S-TIER | MERCENARY GRENADIER EXPLOSIVE SHOT BUILD (@P4wnyhof) | SEASON 4

Build Overview

P4wnyhof’s Mercenary Grenadier build exploits the synergy between Explosive Shot, grenades, and Eternal Rage to reach a level of destruction rarely seen in Season 4. With 45 permanent rage stacks, every shot benefits from a 45% increased damage multiplier, allowing you to melt Bosses in milliseconds on T15-17 maps.

The core of the build revolves around the unique gloves Painters Servant, which convert physical damage into triple elemental damage (fire, cold, lightning). This conversion feeds Trinity for a massive damage boost, while also enabling Herald of Thunder with Bone Shrapnel for devastating clear. The Tactician ascendancy makes the build extremely safe: every projectile pins enemies, preventing them from retaliating.

Two new lineage gems, Rathas Assault and Arjuns Medal, solve the crossbow reload problem by allowing you to reload via roll and killing blows. The result is smooth, fast gameplay where you spam Explosive Shot without interruption while throwing grenades at resistant targets.

Build Strengths

• Explosive Boss damage: Bosses melt in milliseconds thanks to the Explosive Shot + grenades + 45% permanent rage + Trinity combination
• Extremely tanky: 81% armor with Scavenged Plating, pinned enemies cannot retaliate, and deflection via Polish That Gear adds an extra layer
• Excellent clear speed: Herald of Thunder combined with Bone Shrapnel creates chain reactions that wipe the screen in a single shot
• Budget-friendly: The only mandatory unique is Painters Servant (gloves). The rest of the gear works with standard rare armor pieces
• Smooth gameplay: The lineage gems Rathas Assault and Arjuns Medal eliminate the need to manually reload the crossbow

Build Weaknesses

• Elemental balance required: Fire, cold, and lightning damage must be balanced to maximize Trinity. Any imbalance drastically reduces damage output
• Complex passive tree: Routing with two weapon sets (grenades vs crossbow) makes the passive tree harder to optimize
• Cannot freeze: Pinning enemies prevents freezing them, making Bhatairs Vengeance unusable despite its theoretical potential

Gem Setup by Stage

This build offers 8 progression stages from leveling to the final endgame setup. Select a stage to see the corresponding gem setup.

Act 1 Act 2 Act 3 Act 4 Interlude 65 (3rd Asc) 79 (4th Asc) 90 (Final Form)

Act 1

6 skills • 14 gemmes

Carreaux à fragmentationFragmentation Rounds

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Carreaux de permagivrePermafrost Bolts

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Act 2

7 skills • 18 gemmes

Tir explosifExplosive Shot

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Oil Grenade

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Act 3

8 skills • 22 gemmes

Tir explosifExplosive Shot

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Oil Grenade

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Archer mirageMirage Archer

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Act 4

8 skills • 23 gemmes

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Tir explosifExplosive Shot

Oil Grenade

Archer mirageMirage Archer

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Interlude

8 skills • 25 gemmes

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Rage éternelleEternal Rage

Tir explosifExplosive Shot

Oil Grenade

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Archer mirageMirage Archer

65 (3rd Asc)

9 skills • 27 gemmes

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Rage éternelleEternal Rage

Tir explosifExplosive Shot

Oil Grenade

Danseur du ventWind Dancer

Archer mirageMirage Archer

79 (4th Asc)

8 skills • 31 gemmes

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Héraut de la cendreHerald of Ash

Rage éternelleEternal Rage

Tir explosifExplosive Shot

Oil Grenade

Armure de récupérationScavenged Plating

90 (Final Form)

9 skills • 38 gemmes

Héraut du tonnerreHerald of Thunder

TrinitéTrinity

Grenade suffocanteGas Grenade

Grenade assourdissanteFlash Grenade

Rage éternelleEternal Rage

Tir explosifExplosive Shot

Oil Grenade

Armure de récupérationScavenged Plating

Grenade explosiveExplosive Grenade

Recommended Equipment

• Gloves: Painters Servant (MANDATORY) – converts physical damage into triple elemental damage to fuel Trinity
• Crossbow: Triple elemental crossbow (fire + cold + lightning). Prioritize elemental damage over pure physical since Painters Servant multiplies base elemental damage
• Flask: Laviangas Spirits – triggers automatically every 2 seconds for Soul Drain and activates the 40% elemental damage bonus during the flask effect
• Armor: Full armor on every piece. The fourth ascendancy node (Polish That Gear) converts 20% of armor into deflection
• Amulet: Spirit amulet – a single spirit amulet is enough thanks to A Solid Plan (50% reduced reservation)
• Rings: Maximize elemental damage (fire, cold, lightning). Example: +13 fire and +65 lightning = +4000 damage per shot

Gameplay Tips

• Lineage gem priority: Get Rathas Assault first (reload via roll) before Arjuns Medal. Without Rathas, you only have 1-2 bolts and gameplay feels clunky
• Weapon Sets: Set 1 = all grenades, Set 2 = Explosive Shot only. Use the same crossbow for both sets
• Boss rotation: Oil Grenade (exposure) -> 2 gas grenades -> explosive grenades -> Explosive Shot into everything. Enemies are pinned, armor broken, and melt away
• Adhesive grenades: Play Adhesive Grenades I so your grenades stick to the ground instead of bouncing. Essential for precision
• Flash Grenade emergency: If you are surrounded, the stun grenade with Short Fuse I instantly pins and blinds everything around you
• Anointment: Prison Guard (30% armor destruction -> elemental, very expensive), Vengeful Fury (armor destruction via rage) or Projectile Bulwark (30% armor destruction + 120% vs projectiles) as a budget option

Painter’s Servant and Trinity: The Build’s Engine

Painters Servant is the cornerstone of this build. These unique gloves transform a portion of Explosive Shot‘s physical damage into additional fire, cold, and lightning damage. The more base elemental damage you have on your crossbow, the more the conversion generates additional damage across all three elements.

This triple conversion allows you to fully leverage Trinity‘s Potential. Trinity grants 5% additional elemental damage per 30 resonance, and resonance fills by dealing damage across all three elements. With Painters Servant, every shot fills all three gauges simultaneously. The result: Explosive Shot damage goes from 14,000 to 24,000, and Explosive Grenade from 60,000 to 75,000.

This is also why a triple elemental crossbow outperforms a purely physical one: Painters Servant‘s « extra damage » bonus applies to each type of base elemental damage, creating a snowball effect.

Defensive Layers: Why 2000 HP Is Enough

Despite only 2000 HP, this build is surprisingly resilient thanks to the Tactician ascendancy. Every projectile pins enemies, completely preventing them from retaliating or acting. Pinned enemies are essentially neutralized.

Pinning also triggers Scavenged Plating: by breaking the armor of pinned enemies (via Eroding Chains and Cruel Methods), you accumulate 10 stacks that bring your effective armor to 81%. After the fourth ascendancy, Polish That Gear converts 20% of your armor into deflection, adding an extra layer that can block 40% of incoming damage.

Full armor gear is therefore crucial. Glancing Blows makes evasion « unlucky » (which doesn’t matter since we don’t use evasion) but deflection « lucky », doubling your chances to deflect. The result: a character that tanks far better than 2000 HP would suggest.

Grenade Arsenal: Optimal Configuration

The build uses five types of grenades, each with a specific role. Explosive Grenade is the main nuke against Bosses: with Payload it explodes twice, and with Excessive Grenades the explosions overlap for massive damage. At full power with Trinity, it hits 95,000 damage, multiplied across 5 grenades with a 65% chance to double explode.

Gas Grenade rounds out the arsenal with Corrosion to break the armor of resistant enemies. Its interaction with Payload is subtle: if the enemy is already ignited, the gas clouds explode instantly upon creation then re-expose with Payload, allowing you to spam them effectively.

Stun Grenade with Short Fuse I is your panic button: it instantly pins and blinds all enemies around you. Oil Grenade with Potent Exposure provides elemental resistance reduction. Both want Multi-Shot 2 and Elemental Armament 2 to maximize Painters Servant‘s conversion.

Crossbow Choice and Crafting

The ideal crossbow for this build is not the one with the highest physical damage, but the one with the maximum varied elemental damage. Painters Servant transforms base elemental damage into « extra extra damage »: every point of lightning damage also generates bonus cold, fire, and lightning. A crossbow with 292 lightning, plus fire and cold, is far more powerful than one with 549 pure physical.

For crafting, start with a tier 2 cold damage prefix, add fire damage with an essence, then target lightning damage via augmentation or Desecrate. This is more accessible than a max physical crossbow because elemental tiers are less competitive on the market. Your rings follow the same logic: maximize varied elemental damage rather than physical.

Passive Routing and Weapon Sets

This build’s passive tree is unique because it uses two distinct weapon sets: Set 1 for grenades and Set 2 for Explosive Shot. The same crossbow is used in both sets, but the passive points differ. Set 2 focuses on attack speed and two-handed weapon bonuses to maximize Explosive Shot, while Set 1 boosts grenades.

Critical point: the cooldown bonus (General Points) is mandatory. Without it, every weapon swap resets your Grenadier counter. Skip the center of the tree (no cooldown recovery needed) and head directly left toward armor and pin/physical damage nodes. Make sure you have 70 Intelligence and 103 Dexterity for Herald of Thunder and Trinity.

For support gems, aim for at least 10 red and 10 green to unlock movement speed and maximum life bonuses. Eternal Rage costs 50 spirit, Trinity 50, and Scavenged Plating 15, but A Solid Plan reduces reservation by 50%, making the whole setup viable with a single spirit amulet.

Skill Tree