The best class to play in Path of Exile 2 early access

Picking the best class Path of Exile 2 is less straightforward than it might initially seem.

The thing to bear in mind about Path of Exile 2’s classes is that, as of the game’s early access launch, there isn’t a single powerhouse class that lets you sweep through. There’s no Diablo 4-style Spiritborn here. Every class has a distinctive playstyle whose drawbacks might not be a dealbreaker for you, depending on how you like to play, and they all have specific strengths as well.

Our list of the best Path of Exiles 2 classes takes into consideration how many viable skill options a class gives you, along with ease of use and how well they can hold their own in combat against mobs and bosses.

At launch in early access, Path of Exile 2 has six classes. These range from traditional types with a twist — such as the Warrior, a melee brawler, and the spellslinging Sorceress — to more experimental classes. The Witch, for example, summons minions and has access to powerful debuff skills, while the Mercenary controls the battlefield with a variety of fast-firing, hard-hitting crossbow shots. Path of Exile 2’s take on the Monk is unique among that class style’s iterations throughout video games, and even the Ranger is much more interesting than you might expect from someone who just shoots arrows.

In short, every Path of Exile 2 class has something going for it, though some are easier to learn and use effectively than others. Our ranking of classes from best to worst is:

Path of Exile 2’s Mercenary is an exceptional class with high damage potential, early access to powerful combos, and a flexible playstyle that, despite some complexities, makes it comparatively easy to learn for newcomers and those familiar with Path of Exile. The Mercenary fires high-powered crossbow bolts and quickly gets access to a range of much more interesting and useful skills.

They can launch fire grenades, freeze foes and shatter them, reduce enemy resistances, and even fire a continuous stream of arrows to whittle down the toughest bosses (like Jamanra, the Abomination). Best of all, the Mercenary doesn’t have to specialize in just one element. You can mix charged shots with fire grenades and freeze arrows and still end up with a viable build to carry you through the game.

The Mercenary might have a strong set of skills at their disposal, but getting used to them takes a fair bit of practice. They burn through mana quickly and need a careful balance of special shots and basic attacks, and, more than with other classes, you also have to develop a pattern of attacking and retreating to avoid getting overwhelmed. The wide shot spread for some of the Mercenary’s special skills means you have to be at close range for them to reliably hit, which puts you at risk of getting overwhelmed by mobs.

Still, for the variety of abilities the Mercenary can learn, it’s worth putting up with the learning curve.

The Witch is a close second for Path of Exile 2’s best class, held back only by some lackluster class ascendancy bonuses and a few balance oddities that make some of their skills less useful than others. The Witch is, ostensibly, a minion summoner, but they can specialize into a debuffer and a powerful spellcaster as well. The witch can raise minions from dead enemies, explode corpses, spread disease, cast fire and frost spells (and lightning, though it’s a bit weak in Path of Exile 2’s early access stage) pin enemies in place, buff minions and send them into a frenzy — their kit is exceptional, even before ascendancy buffs.

They’re also one of the easiest classes to learn, since you can let minions distract foes while you direct them from afar, which means the risk of getting overwhelmed is much lower for the Witch.

The Witch’s big issues — aside from the Blood Mage ascendancy being severely underpowered at launch — are how long it takes for their kit to get interesting, and how weak their minions are at first. It takes several levels and a fair bit of skill point investment for standard and summoned minions to do anything approaching respectable levels of damage and survivability. The Witch can supplement the damage shortfall, but the more serious problem is how quickly minions die at lower levels. They respawn after a short period, but the Witch is vulnerable in that time, especially if there are no corpses to manipulate. These issues fade as you level up and get access to skills such as Bone Cage and supplementary summons, but it takes longer for the Witch to feel good than it does with other classes.

Pro tip: Don’t use your early uncut gems on skeletons and minions. The Witch needs spirit to summon them, and you can only acquire spirit in certain ways, none of which are available to you at the game’s start.

Ranger might initially seem like a less impressive version of Mercenary, since it’s a ranged class that fires elemental arrows. However, it’s the best class for crowd control and can make quick work of large mobs and tough bosses alike. Rangers have a wide variety of skills, from a poison shot that gradually saps an enemy’s health — even better is the apparent lack of poison resistance for most Path of Exile 2 enemies — to more complex combos, such as one where they stake a lightning arrow in the ground and can fire additional chain lightning shots that ricochet off the stake and deal extra damage.

Rangers can also equip special quivers that augment specific elements and add special effects, such as adding a pierce effect or igniting projectiles, and they’re among the best in the game at causing status ailments.

The Ranger’s only drawback is a lack of defensive skills, and it’s a big one. They equip weaker armor and rely on evasive skills to stay safe, but when enemies break through, they have few ways to stay safe. Careful cooldown management and investing in skills such as Vine Arrow, which slows enemy movement can mitigate some of these issues. However, if you overcorrect and have more than one retreat ability, it takes away from how much damage you dish out.

If “it gets good after 10 hours” had a picture definition, it’d be Path of Exile 2’s Monk. It’s a fun class to play with a highly distinctive style and some excellent abilities — but you wouldn’t know it initially. The Monk’s ability set is slow and unwieldy until about level five, when Path of Exile 2 finally starts leaning into unique skill effects that augment how the Monk plays. Some skills get more powerful when used several times in quick succession. Others grant the Monk’s basic attack or other attack additional effects, such as launching projectiles or, by consuming all the Monk’s mana, turning their standard attack into one that sets off electric shockwaves.

Getting to that point is rough, though. Path of Exile 2 favors ranged playstyles and quick casting, and not only does the Monk almost always have to be up close until level five, but their attack animations are slow. They’re vulnerable to taking damage before they can even dish any out — a problem, given the light armor they specialize in — and can easily get overwhelmed.

Path of Exile 2’s Warrior launched in a strange position. It excels as a defensive class and is the only character who can block enemy attacks. They stun. Their warcries offer potent self-buffs and, depending on your skill choice, can damage foes. And they hit hard with two-handed weapons.

The problem is how comparatively weak and sluggish the Warrior is. It’s such a slow class. Basic skills take longer to execute and do less damage than other basic skills from other classes — it takes multiple hits to down a simple Drowned in the prologue, for example, where the Witch can defeat a foe with two hits. Many of the Warrior’s fundamental attacks have long animations as well. Most of Path of Exile 2’s enemies are pretty mobile, so it’s easy to wind up and then completely miss your target, leaving yourself vulnerable as mobs take advantage of your recovery time and swarm.

Where these annoyances are less of a problem is with boss fights. The Warrior’s self-buffs, enemy debuffs,and bone-shattering attacks work particularly well in fights against big, single targets, and the class is quickly establishing a well-earned reputation as Path of Exile 2’s boss killer. Even that function has a caveat, though, as your build options are limited, and most Warrior skills are designed to work better with The Titan ascendancy.

Sorceress is fine in Path of Exile 2. It’s fine! But not much more than that. This is your standard set of magic skills, with access to the three major elements, some crowd control abilities, and, eventually, powerful buffs that boost your spellcasting power. It’s a strong class, but oddly balanced.

The Sorceress’ self-buffs and combo opportunities come much later in their class progression, while other classes – even the Warrior – get them almost immediately. For example, Sorceress only has access to a shatter combo at level five. Mercenary can do the same thing at level one.

The Sorceress’ biggest pain point, however, is their lack of defensive skills. They simply can’t save themselves from anything, and an evasive playstyle only gets you so far when the class’ stronger skills take a while to ramp up.

For more Path of Exile 2 guides, here’s how to ascend, how to respec, how to get spirit, and how to trade. Plus, here’s a list of all Trial of Sehkemas challenges and rewards, and guides on how to complete “Ancient Vows” and beat Jamanra.