Casting a critical strike in Path of Exile 2 does not cause any damage by itself. It’s a persistence gem that triggers other slot abilities when it reaches 100% energy, which, as you might have guessed, builds up by dealing critical hits. For efficiency, it’s best to hit as many enemies as possible, since power recharges are based on individual effects, even with a single cast.

When using support gems like Pierce, abilities like Spark can fire multiple projectiles and hit more enemies. Let’s take a look at the 5 most popular builds using critical characters in Path of Exile 2.

notes: This is not a build guide.

The best builds using key characters in Path of Exile 2

1) Spark Comet

Comet is currently the best skill in the game, whether it’s siege or boss. The fire-infused variant of the skill also gets a significant damage increase, and when paired with elemental weaknesses, it becomes even more effective at the end of the game. If you don’t want the enemy to move out of the comet’s range, you can use cold-based skills such as Frost Arrows and Frost Walls Triggering CoC instead of Spark is also a feasible option.

2) Ember volley

Ember Volley is generally not ideal to cast on a critical hit, and only works if you’re running a Titan that has 100% reduced skill effect duration. It lets you hold down the skill button and instantly fire a projectile. When paired with CoC, you can have another source of fireball barrages. It also uses Time required for immediate healing Overall, this is an interesting endgame build in Path of Exile 2. If you don’t like Ember Fusillade, the same setup applies to Feast of Flesh (via Unborn Lich).

3) Thunderstorm Gardner

The Entangle and Whipping Vine combo is a popular build for Oracle in PoE2, which also uses critical casting to trigger Thunderstorm. It can make it rain on you and over-grow the planning skill, causing AoE blast damage. In addition to this, it also applies the “wet” state, which makes them susceptible to elemental diseases. You can use the build with other classes, but Oracle Ascendancy allows you to get away from low-crit rare situations, since forcing the result saves passive points to invest in damage nodes.

4) Living bomb

The living bomb is the most cunning criminal in the current “Path of Exile 2” league, and this skill has been greatly enhanced in version 0.4. The build has the same setup as the CoC Comet, and is often used together to gain Fire Infusion, further increasing the Comet’s damage. You can also use this skill with Arc if planning on doing a full lightning-based build.

5) Spark arc

Spark Arc is the OG Cast on Critical build and is still a great choice for mobbing, not bossing. Unlike Comet, the build also relies on Spark to deal a certain amount of damage. To do this, you need to use Projectile Acceleration III support and increase the speed as much as possible. Thunderstorms can drench enemies to apply elemental diseases faster, while Walls of Fire will further amplify the power of spark projectiles.

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