Overview
This Mercenary grenade setup is pitched as a beginner-friendly league starter. It is presented as a stream-cut, act-by-act walkthrough of the campaign. The creator reached endgame without relying on ascendancy points. Gear came almost entirely from in-map Ritual rewards plus a lucky alchemy-rolled crossbow, so it shows how far the grenade kit goes with no trade at all.
The core loop never changes much. Flash Grenade stuns bosses, then Gas Grenade and Explosive Grenade are thrown as fast as cooldowns allow. Oil Grenade joins at around level 31 to apply Exposure, Mirage Archer is added in Act 3 for extra boss damage, and Cluster Grenade arrives in the Interlude for faster map clear. Passives go into projectile and grenade damage, grenade cooldown uses and cooldown recovery, then armour nodes that let armour apply to elemental damage before endgame.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Very forgiving for new players; spamming grenades is enough
- Runs entirely on self-found or Ritual-reward gear
- Flash Grenade stun plus grenade bursts handle campaign bosses
- Smooth transition into the creator’s endgame Mortar Cannon version at level 65
Cons
- Damage depends on rolling added-damage prefixes on weapon, gloves and rings
- Frost Bomb’s Exposure stops working on monsters above its level, so it is retired early
- Defence is thin until you buy an armour chest around Act 4
- The source is a stream cut, so some commentary is loose
Key Skills
- Explosive Grenade — main damage; level it first, run Multishot + Elemental support + faster fuse
- Gas Grenade — stacking damage, with Multishot and area support
- Flash Grenade — movement and boss stun (Stun support)
- Oil Grenade — Exposure plus a lasting ground zone from Act 3
- Mirage Archer / Cluster Grenade — extra boss burst (Act 3) and map clear (Interlude)
Gear & Anointments
Any crossbow with physical-damage or added-damage prefixes works; the creator got a strong one by alchemying a bombard crossbow into +2 projectile skill levels. Gloves and rings should add lightning, cold, physical or fire damage to attacks. Use Attrition for Spirit early since it ramps damage against rares and uniques automatically. Specific uniques are not required; do Ritual in maps to keep upgrading gear.
Credits & Source
Build credited to YukiDNK. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage + voice commentary: 【PoE2 0.5.5】Beginner Grenade League Starter Guide.