Summary
Path Of Exile 2has kicked off its early access with a bang. The game has been a massive hit with fans and, despite its difficulty, boasts some incredibly creative skill trees that allow each player to create their own unique way of playing. Every character can be mixed, matched, and tweaked to suit any playstyle. And with more classes on the way, it’s only going to get more extensive.
But for those new toPath Of Exile 2, this can all seem overwhelming.Getting the skill pointsto truly customize the game’s classes takes time. So where to begin? What will give players the most enjoyment during the slow grind to the top? What class is the most fun?
6Warrior
Smashy Smashy
Warrior is the archetypal tank at the moment. A monster of a man who has spent his days as the adopted son of a blacksmith, the Warrior wades through hordes of enemies with nothing but his hammer and his personal vendetta against the servants of corruption. Story-wise, Warrior is the character for anyone looking for a traditional hero. Warrior’s skills revolve around hitting hard and building up stun. Boneshatter is a massively useful skill, allowing players to stun enemies early and deal massive “area of effect” damage to surrounding foes. Warrior is an extremely fun horde clearer, able to turn a tightly packed group of enemies into a tightly packed group of corpses within seconds.
He also has access to shouts, totems, and magma projectiles to give a more magical edge to his play style.Ascendancies upgrade partsof each class. Titan allows players to deal with and withstand increased amounts of damage, while Warbringer incorporates more druid-esque magic into the character, using ancestor spirits to destroy his enemies. Unfortunately, Warrior is one of the weaker classes at the moment. This might not seem relevant to the fun aspect of playing him, butPath Of Exile 2is an extremely difficult game. The first act can and will lull Warrior players into a false sense of security. Bosses will go down easily to any stun-focused build and players can expect to breeze through the early game. But from Act 2 and until the damaged monster Warrior can become in the endgame, Warrior players will find themselves dying a lot.
5Monk
The Last Staffbender
For those who’re looking for a more traditional martial arts character, the Monk is the way to go. With an aesthetic and personality lifted straight from a kung-fu movie, the Monk is extremely entertaining and looks cool to boot. Monk is a melee-based class focused on elemental damage. Like a bridge between Warrior and Sorceress. Monk has many abilities that make him extremely mobile. He can easily zip around maps using the flicker strike ability, jumping from enemy to enemy, using the wide arcs of his staff to clear crowds with ease, or simply using his hands to smash apart his foes.
Monk is one of the more unique classes inPath Of Exile 2able to utilize far greater mobility than the game’s other melee-focused class, the Warrior. Incorporating crazy elemental spells such as the Tempest Bell, a literal bell that lets off a damaging explosion every time it hits, or the aforementioned Flicker Strike. However, Monk is not without its downsides. Less focused on armor than the Warrior, Monk can use evasion to dodge most attacks, but when he gets hit he feels it. Given Monk’s status as a melee class, he will be getting hit, especially in the first act so players will need tooptimize their buildfrom the start.
4Sorceress
Earth, ice, and fire
Slightly rude, but still firmly on the side of good. The Sorceress begins her journey with prior knowledge of the corruption spreading throughout the world inPath Of Exile 2.She returns to her native land of the Vastiri Desert in Act 2.
Two words sum up the Sorceress: elemental spells. The class is all about dealing elemental damage. Whether she’s burning hordes with fire spells, slowing down a boss with ice magic or arcing electricity off a rare enemy and their minions. Sorceress can be a ton of fun. Her ascendancies amplify either her lightning or cold damage. The Stormweaver turns the class into a miniature Zeus,disintegrating her enemieswith bolts of lightning. Meanwhile, the Chronomancer bends time to her will, slowing down enemies and restoring her own health. And health restoration is important, as this class is a true glass cannon. She is able to deal incredible amounts of damage, but she won’t be able to take it in return. For players who find dancing on that fine line between winning and losing fun, Sorceress is a great pick.
3Witch
Spooky Scary Skeletons
The Witch is certainly the most villainous of the potential classes. Constantly implying some kind of murderous intent for her allies, or reinforcing that she does everything for her own self-interest. Personality-wise she’s great for players that love a good bad guy and her evil ad-libs can be pretty funny at times.
Witch can turn enemies’ numbers against them, while her skeleton minions hold off any stragglers. The class is conceptually extremely fun, an evil necromancer raising the bodies of those who oppose herto overwhelm any left alive. Her ascendancies allow her to either lean more heavily into this morbid playstyle with the life-leeching Blood Mage or completely change things with the demonic, pyromaniacal Infernalist. Playing the Witch can be an acquired taste. Whilst being a massively fun and satisfying way to play the game. Many players might be turned away by her minion-focused identity, but this can be rectified. When building out the class, players can focus on her damage and massive crowd control potential. But playing the necromancer class without the necromancy feels like a bit of a waste.
2Mercenary
Brought a machine gun to a sword fight
The Mercenary is, well, a mercenary. Players who want a dash of anti-hero thrown into their character can expect a soldier for hire, thrust into the narrative ofPath Of Exile 2by circumstance rather than choice. Mercenary is perfect for those who want to playPath Of Exile 2but have no experience with ARPGs or Souls-likes. The class essentially turns the game into a top-down shooter with an assortment of crossbows that somehow turn themselves into shotguns, machine guns, and grenade launchers. Fans of games such asHadesorCall Of Duty’s Dead Ops Arcadewould feel right at home with this class. And with the incredible damage-dealing Witcherhunter or infinitely customizable Gemling Legionaire as ascendency classes, Mercenary will continue to surpriseas he levels up.
Mercenary offers a wide variety of ways for people to play the class, from a grenade-chucking explosives specialist to a boss-sniping assassin. Facing a corridor full of monsters with a machine gun can be incredibly satisfying, and unloading a shotgun into a boss’ face will never get old. Trying new things with the class can be tons of fun too, and ensures you’ll never get bored. However, the distinct way Mercenary plays means that players won’t have much legacy skill when switching to other classes, essentially requiring them to re-learn many of the game’s mechanics.
1Ranger
A Hail Of Arrows
Full of one-liners and with a flashy moveset, Ranger fulfills the other end of the traditional hero archetype, the quippy action heroine. Or well, as much as you can be in the grimdark world ofPath Of Exile 2.As a class, Ranger can feel like a blend of Sorceress and Mercenary, but with much greater mobility. A lot of her abilities revolve around elemental damage, but she keeps a physical bow that can be used as a focus for more magical abilities, similar to the Mercenary.
Ranger bounces around the map. The class can avoid damage much more effectively than other “glass cannon” classes, dodging and weaving out of situations that would see similarly fragile classes dead. With the poison-focused Pathfinder and the elite sniping Deadeye, there really are a bunch of ways to make this class fun. The powerful mobility tools and crazy elemental attacks make Ranger an excellent all-rounder with something for everyone. Her only real limit is her mana flask charges, which can get in the way if mismanaged.
