Table of Contents [Hide]
With Path of Exile 2's Dawn of the Hunt expansion bringing significant changes to the game, choosing the right ascendancy has become more crucial than ever. Nearly every aspect of the game has received balance adjustments, forcing players to rediscover effective builds from scratch.
This Path of Exile 2 class tier list will help you decide which ascendancies deserve your investment based on overall performance.
Note: This tier list is based on our opinion and experience with the current state of the game. It's important to note that your personal results may differ based on your playstyle, skill preferences, and build goals.
PoE 2 Dawn of the Hunt Class Tier List
Here's how all available ascendancies currently rank in Path of Exile 2:
Best Class Ascendancies in Path of Exile 2
Amazon
Amazon stands out as one of the best attack-based ascendancies in the game. The ascendancy can exceed the 100% hit chance, and convert 25% of excess accuracy into additional critical strike chance - up to 12.5% base crit. This makes Amazon incredibly potent for critical-based builds.
One of Amazon's most impressive features is the Infuse Weapon skill, which triggers powerful elemental explosions when consuming charges. Consuming a Power Charge grants Cold Infusion, an Endurance Charge grants Fire Infusion, and a Frenzy Charge grants Lightning Infusion.
For sustain, "Mystic Harvest" enables life leech from elemental damage, not just physical damage, solving a common problem for elemental attack builds. The "Stalking Panther" doubles evasion from helmet, gloves, and boots (while halving body armor evasion), creating interesting gear optimization opportunities.
- Best For: Players who enjoy fast-paced, high-damage builds
Lich
The Lich provides exceptional versatility for both spell casters and summoners. "Rupture the Soul" causes cursed enemies killed by you or allies to have a 33% chance to explode for 25% of their maximum life as chaos damage, turning single-target skills into map-clearing machines. The "Dominion Over Flesh" allows an additional curse and makes your curses affect hexproof enemies,
Defensively, the combination of "Eternal Life" and "Soulless Form" creates one of the most powerful defensive setups in the game. While you have energy shield, your life cannot change, and only 10% of damage taken bypasses energy shield - effectively giving you 10% damage reduction. This also makes you immune to bleeding and poison effects
- Best For: Players who enjoy complex builds
Deadeye
Deadeye continues to dominate with its exceptional combination of speed, damage, and utility. The "Gathering Winds" provides Tailwind on skill use, with each stack granting 1% increased movement speed, 3% increased skill speed, and 15% increased evasion rating for 10 seconds, stacking up to 10 times. Complementing this, "Wind Ward" reduces damage taken by 3% per Tailwind stack (up to 30%).
For projectile enhancement, "Endless Munitions" grants skills an additional projectile, significantly increasing damage potential and area coverage. "Eagle Eyes" eliminates the long-range accuracy penalty, ensuring consistent damage at any distance, while proximity specialization is available through "Point Blank" (up to 20% more damage at close range) and "Far Shot" (up to 20% more damage beyond 7 meters).
- Best For: Players who enjoy fast, projectile-based combat
Invoker
The Invoker excels through empowering elemental damage. The standout "Sunder my Enemies..." allows critical strikes to ignore enemy elemental resistances - an invaluable advantage against endgame bosses with high resistances.
"I am the Blizzard..." enhances cold damage and ailment application, while "I am the Thunder..." amplifies lightning damage and shock effectiveness. These work perfectly with skills like Ice Strike and Tempest Flurry, respectively.
- Best For: Players who enjoy elemental damage builds
Smith of Kitava
The Smith of Kitava is the undisputed defensive champion in Path of Exile 2. Its remarkable defensive capabilities center around the "Coal Stoker", which causes modifiers to Fire Resistance also apply to Cold and Lightning Resistance.
Complementing this is "Forged in Flame" - which causes modifiers to Maximum Fire Resistance to also apply to Cold and Lightning Resistance.
- Best For: Players who prioritize survivability and damage mitigation
A Tier
These ascendancies offer excellent performance with clear strengths that make them viable. While not quite as universally dominant as S-Tier options, they provide powerful tools that can excel in the right builds.
- Pathfinder: Excels with poison builds by doubling the poison stack limit and offering unique ways to spread poison through Contagious Contamination. Also provides ailment immunity options!
- Stormweaver: Remains powerful for elemental casters despite mana nerfs. Can apply shock and chill with any damage type.
- Warbringer: Received significant improvements with the reworked Jade skill granting guard based on maximum life. Excels with physical attack builds!
- Witch Hunter: Features increased damage against enemies with broken concentration!
- Tactician: Versatile but lacks focused bonuses!
- Titan: One of the best classes when it comes to tanking and stunning.
B-Tier and Below
These ascendancies can still be effective but typically require more specific investment, particular builds, or have limitations that keep them from reaching the higher tiers. While they may not be the strongest overall choices, they each have unique strengths that can be leveraged.
- Ritualist
- Gemling Legionnaire
- Infernalist
- Blood Mage
- Chronommancer
- Acolyte of Chayula
Conclusion
The Dawn of the Hunt expansion has created a diverse meta with multiple viable ascendancy options. While our tier list reflects the current state of the game, remember that future patches and player discoveries may shift the balance significantly.
The best ascendancy for you ultimately depends on your preferred playstyle and comfort with different mechanics. Don't be afraid to experiment with options outside the S and A tiers – in the hands of a skilled player, even lower-tier ascendancies can perform remarkably well.
