Single Target Rotation - Maximizing Burst Damage

Against bosses or high-health elites, proximity is power. High Velocity Rounds scale with Path of Exile 2 Currency distance - the closer you are, the harder they hit. Always maintain tight positioning to unleash maximum damage.

Optimal Single-Target Sequence:

1. Pre-Fight Setup: Cast Despair before engagement to reduce enemy resistances. If running Escalating Mayhem, drop a few Spearfields to start stacking poison early.
2. Deploy War Banner: Boosts your damage scaling and ensures you hit harder throughout the fight.
3. Use Armor-Piercing Rounds: Break enemy armor first to maximize subsequent critical hits.
4. Fire High Velocity Rounds: Apply the Riven Armor debuff, then move to activate Spray and Pray.
5. Spam Spearfield: Focus on generating poison quickly with Splinter of Loratta. Damage per hit is less important than maintaining poison uptime.
6. Repeat: Once Riven Armor expires, reset from Step 2 for continuous damage cycling.

Pro Tip: Advanced players add a Crossbow Shot before firing High Velocity Rounds for a small Impale bonus. This micro-optimization can yield noticeable gains during boss fights.

Map-Clearing Strategy

When clearing maps, speed is everything - and this build excels at it. Switch to a full AoE mode for explosive clearing:

Spam Siege Cascade to wipe large enemy packs.
Activate Herald of Blood + Herald of Plague to automatically clean up stragglers and spread poison damage across the map.

The result is one of Path of Exile 2's smoothest clearing experiences - you'll melt entire screens of enemies with minimal setup.

Build Variants

Mid-Budget Setup

Rare Crossbow with Accuracy, Crit Chance, and Crit Damage mods.
Garukhan's Resolve (core unique, top priority).
Darkness Enthroned (Gloves variant) with Courtesan Mannan's Rune of Cruelty.
Prism of Belief (+2 High Velocity Rounds minimum).
Controlled Metamorphosis on a Medium Ring.

Endgame "$$$"Variant

Crossbow with max Accuracy, Crit Chance, and +level to Projectile Skills.
Corrupted Splinter of Loratta with +Attack Speed and two sockets (Soul Core of Quipolatl).
Instilled Lasting Trauma on Amulet.
Full 100-divine setup featuring Atalui's Bloodletting and Ratha's Assault for POE 2 Orbs for sale elite-tier scaling.