Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) introduces a new ascension system that allows players to choose specialized subclasses for their character, enhancing their builds with additional abilities and passive skill trees. Ascendancy is a key part of character progression in PoE 2, giving players access to powerful bonuses that help customize and refine their play style.

What are Ascendancies in PoE 2?

Ascendancies in PoE 2 allow players to specialize their character class by selecting one of three subclass options. Each ascendancy offers unique skills, buffs, and passives that provide a deeper level of customization, enabling you to tailor your character to specific playstyles. You unlock ascendancies by completing Ascension Trials in Act 2 of the campaign.

Ascendancies are unlocked during the story progression, and the first two options are available in early access. With PoE 2's full release in 2025, additional classes and ascendancies will be added to expand your options.

How to Ascend in PoE 2

To ascend your class, you need to complete one of the Ascension Trials. There are two main trials in the early access build:

Trial of the Sekhemas

Overview: Prove your worth by capturing a Djinn and facing challenges in rooms with unique puzzles, monsters, traps, and debuffs. The trial tests both your ability to handle enemies and puzzles, and you'll need to manage your honor meter and use boons wisely to help you succeed.

Rewards: Upon defeating the boss at the end, you can unlock one of your ascendancy options, choosing your subclass and gaining access to its skill tree.

The Trialmaster's Challenge

Overview: Instead of capturing a Djinn, you face Trialmaster, who gives you the choice of tribulations (challenges with debuffs like Unstoppable Monsters or Impending Doom) that will affect you throughout the trial. You must survive while choosing rewards that can help or increase the challenge further.

Rewards: Survive the chambers, defeat the final boss, and select an ascendancy, unlocking the next stage in your build's progression.

Once you complete an Ascension Trial, you can select your ascendancy and allocate skill points within your subclass's mini-skill tree.

PoE 2 Ascendancy Overview by Class

Here's a breakdown of the available PoE 2 ascendancies for each class:

1. Witch Ascendancies

Infernalist: Focuses on fire damage and summonable minions. You can summon a hellhound companion that helps in combat and transforms into a demon to boost cast speed and damage. However, in Demon Form, you take fire DoT (damage over time) damage, so it requires proper sustain and management.

Blood Mage: This ascendancy revolves around life-based magic. Skills cost both life and mana, but you can recover health by using Life Remnants dropped by killed enemies. Vitality Siphon allows you to leech life, and Gore Spike becomes more powerful as your health is replenished.

2. Sorceress Ascendancies

Stormweaver: Specializes in elemental damage, particularly elemental storms that are triggered by critical hits with spells. Tempest Caller creates these storms, and Strike Twice affects enemies with two shocks from your spells, increasing damage.

Chronomancer: This ascendancy is all about time manipulation, allowing you to control the flow of time. Abilities like Time Freeze, Temporal Rift (teleport back in time to reset resources), and Time Snap (reset cooldowns) offer a lot of strategic utility and power.

3. Warrior Ascendancies

Warbringer: Channel the power of the ancestors and use warcries to trigger devastating effects. Abilities like Warcaller's Bellow explode enemies' corpses, dealing damage based on their lives, and Jade Heritage grants a defensive barrier to absorb damage.

Titan: Focuses on brute strength and slam skills. The Earthbreaker skill causes aftershocks, and Crushing Impacts stuns enemies, making them vulnerable to heavy blows. Surprising Strength increases damage against stunned enemies, enhancing your stun lock potential.

4. Ranger Ascendancies

Deadeye: A ranged combat specialist, this ascendancy enhances bow attacks by allowing you to fire additional projectiles and improve your accuracy at a distance. Endless Munitions and Gathering Winds help you increase your attack speed and efficiency.

Pathfinder: Masters of poison and flasks, you gain the ability to throw poisonous flasks that deal damage over time, and Contagious Contamination spreads poison between enemies. Overwhelming Toxicity doubles poison stacks, and Running Assault grants immunity to slow effects while moving and firing.

5. Monk Ascendancies

Invoker: This ascendancy combines elemental magic and melee combat. Skills like Elemental Expression create waves of elemental damage, and Faith is a Choice lets you meditate to double your energy shield. The Avatar form enhances your elemental damage with cold or lightning power.

Acolyte of Chayula: This subclass exchanges Spirit Mastery for Darkness. You can absorb and deal damage using darkness, and abilities like Shroud of Darkness protect you from damage, while Chayula's Gift provides extra chaos resistance.

6. Mercenary Ascendancies

Witchhunter: A crossbow-wielding class with powerful elemental damage defense, this subclass gains a sorcery ward to protect against elemental attacks. Skills like Zealous Inquisition explode enemies, and Judge, Jury, and Executioner allow you to deal a massive strike to enemies.

Gemling Legionnaire: Focuses on gem slot enhancements. You can embed gems into your body for extra skill slots, maximum resistance, and the ability to support multiple gems, offering great customization and flexibility.

Conclusion

Ascendancy in PoE 2 provides a vast range of customization options, enabling you to specialize and tailor your character to your preferred playstyle. By choosing the right subclass and completing the Ascension Trials, you can unlock powerful abilities that allow you to tackle the game's toughest challenges. Each class has its own set of ascendancies, and choosing the right one will make a significant difference in how you approach combat, resource management, and exploration.

Acquiring the right PoE currency and PoE items can make a huge difference in progressing efficiently, especially when experimenting with various ascendancies and crafting the ideal character.