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PoE 2 Build

FrostFerno Witch Hunter

presentationMercenary
presentationWitchhunter
Starter
FearlessDumb0
Updated on Dec 12, 2024
Dec 12, 2024

Build Overview

WitchHunter is extremely strong with Grenades and Ignite has absurd multi-ailment synergies so lets abuse them.

The Endgame goal is to take advantage of Frostfire in a 6L setup, but we're not quite there yet I'm currently level 83 and still on a 5L. Completely deletes everything even on a 4L once you can equip Gas Grenade which so far has been the main source of Fire damage.

Extremely good mapping. Extremely good boss damage. Login.

Equipment

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Early Campaign

Your weapon will be the most important upgrade to look for. Prioritize flat damage of any type. Physical rolls will be the most important as your skills themselves do a lot of conversion.

Late Campaign / Maps

Flat Physical Damage and %Increased Physical Damage are by far the most important. Flat Fire Damage is a plus, and Attack Speed is always helpful as it improves your Reload Speed.


For defenses make sure you are regularly updating the Base Type of your gear, look for pure Armour bases on Gloves (to take best use of Leather Bound Gauntlets at the bottom of the tree which gives 1 evasion per 1 armour node on passive tree) and Armour/Evasion hybrid everywhere else.

Skill Gems

Crossbow Shot

Item

Crossbow Shot

Gas Grenade

Gas Grenade
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Oil Grenade

Oil Grenade
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Flash Grenade

Flash Grenade
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Voltaic Grenade

Voltaic Grenade
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Ripwire Ballista

Ripwire Ballista
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Leveling Links
High Velocity Rounds ~ Double Barrel ~ Scattershot

Flash Grenade ~ Second Wind

Galvanic Shards ~ Pierce ~ Lightning Infusion

Ripwire Ballista ~ Brutality ~ Lockdown

Act 1

Leveling will be using High Velocity Rounds and Flash Grenade for single target, and Galvanic Shards with Lightning Infusion and Pierce for clear. Look for weapons with lots of Flat Damage and prioritize that as an upgrade.


Act 2

You are able to get Explosive Shot at level 22, which opens up the door to detonate Explosive Grenade. I found it to be slower than the leveling setup at least through A3, but can provide a big bang if you need it and worth keeping in a secondary set of gem sockets.

I've found that once getting Voltaic Grenade it's worth switching out of Flash and adding Second Wind as a support. This gives 6x per volley and reliably shocks, boosting the damage of my other skills.

Once we get a Spirit skill I've socketed Herald of Thunder for the time being since I have primarily done Shock damage.


Act 3

I've added Gas Grenade with Corrosion to the rotation to provide some armour break and generic degen to the rotation when using High Velocity Rounds which deal a lot of physical damage. If you feel like you need more single target, you can use the Gas Grenade setup below


Cruel Act 1-3 into Maps

For single target use a 3 Grenade rotation which absolutely deletes everything.

1. Oil Grenade ~ Magnified Effect ~ Persistence

2. Explosive Shot ~ Nimble Reload ~ Fire Penetration

3. Gas Grenade ~ Scattershot ~ Fire Penetration -OR- Primal Armament ~ Fire Infusion


The rotation is drop an Oil Grenade to inflict exposure / slow the boss and apply -20 Fire Resistance. Then ignite the oil, anything will do. It works with Explosive Grenade / Explosive Shot or if you are feeling spicy Flame Wall (can be from a party member). Once ignited, blast the boss with as many Gas Grenade's as you can as fast as possible, then repeat.

I still keep High Velocity Rounds on standby for the last chunk of health or if my mana gets low.

If you have some extra currency buy a Radiant Grief which will remove the need to ignite the enemy first and turn this into a one-button explode setup. See the video for an explanation.

Maps

Grenades have felt amazing, still going with these until I have enough passive points to invest into a freeze setup to go Frostfire. You REALLY want to prioritize defense. Take Wind Dancer along with Herald of Ash, support them with Clarity and Vitality . More info on mapping setup in a new video soon.

POST-Nerf

They are still giga-strong, the nerf was very mild. I'm still deleting everything in T12 maps with Gas Grenade. See the video in the sidebar for a side-by-side comparison of before and after with the same gear and passive tree.

5L Setup

Get Inspiration as it hard carries mana requirements. If you can get a Radiant Grief it turns into a one-button build (thanks Palsteron!). With the hat you can trade one of the Fire supports from the 4L setup above for Immolate .

Gas Grenade ~ Scattershot ~ Immolate ~ Primal Armament ~ Inspiration

Endgame (theoretical, requires testing when we get there)

Once you get a good Crossbow that has some combination of Flat Physical Damage, Increased % Physical Damage, and Flat Fire Damage you should probably go Ignite. I'm going to wait to get at least one Ailment wheel before I fully commit to Ignite.

Switch into Herald of Ash and Wind Dancer

Explosive Grenade just got a HUGE buff in 80% implicit Physical to Fire on release and should give us big Ignites on rares/bosses and provide good clear. Depending on how things go the primary damage dealer might also be Gas Grenade

We'll be taking Permafrost Bolts to push hard into Freezing, then once we Freeze them we drop a huge Ignite on them with Explosive Grenade

There are a couple supports missing from above and I'll add them as they come online in the planner, but include Hypothermia and Biting Cold to Permafrost Bolts.

I'll keep this updated (as well as daily video updates at @FearlessDumb0 on youtube) as we go

Passive Tree

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set 2:
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PASSIVE TREE ABOVE IS LEVEL 80, READ NOTES


A1-A3

Prioritize Instant Reload FIRST. Reload Speed will do the most to make this playstyle feel good.

In A3 once you have Gas Grenade you can start prioritizing Grenade passives like Grenadier , Cluster Bombs , Volatile Grenades , and Repeating Explosives.

Cooldown Recovery Rate is a huge damage increase as it will allow you to spam grenades, prioritize that over almost everything else on the passive tree.

First Ascendency

Take Zealous Inquisition , it's unbelievably good and the campaign maps will get more difficult starting in A3.


Second Ascendency

Take Pitiless Killer, Culling feels amazing mapping and you should be deleting bosses with Gas Grenade. Once you get into maps you will very rarely see bosses, so prioritize mapping comfort first.

A3 Venom Choice

Take Mana Regeneration. Trust me, this is the best one by far.

Cruel A4-A6

Once you are comfortable with your grenade package, you can add damage with Incendiary and Smoke Inhalation. Careful with Smoke Inhalation + Forces of Nature and not also socketing Fire Penetration. Too much and you'll hit 0 monster resistance and it won't benefit you.

Cruel A6 Venom Choice

Take Chaos Resistance. It's extremely scarce and the other choices are easy to get.

Once you have Radiant Grief

You can drop Instant Reload and recover the points for something else.

Maps

Defense is crucial in maps. Stack as much Armour and Evasion as you can find, and get a big pair of Armour gloves and take Leather Bound Gauntlets and General's Bindings.

Backup Plan on the tree is also fantastic and should be a staple in any hybrid Armour/Evasion setup

Take all the armour nodes left of the main trunk like Devastation and Sturdy Metal last

Third Ascendency

If you want more Offence, take Judge, Jury, and Executioner , if you want more defense make sure you have a decent Armour/Evasion pool and go Obsessive Rituals . I'm taking Obsessive Rituals, currently in late maps. Keep in mind that Judge, Jury, and Executioner likely doesn't work with Radiant Grief because it will tick down their health very slightly.


Endgame

I will keep updating this as I make more progress into endgame, currently pushing T14s

How it Plays

Without Radiant Grief

While mapping, throw Gas Grenade and blow it up with Explosive Shot . Easy peasy.

If you come across a beefy enemy, FIRST use Oil Grenade , then Explosive Shot to ignite and debuff, then Gas Grenade Gas Grenade Gas Grenade Gas Grenade until the ignite wears off and repeat if they aren't already dead.

With Radiant Grief

Run around and throw Gas Grenade . Watch everything die.

For beefier enemies, throw Oil Grenade first, then Gas Grenade



Endgame Theory (will update as we get there)

For bossing or large rares, lean on Permafrost Bolts to Freeze them first, getting the full bonus from FrostFire. Then drop some Explosive Grenade or Gas Grenade and either wait for the Fuse or hit them with a Detonator skill that does NOT have a consume Freeze support on it. Frostfire provides a fat ignite and the boss goes boom.

How it Works

Gas Grenade and Explosive Grenade hitting ignited enemies enables for Area of Effect shotgunning and big damage. See accompanying video for a mechanical explanation.

Video Guide

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