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Overview
This is a crossbow grenade build played on the Mercenary’s Tactician, using Mortar Cannon and Cluster Grenade as the damage core while a constant stream of ancestral totems carries the defensive load. The creator ran it as a fresh 0.5.5 league starter and had it clearing the Arbiter of Divinity and fully-juiced waystones by day two at level 93 — deliberately without a loot-filter-style modifier reroll, since the build is designed to take every map modifier head-on.
The defensive design is the selling point. Totems are dropped roughly every second, and each one redirects a share of incoming damage away from the character; on top of that sit Jade Heritage’s spammable guard shield, the guardian turtle, and heavy armour stacking with “armour applies to elemental damage”. Iron Reflexes converts any stray evasion into armour, and Heart of the Well pushes body-armour scaling further.
Damage comes from grenade detonations plus armour break from the ascendancy, converted into fire damage via Mortal’s One Gift. Gem levels are the dominant damage lever — the creator repeatedly stresses that levels matter far more than raw modifiers, which is why Soul Core of Munitions (+1 grenade skills) is treated as mandatory in the crossbow.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely all-content: pinnacle bosses, juiced maps and Abyss farming all handled with the same setup
- Very strong defensively — totem damage redirection plus armour stacking lets the character face-tank pinnacle mechanics
- No need to filter map modifiers once finalised, which is a real quality-of-life and throughput gain
- Scales cleanly from a cheap league-start version to a rage-stacking max version
- Abyss farming with abyssal tablets pays for the build at low investment and gives strong experience
Cons
- Playstyle is repetitive by design — move in circles, drop a totem every second
- The build has a staged transition (Oil Grenade to Voltaic Grenade around level 90, Idol of Full Doom to Fireflower later) and swapping too early makes shock application unreliable
- Rogue Exiles are awkward because they move before grenades detonate
- Requires 60%+ chaos resistance before waystone 15/16 or the character dies regardless of armour
Key Skills
- Cluster Grenade — the main damage dealer; wants a Perfect Jeweller’s Orb, a level 20 Anka skill gem, and high gem level overall
- Mortar Cannon — secondary damage with 20% quality for the increased area of effect, improving map clear
- Oil Grenade → Voltaic Grenade — the swap happens around level 90 once minions supply fire exposure, at which point Voltaic’s shock is worth more
- Ancestral totems — the defensive engine; each summon redirects incoming damage and spawns minions that apply fire exposure
- Jade Heritage — a spammable guard shield, usable mid-boss-fight; runs Rapid Casting so it triggers faster
Gear & Anointments
The crossbow is the single biggest upgrade axis. Early on physical damage and an extra totem are enough for waystone 15/16, but the long-term target is gem levels: one Greater Iron Rune plus a Soul Core of Munitions for +1 to grenade skills. Time of Need runs Cooldown Recovery so it heals and cleanses curses faster.
Armour is stacked everywhere — 2000+ on the body armour, plus as much as the helmet can carry — and any evasion on gear justifies Iron Reflexes. Heart of the Well with “damage taken as extra fire” is called out as the best-in-slot notable pairing.
On the amulet, cheap characters should use Idol of Full Doom rather than a Fireflower: it gives more control in maps on bad gear and adds an extra minion for more consistent buffs. Fireflower (+4, later +5) is the max-version item only. Rage is worth chasing on a rare jewel — “gain 3 rage when hit by an enemy” is more consistent than the Yamaku charm alternative.
Every rare should carry a strong life roll, and strength on the suffix adds more life on top, which is how the creator pushes well past 3000. Chaos resistance of at least 60% is non-negotiable for red maps.
Endgame Notes
After the max-version transition (level 92+, rage stacking, Fireflower and Grenadier), the plan is Simulacrum farming. Abyss with abyssal tablets is the recommended day-two currency loop — the creator pulled multiple divines’ worth of Kulak invitations and greater exalted orbs from a single Lightless Void run at area level 80.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Poeguy007. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: [PoE 2] - SHREDDING EVERYTHGING in 0.5.5! //Gameplay Showcase + Tricks, Tips & Reminders for Day 2-3.