Path of Exile 2: Mastering the Best Builds in Early Access
Choosing your first character in Path of Exile 2's early access can be daunting. With six classes and two Ascendancy classes each, the options are numerous. This guide highlights top-tier builds for each class, offering a solid starting point for your journey. Note that future updates may shift the meta.
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Witch: Minion Summoner Infernalist
This build excels at summoning and offers a smoother learning curve than other Witch options. The Infernalist's balanced playstyle, unlike the riskier Blood Mage, makes it ideal for beginners. You'll command a horde of undead and demonic minions, providing fire support and employing strategic maneuvers during combat.
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Key Skills: Skeletal Brute, Skeletal Cleric, Pain Offering, Skeletal Arsonist, Detonate Dead, Flame Wall, Raging Spirits, Vulnerability, Summon Infernal Hound.
Gameplay Tips: Utilize diverse minion combinations, manage corpse generation for Detonate Dead, and strategically cast Vulnerability for enhanced damage. Flame Wall acts as both damage and minion support.
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Mercenary: FrostFerno Witch Hunter
This hybrid build combines fire and ice damage for a unique and effective gameplay experience. It utilizes two crossbows and leverages two passive skill trees for maximum synergy.
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Key Skills: Permafrost Bolts, Explosive Grenade, Gas Grenade, Explosive Shot, Herald of Ash, Galvanic Shards, Herald of Thunder.
Gameplay Tips: Freeze enemies with Permafrost Bolts and Galvanic Shards, then unleash devastating explosive damage with grenades and Explosive Shot. Maximize ice and fire damage bonuses through gear and skill choices.
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Monk: Herald of Thunder Invoker
This build prioritizes defense while delivering substantial damage, making it excellent for both campaign progression and endgame content. The Herald of Thunder skill is central to its effectiveness.
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Key Skills: Tempest Flurry, Tempest Bell, Staggering Palm, Vaulting Impact, Orb of Storms, Storm Wave.
Gameplay Tips: Utilize Tempest Flurry and Orb of Storms for crowd control, and Tempest Bell and Storm Wave for area-of-effect damage. Vaulting Impact and Staggering Palm enhance mobility and crowd control.
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Warrior: Armour Breaker Warbinger
This balanced build utilizes a two-handed mace for high damage output while maintaining solid survivability in melee combat.
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Key Skills: Mace Strike, Stampede, Leap Slam, Ancestral Warrior Totem, Scavenged Plating, Hammer of the Gods, Seismic Cry, Attrition.
Gameplay Tips: Utilize Earthquake and Shockwave Totem for early-game crowd control. Mace Strike delivers high single-target damage, while Rolling Slam provides mobility and defense. Warbinger ascendancy skills enhance armor breaking for increased damage.
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Sorceress: Ember Fusillade Stormweaver
This build provides a strong balance of damage and survivability, allowing for efficient campaign completion and high-level progression.
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Key Skills: Spark, Flame Wall, Ember Fusillade, Solar Orb, Firestorm, Flammability, Blasphemy (Enfeeble).
Gameplay Tips: Use Flame Wall for damage and defense. Ember Fusillade, enhanced with Scattershot and Controlled Destruction, is your primary damage source. Solar Orb and Firestorm provide additional area-of-effect damage.
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Ranger: Deadeye Grenadier
This build boasts high mobility and area-of-effect damage, but its lower survivability makes it more challenging for new players.
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Key Skills: Permafrost Bolts, Fragmentation Rounds, Flash Grenade, Gas Grenade, Explosive Shot, Explosive Grenade, Rapid Shot.
Gameplay Tips: Utilize a crossbow for high physical damage and elemental bonuses. Freeze enemies, then use grenades for devastating area-of-effect damage. Prioritize evasion, elemental resistances, and movement speed.
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These builds represent strong starting points, but remember that the game's meta is subject to change. Experiment and find the playstyle that suits you best!
