Master the Warrior Class in PoE 2 – Tips, Skills, and Builds

PoE 2 Warrior Guide: Overview, Skills, and Ascendancies

Introduction to the Warrior Class

Path of Exile 2 introduces the Warrior, one of six playable classes available during the Early Access release on December 6th, 2024. While PoE 2 will eventually feature 12 classes, only half of them will be available at launch.

The Warrior is a new addition to the PoE universe, branching off from the Marauder of Path of Exile 1. Although some aspects of the Warrior may feel familiar to veteran Marauder players, the Warrior class is designed to establish its own unique identity and playstyle.

This guide provides a comprehensive overview of the Warrior class, including its mechanics, skills, and ascendancies. Let’s dive in!

Warrior Overview in PoE 2

The Warrior is a Strength (STR)-focused class, starting in the same region as the Marauder on the Passive Skill Tree. This positions the Warrior in the bottom-left Strength section, granting easy access to nodes that enhance melee combat.

Signature Weapon: Mace

The Warrior’s signature weapon is the Mace, a weapon type carried over from PoE 1. In the original game, the Marauder’s starting area was near nodes for various melee weapons such as Axes, Maces, and Staves. However, in PoE 2, the Warrior is now the primary class for Mace builds, which frequently focus on:

• Slam Attacks: Powerful, slower attacks that deal significant burst damage.
• Warcries: Abilities that amplify melee damage and synergize with Slam attacks.

While Slam attacks are slower compared to other skills, their high damage per hit makes them a staple of Mace-focused builds.

Stun Mechanic in PoE 2

Stun and Bosses

Path of Exile 2 introduces significant changes to how crowd control (CC) mechanics, like Stun and Freeze, work against bosses. In PoE 1, bosses were often immune to CC to avoid trivializing content. In PoE 2, this system has been reworked:

• Bosses are no longer completely immune to CC but cannot be stun-locked.
• Stunning or freezing a boss fills an internal gauge. Once the gauge is full, the boss is briefly CC’d.
• After being CC’d, the boss requires more hits to refill the gauge before being CC’d again. Over time, the gauge resets to default.

This change ensures that CC mechanics remain impactful without making bosses too easy.

Stun Synergy with Mace Attacks

The Stun mechanic is deeply tied to Mace builds, as many Mace-specific skills naturally synergize with Stun effects. Due to the slower nature of Slam attacks, stunning an enemy beforehand can be crucial for setting up high-damage burst attacks.

Mace builds will often utilize Stun to control enemies, creating windows for charging and executing powerful strikes.

Warrior Skill Gems in PoE 2

The Warrior class is strongly associated with Mace-based skills, although these abilities align thematically with the class as a whole. Below is a list of Skill Gems revealed during the latest livestream, along with some older showcased abilities that may be available at Early Access or added later.

Recently Revealed Skills

• Earthquake
• Boneshatter
• Rolling Slam
• Shield Charge
• Armour Breaker
• Shockwave Totem
• Infernal Cry
• Perfect Strike
• Resonating Shield
• Leap Slam
• Earthshatter
• Shield Wall
• Sunder
• Volcanic Fissure
• Seismic Cry
• Supercharged Slam
• Stampede
• Ancestral Warrior Totem
• Hammer of the Gods

Putting It All Together: Playing the Warrior in PoE 2

The Warrior class comes equipped with a diverse arsenal of skills to adapt to any situation, whether you're clearing packs of enemies or taking down tough bosses. Here's how to make the most of the Warrior's abilities.

Clearing Packs of Weaker Enemies

For crowd control and AoE damage, the Warrior has several strong options:

• Core AoE Skills:
  • Earthquake, Ground Slam, or Sunder are excellent for dealing damage to large groups.
• Enhance Your Clear:
  • Use support skills like Infernal Cry or Herald of Ash to amplify your AoE and create explosive effects when enemies die.

These combinations make it easy to handle packs of mobs efficiently, letting you clear entire screens with devastating attacks.

Taking Down Bosses and Rare Monsters

Boss fights and tough Rare enemies require a more strategic approach. Combining skills is key to maximizing your damage output:

• Single-Target Damage:
  • Boneshatter is a powerful skill for ramping up single-target damage, but it comes with a risk—you’ll take self-damage each time it’s used. To mitigate this, invest in strong defensive options to avoid accidentally killing yourself.
• High-Burst Damage:
  • Supercharged Slam delivers massive damage, but its long charge time makes it risky to use in fast-paced combat.
  • To counter this, you can set up your burst by using Armour Breaker followed by Leap Slam to Stun the target.
  • Once the enemy is stunned, safely charge Supercharged Slam and unleash devastating damage.

Warrior Ascendancy Classes in PoE 2

In Path of Exile 2, each class will eventually have three Ascendancy Classes to further specialize and customize their character. For the Early Access launch on December 6th, 2024, each playable class, including the Warrior, will have two Ascendancies available.

Warrior Ascendancies

Warbringer

• Focus: Totems, Warcries, and shield-based defense.
• Key Features:
  • Passive nodes that synergize with Totems and Warcries to enhance both offense and utility.
  • Additional passives to empower your Shield, making it a core part of your defensive strategy.

Titan

• Focus: Slam Skills, crowd control, and survivability.
• Key Features:
  • Specializes in slow but powerful Slam attacks and stunning enemies.
  • Utility passives include:
    • Increased maximum life.
    • Boosted Armour.
    • Unique quality-of-life bonuses like a larger backpack for carrying items.

Wrap-Up

This concludes everything we currently know about the Warrior class in Path of Exile 2.

While the Warrior isn’t an entirely new concept for the Path of Exile universe, it represents a focused evolution. Many skills, such as Slam Skills, are carried over from PoE 1, where they were typically part of Marauder builds. The Warrior refines this playstyle, emphasizing Maces, Slams, and Totems, while allowing for deeper specialization.

Comparison with the Marauder

The introduction of the Warrior opens up new possibilities for the Marauder class in PoE 2, distinguishing them and creating unique niches for each. The Marauder may develop its own distinct identity in future updates.

Why Play the Warrior?

The Warrior class is ideal for players who:

• Want a tank-like character with immense durability.
• Enjoy wielding massive weapons and delivering heavy, impactful blows.
• Like strategic playstyles that combine stuns, warcries, and slams for maximum effectiveness.

The Warrior promises to be a satisfying choice for anyone looking to smash enemies with powerful, weighty attacks while remaining resilient on the battlefield.