In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put togetherthe Toxic Ranger buildfor you to use to get into the late-game or end-game of the game.Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount of skills and build possibilities available in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensive skill tree and multitude of skill gems. This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of the campaign and prepare for your cruel playthroughs or endgame.
Introduction
The Toxic Rangeris a ranged build using the bow, where we will be taking advantage of our poison skills to take down our enemies. And for this build, we will be focusing on maximizing the effectiveness of our poisons and increasing our projectile attacks, maximizing both our damage and attack speed when using the bow.
Starter Class
For this build, we will be starting withthe Ranger class, which is one of the seven available for now.
At the time and on the expansive skill tree,the Huntress classwill start on the southeast side, similar tothe Huntress.This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related to Evasion, attack speed, and flat increases in projectile damage, which we will be investing our points in to bring out the damage potential when using the bow.
Passive Skill Tree
For the progression through the passive skill tree, we will be looking to maximize our damage output, and as such, we will go down the offensive pathway. We’ll be prioritizing the attack speed nodes of the offensive route, moving through theHoned InstinctsandClean Shotnodes.
Next, we’ll head directly down the southeastern axis to reach the first of the core clusters that greatly improve the effectiveness of bow usage—Master Fletchingand its related nodes.
These enhance the bonus effects gained from quivers and boost our damage output, fully capitalizing on the bow as our primary weapon.
From there, we’ll branch off toward the nearbyPrecision Salvopassive node.
This group enhances ourattack speed,accuracy rating, andprojectile speed, all of which contribute to increased overall DPS for the build.
Moving north, we’ll invest in a key passive cluster centered around poison effects.
This includes theCrippling Toxinsnode and its companions, which extend thedurationandintensityof poisons.
Crippling Toxinsalso inflictmaimon targets, slowing and damaging them simultaneously.
We’ll proceed by investing in a second poison-focused node group that increases thenumber of poison stackswe can apply, as well as theirdurationandmagnitude.
These enhancements boost our poison damage over time, adding significant power to our sustained DPS.
Once the poison nodes are in place, we’ll target a second quiver-oriented passive cluster that includes theWrapped Quivernode.
It’s important to note that not all related nodes need to be taken—some grant increased arrow speed while others reduce it, and taking both would negate the effect. Choose selectively for optimal synergy.
After this, we’ll focus on theFalcon Techniquenode.
Investing here grants a strong boost to attack speed by scaling directly from ourDexteritystat. This branch alone grants a 6% flat increase to attack speed and +15 Dexterity—both of which help scale our bow damage effectively into the endgame.
Continuing onward, we’ll path toward the outer ring of the skill tree to unlock theBow passive cluster.This powerful group provides significant increases inbow damage,attack speed,accuracy, andcritical strike damage. It also enables passiveprojectile piercing, making it easier to clear large enemy groups.
These clusters form the foundation of theToxic Rangerbuild, enabling high DPS through efficient bow-based combat.
The build can further scale through investments inattack speed,projectile damage, andcritical chance, offering the potential to evolve into a pure glass-cannon DPS archetype with high crit reliability.
For ourAscendancy, we’ll choose thePathfindersubclass.
This grants access toContagious Contamination, which causes poison from defeated enemies to spread to nearby foes within 1.5 meters. We’ll also takeOverwhelming Toxicity, which doubles the number of poison stacks applied to enemies, drastically amplifying our overall damage output.
Active Skills Setup
With our active skills, the first skill we will be using is thePoisonburst Arrows.
This skill shoots an arrow that will explode into a poison burst upon impact, afflicting every enemy in range, and is our main tool with this build.
Next, we will be using theVine Arrow Shot.
This will shoot down an arrow that will cause a toxic plant to grow, which will sprout vines that damage and slow down all enemies in range, making it a great tool for crowd control and inflicting consistent damage.
Following this, we gain access to theToxic Growthbow skill, which will cause us to jump back and shoot down multiple pods that will explode after a short period, making it a good tool for both escaping and damaging mobs.
One of the utility skills that will allow us to deal burst damage is theBarrageskill.
This skill empowers our arrow shots to fire an additional two times, allowing us to deal a huge amount of damage within a short amount of time when combined with the Poisonburst Arrows.
For our next skill, we will be using theGas Arrowskill.
This shot allows us to fire a gas cloud that will poison any enemy entering it upon contact, even though the arrow does not deal much damage on impact. The gas cloud can also be exploded with fire damage, making it possible to deal additional AoE damage.
Another skill we will be using isRain of Arrows.
Although this skill does not inherently poison targets, it will rain down arrows over a large area, dealing significant damage.
For our last active skill, we will be usingTornado Shot.
This arrow whips up a tornado upon impact that deals physical damage and hinders enemies over time. In addition to this, our other arrows—such asPoisonburst or Gas Arrows—shot into the tornado will cause it to fire off a nova of the same arrows, allowing us to clear massive mobs efficiently.
Spirit Gems
For our spirit gem skill, we will be using thePlague Bearerspirit gem.
This grants access to thePoison Novaskill, which releases a damaging burst of poison upon casting. By storing poison damage we inflict up to 100%, we can maximize the output of Poison Nova.
We will also be using theWind Dancerspirit gem for this build, as it gives us increased evasion while charges are active, in addition to knockback from the Galeforce when attacked. Although it doesn’t seem significant at first, these wind charges greatly enhance survivability when surrounded by enemies.
Support Gems
With our support gems, we will be aiming to maximize the spread of our poison and, in turn, our damage output with our poisons.
First, with our Poisonburst Arrows, we will be using theCorrosionand theComorbiditysupport gems.
The Corrosion support gemwill make it so that the poison we inflict with ourPoisonburst Arrowswill also break armor on our targets, which in turn increases the physical damage taken from other arrows.The Comorbidity support gem increases the amount of poisons we can apply to a target simultaneously, hastening the armor-breaking effect as well as increasing the damage output.
With our Vine Arrow skill, we will be slotting in theEncumbranceand theMagnified Effectsupport gems.
The Encumbrance support gem will increase the amount of slow the vines sprouted from the plant will inflict, increasing its crowd-controlling value, while the Magnified Effect support gem will increase the area of effect of both the slow and the damage of the skill.
Regarding our Toxic Growth skill, we will be using theSwift Afflictionand theExpeditesupport gems.
The Swift Affliction support gemwill allow the explosion to deal 30% more damage over time at the cost of reduced duration.
The Expedite support gemwill shorten the duration of the time needed for the toxic pustules to explode, making it easier and more reliable to use for dealing damage.
For our utility skill, Barrage, we will use theIngenuityand theInspirationsupport gems.
The Ingenuity support gem will shorten the cooldown of our buffing skill, allowing us to barrage more frequently, and the Inspiration gem will reduce the mana cost of our Barrage skill, helping with mana management when spamming our arrow shots.
With our Gas Arrow skill, we will be using theBursting Plagueand theLaceratesupport gems.
The Bursting Plague gemwill cause poisoned enemies from the cloud to gain Plague, which will explode in aPlague Burstupon death, dealing physical damage to all enemies within 1.8 meters.
The Lacerate gemwill add to the damage over time by adding bleeding to all enemies that are hit and poisoned usingthe Gas Arrow.
Regarding our Rain of Arrows skill, we will be using theRuthlessand theEnvenomsupport gems.
Since the skill deals multiple hits per use,the Ruthless gemwill greatly enhance the stun buildup—especially against bosses, where we use our skills multiple times.
The Envenom gemwill allowRain of Arrowsto poison enemies, ensuring that we poison our targets with all the skills in our arsenal.
For our Tornado Shot, we will be using thePersistencesupport gem, which will increase the tornado’s duration by 40%, making it easier to wipe out mobs of enemies with a single rotation of our spells.
We will also be using theOverabundancesupport gem, which allows us to summon two tornados at once, helping us cover more area using the various novas of arrows we can trigger with each tornado.
For our first spirit gem skill, Plague Bearer, we will be slotting in theExpanseand theUnleashsupport gems.
The Expanse gemwill increase the area of effect by 50% at the cost of an 8-second cooldown. Since we won’t be using the spell repeatedly and instead building it up to 100% by storing poison, the added cooldown works well by syncing the spell’s rotation to a timer.
The Unleash support gemmakes the nova echo for every seal we have upon casting, and because of the 8-second cooldown, the seals will be fully recharged before we recast the spell—making this combo ideal for maximizing damage output.
With our Wind Dancer passive spirit skill, we will be usingtheClarityand theVitalitysupport gems.
The Clarity gemwill increase mana regeneration while active, andthe Vitality gemwill increase life regeneration—both supporting sustain during mapping and boss fights. The only downside is that these gems require additional spirit reserve to slot in, so they won’t be available until later in the game.
The combination of these support gems with their corresponding skills greatly increases this build’s overall efficiency and enhances performance throughout the playthrough.
Gears and Equipment
ThisToxic Rangerbuild doesnot require any specific Uniquesto perform well. It can function effectively with solid yellow rare gear. Among available bows, theDualstring Bowstands out as one of the best options—it allows us tofire an additional arrowwith all of our skills, significantly increasing both area coverage and total damage output.
When assembling your gear, prioritize items that offerbonuses to physical damage, as many of our bow skills scale directly with physical damage. Quivers are also incredibly important for this build, as we’ve invested in passive nodes thatamplify quiver bonuses.
If you’re using aFire Quiver, you’ll be able toignite and detonatethe gas clouds from yourGas Arrowshots without needing an additional fire source. Alternatively, you could equip aFire Infusionmod on regular arrows to trigger these explosions, allowing flexibility in quiver types while maintaining synergy with your skill setup.
Leveling Guide
This build excels at clearinggroups of enemies, especially during the leveling phase.PoisonburstandVine Arrowskills will carry you effectively through most early- and mid-game content.
As you level, make sure to invest in1–3 Strength and Intelligence nodes. This allows you to equip more support gems that scale with those stats and slightly increases yourmaximum life and mana pools, helping with survivability and sustained skill usage.
You won’t need to heavily optimize gear early on—just look for decent physical damage bonuses, poison-related modifiers, and basic stat upgrades to keep your momentum.
Mapping and Bossing
This build is extremely competent in bothmapping and bossing scenarios. Against bosses, you’ll want tokite while applying Poisonburst and Gas Arrows. The constant stacking of poisons will wear down bosses steadily, while skills likeBarragelet you deliver powerful burst damage in short windows.
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For mapping, a strong combination involves castingTornado Shotto set up tornados, then following up withPoisonburst Arrowsto trigger novas. This synergy allows you toclear massive groups of enemiesin seconds.
Toxic Growthprovides a quick disengage or escape tool if you’re overwhelmed, and it deals significant AoE damage upon pod detonation. Altogether, this skill rotation makes forfluid, dynamic gameplay.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scaling is enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseAttack Speed,Movement Speed, andCritical Chance. The build has excellent scaling options by investing in eitherpure attack damageorcritical hit chance and damage, while also benefiting fromhigh-dexterity gearthat further boosts attack speed and damage.
This flexibility gives the build a high degree ofcustomizationand allows it to be tailored to your preferred playstyle—whether you favor burst crits or sustained poison DPS.
The build performs well inSSFandHardcorethanks to its high damage and mobility. It’s not reliant on expensive Uniques and offers strong performance with minimal drawbacks, making it an excellent option for any mode or playstyle.
So, this wraps up my guide for the Toxic Ranger build guide forPath of Exile 2. I hope you found this guide helpful and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
