The two most popular Crossbow setups for Deadeye include:

    Galvanic Shards – An area-clearing ability that scales with attack speed and can be modded for chain and projectile speed. Excellent for POE2 Currency mapping.

    Shockburst Rounds – A high-voltage ability with solid single-target damage, especially when paired with elemental modifiers and Deadeye’s innate projectile buffs.

Deadeye players are also making use of Projectile Barrage Support and Ricochet mechanics, allowing for skill interactions that bounce, chain, and pierce through mobs—maximizing screen-wide clear.

By Day 10 of patch 0.2, roughly 20% of all Deadeye characters were using Crossbow builds, a massive spike compared to previous patches. This is not just a blip—it’s the emergence of a new long-term archetype within the class.

The Spear Surprise: A New Challenger Appears

While Crossbows were an expected area of growth for Deadeye, what’s taken the community by surprise is the sudden rise of Spear-based builds under this traditionally projectile-focused ascendancy.

Why are Spears working so well for Deadeye?

    Projectile Synergy – Many Spear skills scale off projectile modifiers, which Deadeye naturally enhances.

    New Skill Interactions – The newly introduced Lightning Spear and Wind Serpent’s Fury provide incredible synergy with Deadeye’s speed and elemental scaling.

    Community Influence – Content creators like Fubgun have already published powerful Deadeye Spear builds, leading to rapid adoption by the player base.

As of now, Spear-based characters make up nearly half of all Deadeye builds, pushing the ascendancy into one of the most popular in patch 0.2—not just among Rangers, but across all classes.

Versatility Without Sacrifice

Deadeye’s newfound popularity doesn’t come at the cost of identity. While many ascendancies in patch 0.2 struggle to find their niche or lean too hard into gimmicks, Deadeye continues to cheap Path of Exile 2 Currency feel natural, intuitive, and effective.