The Build Meta

Welcome to the Path of Exile 2 Meta Report, where we delve into the latest trends and strategies shaping the game. We're covering major events within the community, which hottest builds break the meta, economy updates and more!

Early Access Ascendancy Popularity

The current data is very limited. GGG has not yet given API Access or the ability to share profiles. The only information provided is the Ladder, which shows the top 1000 players and their respective Ascendancies.

Standard Class Analysis

• Stormweaver is by far the most popular ascendancy, making up 39.2% of the ladder as Archmage and Spark dominate the meta.
• Gemling Legionnaire is the second most popular, with 22.5% representation, due to its ability to gain double the bonuses from Attributes, making it a great option for Attribute and Mana stacking.
• Invoker is the third most popular, at 14.1%, indicating it’s a solid choice as it has a great offensive and defensive package at low cost and can scale into an Attribute stacker in the endgame.
• Deadeye and Infernalist are moderately popular, with 5.4% and 5.3% representation, respectively. Their decline in popularity seems to indicate that they excelled in early game but top players found better options in other Ascendancies.
• Blood Mage, Titan, and Chronomancer are less common but still present, suggesting niche but viable builds.
• The least represented ascendancies Witchhunter, Warbringer, Pathfinder and Acolyte of Chayula are more specialised, therefore see less play in the meta.

It's important to remember that this data is from Early Access, and class balance is changing frequently. The data only represents the top 1000 characters in each mode. It doesn't capture the entire player base and may not fully reflect the overall class distribution. Class popularity and success are also influenced by individual playstyle preferences. Some players may enjoy the challenge of playing less popular or more difficult classes.

Top Meta Builds

Acolyte of Chayula

The Acolyte of Chayula ascendancy is currently underrepresented in the meta, however Goratha's Poison Gas Arrow Build provides players who are curious about the mechanics of this Ascendancy a very strong option proven to take on the endgame. There is currently an unintended mechanic being exploited by some players in the Temporal Sanctum. The Embrace the Darkness notables appears to negate Honour damage within the Sanctum, making it significantly easier for these players to complete the challenge runs and obtain Temporalis.

Invoker

The Invoker Monk Ascendancy stands out as one of the strongest and most popular options in Path of Exile 2's Early Access. It offers players a versatile toolkit for building both offensive and defensive capabilities. Currently, the Tri-Attribute stacking Monk build reigns supreme, utilising the unique power of Pillar of the Caged God and Hand of Wisdom and Action. Check out this planner to learn more.

Stormweaver

The Stormweaver Ascendancy is an excellent choice for spellcasters in PoE 2, particularly for Archmage builds. Its synergy with Arcane Surge, Eldritch Battery, and Mind Over Matter enable efficient mana scaling. Some powerful examples of this is the Archmage Spark build, showcased by Captainlance and the Cast on Shock Lightning Conduit by Crouching_Tuna.

Chronomancer

The Chronomancer Ascendancy can play many of the same builds the Stormweaver can, but worse. However due to the amazing utility and defence provided by Apex of the Moment and Unbound Encore's Time Snap, the Chronomance is the best choice for Support builds. This build is a great example of a support that provides damage and defences to a group while also greatly increasing the rarity of items dropped thanks to Gravebind's Enemies killed by anyone in your Presence count as being killed by you instead unique modifier. Check out Zeke's Support Planner for more info.

Bloodmage

By far the strongest build for the Bloodmage is the Temporalis autobomber. It utilises Choir of the Storm, Trampletoe and Frost Wall to deal huge single target damage and uses Blink for speed.The Detonate Dead Bloodmage is also a great contender which has the ability to deal an insane amount of damage, and also provides decent map clear and survivability at a very low cost making it. Check out Ventrua's Crit Detonate Dead Blood Mage build planner and video to learn more.

Infernalist

Infernalist Minion builds are less popular than they were in early weeks but maintain solid representation. This indicates that many players used the strong early game of a minion build to farm currency for higher budget builds and are now swapping over. It is the favorite class fantasy which provides the great defense and damage at low all the way to higher budgets. Additionally, the minions keep you safe from harm and have the capacity to deal a ton of damage. Check out Ventrua's and Helmbreaker's Energy Shield based endgame builds to learn more.

Titan

After the nerfs to Armour Break explosions many Titan builds are now using Herald of Ice with Polcirkeln to achieve great map clear. While many players are disgruntled with the nerfs and due to how weak Armour is in relation to other base defences, there are still some strong builds you can play in the endgame. cArn_ recently hit level 100 on his Hammer of the Gods build which utilises this interaction. Check out his Build Guide to know more.

Warbringer

The Corrupting Cry Warbringer build provides great clear and survivability, and is from a gameplay perspective one of the most beginner-friendly builds currently in the game. Steelmage has been having a blast on the build and highly recommends it. Cptn Garbage created a planner and build guide you can follow. This build focuses on the Warbringer Ascendancy, specifically utilising the Corrupting Cry support gem to inflict powerful debuffs on enemies. This, combined with the Warbringer's ability to spam Warcries, creates a very powerful build.

Witchhunter

The Shockburst + Explosive Shot Witchhunter by Chronikz showcases the power of Explosive Shot. In combination with heralds and Shockburst Rounds, it provides both good clear and single-target damage. Note however that the Deadeye Ascendancy excels at this type of playstyle, so if you want to play this build but want the strongest option, you should check that variant instead.

Gemling Legionnaire

The Gemling Legionnaire is quite a versatile Ascendancy, however, Pillar of the Caged God Tri-Stacker is by far one of the current strongest and most expensive build in the game, making Waggle's build and Void's build guide the top choice for this Ascendancy. It has insane Area of Effect and damage, as well as a lot of survivability granted by the uniques it utilises.

Deadeye

The Deadeye Ascendancy is very versatile. At the moment, Lightning Arrow is by far one of the best and most popular skills. It provides great clear and, when combined with some Lightning Rod and Ball Lightning abuse for single-target, provides great clear and single-target damage. Check out Crouching_Tuna's Lightning Arrow build guide to learn more.

Pathfinder

Poisonous Concoction solidifies the Pathfinder Ascendancy as a top contender in the PoE Meta. Concoction deals massive single target and has decent clear at a relatively low budget, making it a great entry level build to push into endgame. Shattering Concoction is also a strong contender as the clear provided by Herald of Ice explosions is unmatched. For a detailed build guide you can check out Zizaran's Poisonous Concoction guide here.

Summary

This report analyzes the current meta in Path of Exile 2, examining class popularity and build trends. Data from the top 1000 characters in each mode reveals the Invoker as a top contender in Hardcore, while the Stormweaver dominates Softcore. The report showcases popular endgame builds like the Invoker Tri-Stacker, the Lightning Arrow Deadeye, Pathfinder Poisonous Concoction and The Infernalist Minion builds.

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Written by: Crouching_Tuna

Reviewed by: Tenkiei