Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0:Raging Fissure Bear Build Guide

Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.4.0 has introduced the Druid class, bringing a transformative approach to combat with three distinct forms:human, wolf, and bear. Each form offers unique skills, mechanics, and tactical advantages. This guide will break down the build, skill combinations, ascendancy choices, gear, and strategic tips for players seeking to dominate in the bear form.

Raging Fissure Bear Build Overview

The core concept of the Raging Fissure Bear Build revolves around transforming into the bear and using skills that generate or amplify fissures to deal area damage. Rage acts as both a damage amplifier and a trigger for several synergistic effects, allowing players to chain skills together for maximum impact. This build balances offensive power with survivability, making it ideal for both solo play and group content.

Key features of the build include:

Rage Resource Management:Most bear skills scale with Rage, which can be generated through taking and dealing damage. Managing Rage effectively is crucial to maintaining high damage output.

Fissure Skills:The build focuses on skills that create fissures in the ground, dealing continuous damage to enemies within their area. These fissures also synergize with other bear abilities to amplify damage further.

Tankiness:The bear form has high health and defensive capabilities, allowing the player to engage enemies in close combat while staying alive longer than most other forms.

Bear Form Skills

Several bear-specific skills are essential for this build:

Raging Fissure - The centerpiece skill of the build, creating fissures that deal high area-of-effect damage. Its scaling benefits from Rage, so maintaining high Rage levels is critical.

Maul - A melee attack that deals high damage and generates Rage on successful hits. It works perfectly with fissures by quickly amplifying damage output.

Roar of Fury - A buff skill that increases attack speed and damage for both the bear and nearby allies. It synergizes with fissures by making every hit and fissure more potent.

Feral Swipe - A cleaving attack that hits multiple enemies and triggers additional fissure effects when Rage is at peak levels.

Properly Combining Human Form Skills

While the bear form is the primary focus, human form skills can be leveraged to support combat:

Nature’s Insight - Generates Rage more efficiently, allowing the bear form to unleash skills faster.

Healing Roots - Can be used to restore health during prolonged fights, helping maintain tankiness.

Elemental Infusion - Adds elemental damage to your fissures and melee attacks, increasing versatility against enemies with different resistances.

Switching between forms strategically allows the player to maximize damage and survivability. For example, human form can be used briefly to generate Rage and heal, while bear form delivers the main damage.

How to Choose Your Ascendancy Class

In Patch 0.4.0, the Druid class features several ascendancy options, each enhancing different aspects of bear gameplay:

Feral Ascendant - Focuses on melee damage and Rage generation, perfect for the Raging Fissure Bear.

Earthwarden - Boosts survivability and enhances area damage skills, ideal for tanking and fissure scaling.

Primal Shaper - Offers additional elemental damage and shapeshifting bonuses, which can be useful if you want to mix fissure damage with other effects.

For this build, Feral Ascendant is the recommended choice, as it directly amplifies Rage usage and melee synergy, ensuring that fissures hit harder and more frequently.

How to Choose Gear

Gear requirements for the Raging Fissure Bear Build are relatively flexible in the early league stages, but prioritizing certain stats will greatly improve performance:

Rage Generation - Items that increase Rage gain or reduce Rage decay will allow more consistent fissure damage.

Health and Armor - Boosting survivability is essential since you will often be in melee range of enemies.

Skill Damage - Look for items that enhance fissure damage or bear-specific abilities.

Utility Mods - Increased attack speed, cooldown reduction for forms, or elemental damage amplification can significantly improve performance.

For early stages, common rares with these stats are sufficient. As you progress, farming or trading for high-tier gear with specific POE 2 Currency affixes will allow for peak performance.

Playstyle and Strategy

Success with the Raging Fissure Bear Build relies on proper Rage management and skill rotation:

Open with human form to generate Rage and apply buffs.

Transform into bear form and activate Raging Fissure, maintaining attacks with Maul and Feral Swipe.

Use Roar of Fury strategically to increase damage during large enemy packs.

Switch back to human form if Rage drops or healing is necessary, then re-enter bear form to continue the assault.

Positioning is also key. Fissures deal continuous damage, so placing them where enemies are concentrated maximizes effectiveness. Combining fissures with melee skills ensures both sustained and burst damage.

Conclusion

This build is perfect for players who enjoy a dynamic playstyle, balancing transformation mechanics with raw damage output, and provides a strong foundation for success in Path of Exile 2’s evolving landscape.