Path of Exile 2: Complete Ascendancy Guide

Path of Exile 2 (PoE2) is a game of unparalleled depth, where you can tailor your character with an array of skills, items, and customization options. Just as you think you've mastered these elements, the game presents another layer of complexity: choosing an Ascendancy Class. In its early access phase, PoE2 offers two progression paths per class, set to expand to three upon full release. Let's delve into the current Ascendancy Classes available in the game.

Don't forget to check out our article on selecting the best build to kickstart your adventure in PoE2.

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Table of Contents

• Witch Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
• Infernalist
• Blood Mage
• Sorcerer Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
• Stormweaver
• Chronomancer
• Warrior Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
• Warbringer
• Titan
• Monk Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
• Invoker
• Acolyte of Chayula
• Mercenary Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
• Witchhunter
• Gemling Legionnaire
• Ranger Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
• Deadeye
• Pathfinder

Witch Ascendancy Classes in PoE2

Infernalist

The Infernalist is currently one of the top-performing Witches, wielding an impressive array of fire spells. If you enjoyed summoning minions early on, you'll be thrilled with the Infernalist's new skill—the Infernal Hound, a fearsome ally straight from the underworld. Moreover, the Infernalist can transform into a demonic form, boosting attack damage and mobility at the cost of faster health depletion. To endure longer in this form, the Loyal Hellhound skill becomes essential. Additionally, the Beidat's Will node ties your Spirit to your maximum HP, necessitating investment in both HP and Strength. This allows you to command an army of the undead, enhancing your dominance on the battlefield.

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Blood Mage

While not as balanced as the Infernalist, the Blood Mage offers a thrilling gameplay experience. With Sanguimancy, you'll tread a dangerous path between life and death, using HP instead of MP. This unique mechanic demands careful play to avoid fatal mistakes. Skills like Vitality Siphon and Life Remnants help you drain health from foes, while Sunder the Flesh increases the critical hit chance for buffs, and Gore Spike enhances attack damage. The Blood Mage is a high-risk, high-reward class that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

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Sorcerer Ascendancy Classes in PoE2

Stormweaver

The Stormweaver is a Sorcerer specializing in massive elemental damage and high critical hit chances, often triggering Elemental Storm via Tempest Caller. Inflicting status ailments is key to their strategy, bolstered by the Strike Twice passive. Utilizing Spirit Gems, Stormweavers can amplify elemental damage against groups suffering from negative effects. Constant Gale and Force of Will enhance spell casting speed and MP regeneration, vital for a spell-focused playstyle. The Heart of the Storm node boosts survivability by converting Elemental Damage into an Energy Shield, though you must ensure your character can withstand multiple attacks.

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Chronomancer

The Chronomancer introduces a novel gameplay element to PoE2 with time manipulation, not seen in the original Path of Exile. Exclusive spells like Temporal Rift and Time Freeze open new avenues for combat strategies and experimentation. Although not the strongest Sorcerer Ascendancy currently, the Chronomancer offers significant potential. Skills like Now and Again help avoid cooldowns, Apex of the Moment slows nearby enemies, and Quicksand Hourglass accelerates magic creation, making this class a unique and strategic choice.

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Warrior Ascendancy Classes in PoE2

Warbringer

The Warbringer combines war cries with totem summons to excel in close combat, delivering maximum melee damage. This approach is effective against bosses, as totems can distract and absorb damage. Enhance armor penetration with Imploding Impacts and Anvil’s Weight for greater effectiveness. Warcaller’s Bellow makes enemy corpses explode upon using a Warcry, while Greatwolf’s Howl removes Warcry cooldowns. For a defensive approach, Renly’s Training and Turtle Charm boost shield and blocking capabilities.

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Titan

If you prefer a more controlled, defensive playstyle, the Titan is ideal. With slow, powerful attacks, Titans paralyze foes, forcing them to break through heavy armor. Stone Skin increases the defensive power of your gear by 50%, and Mysterious Lineage boosts max HP by 15%, enhancing your survivability. Titans can also deal significant damage, with Earthbreaker and Ancestral Empowerment strengthening Slam abilities, and Surprising Strength increasing damage against stunned enemies by 40%.

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Monk Ascendancy Classes in PoE2

Invoker

The Invoker empowers Monks to harness elemental power, offering powerful abilities and status-enhancing effects. This melee-focused class leverages elemental damage and status effects to decimate enemies and trigger potent effects. The ability to use Power Charges to enhance skills adds strategic depth, making the Invoker a versatile and formidable choice.

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Acolyte of Chayula

The Acolyte of Chayula embraces the Darkness, gaining control over dark forces from Chayula. With the Embrace the Darkness skill, you can forgo Spirit, increasing your maximum Darkness to 100 and enhancing survivability. To bolster defenses, use Consuming Questions with Mana Leech. However, be cautious as this setup removes the Energy Shield cooldown, making it reliant on MP drain, which is currently inefficient. Until this issue is resolved, the Acolyte of Chayula may not match the Invoker's prowess.

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Mercenary Ascendancy Classes in PoE2

Witchhunter

The Witchhunter excels at hunting and swiftly eliminating demons and the undead, making it one of the strongest classes in the current version of the game. With increased damage on the first and last hits, the Witchhunter efficiently clears weaker enemies. Against bosses, passive skills like Pitiless Killer, Damage vs Low Life Enemies, and Judge, Jury, and Executioner are crucial. Witchbane and No Mercy focus on reducing enemy concentration and dealing increased damage, while Zealous Inquisition has a 10% chance to make slain enemies explode, damaging nearby foes.

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Gemling Legionnaire

The Gemling Legionnaire's gameplay revolves around gems, with mechanics based on their stats, quality, and color. Thaumaturgical Infusion boosts resistances based on the number of equipped stones of a particular color, while Crystalline Potential and Implanted Gems enhance skill levels. Advanced Thaumaturgy reduces skill costs and attribute requirements, and Integrated Efficiency adds three additional active skill slots. Gem Studded allows the use of two identical Support stones, offering vast potential for experimentation and powerful builds.

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Ranger Ascendancy Classes in PoE2

Deadeye

The Deadeye caters to players who favor ranged combat, enhancing attack range and damage output. Endless Munitions allows you to fire an additional projectile per skill use, ideal for clearing screens of enemies. This path suits those who prefer the classic bow over the crossbow and focus on elemental damage, benefiting from increased movement speed, extra projectiles, and an additional Mark.

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Pathfinder

The Pathfinder is perfect for those who enjoy poisoning mechanics, as it doubles the effectiveness of health drain on enemies. Overwhelming Toxicity doubles Poison applied but shortens the debuff duration. A signature weapon is the gas grenade, which, combined with high movement speed and slow resistance, allows you to blanket the battlefield in toxic mist. If you're drawn to unique gameplay and poison mechanics, the Pathfinder is your class.

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Remember, we've only covered twelve of the planned thirty-six Ascendancy Classes in PoE2. As the game progresses through early access, these are the currently available specialization paths. More will be added over time, and future updates may alter passive skills, so the details in this guide might differ from the final version.