The Huntress, introduced inPath of Exile 2: Dawn of the Hunt, is a spear-wielding class that can leap in and out of melee range, utilizing a variety of skills at flexible distances to take down all kinds of foes.

The Huntress is one of the most versatile classes in PoE2, so getting used to her playstyle may take a bit of experimentation. If you’re wondering where to get started with this class, and what Ascendancies you’re able to look forward to, you’ve come to the right place.

The Huntress on the character creation menu in Path of Exile 2.

Primary Weapon

Spear

The Huntress’s primary weapon is the Spear, a versatile piece of equipment that allows her toleap in and out of melee range, swapping to ranged attacks on the fly with the built-in Spear Throw Skill. Spear Skill Gems will also unlock additional ranged and melee attacks later on.

The Spear is aone-handed weapon, allowing the Huntress to equip abuckler in the off-hand. The buckler introduces the Huntress’s secondary mechanic, theParry. Using a Parry at just the right time will inflict theParry Debuffon the enemy, which will allow you to engage with a number of different effects.

The Huntress summoning tornados to fight skeletons in Path of Exile 2.

For example,using Disengage on a Parry Debuffed enemy will consume the debuffto release a shockwave while granting aFrenzy Charge, which can then be used in a variety of other ways, like boosting the power of your next Spear Throw or Explosive Spear.

The Spear gains access to an event spread ofPhysical and Elemental attacks, providing even more versatility in combat and build variety.

The Ascendancy skills and descriptions for the Amazon in Path of Exile 2.

Finally, the Spear has access to the Skill GemTame Beast, which allows you to summon wisps that engulf an enemy. If you then defeat that enemy, you will tame it,allowing you to summon it whenever you want using the Skill. The monster will even retain up to four of its modifiers, so it’s to your advantage toTame rarer and stronger monsters.

Huntress Ascendancy Classes

The Huntress currently has two Ascendancy classes available: theAmazonand theRitualist. These both offer different play styles and variations on the core Huntress gameplay. Below, you can find details on each.

Elemental Infusion

Grants the Skill Infuse Weapon.

When you consume a Power Charge, you trigger Infuse Weapon and gain 2 Cold Infusion.

When you consume an Endurance Charge, you trigger Infuse Weapon and gain 2 Fire Infusion.

The Ascendancy class skills and nodes for the Ritualist in Path of Exile 2.

When you consume a Frenzy Charge, you trigger infuse Weapon and gain 2 Lightning Infusion.

Infused Avatar

You have a 50% chance to not consume an Infusion charge when Infusing a projectile.

In for the Kill

You have 20% increased movement speed when a nearby enemy has Open Weakness.

You have 40% increased Skill Speed when a nearby enemy has Open Weakness.

Penetrate

Your weapon attacks have added Physical Damage equal to 25% of the weapon’s Accuracy Rating.

Rare and Unique enemies have their weaknesses revealed.

Critical Strike

Your Chance to hit with Attacks can exceed 100%.

You have additional Critical Hit Chance equal to 25% of your excess Chance to hit with Attacks.

Doubles Evasion Rating from Helment, Gloves, and Boots.

Mana Flasks also recover Life.

Mystic Harvest

Life Leech now recovers health based on Elemental Damage as well as Physical Damage.

The Amazon builds on the base Huntress playstyle, gaining access to evenmore Elemental Damagewith Elemental Infusion, andmore damage overall with Open Weakness.

Reveal Weaknessis a mechanic unique to the Amazon, whichhighlights a portion of an enemy’s health bar in random segments. When the enemy’s health bar is within the highlighted segment, they are considered to have an Open Weakness, granting the bonuses fromIn for the KillandPredatory Instincts.

While the majority of the Amazon’s Ascendancy nodes are centered around dealing tons more damage, a few are dedicated to survivability. In particular,Stalking Pantherwill greatly boost your overall Evasion Rating, at the cost ofless Evasion Rating on your Body Armour. However, the overall Evasion Rating gained through this nodefar outweighs the downside.

Additionally, theMystic HarvestandLife Leechnodes provide a way toheal in combat through Elemental Damage, which is perfect if you plan on going for aLightning Buildthat many other Spear skills center around.

Finally,Critical Strikesoffers amassive DPS increaseas youstack Dexterity, which you would be doing anyway. With Critical Strike, you canraise your Critical Hit Chance extremely high, greatly improving your overall damage.

If you’re deciding between the Amazon and Ritualist, choose the Amazon if you plan to build your Huntress as anElemental damage dealer, or if you want to stick with thehybrid melee/ranged playstyleof the base class.

Corrupted Lifeforce

Grants the SkillBlood Boil.

Nearby enemies periodically accumulate Blood Boils, which pop when they die, applying Corrupted Blood to enemies in their vicinity. Corrupted Blood deals Physical Damage over time, and can stack up to 10 times.

As the Whispers Ask

Grants the Skill Ritual Sacrifice.

Destroy the corpse of a nearby Rare monster to gain its Modifiers for a duration.

As the Whispers Demand

Ritual Sacrifice can now be used on yourself, removing 20% of your maximum Life to grant a random Modifier.

A maximum of one Modifier can be gained in this way.

You gain 20% more Charm Charges.

Mind Phylacteries

When a Charm has insufficient Charges, you can instead consume 25% of your maximum Mana to activate it.

Wildwood Persistence

Your Life Recovery rate is increased by 5% per 5% of missing Life.

Mystic Attunement

You gain 25% additional bonuses from Rings and Amulets.

The Ritualist is an interesting Ascendancy Class that gains access to the unique SkillsBlood BoilandRitual Sacrifice. Blood Boil is an Aura thatcauses nearby enemies to explode when they die, inflicting a Bleeding-like DoT to nearby enemies calledCorrupted Blood.

Corrupted Blood isentirely separate from Bleeding, meaning itis not modified by any stats that modify Bleeding. However, this does mean you can use these together.

Ritual Sacrifice allows the Ritualist toconsume the corpse of a Rare enemy to gain its Modifiers, providing their powerful effects for 15 seconds. When combined withAs the Whispers Demand, you can also consume part of your Life to gain an additional random Modifier, although you can only gain one at a time through this method.

The rest of the Ritualist’s kit is mainly focused on boosting the effectiveness ofRings, Amulets, and Charms, and theUnfurled Fingernode even grants anadditional Ring slot. When combined withMystic Attunement, Rings and Amulets become some of themost important pieces of gear for the Ritualist, meaning the class ismore dependent than most on good drops.

Overall, choose the Ritualist over the Amazon if you plan on running aBleed build, as the effects of Corrupted Blood and Bleeding through skills likeRakecan be very powerful when stacked together. The bonuses to Rings and Amulets also offer the Ritualist a bit more versatility in their build, meaning you may take the class in any number of different ways.