PoE 2 Class Overview

Path of Exile 2 features 12 playable classes each of which have 3 Ascendancies to further customize the archetype you play. These are no mere nameless, faceless avatars for you to customize. Each character is unique with their own backstory, lore, and personality. Currently in terms of Early Access 6 out of the full 12 classes are available, each of which has 2 ascendancies. This means we currently have a third of the total archetypes as more classes and ascendancies are added, more playstyles open up. For now, let's go over a quick overview of the classes available in early access.

Path of Exile 2 is a game that stresses player choice! You can use any weapon or play any skill on any class in the endgame. However, due to their starting location on the Passive Tree, Ascendancy bonuses, and skills offered throughout the campaign some classes are more suited to one playstyle over another. The class section of this post is written from the perspective of the fantasy presented. For example, you can make your Mercenary into a Greatsword wielding tank, but his section of the post is written from the perspective of the perspective of the Crossbow/Gun fantasy.

Each Attribute combination has 2 unique classes, one of which is taken from the original Path of Exile, the other of which is fully unique to PoE 2. For example, the 2 Dexterity classes are Ranger and Huntress. Each class and its Ascendancies have synergies for skills from the associated Attribute(s). However, you have a lot of freedom to use Gems from other Attributes and customize your build. As we learn more about all the Ascendancies available in Path of Exile 2, we'll update this chart to include the Ascendancies available to each base class.

Class	In EA?	Icon	Attribute(s)	Ascendancy 1	Ascendancy 2
Warrior	Yes		Strength	Warbringer	Titan
Huntress	No		Dexterity	?	?
Sorceress	Yes		Intelligence	Stormweaver	Chronomancer
Mercenary	Yes		Str / Dex	Witchunter	Gemling Legionnaire
Monk	Yes		Int / Dex	Invoker	Acolyte of Chayula
Druid	No		Str / Int	?	?
Marauder*	No		Strength	?	?
Ranger	Yes		Dexterity	Deadeye	Pathfinder
Witch	Yes		Intelligence	Infernalist	Blood Mage
Duelist*	No		Str / Dex	?	?
Shadow*	No		Int / Dex	?	?
Templar*	No		Str / Int	?	?

The Warrior is a Strength based class who specializes in crushing foes with oversized melee weapons. His favored weapon is the Mace which includes archetypes like Slams, and Warcries. But if you want to get spicy he can also use a variety of Shield Skills. You're heavily armored to help shrug off enemy blows and can always redirect your strikes mid-attack or dodge roll out if you desperately need to dodge an enemy attack.

Slams are hard-hitting melee skills that often have an area of effect component. Since they hit hard, you don't get to attack too frequently. But this also means they're the perfect archetype to combine with Warcries. Warcries are a buff that empowers subsequent skills. Want to do big damage? Seismic Cry to double your next slam! There are 20 active skills for Maces that you can experiment with on the Warrior.

The Warrior also has access to several totems. Some of these, like Shockwave Totem directly damage enemies. Others like the Ancestral Warrior Totem meta-Skill, use your Slam Skills. This is great if you want a more relaxed playstyle. But if you want to be even safer, use a Shield Skill. While you have a shield equipped you can actively block to prevent all incoming damage from one direction. You can also use skills like Shield Charge that blocks incoming damage while rushing into enemies dealing damage along the way. Don't hold your block for too long, each hit increases your stagger, and when the bar fills your block breaks. Also, watch out for red "unblockable" attacks from certain powerful enemies.

Warrior Ascendancies

As a Warrior, you choose between becoming a Warbringer or a Titan. Warbringers can specialize in breaking enemy armor, using powerful Totems or Warcrying their enemies to death. On the other hand, the Titan is all about hitting once and hitting hard! A Titan's attacks can create aftershocks, inflict a Crushing blow, or gain more power from passive skills.

A Huntress stalks her foes, fighting through the barren wastes. This Dexterity class specializes in using Spears from close to medium range to provide peerless control over the battlefield. Huntresses are similar to Path of Exile 2's Ranger, using their mobility to Evade damage before it lands and then retaliate from a safe distance. Several of the Huntress gameplay showcases included Spears. A versatile new melee weapon that deals damage from close or medium range. Many people who got to try the class said she feels like playing a bow build in PoE1, with lots of damage, speed, and AoE.

Mobility is a key part of Path of Exile 2's design! The Huntress showcases this by jumping to targets and then using a separate skill to disengage. She also has area of effect control skills like Field of Spears which slows any foes attempting to re-engage. Little is known about what Ascendancies the Huntress has, but we've seen aspects of Melee, Bleed, Mobility, Evasion, and Elemental Damage in the showcases.

The Sorceress is an Intelligence class who harnesses the 3 elements and bends them to her will. Wield powerful fire skills that Ignite enemies, or use Flame Wall in combination with Spark or Fireball to set your own projectiles ablaze, adding additional damage. Drop a Comet on your foes, wall them off with Frost Wall and use other cold skills to Freeze them in place. Or Arc lightning between enemies, Shocking foes making them easier to defeat. The Elemental Skills are made to combine with other spells of different elements.

Use Path of Exile 2's dual specialization system to combine multiple elements. You can wield a Fire staff in your main hand, to drop a Flame Wall then swap to a Lightning Staff to fire all your Spark through. Or use a Fire Skill with the Cast on Ignite trigger gem to unleash a devastating Firestorm! Blend 25 elemental skills to unleash peerless devastation.

Sorceress Ascendancies

As a Sorceress you can Ascend to become either a Stormweaver or a Chronomancer. The Stormweaver harnesses the raw power of the elements. Deal critical damage to your foes and unleash a devastating Elemental Storm, or stack 2 Shocks on an enemy for even more damage amplification. If you like shocking Foes, continue investing into the Stormweaver to allow all of your damage to Shock. They also excel in the Arcane, gaining bonuses for stacking Mana or making the Arcane Surge buff more effective.

On the other hand, Sorceresses who follow the path of the Chronomancer prefer to exert their mastery over time itself. Use Time Freeze to temporarily stop time, preventing foes from acting for a duration. In addition, you can use Temporal Rift to reverse time, sending you back to a prior location and returning your life and mana to what they were at that time. Lastly, if you're tired of cooldowns, use Time Snap to reset them allowing you to use some of the most powerful skills in Path of Exile 2 without any delay. While difficult to master, the Chronomancer offers you a plethora of opportunities to outplay dangerous boss mechanics.

Path of Exile 2's Strength and Dexterity class, the Mercenary draws heavy inspiration from First Person Shooters. This led to a fundamental redesign of how movement is handled in PoE 2 and the addition of WASD controls. The Mercenary reveal focused heavily on the mechanics of Crossbows in PoE 2. You're able to use Burst (Shotgun), Rapid (Assault Rifle), or Power (Sniper Rifle) Crossbow Skills with a variety of special bolts.

In addition to his Crossbow, the Mercenary comes armed to the teeth with a variety of Grenades. They work exactly as you'd expect and detonate after a short delay. Some Grenades apply crowd control effects slowing enemies, others choke foes with noxious fumes, but most are just there to cause a big explosion.

For example, create unstable poison clouds with Gas Grenade then detonate them using Explosive Shot. Alternatively, you can freeze enemies solid with Glacial Bolt before shattering them for massive damage with Fragmentation Rounds. Due to the flexibility offered by the Mercenary ascendancies, once you reach the endgame you can play a wide variety of non-Crossbow builds.

Mercenary Ascendancies

As a Mercenary, you're always up for work, but you need to choose your profession. Some Mercenaries become Witchhunters and specialize in killing thaumaturgists. As a Witchunter you tap into the profane Arts gaining the ability to generate a Sorcery Ward. This shields you from elemental damage at the cost of your physical defenses. You also gain the ability to interrupt enemy spells by dealing damage, slowing the rate at which dangerous foes use their skills. Lastly, some Witchhunters learn Decimating Strikes, removing up to 30% of an enemy's health with their first hit.

Your other option is the Gemling Legionaire, an Ascendancy that focuses on skill gems. If you want to use additional skills, this is the Ascendancy for you! Unleash the true potential of your skills, by wearing additional copies of the best support gems. Then, make all of your skills better by increasing their quality. As a Gemling Legionaire, you can use your highest attribute to satisfy requirements for other skills.

The Monk is a highly mobile Intelligence and Dexterity Class. He dashes into combat to strike at foes with his Quarterstaff before executing a quick retreat before enemies can retaliate.

Quarterstaff Skills cover the elements of Lightning, Ice, and Wind. Killing Palm dashes to enemies killing them when they're on low life to grant you a Power Charge. Or drop a Tempest Bell that resonates when struck. Then hit it with elemental damage to empower all your subsequent strikes. Or spend your Power Charges to empower Falling Thunder and unleash devastation across the battlefield. There are 21 active skills for quarterstaves, providing you with a wealth of martial arts options.

Monk Ascendancies

As a Monk you have two Ascendancy Paths. First, you can become an Invoker to harness your inner strength creating waves of raw elemental force. Invokers can mitigate physical damage and gain Spirit by wearing Energy Shield / Evasion gear. They gain more Energy to fuel Meta skills and can ignore enemy resistances for easy damage scaling. This is a powerful, flexible ascendancy able to enhance a wide variety of build archetypes and playstyles.

On the other hand, some Monks turn to darkness, becoming an Acolyte of Chayula. This transforms your Spirit into Darkness. You can use Shroud of Darkness to protect yourself from attack based on your Darkness. Or alternatively, stack more of it for potent chaos damage bonuses. This isn't where the defenses end, you also gain additional defenses against Chaos damage. You also get instant mana leech and the ability to apply it to your Energy Shield providing a potent layer of recovery. A few brave Acolytes of Chayula choose to peer into the Breach to gain the Flames of Chayula but remember, the Breach always stares back. However, this Ascendancy offers very little direct damage and the defensive layers require that you give up Spirit making this an Ascendancy which is difficult to properly build.

The Druid is a hybrid shapeshifter-spellcaster class who is able to rapidly switch between different gameplay modes. Therefore a Druid blends their Strength and Intelligence to overcome foes. Each of your different Shapeshifting forms provide unique benefits. So far the only one which has been showcased is Bear Form. Maul your foes to build Rage then unleash it by going on a Rampage. Gameplay showcases so far have focused heavily on the Druid's ability to shift between a human-form caster and a rampaging bear, hell bent on turning enemies into red milk.

Casting in Bear Form automatically shifts you back to human form, so buffs and spells with a long duration are ideal for setting up combos with other skills. Jonathan also showcased the Summon Wolf minion skill during the Druid showcase, hinting that one of the Ascendancies may be animal companion themed.

Skill Options enable specific Spirit reservations for each weapon set you have. Bear Form counts as a weapon set offering you a great deal of flexibility to maximize your Spirit effects. This also means you can have one set of Passives for your Bear Form which focuses on maximizing Attack damage, then use a separate set for your human form which better enhances spellcasting.

Original PoE Classes

In addition to new classes, PoE 2 has all of the base classes from the original Path of Exile. However, some Ascendancies have moved around.

Templar*

Marauder*

Duelist*

Shadow*

After years away the Ranger explores her old hunting grounds. These once familiar forests have grown dark and now teem with sinister enemies. Wraeclast's master survivalist returns in search of new prey. All it takes is a determined woman and her bow to change the world. Because she can shoot while moving, and a lot of bow skills have built-in jumps you're going to be able to easily outmaneuver enemies. The Ranger uses a variety of bow skills focused around lightning, poison, ice, and physical.

Her Lightning attacks bounce between foes, electrocute them inflicting a stunning effect, and plant arrows in the ground to deal more damage. Cold skills slow and freeze foes, making it easy to escape their attacks. Poison skills generate highly flammable clouds of gas, deal damage over time, and create toxic plants to harry your foes.

Ranger Ascendancies

As a Ranger you can become either a Deadeye or a Pathfinder. The Deadeye fires additional projectiles, making it easy to bury foes under a withering barrage. Alternatively, stack tailwind up to increase your speed, just be careful you lose the speed after taking damage. With Eagle Eyes, you never miss, taking down foe after foe with ease and grace.

Pathfinders focus on Flasks and Poison. You can choose between 5 throwable concoctions that are fueled by your Flask charges. Each concoction deals some damage and inflicts a crippling ailment on any enemies caught in the splash zone. You can also cause your poisons to spread between different foes while making them twice as potent. Last up Pathfinders can move more quickly while firing and become immune to slow effects making this a great choice for anyone who wants to go fast while still dealing damage.

Surrounded by her loyal Minions the Witch makes a triumphant return to the land she previously bent to her will. Now armed with occult incantations and an army of minions she is here to tear through everything in her path. Use your Spirit to build a minion army, or attack foes directly through Chaos and Bone Skills. Then curse enemies to weaken them and make it easier to take out dangerous bosses.

Minions resummon when they die. You can use weaker Skeletal Warriors, or powerful Skeletal Arsonists. Each minion has a special active ability these are called "Command Skills" for example the Skeletal Arsonists can detonate your other minions. Use corpses for temp minions to grow the ranks of your minion army.

Witch Ascendancies

Draw upon infernal powers to become an Infernalist. You get a loyal Infernal Hound who attacks your enemies and protects you by taking a portion of your damage for you. He's also the best boy who is able to set foes on fire. You can also infuse your mana with Hellfire, entering Mana Overload and triggering fiery explosions. Or go all in and enter Demon Form. In Demon Form you take damage that ramps up over time in exchange for ever-increasing cast speed and damage bonuses, how long will you survive?

The Witch's other ascendancy option is to become a Blood Mage. This comes at a steep price, paying a life cost in addition to the regular mana cost for all your skills. But in exchange you get extra life based on some of your Energy Shield gear, the ability to leech damage from your spells, and a new form of healing via Life Remnants, which you gain by killing enemies. With 15% base Critical Strike chance, for spells, anything that hits becomes a build capable of Critical Strikes. Blood Mages can also invest into life for damage through a Critical Damage bonus.

Summary

Path of Exile 2 has 12 playable classes, each of which has 3 Ascendancies making for 36 combinations to support a wide variety of playstyles and class fantasies. 6 of the playable classes are inspired by the original Path of Exile, and 6 are unique to PoE 2. Skill combos and incorporating movement into gameplay dominate the design philosophy behind the playable classes in PoE 2.

• The Warrior is a melee Brawler who demolishes his foes with Maces.
• As a Huntress you weave between foes, using your Spear to strike with precision.
• The Sorceress is a master of the elements, blending Fire, Cold, and Lightning.
• A crossbow-wielding Mercenary relentlessly hunts down his foes, filling them with bolts and then tossing in a few grenades for good measure.
• Monks blend elemental power with martial prowess, lashing out with Quarterstaves to quickly cull foes.
• The Druid is a shapeshifter, capable of using various animalistic forms.
• Rangers shoot their foes from afar, combining several Bow skills to lay down suppressing fire against all enemies.
• The Witch experiments with profane rituals, crippling foes, and summoning an army of minions.
• A Templar's main weapon is the Flail, but little else is known about him.
• Shadows look for opportunities to slip a dagger between the ribs of their enemies.
• Axe-wielding Marauders stand toe to toe with the Warrior as a front-line class.
• The Duelist uses Swords, but little else is known about his skills at this time.

Written by: Tenkiei

Reviewed by: Crouching_Tuna, Havoc616, Palsteron