This guide covers all of the Classes and Ascendancies in Path of Exile 2, offering a comparison of each and their play styles.
Every class in Path of Exile offers a unique play style to experience alongside multiple Ascendancy Classes that empower specific builds or enable alternative play styles. This can often be a point of choice paralysis for new players who want more information on what each class offers before diving in.
Below are quick summaries of each Class and their Ascendancy Classes to help make a more informed choice for a first character. The Ascendancies below also link to a breakdown of their unique mechanics for a more in-depth look at each Ascendancy Class.
For more information on unlocking and upgrading your Ascendancy, check out our Trials of Ascendancy Guide. This covers the available options for unlocking our Ascendancy and how each works.
Huntress
With a starting position in the Dexterity section of the Passive Tree, Huntresses are capable of excelling with both Ranged and Melee Weapons. Their primary weapon are Spears, which are capable of both Melee and Ranged attacks that offer a mix of Damage Types.
When Ascending, Huntresses have the choice between becoming an Amazon or a Ritualist.
Amazons are formidable fighters, able to greatly empower their weapons and exploit the weaknesses of an enemy. They’re also capable of manipulating the Elements, infusing them to their weapon.
Ritualists make sacrifices in pursuit of power. Whether it be their Life or the Life of a formidable foe for Buffs, or their resources to equip additional Jewelry, it’s all in the name of power.
To learn more about each ascendancy, its strong sides, vulnerabilities and out recommendations, check out the guides linked below.
Monk
With a starting position between Dexterity and Intelligence on the Passive tree, Monks are versatile Melee fighters but can also be capable casters. Their primary method of attacking is often a Quarterstaff or Unarmed Attacks, often imbued with different elemental effects.
When Ascending, Monks have a choice between becoming an Acolyte of Chayula or an Invoker.
Acolytes of Chayula lean into Chaos Damage, being able to leverage Volatility to gain large amount of Chaos Damage. They also have a unique Darkness mechanic, which trades their Spirit for an extra defensive layer that can also contribute damage.
Invokers lean more into Elemental Damage with their Attacks or Spells. Invokers get the ability to become an Unbound Avatar, increasing their Elemental Damage and more easily applying Elemental Ailments to damage, Debuff, or Crowd Control their foes.
Mercenary
With a Starting Position between Dexterity and Strength on the passive Tree, Mercenaries are capable ranged and melee fighters. Their primary method of attack is a Heavy Crossbow, capable of using a variety of ammo types to deal with every situation.
When Ascending, Mercenaries have a choice between becoming a Gemling Legionnaire, a Tactican, or a Witchhunter.
Gemling Legionnaires lean into their flexibility, allowing them to more effectively use most Weapons and Skills. By equipping their Equipped Gems and altering their requirements, Gemling Legionnaires provide huge potential for damage and overall power.
Tacticians are a more supportive Ascendancy, offering a ton of support to their Allies through Banners and Crowd Control. They’re also capable of bolstering both Minions and Totems, allowing them to truly command an army.
Witchhunters are nearly as flexible as Gemling Legionnaires, except their flexibility comes from Weapon Set Passives. This can allow them to effectively run two different builds at the same time. Alongside this, they have a powerful Bossing tool in their unique Concentration mechanic, as well as unique Mobbing and Defensive options.
Sorceress
With a Starting Position in the Intelligence section of the tree, the Sorceress is a caster through and through. A Sorceress will utilize Wands and Staves to cast powerful Elemental Spells, leveraging their effects to gain an advantage in combat.
When Ascending, a Sorceress can become a Chronomancer or Stormweaver.
Chronomancers are Sorceresses that have mastered Time Magic. This allows them to use their mastery over time to Reset their Cooldowns or even freeze enemies in place by stopping time for everything around them.
Stormweavers are focused on Elemental Skills, gaining the ability to cast more copies of Elemental Skills that have a Limit. They also have great access to Elemental Infusions, which can be used to empower various Elemental Spells.
Ranger
With a Starting Position in the Dexterity section of the Passive Tree, The Ranger is an agile Ranged Attacker. Rangers specialize in the use of bows to fire off volleys of arrows at their foes.
When Ascending, Rangers can become a Deadeye or Pathfinder.
Deadeyes specialize in manipulating the projectiles they fire, adding additional Projectiles, or increasing their damage based on range. Deadeyes are incredibly accurate markswomen, able to ignore accuracy penalties.
Pathfinders specialize in manipulating their Flasks, increasing their benefits, or turning them into deadly weapons. Pathfinder are also capable of inflicting powerful poisons that can spread between eenemies.
Warrior
With a Starting Position in the Strength section of the Passive Tree, Warriors are very durable Melee fighters. They can use a wide variety of Melee Weapons to suit their needs and gain access to a variety of skills.
When Ascending, Warriors can become a Smith of Kitava, Titan, or Warbringer.
Smiths of Kitava are skilled in their craft, able to forge powerful weapons and Armour to use in combat. Their experience with the flames of the forge leaves them highly resistant to Fire.
Titans lean into their durability, capable of bolstering their Life and Armour or carrying additional items. They’re great at inflicting Heavy Stun with powerful Slam Skills and turning that to their advantage.
Warbringers excel at breaking Armour, allowing for heavy Physical Damage. They’re also capable of making Shields and Totems more effective, offering more comfortable play styles.
Witch
With a Starting Position in the Intelligence section of the Passive Tree, Witches heavily lean into Spell Casting. Much like Sorceresses, they also primarily make use of Wands and Staves for their Spells but lean more into Fire and Chaos spells more.
When Ascending, a Witch can become a Blood Mage, an Infernalist, or a Lich.
Blood Mages use their own Life as a resource to cast and empower their spells. To sustain these Life costs, they gain access to a variety of options to recovery their Life.
Infernalists lean heavily into their mastery of Fire, dealing increased Fire Damage and having access to stronger Ignites. They can also trade their Mana for Infernal Flame, which builds up by casting spells, however, this can result in self-damage if they’re not careful.
Liches are practiced in the darker arts, specializing in Chaos Damage, Curses, and Energy Shield. They’re able to bind their soul to a Jewel, creating a powerful Phylactery.
Liches can also accept the power of the Abyss to become an Abyssal Lich. This alternate version of Lich gives up the ability to use Minions to convert them to Umbral Souls for a wide variety of buffs to empower themselves instead of allies.
