PoE 2 Ascendancy Overview

Welcome to the PoE 2 Ascendancy overview overview! Path of Exile 2's Early Access features a limited selection of classes and ascendancies at launch. Players can choose from the Warrior, Mercenary, Ranger, Witch, Sorcerer, and Monk, each with two available Ascendancy classes. Ascendancies are a crucial aspect of character building in Path of Exile 2, significantly impacting playstyle and power. It's important to note that many Ascendancy notables in Path of Exile 2 grant unique skills that can be supported by gems, offering greater flexibility and customization in character builds. Choose wisely, as the right Ascendancy can drastically transform your build.

Warbringer

The Warbringer Ascendancy offers a unique playstyle that combines melee combat with Warcries and Totem summoning. This class excels at dealing with bosses, as totems can draw aggro and deal damage while the player focuses on dodging attacks and maximizing damage output.

Warbringer Ascendancy Nodes

• Anvil's Weight
• Imploding Impacts
• Jade Heritage
• Answered Call
• Wooden Wall
• Renly's Training
• Turtle Charm
• Warcaller's Bellow
• Greatwolf's Howl

Titan

The Titan Ascendancy is a tanky class that excels at dealing heavy blows and stunning enemies. This Ascendancy emphasizes powerful, slow attacks and a high focus on defensive capabilities. It's a great choice for players who enjoy a slow, methodical playstyle and appreciate the satisfaction of landing a powerful hit.

Titan Ascendancy Nodes

• Stone Skin
• Earthbreaker
• Ancestral Empowerment
• Colossal Capacity
• Hulking Form
• Crushing Impacts
• Surprising Strength
• Mysterious Lineage

Stormweaver

The Stormweaver Ascendancy is a spellcaster focused on elemental damage, critical strikes, and status ailments. By leveraging new mechanics like Spirit Gems, Stormweavers can trigger powerful effects on shock, ignite, and critical strikes. This class offers a dynamic and versatile playstyle for spellcasters.

Stormweaver Ascendancy Nodes

• Scouring Winds
• Tempest Caller
• Rain Dancer
• Heavy Snows
• Shaper of Winter
• Strike Twice
• Shaper of Storms
• Constant Gale
• Force of Will
• Heart of the Storm

Chronomancer

The Chronomancer is a unique new class in Path of Exile 2, leveraging the game's new time manipulation mechanics to control the flow of battle. This class offers a fresh and innovative approach to combat, with abilities like Time Freeze and Temporal Rift allowing for strategic gameplay and powerful combos. The Chronomancer's potential for manipulating time and resetting cooldowns opens up exciting possibilities for creative and powerful builds.

Chronomancer Ascendancy Nodes

• Now and Again
• Unbound Encore
• Ultimate Command
• Footprints in the Sand
• Quicksand Hourglass
• Apex of the Moment
• Circular Heartbeat
• The Rapid River

Witchhunter

The Witchhunter Ascendancy is a powerful class specializing in hunting and defeating demonic and undead foes. This class excels at dealing massive damage, particularly on the first hit, and offers strong clear speed and elemental damage mitigation. With its focus on defeating demonic and undead enemies, the Witchhunter is particularly effective in endgame content like Breach, Delirium, and Beyond.

Witchhunter Ascendancy Nodes

• Weapon Master
• Pitiless Killer
• Judge, Jury, and Executioner
• Witchbane
• No Mercy
• Obsessive Rituals
• Ceremonial Ablution
• Zealous Inquisition

Gemling Legionnaire

The Gemling Legionnaire is a unique Ascendancy that embeds gems directly into their flesh. By leveraging attributes and gem qualities, levels, and colors, this class can create powerful builds with enhanced damage and survivability. The success of this Ascendancy depends on the power of gem quality in path of exile 2 as Crystalline Potential is one of the few damage nodes on Gemling Legionnaire based on what we've seen so far.

Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy Nodes

• Crystalline Potential
• Implanted Gems
• Advanced Thaumaturgy
• Integrated Efficiency
• Gem Studded
• Thaumaturgical Infusion
• Adaptive Capability
• Enhanced Effectiveness

Invoker

The Invoker Ascendancy allows Monks to harness the power of the elements, granting access to powerful elemental abilities and ailment enhancing effects. This melee-focused class leverages elemental damage and status ailments to deal significant damage and trigger powerful effects. Additionally, the Invoker's ability to utilize Power Charges to enhance skills adds another layer of strategic depth to the class.

Invoker Ascendancy Nodes

• Lead me through Grace…
• …and Protect me from Harm
• Faith is a Choice
• I am the Blizzard…
• I am the Thunder…
• …and I Shall Rage
• The Soul Springs Eternal
• Sunder my Enemies…
• …and Scatter Them to the Winds

Acolyte of Chayula

The Acolyte of Chayula Ascendancy allows Monks to embrace darkness, sacrificing Spirit for Darkness. This path offers a unique playstyle focused on shadow damage and the manipulation of darkness powers granted by Chayula. With the strong defensive capabilities of Embrace the Darkness as well as life and energy shield leech, and the potential synergy with keystones like Eldritch Battery and Mind Over Matter, the Acolyte of Chayula offers a great set of tools for survival.

Acolyte of Chayula Ascendancy Nodes

• Ravenous Doubts
• Consuming Questions
• Chayula's Gift
• Reality Rending
• Waking Dream
• Lucid Dreaming
• Embrace the Darkness
• Grasp of the Void
• Inner Silence

Deadeye

The Deadeye Ascendancy offers a familiar playstyle for fans of ranged combat. This class focuses on increasing attack speed, movement speed, damage, and projectile manipulation. By specializing into the Deadeye Ascendancy, players can create powerful ranged builds that excel at dealing damage from afar. If you want to play elemental bow skills, the Deadeye is a great choice, as it provides bonuses to projectile-based builds, including additional projectiles and increased movement speed.

Deadeye Ascendancy Nodes

• Avidity
• Thrilling Chase
• Eagle Eyes
• Projectile Proximity Specialisation
  • Point Blank
  • Far Shot
• Endless Munitions
• Called Shots
• Gathering Winds
• Wind Ward

Pathfinder

The Pathfinder Ascendancy is a unique class focused on flask manipulation and poison damage. The Pathfinder's ability to double the maximum number of poison stacks on an enemy solidifies it as the most powerful class for the poison archetype. Additionally it has the ability to turn flask charges into damaging concoctions that explode upon impact with terrain or monsters. this Ascendancy facilitates mastery in poison but also provides a unique playstyle.

Pathfinder Ascendancy Nodes

• Connected Chemistry
• Enduring Elixirs
• Contagious Contamination
• Overwhelming Toxicity
• Brew Concoction
  • Bleeding Concoction
  • Explosive Concoction
  • Shattering Concoction
  • Fulminating Concoction
  • Poisonous Concoction
• Traveller's Wisdom
• Running Assault
• Relentless Pursuit

Bloodmage

The Bloodmage Ascendancy is a master of life and energy manipulation. By stacking life and leveraging defenses, Bloodmages can significantly increase their offensive capabilities, creating powerful and durable builds. The synergy between life stacking and critical strike damage makes this Ascendancy a strong contender for potentially powerful endgame builds.

Blood Mage Ascendancy Nodes

• Sanguimancy
• Vitality Siphon
• Open Sores
• Blood Barbs
• Gore Spike
• Sunder the Flesh
• Grasping Wounds
• Crimson Power

Infernalist

The Infernalist Ascendancy is a powerful spellcaster focused on fire damage. This class can summon a loyal Hellhound companion and transform into a demonic form, granting increased damage and mobility. However, the demonic form comes with a significant drawback: increased damage taken over time. To mitigate this risk, players must invest in defensive and recovery mechanics.

Infernalist Ascendancy Nodes

• Altered Flesh
• Beidat's Gaze
• Beidat's Will
• Beidat's Hand
• Demonic Possession
• Mastered Darkness
• Pyromantic Pact
• Bringer of Flame
• Seething Body
• Loyal Hellhound
• Grinning Immolation

Path of Exile 2 introduces 12 new Ascendancy classes at launch, each offering unique playstyles and mechanics. From the elemental mastery of the Invoker and Stormweaver to the dark power of the Acolyte of Chayula and the temporal manipulation of the Chronomancer, there's something for every player. Grinding Gear Games has done a fantastic job of adding flavor to these new Ascendancies while retaining the flexibility and customization options that Path of Exile is known for.

Credits

Written by: Crouching_Tuna
Reviewed by: Tenkiei