on speed and agility. We'll be able to move while shooting and also build out in either long or short-range combat, depending on what suits your playstyle.

The best PoE 2 Ranger class build counter Path of Exile 2's hordes of fast-moving enemies with swift movement, high jumps, and quick getaways. Now that the early access Path of Exile 2 release date is here, we've gone through all the skills and passives in the RPG game to determine the best PoE 2 build that can carry you right up to endgame content.

Best Path of Exile 2 Ranger build

The best PoE 2 Ranger build is:

  • Key skills: Poisonburst Arrow, Escape Shot, Snipe, Vine Arrow, Gas Arrow, Detonating Shot
  • Key persistent Spirit buffs: Plague Bearer, Herald of Plague
  • Key passives: Blur, Crippling Toxins, Stacking Toxins, Stimulants, Wasting, Pierce the Heart
  • Ascendancy: Pathfinder

Best PoE 2 Ranger skills

The best Ranger skills keeps enemies at a safe distance as you rapidly stack poison and snipe the most vulnerable targets in a crowd. At first, you're going to want to stick with Poisonburst Arrow and Escape Shot to stay mobile. These two skills alone can take you through most of the early to mid-game, and things get easier with Snipe and Vine Arrow. After you stack some poison, you can use these skills to root enemies in position while charging up for critical hits.

Gas Arrow and Detonating Shot are helpful as you venture into mid to endgame, as they're great for clearing out large mobs. Combine these skills with passive abilities from the Pathfinder Ascendancy that buff up poison skills, and you've got a very potent build on your hands.

Best PoE 2 Ranger spirit buffs

As you might've guessed, you want to target persistent Spirit buffs that help you deal additional poison damage. Plague Bearer will let you build up all your poison damage before releasing it in a massive burst, but keep in mind you may not want to have this active against certain bosses. Herald of Plague, on the other hand, demands constant uptime so afflicted enemies can spread poison to other foes when they die.

Best PoE 2 Ranger passives

The best poison passives appear early on the Ranger skill tree, making for a rather potent build right from the get-go that only gets better with your Ascendancy. Grab Blur right away before heading toward Crippling Toxins and Stacking Toxins. From there, you can take the branch that leads to Stimulants, grabbing Attribute bonuses along the way, before winding down to the powerful Wasting notable.

Round out this build by heading far to the right to grab the most potent nodes for the Bow, increasing both attack speed and the number of targets you can pierce per attack.

Best PoE 2 Ranger ascendancy

While Deadeye has numerous positives to it, including perfect accuracy, Pathfinder's buffs to a poison build are just too valuable to pass up. Contagious Contamination spreads most poisons you apply to other enemies within a large radius, while Overwhelming Toxicity allows you to add more poison stacks. Finally, Running Assault will keep you nimble, as enemies will no longer be able to slow you down.

Best PoE Ranger equipment

Poison arrows are all well and good, but a powerful bow and quiver is essential to take this Ranger build to the next level. Focus on bows that offer attack and projectile speed to ensure you're stacking those DoT effects quickly and consistently.

The best Rangers need to stay light on their feet, so equipping light armor with evasion and movement speed affixes is a huge boon to your survivability. If you're struggling to stem the tide of enemies, life gain is also a good option to keep you alive long enough to escape when swarmed.

Path of Exile 2 Ranger class overview

The Ranger uses different types of arrows and shots in combinations, making the most of the elements: lightning, poison, fire, and frost, as well as using plants and vines. While it depends on what kind of build you're going for, each element and skill can be used to create powerful combinations. For example, you can use poison-based skills with plant skills, as the plants feed and grow more powerful from the poison.

The Ranger has skill shots, escape shots, and cooldown skills, utilizing elements like lightning to electrocute enemies and quickly vault away by shooting an arrow at the ground. If you want to keep it simple, the sniper skill shot can be used with freeze skills to inflict AoE damage. There are also poison, gas, and plant skills to consider, alongside powerful detonating arrows.

All Path of Exile 2 Ranger active skills

Skill NameRequirementsEffect Poisonburst Arrow

Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Fires an arrow that creates a burst of poison on hit, affecting all enemies nearby. Escape Shot

Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Leap backwards and fire an arrow which can chill or freeze enemies around the escaped location. Lightning Arrow

Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Fires a charged arrow that sets off chained lightning when hitting an enemy or a wall. Lightning Rod

Level 1 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

An arrow drops from above to cause a lightning burst. Triggers more chained lightning from other skills. Snipe

Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem

Level 6

16 Dexterity

Charge up your bow before releasing a powerful shot. Releasing right when it's fully charged will always deal a critical hit. Vine Arrow

Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem

Level 6

16 Dexterity

Fire an arrow that lands after a short time. A plant springs up that latch onto nearby enemies, slowing movement and dealing Chaos damage. Poison the plant to cause more damage. Stormcaller Arrow

Level 3 Uncut Skill Gem

Level 6

16 Dexterity

Fires an arrow that embeds where it lands for a short time. After, a lightning bolt strikes the arrow, damaging nearby enemies and applying Shock. Barrage

Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 14

34 Dexterity

Fire a barrage of arrows. Your next bow attack will repeat multiple times. Consumes Frenzy Charges to add additional repeats. Toxic Growth

Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 14

34 Dexterity

Leap into the air and fire a volley of arrows. They sprout toxic pustules on impact that explode after a delay and can be poisoned to deal more damage. Freezing Salvo

Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 14

34 Dexterity

Spawns icy missiles over time that move toward a target. Electrocuting Arrow

Level 5 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 14

34 Dexterity

Leap forward and fire downward, attaching an electrocuting rod to enemies. This builds up the Electrocution ailment. Sniper's Mark

Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 22

52 Dexterity

Mark a target. When hit with a critical, deal extra damage and gain a Frenzy charge. Gas Arrow

Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 22

52 Dexterity

Fire a noxious arrow at the ground, creating flammable poisonous gas, exploding when exposed to a detonation or ignited enemy. Voltaic Mark

Level 7 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 22

52 Dexterity

Mark a target, making them easier to apply the Shock ailment to. A lightning nova erupts when the target dies. Rain of Arrows

Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 31

72 Dexterity

Arrows rain down from the sky. Consume Frenzy Charges to fire more arrows. Detonating Arrow

Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 31

72 Dexterity

Build up power and fire off a burning arrow. At max charge, it will detonate and cause an explosion when it hits a target. Ice Shot

Level 9 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 31

72 Dexterity

Fires an icy arrow that triggers a cone of ice shards when it hits its target. Tornado Shot

Level 11 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 41

95 Dexterity

Fires a shot skyward that summons a tornado where it lands, dealing physical damage and hindering enemies standing in it. Arrows and crossbow bolts fired into it create damaging novas. Shockchain Arrow

Level 11 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 41

95 Dexterity

Fires an arrow that homes in on Shocked enemies. Hitting an enemy will consume the Shock ailment and release a damaging shockwave and beams to two nearby targets. If the next target is Shocked, the chain will continue. Spiral Volley

Level 13 Uncut Skill Gem

Level 52

119 Dexterity

Load your Bow with enchanted arrows and fire them in a circle as you spin. Consume Frenzy Charges to deal more damage and chain to other targets. Magnetic Salvo

Level 13 Uncut Skill Gem

Bow

Level 52

119 Dexterity

Aim skyward and fire energy missiles at lingering arrows or bolts created by other lightning attacks, dealing damage in a larger area and destroying the arrows and bolts.

All Path of Exile 2 Ranger persistent Spirit buffs

Skill NameRequirementsEffect Herald of Thunder

Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem

Martial Weapon

Level 10

25 Dexterity

Reservation: 30 Spirit

After killing Shocked enemies, subsequent attacks release lightning bolts. Plague Bearer

Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem

Level 10

25 Dexterity

Reservation: 30 Spirit

Stores all poison dealt. Using the Plague Nova skill unleashes all stored poison. Wind Dancer

Level 4 Uncut Spirit Gem

Level 10

25 Dexterity

Reservation: 30 Spirit

Grants a buff that gives you more Evasion per stage. Getting hit by a melee attack resets this and knocks back enemies. Combat Frenzy

Level 8 Uncut Spirit Gem

Level 26

61 Dexterity

Reservation: 30 Spirit

While active, grants a Frenzy Charge when you Freeze, Electrocute, or Pin an enemy. Can only occur once every few seconds. Herald of Plague

Level 8 Uncut Spirit Gem

Level 26

61 Dexterity

Reservation: 30 Spirit

Killing a poisoned enemy spreads its poison to other nearby enemies and has a chance to hinder them. Attrition

Level 14 Uncut Spirit Gem

Level 58

73 Strength 

73 Dexterity

Reservation: 60 Spirit

The longer you fight rare and unique enemies, the more damage you do to them, gaining Culling Strike if you've been fighting long enough. Alchemist's Boon

Level 14 Uncut Spirit Gem

Level 58

133 Dexterity

Reservation: 30 Spirit

Grants Flask charges passively and causes Life and Mana recovery from your Flasks to apply to allies nearby.

All PoE 2 Ranger ascendancies

Here are the Path of Exile 2 Ranger ascendancies:

  • The Deadeye: Featuring skills that focus on movement and never missing your mark, this subclass is for those that like to avoid getting hit and making sure they take down enemies before they get the chance.
  • The Pathfinder: A master of flasks and poison, the Ranger can throw explosive bottles to apply different ailments while also having many passive skills that improve her poison abilities.

Now you're caught up on the Path of Exile 2 Ranger. If you're wondering how to improve your characters, check out our Path of Exile 2 support gems guide to see how these items can drastically change your build. Not sure if the Ranger is for you? Take a look at our Path of Exile 2 classes guide to get an overview of each archetype in the game.