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PoE 2 Build

#1 CROSSBOW - Witchhunter Galvanic Shards - Bigdaddies EA Starter

Mercenary

Witchhunter

Verified

Featured

Starter

End Game

By BigDaddy Gaming

Updated on Dec 22, 2024

Dec 22, 2024

Build Overview

My build for EA start! Easy to gear and very cheap. Will be easy to start this with minimal gear and push all the way to T15 maps.

I didn't wanna play grenade since there's too many buttons and the damage is delayed. Instant dmg definitely feels a lot better for me.

Galvanic Shards : this will be your clear skill and since it shotguns it does decent damage to rare mobs.

Shockburst Rounds when when targets are shocked
Stormcaller Arrow Use to apply shock to bosses

WATCH! Build UPDATE!
https://youtu.be/FTf3QYDqrbw

Other Vids/League Start vids
Build Guide 1: https://youtu.be/yfMgD-gYXc4
Build Guide 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0f8YwEi7KI
Build Guide 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7D9lWgnJJBg

Build Variants

Armour

Hyrbid

Low Level

Tanky Ver (WiP)

Old Ver

Starter build that doesn't need expensive anoints etc. the pure armour variant uses evasion bases since General's Bindings gives some extra armour. In the end we convert the evasion to armour with Iron Reflexes.

If you already have pure armour bases then dont worry, you do not need to swap for the build to work! Evasion bases will be a minor armour increase.

Read Gearing section!

Armour Variant

Select another Variant

Equipment

Set 1

Set 2

Weapon:
get a bow with High PDPS or hybrid Phys and flat lightning. A fast attack speed and low reload time is important too. I used a 350 DPS weapon till T13 Maps, then dmg started to feel a bit bad. recommend 500 DPS+ weapon for T13+ maps.

Armour Type:
Gloves should be pure armour base, rest pure eva or hybrid armour eva due to General's Bindings. If you already have pure armour bases then dont worry, you do not need to swap for the build to work! Evasion bases will be a minor armour increase.
In some cases, due to the scarcity of well rolled items, you may find pure armour or hybrid armour eva bases with the stats you need. These are totally fine to use as well! (im still using a pure armour base helm :))

GLOVES
You can still use Kitoko's Current if you want, even after nerf it is good. you will lose lots of shield tho. If you use this then no need for the Leather Bound Gauntlets and Iron Reflexes nodes. instead get Electrocution.

Rings:
Try to find gear with added lightning damage if not then phys is ok. added fire or cold not so good due to support gem setup. Some good uniques are Death Rush and Blackheart . (these are not mandatory!)

Amulet Anoint:
Ideally you will anoint Wild Storm when you get a GG amulet as it is quite expensive and remove that whole top area. Until then use cheap anoints like Unbound Forces, Essence of the Storm, Honed Instincts or another cheap notable.

Important! you need at least 35 Spirit to reserve your auras. You can get it on amulet or body armour.

If its hard to get spirit, skip cast on shock setup and only cast Voltaic Mark on bosses.

Armour Variant

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Skill Gems

Support Gem Requirements:

Str 50

Dex 45

Int 30

Crossbow Shot

Item

Galvanic Shards

Shockburst Rounds

Stormcaller Arrow

Emergency Reload

Herald of Thunder

Cast on Shock

Ripwire Ballista

Sorcery Ward

Act 1 - early Act2 setup

Use High Velocity Rounds , Explosive Grenade and Flash Grenade (Gas Grenade when you get it too)

Boss killing setup: High Velocity Rounds - Double Barrel - Scattershot
Early Clear Setup: Explosive Grenade - Scattershot - Fast Forward

You can only have 1 of the same support gem so swap gem depending on what your doing.

around mid act 2 when you can get lucky lightning damage on the passive tree you can swap to full Galvanic Shards setup. (the one in the planner)

Act 3 setup

Galvanic Shards can shotgun but on small bosses etc this might not happen all the time. So we will use 2 ammunition types.

High Velocity Rounds : Small hitbox bosses or bosses that are hard to get close enough

Galvanic Shards : Clearing / Big hitbox bosses

Armour Variant

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Passive Tree

main:

122

set 1:

set 2:

Early game, use grenades and take grenade passives such as the Grenadier cluster and Volatile Grenades. respec when you can get the lucky lightning damage node (Lightning Rod ). check build guide video for how I leveled!

after that, fill in the damage nodes near bottom and head to left side for Resolute Technique and Heatproofing.
next go right side for Catalysis, Electrocution and finally Wild Storm.

Attributes
1. STR/DEX cap for weapons and gems
2. INT for cast on shock and conductivity
3. rest goes into STR

Jewel stats (listed in my order of importance, you can only have 4 mods so choose carefully :)
max res, Shock or Ailment magnitude, Attackspeed, Crossbow Attackspeed, Reload Speed, armour, attack damage, lightning damage, other damage types, shock or ailment chance, Lightning pen

What about crit???
well, this should be the LAST thing you upgrade. After all other damage options are gone, then go crit.
You will need to fix accuracy and a lot of gear needs to be made for crit so imo, not even worth tbh. Lucky lightning damage is insane and you won't get any accuracy penalty at distance (90% btw). also evade mobs are not a problem :)

How it Plays

Mapping
Spam Galvanic Shards for most content.

Rare mob combo
In general your Galvanic Shards should proc shock on rare mobs pretty quickly. after that swap to Shockburst Rounds and blast em down. if they are very tanky, then use Emergency Reload for a big damage boost.

Bossing
use Stormcaller Arrow to proc shock, then swap to Shockburst Rounds with Emergency Reload to burst em down. repeat. (optional: use Ripwire Ballista before boss spawns to gain some rage)

How it Works

Galvanic Shards has good clear with lots of coverage coming from chains and forks. We also have explode for more clear!

Shockburst Rounds has insane single target but requires the target to be shocked. We apply consistent shocks with Stormcaller Arrow

Older versions of the build used High Velocity Rounds to proc shocks and electrocute! this skills is very fun tbh and is extremely good in sanctum for sniping mobs before they can see you!

Changelog

2024-12-19: added weapon swap for starter build! Also added pure armour and hybrid gearing variants! (the pure armour variant has been changed to use evasion bases due to General's Bindings.)

2024-12-19: added weapon swap nodes now! swap 1 (red) is for xbow.