Path of Exile 2 Best Classes Tier List
Who is the best in staying alive in Path of Exile 2.
In Path of Exile 2, by picking one of the best classes in the game, you're sure to have all the needed tools regardless of the challenge you face.
When you create a character in Path of Exile 2, you must choose one of the available classes, which imposes certain limitations and playstyles - at least for the initial portion of the game.
Deciding which class you're going to play with is one of the most difficult choices for new players. To assist you, we put together a list the best classes in Path of Exile 2 .
On this page:
Best Path of Exile 2 classes list explained
The classes available in Path of Exile 2 vary in style and skill sets. While personal taste is a determining factor when understanding a class as good or bad, there are more objective aspects that can be considered and will allow for a more generalized conversation about them. As of the time writing this article, we only have access to the six classes released with the game's Early Access. Based on the information we have now - and not considering Ascendancy classes - we have come up with this list of best classes in Path of Exile 2.
To put this list together, we considered the skill ceiling of playing a class and the potential of the class when it comes to causing damage. Taking into consideration only these two points to structure a tier list might seem like a simplification of the complexity each of these classes - and macro elements present in the game - has. However, we believe they are more than enough to give you a good idea of what are the best classes especially if you're a beginner in Path of Exile 2.
Damage is an important factor in Path of Exile 2 as it regulates how fast enemies are killed and when you are out of danger. On the other hand, the difficulty in playing a class must be put into perspective to see how demanding it is and if it pays off. If the learning curve is too high and causing consistent and effective damage is too demanding, an unfamiliar player may feel discouraged to keep playing the game. A high-skill ceiling must also compensate for its difficulty with something else beyond damage. After all, if there is an easier class to play that is capable of causing equal or higher quantities of damage, why one would pick the most difficult class?
Even so, besides how complex a class is or how high their damage per second is, you should consider picking the class you believe is going to be the most enjoyable to play. If you don't know what classes are available in the game or their Ascendancy classes, be sure to give our All Classes in Path of Exile 2 explainer a read.
Best Path of Exile 2 classes tier list
The best classes in Path of Exile 2 are:
- Warrior
- Sorceress
- Monk
- Ranger
- Witch
- Mercenary
Below, you will find an explanation on why they have been listed in this order.
Warrior
At the top of this list, we find the Warrior, one of the two melee classes available so far in the game. This is our typical tank, physical damage dealer which compensates their lack of explosive skills with consistency and a long bar of HP. Warrior is the most simple class to play in the game with skills easy to use and be effective. Most of them involve hitting enemies while slamming the ground with a large mace. Since this is one of the most resilient classes in the game, Warrior is not intensively punished by mistakes like taking a sequence of attacks from an enemy.
The Warrior's kit comes with a considerable number of single-target skills and some area-of-effect abilities. Warrior's totems, by creating decoys to call enemies' attention, make it the perfect class for beginners, who will find themselves free to hit enemies. Unfortunately, Warrior lacks more expressive skills to handle groups of enemies quickly like others, making traversing tight corridors in gloomy mansions a slow process, but nothing this strong class can't handle.
Sorceress
The second-best class in Path of Exile is the Sorceress, a position that this class earns due to the simplicity of its kit and damage potential. By using spells of three different elements to leave no safe spots on the battlefield, the Sorceress is capable of putting enemies in a dangerous position. This is the class with the most explosive area-of-effect skills. From walls of fire, and electrical floating globes to freezing orbs, Sorceress won't let enemies escape.
The best part of this kit is that only a couple of abilities are skill shots, putting less pressure on you to aim before casting spells. You can easily place an ice wall or use Spark to hit multiple enemies without too much work. By making the attack as a Sorceress a simple process, the game gives you more room to worry about mechanics and escaping deadly attacks. Even all these positive aspects can compensate for the class's lack of mobility and fragility. You may die pretty fast if caught in the wrong place and some enemies won't give you the time to cast your spells to protect yourself. The fragile condition of the Sorceress makes it a more punitive class than the Warrior.
Take a look at our best Sorceress build page if you fancy playing this class.
Monk
It's really impressive to watch the Monk, the second melee class in Path of Exile 2, fight packs of enemies using a quarterstaff and elemental abilities. The capability of this class to cause damage is phenomenal, regardless of how many enemies they are facing. Right from the start, Monk have access to skills that allow them to keep some distance and crowd-control their opponents long enough for the Monk to build up buffs and special attacks, which adds the effects to basic attacks, like shooting projectiles of wind.
Monk is a class, different from the previous two, that has a higher skill ceiling. As a melee class, Monk requires that you stay close to enemies most of the time to effectively damage them. The class benefits from keeping a high ratio of hits to pressure enemies and not losing momentum. Luckily it is a sturdier class than the next three, which improves their chance of surviving when caught by a powerful attack. After you learn how to fight against certain enemies and the best combination of skills for this class, you will have a powerful class on your hands.
Ranger
In Path of Exile 2, at least for now, there is no other class as agile and swift as Ranger. This bow user is capable of never stopping walking to shoot an arrow, kiting enemies to their deaths. This class comes with electrical arrows, poisoning arrows, ice arrows and regular - but extremely powerful - arrows. You have a multitude of attacks to use against enemies and explore different weaknesses. Besides, as a long-range fighter, Ranger is capable of staying safe and quickly responding to mechanics, giving you room to breathe.
Ranger is, however, more complicated to play with than Monk because most of this class's abilities are skill shots. In other words, you need to aim the arrow while walking and worry about hitting enemies. Thus, missing attacks is an issue that can stress out new players who are still trying to understand how to stay alive. And, although Ranger has an escape ability that performs a backward jump and freezes enemies, this is a quite squishy class.
Witch
Similar to a necromancer, the Witch is a class that focuses on using minions - cool skeleton soldiers - to fight for them while they stay from afar applying powerful curses to debuff enemies. Witch is a powerful class that is capable of overcoming obstacles with waves of minions and damage-over-time skills that spread like a disease. Since minions will most of the time call the enemy's attention, the Witch is capable of staying safe to use their skills and support their minions.
One issue players might have with this class is exactly what makes it strong, the minions. Because all of them can die if they take too much damage, the Witch becomes extremely vulnerable. The class lacks powerful skills to directly damage enemies or an escape ability to buy some time until your hellish companions put their bones together. The class also depends on corpses to make smaller minions appear, but, in situations like boss fights, this powerful tool becomes difficult to put to use. In addition, while Witch is not a melee class, you won't have the range other long-distance classes have, putting you closer to danger than you would like.
Mercenary
Have you ever thought about what it would be like to hunt demons or other fantastical creatures with a shotgun or an assault rifle? Mercenary makes your dream come true and it does so in a very fun way. Mercenary is an extremely strong class that each skill is actually a unique kind of ammo that you can load your crossbow with. You can have powerful short-distance attacks with a shotgun-like shell, a long-distance sniper-like shot, and even grenades to launch. All that is mixed with elemental damage, mobility and the capacity to stay away from danger.
Whereas the ammo mechanics make the Mercenary a fun and powerful class, they also end up turning it into the most skill-demanding class in Path of Exile 2 so far. The whole idea with this class is to create a combo of skills - which are skill shots! - to burst enemies, which forces you to preload specific ammo before committing to effectively attack enemies. The necessity of quickly using a determined sequence of skills might sound daunting for new players. And missing a combo because you couldn't aim correctly makes your life too hard, because there is a short reload time after you've used the skills, leaving you extremely vulnerable to enemies. You can still shoot from afar, keeping your distance and finding time to reload, but your damage potential decreases considerably.
Good luck in Path of Exile 2!