In Path of Exile 2, the classes are divided into various subclasses, known as Ascendancies. We have ranked the Ascendancies and are showing you the best build for each.
How is the Tier List structured? For our decision, we visited the communities, gathered opinions, and evaluated rankings from websites and in the form of videos, and from this, we selected our best builds for Path of Exile 2.
Our result presents you with the strongest to the weakest Ascendancies with their respective best builds that you can choose in the current Early Access. With our directory, you can quickly jump to the individual tiers and subclasses:
S-Tier: The Best Ascendancies Classes in PoE2
Mercenary Witchhunter
The Witchhunter crossbow build by PoE2 Content Creator Bigdaddy on YouTube is not only one of the most popular builds in Path of Exile 2, but also the best for the Mercenary Witchhunter.
In this build, you fire lightning bolts with your crossbow, which are amplified by many different values as in all builds. To move quickly, you traverse the map using Blink. You can find the exact build with all details on mobalytics.gg
Sorceress Stormweaver
The best build for the Ascendancy Stormweaver is the “Archmage Spark Mana Stacker.” The build relies on a high mana pool needed to ensure both damage and survivability.
Here, the “Archmage” buff is used to give the ability “Spark” a massive damage boost. With this build, you fire hundreds of lightning bolts from your hand to deal with your enemies. The build is quite simple regarding gear, but it’s important to find items that buff spell abilities for damage. You can find an example build on mobalytics.gg
Mercenary Gemling Legionnaire
Just as popular as it is successful is the “Gemling Attribute Stacker.” This build relies on special items that, in conjunction with the passive abilities of the build, ensure that your character accumulates an extreme amount of attributes. Your character values then enhance all your abilities, enabling your character to deal large damage with ice strikes.
The build combines tankiness with good clear speed and can improve over time depending on your budget. The goal of the build is to accumulate as many attribute points as possible. You can find a guide to the build at mobalytics.gg.
Ranger Deadeye
One of, if not the best subclass for farming endgame content is the “Lightning Arrow Deadeye.” The Ranger builds around lightning arrows that trigger additional abilities when shocking the enemies, creating a battleground filled with lightning through a combination of various lightning attacks.
The build is very beginner-friendly and can be expanded during the mapping phase to deal even more damage. It may take some time to get the hang of the build. Help and a guide for the setup can be found at mobalytics.gg
A-Tier: Good Subclasses in PoE2
Ranger Pathfinder
The Pathfinder subclass of the Ranger is also very strong. The build “Crit Poisonous Concoction Eye of Winter” deals high chaos damage and fully relies on critical hits. With this build, you throw poison flasks at your enemies, enveloping them in toxic fog and causing chaos damage. Additionally, you cast ice orbs that further weaken your enemies and fit perfectly with the toxic fog.
Depending on how extreme you want to build it, you may need to invest in certain uniques with good stats. If you do not do this, your own damage will not suffer, but your ability to survive in combat will. You can find the guide for the build at mobalytics.gg
Witch Minion Infernalist
The Witch leaves her own mark in Path of Exile 2 as the commander of her undead army. With the subclass “Infernalist,” she enhances her undead with hellish creatures and fire spells. She becomes particularly powerful with the many hellish beings that fight for her and handle her enemies on their own.
Notably, the strong Flame Skull is used, while the Hellhound provides enough defensive stats. We have taken an in-depth look at the build and guide you in our Guide from Early-Game to End-Game.
Witch Blood Mage
The Witch can become a bomber with a particularly good build. With the endgame build “Blink Autobomber 2.0 (Choir + Temporalis + TRAMPLETOE)” (via mobalytics.gg), you use the Temporalis Silk Robe for low cooldowns along with the “Choir of the Storm” for many lightning bolts.
The build additionally employs ice walls to farm overkill damage by using the “Trampletoe” shoes. So, in simple terms, you fire lightning bolts at your ice walls, which then explode to deal damage to enemies. Once you’ve built the build to the end, you just have to blink around, killing every enemy. You can see the build in action in this video on YouTube:
B-Tier: Special Ascendants in PoE2
Sorceress Chronomancer
The subclass Chronomancer has power over time. The build Cold CoC Chronomancer
uses this unique ability to easily dispatch bosses. This ability is also very useful in trials to avoid getting hit. He mostly attacks his enemies with ice and cold attacks, hardly letting them strike back.
Moreover, he can deliver good results with minimal investment, but he is not easy and intuitive to play. However, thanks to “Temporal Chains” and “Apex of the Moment,” you are less likely to die, as your enemies will be heavily slowed down. If you want to try a different playstyle, you can find the guide at pathofexile.com
Monk Invoker
The Invoker transforms the monk, originally intended for melee combat, into a nuker thanks to the “NUKE Crit Wave Lightning Invoker,” which eradicates all surrounding enemies with a single hit of “Storm Wave.” With this build, you eliminate your enemies with waves of lightning fired at them.
In boss fights, “Tempest Furry” comes into play, which, in conjunction with “Cast on Shock,” causes a damage burst along with freezing and electric shock, and can also deal with adds using “Tempest Bell.” The build is costly and complex. Before starting, you should read the complete guide at mobalytics.gg.
C-Tier: The Subclasses for Experts
Warrior Titan
There are very few good builds for the Warrior. One of them is the “Hammer of the Gods Ignite Titan,” which focuses on igniting enemies and scaling the damage from it. The main skill used is the “Hammer of the Gods,” which causes extreme single-target damage. With this build, you call upon the gods and then drop a massive hammer on your enemies that buries them.
However, the downside is that the slam has a long cooldown. This is where igniting enemies comes into play, which helps maintain damage during downtime. The damage from igniting is always based on the damage of the slam that triggered it, making the extreme single-target damage a good source. You can find more about the Titan build at mobalytics.gg
Warrior Warbringer
The best build for the Warbringer comes from “Path of Exile 2” content creator Woolie, showing how even the weakest class in the game can defeat every enemy in just one hit.
The build is quite simple, you just hit your enemies with your “Cultist Greathammer,” and the AoE damage triggered by the weapon is buffed so much by your build that you can defeat even the strongest opponents in the game easily. The right setup is crucial, which you can find in the detailed guide on YouTube.
Monk Acolyte of Chayula
The probably weakest subclass in Path of Exile 2 is the Acolyte of Chayula. With the “Poison Spiral Volley Acolyte of Chayula” build by creator sprEEEzy on YouTube, you can nonetheless achieve high clear speed while taking little damage. Thus, the build essentially turns the monk into an archer with skills to make this subclass successful in the endgame.
This is made possible by wielding a bow and utilizing the ability “Spiral Volley” for your AoE damage in combination with “Rain of Arrows.” The build resembles many Deadeye builds, except that the Acolyte of Chayula naturally has such good defensive stats that he can hardly die. You can find an explanation of the build at YouTube.
The melee classes in Path of Exile 2 are more challenging to master and only work as well with certain builds compared to the ranged classes. However, this could change in the future as more classes are introduced, providing a greater variety of skills. All the information on the release can be found here: Path of Exile 2: All Information on the Release – Early Access, Classes & Crossplay
