PoE2 0.5 League Starter | Permafrost Bolts/Fragmentation Rounds Build Guide

IGNORE DPS FIGURES, POB2 CONFIG IS PRETTY SCUFFED REFER TO GEAR LOADOUTS AT THE TOP RIGHT, WHICH SHOWS MY ACTUAL SSF TEST RUN BEFORE 0.5 When selecting each loadout, this will change the tree, skills and items sections to the gear that I had equipped at the end of each act. Link to Endgame POB: https://pobb.in/0jY6QStgCiF7 ------------CAMPAIGN TIPS------------ Throughout the campaign, keep checking vendors for crossbow bases with good flat ele damage, % phys, flat phys, + levels and attack speed. If crossbow is falling behind and vendor has nothing good, use gold to gamble if needed for one. If you find a higher DPS crossbow but the quality of life is worse e.g. no additional bolt implicit, you can put this in weapon set 2 for higher frag round damage. - Toggle on to share weapon in both weapon sets and then set Permafrost to Weapon set 1 and Fragmentation rounds to Weapon set 2. - Map both crossbow shots to the preferred button/key layout you prefer, and then put the load skills on inputs you don't use. - Map Freezing Mark to Weapon set 2 as at endgame we take increased Mark effect nodes on the weapon set 2 tree. - You will only need to reload these if you level up/unsocket the gem. - If you have any issues with only using default crossbow attack, unequip and reequip weapon as sometimes it can glitch out. ------------Act 1------------ - Get Permafrost Bolts as first uncut skill gem and use this until enemies are frozen and then fragmentation rounds on frozen enemies for burst of damage. If there is a pack and one enemy is frozen, it can spread to others to help with clear. - When getting higher level Uncut skill gems, prioritise Permafrost bolts first and then Fragmentation Rounds. - Prioritise the highest flat damage rolls early and refer to ingame tooltip to establish best weapon and gear upgrades for DPS. Keep checking vendors and upgrade crossbow bases where possible, early on you get big damage spikes simply from using a better base. ------------Act 2------------ - In Act 2, prioritise getting a Dyad Crossbow base as it allows us an additional bolt which makes the build a lot smoother to play as you have 2 rounds instead of 1. ------------Act 3------------ It's still probably better to use a Dyad Crossbow in Act 3 if you have a well rolled one, although the damage will start to drop off a little as the base is lower level but the additional bolt is still really nice. Only drop this base if you find a much higher DPS crossbow as sometimes we bypass using a bolt from our tree in Act 3. Crossbow used in the Act 3 skillset was around double the DPS as my Act 2 crossbow so even with 1 bolt this was better to use. Also by this point we have a lot of the crossbow QoL nodes on the tree so even with 1 bolt it feels OK. ------------Interlude------------ Try and switch to a Twin Crossbow base once in the Interludes for an additional bolt.