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PoE 2 Build

[0.5] Gas Grenade Pathfinder

presentationRanger
presentationPathfinder
Starter
End Game
0.5 RotA
Verified
Updated on Jun 10, 2026
Jun 10, 2026

Build Overview

0.5 Update Changes:

  • The Overwhelming Toxicity Notable Passive Skill now grants 50% less Poison Duration (previously 35%).
  • The Running Assault Notable Passive Skill now grants 30% less Movement Speed Penalty from using Skills while moving (previously 50%).
  • The Plaguefinger Unique Gloves now have Cannot inflict Elemental Ailments.
  • All crafted modifiers are now guaranteed, but items can only have 1 crafted modifier at a time. Desecrated modifiers no longer count as crafted modifiers, but items are limited to 1 Desecrated modifier.
  • Ghost Dance: The interval between gaining Ghost Shrouds is no longer a duration. It now has "Modifiers to Cooldown Recovery Rate also apply to Ghost Shroud gain frequency". It also now has "When Hit, lose a Ghost Shroud", and "Regenerate Energy Shield equal to 2% of your Evasion Rating per second if you have lost a Ghost Shroud Recently". Now Gains a Ghost Shroud every 11.7-10.1 seconds at Gem levels 4-20 (previously 7.6-6.1)

The less Poison Duration change isn't as impactful for Gas Grenade as it is for a lot of other Poison-based Skills, as we're still able to easily maintain max stacks on single target by simply stacking overlapping Poison clouds. Plaguefinger change is completely irrelevant as we didn't inflict Elemental Ailments (due to use of Elemental Focus support for bossing). The biggest nerf to this build is defensively via changes to Ghost Dance and general Energy Shield Recovery, but the Deflection formula was adjusted and should be worth the investment on hybrid builds now. Overall still functional, and no direct nerfs to Grenades so you'll still be able to melt bosses.

Overview:

Standard Pathfinder Poison-stacking setup utilising Gas Grenade & Plaguefinger. Great at farming Simulacrum, Ritual, Overrun Abyss Maps & Pinnacle Bosses where you can pre-stack clouds to fish for high damage/crit.

Mechanics Overview

Gas Grenade creates Poison Clouds, area ground surfaces that constantly apply Poison to Monsters within and grow in area over time. When combined with Herald of Plague, this build is easily able to clear large packs of Monsters. The Pathfinder's Overwhelming Toxicity doubles the amount of Poison stacks, helping to solve single target Damage.

Main Combo

The playstyle is very straightforward, just drop Gas Grenade to apply proliferating Poison to Monsters. Against tanky targets, use Despair followed by Toxic Domain, then stack Gas Grenade Poison Clouds on the mob.

Supporting Skills & Defences

Herald of Plague is used to provide Poison proliferation, allowing for smoother map clear. Despair will lower Monster Chaos Resistance, making them take more Chaos Damage from Poison. Withering Presence applies Wither to nearby Monsters, making them take increased Chaos Damage. Toxic Domain provides an additional single-target damage boost. On single target/bosses, you can also place down Dark Effigy to inflict extra stacks of Critical Weakness.

This build invests into both Evasion and Energy Shield, making use of Wind Dancer and Ghost Dance for a fairly stock-standard defensive setup for a build on the right-hand side of the Passive Skill Tree.

Ascendancy Progression:

Overwhelming Toxicity > Path Seeker > Relentless Pursuit > Running Assault

Campaign Quest Bonus Choices

  • Act 2 Ancient Vows Quest: 30% increased Charm Charges gained
  • Act 3 Corpse-snake Venom: 25% increased Stun Threshold
  • Act 4 Blank Tattoos: +5 Dexterity, +5 Strength, +5 Intelligence
  • Act 4 Goddess of Justice: 30% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
  • Act 4 Shark Fin: 30% increased Armour, Evasion, and Energy Shield
  • Interlude Seven Pillars: +5% to Elemental Resistances or +5 to all Attributes (replace with 3% increased Movement Speed when Resistances/Attributes are solved in late game)

Videos:

Build Showcase(0.3):

Build Updates(0.3):

See FAQ below for more information.

Strengths and Weaknesses

  • Good clearing with Herald of Plague
  • Good damage after ramping
  • Good defences with gear
  • Delayed Damage (Grenade Fuse)
  • Not the fastest mapper

Build Variants

Equipment

item
4
item
9
item
7
item
5
item
8
item
10
item
3
item
11
item
6
item
item
item
item
item
Equipment Priority
+11

Note: Attributes and Resistances shown on the gear above are examples, they don't need to be exact. Focus on capping your Elemental Resistances first, then Chaos Resistance.

Gear information:

  • Siege Crossbow with high tier flat added Elemental Damage, increased Elemental Damage with Attacks OR increased Grenade Damage, added Projectile/Attack Gem Levels and flat added Critical Hit Chance modifiers
  • Plaguefinger (look for Corruption +1 Socket)
  • Pure Energy Shield Helmet with high total Energy Shield
  • Boots with good Movement Speed
  • Rings with as much flat damage as you can get
  • Amulet with Attributes for gearing requirements, +Projectile gems levels, Anoint Overwhelming Strike
  • Cursecarver (Despair) and Effigy of Cruelty (3 Stacks of Crit Weakness) for your offhand weapon set
  • Other gear & sockets: prioritize EVA/ES bases with Defence Prefixes and focus on capping Resistances
  • Jewels: look for Sapphires with a combination of 'increased Magnitude of Ailments you inflict', 'increased maximum Energy Shield', 'increased Critical Hit Chance', 'increased Critical Damage Bonus', 'Damaging Ailments deal damage faster' etc.
  • As much 'increased Rarity of items found' as possible on any slot where you can fit it in (don't exceed 150%)
  • Use a normal Life Flask instead of Blood of the Warrior before you have a good amount of Energy Shield, as this Flask provides very low Life recovery and relies on Energy Shield to absorb Damage and recharge

Endgame Upgrades

  • Prism of Belief Gas Grenade levels
  • From Nothing (Chaos Inoculation) to allocate Pure Chaos and Wither Away
  • Exceptional Plaguefinger corrupted for 3 sockets

Skill Gems

Support Gem Requirements:

Str 40

Dex 35

Int 40

1

Gas Grenade

supportarakaalislustplayer
supportdeadlypoisonplayertwo
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2

Ghost Dance

supportcooldownrecoveryplayertwo
3

Wind Dancer

supportblindplayertwo
supportmaimplayer
supportmagnifiedareaplayertwo
4

Herald of Plague

supportclarityplayertwo
5

Despair

supportcurseeffectplayer
prolongeddurationsupportplayertwo
supportefficiencyplayertwo
supportcursedgroundplayer
6

Withering Presence

prolongeddurationsupportplayertwo
7

Toxic Domain

supportescalatingpoisonplayer
supportdeadlypoisonplayertwo
supportlongfuseplayertwo
supportchaosmasteryplayer
8

Dark Effigy

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Gem Priority
+22

Support gem swap for bossing:

In 0.3 you'll no longer be able to use 2 copies of the same Skill gem outside of Meta Skills, therefore we'll swap a few gems for static boss encounters (Xesht, Arbiter etc.)

  • Gas Grenade: Swap Encroaching Ground for Elemental Focus

Weapon Sets:

  • Gas Grenade and Toxic Domain should be linked to your 1st weapon set
  • Despair and Dark Effigy linked to your 2nd weapon set

Passive Tree

main:
123
123
set 1:
20
20
set 2:
20
20

After 3rd Ascension Section:

Focus on filling out defensive nodes immediately following the 3rd Ascension tree. Take Immaterial and Shimmering first, then path to Mindful Awareness. If you have a high Energy Shield helmet you can take Subterfuge Mask mask before these nodes, otherwise take it after.

Once you've filled out the defensive nodes, you want to begin to focus on splashing into Critical Hit scaling. Take the Struck Through wheel first, then Moment of Truth and True Strike. If you have Mana issues at any time, make sure you prioritize getting Conservative Casting.

Quest Rewards

Check which quests you’ve completed on your character
Clearfell — Beira of the Rotten Pack
Not Specified1 choice
Hunting Grounds — The Crowbell
Not Specified1 choice
Freythorn — The King in the Mists
Not Specified1 choice
Ogham Farmlands — Una's Hut
Not Specified1 choice
Ogham Manor — Candlemass, the Living Rite
Not Specified1 choice
Keth — Kabala, Constrictor Queen
Not Specified1 choice
Valley of the Titans — Medallion
Not Specified2 choices
Deshar — Final Letter
Not Specified1 choice
The Spires of Deshar — Sisters of Garukhan
Not Specified1 choice
Jungle Ruins — Mighty Silverfist
Not Specified1 choice
The Venom Crypts — Venom Draught
Not Specified3 choices
Jiquani's Machinarium — Blackjaw, the Remnant
Not Specified1 choice
The Azak Bog — Ignagduk, the Bog Witch
Not Specified1 choice
The Molten Vault — The Molten Vault
Not Specified1 choice
Aggorat — Blood Sacrifice
Not Specified1 choice
Journey's End — Captain Hartlin
Not Specified1 choice
Eye of Hinekora — Navali's Rest
Not Specified1 choice
Halls of the Dead — Yama The White
Not Specified1 choice
Halls of the Dead — Tawhoa's Test
Not Specified2 choices
Abandoned Prison — Goddess of Justice
Not Specified2 choices
Halls of the Dead — Tasalio's Test
Not Specified2 choices
Halls of the Dead — Ngamahu's Test
Not Specified2 choices
Wolvenhold — Oswin, the Dread Warden
Not Specified1 choice
The Khari Crossing — Akthi and Anundr
Not Specified1 choice
The Khari Crossing — Molten Shrine
Not Specified1 choice
Qimah — Tabana's Pillar
Not Specified7 choices
Kriar Village — Lythara, the Wayward Spear
Not Specified1 choice
Howling Caves — The Abominable Yeti
Not Specified1 choice

FAQ

Q: Why Gas Grenade over Gas Arrow?

A: Gas Grenade has significantly higher effective damage for inflicted poisons (almost 3x).

Q: My chance to hit is low, why no accuracy scaling?

A: Gas Grenade's Poison Cloud bypasses the chance to hit calculation, it does not need Accuracy.

Q: Why no Escalating Poisons Support for extra poison stacks?

A: The support makes it harder to maintain maximum Poison stacks, and scaling damage for the existing stacks is more comfortable. We do utilise the support in our Toxic Domain link for single target.

Q: Does Crit actually work on Gas Grenade's Poison Cloud?

A: Yes, as of 0.3 it does.

Changelog

  • 28/08/25 - First draft
  • 29/08/25 - Build posted
  • 30/08/25 - Updated for new tree & support gems
  • 31/08/25 - Updated endgame tree pathing(no longer taking Spectral Ward), updated gems
  • 01/09/25 - Added new 3rd Ascension section, updated endgame gear, added Toxic Domain
  • 02/09/25 - Added new Endgame Crit variant, updated gems (Arakaali's Lust)
  • 07/09/25 - Updated for final changes & tweaks to gems, gear etc.
  • 12/09/25 - Updated sections to consolidate Endgame crit and non-crit versions into a single version with crit splash (my current setup)
  • 07/12/25 - Updated for 0.4 changes (see top of guide)
  • 26/02/26 - Guide cleanup for end of 0.4
  • 29/04/26 - Prep for 0.5

Video Guide

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