Dmitry "blackelvisu" Kirnosov Path of Exile 2 is a highly complex game that allows you to use hundreds of skills, items, and other options to customize your character exactly how you like. But just when you think you've mastered all these abilities and thoroughly explored your character, you'll face the challenge of choosing an Ascendancy Class!
Right now, with PoE2 in early access, each class has only two progression paths, but by the full release, there will be three. Let's take a look at all the existing Ascendancies!
Also, read the article on choosing the best build to start the game.
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Witch Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
Infernalist
One of the best characters at the moment! The Infernalist is a powerful Witch with a vast arsenal of fire spells. However, if you enjoyed summoning multiple minions early in the game, you'll be happy to know that this class also grants a new skill—straight from the underworld comes the Infernal Hound to your aid!
If you've ever dreamed of transforming into a hellish beast yourself, the Infernalist makes that possible. By assuming a demonic form, the Witch increases her attack damage and mobility but also loses health more quickly.
To survive longer in demonic form, the Loyal Hellhound skill is invaluable. Another key node, Beidat's Will, makes Spirit depend on maximum HP, so you'll need to invest in this stat along with Strength. In return, you’ll be able to surround yourself with a true army of the undead!
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Blood Mage
Not as popular or well-balanced as the Infernalist, but still an incredibly engaging class from a gameplay perspective. Playing as a Blood Mage means constantly walking the fine line between life and death, thanks to Sanguimancy. This completely changes the playstyle since, instead of MP, your character consumes HP. This means excessive recklessness can quickly lead to death.
To counteract this, Vitality Siphon and Life Remnants drain health from enemies. Sunder the Flesh increases the critical hit chance required to trigger buffs, while Gore Spike boosts attack damage of this type.
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Sorcerer Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
Stormweaver
Stormweaver is a Sorcerer who deals massive elemental damage, often with a high critical hit chance, triggering Elemental Storm via Tempest Caller. A key part of the Stormweaver's gameplay is inflicting status ailments on enemies, aided by the passive skill Strike Twice. After that, using the new game mechanic Spirit Gems, the hero can amplify the damage of their elemental attacks against groups of enemies afflicted with negative effects.
Constant Gale and Force of Will improve spell casting speed and MP regeneration, which are crucial for a magic-heavy playstyle. The unique Heart of the Storm node significantly enhances survivability by converting part of Elemental Damage into an Energy Shield—just make sure your character can withstand multiple attacks!
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Chronomancer
The Chronomancer is a unique class that didn’t exist in the original Path of Exile. He manipulates time to control the flow of battle, creating a fresh and innovative approach to combat. Exclusive spells like Temporal Rift and Time Freeze unlock new possibilities for combos and experimentation.
Unfortunately, as of now, the Chronomancer isn’t the strongest Sorcerer Ascendancy, but it still has a lot of potential.
As a master of time manipulation, the Chronomancer has several tricks. For example, Now and Again gives a chance to avoid cooldowns when reading a spell, Apex of the Moment slows down nearby monsters, and Quicksand Hourglass increases the speed of magic creation.
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Warrior Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
Warbringer
Combining war cries with totem summons, the Warbringer engages in close combat, aiming to deal maximum melee damage. This tactic is effective even against bosses, as totems can distract enemies and absorb some of the damage meant for the hero.
You can further enhance armor penetration with Imploding Impacts and Anvil’s Weight, significantly improving this build’s effectiveness. Warcaller’s Bellow causes enemy corpses to explode when you use a Warcry, while Greatwolf’s Howl removes the cooldown on Warcries.
If you prefer a defensive playstyle, Renly’s Training and Turtle Charm will upgrade your shield and blocking capabilities.
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Titan
Not a fan of taking risks and prefer controlling your opponents? The Titan path is a great choice. With powerful yet slow attacks, Titans paralyze enemies, forcing them to break through thick armor before dealing damage. Stone Skin increases the defensive power of equipped gear by 50%, while Mysterious Lineage boosts max HP by 15%, further enhancing survivability.
But the Titan isn’t just a walking fortress — it can deal significant damage too. Unlike Warbringer, it has unique offensive abilities: Earthbreaker and Ancestral Empowerment strengthen Slam abilities. Additionally, Surprising Strength increases damage against stunned enemies by 40%.
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Monk Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
Invoker
The Invoker allows Monks to harness elemental power, granting access to powerful abilities and status-enhancing effects. This melee-focused class utilizes elemental damage and status effects to annihilate enemies and trigger potent effects. Additionally, the Invoker’s ability to use Power Charges to enhance skills adds another layer of strategic depth to the class.
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Acolyte of Chayula
This Monk has embraced Darkness and gained dominion over dark forces bestowed by Chayula. To become a devotee of Chayula, the Embrace the Darkness skill allows you to completely forgo the Spirit resource. This decision increases the maximum Darkness to 100 and grants the hero exceptional survivability.
To further reinforce the Acolyte’s defenses, Consuming Questions can be used in combination with Mana Leech. However, caution is advised, as this setup removes the Energy Shield’s cooldown entirely, making it rely solely on MP drain, which (as of version 0.1.1) is not yet efficient enough. Until this drawback is addressed, this Ascendancy remains inferior to the Invoker.
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Mercenary Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
Witchhunter
The Witchhunter is one of the strongest classes in the current version of the game, excelling in hunting and swiftly eliminating demons and the undead. Dealing increased damage on both the first and last hits, the Witchhunter quickly clears areas of weaker enemies. Against bosses, passive skills like Pitiless Killer, Damage vs Low Life Enemies, and Judge, Jury, and Executioner can be crucial in securing victory when survival hangs by a thread.
Witchbane and No Mercy enable a playstyle focused on reducing enemy concentration (affecting their skill activation speed) and dealing increased damage. The Witchhunter’s deep-seated hatred for demons and the undead is reflected in the Zealous Inquisition node, which has a 10% chance to make slain enemies explode, damaging their living allies.
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Gemling Legionnaire
The Gemling Legionnaire is a unique class whose gameplay heavily revolves around gems—not just their stats and quality, but even their color. For example, Thaumaturgical Infusion increases the character’s resistances based on the number of equipped stones of a particular color. Meanwhile, Crystalline Potential and Implanted Gems enhance the level of all skills.
Advanced Thaumaturgy not only reduces skill costs but also lowers attribute requirements, just like Adaptive Capability. A particularly interesting gameplay-changing node is Integrated Efficiency, which expands the arsenal of active skills by three additional slots. Gem Studded is also highly useful, allowing the use of two identical Support stones, opening up vast potential for experimentation and powerful builds.
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Ranger Ascendancy Classes in PoE2
Deadeye
This Ascendancy follows a familiar gameplay style for players who favor ranged combat. Unique passive skills increase effective attack range and enhance damage output. Endless Munitions allows you to fire one additional projectile per skill use, which is incredibly useful for clearing entire screens of enemies.
This path is an excellent choice for those who prefer the classic bow over the modern crossbow and plan to focus on elemental damage. In this case, increased movement speed, extra projectiles, and an additional Mark will prove invaluable.
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Pathfinder
If your favorite color is green, then the Pathfinder is the perfect choice for you. As a master of poisoning, this class constantly drains enemies’ health bars, with double effectiveness. The passive skill Overwhelming Toxicity doubles the amount of Poison applied to enemies but shortens the debuff duration.
Be careful! One of this class’s signature weapons is the gas grenade, which—when combined with high movement speed and slow resistance—allows you to quickly and efficiently blanket the battlefield in toxic mist. If you enjoy poison mechanics and unique gameplay, this path is definitely for you!
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Keep in mind that we’ve only covered twelve of the planned thirty-six Ascendancy Classes. As PoE2 enters early access, these are all the currently available specialization paths for your characters. However, more will be added over time! Additionally, future game updates may introduce changes to passive skills, meaning the details in this guide may differ from the final version.
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