Struggling to figure out Ascendancy classes in Path of Exile 2? Here's how to finally be able to select your Ascendancy in the game.
Ascendancy is a powerful "subclass" or "Elite version" of your character's class. At the outset, you will have two choices, however, eventually every class will have 3. If you are curious as to what your choices area, the Path of Exile 2 website posted previews of PoE 2 Ascendancy classes.
Note that your choice is permanent and can't be respecced.
How to Ascend in Path of Exile 2
Reach Act 2 and find The Traitor
In order to begin Ascending, you need to progress through the story and reach Act 2. There you will eventually get to a level 19 underground area called the Traitor's Passage. In it, there's an optional boss called Balbala, The Traitor. You have to find this boss, so make sure to explore the area carefully, and there will be a checkpoint there.
Defeat Balbala; start the fight by unlocking the three seals. She isn't too difficult; the coin she throws on the ground is a damaging attack, so don't stand in it. When the room starts to fill with poisonous gas, you must move and find Balbala, who is invisible until you approach. She will swing out at you, but the poison will stop. Repeat this a couple of times and destroy her weak shades as well, and you will be victorious.
She drops a Trial Token and you will get a quest to proceed to the Trial of the Sekhemas.
Complete the Trial of Sekhemas
Now you can use the caravan to travel to the Trial of Sekhemas, which will be on your map. It's a level 22 area, however, make sure you are quite ready and confident with your build and gear, because the Trial is quite challenging.
You can retry the Trial as much as you want, though, so it is worth a shot if you feel like it.
Once you get to the Trial, talk to Balbala there, who will assist you. Place your token there, and you will have to go through several rooms in a "Slay the Spire" style of map. Each challenge has different tasks, but in the end, you need to proceed to the following rooms.
Trial of the Sekhemas tips
You are bound to a new currency called Honor which depletes if you take any damage. When your Honor is at 0, you fail the Trial. That can happen even with the last boss, which means you'll have to do the entire Trial over again.
So — minimize the damage that you take as much as possible! Dodge roll everything, kite, and blast them with your skills. As stated earlier, hopefully you're confident in your build and damage. It's probably easier for ranged than melee.
There are some shrines that restore some Honor, so look for those on the map.
There are several types of rooms:
- Ritual Trial: Kill two skeletons near portals that occasionally spawn a mob. The skeletons have a recharging shield, so focus them down relentlessly. Sometimes you'll see a room with just one big portal and four summoners.
- Escape Trial: Timed room; run to each Death Crystal and click on them. After you click, watch where the light flies, as that tells you where the next one is. You don't have to kill monsters at all. It may be worth to click on the chests after you rack up some time.
- Gauntlet Trial: A big room with traps and enemies, and gemmed gates; sometimes the gates are locked, but finding a Lever unlocks the doors, sometimes locking other ones. Look at the colors of the Levers and doors to see which ones are affected. Sometimes you'll have to backtrack to unlock the final door or proceed.
- Hourglass Trial: Timed room; survive the fight with a Unique monster to beat it.
Look carefully when deciding on the next room; there are some particularly nasty debuffs that you should avoid at all costs, such as having reduced damage done by you or having the monsters deal more damage. You can also find Shrines that restore Honor, so you can get some back; it's priority to get to those unless you are quite full on Honor.
You also earn Sacred Water, which is basically like money during the run. You can use it with a Merchant if you find it on the map, but you can also spend them at the end. Remember to click on the fountain at the exit room of a Trial to get some. Sacred Water will probably matter more when you have to do longer Trials, but for now, don't worry too much about it.
The boss is a pain, because of tons of AoE damage around the room, so pay really good attention to the markers on the ground and avoid taking any unneccessary damage. It's actually not too bad to melee it, since it swings very slowly and in a fixed direction. So you might want to kite it very closely, even if you're ranged. Utilize all of the room as much as possible while doing as much damage as you can. If you haven't been good with your Honor, it may be too hard, however.
Don't get discouraged if you fail, it took me four tries to get this with a ranged Cold Sorceress. Get used to the Trials and kill enemies efficiently without taking any damage. You have to get a little lucky with Afflictions/Boons as well, as sometimes you can find some truly beneficial ones.
At the end, click on an Altar to choose your Ascendancy and spend 2 points. Use your keys on other rewards, as well.
How to get more Ascendancy Points in Path of Exile 2
Doing further Trials of Sekhema won't give you more Ascendancy points, unless it happens to have 4 trials on the coin.
Proceed into Act 3, and kill a Chimera boss; then you will have to find the Temple of Chaos to get the next points. Trial of Chaos is different from the Trial of Sekhemas, and you may find it easier.
Wudijo posted a quick guide detailing this; some details aren't totally confirmed for the latter points possibly due to bugs. Everyone seems quite certain that to get the next two points, you need a Trial key with at least 4 trials, and it probably doesn't matter which Trial it is. However, they rarely drop, and killing the Chimera boss gives you one with 4 trials, so that will get you the next points.
Keep in mind that the game is in Early Access and subject to change; however, this format of the Trial and its spot in the story is unlikely to change. However, some smaller details may be updated.
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