Lately I've been messing around with Mercenary in PoE 2's endgame, and it's wild how quickly it goes from "just shoot stuff" to "okay, this is a whole system." Once you start planning around grenades, fuse timings, and crossbow choice, the build stops being a pile of buttons and starts feeling like a rhythm. A lot of players I run into end up tweaking gear and resources early, especially when they're hunting PoE 2 Currency to keep upgrades moving without stalling their map pace.

Witchhunter and the Spirit Puzzle

If you're aiming for that popular Explosive Shot style, Witchhunter is still the easy sell. The damage loop is simple in theory: land a big shot, set off grenade chains, and let the screen pop. In practice, Spirit management is the part that can make you sigh. Those aura-like skills feel amazing when they're up, but if your gear can't hold the cost, you're constantly re-adjusting. The fix usually isn't flashy—better sockets, a cleaner passive path, and not wasting affixes on stuff you don't actually scale. Do that, and the build suddenly feels smooth in tiered maps.

Tactician for Fast Detonations

Tactician plays like it's got somewhere to be. People love it for Explosive Shot because it can force detonations on demand, which is perfect when Delirium fog rolls in and you're boxed in from every angle. The big limiter is how many support sockets you've managed to cram into your kit. More links means more multipliers, and that's not a small difference—it's the line between "kinda works" and "everything evaporates." It also rewards good habits: stutter-step, pre-place grenades, and don't stand still pretending armour will save you.

Other Lanes: Precision, Control, and Staying Alive

Not everyone wants nonstop explosions, and Mercenary's got options. Armour Piercing Sniper setups lean into clean projectile damage, and you can feel the control when you line up shots instead of spraying. Frost Trapper is another one—slower, sure, but crowd control buys you time, and time is damage in disguise. Then there's Gemling Legionnaire, the "I'd rather live" pick, often stacking Strength and leaning on fire tools like Gas Grenades to grind bosses down. A lot of folks swap into these later, around level 80 to 90, when attributes and gear finally stop fighting the gem plan, and when you're ready to buy Exalted Orb for that one upgrade that makes the whole setup click.