[Merc] Flash Grenade Melter (Easy, Cheap, Fast Clear on T16+)

Updated Jan 3

If you're looking to melt T16's without worrying about getting one shot, this build is for you. It's super tanky, cheap (T15's on a couple divs of gear), and the DPS is fantastic.

NOTE: There are some small changes to super late game setup for this build that I posted in a comment reply on Jan 3rd, 2025. I'll update this main build when I have a chance.


SHOWCASE VIDEOS

1. One minute video of a T15 breach with -11% max res (wearing budget gear):
https://youtu.be/28VXS4Nql50

2. 90 second video of a T17 boss (difficulty 4) fight (mid-cost gear)
https://youtu.be/EhVm5wglBMw

2. Full T16 with delirium, breach in delirium, ritual, and boss demo (budget gear):
https://youtu.be/9X7fLhOWh1k

3. Full T15 8-mod + boss (budget gear):
https://youtu.be/A9xIOsaLlPQ

4. Vs. Level-82 breachstone + boss (expensive gear):
https://youtu.be/zso0AmIkiUM


THE TL;DR
Flash grenades do the damage (and serve as a defensive layer via blinding and stunning everything). When fighting bosses we add in gas grenades (to break armor) and oil grenades (to slow). We also have ripwire totems on the weapon swap for pin and maim, but I rarely feel like I have to use them.

Wind dancer and ghost shroud provide additional defenses, and you end up with 85% evasion, 27% armor, 3k life, and 1k ES. Tanky enough to tank most boss slams.

SKILLS SETUP

Flash Grenade - DPS
- Scattershot
- Concentrated Effect
- Brutality
- Heft
- Ingenuity (not needed but great for quality of life)

Gas Grenade - Breaking armor
- Corrosion
- Break Posture
- Persistence
- Demolisher
- Inspiration

Oil Grenade - Slow bosses
- Encumbrence
- Despoiler
- Maim
- Magnified Effect

Ghost Dance - Defensive layer
- Vitality
- Clarity
- Precision
- Fast Forward

Wind Dancer - Defensive layer for evasion + if I get surrounded pinning/knocking everyone back
- Pin
- Lockdown
- Blind
- Life thief

BUDGET ITEMS (FINE FOR T15+)
Just get life, resists, and attributes (you'll need attributes as you'll have armor gloves + ES/evasion helmet and armor, so need ~65 int, ~110 str, ~140 dex). This gear cost me less than 5 div, though it was league start so prices have gone up now. But you don't need it all to be perfect.

I do highly recommend getting mana leech and life leech via your items. Doesn’t matter which item you get the leech on but leech means you’ll never need your flasks.





For jewels, you'll only need 3 but look for rubies with:
1. Damage vs. fully broken enemies
2. Attack damage
3. Stun buildup
4. Corruption with "You cannot be blinded" on one jewel (might be worth sacrificing some of the other stats to get this, so your evasion and accuracy are never debuffed)

For charms, just use a simple Stone Charm with reduced charges use to make you effectively stun immune. I use the same charm I found in the campaign at level 92.

Damage with budget gear:



EXPENSIVE ITEM UPGRADES
To min-max the build, I added Morior Invictus, Rysthlatha's Coil, a higher DPS crossbow with + proj skill levels, and rings with added phys damage.




Damage with expensive gear (remember that's per grenade, and we fire 5 at a time):


PASSIVE TREE
Maxroll build: https://maxroll.gg/poe2/planner/6cghf0vk



CHARACTER STATS
With expensive gear:

With budget gear:



LEVELING ADVICE
Leveling isn't too bad with this build. It was my first character of the league and I got through the campaign without buying gear from trade with ~50 deaths.

You'll use Flash Grenade, Poison Grenade and Oil Grenade as soon as you get them (first act).

For the passive tree, go straight down to get the grenade wheel (Grenadier + Cluster Bombs for +1 CD use and +1 projectille) and then a little further down for Volatile Grenades (25% shorter fuse) and Distracting Presence (10% reduced CD).

Once you hit level ~70 you can branch out to the right side of the tree to add Energy Shield (and some evasion) for added tankiness in the end game.

For your early stage amulets, use High Alert (Ire, Ire, Greed) on them for a big evasion boost that's super cheap. Late game you'll get that skill on the tree and annoint Crushing Verdict (Envy, Suffering, Ire) for DPS.

Let me know if you have any questions! My in-game name is CantBeThatHardCanIt


[DEC 25th] Got blind immunity via jewel corrupts – full credit to Arafúra for the idea. Updated passive tree reflecting some small tweaks I've made.
[DEC 22nd] Added high-budget items, which doubled my DPS + improved tankiness even more. I also added Precision to my Ghost Dance.
[DEC 21st] Added another video + skill supports + some more expensive gear options as you scale.

A couple of questions people have asked:

1. There are no map mods you need to avoid, including super rippy things like crit, - max res, ele pen, etc. The only one that I avoid is cooldown reduction because it's just makes the clear slower.

2. Re leveling, there's nothing special to it you use flash grenades the whole way. The only thing I'd say is to start with pure life/evasion then add in ES at around level ~80.

Nice Build.

Can you show what helm and gloves you are using too?

Hey,

can you write out the support gems please? Im gonna give this build a try :)

Also what direction on the skilltree do we fill out first while leveling?

Your gear + gems are worth north of 20 div closer to 40.

Why do you path out to the totem nodes (Carved Earth) on an alternate weapon set?

"

dmiric#7196 wrote:

Your gear + gems are worth north of 20 div closer to 40.

When I bought them they were way less, things have gotten more expensive though for sure. But you can get really good gear for less, you don't need PERFECT stats on everything, and there are no game breaking items needed. Just life + res.

"

GB_WarPig#6935 wrote:

Why do you path out to the totem nodes (Carved Earth) on an alternate weapon set?

Honestly I barely use them, but I have Ripwire totems on my other weapon set with a +6 proj skills crossbow (only 1ex, only stat you need is +6 projectile skills). They give me rage, life via vitality, mana via clarity, and they pin + maim enemies. I only ever use them in boss fights and I feel like they don't really matter though.

"

victomat#2274 wrote:

Hey,

can you write out the support gems please? Im gonna give this build a try :)

Also what direction on the skilltree do we fill out first while leveling?

Yeah sure I'll update the main post but here they are:

Flash Grenade - DPS

- Scattershot
- Concentrated Effect
- Brutality
- Heft
- Ingenuity (not needed but great for quality of life)

Gas Grenade - Breaking armor

- Corrosion
- Break Posture
- Persistence
- Demolisher
- Inspiration

Oil Grenade - Slow bosses

- Encumbrence
- Despoiler
- Maim
- Magnified Effect

Ghost Dance - Defensive layer

- Vitality
- Clarity
- Fast Forward

Wind Dancer - Defensive layer for evasion + if I get surrounded pinning/knocking everyone back

- Pin
- Lockdown
- Blind
- Life thief

Added another video of a 8-mod T15 + boss + breakdown of skills to the main post!

Let me know what else I can help with.