The Best Mercenary Archetypes For Endgame In Path Of Exile 3.26

Summary

• The new Path of Exile league introduces recruitable mercenaries, equipped with gear and skill gems for added power in endgame.
• Different mercenary archetypes offer various skills and auras to support player builds, making them valuable additions for clearing maps.
• Players should choose mercenaries based on their playstyle and build needs, as each archetype offers unique strengths and benefits.

The long-awaited new league for Path Of Exile, update 3.26 Secrets of the Atlas, is here, and with it comes new endgame content, as well as the league’s signature mechanic—mercenaries. The Mercenaries of Trarthus league is all about recruitable warriors, and players start meeting them as soon as they get into the game’s campaign.

Mercenaries come equipped with a random set of gear appropriate to their archetype, and a selection of skill gems from a pre-set pool. That means these mercenaries act as an extra co-op partner to help carry players through the campaign and all the way to the Atlas of Worlds. That’s not all, though, as players will continue to meet new mercenaries in mid-game and endgame maps, and these leveled warriors can add a significant power boost if players recruit the right ones for their build.

Some mercenaries have skills that can help with clearing enemy mobs, others are useful for their auras and support skills. Some can even be useful due to specific unique items they can wear that help the player. For anyone looking for an overview of what mercenaries will work for them, these are the best mercenary archetypes for endgame in Path of Exile.

7

Manyshot

Clone Archer

Stats:

Gems:

• Vaal Ice Shot
• Vaal Grace
• Frigid Fork Shot
• Mirror Arrow
• Grace
• Hatred

The Manyshot archer isn’t one of the strongest mercenaries for clearing enemies in Path of Exile, but with the Hatred and Grace auras, they can add both survivability and damage to the player for free. Hatred, in particular, has a high mana reservation for the player, so getting this on a mercenary can free up room for other auras or buffs and lead to a significant power boost.

Grace is a defensive aura that increases evasion rating for both the mercenary and the player. This extra evasion can come in very useful as a defensive layer in endgame maps. With this skill gem selection, the Manyshot will summon clones and spread some cold damage and chill around too, though this is the least effective part of their kit.

6

Bladecaster

Stats:

Gems:

• Clutches of the Damned
• Ethereal Knives
• Bladefall of Trarthus
• Blade Vortex
• Grace
• Aspect of the Spider

The Bladecaster mercenary archetype can be useful both for aura buffs and some added DPS while mapping. Grace is a useful defensive aura, and Aspect of the Spider slows enemies while increasing the damage they take from all sources. While this alone can be a decent damage boost for the player character, giving this mercenary some gear with decent damage stats allows their various Ethereal Blade moves to add some good damage while mobbing in maps, too.

This mercenary will need capped resistances and some decent evasion gear to stay alive, so players who want to run with this archetype will need to keep them well-equipped.

5

Cruel Mistress

Enemy Debilitator

Stats:

Gems:

• Despair
• Void Sphere
• Dark Pact
• Soulrend of Reaping
• Frostblink
• Zealotry

If players want a support mercenary who debilitates enemies while buffing the player, the Cruel Mistress is a decent pick. Void Sphere is an important skill for this archetype, as it draws enemies in and hinders opponents. This can be very effective for players who want to group mobs for easy clearing with abilities like area slams.

The Cruel Mistress can spawn with some useful auras too. Zealotry is a good buff for many caster builds that grants spell damage and critical chance while also creating consecrated ground. If players are focused on chaos damage, though, they’ll find the Despair curse and the Envy aura extremely useful for buffing their damage, and should look for both these skills when recruiting.

4

Fallen Reverend

Free Auras

Stats:

Gems:

• Absolution
• Raise Spectre Of Transience
• Desecrate
• Reinforce: Fallen Bishop
• Zealotry
• Wrath

The Fallen Reverend can be useful both for their auras, and for the variety of beneficial unique items they can equip with their Strength/Intelligence stat spread. One of the useful things about mercenaries is that they can be used to carry unique items with helpful effects that the player can’t or doesn’t want to equip themselves, such as the Sign of the Sin Eater Sceptre. ​​​​​​​

If this mercenary equips the sceptre, the unique effect will cause elemental ailments inflicted on the player to be inflicted on the mercenary instead. That’s incredibly useful for endgame mapping, where ailments can stack up debilitating effects that lead to death even for well-equipped builds. Players can also add ailment resistance to the mercenary with other items to keep them alive. On top of that, this mercenary can come with Zealotry, a useful buff for casters, and Wrath, which adds lightning damage to attacks and spells.

3

Eruptor

Melee Fire Power

Stats:

Gems:

• Infernal Cry
• Volcanic Fissure Of Snaking
• Consecrated Path
• Molten Shell
• Determination
• Flamelink

The Eruptor is a powerful Strength-based archetype that can clear Path of Exile‘s high-level maps by itself with the right gear. It’s highly survivable with capped resistances, as this mercenary will naturally spawn with a high armor value, even more so if players find the “Infamous” variety.

Molten Shell helps their survivability further, and Volcanic Fissure of Snaking is where most of the damage will come from. Equipped up with a high DPS two-handed weapon, this move will clear mobs instantly. Flamelink is another important skill, as this will link the mercenary and the player, granting them both extra fire damage. This archetype can also spawn with Leap Slam, which can help their mobility, but isn’t essential.

2

Flaming Charlatan

Unique Support

Stats:

Gems:

• Purifying Flame
• Meteor
• Scorching Ray Totem
• Holy Mortar
• Anger
• Herald Of Ash

The Flaming Charlatan is another variety of the Strength/Intelligence priest archetype, and they can be a useful support build. They’re able to use a variety of unique items, like the Fallen Reverend, but offer utility for some different builds with their aura skills Anger and Herald of Ash.

This archetype will deal a lot of fire damage, and add a lot of damage for players who are using fire damage, or want to easily add fire damage to their build. Anger adds flat fire damage to attacks and spells, while Herald of Ash causes enemies killed while burning to spread overkill damage as fire damage to nearby enemies. This can be a potent skill for clearing maps fast, especially for fire-focused builds.

1

Kineticist

Buffs And Clearing Power

Stats:

Gems:

• Elemental Weakness
• Flame Wall
• Kinetic Bolt
• Kinetic Blast
• Haste
• Frostblink

The Kineticist is one of the strongest mercenary archetypes for a number of reasons. First, they have a stat spread that covers Intelligence, Dexterity, and Strength, which means they can equip a greater variety of unique items than other mercenaries. Bearing this in mind, with the right skill gems, the Kineticist can be set up to either clear enemy mobs by themselves or support the player’s damage in significant ways.

For most players, the elemental weakness debuff they inflict on enemies, the added projectile damage from Flame Wall, plus the Haste aura, will be enough to use them as a support base. However, players who are farming the highest tiers of maps can equip the Kineticist with high-level endgame uniques like Doryani’s Prototype, Coiling Whisper, and Asenath’s Gentle Touch for some game-breaking synergies.