The Warrior represents the ultimate melee fighter class in Path of Exile 2. Armed with a mace in one hand and a hefty shield in the other, the Warrior acts as a formidable tank, charging through the battlefield, absorbing attacks while delivering powerful blows to enemies.
This class is versatile, allowing players to focus on both offense and defense. If you’re considering playing as a Warrior in Path of Exile 2, here’s a comprehensive look at the class’s gameplay style and its three distinct Ascendancies.
Overview of the Warrior Class
| Attribute | Strength |
|---|---|
| Ascendancies | Warbringer, Titan, Smith of Kitava |
| Primary Weapon | Mace |
The Warrior wields a mace, focusing on delivering powerful strikes rather than quick hits. With Skills like Earthquake, Earthshatter, and Sunder, this class excels in crowd control. For dealing with single targets, you can utilize Skills such as Armour Breaker to increase damage dealt to foes or Infernal Cry to enhance subsequent attacks.
The Warrior also has access to Totem Skills, such as Shockwave Totem and Ancestral Warrior Totem. These allow you to summon a Totem ally that attacks autonomously, enabling a playstyle reminiscent of summoners.
Some Skills for the Warrior can use Endurance Charges for additional power, though these can only be generated through a specific Support Gem called Break Endurance. This gem has a chance to grant charges after fully breaking an enemy’s armor. If you effectively use these charges, you can significantly enhance the Warrior’s capabilities.
Warrior Ascendancy Classes
The Warrior has access to three distinct Ascendancy Classes, each amplifying the class’s core strengths. Below is an overview of each Ascendancy:
Warbringer
| Notables | |
|---|---|
| Anvil’s Weight | All Hits break armor by 10% of the damage dealt. |
| Imploding Impacts | Can break armor below 0. |
| Jade Heritage | Grants Skill Encase in Jade; gain a stack of Jade every second. Encase in Jade: Absorbs all damage for a duration at the cost of movement. |
| Answered Call | Grants Skill Ancestral Spirits; triggers Ancestral Spirits whenever a Totem is summoned. |
| Wooden Wall | Nearby Totems take 20% of the damage directed at you. |
| Renly’s Training | 40% base chance to block from equipped shield, regardless of shield’s value. |
| Turtle Charm | 35% less block chance, but can block damage from all hits even when the shield is not raised. |
| Warcaller’s Bellow | Nearby corpses explode when Warcry skills are used, dealing 25% of their life as Physical Damage. |
| Greatwolf’s Howl | Warcry skills have no cooldowns. |
The Warbringer Ascendancy is designed to enhance the Warrior’s abilities, focusing on Warcries, blocking, and Totems. This makes it well-suited for a variety of builds, especially if you enjoy the Warrior’s base playstyle.
With Anvil’s Weight and Imploding Impacts, breaking enemy armor becomes easier, granting a significant boost to the Warbringer’s overall damage output.
The Warbringer shines with Totem Skills. Answered Call allows your Totems to summon additional allies while Wooden Wall offers defensive advantages by sharing incoming damage with your Totems.
Additionally, the Warcry skills available to the Warrior become even more potent with the Warbringer. Greatwolf’s Howl allows you to activate Warcry effects more frequently, improving your strategy in battles.
Titan
| Notables | |
|---|---|
| Stone Skin | Gain 50% more Armor from your body armor. |
| Earthbreaker | 20% chance for Slam Skills to cause Aftershocks, adding an extra hit of damage. |
| Ancestral Empowerment | Every other Slam Skill is Ancestrally boosted, providing 20% more area of effect and damage. |
| Colossal Capacity | Gains 20 additional inventory slots. |
| Hulking Form | Small Passive Skills have a 50% increased effect. |
| Crushing Impacts | Hits become Crushing Blows, causing a Heavy Stun on enemies primed for Stun. |
| Surprising Strength | Deal 40% more damage to Heavy Stunned enemies. |
| Mysterious Lineage | Increases maximum life by 15%. |
The Titan Ascendancy amplifies the Warrior’s melee capabilities, enhancing both armor and melee damage. With Stone Skin, you gain significant bonuses to your armor, allowing you to withstand more damage. In addition, Hulking Form boosts the efficiency of Small Passive Skills, which are virtually any Passive Tree node aside from Attribute nodes, Keystones, or Notables.
Earthbreaker and Ancestral Empowerment are critical for maximizing damage output, providing opportunities for Slam Skills to hit multiple times and cover larger areas.
Smith of Kitava
| Notables | |
|---|---|
| Heat of the Forge | Grants Skill Fire Spell on Hit. Hitting an enemy with melee attacks grants Energy, triggering socketed Fire spells upon reaching maximum Energy. |
| Coal Stoker | Your Fire Resistance grants Cold and Lightning Resistance at 50% of its value. |
| Forged in Flame | Maximum Fire Resistance also grants Cold and Lightning Resistance. |
| Against the Anvil | Grants Skill Temper Weapon; empowering your next three melee attacks to convert Physical Damage to Fire Damage upon hitting. |
| Living Weapon | Grants Skill Manifest Weapon; summons an invulnerable copy of your main weapon to fight alongside you. |
| Smith’s Masterwork | You can only use Normal rarity Body Armor, but can choose from a list of enhancements for improved effects. |
The Smith of Kitava offers unique build customization options via Smith’s Masterwork, enabling you to equip only Normal rarity Body Armor while selecting various enhancements. Coal Stoker and Forged in Flame provide additional resistances, allowing for easy maxing out of all three elemental resistances.
These defensive benefits work exceptionally well with various enhancements that boost your Maximum Fire Resistance, along with items that provide additional benefits against elemental damage.
For offense, Heat of the Forge, Against the Anvil, and Living Weapon grant unique attack and summon skills, making the Smith of Kitava ideal for Fire-focused builds or those aiming to cap their elemental resistances effectively. However, be cautious, as relying on Normal Body Armor can be risky until your necessary Smith’s Masterwork nodes are unlocked.
