Path of Exile 2 Best Starting Class Guide

Wondering what is the best starting class in Path of Exile 2? This guide explains what starting classes there are, what they do, what’s best for beginners, and what to avoid. There are 6 different starting classes at the time of the game’s launch. The starting class affects your starting equipment, skills and attribute point allocation.

What Starting Classes are in Path of Exile 2?

1. Sorceress – The classic Mage Build using elemental magic. The Sorceress relies on mana to cast spells.
2. Warrior – The classic “Barbarian” Melee Build using short-range melee weapons and heavy shields.
3. Ranger – The classic “Archer” Build. Fights at range using a bow, has high dexterity and is good at evasion.
4. Witch – The classic “Necromancer” Build. Relies on summoning the corpses of fallen enemies to fight for you.
5. Mercenary – A Crossbowman shooting from a distance. Uses a variety of Crossbow ammo types.
6. Monk – A Close-Range Melee Fighter using a Staff and some close-range Elemental Magic.

What is the Best Starting Class in Path of Exile 2?

The best starting class is the Sorceress. This is the classic mage / spellcaster. Especially for solo players new to Path of Exile the Sorceress is the easiest class to get started with. The Sorceress uses a long-range magic projectile and many AOE spells that can hit multiple enemies at once. Because you can play at long range, you can completely skip the melee combat mechanics and brute force most enemies. You will rarely get hit because the goal with the Sorceress is to stay far enough away from enemies. On top of that you have a strong Energy Shield which negates all health damage until it’s depleted. The Energy Shield automatically recharges, you can buy it as a Passive Perk after your first level-up. You can also increase the Energy Shield through armor, but perks are a guaranteed way to have a strong Energy Shield early on, reducing the need to heal. The first spell you unlock is the “Spark”, it’s an electric spell. Out of all starting classes’ early spells, this is the best one for crowd control. For your second skill pick the “Flame Wall”, it creates a barrier that burns enemies as they pass through it. Then just spam Flame Wall + Spark.

Ranger and Witch are also good ranged classes for solo players. Rangers use bows and a variety of elemental skills. Witches use Necromancy to summon the dead to fight for you. However, compared to the Sorceress they don’t have as strong Crowd Control.

Melee characters (Warrior & Monk) are quite hard in this game, especially for solo players, due to constantly taking health damage at close range. Ranged characters make it easier to exploit the AI and brute force most bosses after farming enough level-ups, whereas melee classes are heavily reliant on having good equipment. With a melee character you need more skill to time your blocks & dodges.

What is the Best Strategy for Beginners in Path of Exile 2?

• With Sorceress, buy the two skills “Spark” and “Flame Wall“. At the start of every encounter cast Flame Wall > spam Spark repeatedly. The enemies will pass through the Flame Wall and take damage. Spark hits everything in the area and kills all enemies quickly. It’s perfect for crowd control and doesn’t use too much mana. Against single targets use your default fire attack spell.
• Buy the passive perks “Energy Shield” / “Pure Energy”. These increase your Energy Shield early on, it’s the blue bar around your health in the bottom left of the screen. While your shield is charged it negates all health damage, thus you rarely need to use health potions. Energy Shield recharges automatically after a short time. The more you upgrade your energy shield, the better your survivability will be and the fewer health potions you will need. It can be tempting to buy perks that give more spell damage, but it’s better to prioritize the Energy Shield first to improve survivability.
• You can view your stats (including total Energy Shield) in the “Character” Screen, on the left side. You can also improve your Energy Shield and other stats through better armor. Note that Bleeding & Poison damage will bypass your Energy Shield.
• Explore all early areas fully for chests and minibosses. They drop useful gear. Having every equippable gear slot filled gives you a good foundation. If you are only missing items in 1-2 slots buy them from merchants. At every merchant sell the gear you don’t need.

Best Melee Starting Class in Path of Exile 2

If you absolutely want to play a melee character, there are only two choices: Warrior -or- Monk. Warrior is your classic “Tank” character with a high armor stat. Monks have lighter armor and excel in aggressive close-quarters combat.

If you prefer a more defensive build the Warrior is best for that. If you prefer a more varied damage dealer the Monk is worth testing.

Best Path of Exile 2 Starting Classes Ranked

Below the best starting classes are ranked from 1st (best) to 6th (worst). This is based primarily on clear times & survivability in early game playing Solo. Meaning, which class did the most damage and cleared areas the fastest while suffering the least health damage. It also factors in Crowd Control and damage against Bosses.

1. Sorceress – The classic “Mage” is the usual go-to for these types of games. By far the best crowd control and fastest clear times, while staying untouched most of the time as enemies die before they can get to you. Immediate access to Energy Shield perk gives good defense early on. The shield quickly recharges and negates health damage. Placing “Flame Wall” + spamming “Spark” makes quick work of any mob.
2. Ranger – Great All-Rounder, fast attack speed and good damage against single targets. The standard arrows interrupt enemies running towards you. Lightning Arrow gives decent crowd control but not as efficient as the Sorceress’s Spark Projectiles. Escape Shot freezes enemies coming towards you, keeping you safe and allowing for strong follow-ups. Instead of an Energy Shield, this class specializes in the “Evasion” stat which gives a chance to avoid enemy attacks.
3. Witch – Has passive minions fighting for you, but lacks defensive skills. Enemies often get past your minions to attack you directly. Defeated enemies can be necromanced to fight for you using “Unearth” skill, but they don’t last long. Unearth has relatively short range, thus you often have to go into the danger zone near enemies. Contagion spell deals damage over time but at a slow rate, can be good when playing as part of a team, but not as efficient when playing solo. Early on you should invest passive perk points into the Energy Shield to improve survivability, otherwise you take a lot of health damage.
4. Mercenary – Ranged Crossbowman. Clear times/damage output not as good as above classes, but does good damage against single targets and bosses. Uses a Crossbow to attack, with the “skills” being ammo types you load into the Crossbow. Since all attacks are done by shooting the crossbow it requires spamming the same button the entire time which can get a bit annoying for some players. This class also lacks Crowd Control early on, making it less useful for solo players.
5. Warrior – The classic Barbarian Melee Build. You will need to fight at close range with melee weapons, hence you will take health damage more frequently. Damage output is heavily reliant on having good weapons, which can be costly or require luck to obtain from random drops. Crowd Control is relatively limited. This class is the best Tank and has the best defense thanks to lots of armor and heavy shields. Can be very useful as part of a team, but difficult to handle for solo players.
6. Monk – A close-range melee fighter using a staff. Less armored than Warrior but has access to some short-range elemental attacks that deal good damage. A bit of a mixed bag as he doesn’t excel in any one category and is difficult to handle for solo players, you will take damage constantly and need to rely on healing flasks. Also relies heavily on good equipment to improve survivability.

Ultimately, you can turn any of the starting classes into a success, this is the general “easiest” to “hardest” if playing solo.