Path of Exile 2: Best Starter Meta Builds in Patch 0.5

Patch 0.5 for Path of Exile 2 is right around the corner, so it’s a good idea to start thinking about what the best starter meta builds are to use.

After all, the Return of the Ancients patch will bring with it the brand-new Runes of Aldur League. Whether you’re new or a returning veteran, you might be curious to see what’s with this new league!

In this guide, I’ll tell you about the 5 strongest builds you can look forward to using.

Blood Mage Bleed Bow

Build planner courtesy of JayTX

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Despite the name, the stars of this build are Ice Shot for clearing mobs and Snipe for big single-target damage. Ice Shot finally gets a chance to shine after other meta abilities were nerfed, and it sure shines brightly!

One of the main synergies of this build is the one Ice Shot has with the Cadiro’s Gambit Quiver. Ice Shot sprays ice shards on hit, which Cadiro’s Gambit can reverse. This makes them return to you, penetrating enemies and dealing massive damage in turn.

The other fantastic synergy is the one between Ice Shot and Snipe themselves. Ice Shot can easily Freeze enemies, which will take massively increased damage from Snipe. Even better while also using Freezing Salvo, which makes applying Freeze even easier.

All of that in combination with Bleed, makes it so you have a build that can melt everything with ease. Seriously, get a single Freeze on a boss and it’s as good as dead when this build is fully online!

Plants Oracle

Build planner courtesy of DEADRABB1T

This is a build that’s extremely easy to get started with, as it can come online pretty early on and carry you through the endgame. So, it’s very beginner-friendly, if that’s what you’re looking for!

The main ability that this build revolves around is Entangle, which will be your primary offensive Spell. But what really makes it shine is its synergy with Thunderstorm!

Thunderstorm will make the plants created via Entangle become Overgrown. This drastically increases the damage they do, turning them from pretty good to extremely powerful.

Combine those with the Wildsurge Incantation Keystone and your plants will become even stronger, while also being cheaper to cast. They do stay out a lot less, though, but the pros outweigh the cons here.

To cap this all off, Cast on Critical with Detonate Dead also adds a lot of mob-clearing power to this build. You’ll be wiping screens quickly and effortlessly!

Oil Barrage Amazon

Build planner courtesy of J_MACC

This build is not for the faint of heart! I’m sure you can barely tell what’s going on in the screenshot above, right? Well, that’s what this build looks like, as you can absolutely destroy everything with extremely flashy abilities.

The central ability in this build is the titular Oil Barrage. When used normally, it’s a solid attack that leaves an Oil Ground spill on the floor. When Channeled, however, it creates a sustained barrage of electrified Oil instead of leaving Oil Ground.

By default, this is nothing too crazy. However, it does get crazy when slot in the Salvo Support Gem. This allows you to store Seals over time, which you can then consume to fire more projectiles at once.

In essence, this can turn the default 3 projectiles from a Channeled Oil Barrage into a total of 9 projectiles with maximum Seals.

Even better, the effect is based on the number of Seals you had when you started Channeling! Hold down the Channeling after starting with maximum Seals and you’ll keep the extra projectiles until you let go.

That said, you do need Power Charges to cast Oil Barrage. This build gets those through a Spear with Culmination and Alith’s Chimes. Spend Combo obtained from Whirling Slash to get Power Charges.

It’s a fairly complex build at first, since there are a lot of synergizing mechanics at play here. But once you get it down, this is an incredibly powerful build that will decimate everything in its path!

Twister Spirit Walker

Build details courtesy of SnooBAE85

This build primarily relies on a combination of Whirling Slash and Twister, which have a pretty interesting synergy going on.

First off, Whirling Slash powers up to 3 Stages when stacked with itself. Twister can also get enhanced by consuming the Whirlwind Stages created by Whirling Slash. So, stack Whirling Slash and combo into Twister for a much stronger Twister cast.

Furthermore, Whirling Slash can also power up by being used over any Elemental Ground. Twister can then inherit the same elemental properties as your Whirling Slash, powering up even further!

Lastly, to bring this all together, the Spirit Walker class can use Vivid Stampede to create Shock Ground on demand! That, of course, means you can use it to freely power up your Twisters as much as you want.

It’s a very strong and popular build for good reason, and it seems like it’ll remain powerful into 0.5!

Shield Wall Infernalist

Build planner courtesy of FunkehChicken

Despite the nerfs, this build is still extremely powerful and remains one of the best starter builds in the meta! That’s a testament to how strong its synergies are, right?

The main ability you’ll use here is Shield Wall. Use it to slam your Shield on the ground, creating earth walls. You can then detonate these earth walls with Slams, Warcries, and Shield Charge. The detonation will deal damage to enemies based on your Shield’s Armour.

On its own, though, this isn’t truly groundbreaking. However, it starts to shine when paired with the Nebuloch Execratus Hammer, Redflare Conduit Anchorite Garb, and the Garukhan’s Resolve Support Gem.

First, Garukhan’s Resolve bifurcates your Critical Hit Chance. That means you can roll for crit twice per skill, which can result in massive damage if you get both crits. However, your Critical Hit Chance is capped to 50%.

However, the Nebuloch Execratus Hammer allows you to consume Endurance Charge to guarantee Critical Hits. It completely negates the downside from before!

Combine that with the Redflare Conduit Anchorite Garb andthe Resonance Keystone and you’ll always have Endurance Charges ready.

So, essentially, this means you get 100% Critical Hit Chance at all times while also landing two Critical Hits at once! This will make your Shield Wall delete things from existence on hit with its absurd damage.

This build is incredibly strong, even after its nerfs, that’s for sure. The one downside is that it’s hard to get everything you need for it. But it’s still incredible if you put in the work!

Wrapping Up

That’s the end of this list of the best starter meta builds you can use for patch 0.5 in Path of Exile 2. Hopefully one of these fits your playstyle and preferences.

That said, do note that these builds are all subject to change. Patch 0.5 hasn’t released yet, after all! While we do have the patch notes already, Grinding Gear Games tend to make corrections until the very last second. Keep that in mind!