Voltaic Grenade/Shockburst Rounds
Lightning Crossbow
Witchhunter Build

Updated for Path of Exile 2 Early Access

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Witchhunter is one of the classes that's great with Crossbows. They present themselves with a few Lightning Damage abilities such as Voltaic Grenade, Shockburst Rounds, or Galvanic Shards. Shockburst Rounds are by far the best ability damage-wise, but to enable its bonus damage you have to Hit a Shocked or Electrocuted enemy, which the Skill itself cannot do. That's why you need to pair it up with Voltaic Grenades (which inflict both Lightning Ailments). Grenades are overall great for clearing, so that's what you'll end up using for mapping most of the time. Galvanic Shards will supplement your clearing arsenal, since with Pitiless Killer and Judge, Jury, and Executioner you will end up killing most enemies in one hit anyway, no matter how strong it is. For your third ascendancy pick Zealous Inquisition, but after you get all the points, respecc it and go for the "No Mercy", just to kill bosses faster.

The build relies mostly on Maximum Life Evasion with a bit of Armour. Wind Dancer will improve your Evasion, so try not to get Hit to keep it. We've picked Witchhunter with two Skill Trees and two Weapons. One for Grenades - aimed to inflict Shock with good AoE, and the other one for Shockburst Rounds - this one has high Attack Speed and overall DPS with Bolts, but it does not Shock; it only benefits from Shock inflicted before the weapon swap occured.

You can also check our other Path of Exile 2 builds right over here Best PoE2 Build Guides - Complete List

1. Gameplay

Use Grenades to slay small enemies and against bosses. Enemies are usually scattered so as to not waste more Grenades for these single, and often nimble, foes, compliment this clearing setup with Galvanic Shards. After you Shock or Electrocute a big enemy, swap a weapon for one that's meant to be used with Shockburst Rounds. It deals tons of damage against such enemies. You may also want to empower your rounds with Emergency Reload, Conductivity, and Volaic Mark. Your passive skills are Herald of Thunder and Wind Dancer.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

You can start with Lightning Damage pretty much from the start. Galvanic Shards are the first skill of that type you'll be able to get. Then Voltaic Grenades and Shockburst Rounds. Just select the Support Gems that are available.

[DPS] Galvanic Shards setup
	Galvanic Shards - It'll be your main damaging ability until you equip Shockburst Rounds.
	Martial Tempo - 25% more Attack Speed.
	Lightning Infusion - Additional Lightning Damage, but less Fire and Cold Damage. Use it with Herald of Thunder.

[DPS] Voltaic Grenade setup
	Voltaic Grenade - Use them to kill groups of enemies and bosses.
	Magnified Effect - Increased AoE for an improved better clear speed.
	Scattershot - two additional Projectiles.

[UTILITY] other gems
	Herald of Thunder - Improves your damage and clear speed with Lightning Bolts.

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Pitiless Killer
2. Judge, Jury, and Executioner
3. Witchbane
4. No Mercy

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Voltaic Grenade setup
	Voltaic Grenade - Use it to Electrocute bosses and slay smaller enemies. It should have high enough damage to build up Electrocution quickly and to Shock bosses.
	Scattershot - Individual Grenades' damage overlaps, so shooting more projectiles increases damage per shot.
	Magnified Effect - It's much easier to clear with larger AoE, but it also helps to overlap explosions on bosses with small hitbos.
	Ingenuity - Lowers Cooldown so you can shoot sooner.
	Payload - Increases Cooldown by a lot, but grants a 50% chance for Grenades to activate one more time. It's worth the cost.
	Concentrated Effect - Lowers AoE, but grants more damage. Replace it with Inspiration if it costs too much or Conduction if you cannot Shock bosses.

[DPS] Shockburs Rounds setup
	Shockburs Rounds - Use it against Shocked or Electrocuted enemies to deal more damage with bonus AoE around the target. It's your main damaging ability other than Grenades.
	Primal Armament - 25% more Elemental Damage.
	Martial Tempo - 25% more Attack Speed.
	Lightning Penetration - Damage Penetrates 30% Lightning Resistance. If you already Penetrate 70% or over of Lightning Resistance, which you should, replace it with Lightning Infusion or Concentrated Effect.
	Elemental Focus - 25% more Elemental Damage and inability to inflict Elemental Ailments, which you don't do with this skill anyway.
	Fresh Clip - More Damage per Bolt loaded recently. You do load a lot of Bolts for Shockburs Rounds so it's a big damage boost.

[UTILITY] Galvanic Shards setup
	Galvanic Shards - Used mainly for killing small enemies, ones that you couldn't or didn't want to kill with Grenades. It's also good for Culling since it shoots many Shards that Chain off the terrain.
	Ammo Conservation - 25% chance to not consume a Bolt when firing.
	Fork - Shards Fork on impact which creates more Shards.
	Mobility - 30% less Movement Speed Penalty for moving and shooting.
	Close Combat - Galvanic Shards is very good at a close distance, and this setup allows you to reposition quickly. Stand close to the enemy to deal much more damage.
	Nimble Reload - It's important to have this ability always ready to quickly slay surrounding enemies or knock them back.

[UTILITY] Herald of Thunder setup
	Herald of Thunder - It Converts all your Physical Damage to Lightning and stores some Attack Damage when you kill a Shocked enemy to strike another enemy with a Bolt on your next Hit. It cannot Shock, but we can make it a good damaging ability to map faster.
	Innervate - If you kill a Shocked enemy with it, it grants 35% of damage as Lightning Damage for 3 seconds.
	Lightning Mastery - Increases the Gem Level of Herald of Thunder.
	Longshot - Makes you deal more Damage to enemies far from you.
	Execute - More Damage to enemies on Low Life so that's it easier to kill them.
	Elemental Focus - It grants 25% more Elemental Damage. You can replace it with Concentrated Effect if you have Elemental Focus in your Shockburst Rounds.

[UTILITY] Wind Dancer setup
	Wind Dancer - 18% more evasion per stage, which you gain every 1.3 seconds, up to 54%. It breaks when you're Hit with a Melee Attack to knock back enemies. It also counts as a Hit but deals no damage.
	Clarity - More mana Regeneration, it will be needed.
	Blind - Blinds enemies when the Ward breaks.
	Precision - Precision increases Accuracy Rating.
	Maim - Maimed enemies move slower, which definitely helps, be it not by a lot.

[UTILITY] Voltaic Mark setup
	Voltaic Mark - Use it on tough enemies. It has a damaging component but we're all about the Mark Effect that grants 50% more Chance to Shock and increases its effect by 30%. If you have spare Spirit (if you don't have any extra Spirit you will need 50 more), automate it with Cast on Shock or Cast on Dodge. If you trigger it often enough, it will improve your clear speed.
	Persistence - Voltaic Mark lasts longer.

[UTILITY] Conductivity setup
	Conductivity - A Curse that lowers Lightning Resistance. It requires a lot of Intelligence so leave it out for later. If you already penetrate 75% Lightning Resistance, you won't need it at all.
	Heightened Curse - 25% increased Curse Effect.
	Expanse - 50% more AoE, but added a 6-second Cooldown.
	Focused Curse - 30% reduced Delay for the Curse activation.

[UTILITY] Emergency Reload setup
	Emergency Reload - Your last active Skill. It boosts the damage of your next clip. Great with Fresh Clip in your Shockburst setup.
	Premeditation - Increases the damage bonus from Emergency Reload's Empowerment for a total of 46% more damage.

6. Gear Setup

You're looking for a high Physical Damage on your Bombard Crossbow. Add some Physical and Lightning Damage, or Level of Projectile Skills to that. Your second Crossbow is used for Shockburst Rounds only and its Skill Tree doesn't require any AoE or Ailment passives. The enemy is already Shocked if you're using this ability. This Crossbow doesn't require Projectile Gem Levels - look for added Physical Damage there instead. Grenades scale very well with Gem Level. Your defensive layers are both Armour and Evasion, but it's easier to gain Evasion on the Skill Tree so lean into that more. Grenades can benefit from extra AoE. Seek mainly Dexterity for your Herald of Thunder and Strength since most of your other Skills require both. Intelligence is needed for Conductivity. Your Life and Mana Recovery comes usually from Flasks only, but during long fights your Flask Charges may end too soon.

(Weapon) Rare Crossbow 1 - You're looking for a high Physical Damage on your Bombard Crossbow. Add some Physical and Lightning Damage, or Level of Projectile Skills to that. Grenades scale very well with Gem Level.

Min. requirements: Grenade Skills Fire an additional Projectile increased Physical Damage increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Level of all Projectile Skills Optional affixes: Added Physical Damage Added Lightning Damage Attributes

(Weapon) Rare Crossbow 2 - Your second Crossbow is used for Shockburst Rounds only and it doesn't benefit from any ailment or grenade passives. The enemy is already Shocked if you're using this ability. This Crossbow doesn't require Projectile Gem Levels - look for added Physical Damage or Life on Hit there instead.

Min. requirements: increased Physical Damage increased Elemental Damage with Attacks Added Physical Damage increased Attack Speed Optional affixes: Grants # Life per Enemy Hit Added Lightning Damage Attributes

(Helmet) Myris Uxor - Its most prominent mod is the one that increases the Culling Strike Threshold by 100%. You can get an additional 25% from Cull the Hordes notable. With this, you'll kill Rares at a quarter of their Maximum Life, and Uniques at 12.5%. Normal enemies die at almost 70% or below.

(40–60)% increased Evasion Rating +(100–150) to Accuracy Rating +(40–60) to maximum Mana 100% increased Culling Strike Threshold

(Helmet) Radiant Grief - It makes enemies near you always Ignited. It can be good if you pair it up with Stormfire Support in your Shocking Skill setup. This way, the enemy you shock once will stay permanently Shocked. Shocking can be difficult if you're up against the pinnacle bosses with millions of health points, so definitely consider it for these kinds of enemies.

(80–100)% increased Evasion Rating +(15–25)% to Fire Resistance 30% increased Light Radius Enemies in your Presence are Ignited as though dealt 100 Base Fire Damage

(Helmet) Rare Helmet - On a Helmet, you can find additional Accuracy, although it shouldn't be needed, and Intelligence.

Min. requirements: Maximum Life Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes Accuracy Intelligence

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - Gloves are a source of added Physical and Lightning damage to Attacks, Attack Speed, and Intelligence.

Min. requirements: Maximum Life Added Physical Damage increased Attack Speed Optional affixes: Elemental and Chaos Resistance Added Lightning Damage Intelligence

(Boots) Rare Boots - Movement Speed is the most important stat on your Boots. There's not much else here - just Life and Resistances.

Min. requirements: increased Movement Speed Maximum Life Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes

(Amulet) Surefooted Sigil - Due to the lung Fuse Duration, it's important to have a quick way out of a fight or lead enemies into Grenades. This Amulet helps here a lot.

+(10–15) to Dexterity +(40–60) to maximum Life +(5–15) to Dexterity +1 metre to Dodge Roll distance 50% increased Evasion Rating if you've Dodge Rolled Recently

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - An Amulet is the second opportunity to get extra Spirit. Other interesting stats are Gem Level to Projectile Skills and Mana Regeneration.

Min. requirements: Maximum Life Level of all Projectile Skills Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes Spirit increased maximum Life increased Mana Regeneration Rate

(Ring) Rare Ring - Rings shall add some extra flat damage to your Attacks, preferably Physical. There's also increased Lightning Damage and Mana Regeneration Rate that you may find useful.

Min. requirements: Maximum Life Added Physical Damage Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes increased Lightning Damage increased Mana Regeneration Rate

(Belt) Rare Belt - On a Belt look for Strength, Maximum Life, and Resistances. Charm Slots are a luxury.

Min. requirements: Maximum Life Strength Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Charm Slots

(Body Armour) Perfidy - A copy with good rolls is excellent since you don't have that much Armour. Intimidation is a nice addition.

(100–150)% increased Armour and Evasion (10–40)% chance to Avoid Physical Damage from Hits (10–40)% chance to Avoid Chaos Damage from Hits Enemies in your Presence are Intimidated

(Body Armour) Dustbloom - We've kept it for the Mana and Life Regeneration bonus since we don't have that high damage yet to not run out of flask charges during long boss fights. It has a nice synergy with Wind Dancer.

(100–150)% increased Evasion Rating +(20–30)% to Cold Resistance Maximum 10 Fragile Regrowth 0.5% of Life Regenerated per second per Fragile Regrowth 10% increased Mana Regeneration Rate per Fragile Regrowth Lose all Fragile Regrowth when Hit Gain 1 Fragile Regrowth each second

(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour - Body Armour offers tons of basic defensive stats as well as Spirit. Try to get it here, it's hard to get otherwise.

Min. requirements: Maximum Life Evasion Rating Elemental and Chaos Resistance Optional affixes: Spirit Attributes

(Jewel) Rare Jewels - Emerald Jewels will supply you with crossbow, attack, lightning, or projectile damage. Shock-related mods, attack speed, and damage against rare and unique enemies are fitting too.

Optional affixes: increased Attack Damage increased Damage with Hits against Rare and Unique Enemies increased Damage with Crossbows increased Elemental Damage increased Lightning Damage Lightning Penetration increased Attack Speed increased Attack Speed with Crossbows

If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.