Path of Exile 2 classes explained and best starter class

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(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 classes - Lumerius

Jump to:Best starter classWarriorMonkMercenaryRangerWitchSorceress

Picking between thePath of Exile 2classesavailable in early access is a tricky business, especially since you know you’ll likely be with this character for the next 100 hours—depending how deep you go. One of the best things about this game is that the skill system is so broad, you can pretty much do whatever the hell you want.

With that in mind, I’ll give a brief overview of each of the six PoE 2 classes you can play right now, plus my personal pick for best starter class if you want something that’ll steamroll the early game and get you moving.

Path of Exile 2 best starter class

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 mercenary burning a monster

The best starter class in Path of Exile 2 is the Mercenary. Sure, he’s not your generic melee fighter like the Warrior, but that’s what makes him so strong. Melee combat is far harder than ranged combat in Path of Exile 2, especially in terms of surviving boss fights. The Mercenary can stay mobile while peppering bosses and hordes with bolts, especially if you build evasion and movement speed.

This class also has easy access to a variety of ailments and damage types early on, including ice, fire, lightning, poison, and armour-piercing. His grenades, in-particular, are very strong, especially if you add support gems and passive skills to increase the number you fire. During most early bosses you can effectively roll around firing grenades for most of each fight while remaining invulnerable, or combo Permafrost Bolts with Fragmentation Rounds to freeze and explode enemies in an effortless big damage synergy.

Warrior

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 classes - Warrior

Choose if you want to:

Monk

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 classes - Monk

Choose if you want to:

Tempest Bell, meanwhile, summons a huge bell, which rings out when struck, stunning your foes. Using elemental attacks on the bell gives the shockwave those elemental properties. If you like the idea of using lots of interconnected skills, or shocking, freezing or stunning enemies, this one’s for you.

Mercenary

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 classes - Merc

Choose if you want to:

The Mercenary is one of Path of Exile 2’s most entertaining classes, especially if you enjoy wielding a crossbow that for all intents and purposes functions more like an assault rifle. The Merc can blast enemies with all sorts of different ammo types, applying ailments, and combo-ing effects for big damage. He can also toss grenades into the mix to stun, explode, poison, or even cover enemies in oil so you can ignite them. A little later on you’ll get access to ballista minions, too, and these can pin enemies or rain AoE fire from above.

Ranger

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 classes - Ranger

Choose if you want to:

The Ranger is the second ranged non-spellcaster after the Mercenary and they’re quite similar in a lot of ways, especially in that both classes have access to a wide variety of damage types and ailments. The main difference with the Ranger, however, is that this bow-wielder focuses more on speed and evasion. If you fancy a bit more mobility from the start than the Merc can offer, the Ranger is definitely for you.

Witch

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 classes - Witch

Choose if you want to:

The Witch is the class to pick if you want a skeleton posse from the start. She has easy access to minions and can beef them up in the passive skill tree not far from where she starts. As you level up, however, the witch starts to run into issues with her relatively low survivability, especially when you’re minion-less. I’d recommend stacking as much life as you can and picking up sorceress skills, like frozen orb, to be able to crowd control monsters.

Sorceress

(Image credit: Grinding Gear Games)

PoE 2 classes - Sorceress

Choose if you want to:

If you enjoy the classic complex experience of being a spellcaster with access to many different elements, the Sorceress is worth a try. Not only can this wizard combo spells for powerful effects, but you can also set up trigger gems, activating a skill when a certain threshold is reached. This adds a whole extra layer of depth to your magic, as you weave together various magic types and elements for maximum effective damage.

Path of Exile 2 tips: Get started in WraeclastPath of Exile 2 multiplayer: Play with palsPath of Exile 2 respec: Swap your skillsPath of Exile 2 Ascendancy: Advance your classPath of Exile 2 weapon set skills: Armed and deadly

Path of Exile 2 tipsPath of Exile 2 multiplayerPath of Exile 2 respecPath of Exile 2 AscendancyPath of Exile 2 weapon set skills

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Path of Exile 2 best starter class#

Warrior#

Monk#

Mercenary#

Ranger#

Witch#

Sorceress#

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals#

Path of Exile 2 best starter class

Warrior

Monk

Mercenary

Ranger

Witch

Sorceress

The biggest gaming news, reviews and hardware deals