Path of Exile 2 is an extremely daunting game thanks to its very complex systems, but our complete beginner’s guide should help get you started.

There are many basic things to go over when starting the game, starting with what character class you even pick. Then there are also some of the more unique quirks of the game, such as how Skills work and the daunting Passive Tree. Frankly, there’s a lot to cover!

In this guide, we’ll give you some early game tips and information to help you get started in Path of Exile 2 even if you’re a complete beginner to this type of game.

Complete Beginner’s Guide | Path of Exile 2

Standard vs Hardcore

One of the first decisions you get to make when starting the game is to pick between Standard or Hardcore leagues.

As you might guess, Hardcore is the more challenging of the two leagues. It applies the following restrictions on you:

• It prevents you from playing in co-op at all, both online and locally.
• Since you can’t co-op, you also can’t trade with other players.
• Due to the previous two points, you also won’t see any other players in towns and the like. You’re fully solo.
• You can’t access the shared Stash for your Standard characters.
• Dying once will remove the Hardcore status and switch you over to Standard.

Basically, Hardcore is more or less a “Solo Self-Found” challenge. You’re forced to play alone and you can only get items by finding them yourself within your game.

Unlike other Hardcore modes, though, it doesn’t have a permadeath penalty. Since you simply switch over to the Standard League, you’re never at risk of losing progress. You’ll simply lose your Hardcore status! So, don’t be afraid to try it out if you want an extra bit of challenge or just prefer the more solitary experience it provides.

Pick Your Character

The second big choice you get is your character. There are currently 6 different characters for you to pick from, each one belonging to a different class. This number is set to expand up to 12 once the Early Access period is over.

Each class can also pick a sub-class down the line, known as an Ascendancy. These can further define your playstyle, helping you fulfill whichever role fantasy you wish. There are 2 Ascendacies for every class during Early Access, but it will be increased to 3 Ascendancies on the full launch.

Nonetheless, these are the classes you can currently pick from:

• Mercenary – Focuses on Dexterity and Strength. A balanced class with a focus on using crossbows to destroy enemies from range.
• Monk – Focuses on Dexterity and Intelligence. Primarily uses quarterstaffs and martial arts for combat, being a very agile melee class.
• Ranger – This class focuses purely on Dexterity. Uses bows and incredible mobility to keep away from foes while dishing out damage.
• Sorceress – Purely focuses on Intelligence. Uses a staff to cast elemental magic, dishing out excellent magical damage.
• Warrior – The Warrior is all about Strength. A melee tank archetype, this is your best bet if you simply want to go into the fight head first. Primarily uses maces.
• Witch – Focuses on Intelligence and uses wands for occult magic. Relies on summoning minions and applying debuffs to win in combat.

Aside from the class, you also have to keep in mind that every character in Path of Exile 2 is unique and not customizable. You can’t change their gender or appearance at all after selection. You can equip cosmetics, but they just changes the look of their equipment.

Gameplay-wise though, every class has access to the same Skills and Passives down the line. Picking a class just defines your starting point and available Ascendancies.

Gemcutting and Skills

Skills in Path of Exile 2 aren’t inherent to your character. That means, your character only naturally learns Passives which buff the character’s performance. Skills in this game are actually learned through Gemcutting.

You should naturally get Uncut Skill Gems as you play through the game. They drop from enemies and they’re also rewarded for certain quests. Using them from your inventory will open up the Gemcutting interface.

In this interface, you can pick any Skills you want to learn. This can also be used to upgrade any Skills you already have. If you’re just starting out, we recommend sticking to the Skills that fit your class’ weapon. For example, pick crossbow Skills if you’re playing as a Mercenary. All Skills are available to all classes, however, they just depend on which weapons you have equipped!

You may also find some Skill Gems that are already cut, giving you a preset Skill instead of letting you choose.

Aside from the Skills themselves, you can also slot Support Gems into your Skills. These will provide additional powers, such as adding extra projectiles or status effects to them. You can get them as loot and as quest rewards. Make good use of them to give your Skills some extra spice!

Don’t Let the Passive Tree Overwhelm You

One of the most daunting parts of Path of Exile is the Passive Skills Tree, and that’s still true in PoE2. It’s a massive tree full of nodes that provide Passive bonuses to your character, helping you define your build. Some fans even jokingly refer to it as a “skill forest” due to its size!

If you’re just starting out, though, you should focus on following the line set by your character choice. You’ll start with a small portion of the Passive Tree filled out based on your class, which helps you see what to work toward as you level up.

What’s more, you can refund all of your Passives later on by using the in-game Gold. It’s a service that becomes available once you meet The Hooded One as part of the main story. You can respec anytime later on if you made some suboptimal choices. So, don’t be afraid to experiment!

Look For Bonuses in the World Map

As you explore the World Map in Path of Exile 2, you should see many icons around the visitable area nodes. These include things like chests or skulls and things like that. Hovering over them will tell you what kind of event or effect they provide and what area they’re attached to.

Now, the most important thing to know about these icons is that some of them have a plus sign. These signal permanent bonuses that you can earn by going through the area with the effect. For example, the effect shown above will grant two weapon set passive Skill Points permanently if you defeat The Crowbell in the Hunting Grounds.

Keep an eye out for these bonus icons so you don’t miss out on any permanent upgrades for your characters!

Sell and Disenchant Junk Loot

We covered this in more detail in its dedicated guide, but it’s extremely important to grab all the loot you can early in the game. You can then sell it to NPCs for Gold or talk to Una to Disenchant it and earn items that allow you to upgrade other equipment.

Gold and Rare loot are really hard to come by in the early game, especially if you get unlucky. Make good use of the services provided by NPCs to turn your luck around!

Make Good Use of Runes

Another important aspect that every beginner’s should know in Path of Exile 2 to complete the game is Runes.

You can find Runes as random drops and rewards as you go through the game. They can be slotted into any empty sockets on your equipment for a large variety of benefits. For example, you can see that the Rune above provides a 20% increase to Armour, Evasion, and Energy Shield when slotted into any piece of armour. That’s nothing to scoff at!

Do note that not every item has Rune Sockets by default, though. You can see their sockets by simply hovering over them in your inventory. You can, however, add Rune Sockets to equipment.

Lastly, keep in mind that you can’t remove a Rune once it’s socketed into an item, at least currently.

Using Stashes

Last but not least, you have to get to know the Stash system. You can use your Stash at pretty much every main town in the game and they work as a sort of storage shared between your characters. You get 4 basic Stash tabs for free, but you can purchase additional ones via microtransactions.

If you’re just starting out, though, there’s no rush to buy anything!

Anyway, the Stash itself is pretty simple. It lets you put away any items or currencies you have, storing them safely. This is vital, considering that inventory space in PoE2 is very limited.

What’s more, all of your characters in the same “league” share a Stash. Right now, that just means all of your characters on Standard. This lets you try out different builds since your gear is never really stuck on a single character!

That brings us to the end of our complete beginner’s guide for Path of Exile 2. There’s still a lot more that could be talked about, of course, as this is a huge and complex game! Nonetheless, we think this should give you a solid starting point to work from.