10 Best Ranger Builds in Path of Exile 3.25

17.08.2024 - 13:52:16
Game Guides , Path of Exile , POE build guides

10 Best Ranger Builds in Path of Exile 3.25

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Do you have plans to create a projectile-based character in Path of Exile anytime soon? If so, the Ranger class is the right one for you!

This class has been one of the most popular in the game for so many leagues now and it is not surprising given the advanced classes available to it.

If you are looking for recommendations, then you have come to the right place! In this article, we will go over our picks for the 10 best Ranger builds in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League!

Why Choose the Ranger

The Ranger class is synonymous with projectile or ranged-based attack skills in PoE while wielding a bow. But make no mistake, she is also capable of using a wand, claw, dagger, or any one-handed melee weapon out there if the need arises.

This class starts at the lower-right section of the passive tree, where an abundance of bow, dagger, sword, and claw nodes reside. Being a Dexterity-focused class, the Ranger has easy access to evasion nodes that help her avoid attacks. Not only that but passive skills that increase spell suppression are within reach as well.

Spell suppression, for the uninitiated, is another defensive layer that mitigates spell damage by up to 50%. This is actually quite huge considering that monsters in the later levels deal spell damage more often than not.

If you are new to Path of Exile, the Ranger has three different "ascendancy classes," which can be accessed by completing the first labyrinth (aka Lord's Labyrinth) at character level 33.

Which ascendancy class you should choose really depends on your build, as well as the notable passive skills available on each one.

Pathfinder

The Pathfinder is the go-to option if you are into poison or chaos builds. This is because the ascendancy class has access to nodes that improve the said damage types in various ways, such as Nature's Reprisal and Master Toxicist.

However, most PoE players who use the Pathfinder typically select it due to its nodes that have something to do with flasks. Nature's Adrenaline allows you to automatically gain three flask charges every few seconds. This is incredibly useful if you are fighting against pinnacle bosses that take time to defeat.

Nature's Boon boosts the effects of magic utility flasks, such as the Jade Flask, Amethyst Flask, and Granite Flask (to name a few) by 30%. When you have the Mageblood equipped and you have flasks that already have 95% increased effect mods on them, Nature's Boon elevates those flasks even further!

Master Surgeon is often taken by those who play MF builds (aka "Magic Find" characters) in Path of Exile. Why? This notable ascendancy passive skill does not remove the life recovery effect from your Life Flask even though it has already filled your HP bar. This makes Divination Distillate work even if you are at full life.

Although not as popular as the other Ranger ascendancy classes, the Pathfinder is still great, particularly for niche builds that focus on dealing poison or chaos damage in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur.

Deadeye

The Deadeye used to be the top dog when it came to the best Ranger classes in PoE. It is now trumped by a new ascendancy class, which we are going to talk about in the next section.

Now, most people gravitate toward projectile or range-based skills, including Lightning Arrow, Tornado Shot, Kinetic Blast, and Elemental Hit of the Spectrum, among many others. The Deadeye just happens to have nodes that improve such skills in various ways, making it the prime choice for projectile builds.

Endless Munitions simply enable skills to fire two additional projectiles. Take note, this effect does not come with strings attached, unlike Greater Multiple Projectiles or Greater Volley Support, which reduce the damage of your projectiles by a considerable degree.

Then you have Ricochet. If you are playing the Tornado Shot Deadeye, you will find great value in this notable ascendancy passive skill. It states that it can force projectiles to chain an additional time, hitting one more straggler in the process.

But, that is not the only thing that it can do! Ricochet also makes your projectiles chain to nearby enemies when colliding with walls or other terrain. So, if you are in a skimpy room with a boss (like in the Crimson Temple map), Ricochet should make quick work of the enemy.

Focal Point amplifies the effect of your Mark Skills. This notable ascendancy passive skill makes the nerf to Sniper's Mark in the previous league negligible.

It is important to note that there are a couple of nerfs Grinding Gear Games implemented in Patch 3.25. Gathering Winds now provides a 10% increased effect of Tailwind per Gale Force. This means that with 10 Gale Force stacks, you now only get a total of 100% increased effect instead of the previous 150%, which is noticeable.

The biggest change, however, is that Far Shot no longer has the effect that grants 60% more damage as your projectiles travel further. This is a huge nerf, though you have to keep in mind that this ascendancy node does not have the line that says: "Projectile Hits Deal 20% Less Damage to Targets at the Start of Their Movement" anymore. Some would argue that this is more of a rebalance, but how do you feel about this?

In the Settlers of Kalguur expansion, the Rupturing ascendancy passive skill has been replaced with Avidity. This is more suited for Frenzy Charge stackers primarily because it raises your maximum Frenzy Charge by one and you gain 5% more accuracy per charge.

Warden

If you have played Path of Exile prior to the Settlers of Kalguur expansion, you know that the third Ranger ascendancy class is the Raider. However, the Raider has pretty much been deleted from the game in Patch 3.25. So, what did GGG replace it with? Well, it is the Warden, of course!

The Warden is heavily inspired by the Warden of the Maji secondary ascendancy class from a couple of leagues ago. This is the one you choose if you like to use any of the overpowered Tinctures in this league.

Enduring Suffusion is a notable ascendancy passive skill that significantly reduces the mana burn rate of Tinctures. Next to that is the Experienced Herbalist, which allows you to activate one additional Tincture.

Although GGG brought back Tinctures to PoE, you can only apply them on melee weapons. Fortunately, the Warden has the Seasoned Hunter node, which enables you to apply Tinctures to ranged weapons as well.

Aside from Tinctures, the Warden is best at dealing elemental damage thanks to several amazing ascendancy nodes that have something to do with the major seasons. Oath of Winter is an overpowered node that pretty much freezes enemies even without a huge investment in this aspect.

Oath of Spring amplifies the effects of Shock. This also lets you apply up to 50 stacks of Shock on the enemy, making them take huge amounts of damage as a result!

For tanky monsters, Oath of Summer allows you to inflict an additional Scorch on the enemy. This effectively reduces their elemental resistance by a lot, making your elemental attacks even deadlier!

However, the best ascendancy node for the Warden is Avatar of the Wilds. From time to time, you have the ability to activate Unbound Avatar, which grants 80% more elemental damage for 10 seconds.

Because the Warden specializes in using Tinctures, most of the builds that go for this particular ascendancy class use melee skill gems. However, as you will soon see, some builds actually use the Warden for other purposes.

Best Ranger Builds in PoE 3.25

Now for the information you have been waiting for! Before we begin, it is important to keep in mind that even though we will disclose our recommendations in descending order (from 10 to 1), all of the builds that are going to be mentioned here are quite amazing in their own way. In short, you cannot go wrong with any of them.

Having said that, here are the best Ranger builds in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League:

10. Viper Strike of the Mamba Pathfinder

+Kill enemies with potent poison damage

+Fast mapper

-Slow start without the right gear

The first entry on our list of the best Ranger builds in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur is none other than the Viper Strike of the Mamba Pathfinder.

This build utilizes a Transfigured Gem that deals more poison damage than its regular counterpart, but with the downside that you can only inflict one poison on the enemy. That is not a problem because the Pathfinder can address that with Master Toxicist.

As soon as you gain enough PoE Currency, you can invest in several Medium Cluster Jewels with the "Low Tolerance" notable passive skill. This is similar to Master Toxicist in that you deal 300% increased damage if you inflict poison on enemies that were not afflicted with it yet.

Now, you start this build out by dual-wielding a couple of claws. However, in the endgame, you can transition to a couple of well-crafted Pneumatic Daggers. This type of dagger is known for its implicit modifier that makes all of your hits using the said weapon inflict poison on the enemy.

In most cases, the Viper Strike of the Mamba Pathfinder is built in a way that improves flask effect in any way possible. Right off the bat, the Pathfinder's Nature's Boon ascendancy node increases the effect of your magic utility flasks by 30%.

Then, you will take Careful Conservationist, which is a node on the passive tree that is near the Perfect Agony keystone passive. This notable passive increases the effect of flasks applied to you by 5%. You can also take the Natural Remedies node to further increase flask effect by 10%.

But wait, there is more! The Tides of Time is a unique belt that you can invest in, probably a couple of days after a league start. This increases life/mana recovery of flasks, as well as increases the effect of flasks applied to you by 25%!

It is worth noting that the reason why Viper Strike of the Mamba is popular in the Settlers of Kalguur expansion is that it got a huge damage boost. More specifically, its effectiveness of base and added damage has increased from 154% to a whopping 442%! Its mana cost has doubled as a result, but this is something that you can easily address with the right gear.

Having said that, the Viper Strike of the Mamba Pathfinder is relatively slow in its clear speed early on. But, once you are able to get your hands on the right items, this is definitely one of the fastest mappers in PoE 3.25!

9. Kinetic Blast Warden

+Obliterate enemies with ease

+Best clear speed

-Can make GPUs cry

-Certain upgrades are expensive

The Kinetic Blast Warden is arguably the best mapping build for the Ranger ascendancy class in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur. One of the main reasons for that is the choice of primary skill gem.

You see, in Patch 3.25, Kinetic Blast got a couple of amazing changes. The first is that its attack speed is now set at 115% of base, which means that any attack speed modifiers that you add to your build make you cast this skill like a madman!

The second and most important change is that any increase in spell damage also applies to attack damage at 200% of its value. Because of this, a crafted wand with three elemental damage mods is the ideal weapon for the build.

Another important item that you need to invest in is the Nimis. This is a ring that adds a unique property to your projectiles, making them return to you once they have reached their maximum travel distance. This effectively doubles your damage output, but keep in mind that this also makes projectiles you fire go in random directions. Not to worry, this build has insane attack speed anyway!

So, how does the Warden factor into the equation? Well, you will get the trifecta of Tincture nodes, including Enduring Suffusion, Seasoned Hunter, and Experienced Herbalist. The reason for this is that you are going to use a couple of Tinctures, namely the Rosethorn and Prismatic Tinctures. The former greatly boosts your critical strike chance, while the latter increases your elemental damage by a lot.

Other upgrades you can take are The Utmost for that huge attack speed increase, Blizzard Crown for its added cold damage, and the Headhunter to gain the ability to take rare monster modifiers while mapping.

As you can see, the Kinetic Blast Warden is not a cheap build to put up. But, once you are able to gain all of the necessary pieces, this is truly a powerhouse worthy of the investment!

8. Toxic Rain Pathfinder

+Effective currency farmer even on a budget

+Can be used as a league starter

+Careful utilization of AoE breakpoints ensures that this build does not suffer from poor single-target damage

+Plenty of upgrade options later down the line

-Endgame quiver is expensive or a pain to craft

When you are creating your very first character in PoE, you have to make sure that you use a build that can aid you in farming some currency. The Toxic Rain Pathfinder is incredible in this regard, and the good news is that you can actually obtain certain upgrades if you want to elevate it further.

Let's discuss the star of the show first. Toxic Rain, when used, prompts you to fire an arrow into the air. When the arrow lands at the targeted location, it creates Spore Pods that deal chaos damage over time to enemies that are in close proximity.

Any increases made to the skill's area of effect allow the Spore Pods to overlap with each other. There are specific breakpoints that would enable you to maximize the single-target damage of this build. However, if you do not want to know the nitty-gritty, just aim for a 39% increased AoE; nothing more, nothing less. When you achieve this number, your Spore Pods will cover a lot of ground and overlap just enough to deal the maximum damage before they expire.

As a league starter, you will rely on the Ballista Totem setup that gives you the power to summon multiple totems that fire Toxic Rain projectiles for you. This is the best way to level up your Toxic Rain Pathfinder because the totems just attack insanely fast without too much investment.

When you have enough PoE Currency, you can then transition into a more "do-it-yourself" approach, forgoing the Ballista Totem Support in favor of support gems that boost the damage of Toxic Rain when you shoot the arrows yourself.

In addition, you can utilize the Manaforged Arrows setup that includes the Toxic Rain of Withering and Frenzy. Toxic Rain of Withering is almost the same as the base version, albeit the Spore Pods have the ability to apply the Wither debuff on enemies, causing them to take increased chaos damage as a result. Frenzy grants you more damage and attack speed via a consistent supply of Frenzy Charges.

While the Toxic Rain Pathfinder is capable of dishing out huge amounts of pain to the enemy via chaos damage over time, its survivability requires some focus and attention to sort out. This build does not have a ton of life and energy shield to work with, so you have to obtain some pieces of gear to help you address that.

The Lightning Coil is an incredible body armor that converts 50% of the physical damage you receive from the enemy's attacks to lightning damage. Besides that, get an Impossible Escape (Imbalanced Guard) so that you can allocate Soul of Steel and Prismatic Skin for a 3% boost to your maximum elemental resistances.

Couple that with the +5% to Maximum Lightning Resistance provided by the newly adjusted Topaz Flask, and you can reduce the physical damage you take in the process.

If you still have enough space for one more gem, you could use the Petrified Blood aura as well. This protects the lower half of your HP pool from damage that would have otherwise killed you by spreading that damage over several seconds (rather than in an instant).

Now, in case you didn't know, there is a version that uses the Champion as the ascendancy class of choice. How does it compare to the Pathfinder variant? Well, the Toxic Rain Champion utilizes the Ballista Totem Support, whether it is the league starter version or one that is built for the endgame.

Next, it has pretty decent survivability thanks to consistent Fortification stacks. The Toxic Rain Champion also enjoys increased attack speed via Unstoppable Hero, and the Adrenaline buff granted by First to Strike, Last to Fall.

With that said, the Toxic Rain Pathfinder is still a great choice, especially if you want to be the one to fire arrows at the enemy's faces. Sure, improving its chances of survival requires you to spend PoE Currency, but if you are able to do something about it, the build is actually not bad at all!

7. Frost Blades Warden

+Tinctures make this build amazing

+Warden's elemental nodes are helpful

+League starter

-Crafting the endgame claw can be a chore

In case you have been living under a rock, GGG made sweeping changes to almost all melee skill gems in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur. Frost Blades, in particular, got a huge damage boost from 225% effectiveness of base and added damage to 409%!

That said, the Frost Blades Warden fully utilizes all the elemental nodes that this ascendancy class has access to. This is only possible if you are able to get your hands on a crafted claw that has all three elemental damage mods (fire, cold, and lightning).

Early on, the Oath of Winter is an invaluable node to take. Basically, this lets you freeze enemies with ease even though you are not investing in "Chance to Freeze" modifiers.

Oath of Summer is another incredible node as it significantly reduces the elemental resistance of enemies that you hit with Frost Blades. Take note that you have to be able to deal fire damage, hence using the tri-ele crafted claw is a must.

Oath of Spring is a nice complement to the previous ascendancy node because this increases the damage your enemies take by a considerable amount. Since a claw has fast innate attack speed, you can apply 50 Shocks on a target quickly and easily.

Of course, you have Avatar of the Wilds. Although this is not up all the time because of the short duration, you can activate this one whenever you encounter tougher monsters and bosses. That 80% more elemental damage mod really is helpful when tackling the harder content in the game.

As you may have noticed, there are no ascendancy nodes that improve Tinctures for the Frost Blades Warden and the reason is that you don't really need them for this build. All you have to do is use them whenever they are off cooldown and that's it!

The Frost Blades Warden is billed as a league starter, but it truly shines whenever you have the right equipment. After crafting a tri-ele claw, you can invest in the Fury Valve. This unique amulet improves your map clear speed, all without costing an arm and a leg!

The Taming sorts out your elemental resistance and elemental damage with attacks. This is even more pronounced when you are able to inflict all default elemental ailments on the enemy, including Chill, Freeze, Shock, and Ignite.

If PoE Currency is not an issue, we highly recommend that you purchase the Headhunter. This is a Tier 0 unique that lets you steal modifiers from rare enemies, so once you get started, it will be difficult for your enemies to stop you in your tracks!

The Frost Blades Warden is definitely a must-try if you are looking for one of the best Ranger builds in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur!

6. Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye

+Fill the screen with damaging projectiles with ease

+The main Transfigured Gem has insane damage scaling

+League start-viable

+One of the best map-clearing builds in PoE right now

-Item upgrades cost an exorbitant amount of currency due to how popular the build is

-As with most of the bow builds in the game, this is relatively squishy

This next build has dipped in rank in the Settlers of Kalguur expansion, but that does not mean that it is no longer good enough for your time and investment. This just means that there are better builds for the Ranger class, so do bear this in mind as you read further. The build we are referring to is the Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye.

Unlike the base version where you had to rely on a couple of Combat Focus Jewels, the Elemental Hit of the Spectrum allows you to deal three different elemental damage types all at once. For this reason, you can inflict Freeze, Shock, and Ignite without having to equip a tri-element bow.

Aside from that, the skill can deal more damage for each elemental ailment you have inflicted upon the target. This is precisely the reason why some people also use The Interrogation Jewel to get the Secrets of Suffering — a keystone passive that makes your critical strikes inflict Brittle, Sap, and Scorched instead of Freeze, Shock, or Ignite.

Do not worry, the monsters will still suffer from Chill and Shock, though you have to activate Summon Skitterbots for that. With all of that accounted for, the skill gets a huge 75% damage boost from the five elemental ailments you have inflicted on the enemy.

The Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye is one of the most versatile bow builds out there due to the huge variety of skills you can include in the build. You can have Blast Rain, Storm Rain, and Rain of Arrows, along with the Manaforged Arrows Support, to fill the screen with a plethora of projectiles, leaving your enemies with no chance to escape.

You can opt for the ever-reliable Ensnaring Arrow and Frenzy setup so that monsters that get hit by your skills take increased projectile damage as a result.

In league start scenarios, you can craft a bow using Essence of Anger/Hatred/Wrath until you get at least two elemental damage types just to make Trinity Support's Resonance mechanic work. Besides that, spam a Broadhead Arrow Quiver with the Essence of Torment to guarantee added lightning damage on the said item. Do this to obtain other useful mods, including attack speed, critical strike chance, and life.

Once you have enough PoE Currency, you can think about getting some good upgrades. You should get your hands on the Nimis Ring so that you can replace the Returning Projectiles Support with Mirage Archer Support.

Then, you could invest in a Headhunter for insane map-clearing speeds, or the Mageblood for a more consistent uptime of your magic utility flasks.

Of course, the bulk of your currency is going to be spent on acquiring the endgame bow and quiver with three additional arrows for maximum damage.

The Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye is very fun to play, can quickly delete entire screens of enemies in a jiffy, and is strong enough to eliminate even the toughest pinnacle bosses.

If there is one thing to take note of in terms of balancing, it is that a couple of Deadeye ascendancy nodes got nerfed in Patch 3.25. These are Far Shot and Gathering Winds. The nerf to Gathering Winds is indeed noticeable, but this is not surprising given that this notable passive skill was quite powerful in the previous leagues.

Despite the nerfs, if you are in for a good bow build in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur League, we can wholeheartedly recommend the Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye for sure!

5. Poisonous Concoction of Bouncing Pathfinder

+Good mapper on a budget

+Easy to gear

+Can league start with the base version of the skill gem

-Not as good damage as the other builds

The Poisonous Concoction of Bouncing Pathfinder utilizes a Transfigured Gem that is much better than its base version, in our opinion, especially in terms of map-clearing speed.

You see, Poisonous Concoction of Bouncing, unlike the base version of the skill gem, only fires a single projectile. However, this projectile bounces and chains multiple times, alleviating the need to spam the skill just to eliminate packs of monsters.

Now, the skill gem itself requires that you do not have any weapon equipped, which makes it ideal for a first build since you do not have to invest in expensive stuff early on. Furthermore, you need eight flask charges from your Life Flask for each use. This is the reason why the Pathfinder is the preferred ascendancy class for this build.

If you recall, the Pathfinder has Nature's Adrenaline. This notable ascendancy passive skill allows you to gain three flask charges every few seconds. When you have this node allocated, you do not have to worry about losing flask charges at all!

To further improve your damage, you are going to take Master Toxicist and Nature's Reprisal. The former enables your poisons to deal 100% more damage. The latter, on the other hand, allows you to inflict Wither stacks on hit, thus effectively increasing the chaos damage your enemies take by 6% per stack (max 15 stacks).

Poisonous Concoction of Bouncing has an innate chaining property that is not found in the base version of the skill gem. You can improve this aspect further by obtaining a couple of items.

The Fury Valve is one of the best upgrades you can get for this build. This increases the number of times the projectile chains to another target.

On top of that, you can put Medium Cluster Jewels on the passive tree that has the "Follow-Through" notable passive skill on them. Follow-Through increases the damage your projectile does by 15% for each remaining chain.

If there is one thing that may deter you from trying this build out, it is that its damage output is relatively low when compared to the other builds on this list. Fortunately, you can transition to other builds later down the line if you want to.

Having said that, the Poisonous Concoction of Bouncing Pathfinder is a great currency farmer at the beginning of the league, with some upgrades you can take in the future if you decide to do so.

4. Lightning Arrow Deadeye

+Insane damage potential, especially with endgame gear

+Can be used as a league starter

+Plenty of upgrade options later on

-Survivability is not this build's strong suit

-Expect to spend a boatload of currency for late-game upgrades

The build that we are about to discuss here was the top dog in the previous league. However, that is no longer the case because of the damage boosts and subtle upgrades to certain mechanics that were implemented in the Settlers of Kalguur expansion.

Anyway, the Lightning Arrow Deadeye is a fantastic build that is able to start a new league with just gear that you can find during the game's main campaign. When you have enough resources, you can craft your own equipment using Essences or Fossils, depending on what you have on hand.

Just like the Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye, this build utilizes a tri-element bow due to the presence of Trinity Support. The elemental damage and elemental penetration granted by Trinity are just too good to pass up.

Lightning Arrow, by itself, allows you to fire a few arrows to the enemy, with each one having the ability to pierce through the target. This intrinsic property of the skill enables you to take full advantage of the Returning Projectiles Support, essentially hitting enemies twice.

In Patch 3.25, Lightning Arrow received a marginal improvement in its effectiveness of base and added damage from 154% to 177%. Any increase should be appreciated, but we feel that GGG was just too shy of making this skill gem better than other bow skills in our opinion.

While the damage of Lightning Arrow is sufficient enough to eliminate map monsters with ease, it does lack single-target damage, giving you a tough time in dealing with bosses. For this reason, you are going to use the Artillery Ballista to give you more firepower.

Your main rotation against bosses involves dropping a few Artillery Ballistae on the ground, and then bombarding them with Lightning Arrows. Bear in mind that if you are going to use the Focused Ballista Support, you should make it a point to fire at the enemy more frequently because the ballistae will only attack when you do.

An alternative way of playing this build is by utilizing Tornado that is linked with Cast on Critical Strike. When Tornado is cast, you simply shoot it with your lightning arrows and it will reflect a portion of that damage to nearby enemies.

In the endgame, most people opt to use the Crystallized Omniscience for that huge boost in elemental penetration. If you are going this route, make sure that your pieces of gear contain at least one attribute to increase your Omniscience.

Hyrri's Ire is a body armor that provides great value to almost any bow build in the game. Not only does this thing give you a whopping 30% spell suppression just by equipping it, but it grants you added cold damage as well.

Despite dipping a few ranks, the Lightning Arrow Deadeye is still one of the best Ranger builds in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur!

3. Hexblast Mines Pathfinder

+Huge damage output

+Tanky Hexblast build

+The best Sanctum runner

-Requires several unique items

-Upgrades are crazy expensive

Hexblast is one of the most popular skills in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur. The reason is that it can deal huge amounts of damage with the right gear. Now, it is often played with the Trickster and Occultist, but what makes the Pathfinder variant special?

Well, out of the other ascendancy classes that utilize Hexblast Mines, the Pathfinder is the tankiest. This is, of course, due to the ascendancy nodes it has access to, including Nature's Boon, Nature's Adrenaline, and Master Surgeon.

Farming PoE Currency is easy when you do Forbidden Sanctum runs. The Hexblast Pathfinder is arguably the best for most people because it is able to survive really well without a huge investment.

However, the true power of this build lies in the items that you will ultimately get. Start by investing in a Sandstorm Visage, which is a unique amulet that you can actually obtain from the Forbidden Sanctum.

The said unique helmet basically makes your base critical strike chance of spells equal to your main hand weapon. Hence, you will complement the Sandstorm Visage with the Void Battery or a well-crafted Prophecy Wand.

In case you are unaware, the Prophecy Wand has its base critical strike chance increased from 8% to 10% in the Settlers of Kalguur expansion. This is why the Sandstorm Visage shot up in price. So, unless you farm this helmet yourself, you better save up on PoE Currency ASAP!

The Covenant is an excellent body armor for Hexblast Mine builds because of that level 29 Added Chaos Damage. The additional life cost when casting the skill is not a problem for the Pathfinder, especially because of Master Surgeon.

Nature's Reprisal is another reason why some people prefer using the Pathfinder over the Trickster or Occultist. It not only inflicts Wither on enemies that are hit by your Hexblast Mines, but it also increases the effect of each Wither stack by 50% as well.

The Hexblast Mines Pathfinder is still built as a Power Charge stacker, so you will see the usual items like the Void Battery, Malachai's Loop, Badge of the Brotherhood, and Ralakesh's Impatience.

With Ralakesh's Impatience, you can also grab Graven's Secret — a unique belt that converts your Power Charges to Absorption Charges for improved survivability. Where Ralakesh's Impatience factors into the equation is that these boots still grant the effects of Power Charges even with Graven's Secret equipped.

If you plan on farming Forbidden Sanctums in PoE 3.25, then you can never go wrong with the Hexblast Mines Pathfinder!

2. Tornado Shot Deadeye

+Still capable of deleting screens of enemies

+Amazing mapper and boss killer

+Can dish out tremendous amounts of damage

-Compared to the previous leagues, this version now requires multiple "Mirrors" of investment

-No longer accessible to the general PoE community

The penultimate build on this list uses a tried-and-tested bow skill that has seen a resurgence in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur. We are talking about the Tornado Shot Deadeye, of course, and it is definitely something worth checking out!

So, did anything change for the Tornado Shot in Patch 3.25? Well, only its mana cost got a one-point increase, but other than that, the damage is still the same.

If you are wondering why Tornado Shot has seen a rise in popularity in this league, it is because it is primarily used as a Magic Find build. This skill gem is so great at clearing map monsters with ease that it is only defeated by the Hexblast Mines Pathfinder.

Another cause for the resurgence is that Tornado Shot is, in some cases, used as a complementary skill for the Elemental Hit of the Spectrum Deadeye. This is likely to inflict bleed to improve the damage of Elemental Hit.

For those who do not know, Tornado Shot is a bow skill in PoE that fires a few projectiles in a targeted direction. Once they collide with terrain, the initial projectiles split into multiple secondary projectiles, damaging monsters akin to getting hit with a shotgun.

To maximize the damage of Tornado Shot, you have to put as many attack speed and critical strike modifiers on your gear. You also have to use a well-crafted bow with either trifecta of physical damage or elemental damage modifiers depending on the support gems you are going to use.

If you want to go all out on damage, you can use a tri-ele bow with Trinity Support and the Crystallised Omniscience unique amulet for even more elemental damage and penetration.

The Tornado Shot Deadeye does take a bit of time to get used to primarily because it feels different to use compared to other bow skills. However, once you get the hang of it, this build is certainly worth every PoE currency you invest in it!

1. Lightning Strike Warden

+The best build for the Ranger class in Patch 3.25

+Build shines thanks to enhanced Tinctures

+Every gear upgrade is worth the investment

-Because of the build's popularity, certain items are expensive

-Only really gets off with the right equipment

The Lightning Strike Warden is now the queen of the Ranger builds in Path of Exile: Settlers of Kalguur! This is again due to the overpowered Tinctures that GGG brought back to the game.

Remember what we said earlier about most melee skill gems getting huge damage boosts? Well, Lightning Strike is still a melee skill gem despite being able to fire several projectiles.

That said, Lightning Strike got a significant damage increase from 225% to 456% at gem level 20! Take note that this does not take into account the Vaal version of the skill, which got its damage buffed from 163% to 237% as well.

Now, the Lightning Strike Warden makes great use of each of the notable passive skills available to this ascendancy class. Enduring Suffusion makes the inherent mana burn rate of using Tinctures a lot bearable. Experienced Herbalist lets you activate an additional Tincture of your choosing. We still recommend the Rosethorn and Prismatic Tinctures, though.

In terms of the elemental nodes, you can take Oath of Winter early on to freeze enemies for improved survivability. Once you have your defenses sorted out, you can respec to Oath of Spring for an improved Shock effect. Avatar of the Wilds is non-negotiable, especially in the endgame. The 80% more damage boost you can get from this node is just too hard to pass up!

Since you are going to use a one-handed weapon on this build, you have the option of equipping a shield. Having said that, the new Svalinn unique shield is a great way to improve your survivability. This is because the shield makes your chance to block attacks and spells "Lucky." This is just a fancy way of saying that you will block incoming damage more often than not when you have the Svalinn equipped.

To boost your block chance even further, you can also use the Replica Reckless Defense. This unique jewel has a mish-mash of different modifiers, but you only really need it for the increased chance to block attacks and spells.

Due to the popularity of the build, expect that some of its items and upgrades cost a boatload of PoE Currency. Despite that, this build is quite easy to recommend.

With immense power and amazing survivability, it is no wonder that the Lightning Strike Warden is the best Ranger Build in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League!

Conclusion

Many PoE players prefer to use ranged attacks and spells because it is much easier and more efficient to kill enemies with them. This is one of the many reasons why the Ranger class is still one of the most-played classes in the game to this day.

There is a new sheriff in town. With the removal of the Raider ascendancy class, the Warden took its place and she has no plans of going away anytime soon. This ascendancy class is the most popular in Patch 3.25, mainly because it can enhance the effects of Tinctures.

Moreover, elemental damage is one of the Warden's strongest suits. Pop the Unbound Avatar from Avatar of the Wilds and you gain a significant damage boost for 10 seconds.

With the rebalancing of most melee skills in the game like Lightning Strike and Frost Blades, it is no wonder that the Warden is the most popular among the three Ranger ascendancy classes.

The Pathfinder and Deadeye are not going down without a fight, however. The Hexblast Mines Pathfinder is one of the best Forbidden Sanctum runners in the game, and the Tornado Shot Deadeye is still quite popular for its power and map-clearing speed.

So, there you have it! We hope that you love our recommendations for the best Ranger Builds in Path of Exile 3.25 Settlers of Kalguur League! No matter which one you choose out of the bunch, you can never go wrong with any of them!

With all of that said, good luck on your adventures in Wraeclast, Exile!

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