Path of Exile Class Guide - What To Pick

Path of Exile classes, Path of Exile all classes

Updated:

23 May 2020

Path of Exile: A Full Class Guide - What to Pick

Welcome fellow exiles! Today we discuss one of the hardest choices to make in everyone’s favorite action RPG, Path of Exile - choosing who you want to be. Path of Exile is a game that really requires some foreknowledge on how you begin your journey in Wraeclast.

We are here to make this decision a bit easier for you when choosing your class. First, let’s take a look at what these classes are made of then dive deep into the nitty gritty of what each class is capable of. Enjoy Path of Exile: A Full Class Guide - What to Pick.

Strength, Intelligence, and Dexterity

Every class you choose from will either be made up of strength, intelligence, and/or dexterity.

Strength measures your character’s physical power and ability to wield strength-based equipment and skills. Every 10 strength provides an additional 5 maximum life and 2% increased melee physical damage.

Intelligence measures your character’s knowledge and mental acuity making it easier to wield intelligence-based equipment and skills. Every 10 intelligence provides an additional 5 mana and 2% increased maximum energy shield.

Dexterity will measure your character’s agility and expertise so that you can wield dexterity-based equipment and skills. Every 10 dexterity provides an additional 20 accuracy rating and 2% increased evasion rating.

Classes

Now that we have an idea of what makes up your character’s powers and skills, let’s take a look at the first 3 base classes, 3 hybrid classes, then finally the super-hybrid class if you want to call it that. Note that each of these classes, other than the super-hybrid class, contains 3 ascendancies which are basically huge power spikes you can achieve later on in the game.

The 3 base classes will consist of the Marauder, the Witch, and the Ranger.

Marauder

The Marauder is a pure strength, tanky, hard-hitting class that excels in using red gems, two-handed weapons, and heavy armour. You will find that this class is mostly used for melee type builds but can also be used for ranged builds. On the passive tree, they are located near the strength, life, and armour nodes making this class an absolute beast.

This class ascends to 3 forms known as Juggernaut, Berserker, and Chieftain.

The Juggernaut brings pure tankiness, damage reduction at its best, and face tanks content with ease.

The Berserker exchanges some tankiness for raw power. Contains physical damage bonuses and extra life leech to help with sustainability. Uses Rage to defeat enemies as well as bonuses to Warcries which immensely buffs your abilities.

The Chieftain is the master of flame and fire. Can greatly benefit from using totems while also maintaining tankiness while burning the world around you.

Click here for a list of Marauder builds on POE.ninja.

Witch

The Witch is your spell-caster extraordinaire that excels in pure intelligence, blue gems, the use of wands, and letting minions do your work for you if you choose. Intelligence, energy shield, spells, and minions are located nearby on the passive tree.

This class ascends to 3 forms known as the Necromancer, Elementalist, and Occultist.

The Necromancer ascendancy will capitalize commanding an army of minions while also increasing minion damage and sustainability.

The Elementalist excels at using elemental skills such as ice, fire, and lightning as well as the damaging ailments that they can bring to the fight. You will also become a master of the golems in the herald auras.

Lastly we have the Occultist which brings pure power to damage over time skills affected by cold and chaos damage.

Click here for a list of Witch builds on POE.ninja.

Ranger

The Ranger is up next as the pure dexterity class. This class is a more squishy, yet quick and evasive approach to the game dealing massive damage from afar. Although this class excels at range, they are definitely more than capable of close ranged attacks as well. Dexterity and Evasion nodes are nearby on the passive tree for this class. You also have quick access to life or energy shield depending on your playstyle.

This class ascends to 3 forms known as Deadeye, Pathfinder, and the Raider.

The Deadeye gives bonuses to projectiles with weapons such as bows, wands, daggers, and claws.

The Pathfinder gives extra bonuses for extra chaos damage modifiers as well as flask bonuses. Really benefits for poison type builds additionally.

The Raider gets a ton of frenzy charges, Onslaught, and tons of evasion. A quick and elusive attack based ascendancy capable of dishing out pain while avoiding damage.

Click here for a list of Ranger builds on POE.ninja.

Hybrids

Next we will discuss the 3 hybrid classes in Path of Exile. This means that each of these classes will excel at either strength/intelligence, intelligence/dexterity, and dexterity/strength.

These 3 hybrid classes are the Templar, the Shadow, and the Duelist.

Templar

The Templar is the strength and intelligence class with easy access to both the Marauder and Witch portions of the passive tree. This class is useful for totem builds, brand builds, and can benefit from aura type builds making this guy a tanky spell-caster.

This class ascends to 3 forms known as the Hierophant, Inquisitor, and the Guardian.

The Hierophant excels at totem and brand builds which allows you to do a lot of damage from far away. Totems can also taunt enemies making it so that enemies hit them rather than you.

The Inquisitor gains elemental damage bonuses from spells and attack based skills. Can also utilize more tankiness using life, energy shield, or a combination of both.

The Guardian can fill the role of support based builds such as an aura bot which can grant allies an insane amount of buffs. Not typically used for solo builds.

Click here for a list of Templar builds on POE.ninja.

Shadow

Next is the Shadow which is the dexterity and intelligence class. Has plentiful access to evasion and energy shield nodes on the passive tree. Dagger, claws, and bows are deadly in the Shadow’s hands.

This class ascends to 3 forms known as the Assassin, the Saboteur, and the Trickster.

The Assassin specializes in dealing more damage in enhancing its critical strikes and can be amazing with poison skills.

The Saboteur excels in traps and mines skills which definitely brings upon a more unique playstyle in Path of Exile. This ascendancy will greatly increase these types of skills including trap and mine damage, cooldowns, etc.

The Trickster is also effective with poison and other damage over time skills. This ascendancy is also great for its resilience passives such as Ghost Hands and Escape Artist which makes it much more difficult for enemies to hit you.

Click here for a list of Shadow builds on POE.ninja.

Duelist

The Duelist is your strength and dexterity hybrid class with easy access to evasion, armour, and life thanks to the Marauder and Ranger portions of the passive tree. This class can become quite tanky and deadly with attack skills.

This class ascends to 3 forms known as the Slayer, Gladiator, and the Champion.

The Slayer grants massive amounts of life leech which allows for immense sustainability in combat. Will also provide bonuses to critical strike damage, attack damage, and frenzy charges.

The Gladiator ascendancy is killer for your bleeding skills whether you’re duel wielding or have a shield. Can be very tanky if you focus on shields and the blocking bonuses it can grant you with certain passives in your ascendancy tree.

The Champion grants permanent Fortify which is a physical damage mitigator and offers bonuses to Impale as well as Banner auras.

Click here for a list of Duelist builds on POE.ninja.

The Super-Hybrid Scion

The Scion class starts directly in the middle of the passive tree with easy access to the strength, intelligence, and the dexterity nodes. This class is not recommended for newer players as it only offers 1 ascendancy form that mixes and matches different class archetypes which can be quite difficult to manage..

Her ascendancy form is called Ascendant.

Click here for a link to a plethora of Scion builds on POE.ninja.

Kitava Awaits You

Although Path of Exile can be a daunting experience at first, all you need is a push in the right direction, follow a build guide, then carry the endgame with whomever you choose to be. Path of Exile is relentless, unforgiving, and straight up frightening throughout the entire experience. But you will learn to master your craft and take on your enemies with great vengeance and furious anger.

If you took some notes throughout this class guide, you will, without a doubt, be headed in the right direction. Remember, before you pick your class, be sure to think about what build you want to pursue. Path of Exile requires this foreknowledge to really succeed in beating the story and reaching the end game without falling off immensely.

Make sure to check out some builds on POE.ninja to get inspired on how to defeat your enemies while you stomp on their corpses. Note that it’s always best to further study classes and builds on websites such as PoEbuilds! We sincerely hope you enjoyed Path of Exile: A Full Class Guide - What to Pick. If you have any questions or concerns, be sure to contact us!