How does the passive PoE 2 skill tree work? Many role-playing games delight players with a compelling story, exciting combat, or perhaps just the lure of another shiny item. While Path of Exile 2 has all of that in spades, it’s all about your power. Hitting someone in the face with a mace is great, but hitting someone in the face with a mace is even better when multiple nodes are unlocked in the passive skill tree; These buffs take the most basic actions and make them stronger – at least if you know what you’re doing.

The Path of Exile 2 release date is just around the corner and we have builds for all PoE 2 classes, including the Warrior, Sorceress and even Monk. Knowing where you’re going in this RPG game is more important than most because it’s so big PoE 2 passive skill tree Is; This web of Path of Exile 2 nodes is incredibly daunting at first glance, but will be the building blocks for your rise to the top.

What is the Path of Exile 2 passive skill tree?

Path of Exile 2’s passive skill tree is a branching set of unlockable nodes for your character. At first glance it looks daunting since there are over 1,500 individual passive buffs for your character, but there are ways PoE 2 makes the process more user-friendly. Example: While each of the PoE2 classes uses the same tree, they start in a specific segment, with all nodes in that section being useful to that class.

In the early game, you can’t really go wrong when choosing which passive nodes to unlock; You get one skill point per level, which you can use to unlock a node, and you get a flat boost to your base skills to start with. Things like increased melee damage etc. are always good to have early on. You progress through the passive skill tree by unlocking nodes; Think of it as a fixed route with branching options over time.

If you veer off in the wrong direction or you just don’t like the progress of your build, you can reset your passive skills for some gold. This allows for flexibility and encourages creativity when learning the basics, and the new PoE 2 Weapon Set feature allows you to create two different builds from the passive tree, each associated with a specific weapon set. You can switch between these two sets at will, adding even more depth to your builds.

It’s important to note that even though you start in a certain section of the passive skill tree depending on your class, you can go in any direction provided you have enough points to unlock nodes. What’s good for the mercenary may also be good for the ranger, and so on.

Three types of nodes make up PoE 2’s passive skill tree: Attribute Nodes, Notables, and Keystones. Next, we’ll go into this in a little more detail.

Attribute node

Attribute nodes are the bread and butter of any PoE 2 build and are generally simple extensions of a specific aspect of your character. For example, spending a skill point to unlock the skill speed node increases your attack and casting speed by 3%. These increases stack as you progress through the tree, and as mentioned, the section you start with is littered with attribute nodes that benefit your character. Try to unlock as many as possible early.

Occasionally you will come across an attribute node that offers you a choice: These nodes grant flat attribute increases, and you can choose the attribute that you feel will benefit your character the most. For example, if you have a choice between +5 to Strength, Intelligence, or Dexterity and are playing a class that relies on melee damage, it’s probably worth going for the Strength boost.

Notables

Occasionally you’ll reach a node that’s slightly larger than a normal attribute node – these are celebrities. Notables are nodes with much stronger improvements to a specific aspect of your character, but are often more nuanced. Personalities can also tweak how some of your skills work, which can be useful when you start to get into a particular play style.

An example of a notable substance is repeatable explosives; This remarkable item gives your grenades a 20% chance to explode a second time. Of course, if you don’t use grenades in your build, this notable item is useless, but for those who rely on the high burst damage of their thrown explosives, this can potentially be a game-changer.

There are other notables like shrapnel, which give your projectiles a 30 percent chance of piercing an enemy and a 30 percent chance of ricochet off the terrain. If you have a PoE 2 support gem on your crossbow that adds projectiles and then unlocks the Shrapnel Notable, you have the potential for a shotgun-like weapon that can instantly shred through mobs of enemies.

keystones

Keystones are the largest and most unique nodes you can unlock in PoE 2’s passive skill tree. They offer powerful rewards, but often also come with specific disadvantages. Keystones are nodes that you will likely need to shape your structure around to make it work.

The Mind Over Matter Keystone, for example, redirects all damage you take to your mana pool before affecting your health, but has the downside of reducing your mana regeneration by 50%. For this to work effectively, you would need to find and unlock nodes that not only increase your mana pool but also its regeneration speed; otherwise, you remain healthy but cannot use abilities.

Some keystones, such as Pain Attunement, increase critical strike chance when health is low, but decrease critical strike chance when health is near full. While your build path doesn’t necessarily need to be heavily customized, you may need to change your playstyle slightly. Keystones are all about risk and reward, but if you can get one of them to work in your build, they can be incredibly powerful.

Now that you know how Path of Exile 2’s passive skill tree works, you should have no problem building the most powerful character possible. For further explanation, we have a helpful guide on how to level up in Path of Exile 2, whether PoE 2 has co-op, and even a guide on PoE 2 Twitch Drops so you can grab some free goodies.