PoE 2 Dawn of the Hunt Best Fastest Level Experience and Progression Guide - How to Quickly Reach Act 6 in 0.2

Path of Exile 2 just got absolutely cracked wide open. We figured out a leveling method that works on every class, doesn't require crazy gear, and can blast you from Act 1 to Act 6 in around five to six hours if you do it right. I'm talking about zooming through the early game like a madman. And the best part? You can do this completely solo, self-found, or spice it up with a few cool uniques if you want to turbocharge it.

Some players have pulled off a run in just about 6 hours, and that was with a few mistakes. Without those slip-ups, we’re easily looking at sub-5 hours. No matter your class or ascendancy, this method works like a charm. Let's turn you from a confused newbie into an unstoppable boss-melting machine that laughs at the early campaign!

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Best Weapons, and Skills for Fast Leveling

Level 1-5 Setup:

At the very start of your journey, you’ve got two nasty options to kick things off hard.

First, you can pick Disengage and immediately slot it in Stomping Ground.

This combo lets you launch yourself backwards right into enemy packs, detonating whole rooms in one massive hit.

It’s hilarious, it’s powerful, and it absolutely melts anything early on.

Timing the disengage into mobs becomes second nature super fast, turning you into a one-person wrecking crew by the time you leave the first few zones.

OR, if Disengage feels a little clunky or weird for your taste (it’s not for everyone), you’ve got another powerhouse option: grab a Hoghunt Felled Greatclub.

This thing is an early game monster weapon, ready to tear through anything from basically the moment you equip it.

Pair the Hoghunt Felled Greatclub with two amazing skill gems:

• Rolling Slam boosted with Martial Tempo for crazy attack speed and Magnified Effect for juiced-up area hits.

• Bone Shatter with Impact Shockwave for extra AoE destruction and Brutality to ditch elemental nonsense and go pure physical damage, which absolutely chunks everything at this stage.

Once you've slammed these support gems in, it's not even a fair fight anymore.

You'll be absolutely shredding mobs in seconds, zooming through early maps, and hitting level 6 almost without realizing it.

Trust me, nothing will stand in your way once you’ve got this setup rolling.

Level 5-6 Pivot:

Once you smash your way to level 5, it’s time to upgrade and hit your next major power spike.

Switch to the Iron Head Spear as soon as possible — this weapon is a major part of the plan and kicks your build into high gear.

From here, it’s critical to prioritize grabbing +30 Strength boosts wherever you can find them.

Strength doesn't just make you tankier—it directly fuels your damage output through skills scaling with raw physical power.

Then, move your Stomping Ground skill onto the Rake.

This is a key shift: the Rake becomes your main nuker from this point forward, but not because of its own melee damage.

It’s all about how Stomping Ground is triggered by the Rake's attack animation, letting you keep one-shotting packs with giant shockwaves of pure destruction.

From this pivot onward, you're fully locked in for a speed run straight through the campaign like a true boss.

You can check out this amazing Rake + Stomping Ground Build for PoE 2 Dawn of the Hunt.

Best Passive Tree for Quick Progression to Act 6 in Dawn of the Hunt

The secret sauce? Stack Strength and then pump Attack and Physical Damage nodes.

Here’s the basic path:

1. Strength, strength, and more strength.

2. Attack Speed and Cast Speed (for faster Rake use).

3. Physical Damage increases.

4. Attack Damage boosts.

Important tip: Avoid Melee-only increases. Stomping Ground doesn't scale with melee boosts — it's all about Attack, Trigger, and Physical tags.

Rake Setup for Quick Leveling Build

Once you hit the Rake pivot, everything clicks into place — and you’re about to feel unstoppable.

First things first: don’t worry about leveling your Rake gem too high.

Seriously, keep it around level 3. Higher levels just mean annoying attribute requirements without actually helping your real damage output.

This is a rare case where less is more.

What matters is stacking the right support gems to turn each Rake swing into a tactical nuke:

• Heft: Your bread and butter for stacking raw physical damage. It supercharges the base hit of the Rake, which directly empowers the Stomping Ground explosions you're really caring about.

• Close Combat: Boosts your damage when you’re up close and personal with enemies. Since you’re Raking right in the middle of the action anyway, this support adds a huge multiplier exactly when you need it most.

• Splinter: This is the secret sauce. Splinter allows every Rake to shatter enemy armor, making them take increased physical damage. It’s absurdly strong because it means every Stomping Ground hit that follows is basically punching enemies while they’re already on the floor.

Here’s the devastating combo:

Two or three quick Rakes on a boss → armor shredded → Stomping Ground detonations land like meteors.

The result? Bosses barely get a chance to swing before they evaporate under your strength-fueled shockwaves. It’s clean, it's simple, and it’s ridiculously satisfying.

With this setup, you’re effectively one-button gaming your way through the entire campaign, and you’ll be laughing as bosses and elites just disintegrate without even slowing you down.

Movement Boosts: Fly Like the Wind

• Shield Charge is linked with Ingenuity for crazy cooldown reduction.

You’re practically teleporting across the maps while everything behind you explodes.

Best Gear Pick for Fast Leveling to Act 6 in Dawn of the Hunt

Sure, you can go full self-found, but if you want the turbo edition, grab these:

Item	Bonus
Tyranny's Grip (Spear)	+30 Strength, solid rake support
Horns of Bynden (Helmet)	Strength boost + melee damage
Fox Shade (Chest)	Big movement speed bonus when full HP
Dionadair Slintered Tower Shield	Strength bonus
Luminous Pace Straw Sandals (Boots)	Early movement speed at level 1
Jarngreipr (Gloves) (At level 6)	Strength + attribute fixing
Meginord's Girdle (Belt)	+47 Strength madness
Wanderlust (Boots, upgrade later)	More movement speed
Titanrot Cataphract Armor (replace Foxshade at 20)	Huge % strength increase
Black Sun Crest Wrapped Helmet	More % strength bonus
Feathered Fortress (Shield) (Replace shield)	Dex, strength, and resistance

Also, stack strength on rings and amulets wherever you can.

More strength equals more Stomping Ground damage.

Class? Doesn't Matter: It Works for All

You can pick the Best Classes in PoE 2 Dawn of the Hunt, but it actually doesn't matter at all.

Witch, Huntress, Warrior, Ranger, Mercenary — it doesn’t matter what you picked on character creation — this setup absolutely slaps across the board.

Why? Because the entire strategy revolves around stacking Strength and multiplying Attack and Physical Damage, not locking into any specific ascendancy or gimmick.

Here’s the easy formula for every class:

• Prioritize Strength nodes: Strength boosts your raw damage and makes Stomping Ground scale harder and harder as you level.

• Snag Attack and Physical Damage nodes: Anything that says "Attack Damage," "Physical Damage," or "Attack Speed" is your best friend.

• Skip unnecessary clutter: Don't get baited into spell nodes, minion nodes, or random elemental stuff — it's all about big boy physical smashes here.

Want to optimize even harder?

Sure, you can use pre-made passive planners to plot the perfect path through the tree for each class.

There are optimal routes that shave even more minutes off your leveling times.

But honestly?

Even if you eyeball your passive points and just follow the golden rule of "Strength and Attack = Good," you’ll still steamroll everything in your path.

No planning paralysis. No wasted time. Just pure, relentless, momentum-based leveling.

Important XP Trick: Stay in Level Range

Warning: Don't level too fast!

In PoE 2, being underleveled for an area means brutal XP penalties.

You want to stay within 3 levels of the zone:

• Cemetery of the Eternals: Be at least level 4.

• Ogham Farmlands: Hit level 9.

• Mowdun Quarry: Level 13 minimum.

• Keth: Level 21.

If you blast through too fast (like I did), you’ll find yourself stuck, getting no XP in zones where you should be zooming ahead.

Play it smart and keep your level within the range.

Leveling thresholds get wider later, like 5 level gaps around level 32, but early on, you gotta stay tight with the zone curve.

Always stay within 3 levels of zone recommendations!

Zone	Minimum Level
Cemetery of the Eternals	4
Ogham Farmlands	9
Mowdun Quarry	13
Kath	21

Final Thoughts

You’ve got the skills, the passive tricks, the gear tips, and the XP management plan. Now it's just about putting it all together and blasting your way to Act 6 faster than anyone else.

First clean run with this method hit 6 hours, mistakes and all. Streamline it, clean up your passive planning, and fly through the campaign like an absolute beast. You might hit Act 6 in under 4 hours mark.

Good luck, gamer. Go smash those Acts like they're made of paper.