leveling

Pathfinder

ranged

Ranger

Pathfinder Poisonous Concoction Leveling Build

Melt through your enemies with the deadliest Pathfinder poisons!

Enzee

Updated: Mar 31, 2025, 01:26 PMPosted: Mar 28, 2025, 04:40 AM

Build Introduction

An awesome, low budget, leveling build for the Pathfinder Ascendancy! This leveling build uses a skill found only within the Pathfinder Ascendancy, Poisonous Concoction, this guide will take you through the campaign and into early endgame mapping with very little investment.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths

Very low budget
High damage
Good survivability

Weaknesses

Damage over Time
Multiple skill usage on bosses

Path of Building

Path of Building is a fantastic community made tool that lets you see how any change you make to your characters skill tree, gear, or skill gems will impact you. If you haven’t used POB before, you can find a useful beginner’s guide here.

POB Link

Ascendancy

At the end of Act II, you can select your first Ascendancy. It’s not too difficult, so we recommend doing it somewhere within the level range of 20 – 30. If you ARE having difficulty, prioritize using relics with ‘Honor Resistance’ on them. This works just like your normal resists, and reduces how much honor you lose when you take damage. At this point in the beta, you’ll have an option between Pathfinder and Deadeye. This choice is permanent and should be made with your endgame build in mind!

Our chosen Ascendancy is Pathfinder, so make sure you chose this one when given the option.

The first two points will be spent to unlock the skill our build is named after, Poisonous Concoction!

Note: When you choose the node, there are multiple ‘concoction’ options available; one for each element and poison. You’ll choose the node, then click which concoction you wish to have (you do not get them all). If you happen to miss-click, you can always undo it by respeccing, but it will cost a bit of gold.

Mana flask Charges gained
Poisonous Concoction

General Advice for Leveling

Path of Exile II’s campaign is not meant to be taken lightly. The following tips are things to keep in mind throughout the campaign and are applicable to all characters. This will help you have the smoothest leveling experience possible

Pick up Magic (blue) and Rare (yellow) items to sell or disenchant.
Check Vendors often (every time you return to town or level). Use vendor search feature to highlight rares/desirable stats.
Collect socketed/superior items to salvage so you can add sockets/quality to gear.
Dont skip secondary content (guaranteed drops etc). Any icon on the map with a ‘+’ next to it gives some kind of permanent buff or reward (skill points, resists, life, etc..)
Use the Gambler.
Don’t spam dodge roll.
Dont rush. If you are feeling overwhelmed fall back, don’t move forward.

Gear Progression and Stat Priority

Slot	Affixes	Notes
Main Hand	1.+level of all projectile skills	You want to get a Widowhail, with at least a 220%, and preferably 240%+ roll, as soon as possible. The reason for these rolls are explained below. These can be bought very cheaply, 1 exalted orb generally, as endgame players will try to corrupt them for bonuses and sell the failures. A corrupted one is fine for us to use, as the bonuses from socketing it are mostly irrelevant to us. If you are SSF (solo self found), try to use any chance orbs you get on a crude bow base. Until you get one, a bow with +proj skills is the next best option.
Off Hand	1. +level of all projectile skills 2. %Attack Speed 3. Dexterity	The +level of projectile skills is the most important, especially once you get a widowhail. However, the attack speed is very nice and the Dex is also important as our attribute requirements can get a bit tight without it. Flat damage to attacks and projectile speed are also nice, but not required depending on your budget.
Helm	1. Resists needed. 2. High ES 3. Reduced Attribute requirements	By the time you are done with Act 3, you’ll want to get as high of an energy shield helmet as you can equip and afford. One of the nodes we take in the passive tree, gives us 2 evasion rating for every 1 ES on our helmet. The highest ES helmets, will also have a high Intelligence requirement. That is why we want a reduced attribute requirement roll as well.
Body Armour	1. Resists needed. 2. High Evasion rating 3. Life	Initially, you can use any decent chest you come across. Eventually, you’ll want to pick up a Ghostwrithe Unique chest. Once again, these can be bought through trade very cheaply (1 Exalt, normally).
Gloves	1. Resists needed. 2. Evasion/Life 3. Attack speed
Boots	1. Movement Speed 2. Resists needed 3. Evasion/ES	A pair of Wanderlust boots, useable from lvl 1, are another cheap unique (1ex) to buy if you have the currency. However, these are not necessary and would be replaced eventually.
Rings	1. Resists needed 2. Chaos Damage 3. Life/ES/Evasion
Amulet	1. +level of Projectile skills 2. All Attributes 3. Resists 4. %Max ES
Belt	1. Reduced flask charges used 2. Increased Flask charges gained 3. Life 4. +charms (does not show up on belts till later)	Useable from lvl 1, a Keelhaul unique belt is a GREAT belt to use initially to help sustain flask charges for our main skill. You can buy one for 1 exalt, or less, through the trade site. Otherwise, a rare belt with reduced flask charges used (this will reduce the cost of our main skill, Poisonous Concoction) and increased flask charges gained (to increase our flat charges gained over time from other sources).

NOTE: The reason for a 220% roll on the widowhail is due to how the breakpoints work with our +proj rolls on our quiver. When you get a +2 projectile roll on your quiver, every 50% of bonus quiver effect will add another +1 level to our skills. We take a minimum of 50% effect on the tree, with the option for another 30% on the two passives next to the notable. That adds up to 300% without any jewels, but costing 2 extra passives. Getting a 240% widowhail, with the 50% on tree, and another 10% from a jewel, would give you 300% and save two passive points. You can also find widowhails that have been corrupted to over 250%, but these can be a little more expensive. Alternatively, you can try to buy and corrupt your own.

Levelling Uniques

If this isn’t your first character, you may want to purchase the uniques suggested above. Widowhail, Wanderlust and Keelhaul can all be used at level 1. Additionally, Asphyxia’s Wrath is a great quiver to use alongside Widowhail to start. Especially, since you will be using Lightning Arrow quite a bit until you unlock your ascendancy. However, once your unlock your Ascendancy, you want to get a quiver with +projectile skills on it. If this is your first character, none of these uniques are necessary to start out.

Flasks and Charms

Upgrade your life flask as you go, but put a priority on any mana flasks that have the ‘gain 0.x charges per second’ affix on them. This will give you charges over time, whether you kill any monsters or not. Along with some ‘increased flask charges gained’ effect we get from our passive tree and gear, this will help sustain charges for killing bosses. You shouldn’t run into any issues while clearing, as killing monsters gives you charges and the checkpoints will refill your charges as well. It’s often not worth upgrading to the next tier of mana flask until you find one with this roll. So, pickup any white bases and use your Transmutation and Augmentation orbs on them, to try and find this affix.

Jewels

Best (Emerald)	Good (Sapphire)
Increased Bonuses from Quiver	Increased Chaos Damage
Magnitude of poisons/ailments you inflict	% maximum Energy Shield
Increased Mana Flask charges gained	Ailments deal damage faster
Ailments deal damage faster	Gain % of ES as stun threshold
Increased Elemental ailment threshold	Increased Duration of Damaging Ailments

If you find a jewel with at least three of the affixes listed, that is very good. Even just two of the affixes is perfectly fine to use through the campaign. We have listed the five best affixes to look for on these two jewel types, with the emerald base having more affixes that are good for us overall. Ruby jewels have less than desirable affixes for us and should be avoided.

Act I

Here we will outline what skills you will be getting and when, and what supports you want to cut in what priority order. Later on, you will need to swap some support gems around between skills. If this isn’t your first character, and you already have access to higher tier skill and support gems, this section may not be important to you. You can just cut all the gems you need initially and slot them in as you level.

You can also use the Lightning Infusion Support Gem for Lightning Arrow, depending on what kind of +damage affixes you have on gear. If you are using the Asphyxia’s Wrath quiver to start off, you would want to avoid using this Support Gem, as it will reduce all the Cold Damage being added. Likewise, if you have gear with +fire or +cold damage to attacks, or a bow with these as part of its base damage, you should use the Martial Tempo suggested.

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Optional
Lightning Arrow (Clearing)	Scattershot	Martial Tempo	Lightning Infusion
Poisonburst Arrow (Single target)	Comorbidity	Deadly Poison	–
Vine Arrow (Level 4 Skill Gem)	–	–	–
Wind Dancer (Level 4 Spirit Gem)	–	–	–

Lightning Arrow is mainly used while clearing until getting into Act 2 and unlocking our main skill. Poisonburst Arrow and Vine Arrow are used for tanky rares and bosses. Shoot Vine Arrow near the boss, then hit them with Poisonburst Arrow so the poison splash also hits the Vine on the ground.

Also, don’t forget to kill the King in the Mists for your first 30 Spirit buff. He’s part of the quest in the Freythorn. Once you have your first Level 4 uncut spirit gem, make Wind Dancer and activate it.

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Act II

Here we will outline what skills you will be getting and when, and what supports you want to cut in what priority order.

Toxic Growth is a somewhat optional skill, as you may prefer not to use too many different skills. It’s mainly used on bosses, to help setup a large burst of initial damage whenever the boss stops monologuing at us. It can take a bit of practice to know when you can cast it, as it takes a moment to cast with the animation. However, both the withering touch and corrosion supports will be used in other skills later anyway.

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2
Toxic Growth	Withering Touch	Corrosion
Poisonous Concoction	ScattershotScattershot (don’t cut, swap from Lightning Arrow)	Comorbidity (don’t cut, swap from Poisonburst)
Poisonburst Arrow	Pierce

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Act III

Here we will outline what skills you will be getting and when, and what supports you want to cut in what priority order.

If you can’t cut all these gems yet, don’t worry. Higher tier Support and Spirit gems can sometimes be harder to find your first time through, depending on your luck with rare/boss monster drops. You’ll find them eventually and can make them then.

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Optional
Herald of Plague (lvl 8 spirit gem)	Clarity	Vitality	Grim Feast
Contagion	Magnified Effect	Arcane Tempo
Despair	Heightened Curse	Focused Curse (lvl 2 support gem)

Also, don’t forget to kill Ignagduk, the Bog Witch in Azak Bog, for another +30 spirit buff. This will get you to 60 spirit total. You can either add the Clarity and Vitality supports to Herald of Plague, and swap them into Wind Dancer on bosses. Or, just run both Wind Dancer and Herald of Plague all the time.

Alternatively, if you feel like survivability is an issue while clearing the zones. You could cut a Grim Feast gem and run that instead, as it will generate a lot of Energy Shield whenever you have lots of things to kill. This is an aura we add later on, so it won’t be a waste of an uncut gem.

One note about the skill tree at this level. If you do not yet have a helmet with a good amount of energy shield, at least 60-80, you can skip the ‘Subterfuge Mask’ notable for now. This adds 2 evasion rating for every 1 Energy Shield on your helmet, which doesn’t do much if you are using a pure evasion helmet, or only have 30 energy shield on your helmet, for example. Also, you may not have all of these passives by end of act 3, but it’s provided to show where you are going. You can choose which passives to prioritize based on your gear and preferences at the time.

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Acts I – III Cruel

Did you enjoy the campaign so far? Good! Because now we get to do it all over again, on cruel difficulty!

Tier 3 support gems will start to drop, letting us cut higher tier supports, or fill in any lower tiers you missed out on.

Since our main skill is not actually a ‘gem’, it will get additional support gem slots naturally as we level. It automatically becomes a 6 link skill at level 90. That means we don’t need Jeweller’s orbs as much as most builds, and you can use any lesser Jeweller’s orbs you find on your other skills. None of them require more than 3 or 4 support slots, so you won’t need to buy an expensive perfect Jeweller’s orb.

Skill Gem (In Order of Priority)	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Optional 1	Optional 2
Poisonous Concoction	Close Combat	Chaos Infusion	Chaos Mastery	–	–
Toxic Growth	Font of Rage	Maim	–	–	–
Vine Arrow	Bursting Plague	Inspiration	Mobility	–	–
Contagion	Chaotic Freeze	–	–	–	–
Eye of Winter	Unleash	Swap Withering Touch	Persistence	–	–

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Skill Rotation

For clearing, you will mostly just use Poisonous Concoction. If you see a very large and/or dense group of monsters, you may wish to cast contagion at one first, as that will spread and help finish off stragglers. For tankier rares, you might want to hit them with a Despair curse or Eye of Winter before throwing your poison bottles at them. Once you are far enough in the passive tree to grab the ‘Pure Chaos’ node, adding 11% of damage as chaos to ALL skills, and you’ve grabbed Eye of Winter, it can now apply stacks of ‘Wither’ to enemies. Prior to taking that notable, it won’t do any chaos damage, and won’t apply Wither. Each stack increases the chaos damage they take by 5% at base, but we also increase this effect. Despair + Eye of Winter on bosses can more than double the damage they take.

Once you have all the relevant skills, the optimal skill rotation at the start of a boss fight would be: Put Toxic Growth and Vine Arrow down just before they become active. Then, cast Despair on boss, cast Eye of Winter at them, and spam Poisonous Concoction. While that may sound like a lot, you will do a heavy amount of burst damage to the boss and likely freeze them as well, allowing you to re-do the entire rotation, if it’s even needed. Often, the boss will be basically dead from the first rotation. If they aren’t, you don’t need to do both Toxic Growth and Vine Arrow throughout the fight. Just try to keep the Despair and Wither debuffs up (look for the icon below their health bar) and finish them off with Poisonous Concoctions.

Progressing into Endgame

This guide is mostly meant to get you to early maps. Progressing from there on out, will require you to follow the Endgame guide. We recommend doing this around level 75-80 and when you’ve amassed a little bit of currency to enable transitioning.

Frequently Asked Questions

Should I take the Traveller’s Wisdom (5 passives) or Contagious Contamination (Herald of Plague) nodes with my 2nd set of ascendancy points?
This is somewhat personal preference. This author chose the 5 passives (plus 1 from the small node before it) and alternated auras for clearing/bossing. If alternating auras is annoying to you, you could just take the Contagious Contamination and stop running Herald of Plague as they do basically the same thing. Once I had my 3rd ascendancy, I dropped Traveller’s Wisdom to grab Contagious Contamination and Overwhelming Toxicity.
What if I don’t want to go Chaos Innoculation (CI)?
While we strongly recommend it, as some of the most deadly enemy abilities often do chaos damage, there IS an alternative version of the build, that goes heavier into evasion and has a hybrid life/ES style. If you can get a well rolled Expert Waxed Jacket, or Queen of the Forest unique, there is also a different version of the passive tree you can do. These options will be in the endgame guide for the build.
Why Ghostwrithe with CI? If I’m setting my life to 1, isn’t that wasting the affix?
Actually, currently the Ghostwrithe is calculating your life BEFORE CI sets it to 1, and adding that as ES. Any life affixes will still increase your ES while wearing it and being CI. It remains to be seen if this intended by GGG or a bug, but it’s been around since early release started, so it seems like it’s intended.
Should I get a Widowhail with flat dmg corruption implicit/runes?
It doesn’t matter for Poisonous Concoction (PConc), as these are only adding base damage to the Widowhail itself, which isn’t applied for PConc. Unlike PoE 1, you can have a weapon equipped and do unarmed damage, but it won’t use the weapon’s damage stats. In fact, none of the runes really add much for us, so it doesn’t matter if you get one without any sockets. They would only apply for your other skills, not Pconc. Any passive affixes (such as +projectile skills) on the bow would still apply, however. This is why Widowhail is so great for the build, as it’s the only bow that is actually adding a ton of damage to our skill.
Why do you take reduced mana flask charges used on the tree? We never have to use our mana flask, do we?
This may not seem intuitive, but it will reduce the cost of PConc. With 20% reduced charges used, PConc will use 2.4 charges instead of 3. Every few throws, your charges will go down by 2 instead of 3. The game does track fractional charges, but only displays in whole numbers. I.e. if your mana flask has 10.7 charges, it will show 10 charges. If it has 11.2 charges, it will display 11 charges. It does not round up. Between reducing the cost, and increasing how many charges we gain passively, it becomes very easy to sustain mana flask charges for PConc, even on bosses.

Changelog

March 28th, 2025: Guide created for Path of Exile II, Early Access