Path of Exile 2 is an action RPG (ARPG) with a planned total of 12 classes to choose from, including several new classes: the Monk, Druid, Huntress, Mercenary, Sorceress, and Warrior. During the early access period, however, there are only six initial to choose from (see below for the list). On this IGN guide page, we'll give you a rundown of each class available in the Path of Exile 2 early access period, including suggestions on which class to pick for your preferred playstyle.
Below is a list of all six playable classes during the early access period of Path of Exile 2. Click on the links to jump to the class descriptions within this page, or click here for links to individual breakout pages for each class in the full game.
Warrior Sorceress Mercenary Monk Ranger WitchadvertisementBest Early Access Classes For Every PlaystyleThe long-awaited early access launch of Path of Exile 2 is finally here, with a total of six of the planned 12 classes available to play. They run the gamut from heavy hitting strongmen, to quick and nimble dexterity focused champions, to magically powered intelligence badasses, and a few wholly unique hybrid classes as well.
Even the most basic of the bunch require a bit of explaining to understand what they truly excel at, so before you make the all-important decision of what class to start with, here’s a breakdown of all six starting classes in Path of Exile 2’s early access.
Warrior✔️ Strong Area-of-Effect Damage
⚠️ Slow Moving Attacks
✔️ Precise Skill Execution
If you like to hit things and watch them utterly explode (regardless of the harm that it may put you through to land said hit), Warrior might be your cup of tea. A key part of the Warrior's gameplay lies in the two-hit Rolling Slam attack, which can be completed to deal significant AoE damage, or canceled mid-attack to create different, versatile chains and attacks.
This class is all about explosive melee AoE damage coming from a combination of slams, shouts, and heavy but slow melee weapons.The Warrior class also has the ability to deal massive damage by pinning multiple enemies in place and following up with big hits using moves like Earthquake, Shockwave Totem, and Boneshatter to finish off groups of adversaries. If you can properly time animation cancels and pair them with the big finishing moves, you'll have no problem harnessing the hard-hitting power of the Warrior class in PoE2.
advertisementThere’s a surprising amount of finesse to the Warrior class in Path of Exile 2. This is not a class that’s about mindlessly jumping into the fray and turning on autopilot. Its skills benefit greatly from animation cancels, precise timing, and smart engagements. Read the full explanation of the Warrior's skills and abilities on our Path of Exile 2 Warrior class breakout page, including lists of Support Gems, Skill Gems, unique gear, weapons, and armor for the Warrior, and a walkthrough for Ascendancies within the Warrior class in PoE2.
Sorceress✔️ Strong Offensive and Defensive Spells
⚠️ Not Super Tanky
✔️ Elemental Ranged Damage
Do you like to harness the power of the elements? What about becoming the master of time and space? If so, then the Sorceress is the class to pick in PoE2 that will scratch that itch. By strategically making use of your resistances and drawing enemies close, you can unleash massive elemental attacks to devastate groups of enemies.
If the basics feel too stale, bringing the battle to a halt can shake things up. Chronomancer, a new ability that allows you to wield time itself as a weapon, allows the Sorceress class to create new openings within hordes of enemies to hit them hard with other elemental follow-up spells. The Sorceress can even reset mana, skill cooldowns, and life itself by rewinding time, providing endless opportunities for creative battle strategies.
While all classes can spec into elemental attacks, the Sorceress is the only one that can truly master them all together for some unique and powerful effects. Check out the full explanation of the Sorceress's skills and abilities on our Path of Exile 2 Sorceress class breakout page, including lists of Support Gems, Skill Gems, unique gear, weapons, and armor for the Sorceress, and a walkthrough for Ascendancies within the Sorceress class in PoE2.
Mercenaryadvertisement✔️ New Class to PoE
⚠️ Slower Attacks
✔️ High Damage
The Mercenary is great class for newcomers to the action RPG (ARPG) space, or for fans of top-down shooters. While not as fast to fire as the Ranger is, the Mercenary boasts an impressive set of powerful attacks from the crossbow that mimic a shotgun, assault rifle, grenade launcher, and pistol.A new addition to Path of Exile 2, the Mercenary class takes much of its inspiration from games within the shooter space, and it definitely shows. By equipping your ranged crossbow with various support gems you'll pick up throughout the game, the Mercenary has a wide variety of attack combinations that can easily tear through hordes of enemies.
You will likely be pulling a lot of enemies toward you as you lure them in with one of your abilities and keep them at range as much as possible. However, there are several ways to approach your build with the initial unlocks.The Mercenary also uses a combination of abilities to pull enemies within firing range and burst attacks combined with elemental damage. There’s nothing quite like the Mercenary in any ARPG of this sort of ilk, so if you want to go into Path of Exile 2 with a whole new type of experience, the Mercenary is a great pick.
Read the full explanation of the Mercenary's skills and abilities on our Path of Exile 2 Mercenary class breakout page, including lists of Support Gems, Skill Gems, unique gear, weapons, and armor for the Mercenary, and a walkthrough for Ascendancies within the Mercenary class in PoE2.
Monk✔️ Active Playstyle with Plenty of Mobility
⚠️ Squishy
✔️ High Damage
If you're a fan of high-risk/high-reward, glass-cannon-style melee characters, the Monk class will fit you like a glove in Path of Exile 2. Using the one-two punch strategy of building up power charges with the Killing Palm skill and unleashing them upon swarms of enemies, the Monk makes great use of momentum as a melee fighter.
An intelligence/dexterity focused hybrid, the Monk is basically a martial arts mage, alternating between fast and agile quarterstaff techniques, mobility focused palm strikes (designed to target weak or nearly stunned enemies), and incredibly powerful, screen-clearing magic attacks. advertisementOf course, the “glass” part of the glass cannon moniker means that the Monk is quite squishy and very much relies on the mobility granted by skills like Killing Palm, Staggering Palm, and Vaulting Impact to escape bad situations and reposition to be able to make the most of his big AoE spells. If you can mitigate that weakness, the Monk is definitely one of the most fun and active playstyles in Path of Exile 2.
Check out the full explanation of the Monk's skills and abilities on our Path of Exile 2 Monk class breakout page, including lists of Support Gems, Skill Gems, unique gear, weapons, and armor for the Monk, and a walkthrough for Ascendancies within the Monk class in PoE2.
Ranger✔️ High Mobility
⚠️ Squishy
✔️ Traps and CC
The dexterity driven bow-and-arrow class is a staple of any ARPG, and Path of Exile 2’s Ranger is one of the most unique takes on the classic archetype yet. The intent behind the Ranger was to capture the feeling of Legolas from Lord of the Rings by having it be a class that’s highly mobile, magical, and, above all else, one that makes you feel like you’re in control of every arrow that you release.
If you prefer using elemental arrows and traps to torment hordes of enemies from a distance, the Ranger class in PoE2 is your pick. As the class name implies, the Ranger is able to attack at range by using elemental specialized arrows, like Lightning arrows and Poisonous arrows, to inflict damage.
The downside to the Ranger class in Path of Exile 2 is that it is a very squishy class—playing keep-away with your enemies by using traps and Escape Shot, a move that allows you to put distance between you and your foes, will be essential for mastering this class.Read the full explanation of the Ranger's skills and abilities on our Path of Exile 2 Ranger class breakout page, including lists of Support Gems, Skill Gems, unique gear, weapons, and armor for the Ranger, and a walkthrough for Ascendancies within the Ranger class in PoE2.
advertisementWitch✔️ Summons
⚠️ Not too mobile
✔️ Debuffs and DoTs
⚠️ Relies on summons to deal damage
If you’re familiar with the Necromancer class from the Diablo series, you’ll feel right at home as the Witch class in Path of Exile 2. The Witch's primary abilities involve resurrecting corpses to fight on her behalf. In classic Necromancer fashion, you can even use the corpses as exploding bombs to fit your battle needs.The Witch's minions come in two different varieties. Skeleton minions that will remain on the field until their life pool runs out, only to be automatically regenerated after a brief cooldown, and temporary minions that will be available for a short period of time after being brought to life by one of the Witches' spells, such as Unearth or Raise Zombie, which require corpses and are only around for a limited amount of time.
On her own, The Witch is fairly weak, with limited mobility options and lacking in powerful skills that can quickly bring down a pursuing tough elite or swarm of enemies. But if given the opportunity (and the corpses) to fully summon her army, she can output a lot of damage very quickly, while also being able to focus on dodging attacks while her minions and damage over time spells do the heavy lifting.
Check out the full explanation of the Witch's skills and abilities on our Path of Exile 2 Witch class breakout page, including lists of Support Gems, Skill Gems, unique gear, weapons, and armor for the Witch, and a walkthrough for Ascendancies within the Witch class in PoE2.
All Confirmed Classes in Path of Exile 2Below is a full list of all classes that have been confirmed as playable in the finalized version of Path of Exile 2. Please note that while this is a complete list of all 12 classes, those outside of early access may be incomplete or have yet to have detailed information available.
Warrior Marauder Duelist Mercenary Huntress Ranger Monk Shadow Witch Sorceress Druid TemplarPicked a class and are now looking for Path of Exile 2 act walkthroughs? Check out the links below:
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