Path of Exile 2: Poisonburst Pathfinder build guide

With recent Ascendancy changes in Path of Exile 2, Pathfinder has become the new Deadeye. Her ability to start speccing from the Witch or Warrior passive tree grants a lot of build freedom. You also don’t need to hop between different Skills through the game, making her a great League Starter. However, one thing that Pathfinder scales much better than others is Poison damage.

Her Ascendancy doubles the amount of Poison you can inflict, and since it’s basically Chaos, it’s the best damage type you can start with. The guide will help you set up both campaign and early endgame setup for the Pathfinder build in Path of Exile 2.

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Poisonburst Pathfinder leveling setup in Path of Exile 2

Drop a Vine Arrow to slow down enemies and deal DoT (Image via GGG)

After escaping the execution, the game will hand you Lightning Arrow. Use it until you reach the Clearfell Encampment and pick up the Uncut Skill Gem from Renly. Use it for Poisonburst Arrow and make your way through Act 1. The next Gem you’ll need is Vine Arrow, and together, you have the OG LA Deadeye combo, but with Poison.

After you get a level 5 Gem, use it to get Toxic Growth for a wider AoE mobbing and boss damage. The Skill creates boils of Poison that explode when you hit them with Poisonburst Arrow. With your first Spirit Gem, you can either get Plague Bearer or Withering Presence. The former is to store damage and defend yourself while getting swarmed, and the latter is to debuff enemies to take extra Chaos damage.

• Poisonburst Arrow: Deadly Poison - Pierce - Magnified Area
• Vine Arrow: Prolonged Duration - Deliberation - Swift Affliction
• Toxic Growth: Deadly Poison - Concentrated Area - Long Fuse
• Withering Presence or Herald of Plague

With proper Support Gem setup, you should be able to complete the campaign without any issues. As you level up, you can also use Heral of Plague for more efficient mob clearing.

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Poisonburst Pathfinder build setup for mapping in Path of Exile 2

For running maps, you'll need a proper Support Gem setup (Image via GGG)

After completing the campaign, you’ll want to upgrade your build. For a Pathfinder build, all you need are a few Jeweller's Orbs to get your Support slots to at least four, and two more Skills in addition to the existing ones for more damage and defense. Here’s what the setup will look like:

• Poisonburst Arrow: Deadly Poison - Bursting Plague - Bleed - Fork
• Vine Arrow: Swift Affliction - Prolonged Duration - Deliberation
• Toxic Growth: Concentrated Area - Long Fuse - Deadly Poison - Heft
• Herald of Plague: Cannibalism - Chaos Mastery - Clarity
• Gas Arrow: Persistent Ground - Encroaching Ground - Deadly Poison - Prolonged Duration
• Wind Dancer: Knockback
• Herald of Blood: Bursting Plague - Bleed - Deadly Poison - Poison

Herald of Blood is great for spreading aggravated poison (Image via GGG)

The build remains the same for the most part, but now we’re using Gas Arrow to explode the boils formed by Toxic Growth. The other Skill is Herald of Blood, which deals Physical damage, turned into Bleed, turned into Poison Bleed by using Support Gems for even more effectiveness.

Wind Dancer is there for more Evasion as it’s the main form of defense for a Ranger in Path of Exile 2. You also have Deflection, but that’s only available on your gear. Other than that, the build remains the same.

Use Poisonburst Arrow in combination with Toxic Growth and Vine Arrow for mobbing and crowd control. Heralds will take care of the rest. For bossing, cover the room with Gas Arrow and spam Toxic Growth. The Poison damage from the gas will explode the boils, making the build a one-button spam.

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Best itemization choices for Pathfinder in Path of Exile 2

While you can finish the PoE2 campaign with the gear from vendors or a random drop, mapping is an entirely different experience. Your Resistances matter, and as a DEX character, you’ll want to stack as much Evasion as possible. Apart from that, the Range doesn’t have many sources of defense.

And for enemies whose attacks can’t be dodged, you’ll want to minimize the damage as much as possible through Deflection. Here are the gear recommendations and mods for Poisonburst Pathfinder in Path of Exile 2.

Plaguefinger is one of the best Uniques you can use for a Poison-based build. However, they aren’t cheap, so using rare gloves is the way to go while starting. Such is the case with body armor, as Hyrri's Ire is the best in slot, but extremely expensive due to its ability to double Evasion if you haven’t been hit recently.

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Best Skill tree setup for Poisonburst Pathfinder in Path of Exile 2

Passive tree setup for Pathfinder in PoE 2 (Image via PoB || GGG)

The passive tree is all about increasing your damage with Poison, along with a few defensive nodes. Start by picking up Stacking Toxins and Lasting Toxins on the tree. If you feel squishy, make your way towards Toxic Tolerance. It will grant you immunity to Poinst and also contains multiple damage nodes. You’ll also want to improve your Critical Hit Rate through nodes like Heart Stopping and Struck Through.

As for the Ascendancies, you’ll want to get Overwhelming Toxicity, Relentless Pursuit, Running Assault, and Path Seeker (for additional passive points). If you’re planning to zoom through the campaign, prioritize getting Running Assault, as it grants immunity to knockdown while sprinting.

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Check out other related guides and features:

• Path of Exile 2: Disciple of Varashta leveling build guide
• Path of Exile 2: Every bonus Passive Skill Point source in the campaign
• 5 Unique build techs that opened up with Path of Exile 2 League 0.4

Edited by Mayank Singh Rathour