Path of Exile 2: Grenade Crossbow crafting guide (early and endgame)

Grenade skills in Path of Exile 2 make some of the most interactive and fun builds in the game. However, to use them, you need a good crossbow, one with modifiers that benefit the skill you’re using. Luckily, the game has a deep crafting system, and with Rise of the Abyssal League in patch 0.3, you can make the perfect weapon more easily.

Crafting an item can be challenging, and while results can be uncertain, a successful craft can be rewarding. If you’re planning to craft one yourself, this guide will show you how to craft both a beginner and an endgame Grenade Crossbow in Path of Exile 2.

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Early Grenade Crossbow crafting process in Path of Exile 2

Keep the campaign crafting simple (Image via GGG)

Throughout the campaign, you won’t need an extremely powerful Crossbow. A good one with a few specific modifiers is enough to carry you through the campaign. The first thing you need to do is look for a Crossbow with an ‘Increased Level of Skill Gem’ modifier. Check vendors across all Acts to see if they have one. It isn’t necessary, but the mod will help you throughout the early game.

Here are other currency items required for the build:

• Orb of Transmutation (If there isn’t a weapon with an Increased Level of Skill Gem)
• Orb of Augmentation I
• Essence of Abrasion (or Lesser Essence of Abrasion)
• Exalted Orb
• Omen of Greater Exaltation

Crafting Process for Early-game Grenade Crossbow in Path of Exile 2

Similar mods, but a few tiers high, will be even better (Image via GGG)

• On the Crossbow with Skill Gem level modifiers, use an Orb of Augmentation. This process will add another mod to the weapon; if there’s already a prefix and a suffix present, you can skip this process.
• The second step is using Essence of Abrasion, which will add ‘Physical Damage’ to the Crossbow. Using the essence will also transform the item into a ‘Rare’ one.
• For the last step, right-click to activate Omen of Greater Exaltation and use an Exalted Orb in the Crossbow. It will add two more modifiers to the weapon. You can skip the omen if you don’t have one.
• A rare weapon can have six total mods: three Suffixes and three Prefixes. Use the Exalted Orb to fill all the slots.

Desired mods on final craft:

• % Increased Physical Damage
• Level of all Projectile Skills
• Adds # to # Physical Damage
• Adds # to # Elemental Damage
• % Attack Speed

This early game crafting process will be viable throughout the campaign. If you don’t find a weapon with ‘Increased Level of Skill Gem’ mod, purchase all the Crossbows of ‘Normal’ rarity from vendors and use Orb of Transmutation to try and get the desired base. You can also create a temporary character to complete the tutorial and reach the Clearfell Encampment to check the vendor for the mod.

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Endgame Grenade Crossbow crafting process in Path of Exile 2

Craft the perfect Crossbow for Grenades with Abyssal Omens (Image via GGG)

Now that you can wield a higher-level Crossbow, let’s get started on how to craft the BiS weapon for a grenade build. To start the craft, you need a Siege Crossbow. The reason we’re using this base is due to its implicit mod ‘Grenade Skills Fire an additional Projectile’.

It will add more firepower and cover a broader area in case enemies like to move around. Note that if you don’t get the desired mod while crafting, you may have to start again from the top.

Here are other currency items required for the build:

• Perfect Orb of Transmutation
• Perfect Orb of Augmentation
• Greater Essence of Abrasion
• Preserved Jawbone
• Omen of the Liege
• Omen of Sinistral Necromancy
• Exalted Orbs
• Perfect Essence of Battle
• Perfect Essence of Haste

Crafting Process for Endgame Grenade Crossbow in Path of Exile 2

Getting Physical Damage is very important (Image via GGG)

Use the Perfect Orb of Transmutation to try and get %Increase Physical Damage (over 155% preferred). If you get the mod, hold ‘Alt’ to check the tier on the right side. The process will turn the item into a ‘Magic’ rarity. Alternatively, if the base is cheap, consider purchasing it from the market.

Use the Perfect Orb of Augmentation to add another mod. If you purchase a weapon already with a prefix and suffix, skip this process, as the second mod isn’t as important.

Next mod will be Flat Physical Damage (Image via GGG)

To add Flat Physical Damage, use Greater Essence of Abrasion. The process will turn the item into a ‘Rare’ rarity and add up to 35-59 damage to the Crossbow.

Desecrate the item while both Omens are active (Image via GGG)

The next step requires you to use Preserved Jawbone while the Omen of the Liege and the Omen of Sinistral Necromancy are active. It will add a Desecrated modifier, but the magic happens due to the omens, which are restriction items.

Unveil the mod at Well of Souls. I used Omen of Abyssal Echoes for a re-roll in case of wrong mod (Image via GGG)

Liege will ensure that the modifier is a guaranteed Prefix, while Sinistral Necromancy will make it an Amanamu modifier. The mod you’re looking for is (101–121)% increased Grenade Damage, which is an Amanamu Prefix. Find the complete list here for all Desecrated Affixes.

Use Exalted Orb to fill all mod slots (Image via GGG)

The base of your weapon is complete, and all that remains is the finishing touch with the Perfect Essences. However, before that, you’ll need to use Exalted Orbs to fill all the modifier slots. This part is essential as the essences will remove a mod, and you don’t want them to remove the ones you need.

Perfect Essence of Haste removed Life Leech to grant Onslaught (Image via GGG)

Use the Perfect Essence of Haste to remove a random mod and get a ‘(20-25)% Chance to Gain Onslaught on Killing Enemies with this Weapon’. Then use the Perfect Essence of Battle to add a ‘+6 to all Level of Attack Skill’ modifier.

Perfect Essence of Battle removed 'Life per Enemy Hit' to grant '+6 to Attack Skills' (Image via GGG)

There's a 1 in 3 chance that Perfect Essence of Battle will remove the mod obtained from Perfect Essence of Haste. If that happens, use it again, and hope all the desired mods remain intact; else, you’ll need to start the crafting process from the beginning.

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Check out other guides for Path of Exile 2:

• Path of Exile 2 Meta builds in 0.3.0: Best endgame options for each class
• Path of Exile 2: Storm Wave Invoker build guide (0.3)
• Path of Exile 2 Runes and Sockets guide
• Path of Exile 2 Defense guide: Energy Shield, Armor, and Evasion explained
• How to find and unlock the Jade Isle Map in Path of Exile 2?