View source for Guide:PoE2 overview for PoE1 players

{{Merge from|Differences from Path of Exile 1|date=January 16, 2025|talk=Merge proposal January 16 2025}}
{{Guide|subject=getting started in Path of Exile 2 from a Path of Exile player's perspective|date=August 20, 2025}}

This guide provides an overview of [[Path of Exile 2]], as well as new features and changes from the first [[Path of Exile]].

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==Account & Microtransactions==
Both Path of Exile 1 and Path of Exile 2 use the same account system. Path of Exile 2 accounts can share characters and progression between other platforms and it supports cross-play.

Microtransaction purchases are shared between both games and can be used in both games as long as it's available in the other, the only exception being Guild Stash Tabs. However, microtransactions purchased from the PlayStation version cannot be used on other platforms and vice versa. Stash Tabs that were purchased from the PlayStation version will be remove-only on other platforms.

Not all microtransactions are available at the start but they will be activated during early access. {{Citation needed|reason=I could only find this info in a reddit post where a user referred to GGG stating this somewhere/sometime. Need to check the video, probably it was there.|date=December 2024}}

==Classes==
{{main|Character class}}
Path of Exile 2 has twelve base classes, with each single or hybrid attribute combinations being represented by two classes. The Scion is not playable in Path of Exile 2. Like the first game, each class leans towards a certain playstyle or build archetype, but they can freely use skills and weapons of other classes. Alternate classes share the same starting location in the skill tree, but have different notable passive skills near their starting location and different choice of Ascendancy classes.

The currently available classes and their associated gem categorizations are:
* Strength: [[Warrior]] - Maces
* Intelligence: [[Sorceress]] - Elemental spells
* Intelligence: [[Witch]] - Occult (Minion & Chaos) spells
* Dexterity: [[Ranger]] - Bows
* Dexterity: [[Huntress]] - Spears
* Strength/Dexterity: [[Mercenary]] - Crossbows
* Dexterity/Intelligence: [[Monk]] - Quarterstaves

The following classes will be available in the future:
* Strength/Intelligence: [[Druid]] - Primal (Shapeshifting) spells
* Strength: [[Marauder]] - Axes
* Strength/Intelligence: [[Templar]] - Flails
* Strength/Dexterity: [[Duelist]] - Swords
* Dexterity/Intelligence: [[Shadow]] - Daggers

=== Ascendancy Class ===
{{main|Ascendancy class}}
Each class has a choice of three Ascendancy classes to choose from (on full release). The player gains access to Ascendancy classes and gain points by completing an [[Ascension Trial]]. The player does not need to complete each type of trial to gain points; they can choose to complete the same type of trial on harder difficulties to earn points instead. These trials are also available in the endgame and have their own exclusive rewards as well.

Ascension Trials can be found in Acts 2, 3, and 4.
* [[Trial of the Sekhemas]] (Act 2): Based on the Forbidden Sanctum.
* [[Trial of Chaos]] (Act 3): Based on Ultimatum.
* Unannounced third trial (Act 4)

{{Tip|To change your Ascendancy class, you must complete an Ascendancy Trial of the highest difficulty you've already completed and refund all your Ascendancy points.}}

==Skills==
{{main|skill gem}}
In Path of Exile 2, [[gem]]s are no longer socketed to your equipment. There is now a dedicated menu where you socket your skill, support and meta gems. The new system allows your to have as much as 9 skill gems with 5 support gems at a time and removes the need to find or craft gear with gem sockets and links.

Gem sockets do not need to be linked and do not have colour restrictions, meaning Orbs of Fusing and Chromatic Orbs are no longer in the game. The number of sockets on a gem can be deterministically increased with three different tiers of [[Jeweller's Orb]]s.

A skill does not need to come from a skill gem in order to have sockets. Default attack and skills from items and Ascendancy passives can have support gems socketed onto them. Item and Ascendancy skills gain sockets with item and character levels, respectively.
{{Tip|Skills granted by items and passives don't have a reservation cost, even if their skill gem counterparts otherwise do.}}

The maximum number of support gems of a colour you can have socketed is determined by your attributes (one per 5 attribute points for that colour).

There are also [[Meta]] gems, which can be socketed with both skill and support gems. [[Trigger]] gems now come in the form of Meta gems that trigger socketed active skills when activated. Most trigger gems build up Energy whenever you satisfy its trigger condition and automatically activate when it has enough Energy stored.

Gems drop as Uncut Gems, which can be turned into a different gem using the [[Gemcutting]] menu. Gems are no longer leveled with experience. To level a skill, you must find an Uncut Gem of a higher level and turn it into that skill gem. Support gems don't have levels.

{{Tip|Level 19 and 20 Uncut Gems are very rare drops, making max level gems significantly harder to obtain.}}

Skills are separated by weapon or spell category for active skills and classes for buff/reservation skills. Most attack skills are now weapon-specific, giving each weapon class unique playstyles.

Skills can be assigned to be used in specific [[Weapon Set]]s. When enabled, whenever you use that skill, your character will switch to that weapon and use the skill.

==Combat==
Combat has received a significant overhaul in PoE2, both in how the player controls and in enemy attacks and behaviour.

A major addition to the game is the [[Dodge Roll]]. The start of the roll animation will make most strikes and projectiles miss, but it can't avoid area abilities or big telegraphed attacks such as slams. It can be used to cancel out of almost any animation except another dodge roll. There is no cooldown or cost associated with dodge rolling.

By holding down the dodge roll button, your character will go into a [[sprint]]. While sprinting, you move faster, but getting hit while sprinting will cause you to fall and suffer a Heavy Stun. Sprinting can be cancelled with any skill. Like dodge roll, there is no cooldown or restrictions to sprinting.

[[Shield]]s come with the [[Raise Shield]] or [[Parry]] skill, which can be used to [[block]] incoming attacks from the front. Blocking an attack depletes the stun gauge, which stuns you if it's depleted. Enemies will occasionally flash red before using particularly dangerous, telegraphed attacks that cannot be blocked.

Skills can turn mid-animation to adjust your aim and many have some mobility built into them. The majority of skills now have unique animations and can have adjusted animation based on its speed. You can move while using many ranged attacks and spells at reduced speed. Mana cost is spent over the skill's animation instead of it all being paid upfront.

Path of Exile 2 supports WASD movement, as well as the classic "left click-to-move" movement.

PoE2 has also reworked how crowd control effects work. Many crowd control effects like [[Freeze]] now accumulate on enemies instead of being based on chance, critical properties and ailment threshold. Each enemy also has a [[Heavy Stun]] meter that fills up as it takes damage, becoming vulnerable for a long period when the meter is filled.

Enemy attacks no longer have a distinction between attacks and spells. To ensure visual clarity, players won't have to guess what is a spell and what is an attack. As a result, all monster skills are affected by [[Evasion]] and [[Accuracy]].

[[Minion]]s can be commanded manually to move to location, target enemies, or open chests. Some minions have a command skill that can be activated by the player. Permanent minions will revive themselves automatically if no other allied minions have died recently. There are also mountable minions that allow you to use ranged attacks while moving at faster speeds, but will leave you stunned if you take too much damage.
{{Tip|Spectre minions are stored in the [[Bind Spectre]] skill gem, removing the need for "Spectre banking."}}

===Death===
Dying (in non-Hardcore leagues) is more consequential than in PoE1. While there is no experience loss on death until at high levels, dying and respawning will reset the area and boot you back to the entrance or checkpoint. Dying to a boss during the campaign will reset the boss fight, requiring you to start the fight over. In endgame, you can respawn a limited number of times before being kicked out of the map, and re-attempting a map will remove any additional content it had.

While in a party, dead party members can be revived by channelling over their body for a few seconds. Taking damage will interrupt the process, and each subsequent revival increases the channel time.

===Miscellaneous===
* Town Portals no longer require Portal Scrolls to open. There is a cast animation that plays while opening a portal, and taking a hit will interrupt it. Portals cannot be opened during boss fights.
* The game can be paused while playing solo, and in parties if every player in the instance pauses. You can hover over status effects to read their tooltips while paused.
* The game will pause itself when you disconnect. Upon reconnecting, you have the option of resuming from when you disconnected or respawn at a checkpoint.

==Passives==
The passive skill tree works largely the same as it did in the first game, but with some adjustments. Passive skills tend to be more general-purpose near the starting point and more specialized on the outer edges of the tree. There are no life clusters on the tree; increased maximum life is a far rarer stat than in the first game. Masteries are not present in the PoE2 passive tree.

Path of Exile 2 allows you to assign individual passive skill tree configurations to [[Weapon set]]s. Whenever you switch weapons, your passive skill tree configuration will swap to that tree. Only a limited amount of passive points can be allocated this way, which are generally granted as quest rewards.

The player can choose which attribute points to receive from the minor attribute nodes. They can be switched for half the gold cost of a skill refund.

The nodes near the starting locations for classes can change depending on your character's class. For example, as a Sorceress, the starting area will have more nodes tailored towards Sorceress skills, the Witch will have more Witch-oriented nodes in the same area, and other classes will find a mix of both Sorceress and Witch nodes in that area.

[[Jewel]] sockets are found along the travel nodes instead of their own sections. Cluster Jewels are not in the game.

{{Tip|Delirium drops Liquid Emotions that are use to Instil an enchantment onto an amulet that allocates a passive skill, replacing Blight oils and Anointment.}}

==Mechanics==
* [[Spirit]] is a new stat in Path of Exile 2. Spirit is used to reserve skills with persistent effects like [[buff]]s, auras, and trigger meta gems, and upkeep permanent minions.
* [[Projectile]]s are affected by gravity. Projectiles lose vertical height as they travel further, reducing off-screening from projectiles.
* [[Fire damage]] doesn't inherently apply [[ignite]], but instead applies a stackable [[Flammability]] debuff which adds a chance for all fire damage to inflict Ignite based on Flammability magnitude. This allows small amounts of fire damage to better contribute towards inflicting ignite.
* [[Chaos damage]] no longer bypasses energy shield, but deals double damage to it.
* [[Dual wielding]] is more restrictive than in the first game. Martial (attack-based) weapons can only be dual wielded with the same item type, and some weapons cannot be dual wielded at all. Non-martial weapons cannot be dual wielded. Dual wielding confers no inherent bonuses.
* [[Trap]]s are now a weapon class with their own set of skills. Traps have stats that determines its Trap Trigger Delay and Detonation Type (e.g. Proximity (trap playstyle) or Manual (mine playstyle)).<!--Might no longer have its own damage type unlike the initial preview-->

===Stats===
* [[Attribute]]s provide more life/accuracy/mana per point compared to PoE1, but no other stats. They also affect how many support gems of their respective colour you can have socketed.
* [[Accuracy]]/chance to hit now is dependent on enemy distance, with melee builds requiring less accuracy than ranged ones. [[Minion]]s no longer require accuracy and will always hit.
* [[Block]] chance is capped at 50%.
* [[Deflection]] is a new stat that grants a chance to reduce the amount of damage taken from a hit by 40%, similar to Spell Suppression. Deflection chance is based on Deflection Rating, which is checked against enemy accuracy like with Evasion.
* [[Energy shield]] recharge delay has been increased to 4 seconds (from 2) and recharge rate has been reduced to 12.5% per second (from 33.3% per second).
* [[Critical hit]] damage is calculated differently: instead of a Critical Strike Multiplier, critical hit damage is determined by Critical Damage Bonus, which can have increased/decreased and more/less modifiers, as well as flat modifiers. The default Critical Damage Bonus is 100% (200% base damage).
* [[Culling strike]] kills normal, magic, rare, and unique enemies at 30%, 20%, 10%, and 5% life respectively. The life threshold is now checked before the hit, not after.
* [[Damage conversion|Conversion]] now only scales by the final damage type, and does not remember converted damage types. (e.g. 100% Physical to Cold no longer scales with Physical). There is no longer a hierarchy of order of conversion between damage types.
* [[Item rarity]] now affects currency drops.
* [[Leech]] is simplified without having various caps, simply leeching a percentage of damage dealt, and instead enemies have leech reduction based on monster level. Leech effects now occur over 1 second. Non-physical/attack leech is harder to obtain in general.
* [[Light radius]] modifiers extend the range of the minimap's fog of war.
* [[Penetration]] will no longer penetrate resistances past 0%.
* [[Recoup]] now occurs over 8 seconds.
* [[Thorns]] is a new stat that replaces "Reflect # damage to Melee Attackers" stats. Thorns damage can be scaled.
* Cold and Lightning have switched attribute attunement. Lightning is now associated with Dexterity, and Cold with Intelligence.
* Effects which cause [[Armour]] to mitigate elemental or chaos damage calculate the damage reduction before [[resistance]]s.

===Status effects===
* [[Stun]] is separated into two types: Light Stun, which works close to Stun in PoE1, and Heavy Stun.
* [[Ailment]]s:
** Chance to apply certain ailments (i.e. [[Ignite]], [[Shock]]) are now based on the damage dealt by the hit that applied it. Chance is calculated against the defender's ailment threshold. Magnitude affects the ailment's damage or effect.
** Critical strikes no longer always apply elemental ailments.
** [[Shock]] applies a static 20% increased damage effect on afflicted targets.
** [[Chill]] requires a minimum magnitude of 30% and has a maximum magnitude of 50%. 
** Shock and Chill lasts longer on enemies (8 seconds).
** [[Bleeding]] and [[Poison]] damage bypasses [[energy shield]].
** Poison does not stack by default, but the maximum number of Poisons you can apply can be increased.
* [[Charge]]s do not grant inherent bonuses and instead are used to empower skills which spend them. Skills that spend charges cannot grant charges.
* [[Mark]]s are no longer considered to be [[curse]]s or spells. As a result, there is no longer a distinction between Hex and Mark curses, and Hex curses are now simply referred to as curses. You can place multiple copies of the same mark on different enemies, but each enemy can have one mark on them at a time. Marks now also have a limited duration.
* [[Curse]] skills place down a ground effect that applies the curse to enemies on the ground after an activation delay.
* [[Impale]] applies one stack of the debuff which stores 30% of the physical damage dealt. Attacks on Impaled targets extract the stack with the highest amount of damage stored, which gets added to the attack damage. Only one stack can be extracted at a time, and sources which apply Impale can't extract Impale.

==Items==
===Gold===
[[Gold]] is a resource that drops throughout the game. Gold can be used to buy items from vendors, gamble for random rarity equipment, refund passive points, and list items in the [[Currency Exchange]] and the Merchant Stash Stab. Items can be sold for Gold or disenchanted for crafting currency shards. Gold cannot be traded with other players.

===Equipment===
The amount of items that drop from enemies have been significantly reduced from PoE1, but both the the fact items drop with better rolls on average and the changes to crafting make random drops more valuable.

[[Weapon]]s are now distinctly split between three categories: Martial weapons, which are used for attacks; caster weapons, which enhance spells; and traps, which are now separate. Non-martial weapons come with an implicit that grants a skill instead of a default attack. Path of Exile 2 introduces five new weapon types: [[crossbow]]s, [[spear]]s, [[Quarterstaff|quarterstaves]] (reworked warstaves), [[flail]]s, and [[trap]]s.

Weapon bases are more varied, with some bases having abnormal stat distributions or exclusive implicit mods not found on other items.

Weapons and armour can have [[Item socket|sockets]], which can be slotted with socketable currencies such as [[Rune]]s, [[Soul Core]]s, and [[Talisman]]s to add stat-enhancing enchantments to them.

Path of Exile 2 has a new off-hand item called [[Foci]], which grants caster modifiers.

===Flasks===
Players can have up to one life flask and one mana flask equipped at a time.

Utility flasks have been replaced with [[charm]]s. Charms grant conditionally activated buffs that provide defensive bonuses such as immunity to a certain ailment or debuff. They gain charges the same way flasks do. Charm slots are provided by belts and passives, and you can have up to 3 equipped at a time.

{{Tip|Non-unique charms are almost purely defensive. There are no charm equivalent of flasks like Quicksilver and Diamond.}}

===Crafting===
PoE2 has no "reroll" or rarity downgrade currencies like Orb of Alteration and Orb of Scouring, which makes normal or magic bases more valuable as drops for the purpose of crafting.

Currencies that were much rarer in PoE1, like Regal and Exalted Orbs, are much more common in PoE2. In addition, there are higher tier versions of currencies that drop in the endgame, which guarantees the mod that's added to be of at least the minimum item level it can appear in.

Some item bases drop as an Exceptional base, which have additional bonuses such as higher Quality or extra socket.

The Crafting Bench is not in the game, which also means there are no crafted modifiers.

The [[Salvage Bench]] allows you to destroy an item to gain quality-enhancing items or shards for currencies that add sockets to items if they have them. The [[Reforging Bench]] allows you to exchange three of the same kind of items for a new item with reforged mods or another currency tier.

Several crafting currencies have had their functionalities changed:
* Currencies which deterministically upgrade an item's rarity now only add one modifier.
* {{il|Orb of Alchemy}} can upgrade normal and magic items. The resulting item will always have four modifiers.
* {{il|Chaos Orb|Chaos Orbs}} now remove a random modifier then add a new one.
* {{il|Orb of Chance|Orbs of Chance}} will either upgrade a normal item to a unique or destroy it, similar to Tainted Mythic Orbs.
* {{il|Vaal Orb}} outcomes have been changed for both Unique and non-Unique items.
* [[Essence]]s come in five tiers: Lesser, normal, and Greater Essences upgrade a Magic item to Rare adding a specific mod, while Perfect and Corrupted Essences remove a mod on a Rare item to and add a mod.
* Certain [[Omen]]s can be used in conjunction with crafting currencies, modifying crafting outcomes in various ways, such as restricting to only prefix or suffix mods, or applying a currency twice.

==Campaign==
Path of Exile 2 will feature a six-Act campaign on full release.

There are many bosses in the campaign that drop rewards that give a permanent stat boost to your character. Notably, boss rewards are the only way to gain permanent Spirit increases.

There is a -10% elemental resistance penalty applied after each Act.

{{Tip|Capping resistances is not as vital as it was in the first game, at least not until late endgame.}}

==Endgame==
Path of Exile 2 features a new endgame with a new storyline.

===The Atlas===
{{main|Atlas}}
PoE2's endgame involves traversing across Wraeclast through an endlessly expanding [[Atlas]]. Unlike PoE1, the maps are on the Atlas itself. The player makes progress on the Atlas by completing maps connected to your starting point and completed maps. Maps are opened using [[Waystone]]s on the Map Device, which can be crafted with affixes the same way as PoE1's maps. The number of portals for the map depends on number of mods on the waystone; the more mods it has, the less portals there will be available. Players can use [[Tablet]]s to add additional encounters of their respective mechanic to the map, the number of which you can use on the map depending on the amount of modifiers on the waystone.

The Atlas can spawn special areas, such as [[Tower]]s that reveal a large part of the area around it, maps containing an extra-powerful map boss or special bosses, and unique maps.

During the endgame, you will be tasked to venture out into maps containing [[Coalesced Corruption]] and destroy the Corrupted Nexus that's spreading them. Once you complete a map with a Corrupted Nexus, the corruption is purified, transforming the corrupted energy into crystallized power that grants Atlas passive points and turning nearby corrupted maps into [[Cleansed map]]s.

===League mechanics===
{{main|Encounter}}
Various league mechanics from PoE1 make a return in PoE2. Completing the pinnacle encounters for these mechanics will grant you skill points towards that league's Atlas passive sub-tree.

* [[Essence]]s, [[Strongbox]]es, [[Shrine]]s, and [[Rogue Exile]]s make a return.
* [[Corrupted]] areas causes slain monster to [[Coalesce Corruption]], a mechanic that functions like Beyond.
* [[Breach]] drops [[catalyst]]s used to add quality to accessories. {{il|Breach Ring|Breach Rings}} now have increased maximum quality as an implicit and are not corrupted by default.
* [[Ritual]] drops [[omen]]s, many which can be used for meta-crafting.
* [[Delirium]] drops [[Liquid Emotion]]s which are used to add an enchantment to amulets that allocates a passive skill the same way as Blight Oils did, or add a Delirious modifier to waystones.
* [[Expedition]] makes a return. Artifacts can be taken to [[Rog]], [[Gwennen]], or [[Tujen]] to [[Expedition Crafting|craft items like with Rog in the first game]] or use the [[Recombinator]].
* [[Azmeri spirit]]s lead you to a Rare monster that gets empowered, similar Tormented Spirits. They can drop [[Talisman]]s that can be socketed to gear.
* [[Abyss]]es work differently than in the first game. Abyss encounters involve defeating monsters spawned near fissures followed by defeating the pack of Abyss monsters that come out of the pits. Abyss monsters can have special monster modifiers and can interact with other mechanics. Abysses can drop [[preserved bone]]s used to add a [[Desecrated modifier]] on an item, which can be revealed (unveiled) as one of three random modifiers.

===Atlas passive tree===
The [[Atlas Passive Tree]] consists of a main tree for general use, and sub-trees. The sub-trees grant specific bonuses towards boss encounters, league mechanics, and pinnacle content. Points towards the sub-trees are gained by engaging in that specific content; the first two points are granted by completing a certain objective, and additional points are gained by completing the pinnacle content of their respective mechanic.

===Pinnacle content===
Several league mechanic have a pinnacle content associated with them. For example, [[Breach]] encounters drop [[Breach Splinter]]s that can be taken to the Realmgate to open a portal to fight [[Xesht, We That Are One]]. Pinnacle encounters have difficulties, with each subsequent difficulty being unlocked after completing the previous difficulty and costing more splinters.

The mysterious [[Burning Monolith]] resides on the Atlas. To gain access to Monolith, you must acquire three keys, each guarded by endgame versions of Act bosses. Within the Monolith lies a deadly pinnacle boss: [[the Arbiter of Ash]].