Path of Exile 2 introduces a plethora of exciting new mechanics and opportunities for creative character builds, and the Shaman BEAR Druid stands out as a fantastic option for both league starters and endgame content. With a combination of powerful summon mechanics, tanky defenses, and solid offensive capabilities, this build offers a smooth progression from the early stages of the game all the way through to the POE 2 Currency most challenging endgame encounters.

Core Concept: Shaman Bear Druid

The Shaman BEAR Druid revolves around summoning a mighty bear spirit to fight alongside you, while enhancing your own offensive and defensive power through the natural world’s primal forces. The core skill, Summon Bear, summons a powerful, autonomous ally that deals significant physical damage to enemies. This bear can be further buffed through passive skill nodes, items, and auras, and scales incredibly well with both life and resistance bonuses.

While the bear deals most of your single-target damage, the Druid’s versatility shines through with the ability to deal AoE damage using skills like Earthquake, Cyclone, or Maul. These melee skills allow you to clear mobs quickly, providing a great balance between mob clearing and boss killing. The Shaman passive tree synergizes well with these skills by increasing bear damage, scaling elemental resistances, and providing life regeneration and damage mitigation.

Early Game – Ideal for League Starter

The Shaman Bear Druid makes a fantastic league starter thanks to its strong early-game clear speed and low item dependency. The Summon Bear skill allows you to quickly build up your bear’s damage and clear groups of monsters with ease. Early on, you will also focus on stacking life, resistances, and a few key damage nodes to keep your bear strong and your character survivable.

For your main offensive setup, you’ll rely on Earthquake or Cyclone, both of which provide solid AoE clear. These skills allow you to tear through early-game content while your bear focuses on dealing damage to larger, more dangerous enemies. As a Shaman, you’ll also benefit from passive nodes that increase the effectiveness of both your bear and your elemental resistances, ensuring that you stay tanky as you progress through the acts.

A major benefit of this build is its adaptability. By mid-game, you’ll easily be able to swap to Maul or continue with Cyclone, both of which fit seamlessly into the Shaman Bear Druid’s kit for even faster AoE damage. The build also benefits from using Totems or Spirit Ancestry for enhanced damage, which further bolsters your offensive output without sacrificing your survivability.

Mid to Late Game – Scaling for Endgame

As you transition into the mid and late game, your build will start to scale up significantly. You’ll focus on picking up key passive nodes for bear damage and summon health, as well as investing in powerful Shaman ascendancy nodes that enhance your elemental resistances and regeneration.

For endgame content, this build’s versatility truly shines. Bossing is made easier by your bear’s high single-target damage, while AoE clear remains fast with Earthquake, Cyclone, or Maul. You’ll need to focus on life leech, life regeneration, and damage mitigation to withstand the damage in tougher encounters.

You can also optimize your gear with resistance stacking, life recovery, and summon bear damage to scale further into the endgame. The Shaman ascendancy will allow you to deal more damage while keeping your defenses intact, ensuring you can handle even the most difficult boss fights and endgame maps.

Conclusion

The Shaman BEAR Druid build is a powerful, adaptable, and fun option for league starters and endgame players alike. With excellent synergy between summons, AoE skills, and defensive capabilities, this build provides a smooth transition from early-game to endgame content. Whether you're clearing mobs with Cyclone or dealing massive single-target damage with your bear, the Shaman BEAR Druid offers a cheap POE 2 Currency Orbs well-rounded, rewarding experience that scales seamlessly across all stages of the game.