Path of Exile 2: Best PoE 2 Ranger build

Here’s a guide on the best Ranger build for nailing targets from afar

Image credit:Grinding Gear Games

Looking for the best Ranger build in Path of Exile 2? The Ranger is a highly capable ranged class in Path of Exile 2 who shoots with both regular bows and crossbows. She’s similar to the Mercenary, who’s more of a demolitions specialist, but possesses greater Dexterity and elemental capabilities.

Playing well as PoE 2’s Ranger means becoming the best ranged specialist possible and maintaining a delicate balance between damage and mobility. In this guide we’ll dive into the best Ranger build for Path of Exile 2, focusing on the Deadeye Ascendancy for a truly unlimited projectile spree that’ll deliver high DPS numbers like nothing else.

Best Ranger build in Path of Exile 2

The best Ranger build in PoE 2 is the Lightning Grenade build. It ultimately boils down to using Gas Grenades and exploding them with Explosive Shot in the final stretches of the game, along with occasional usages of Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp. However, you’re going to start out by depending on bow-based skills like Lightning Arrow before finally switching over to crossbow grenade attacks around level 20. Once you’ve got the Deadeye Ascendancy via the Trial of Sekhemas , you absolutely want to take the Endless Munitions node, which makes your skills fire an additional projectile and will go a long way towards upping your damage.

An ultimate markswoman with the ability to spam lots of shots in rapid succession, the Deadeye is the Ascendancy to choose. |Image credit:Grinding Gear Games

There’s a bit of crossover here with our best Mercenary build guide, which focuses on a more varied selection of grenades. This is slightly due to my own personal bias, since I like the grenade-exploding skills that crossbow usage encourages. But our Ranger will be speedier than our Mercenary thanks to skills like Wind Dancer and Escape Shot, her effectiveness will be greater against single targets, and she’ll have flexibility to go back to her bow-based skills as needed if the gas + explosion combo isn’t working out. Since the Ranger also starts squishier than the Mercenary, it’s also important to veer south on the Passive Skill Tree and pick up nodes that amplify her Strength along with her Dexterity.

Ranger build: Best skills

The following skills are the ones you’ll use the most with this build. Remember that you’ll start with Lightning Arrow and other bow skills before making your way towards crossbow grenade attacks.

Lightning Arrow

Your starting skill, Lightning Arrow, will be a handy go-to through most of Path of Exile 2’s beginning. Build this one up and then swap to grenades around level 20 or so.

Lightning Rod

Lightning Rod shoots an arrow upwards that falls to the ground, creating a nice AoE burst. Fire a Lightning Arrow into this burst and you can make a chaining lightning effect that occurs multiple times. This combination becomes even more effective when you use the Scattershot support gem (see our support gem section below), which will cause more Lightning Rods to spawn.

Escape Shot

While using a bow, Escape Shot will be your go-to mobility skill for navigating out of a fix. It deals cold damage and freezes enemies while sending the Ranger backwards. Very effective in tight corridors when you’re getting pinned back by waves of foes, Escape Shot is also a nice skill against early bosses, especially if you’re sick of relying on rolls.

Freezing Salvo

Freezing Salvo works well with the freeze caused by Escape Shot, passively creating icy missiles in the air around you and amplifying freeze buildup. Use it for a nice burst effect, especially after you’ve just popped Escape Shot to get out of a tight spot.

Wind Dancer

Once you switch over to crossbows you won’t be able to use Escape Shot any longer, but Wind Dancer serves as a good means of making your Ranger somewhat tankier. This skill makes a buff that gives you multiple stacks of Evasion - whenever a melee attack hits you while Wind Dancer is active, all stacks will be consumed and you’ll knock back enemies.

Explosive Shot

Now it’s time to start looking at grenade skills, which you’re going to want to start investing in once Act 2 of the game kicks off. Explosive Shot will be the go-to for igniting the gas clouds left by your Gas Grenades, and it’s a spectacular AoE option that can create chains of explosions over and over again.

Gas Grenade

Gas Grenade is the other pivotal skill in our setup. This fires a bouncing grenade that inflicts poison damage and leaves behind a poison cloud. Any burning or detonation effects will cause the poison cloud to erupt and deal additional damage in a super effective and undeniably deadly combo.

Oil Grenade

You’ll be less reliant on Oil Grenade as a Ranger as the Mercenary, but this is still a slick skill to have that drenches enemies in oil. Hit ’em with your Explosive Shot and watch them ignite.

Ball Lightning

Once you reach Act 3, you’ll be able to cut some skill gems that use lightning and aren’t limited to bows. Ball Lightning is a powerful projectile that fires off lightning bolts at all foes within range. It’s slow but effective, and we’re going to use it as more of a mobility tool with our last skill below…

Lightning Warp

Use Lightning Warp in conjunction with Ball Lightning to teleport into a target’s body and cause it to explode. Alternately, you can also use it to teleport into the projectiles that Ball Lightning sends out. This will be your ultimate movement combination in Path of Exile 2’s endgame, ensuring that your Ranger is able to pop in and out of the playfield as she wishes, leaving behind trails of crackling electricity in her wake.

Ranger build: Best support gems

To amplify the poison clouds and other AoE attacks that the Ranger excels in, invest in the right combination of support gems. |Image credit:IGN/Grinding Gear Games

The following mixture of support gems have served me well across both the bow and crossbow skills utilised by the Ranger in this build:

Martial Tempo

Use Martial Tempo alongside Lightning Arrow in the early game to give you 25% more attack speed. This will make a noticeable difference when it comes to defeating bosses quickly and increasing your Ranger’s survivability.

Lightning Conduit

Lightning Conduit is another vital support gem for Lightning Arrow that calls down additional bolts to attack all enemies in a cone in front of you. There’s also a useful mobility element here, as targeting enemies close to you causes your Ranger to jump back.

Scattershot

Scattershot supports all projectile skills, making them fire additional projectiles and lowering their attack and cast speed. This is a vital gem that works great with Lightning Arrow but also with Explosive Shot.

Magnified Effect

Magnified Effect is very useful for increasing the range of any AoE skill by 40%. I use it in the early game to make Lightning Rod more effective; you should too.

Nimble Reload

The Ranger can be squishy if she gets stuck in the middle of a wave or two of enemies, so Nimble Reload is an excellent support gem to take once you have to start fiddling with the reload feature of crossbows. Use it alongside Explosive Shot to ensure that you’ll never be waiting too long before letting off another burst of firepower.

Encumbrance

Use this with Oil Grenade and Wind Dancer. This gem works with any skills that inflict slow, and is a great assist to ensure that your Ranger is the fastest presence on the map.

Overcharge

Stick the Overcharge support gem in Lightning Warp as soon as you’re able. This will increase the magnitude of Lightning Warp’s shocks by 75% in exchange for a shorter duration. The tradeoff is worth it in my eyes for greater electrical power.

Acceleration

Use Acceleration with Ball Lightning to make your lightning projectiles travel faster with 40% more speed. Remember, we’re using Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp as a unique mobility set of skills, and if you want to make the most out of teleporting into the same space inhabited by your projectiles, you had best ensure that they’re moving speedily.

Arcane Tempo

Last but certainly not least is Arcane Tempo, which lets you cast spells faster. This gem has a lot of uses, but I like to combine it with Ball Lightning to once again quicken the speed at which you’re firing off projectiles.

That’s all we’ve got on the best ranger build; now get out there and start shooting! For more on the mechanics that power Grinding Gear Games’ epic ARPG, see our guides to the Passive Skill Tree , Attributes , and crafting . We’ve also got a look at the best character class for beginners , as well as a list of what to do first if you’re just getting started with Path of Exile 2’s early game. And if you’d like to learn how to take your class to greater heights, see our guide on how to Ascend via the Trial of the Sekhemas .

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All 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints and where to get them

These areas have the highest chance of giving you Blueprints

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Looking for more Arc Raiders Blueprints? It’s a special day when you find a Blueprint, as they’re among the most valuable items in Arc Raiders. If you find a Blueprint that you haven’t already found, then you must make sure you hold onto it at all costs, because Blueprints are the key to one of the most important and powerful systems of meta-progression in the game.

This guide aims to be the very best guide on Blueprints you can find, starting with a primer on what exactly they are and how they work in Arc Raiders, before delving into exactly where to get Blueprints and the very best farming spots for you to take in your search.

We’ll also go over how to get Blueprints from other unlikely activities, such as destroying Surveyors and completing specific quests. And you’ll also find the full list of all 75 Blueprints in Arc Raiders on this page (including the newest Blueprints added with the Cold Snap update , such as the Deadline Blueprint and Firework Box Blueprint), giving you all the information you need to expand your own crafting repertoire.

In this guide:

• What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?
• Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes
• Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders Blueprints obtained from quests Blueprints obtained from Trials Best Blueprint farming locations

What are Blueprints in Arc Raiders?

Blueprints in Arc Raiders are special items which, if you manage to extract with them, you can expend to permanently unlock a new crafting recipe in your Workshop. If you manage to extract from a raid with an Anvil Blueprint, for example, you can unlock the ability to craft your very own Anvil Pistol, as many times as you like (as long as you have the crafting materials).

To use a Blueprint, simply open your Inventory while in the lobby, then right-click on the Blueprint and click “Learn And Consume” . This will permanently unlock the recipe for that item in your Workshop. As of the Stella Montis update, there are allegedly 75 different Blueprints to unlock - although only 68 are confirmed to be in the game so far. You can see all the Blueprints you’ve found and unlocked by going to the Workshop menu, and hitting “R” to bring up the Blueprint screen.

It’s possible to find duplicates of past Blueprints you’ve already unlocked. If you find these, then you can either sell them, or - if you like to play with friends - you can take it into a match and gift it to your friend so they can unlock that recipe for themselves. Another option is to keep hold of them until the time comes to donate them to the Expedition.

Full Blueprint list: All crafting recipes

Below is the full list of all the Blueprints that are currently available to find in Arc Raiders, and the crafting recipe required for each item:

Note: The missing Blueprints in this list likely have not actually been added to the game at the time of writing, because none of the playerbase has managed to find any of them. As they are added to the game, I will update this page with the most relevant information so you know exactly how to get all 75 Arc Raiders Blueprints.

Where to find Blueprints in Arc Raiders

Below is a list of all containers, modifiers, and events which maximise your chances of finding Blueprints:

• Certain quests reward you with specific Blueprints .
• Completing Trials has a high chance of offering Blueprints as rewards.
• Surveyors have a decent chance of dropping Blueprints on death.
• High loot value areas tend to have a greater chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Night Raids and Storms may increase rare Blueprint spawn chances in containers.
• Containers with higher numbers of items may have a higher tendency to spawn Blueprints. As a result, Blue Gate (which has many “large” containers containing multiple items) may give you a higher chance of spawning Blueprints.
• Raider containers (Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, Medical Bags, Grenade Tubes) have increased Blueprint drop rates. As a result, the Uncovered Caches event gives you a high chance of finding Blueprints.
• Security Lockers have a higher than average chance of containing Blueprints.
• Certain Blueprints only seem to spawn under specific circumstances: Tempest Blueprint only spawns during Night Raid events. Vulcano Blueprint only spawns during Hidden Bunker events. Jupiter and Equaliser Blueprints only spawn during Harvester events.

Raider Caches, Weapon Boxes, and other raider-oriented container types have a good chance of offering Blueprints. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints have a very low chance of spawning in any container in Arc Raiders, around 1-2% on average. However, there is a higher chance of finding Blueprints in particular container types. Specifically, you can find more Blueprints in Raider containers and security lockers.

Beyond this, if you’re looking for Blueprints you should focus on regions of the map which are marked as having particularly high-value loot. Areas such as the Control Tower in Dam Battlegrounds, the Arrival and Departure Buildings in Spaceport, and Pilgrim’s Peak in Blue Gate all have a better-than-average chance of spawning Blueprints somewhere amongst all their containers. Night Raids and Electromagnetic Storm events also increase the drop chances of certain Blueprints .

In addition to these containers, you can often loot Blueprints from destroyed Surveyors - the largest of the rolling ball ARC. Surveyors are more commonly found on the later maps - Spaceport and Blue Gate - and if one spawns in your match, you’ll likely see it by the blue laser beam that it casts into the sky while “surveying”.

Surveyors are quite well-armoured and will very speedily run away from you once it notices you, but if you can take one down then make sure you loot all its parts for a chance of obtaining certain unusual Blueprints.

Blueprints obtained from quests

One way in which you can get Blueprints is by completing certain quests for the vendors in Speranza. Some quests will reward you with a specific item Blueprint upon completion, so as long as you work through all the quests in Arc Raiders, you are guaranteed those Blueprints.

Here is the full list of all Blueprints you can get from quest rewards:

• Trigger Nade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Sparks Fly”.
• Lure Grenade Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Greasing Her Palms”.
• Burletta Blueprint: Rewarded after completing “Industrial Espionage”.
• Hullcracker Blueprint (and Launcher Ammo Blueprint): Rewarded after completing “The Major’s Footlocker”.

Alas, that’s only 4 Blueprints out of a total of 75 to unlock, so for the vast majority you will need to find them yourself during a raid. If you’re intent on farming Blueprints, then it’s best to equip yourself with cheap gear in case you lose it, but don’t use a free loadout because then you won’t get a safe pocket to stash any new Blueprint you find. No pain in Arc Raiders is sharper than failing to extract with a new Blueprint you’ve been after for a dozen hours already.

One of the best ways to get Blueprints is by hitting three stars on all five Trials every week. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blueprints obtained from Trials

One of the very best ways to get Blueprints is as rewards for completing Trials in Arc Raiders. Trials are unlocked from Level 15 onwards, and allow you to earn rewards by focusing on certain tasks over the course of several raids. For example, one Trial might task you with dealing damage to Hornets, while another might challenge you to loot Supply Drops.

Trials refresh on a weekly basis, with a new week bringing five new Trials. Each Trial can offer up to three rewards after passing certain score milestones, and it’s possible to receive very high level loot from these reward crates - including Blueprints. So if you want to unlock as many Blueprints as possible, you should make a point of completing as many Trials as possible each week.

Best Blueprint farming locations

The very best way to get Blueprints is to frequent specific areas of the maps which combine high-tier loot pools with the right types of containers to search. Here are my recommendations for where to find Blueprints on every map, so you can always keep the search going for new crafting recipes to unlock.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Dam Battlegrounds

The best places to farm Blueprints on Dam Battlegrounds are the Control Tower, Power Generation Complex, Ruby Residence, and Pale Apartments . The first two regions, despite only being marked on the map as mid-tier loot, contain a phenomenal number of containers to loot. The Control Tower can also contain a couple of high-tier Security Lockers - though of course, you’ll need to have unlocked the Security Breach skill at the end of the Survival tree.

There’s also a lot of reporting amongst the playerbase that the Residential areas in the top-left of the map - Pale Apartments and Ruby Residence - give you a comparatively strong chance of finding Blueprints. Considering their size, there’s a high density of containers to loot in both locations, and they also have the benefit of being fairly out of the way. So you’re more likely to have all the containers to yourself.

Buried City

The best Blueprint farming locations on Buried City are the Santa Maria Houses, Grandioso Apartments, Town Hall, and the various buildings of the New District . Grandioso Apartments has a lower number of containers than the rest, but a high chance of spawning weapon cases - which have good Blueprint drop rates. The others are high-tier loot areas, with plenty of lootable containers - including Security Lockers.

Spaceport

The best places to find Blueprints on Spaceport are the Arrival and Departure Buildings, as well as Control Tower A6 and the Launch Towers . All these areas are labelled as high-value loot regions, and many of them are also very handily connected to one another by the Spaceport wall, which you can use to quickly run from one area to the next. At the tops of most of these buildings you’ll find at least one Security Locker, so this is an excellent farming route for players looking to find Blueprints.

The downside to looting Blueprints on Spaceport is that all these areas are hotly contested, particularly in Duos and Squads. You’ll need to be very focused and fast in order to complete the full farming route.

Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Embark Studios

Blue Gate

Blue Gate tends to have a good chance of dropping Blueprints, potentially because it generally has a high number of containers which can hold lots of items; so there’s a higher chance of a Blueprint spawning in each container. In my experience, the best Blueprint farming spots on Blue Gate are Pilgrim’s Peak, Raider’s Refuge, the Ancient Fort, and the Underground Complex beneath the Warehouse .

All of these areas contain a wealth of containers to loot. Raider’s Refuge has less to loot, but the majority of the containers in and around the Refuge are raider containers, which have a high chance of containing Blueprints - particularly during major events.

Stella Montis

On the whole, Stella Montis seems to have a very low drop rate for Blueprints (though a high chance of dropping other high-tier loot). If you do want to try farming Blueprints on this map, the best places to find Blueprints in Stella Montis are Medical Research, Assembly Workshop, and the Business Center . These areas have the highest density of containers to loot on the map.

In addition to this, the Western Tunnel has a few different Security Lockers to loot, so while there’s very little to loot elsewhere in this area of the map, it’s worth hitting those Security Lockers if you spawn there at the start of a match.

That wraps up this primer on how to get all the Blueprints in Arc Raiders as quickly as possible. With the Expedition system constantly resetting a large number of players’ Blueprints, it’s more important than ever to have the most up-to-date information on where to find all these Blueprints.

While you’re here, be sure to check out our Arc Raiders best guns tier list , as well as our primers on the best skills to unlock and all the different Field Depot locations on every map.

ARC Raiders

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