The Spear Huntress Leveling Guide

Gem Engraving Priority

Skill Rotation

Skill Leveling, Socket and Quality Priority

In this section you learn Act-by-Act tips and important milestones for leveling your Spear Huntress in the Path of Exile 2 Campaign. If you need more detailed advice on leveling (for any build) check out our Comprehensive PoE Campaign Leveling Guide.

Act 1

The brief period before you get Rake can be the most challenging if you rush it. Take your time and use the following tips to make the first part of Act 1 much easier.

• In Clearfell there is a Mysterious Campsite that contains an Abandoned Stash. There is an Uncut Skill Gem inside. Having access to an extra Skill before engaging with The Devourer or Beira of the Rotten Pack makes those fights much easier.
  • If you already cut Explosive Spear, use this gem to cut Disengage.
• Bind Parry from your Buckler and Disengage to two comfortable and adjacent hotkeys. Any slow enemy like Zombies can easily be used to generate Frenzy Charges by holding the Parry hotkey and following up with Disengage.
  • You can use a Zombie or other enemy before entering a boss fight to generate up to 3 Frenzy Charges to throw three quick Empowered Explosive Spears. The burning ground also empowers Whirling Slash.

• Beira of the Rotten Pack is very easy to Parry. All of her icicle attacks (barrage and spread versions) can be parried if you stand next to her. Combined with Disengage you can kill her very quickly and easily with Explosive Spears.
• The Devourer's basic attacks can be Parried but it's easier to simply use Explosive Spear normally and hit and run tactics with Spear Stabs to work them down patiently.
  • Use your first Uncut Support gem on Overabundance for Explosive Spear. This lets you place two Explosive Spears in the ground at the same time.
• Do not try to Parry in large packs of enemies, especially in zones like The Grelwood. Individual Werewolves are, however, very easy to parry and you can use them to pre-stack Frenzy Charges to Explosive Spear the next pack.
• Make sure you find and defeat Areagne in the Witch Hut special encounter in The Grelwood. The Cauldron contains upgraded Flasks and the Rare monster drops an Uncut Support Gem, which is an essential damage boost at this level.
  • This second Uncut Support Gem can be used on Martial Tempo for Spear Stab to boost single target damage or on Expedite for Explosive Spear, if you find yourself preferring not to use Parry / Disengage too often.

• The Rust King in The Red Vale uses mostly slam attacks, which cannot be parried or evaded. Use dodge rolls and Spear Stabs to chip away at him and use Whirling Slash whenever he summons monsters. Build stages on the Whirlwind and explode with Disengage when the enemies converge on you. Keep throwing your pairs of Explosive Spears whenever possible (Overabundance allows you to stick two in the ground at a time).
• In the Grim Tangle hunt down and slay The Rotten Druid for another Uncut Support to get Pursuit for Spear Stab, giving you more single target damage.
• Make sure to check out the Act 1 Secrets guide for more specific locations on extra gear and Uncut Gems if you are struggling and need a power up!

• Once you get Rake things become much simpler! Cut a Stomping Ground Support as soon as possible to link to it. You can also move your Martial Tempo gem over from Spear Stab to immediately improve it further.
  • Ensure you start prioritizing Strength on gear and passives as much as possible from now on to scale Stomping Ground's damage!
• The Embattled Trove encounter in The Tomb of the Consort (side area in The Cemetery) grants an Uncut Support Gem, which you can use to get Stomping Ground, if you haven't already.

• Once you have Rake and Stomping Ground you don't need to use basic Spear Stab again. You can keep using Explosive Spear if needed to damage dangerous enemies before you engage them in melee, but it wont often be necessary.
• You can get an extra Uncut Support from the Dryadic Ritual in The Hunting Grounds, easily found by exploring around the edge of the map. This can be used to fill any missing slots or pre-mptively cut a Magnified Effect for Herald of Blood.
• Head into Freythorn as soon as possible to complete the quest and get Herald of Blood. Don't forget to activate it in your skill menu!
  • For the quest reward for Freythorn, take a Sapphire Charm to prepare for the end of Act 1 boss.
• The Crop Circle in Ogham Farmlands, or the later Gallows encounter in The Manor Ramparts also both provide Uncut Supports. You can use these to grab the Blood in the Eyes and Rage Supports.
  • Rage is incredible on Spearfield, which you can get towards the end of the Act. Blood in the Eyes can be used on Spearfield or Herald of Blood (note: this is primarily for boosting Accuracy vs Enemy evasion for Amazon builds).

The rest of Act 1 is easy mode with Rake and Stomping Ground. Use Spearfield to weaken enemies and generate Rage stacks for extra damage. Grab some Cold Resistance where possible to make Count Ogham easier.

Act 2

While Act 2 is fairly straightforward with this leveling build there are some challenges presented at a few specific bosses. Keep stacking Strength, Life and Resistances as much as possible. Don't forget to upgrade your Spear whenever possible with high physical damage and attack speed — it doesn't affect Stomping Ground very much (which is mostly based on Strength), but it does make your Spearfield and Bleeds much stronger.

• Rathbreaker, in the first area can be challenging for many players.
  • Try to stand right at the point of the arena cliffs with Rathbreaker, as the ranged attackers cannot hit you there.
  • You can spam Rake through the basic attacks and dodge roll to the other side of the boss before the slam attacks hit.
  • If Hyenas try to swarm, quickly place 2-3 Spearfields between you and them, which slows and kill most of them.

• The next hurdle for many players is often Rudja, Dread Engineer in the Mawdun Mines.
  • Improve your Fire Resistance as much as possible to be able to effectively ignore her Flamethrower attacks. Or dodge roll through them to avoid the majority of damage.
  • When she enrages and begins melee attacking keep your distance with a combination of Disengage and dodge rolls until she stops. Thanks to Disengage, this build has an easier time in this fight than many other builds.

• You get access to two new skills in this Act: Thunderous Leap and Blood Hunt.
  • Thunderous Leap is used to cross gaps and jump over ledges. It doesn't need any Supports and can be kept at a low level to reduce Mana costs.
  • Blood Hunt is later used to finish off enemies but at this level can be kept aside as it's not too useful until your Bleed damage becomes an overall larger part of your DPS.
• You have several opportunities to get new Support Gems in this Act. You can add Execute and Bloodlust to Blood Hunt or hold them aside for later Skill gem acquisitions.
• In The Buried Shrines (below Keth) is an encounter called Elemental Offering. It gives you a chance to choose an element. You should pick lightning for a Topaz Ring to help prepare for the upcoming Jamanra boss fight, which can be quite difficult.
  • Craft the Ring with a Orb of Transmutation and Orb of Augmentation. If it rolls Life, Strength, Resistances, then consider also using a Regal Orb.

• The Trial of the Sekhamas can be somewhat challenging with Rake because of the Honour system the trial has.
  • Use Spearfield to kill enemies carefully at range. It's especially effective against the final boss, Rattlecage. Place your Spearfields and kite the boss around the pile of stones in the middle of the arena for a very safe kill.
  • Disengage and Thunderous Leap can be used to jump over Flamethrower traps.
  • If you still struggle, consider coming back at a higher level or with some gear upgrades. Check out our guide on Ascending here.

• When moving through The Dreadnought zones, use a combination of Spearfield and Thunderous Leap to navigate the zone and keep the difficult enemies at bay.

• For the Jamanra boss fight, ensure your Lightning Resistance is as high as possible and your gear upgraded from vendors in town and crafting.
  • If you have found any Exalted Orbs, now is a good time to spend them via Trading with other players to get some upgrades such as a Meginord's Girdle or even just a nice pair of Movement Speed boots (remember to limit the search to your level requirement).
  • Ensure your flasks are upgraded, Colossal Life Flasks and Colossal Mana Flasks are available and a big boost.
  • Use Spearfield when you cannot engage in melee, Jamanra is large, making the skill effective for damage.
  • Use Disengage to leap past the lightning beams safely and use Rake opportunistically when safe to do so.

Act 3

Act 3 gives you the opportunity to add two key pieces to your build: the incredibly powerful Bloodhound's Mark, and a second Spirit Skill.

• Bloodhound's Mark can be linked to Single Out to provide a powerful debuff for Rare enemies and Bosses.
  • Use this skill! It causes enemies to lose their Armour and become Heavy Stunned. This greatly enhances your damage and gives safe times to engage otherwise deadly enemies.

• You get access to Tame Beast after you defeat Igagduk in The Azak Bog.
  • Cut the Tame Beast gem using a regular Uncut Skill Gem (not a Spirit gem).
  • With your Uncut Spirit Gem you can create the Wind Dancer skill.
  • Use Wind Dancer until you can find a good beast to tame.
  • From now on, keep an eye out for Rare Beast type enemies with good Auras or other random Rare modifiers.
  • The type of Beast doesn't matter very much, focus on the Auras and other bonuses they have.
  • Ideally, you want a Physical Damage Aura, and "All Damage Shocks". But many good choices exist.
  • Feel free to Tame Beasts to try them out and cut new Tame Beast gems to experiment with a variety of modifiers. You can swap in and resummon any beasts you've previously captured in a gem!
  • Learn more about how to capture a good Beast here.

• Don't forget to get your free Lesser Jeweller's Orb from the Basket in the Orok Campsite, located in the Sandswept Marsh. Use this to add a socket to Rake so you can add the Lacerate or Brutality gem to further enhance your Stomping Ground + Martial Tempo combo.
• If you find another Lesser Jeweller's Orb at some point, use it on Spearfield to add Bloodlust support to enhance boss killing!

• The Trial of Chaos can be challenging for any build, especially if the randomized modifiers in each room happen to be particularly bad for your build.
  • You can take multiple attempts by simply leaving and using the entrance key to start again.
  • Spearfield is effective against each of the bosses due to their size.
  • Spearfield and Disengage can keep you out of harm's way while killing the approaching enemies.
  • Use your Bloodhounds Mark to stun enemies with bleed damage from Rake. Consider using the Lacerate support if your Strength is very high (as Stomping Ground damage may be higher than your regular Spear damage). The higher damage Bleeds help to trigger Bloodhound's Heavy Stun faster.

• For the Doryani fight at the end of the Act:
  • Use Rake to destroy him in the first phase.
  • For the second phase use the occasional Rake combined with spamming Spearfield for large single-target damage against his oversized body.
  • Use Disengage to flip out of the large area slams easily.

Cruel

• During Cruel, you gain access to the full set of level 1 to Level 3 support gems.
  • Adding Incision to Spearfield can allow you to clear packs with Spearfield and consistently trigger Herald of Blood explosions. It also enhances single target damage thanks to the Thousand Cuts notable passive.
  • Herald of Blood can be linked to the Blind support to lower enemy Accuracy and Evasion — improving both your safety and also your DPS with Amazon's Critical Strike Ascendancy.
  • Make sure you link your beast Companion to Loyalty and Last Gasp to improve your defenses and make them far more effective.
  • Disengage can be linked to Shocking Leap and Holy Descent to provide some excellent utility.
• In Cruel Act 3 you gain another Lesser Jeweller's Orb from the Orok Campsite, use it on Spearfield if you haven't already upgraded it. Otherwise Herald of Blood or Bloodhound's Mark are reasonable choices.
• You also gain more Spirit after killing Ignagduk again, allowing you to equip Wind Dancer alongside your Tamed Beast and Herald of Blood.
  • Wind Dancer linked to Maim and Arms Length keeps enemies away from you if you get swarmed.

The biggest change you may notice is that your Bleed damage starts to play a larger role in your overall DPS as you progress through Cruel. You can lean into a more Bleed-focused playstyle as this happens (using gems like Deep Cuts on Rake) or maintain a Stomping Ground focus by continuing to stack Strength into the endgame.

Amazon is the recommended Huntress leveling Ascendancy and the Class of choice for most endgame builds at the moment. The powerful Critical Strike and Penetrate nodes provide excellent gearing opportunities to enhance your damage on any build. It also has multiple powerful options for Elemental builds such as Mystic Harvest for leech-based survivability.

• Predatory Instinct is the first Ascendancy Passive for a Bleed Huntress when leveling because it provides a solid damage boost for defeating Campaign bosses. It doesn't require any special gear or consideration, you can let it do it's thing in the background without much thought.
  • Later on, when you Bleed damage becomes more significant, you can attempt to apply your biggest Bleed while an enemy has an Open Weakness (when their health is in the highlighted sections)
• Critical Strike is your second Ascendancy Notable because it further enhances your damage scaling and increases your gearing options. This node converts Accuracy against enemies into extra Critical Hit Chance.
  • From now on, consider Accuracy on gear as extra damage. Accuracy can be obtained on Gloves, Helmets, Rings, Amulets, and Weapons.
  • Don't prioritize Accuracy over raw physical damage (or Strength), but you can use it to further enhance your damage.
• Penetrate can be taken when you Ascend after level 60 at the end of the Campaign or in early endgame. It turns Accuracy on a weapon into extra flat Physical damage (including the Accuracy from a Greater Vision Rune!
  • Prioritize getting spears with high Physical Damage and Accuracy. Here's an example: Ideal Early Endgame Spear
  • If you cannot get such a spear and have no Accuracy on your weapon you can take the alternate Ascendancy node and respec the Passives when you upgrade your weapon.

If you choose the Ritualist route, ignore gearing advice to stack Accuracy, which is only used for Amazon's Ascendancy scaling. Focus instead on maximizing the power of your Jewelry to benefit from the Ritualist.

• For the attribute nodes take enough Intelligence and Dexterity to meet gear, skill gem and support gem requirements, then use the rest on Strength for more damage and life.
  • You can use your Gold at the Hooded one or Doryani to respec and change your Attributes if a new skill or gear upgrade leaves you unable to use your skills/items — or just to further increase your Strength!
• The progression order is designed for you to start getting Accuracy and Critical Strike Passives after you have your second Ascendancy. Focus on raw damage and Strength until then.
• Take Deft Recovery early if you find yourself getting stunned too often and cannot improve the Life on your gear (and you don't have, or are already using a Stone Charm).
• The Staggering Wounds Notable provides knockback for Stomping Grounds and Spearfield for both damage and survivability. Instill it onto an Amulet as soon as possible using a set of: Distilled Paranoia, Distilled Greed, and Distilled Guilt. These are common and can be cheaply acquire on the Currency Exchange as early as Cruel Act 1.

• For the attribute nodes take enough Intelligence and Dexterity to meet gear, skill gem and support gem requirements, then use the rest on Strength for more damage and life.
  • You can use your Gold at the Hooded one or Doryani to respec and change your Attributes if a new skill or gear upgrade leaves you unable to use your skills/items — or just to further increase your Strength!
• Take Deft Recovery early if you find yourself getting stunned too often and cannot improve the Life on your gear (and you don't have, or are already using a Stone Charm).
• The Staggering Wounds Notable provides knockback for Stomping Grounds and Spearfield for both damage and survivability. Your should be to Instill it onto an Amulet as soon as possible using a set of: Distilled Paranoia, Distilled Greed, and Distilled Guilt. These are common and can be cheaply acquire on the Currency Exchange as early as Cruel Act 1.
• The Blinding Strike and Disorientation give you 100% Blind uptime with Spearfield for a solid increase to survivability and damage.
• Critical Scaling may still be the ideal goal if you plan to keep playing a Bleed playstyle into endgame but without Amazon's Critical Strikes scaling it is not recommended for leveling on a Ritualist.

How Can I Move and Clear Faster?

Using Rake, Disengage, and Thunderous Leap correctly can vastly improve your clear speed, movement and even survivability.

• Practice using Rakes maximum range against targets, especially if they are spaced out well.
• Use Disengage liberally, it is faster than running in most cases until you have about 30-40% movement speed bonus. You can use Disengage to travel forwards through enemies by targeting behind you.
• Thunderous Leap can jump you over ledges and obstacles.
• Dodge Roll can be used to cancel the animation of Rake at any point, use it to rapidly reposition. Dodge Roll can also effectively extend your Disengage to change direction and avoid damage.

How Can I Refine My Build at Endgame?

Why Don't I Have Enough Spirit for Tame Beast?

What Can I Do with Additional Spirit?

How Do I Level Tame Beast?

What bonuses should I choose from Relics in Act 2 and Venom Drought in Act 3?

• Spear Huntress planning on leveling as a Bleed build can be extremely powerful in the campaign by using Rake with the Stomping Ground. Stacking Strength provides both damage and Life for a balanced and highly effective leveling build.
• You can use Spearfield for excellent extra damage against bosses, to keep enemies away from you with Maim and Knockback, and to debuff foes with Blood in the Eyes whilst also improving your own damage with the Rage support.
• By using Disengage, Rake, Thunderous Leap, and Dodge Roll in tandem you can achieve fast clear speed, high mobility and great survivability.
• Herald of Blood provides satisfying gameplay whilst boosting clear speed and providing some great utility with the Blind support.
• At endgame you can keep using Stomping Ground on Rake, or you can focus more on the versatile power granted by Spearfield. Either way, both skills can continue being used alongside each other for a powerful endgame Bleed Amazon build!

Credits

Written by: ZIGGYD
Content Reviewed by: Goratha
Language Reviewed by: Tenkiei