Path of Exile 2: Best Skill Gems for Ranger Builds

The Ranger in Path of Exile 2 is known for being a highly mobile, ranged combat specialist. Whether you prefer fast projectile-based builds, elemental traps, or using your agility to outmaneuver enemies, the Ranger offers a wide variety of playstyles. One of the most critical aspects of building a powerful Ranger is selecting the right skill gems that complement your chosen playstyle and build. Let’s dive deeper into the best skill gems for Ranger builds in Path of Exile 2, exploring key gems and their modifiers for each specific build type.

1. Split Arrow

Core Concept: A classic Ranger skill, Split Arrow fires multiple arrows at once, making it one of the best choices for clearing packs of enemies. It’s a versatile gem that scales well with added damage and projectile speed.

Why It’s Great:

  • AoE Damage: Split Arrow’s spread pattern lets you hit multiple enemies with a single shot, making it perfect for clearing large groups.
  • Projectile Scaling: Increases your clear speed significantly by launching additional projectiles.
  • Fast Leveling: Ideal for new players as it clears enemies quickly without requiring too much setup.

Modifiers to Look For:

  • Increased Projectile Speed: Maximizes the distance and effectiveness of your projectiles.
  • Added Physical or Elemental Damage: Further boosts your damage output based on your chosen build.

2. Barrage

Core Concept: Barrage is a single-target DPS gem that fires a rapid sequence of arrows, making it one of the best gems for boss fights or elite enemies.

Why It’s Great:

  • High Single-Target Damage: Barrage fires several arrows in quick succession, each hitting a single target. It excels at dealing high amounts of damage to bosses.
  • Scaling: Can scale well with crit builds, allowing for high burst damage when paired with crit multipliers.
  • Synergy with Projectile-Based Builds: Pairs perfectly with skills like Greater Multiple Projectiles (GMP) to increase the number of arrows fired per cast.

Modifiers to Look For:

  • Critical Strike Chance and Critical Strike Multiplier: Maximizes your damage output for single-target fights.
  • Added Cold or Lightning Damage: For elemental scaling, boosting the damage of Barrage and enhancing your elemental Ranger build.

3. Lightning Arrow

Core Concept: Lightning Arrow converts a portion of your physical damage into lightning damage and releases an area of effect (AoE) lightning strike on hit. This gem is perfect for elemental bow builds.

Why It’s Great:

  • AoE Damage: Deals lightning damage in an area, which helps with clearing mobs while scaling with added elemental damage.
  • Elemental Scaling: Converts physical damage into lightning, enabling you to build around elemental damage buffs.
  • Shock Effect: Has the ability to shock enemies, dealing additional damage over time.

Modifiers to Look For:

  • Increased Elemental Damage: Boosts your overall damage scaling with elemental builds.
  • Shock Chance: Increases the chance of shocking enemies, which leads to amplified damage.
  • Added Lightning Damage: Further boosts your damage when focusing on lightning as your primary damage source.

4. Explosive Trap

Core Concept: A popular choice for trap-based Ranger builds, Explosive Trap creates a large trap that explodes on detonation, dealing area damage to surrounding enemies.

Why It’s Great:

  • High AoE Damage: When detonated, the trap releases a large blast that can hit multiple enemies in its area of effect, ideal for crowd control.
  • Elemental Scaling: It can easily be scaled with fire, cold, or lightning damage, depending on your build’s focus.
  • Tactical Setup: Allows you to control the battlefield by placing traps strategically to trigger massive explosions when enemies come near.

Modifiers to Look For:

  • Increased Trap Throwing Speed: Allows you to place traps faster, improving your overall combat pace.
  • Elemental Damage Scaling: Maximize the damage of your traps by adding fire, cold, or lightning damage.

5. Poison Trap

Core Concept: Poison Trap creates a cloud of poison that damages enemies over time. It’s ideal for poison-based Ranger builds that rely on chaos damage for long-term damage.

Why It’s Great:

  • Damage Over Time: Deals damage in the form of poison over time, which is ideal for builds that focus on poison scaling.
  • Great for Boss Fights: Since poison damage continues to tick over time, it’s perfect for taking down bosses or high-health enemies.
  • Synergy with Chaos Damage: Works exceptionally well with chaos poe 2 orb damage multipliers and other poison-enhancing passives.

Modifiers to Look For:

  • Increased Poison Duration: Extends the amount of time the poison cloud affects enemies.
  • Chaos Damage: Maximizes the overall damage of the poison effect for greater scaling.

6. Dash

Core Concept: Dash allows you to quickly move around the battlefield, avoiding damage or repositioning to a more advantageous spot. It’s an essential skill for any agile Ranger.

Why It’s Great:

  • Increased Mobility: Provides unparalleled mobility, which is a must-have for the highly mobile Ranger.
  • Escape and Positioning: Allows you to avoid enemy attacks or reposition during combat, giving you the upper hand in both PvE and PvP encounters.
  • Great for Survivability: Dash can be used to quickly escape dangerous situations or reposition when overwhelmed.

Modifiers to Look For:

  • Cooldown Recovery: Reduces the time between each Dash, allowing you to use it more frequently.
  • Increased Movement Speed: Increases your overall movement speed after using Dash, which is perfect for maintaining high mobility during combat.

7. Blink Arrow

Core Concept: Blink Arrow teleports you to a target location while leaving a decoy behind to distract enemies, providing a mobility and crowd control advantage.

Why It’s Great:

  • Teleportation: Instantly moves you to a location, perfect for dodging enemies or repositioning in combat.
  • Decoy: The decoy distracts enemies, offering a brief moment of respite for your Ranger to regroup or attack from a different angle.
  • Survivability: Great for avoiding damage and repositioning for attacks in high-pressure situations.

Modifiers to Look For:

  • Cooldown Reduction: Reduces the cooldown between Blink Arrow casts.
  • Increased Decoy Health: Strengthens the decoy, ensuring that it lasts longer and distracts enemies more effectively.

Conclusion

In Path of Exile 2, the Ranger’s potential is vast, and the right choice of skill gems can greatly enhance your build’s effectiveness. Whether you’re focusing on projectiles, traps, or mobility, selecting skill gems that complement your playstyle and build direction will lead to success. With the right modifiers, you’ll be able to take on even the toughest challenges the game has to offer.

Make sure to experiment with different combinations of gems and modifiers to tailor your Ranger to your preferred playstyle, whether it’s fast-paced, elemental, or trap-based gameplay. Happy hunting!

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If you want to know more, you can read this article: Best Endgame Monk Build Guide In Poe 2