Path of Exile has been around for a long time and has probably seen good times, as well as bad times. After 2013, the game is finally seeing better days now, with new mechanisms and updates rolling out by developers. This game is all about giving your best to the environment, as there is great depth and attention to detail here. For this reason, other ARPG games can’t compare with Path of Exile.
While the game’s reputation is because of its extensive mechanisms, new players find things hard to understand the first few days, especially the character. The level of complexity in making the character is what drives new players away from the amazing experience. So, considering this difficulty, we compiled this Path of Exile Character Building Guide for Beginners.
Character Building Guide
The first thing that instantly comes into consideration is your character. When you are starting the game for the first time, you will be asked to pick from various selections, which further paves a way for later on in the game. For Character Building, selecting a character according to your need is essential.
In most APG games, your character selection defines the skills in the game itself. But, here, things are really different and somewhat complex. With the Class you will choose, you can make way for any type of skill, through the item system.
For example, when you will pick the templar class, which is best known for manga-based builds, you can also go for archery builds here. Doesn’t make a difference, as long as you are choosing the right PoE items. Still, some classes pump your specific stats much more than others, resulting in a better play from starting point.
Classes
There are a total of around seven classes in Path of Exile. All of the mentioned Classes have their own set of features, which we will discuss below.
Scion: This class is mostly referred to as a neutral that is the jack of all trades, but master of none. If you are focusing more on the passive abilities, rather than the active ones, your best pick is Scion. Players who are new to this genre aren’t recommended to start with Scion as their main class.
Marauder: This class mainly focuses on Strength, which means it is exceptional for the builds that are based on Melee combat.
Duelist: It is a mix between both classes; namely, Strength and Dexterity. Dualist Class focuses mainly on the heavy melee and mechanical builds.
Templar: A mix between both the intelligence and the strength class, the templar class is best suited for builds that focus on Spells swords, or Mana.
Ranger: Just as the name suggests, this is a Dexterity-based class great for builds revolving around projectiles like archery,
Witch: A total intelligence focuses class in Path of Exile that works flawlessly for Minion and Spell-based builds.
Shadow: A combination of both Dexterity and the Intelligence Class. Well, you can use it for trap builds or it is also for DPS builds.
It is important to note that you can play all six of these classes from the start of the game itself, but Scion (Seventh Class) is only available at Act 3 end. There is a whole skill tree that is made specifically for each of the classes.
Class Location on Map
Scion starts at the center
Marauder starts from the Bottom Left
Dualist starts from the Bottom
Templar starts from the Top Left
Ranger starts from the Bottom Right
Witch starts from Top
Finally, Shadow starts from the Top Right
What are these Ascendancies?
A Class in Class? Well, that is exactly what Ascendancies are in Path of Exile. After picking a Class, you start playing the game and throughout this journey, you will unlock a prestige class, offering your character some passive skills in the skill tree. These abilities are truly unique and aid in making a build.
To get yourself the Ascendancies, you will have to complete Trials of Ascendancy and there is a total of 12 here. The first 6 will unlock the Class Prestige, while the Lord Labyrinth interaction after opening the Aspirant Trial will get you that Ascendency for Class unlocked.
There are a total of three Ascendancies for every class except that special Scion Class which is only one of these.
Attributes/Stats in Path of Exile
There are three core Attributes in the game itself. We will give you a brief introduction to these Attributes in our Character-Building Guide for Beginners.
Intelligence: Associated with your mana and magic, the more intelligence you will have, the better will be your energy shield and your mana. In return, you will provide to be a better sorcerer.
Strength: This Attribute defines your physical damage in melee combat, while also referring to your health. The more Strength you will have, the better you will be in melee combat and more will be your life spam.
Dexterity: Your accuracy is defined by your Dexterity, while the Evasion is also patched up to the rating of Dexterity you have. Increasing this will enhance your projectile accuracy and also make your Evasion better.
Leveling your character in Path of Exile
Unlike most ARPG games out there, you can’t earn levels or experience points through doing missions or quests. The only way you can level up is by killing the enemies.
Through doing the quests in-game, you can earn those good old Skill Points, which will in return allow the passive skills to level up. A good strategy that pros use is that they completely neglect the small enemies and rush towards bosses or rare mobs. This grants them enough experience for each level, while not wasting time on smaller things.
All in one, doing the quests or missions will grant you skill points that will help you reach the full potential of your character, while killing the enemies grant you only experience.
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Picking the Right Build
After you have decided whether a certain class is right for you or not, you will have to go for character building and this Beginner Guide is all about it. So, for starters, Path of Exile comes with a lot of parts that move around and change the whole game. For beginners, making a reliable build according to your need to the hardest part.
Your main aim here should be going for a build that is according to your interests and the skill you just invested in. Let us take the example of a certain build. When you want to make something that spreads chain lightning to enemies and in return damages them, your best bet is Arc Skill. Or a much simpler example can be the Ranger Class for Archer builds.
You are a starter of the game or an in-between player. If you focus more on the end part of the game, you make something that only deals in damage, you will suffer. Endgame and Damage focused builds are the most expensive ones, but that is not all. These builds are also hard to make, not player-friendly, and have complexity in them.
Final Verdict
Path of Exile has that spice to it that makes it unique from other ARPG games. There is complexity in the character and every choice you make here matters. Unlike most similar games where you can’t go for other class builds, here you can do anything, but sometimes you can pretty much mess up your character. For this reason, we have here a Character-Building Guide for Beginners related to Path of Exile.