Poe2 Ultimate DPS Builds for Every Ascendancy

Time: 2024-12-31 by mmojugg Game: Path of Exile 2 Guide

The balance of power in Path of Exile 2 is constantly shifting, especially as the developers take a holiday break. Here's an updated look at the top DPS builds for each Ascension, highlighting not only their damage potential, but also their unique mechanics and strategies for both mapping and bossing:

Warrior Class

Titan Ascendancy:

Primary Build:Stampede with Armour Explosion.

Mechanics: Utilizes Devastates to break armor on heavy stun, followed by Crushing Blows for consistent stunning. Herald of Ash as a Spirit skill increases clear speed. Despite nerfs to armor explosion, it remains a top choice for its tankiness and burst damage through Hammer of the Gods, now focusing on ignite for additional damage scaling.

Warbringer Ascendancy:

Primary Build: Shockwave Totem Focus.

Mechanics: Employs Blood Magic to convert mana costs to life, enabling massive tankiness. The build leverages Giant's Blood for dual-wielding two-handed weapons, amplifying Shockwave Totem with bonus skill levels, making it a powerhouse in both offense and defense with totem buffs from ascendancy nodes.

Sorceress Class

Stormweaver Ascendancy:

Primary build: Spark Archmage.

Mechanics: Scales lightning damage by maximising mana, using Archmage to add bonus damage, synergised by permanent Arcane Surge. Mind Over Matter and energy shield to mana conversion are key for damage and survivability, enhanced by gear like Ingenuity belt for massive mod boosts.

Chronomancer Ascendancy:

Primary build: Hammer of the Gods with Cooldown Management.

Mechanics: Similar to the Titan's approach, but with a focus on cooldowns. Uses Stampede for clear speed, leveraging freezes into AOE explosions with Herald of Ice. For bosses, focuses on igniting with Hammer of the Gods, using Ascendancy perks for cooldown resets to enable burst damage.

Mercenary Class

Witch Hunter Ascendancy:

Primary build: Lightning Crossbow.

Mechanics: Centers around Galvanic Shards for clearing and Plasma Burst for bossing, with Shock Burst Rounds in between. Utilizes Hand of Wisdom and Action gloves for scaling attack speed and lightning damage through int and dex stacking, creating a versatile and high-damage output.

Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy:

Primary build: Pillar of the Caged Gods with Hand of Wisdom and Action.

Mechanics: This build stacks all attributes for massive gains in damage, attack speed, and AOE. Tempest Flurry is used for both mobility and damage, and becomes exceptionally fast with high attack speed, making it one of the most visually and mechanically dynamic builds.

Ranger Class

Deadeye Ascendancy:

Primary build: Lightning Arrow with Lightning Rod.

Mechanics: Now includes a chain reaction of off-screen kills from Herald of Ice and Herald of Thunder, creating infinite explosion chains for mapping. For boss fights, it's all about spamming Lightning Rod into Orb of Storms.

Pathfinder Ascendancy:

Primary build: Poisonous Concoction.

Mechanics: Focuses on scaling poison damage with high skill levels for projectile skills, using Snake Bite gloves to increase poison stacks and the Ingenuity belt for ring mod boosts, making it a top choice for endgame content.

Monk Class

Invoker Ascendancy:

Primary build: Blink Sorcerous with Temporal Chains.

Mechanics: Uses Temporal Chains for zero cooldown on Blink, allowing constant teleportation. Combines with Storm Wave for shatter effects and Tempest Flurry for boss damage, offering both mobility and high damage.

Acolyte of the Chayula Ascendancy:

Primary build: Poison Stormwave.

Mechanics: Uses physical damage conversion to chaos with a quarterstaff, augmented by Reality Rending for bonus chaos damage. Uses unique items such as Call of the Brotherhood for cold conversion and Contagion for enemy debuffs.

Witch Class

Infernalist Ascendancy:

Primary build: SRS with Skeletal Snipers.

Mechanics: Combines Summon Raging Spirits with Skeletal Snipers through Flame Wall for damage boosts. Uses Infernal Flame for Fire damage conversion, making the build incredibly tanky and effective in both mapping and boss scenarios.

Blood Mage Ascendancy:

Primary build: Lightning Spam with Temporalis.

Mechanics: This build breaks the balance of the game by using Temporalis to remove the cooldown on Choir of the Storms, resulting in infinite bolts. It's the epitome of high-risk, high-reward gameplay and requires specific high-end gear.

Thanks for Reading

These builds represent the pinnacle of what's currently possible on Path of Exile 2's Early Access, and showcase the depth and complexity of build creation. Keep in mind that the effectiveness of these builds will vary based on gear availability and personal play style. Keep an eye out for updates as the meta evolves!