Tactician Galvanic Pin-Lock Ballista Totems Endgame Guide

Introduction

If you enjoy fast-paced ranged combat that rewards tactical placement and precision timing, the Mercenary Tactician offers one of the most satisfying endgame experiences in Path of Exile 2.
This build combines Load Galvanic Shards for wide-area clearing with Load Shockburst Rounds for devastating single-target damage.

Supported by Artillery Ballista totems that immobilize and shred enemies, and a shock-inducing Tame Beast Boar Companion, you’ll control the battlefield while melting bosses in seconds.

If you have any questions or want to see the build in action, please feel free to check out the video or drop by the stream!

---

Strengths and Weaknesses

---

Build Mechanics

This build revolves around Pin, Maim, and Shock synergy to multiply damage beyond what appears on the tooltip.

Each Artillery Ballista totem grants +10% attack damage and +10% evasion while also applying Maim, Armor Break, and Pin to nearby enemies. When combined with the Tactician Ascendancy, which adds +1 totem and increases totem skill speed by 30%, your Ballista’s drastically boost both offense and defense.

Your Boar Companion provides the Haste Aura, granting 20% attack speed and 10% movement speed, along with Lightning Exposure and All Damage Shocks for even greater scaling.
This synergy ensures constant uptime of buffs while pinned enemies take up to +100% increased damage from combined Maim and Intimidate effects.

---

Skill Rotation

Map Clearing

• During mapping, you’ll blast with Load Galvanic Shards.
• Drop up to four Artillery Ballista totems as you move to pin and maim packs, while Innervate and Onslaught enhance your speed and feel.
• Your Mirage Archer will automatically clean up as you reposition, maintaining consistent damage coverage.

Bossing

• Before the boss spawns, start by firing Load Galvanic Shards once to activate your ammo buff (which last 10 seconds), then place four Ballista Totems for immobilization, Maim, and Armor Break.
• Roll to summon Mirage Archer and ensure your Companion is active to apply Shock and Lightning Exposure.
• Once the boss actually spawns, hit them with Load Shockburst Rounds. As soon as you start firing, engage Emergency Reload for bigger damage.

Keep in mind, Load Shockburst Rounds only does big damage if the enemy is shocked. This is where the All Damage Shocks companion comes in, so make sure he hits the boss immediately.

---

Gameplay Tips

• Always keep your totems active — they not only deal damage but grant evasion and attack damage.
• Use your roll frequently to spawn Mirage Archer, keeping uptime consistent.
• Reload Galvanic before engaging new packs.
• Stay mid-range; let your totems and companion tank for you.
• Dodge mechanics, this isn’t a super tanky mana shield build.

---

Video Guide

---

Gem Info

Below you will find a planner with a full breakdown of your skill setup. The companion I recommend using is the Boar which can be found in Act 3 in the Infested Barrens area. There is a checkpoint with a camp that spawns the boar and an antlion. You will leave the boar alive and keep respawning at the nearest checkpoint until you see All Damage Shocks and Haste Aura. Then use the Tame Beast ability which creates a glyph under the boar and then kill it to capture it. It could take 15min or it could take 3 hours. But it is VITAL to this build and you MUST get this exact combo on the boar.

Put Load Shockburst Rounds in your Mirage Archer and make sure you max the quality of both gems.

---

Ascendancy

The Tactician Ascendancy is the backbone of this build, offering exceptional synergy with totems and pin mechanics:

• 1. Suppressing Fire – 40% more immobilization buildup.
• 2. Right Where We Want Them – Pinned enemies cannot perform actions and all projectile damage pins.
• 3. A Solid Plan – Halves all spirit costs except for Tame Beast.
• 4. Cannons, Ready! – +1 Totems, 30% totem skill speed, but totems can only fire when you do.

---

Skill Tree

This interactive skill tree will provide you with an overview of the final state of the build. When assigning your attributes, you will need to account for the necessary requirements of your particular character.

---

Gearing

Gear Affixes

In the table below, you will see a breakdown of the most important affixes for each gear slot, as well as what unique items the build uses. These are listed in order of priority, so consider your gearing options carefully.

Make sure that you are capped at 75% all Elemental Resistances and Chaos Resistance.

Slot	Base	Prefix	Suffix
Main Hand	Desolate Crossbow	1. % Physical Damage 2. Adds Flat Lightning Damage 3. Adds Flat Physical Damage	1. % Critical Hit Chance 2. +6 to Attack Skills 3. Gain Onslaught on Killing Hits
Off Hand	Gemini Crossbow	1. % Physical Damage 2. Adds Flat Fire Damage 3. +1 to Maximum Number of Summoned Ballista Totems	1. % Critical Hit Chance 2. % Increased Attack Speed 3. +6 to Attack Skills
Helm	Woven Cap	1. +X Maximum Life 2.+X Evasion 3.+% Evasion	1. Resistances
Body	Lizardscale Coat	1.+53 Spirit 2. % Evasion 3.+X Evasion	1. Resistances
Gloves	Maligaro’s Virtuosity
Boots	Dragonscale Boots	1. % Movement Speed 2. % Evasion 3. +X Evasion	1. 100% Increased Effect of Socketed Items 2. % Gain Deflection Rating 3. Resistance
Belt	Mail Belt	1. +X Maximum Life 2. +X Maximum Mana	1. Resistances/Attributes
Ring 1	Breach Ring	1.+X Physical Damage 2. +X Lightning Damage 3. +X Maximum Life	1. Resistances/Attributes 2. +X Mana Per Enemy Killed
Ring 2	Breach Ring	1.+X Physical Damage 2. +X Lightning Damage 3. +X Maximum Life	1. Resistances
Amulet	Solar Amulet INSTILL: Wild Storm	1.% Increased Mana 2.+X Maximum Life 3.+X Maximum Mana	1. Level of All Projectile Skills 2. Resistances/Attributes

Unique Items

The unique items listed below are considered mandatory in order to get the build to perform as expected.

• Maligaro’s Virtuosity – This allows us to get 250% crit damage bonus without having to spec into crit damage on the tree.

Socketables

This table will show you what socketables are used for each gear slot. While many slots will likely be used for resistance runes, pay particular attention to the Helm, Belt, and Main Hand slot.

Slot	Socketable
Main Hand	Greater Rune of Alacrity X2
Off Hand	Thane Leld’s Rune of Spring X2
Helm	Resistance
Body Armour	Iron Rune/Resistance Runes
Gloves	Resistance Runes
Boots	Farrul’s Rune of the Chase/Resistance
Belt	Resistance Runes

Jewels

There are many useful affixes on jewels, and this build has three sockets for them to be inserted in. Make sure you put 15-16% Crit Chance on EVERY Jewel. Here are the main stats you will want on your Emeralds.

• % Increased Critical Hit Chance
• % Evasion
• % Crossbow/Projectile Damage
• % Attack Speed with Crossbows

Flasks and Charms

The recommended setup for your flasks and charms is:

• Life Flask – Gains X charges per second | % increased amount recovered
• Mana Flask – Gains X charges per second | % increased amount recovered
• Charms – Sanguis Harum Staunching Charm | Freeze-Protection Charm | Arakaali’s Gift

---

Changelog

• October 9th, 2025
  • Guide added for Patch 0.3