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The Warrior is the quintessential melee brawler class inPath of Exile 2. With a mace in one hand and a big shield in the other, the Warrior becomes a tank, making its way through the battlefield, soaking up damage while slamming enemies with massive hits.
The Warrior can specialize in both offense and defense, making it a great all-rounder. If you’re interested in playing the Warrior in Path of Exile 2, here’s everything you need to know about the class’s playstyle, and each of its three Ascendancies.
Primary Weapon
Mace
The Warrior begins with the Mace, a melee weapon that is centered around slow but big hits. With access to Skills likeEarthquake,Earthshatter, andSunder, the Warrior does not lack ingroup-clearing abilities. For single targets, you can use Skills likeArmour Breakerto make the target take more damage, orInfernal Cryto empower subsequent attacks.
The Mace also has access toTotem abilities, likeShockwave TotemandAncestral Warrior Totem. These summon a Totem ally that will repeatedly perform an attack, allowing for asummoner-style type of gameplayas well.
A few of the Warrior’s Skills can consumeEndurance Chargesto empower them, but generating these is limited to only one Support Gem,Break Endurance, which has a chance to grant one when fully breaking the target’s armour. However, if you’re able to make use of these, you have a chance to greatly improve the Warrior’s capabilities.
Warrior Ascendancy Classes
The Warrior has access to three Ascendancy Classes, each building off of the base class’s strengths. Below, you can find details on each.
You can Break Armour below 0.
Jade Heritage
Grants Skill Encase in Jade. You gain a stack of Jade every second.
Encase in Jade: Consumes your Jade stacks to grant a buff that absorbs all damage for a duration, but you can’t move or perform actions while encased.
Answered Call
Grants Skill Ancestral Spirits. Trigger Ancestral Spirits whenever you Summon a Totem.
Ancestral Spirits: Your Totems will summon an Ancestral Spirit Minion to fight for you.
Wooden Wall
Your nearby Totems take 20% of the damage directed at you.
Renly’s Training
You have a 40% Base Chance to Block from your equipped Shield, regardless of the Shield’s actual value.
Turtle Charm
You have 35% less Block Chance, but you can Block damage from all hits even when your Shield is not Raised.
Warcaller’s Bellow
Nearby Corpses explode when you use a Warycry Skill, dealing 25% of their Life as Physical Damage.
Greatwolf’s Howl
Your Warcry Skills no longer have cooldowns.
The Warbringer Ascendancy seeks toenhance the abilities of the base Warrior, withWarcries,Blocking, andTotemsbeing the main focus. This makes it agreat Ascendency for a variety of different builds, especially if you like the playstyle of the base class.
Anvil’s WeightandImploding Impactsmake it mucheasier to break the enemy’s armor, andbreaking armor is even more powerful. These two nodes alone comprise alarge damage boostto the Warbringer’s overall DPS.
The Warbringer is also the best Ascendancy when it comes to the Mace’sTotem Skills.Answered Calllets your Totemssummon an additional companionto fight alongside you, whileWooden Wallis a great defensive tool thatlets your Totems take some damage for you.
Warcries are another great set of Skills the Warrior has access to, and Warbringer makes them even better. WithGreatwolf’s Howl, you canuse your Warcries without having to wait for their cooldowns, letting you activate their effects as frequently as you need them.
You gain 50% more Armour from your equipped Body Armour.
Earthbreaker
You have a 20% chance for your Slam Skills to cause Aftershocks, dealing an additional hit of damage.
Ancestral Empowerment
Every other Slam Skill you use is Ancestrally Boosted, giving it 20% more area of effect and damage.
Small Passive Skills have 50% increased effect.
Crushing Impacts
Your Hits are Crushing Blows, which means they will inflict a Heavy Stun on the enemy if is Primed for Stun. An enemy is Primed for Stun at certain Heavy Stun buildup intervals, depending on its rarity.
Mysterious Lineage
You have 15% increased maximum Life.
The Titan builds on the base Warrior’smelee abilities, grantingincreased Armour and melee damage.Stone Skingrants a lot more Armour from your Body Armour, allowing you tank a bit more damage, whileHulking Formincreases the effectiveness ofSmall Passive Skills, which is essentiallyany Passive Tree node that isn’t an Attribute node, Keystone, or Notable.
Hulking Form has the potential to granttons of additional stats, ranging anywhere from additional damage to defense or health.
The main DPS boost for the Titan comes fromEarthbreakerandAncestral Empowerment, which gives yourSlam Skillsa chance tohit twice anddeal more damagein a bigger area, respectively. If you’re choosing the Titan Ascendancy, chances are it’s because of these two nodes.
Heat of the Forge
Grants Skill Fire Spell on Hit.
Fire Spell on Hit: While active, you gain Energy when you hit an enemy with melee attacks. When you reach maximum Energy, you trigger your socketed Fire spells.
Coal Stoker
Your Fire Resistance also grants Cold Resistance and Lightning Resistance at 50% of its value.
Forged in Flame
Your Maximum Fire Resistance also grants Maximum Cold Resistance and Maximum Lightning Resistance.
Against the Anvil
Grants Skill Temper Weapon.
Temper Weapon: Channel this Skill to strike the anvil. Each strike empowers your next three melee attacks, causing them to trigger Combust on hit, converting Physical Damage to Fire Damage in an explosion.
Living Weapon
Grants Skill: Manifest Weapon.
Manifest Weapon: Summon an invincible copy of your main weapon as a Companion that fights beside you.
Smith’s Masterwork
you’re able to only use Normal rarity Body Armour. You can choose any of the following passives that grant effects to your Body Armour, and these can be allocated freely.
Smith of Kitava is an interesting Ascendancy that allows for evendeeper build customizationthroughSmith’s Masterwork. This Notable makes it so you canonly equip Normal rarity Body Armour, but allows you to choose from a wide range of effects that essentially let youcraft your perfect piece of armour.
Coal StokerandForged in Flameare also two essential Notables for the Smith of Kitava, allowing your Fire Resistance and Maximum Fire Resistance to apply to Cold and Lightning as well, making itvery easy to hit the cap on all three resistances, and evengo beyond the cap with increases to Maximum Resistance.
These defensive layers are invaluable, andpair extremely well with the Tantalum Alloy and Flowing Metal Smith’s Masterwork nodes, as well as theInfernoclasp Plate Belt Uniquethat further increases Maximum Fire Resistance.
For offense, you have access toHeat of the Forge,Against the Anvil, andLiving Weapon, which all grant skills unique to the Smith of Kitava.
Overall, the Smith of Kitava is the best choice forFire-based builds, or for easily maxing out your elemental Resistances. Keep in mind however, that running around with only a Normal Body Armour can be dangerous until you have the Smith’s Masterwork nodes you need unlocked.
