The 0.2 meta in the class added in Dawn of Hunt (0.2). It lends itself best to spear builds, and there's quite a lot of excitement surrounding its Critical Strike Ascendancy node that allows you to get a lot of critical strike chance for just the cost of a couple of Ascendancy points.

This build (created in part by Asmodeous) sees you covering the screen in lightning while throwing spears to your heart's content, so if you've ever wanted to feel like Zeus in Path of Exile 2, this is definitely the build for you. As with all builds in Path of Exile 2, it's somewhat complex to put together.

ive Tree And Path Of Building (PoB)

It's Mostly About Critical Damage Bonus And Attack Speed

The Lightning Spear Huntress build scales its damage across a lot of different vectors (Attack damage, Projectile damage, Penetration, Accuracy, and Shock, to name a handful), but some of the main ones are Attack speed and Critical Damage (both Critical Hit Chance and Critical Hit Bonus). Build your tree largely around these two and you should be more or less fine.

Of course, you'll want to pick up some Evasion for survival. I've opted for reduced Slowing Potency of Debuffs as well, though you can swap this out for Ailment nodes like Shedding Skin if you like, or cut some Attack speed or Accuracy to get both (depending how defensively you like to play). Defense is simple to build in Path of Exile 2, so beyond those, life on gear, and the Wind Dancer gem, you're good to go.

Path of Building link (use with Path of Building)

Leveling Guide

Explosive Spear Into Lightning Spear Is A Good Start

Leveling with Lightning Spear Huntress is a fairly straightforward affair. There's no great respec, so you can follow the ive tree above, opting for defense over damage nodes if you start finding yourself struggling (or just alternate between them as it makes sense to be on the safe side).

As for gems, the order is something like Explosive Spear -> Lightning Spear -> Storm Lance -> Primal Strikes. When you first acquire Storm Lance, replace Lightning Spear with it, but only until you get Strikes. For travel skills, pick up Disengage and Thunderous Leap to minimize the amount of time in the campaign (all the more important given how much longer it is than the previous game).

As for gearing, as always, you'll want to put most if not all of your currency into your weapon (in this case, a spear). Make sure to check vendors often, as they're a critical source of weapon upgrades. The affixes you're looking for are mainly flat and increased % physical or elemental damage, with accuracy, attack speed, and critical damage bonus serving as welcome extras. Note you can get flat damage on rings (ideally Iron Rings) and gloves; gloves can roll attack speed as well.

Skills And Gems

Lightning Spear and Primal Strikes Will Be Your Main Skills

Gear And Affixes

Damage And Attack Speed Are The Name Of The Game

Equipment and affixes don't differ much from the leveling section: you still want flat and increased % physical or elemental damage, as well as attack speed, and critical damage bonus. Accuracy is still very welcome, too, of course. Defensively, look for Life, evasion, and resistance. And of course, Spirit and attributes never hurt.

Bases don't matter a lot for this build, but Utility Belt and Emerald Ring bases are recommended where you're able to use them. Sometimes you'll need to use Resistance ring bases instead of Emerald for example, but it's not anything worth stressing much about; just think about it for endgame optimization, if anything.

Ascendancy

Amazon is chosen primarily for its easy access to a high Critical Hit Chance, which frees up ive tree and gear slots greatly. The ascendancy is well-rounded in general, though, offering potent offense as well as recovery. While I recommend Predatory Instinct and Infused Avatar alongside Critical Strike and Elemental Infusion, you can make a strong case for any other two nodes on the tree instead of the former two. Make sure to take Critical Strike first.

How To Play

It Doesn't Get Much Simpler Than This

If you're the type to prefer a streamlined build that doesn't require an extensive rotation, you're in luck with Lightning Spear Huntress. Lightning Spear serves as your clear skill, which debuffs enemies with Shock for extra damage (20% by default). Rare and unique enemies (including bosses like Arbiter of Ash) will generally require a little more oomph, so for these you whack them in melee range with Primal Strikes three times to replace the Shock on them from Spear with Lightning Exposure. That's it!

As for the best Atlas skill tree setup in Path of Exile 2 for this build, anything that requires fast clearing (e.g. Breach, Delirium) should do well. Even Expedition should work, though the Recombination mechanic doesn't yield much power in its current state. Still, if you don't mind praying to the RNG gods over and over again, it's an option. Certainly, Huntress would love a flat physical damage and increased % physical damage spear from it, but the chances are incredibly low.

Source: Asmodeous (YouTube), poe2.ninja