The Foundations of a Path of Exile Character
Path of Exile (PoE), a free-to-play action role-playing game (ARPG), has captivated millions of players with its complex gameplay, deep customization, and challenging endgame content. One of the most crucial decisions a new player faces when venturing into the world of Wraeclast is choosing a class. This seemingly simple choice shapes the very foundation of your character, impacting your starting attributes, the location of your starting passive skill tree, and your initial set of skills. Understanding the intricacies of each class is paramount to crafting a character that aligns with your desired playstyle and ultimately, to a fulfilling Path of Exile experience.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll delve deep into the world of Path of Exile classes, providing a detailed overview of each of the seven base classes, examining their strengths and weaknesses, and offering insight to help you make an informed decision. Remember, the true beauty of Path of Exile lies in its build diversity. While choosing a class is your initial step, the true character customization begins with the passive skill tree and the skills you choose to use.
At its core, in Path of Exile, your choice of class isn’t simply a label; it is the architect of your character’s starting point. It dictates the fundamental attributes you begin with – Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence – which directly influence your ability to wield certain weapons, equip specific armor, and utilize various skills. Furthermore, the class dictates where you begin on the massive, intricate passive skill tree. This sprawling network of nodes holds the key to unlocking your character’s potential, granting boosts to attributes, defenses, attack damage, and countless other aspects of your build.
However, it’s important to emphasize that the class itself doesn’t restrict your choices. Unlike some ARPGs, Path of Exile offers unparalleled freedom. There are no inherent restrictions on what skills you can learn or how you can build your character. A Strength-based Marauder can become a spellcaster, and an Intelligence-based Witch can wield a two-handed axe. The key to this freedom lies in the passive skill tree and the skill gems you choose. This adaptability is a cornerstone of the game’s depth and replayability.
Exploring the Realm of the Base Classes
Now, let’s embark on a detailed exploration of each of the seven base classes. We will examine their core attributes, their starting locations on the passive skill tree, and their general playstyles. Understanding these fundamentals is crucial for making the right choice when starting your Path of Exile adventure.
The Might of the Marauder
The Marauder embodies raw power and unwavering resilience. This class is the quintessential embodiment of Strength, specializing in melee combat and devastating physical damage.
Starting Attributes: The Marauder begins with a high base of Strength, making him well-suited for wielding heavy weapons and equipping robust armor.
Starting Location on the Passive Skill Tree: The Marauder begins on the lower right of the skill tree, surrounded by nodes that enhance Strength, melee damage, life, armor, and various defensive attributes.
Playstyle: The Marauder is a powerhouse in melee combat, typically focusing on dealing high physical damage and absorbing a significant amount of punishment. Builds commonly emphasize close-quarters combat and brute force tactics.
Strengths: The Marauder excels at dealing significant damage, often utilizing powerful melee skills that can cleave through enemies with ease. He is also naturally tanky, with access to high life pools, armor, and other defensive options.
Weaknesses: Marauders can sometimes struggle with mobility, relying on close-range attacks, and are sometimes more challenging to level in the early game, as they must get close to their enemies.
Popular Build Examples: Well-known Marauder builds include the Juggernaut, known for its incredible durability and unstoppable nature; the Berserker, which prioritizes massive damage output; and the Chieftain, often focusing on elemental damage and life leech.
The Agile Ranger’s Precision
The Ranger represents speed, precision, and the art of ranged combat. This class embodies Dexterity, favoring evasion and ranged attacks.
Starting Attributes: The Ranger starts with a high base of Dexterity, improving its evasion and ranged damage capabilities.
Starting Location on the Passive Skill Tree: The Ranger begins on the upper right of the skill tree, surrounded by nodes that boost Dexterity, ranged damage, evasion, attack speed, and critical strike chance.
Playstyle: The Ranger is a master of ranged combat, focusing on quickly dispatching enemies from a distance. This class offers high damage output and often excels in mobile, hit-and-run tactics.
Strengths: The Ranger excels at dealing high damage from a safe distance, utilizing ranged attacks that can obliterate enemies. She benefits from high movement speed, granting her superior positioning, and has access to evasion-based defenses.
Weaknesses: Rangers are sometimes squishy, relying on dodging and evasion instead of heavy armor. This can make them vulnerable in close-quarters combat and susceptible to burst damage.
Popular Build Examples: Popular Ranger builds include the Deadeye, which is known for its piercing arrows and high area-of-effect damage; the Raider, which prioritizes high attack speed and movement speed; and the Pathfinder, which focuses on flask effectiveness and elemental damage.
Unleashing the Witch’s Arcane Power
The Witch embodies the power of magic and arcane knowledge. This class specializes in Intelligence, allowing her to master spells, wield elemental damage, and manipulate the energies of the world.
Starting Attributes: The Witch begins with a high base of Intelligence, making her well-suited for wielding powerful spells and utilizing energy shield defenses.
Starting Location on the Passive Skill Tree: The Witch starts on the upper left of the skill tree, surrounded by nodes that enhance Intelligence, spell damage, energy shield, mana, and elemental damage.
Playstyle: The Witch is a spellcasting specialist, unleashing a barrage of elemental attacks and manipulating the battlefield. She often utilizes area-of-effect spells to clear hordes of enemies or single-target spells to eliminate tough opponents.
Strengths: The Witch is known for high spell damage and area-of-effect abilities, allowing her to clear content with ease. She often relies on energy shield defenses to provide a significant layer of protection.
Weaknesses: The Witch can be vulnerable at close range, as her defenses often prioritize energy shield, leaving her susceptible to physical damage and crowd control.
Popular Build Examples: Well-known Witch builds include the Necromancer, which focuses on summoning and controlling hordes of undead minions; the Elementalist, which specializes in elemental damage and chaos resistance; and the Occultist, which utilizes curses and chaos damage.
The Duelist’s Bladed Dance
The Duelist embodies versatility, combining Strength and Dexterity to master both melee and attack skills. This class excels in dealing high damage and adapting to various combat scenarios.
Starting Attributes: The Duelist starts with a balanced mix of Strength and Dexterity, granting him access to a diverse array of attack skills and the ability to equip a wide variety of weapons and armor.
Starting Location on the Passive Skill Tree: The Duelist begins on the middle-right of the skill tree, surrounded by hybrid nodes that provide benefits to both Strength and Dexterity. The area of the tree often supports attack speed, critical strike chance, and melee damage.
Playstyle: The Duelist is a master of both melee and attack builds, adapting to various combat scenarios. He typically focuses on high attack speed and devastating damage output.
Strengths: The Duelist has exceptional damage output and excels at building multiple archetypes. This versatility allows him to transition from physical to elemental damage types without needing to completely respec his character.
Weaknesses: At times the Duelist can feel somewhat squishy at lower levels.
Popular Build Examples: Popular Duelist builds include the Gladiator, which excels at bleeding and blocking; the Slayer, which is known for its area-of-effect damage and life leech; and the Champion, which is known for its taunt and damage mitigation.
The Templar’s Divine Might
The Templar embodies the synergy of Strength and Intelligence, representing a hybrid class that mixes melee combat with spellcasting. This class offers excellent versatility and sustain.
Starting Attributes: The Templar starts with a combination of Strength and Intelligence, allowing him to build a well-rounded character capable of both physical and spell-based builds.
Starting Location on the Passive Skill Tree: The Templar begins on the upper-middle of the skill tree, surrounded by nodes that support both Strength and Intelligence builds. These often encompass area-of-effect damage, spell damage, and life and mana regeneration.
Playstyle: The Templar is a hybrid class, capable of utilizing melee attacks and spellcasting. He can be focused on elemental damage, melee combat, or a blend of both.
Strengths: The Templar provides a good combination of damage, survivability, and versatility. This allows for flexible builds and various playstyles.
Weaknesses: The Templar is more complex than some classes. This complexity requires good resource management skills in order to maximize potential.
Popular Build Examples: Well-known Templar builds include the Inquisitor, which focuses on critical strikes and elemental damage; the Hierophant, which focuses on mana and totem builds; and the Guardian, which is known for supporting allies.
The Shadow’s Deadly Path
The Shadow is a cunning and lethal class that combines Dexterity and Intelligence to master both chaos damage and critical strikes. This class specializes in quick attacks and strategic maneuvering.
Starting Attributes: The Shadow starts with a mixture of Dexterity and Intelligence, allowing for flexible builds and strategic planning.
Starting Location on the Passive Skill Tree: The Shadow starts on the upper-left of the skill tree, surrounded by nodes supporting Dexterity and Intelligence. It focuses on chaos damage, critical strike, and evasion.
Playstyle: The Shadow focuses on damage through high critical strikes and fast attacks. This class typically offers high damage output and good mobility.
Strengths: The Shadow can have high damage and excel at critical strikes. It benefits from good mobility and flexibility.
Weaknesses: The Shadow can be squishy at times. It relies heavily on positioning and strategic combat.
Popular Build Examples: Popular Shadow builds include the Assassin, which focuses on critical strikes and chaos damage; the Trickster, which has high survivability due to his ability to manipulate time; and the Saboteur, which specializes in traps, mines, and area-of-effect damage.
The Scion’s Journey Through All Paths
The Scion, the most unique of the classes, doesn’t have any specific attribute preference. Instead, it serves as a starting point for extreme versatility, allowing access to builds from any class.
Starting Attributes: The Scion starts with a balanced mix of all attributes, making her a versatile character.
Starting Location on the Passive Skill Tree: The Scion begins in the center of the passive tree, granting access to nodes from every class.
Playstyle: The Scion allows for a hybrid approach, accessing builds from all classes.
Strengths: The Scion is extremely versatile and offers access to various builds. The Scion has good scaling options.
Weaknesses: The Scion is slow to start. It needs good skill tree planning in order to achieve maximum potential.
Popular Build Examples: Since the Scion can be made from any of the classes, her popular builds mirror those from the other classes.
The Power of Ascendancy Classes
Beyond the base classes, Path of Exile offers further specialization through the Ascendancy system. After completing a specific trial, each of the base classes unlocks access to three or four Ascendancy classes. These subclasses provide unique skill tree nodes, passive abilities, and playstyles that further define your character’s build. The Ascendancy classes offer tailored builds focused on specific playstyles and gameplay goals.
While a deeper dive into the Ascendancy classes is beyond the scope of this article, it’s crucial to understand that they represent a significant part of character customization. After choosing a base class, exploring the Ascendancy classes associated with it is highly recommended.
Choosing the Right Path
Selecting the right class is a personal decision, based on your playstyle preferences. When choosing a class, consider the following questions:
- Do you prefer melee or ranged combat?
- Do you enjoy the complexity of spellcasting or the directness of attacks?
- How important is survivability to you?
- Do you want to deal large amounts of damage?
Once you’ve considered these questions, research different builds and playstyles. Starting with a class that aligns with your preferred style is a great way to ease into the game.
Concluding Thoughts
Choosing a Path of Exile class is the first step in creating your unique character. Each of the seven base classes offers a distinct set of attributes, starting positions on the passive skill tree, and, consequently, various gameplay experiences. Whether you choose the brute force of the Marauder, the precise aim of the Ranger, the magical prowess of the Witch, the versatile nature of the Duelist, the hybrid capabilities of the Templar, the deadly nature of the Shadow, or the flexible approach of the Scion, the game offers options to suit any playstyle. Remember that the Path of Exile classes are just the beginning. Experimenting with different classes and builds is an essential part of the Path of Exile experience. By exploring the options and discovering what resonates with you, you can tailor your gameplay for hours of fun. So, step into Wraeclast, choose your path, and begin your epic journey!
