Path of Exile 2 is just around the corner with its Early Access launch on December 6th, and one of the most exciting changes players will experience is the Passive Tree redesign. The new tree boasts a much larger scale, featuring notables and keystones that are more specialized and impactful as you branch out from your starting location. In this guide, we’ll go over some of the best PoE 2 passive tree notables, specifically from the portions for specific classes of the tree. Let’s get started!
PoE 2 Passive Node Tier List - Best Passive Skill Tree Notables For Each Class
One of my initial concerns with PoE 2's Passive Tree was that it might feel generic and bland, given its increased size and the removal of many life nodes. However, my fears were unfounded. While the tree begins with simpler stats near starting points, it becomes increasingly specialized as you progress outward. Many notables feel closer to keystones in power, offering unique mechanics and insane value for certain builds. Let’s start by looking at the class stats-aligned section of the tree.
RELATED READ This Path of Exile 2 Classes Tier List provides a detailed overview of each ascendancy class, highlighting their playstyles and abilities to help you choose the best class ascendancy fit for your build - whether you prefer powerful melee fighters or tactical spellcasters.
Check out our Path of Exile 2 Best Builds Tier List, where we cover the S-Tier meta builds for Mercenary, Monk, Warrior, Ranger, Witch, Huntress, Druid, Sorceress, Marauder, and other playable classess.
Best Warrior Passive Nodes (Strength-Aligned Area)
The Warrior’s starting location is strength-aligned, focusing on survivability, life stacking, and attack-based power. Here are some of the standout notables in this area:
1. Unbending
Effect:
At first glance, 3% increased maximum life seems underwhelming. However, the way life scaling works in PoE 2 makes this node incredibly valuable. In PoE 1, life scaling relied heavily on increased life from the passive tree, with builds often stacking 75–150% increased maximum life. In PoE 2, however, flat life scaling from strength, gear, and levels plays a much larger role, while increased life modifiers are rarer. As a result, modifiers like this will multiply against a much larger base life pool, making Unbending a must-have for life-stacking builds such as Warriors or even Blood Mages.
2. Made to Last
Effect:
This is essentially a weaker version of the Untiring Ascendancy node from PoE 1’s Juggernaut. Its value lies in PoE 2's war of attrition playstyle. With fewer flask charges available during extended boss fights, any form of resource recovery becomes incredibly valuable. Made to Last synergizes well with dodge-heavy builds, allowing you to recover chip damage over time while avoiding major hits.
3. Skullcrusher
Effect:
This notable synergizes perfectly with the Titan Ascendancy, which excels at stunning enemies and dealing massive damage to heavily stunned targets. The combination of Skullcrusher’s 40% more damage and the Titan’s inherent modifiers can lead to a staggering 68% more damage. This notable will shine in boss fights where stunning enemies becomes a viable strategy.
4. Spike Pit
Effect:
Spike Pit is a damage multiplier that works exceptionally well with Jagged Ground mechanics. Builds that can reliably create and detonate Jagged Ground will find this node invaluable, especially when paired with heavy stun combos from the Titan Ascendancy. Its synergy with area-denial mechanics makes it a strong pick for fights with stationary or slow-moving bosses.
5. Savoured Blood & Voracious
Savoured Blood Effect:
Voracious Effect:
These two notables redefine how leech mechanics work in PoE 2. Without a cap on leech, Savoured Blood offers incredible recovery by extending leech duration and increasing its potency. When paired with Voracious, the instant leech portion scales with Savoured Blood’s increased leech modifier, creating an effective blend of sustained and burst recovery. Together, they ensure survivability in both trash-clearing and high-damage boss scenarios.
6. Heatproofing & Unnatural Resilience
Heatproofing Effect:
Unnatural Resilience Effect:
These two nodes work beautifully together, especially against fire damage-heavy encounters. Heatproofing allows armor to mitigate fire damage after resistances are applied, while Unnatural Resilience boosts your maximum fire resistance. When paired with PoE 2 items like Cloak of Flame, which converts physical damage to fire damage, this combination becomes an incredible defensive layer. Expect these nodes to be staples for tanky builds.
Best Mercenary Passive Nodes (Strength/Dexterity-Aligned Area)
The Mercenary’s starting location focuses on hybrid strength and dexterity mechanics, featuring nodes that enhance grenades, cooldown recovery, and weapon swapping. Here are the key notables:
1. Bulwark
Effect:
Bulwark is a fascinating keystone for tankier builds, especially those with strong recovery mechanics. By replacing the traditional Dodge Roll avoidance frames with a 30% less damage taken modifier, it makes the Dodge Roll useful even against area-of-effect hits, significantly improving survivability.
2. Apocalypse
Effect:
This notable is ideal for mapping builds that rely on Heralds, such as Herald of Ash, to clear packs with on-kill effects. While it reduces your direct Herald damage, the massive increase to Herald effects can vastly improve clear speed by enhancing the Heralds’ burn, explosion, or other secondary effects.
3. Cull the Hordes
Effect:
Culling Strike now scales based on monster rarity, and this notable increases the threshold at which monsters are culled. For example, rare monsters would now be culled at 12.5% life instead of 10%, while uniques would be culled at 6.25%. This is a strong multiplier for builds looking to increase boss kill speed.
4. Fast Metabolism
Effect:
Fast Metabolism introduces a form of overleech, allowing recovery to persist even when life is full, similar to regeneration. While overleech may feel slightly weaker in PoE 2 due to shorter leech durations, this notable will still be invaluable in sustained combat scenarios.
5. Glancing Blows & Lay Siege
Glancing Blows Effect:
Lay Siege Effect:
Glancing Blows returns in PoE 2, offering a mix of offense and defense. Paired with Lay Siege, which grants increased damage based on your block chance, this combination is ideal for block-heavy builds. However, Lay Siege’s location may make it more suitable as an anoint for certain builds.
6. Polymathy
Effect:
Polymathy is a universal stat booster, providing increased Strength, Dexterity, and Intelligence. This notable is especially valuable for attribute-stacking builds, helping meet gear or Keystone requirements while also scaling defensive or offensive benefits from attributes.
7. Levitation
Effect:
Levitation is a game-changing defensive notable that counters ground-denial mechanics. It’s perfect for surviving arena-style boss fights with stacking ground effects, ensuring you can reposition safely without taking lethal damage.
Best Ranger Passive Nodes (Dexterity-Aligned Area)
The dexterity-aligned area of Path of Exile 2's passive skill tree, where the Ranger begins, features several powerful and intriguing passive nodes. During my playthrough in Los Angeles, I captured some of these nodes and explored their potential applications. Here's a breakdown and ranking of the best Ranger nodes, based on their effects and impact on different builds.
1. Catalysis
Effect:
20% increased Elemental Damage with Attack Skills.
5% of Physical Damage from Hits taken as Damage of a random Element (Fire, Cold, or Lightning).
Catalysis introduces a "damage redirection" mechanism, where 5% of physical damage taken from hits is converted into elemental damage, which resistances can then mitigate. While this won't work against damage-over-time effects like Bleeding, it's a highly defensive node for builds that prioritize elemental resistance. It's expected to be a staple for elemental attack builds on the Ranger's side of the tree, though its utility is limited for non-elemental builds due to the small percentage of damage redirected.
2. Elemental Equilibrium
Effect:
This keystone reimagines the classic Elemental Equilibrium from Path of Exile 1, rewarding clever use of alternating elemental damage types. For example, dealing Cold Damage removes Cold Exposure and applies Fire Exposure, making it perfect for builds that ignite with Cold Damage or deal Cold Damage after igniting. Builds that can deal all three types of elemental damage in a single hit can reapply all three exposures simultaneously, making it a powerful option for hybrid elemental builds.
3. Low Tolerance
Effect:
With the reworked ailment mechanics in Path of Exile 2, poison no longer stacks by default. Low Tolerance provides a massive damage boost to the initial poison applied to an enemy. This makes it an ideal node for poison builds focusing on single, powerful poison applications. While it loses value in prolonged fights where enemies remain poisoned, it could shine in scenarios with frequent target switching or builds that shorten poison duration to repeatedly reapply it.
4. Stacking Toxins
Effect:
This notable allows you to apply an extra stack of poison, but at the cost of reduced poison effect. Since the "reduced" modifier stacks additively with other modifiers, builds that invest in poison effect scaling can counteract or even negate this downside. Combined with Low Tolerance or other poison-related nodes, this makes Stacking Toxins a powerful choice for poison-focused builds.
5. Oasis
Effect:
Oasis is a unique keystone that disables the use of charms (a new automated utility item in Path of Exile 2) in exchange for significantly improved flask recovery. While flask recovery will be harder to obtain in Path of Exile 2 compared to its predecessor, the value of this keystone is highly dependent on how essential charms become and whether their utility can be replaced by other means. As of now, it seems situationally useful but will likely shine in builds that heavily rely on flasks for survival.
6. Charm Effect Notables
Effect:
These notables enhance the effect of charms, which are triggered automatically when specific conditions are met. However, many charms, such as Staunching (removes Bleeding) or Thawing (removes Freeze), currently lack scalable stats, making the value of these nodes unclear. It's speculated that certain ascendancies, like Pathfinder, may introduce mechanics to maximize charm utility, but until then, these nodes seem niche.
7. Acrobatics
Effect:
Acrobatics offers a trade-off, significantly reducing your evasion rating in exchange for the ability to evade area-of-effect hits, which are normally unavoidable. While the downside is steep, this keystone is likely to be situationally powerful for boss fights or builds that rely on other defensive layers, such as Dodge or Block.
8. Heartstopper
Effect:
Heartstopper is a high-risk, high-reward keystone that rewards quick reactions to damage-over-time effects like Burning Ground or Poison. It provides incredible mitigation for the first second of taking damage over time but penalizes you heavily if you remain in the damaging effect for too long. Builds with strong mobility or instant recovery mechanics will benefit most from this node, while slower builds may struggle to manage its downside.
9. Falcon Technique
Effect:
Falcon Technique provides a natural stat-stacking incentive for attack builds. With dexterity offering 2.5x more accuracy in Path of Exile 2 compared to its predecessor, this node synergizes well with the new Ranger archetypes. It scales well with dexterity-stacking uniques or support nodes elsewhere on the tree.
10. Falcon Dive
Effect:
Falcon Dive is a complementary node to Falcon Technique, encouraging accuracy stacking. Combining these two nodes can result in substantial attack speed increases for dexterity-heavy builds. With speed modifiers being toned down in Path of Exile 2, this node could become a cornerstone for fast-paced melee or ranged builds.
Best Monk Passive Nodes (Int/Dex Area)
The Monk's passive tree offers a wealth of powerful nodes that enhance mana recovery, energy shield scaling, poison mechanics, evasion, and more. Many of these nodes synergize beautifully with the Monk's natural playstyle and unique ascendency options. This guide highlights the most impactful nodes to consider as you map out your build.
1. Siphon
Effect:
This node is a game-changer for mana sustain. The 2% mana recovery on kill provides instant regeneration, which pairs exceptionally well with the Acolyte of Chula Monk ascendancy. This ascendancy enables instant Mana Leech and converts Mana Leech into energy shield recovery. Players using Ravenous Stouts or Consuming Questions can further enhance recovery.
2. Spaghettification
Effect:
Grants 3% movement speed, 29% increased chaos damage, -133% chaos resistance, 23% reduced light radius, and 7% increased attributes.
This node offers unmatched value for Chaos damage builds. The massive chaos damage boost, movement speed, and attribute bonuses make it incredibly powerful. The chaos resistance downside is manageable with proper gear, and the reduced light radius is a minor inconvenience. It is core for any Chaos damage-focused build.
3. Inner Faith
Effect:
This node provides strong hybrid defensive scaling with energy shield, evasion, and reduced curse effectiveness. This node is universally useful for many Monk builds, especially those scaling both energy shield and evasion.
4. Eternal Youth
Effect:
A transformative Keystone for energy shield recovery, allowing life flask recovery to apply to energy shield. This is invaluable in PoE 2’s meta, where energy shield leech options are limited. It opens up a new recovery strategy with life flask nodes.
5. Manifold Method
Effect:
A fantastic complement to Siphon, providing more mana leech and improving ailment application against rares and uniques. While not as universally critical as Siphon, it solidifies mana sustain in most builds.
6. Building Toxins
Effect:
This node is perfect for builds focused on maximizing poison stacks. However, the reduced duration requires you to apply poisons quickly.
7. Energise
Effect:
This node interacts with PoE 2's Energy Gem mechanic, allowing trigger-based skills to reuse energy faster. Its value increases significantly when using multiple energy-based trigger skills.
8. Wild Storm
Effect:
"15% more maximum Lightning Damage" is an exceptional modifier for lightning builds, particularly those with high damage variability. This node significantly boosts damage output and average rolls for lightning skills.
9. Slippery Ice
Effect:
Reducing the effect of Chill and ignoring Chill while Dodge Rolling makes this node situationally strong. It's especially useful in chilled environments or against bosses that frequently apply Chill. This node is best for builds relying heavily on mobility and Dodge Roll mechanics.
10. Escalating Toxins
Effect:
While strong in prolonged fights, its true value shines in single-target scenarios where you can stack poisons consistently. Note that the changes to poison mechanics in PoE 2 make it harder to fully assess its power until launch.
11. Dark Entries
Effect:
This node is simple but powerful for Chaos builds. The four small nodes leading to it may make it a strong candidate for an anointment on builds relying on Chaos damage.
12. Briny Carapace
Effect:
A defensive node that prevents chain-stunning by boosting stun threshold. It's most effective in early progression but loses value once you acquire better stun-mitigation gear or ascendancy nodes.
9. Slippery Ice
Effect:
Reducing the effect of Chill and ignoring Chill while Dodge Rolling makes this node situationally strong. It's especially useful in chilled environments or against bosses that frequently apply Chill. This node is best for builds relying heavily on mobility and Dodge Roll mechanics.
13. Spectral Ward & Subterfuge Mask
Effect:
These nodes offer hybrid scaling based on gear stats. While promising, their value depends heavily on the endgame scaling of energy shield, evasion, and local modifiers on gear. They’re likely to see use in niche builds specializing in hybrid defense.
14. Resonance
Effect:
This enables builds to utilize charges that would otherwise be unavailable, providing new avenues for skill synergy. Note that charges in PoE 2 lack inherent bonuses, so their utility depends on specific skills.
15. One with the Storm
Effect:
This node has very limited use cases, specifically for Quarterstaff builds consuming Power Charges. While it might shine in niche setups like Flicker Strike, it’s not broadly applicable.
Best Witch & Sorceress Passive Skill Tree Nodes
For the Witch and Sorceress classes, the Intelligence-aligned section of the tree offers unique opportunities to specialize in energy shield mechanics, minions, elemental damage, and mana. The Intelligence section of the passive skill tree in Path of Exile 2 is home to some of the most intriguing mechanics for energy shield scaling, minion builds, and elemental damage specialization. While the tree has fewer options for energy shield recovery than PoE1 (e.g., Ghost Reaver and Wicked Ward are notably absent), it compensates with a variety of new nodes and mechanics. Below, we’ll explore these nodes in detail and highlight how they can enhance your PoE2 experience.
1. Energy Shield Recharge Nodes
Energy Shield recharge mechanics have been reworked in PoE2. There are fewer recovery options than PoE 1, but recharge scaling has been made more accessible across the Intelligence section of the tree.
Convalescence
Effect:
This node is ideal for builds that struggle to avoid damage during the recharge delay, trading recharge speed for a quicker start to recovery.
Essence Infusion
Effect:
This is an excellent option for builds that rely on rapidly restoring their Energy Shield in prolonged fights.
Dependable Ward & Rapid Recharge
Effect:
These are reliable choices for general Energy Shield recovery, making them versatile additions to most defensive builds.
Refocus
Effect:
This node is great for characters with fast-paced playstyles, ensuring that interrupting recharge is less of a setback.
However, it's worth noting that Wicked Ward is absent in PoE2, so players can no longer prevent damage from interrupting recharge. Instead, you’ll need to rely on careful node selection and build synergies to maximize energy shield uptime.
2. Stun Prevention Nodes
For builds heavily reliant on energy shield, avoiding stuns is critical since stun thresholds are based on maximum life by default. In PoE2, there are several new options to address this issue:
Dampening Shield
Effect:
For example, with 5,000 maximum Energy Shield, this node adds a flat 600 to your stun threshold, providing substantial resistance to stuns.
Hallowed
Effect:
This node is particularly useful for builds that struggle with frequent stuns, making them much more durable in combat.
Eldritch Will
Effect:
Grants 3% increased maximum life, mana, and Energy Shield, while adding 20% of maximum Energy Shield to stun threshold.
This versatile node is great for hybrid builds looking to balance survivability and stun resistance.
Self-Mortification
Effect:
A perfect pick for Chaos Inoculation (CI) builds, as they are always considered "on full life," ensuring consistent benefits from this node.
3. Minion Nodes
Minion-focused builds have access to powerful nodes in the Intelligence section, with options for both offensive and defensive scaling:
Right Hand of Darkness
Effect:
This node is excellent for chaos-focused minion builds or setups with fast-attacking minions that can stack Withered for increased chaos damage.
Left Hand of Darkness
Effect:
This node ensures your minions survive longer in high-damage encounters, making it an essential pick for defensive strategies.
Lord of Horrors
Effect:
This is arguably one of the most impactful minion nodes on the tree, enabling builds to run more minion-focused abilities or reserve powerful buffs.
4. Breath of Fire & Penetration
Penetration mechanics have been revamped in PoE2. Nodes like Breath of Fire (and its equivalents for cold and lightning damage) grant elemental penetration but come with a significant change to how penetration works.
Breath of Fire
Effect:
In PoE2, penetration can no longer reduce enemy resistances below zero. Instead, it only counters existing resistances, making it a tool to handle monsters with high resistance (e.g., bosses) rather than a damage multiplier against all enemies.
5. Increased Energy Shield Nodes
Several nodes offer massive boosts to maximum Energy Shield, often with trade-offs:
Heavy Buffer
Effect:
This node is perfect for pure Energy Shield builds, especially those using Chaos Inoculation.
Melding
Effect:
A great alternative for builds that don't rely on high mana pools.
Enhanced Barrier
Effect:
This node is ideal for builds seeking additional elemental mitigation alongside Energy Shield scaling.
Patient Barrier
Effect:
This is a high-risk, high-reward node for builds that can overcome its downsides.
6. Necromantic Talisman
Effect:
This Keystone opens up unique scaling opportunities for minion builds, particularly if amulet modifiers (or anointments) can be tailored to enhance minion stats.
7. Whispers of Doom
Effect:
This Keystone is ideal for builds using mechanics like Blasphemy, which bypass curse activation delays, enabling powerful multi-curse setups.
8. Climate Change & Ice Crystal Nodes
Effect:
These nodes enable unique interactions with cold skills, offering creative scaling opportunities for cold-based builds.
9. Endless Blizzard
Effect:
An essential node for cold-based Sorceress builds, offering substantial damage scaling and utility.
10. Psychic Fragmentation
Effect:
This node is particularly strong for skills like Fireball, where overlapping projectiles can drastically increase damage output.
11. Pure Power & Arcane Intensity
Stat-stacking builds benefit greatly from Pure Power and Arcane Intensity. These nodes are ideal for players who want to maximize mana and spell damage, creating highly specialized archetypes.
Pure Power
Effect:
This node synergizes perfectly with mana-stacking builds and lightning-based damage dealers.
Arcane Intensity
Effect:
When combined with mana-scaling nodes, this node enables unparalleled spell damage scaling.
12. Increased Maximum Mana Nodes
While mana nodes are less prevalent in PoE2, a few key options stand out:
Mana Blessing & Raw Mana
Effect:
These nodes are critical for mana-based builds, especially those relying on mana as a resource for damage scaling.
13. Eldritch Battery
Effect:
The Eldritch Battery keystone has been reworked in PoE2. It now converts all energy shield into mana, but this conversion no longer retains its origin. Thus, modifiers to energy shield no longer affect the converted mana; only mana modifiers apply. This creates a new layer of complexity for builds that aim to leverage energy shield for mana-intensive playstyles.
Best Druid & Templar Passive Skill Tree Nodes (Str/Int Area)
While the Druid and Templar classes won’t be available at the start of Early Access, their corresponding strength-intelligence area of the tree still offers some standout nodes for builds. Below, we’ll explore the best passive skill tree nodes in this region, their effects, and potential synergies. The strength-intelligence section of the PoE 2 passive skill tree offers a diverse range of nodes catering to hybrid defenses, minions, totems, and regeneration builds.
1. Bolstering Presence
Effect:
Auras in Path of Exile 2 have shifted toward being more support-focused compared to PoE 1. For example, the Discipline aura adds 38% of your maximum mana as maximum energy shield to allies at level 19 but doesn’t affect your character. Bolstering Presence is a strong choice for aura-based support builds, though it’s important to note that it only enhances auras from skills, not item-based effects.
2. Resolution
Effect:
Global defenses are rare in PoE 1, as they apply to all major defense types: armor, evasion, energy shield, and ward. While it’s unclear if ward will return in PoE 2, builds in this tree region typically invest in both armor and energy shield, making this node a versatile and powerful pickup.
3. Reinforced Barrier
Effect:
20% increased maximum energy shield.
120% of your armor applies when defending, as long as you are not on low energy shield.
This node synergizes well with hybrid armor-energy shield builds. The modifier effectively acts as a 20% more multiplier to armor for mitigating incoming hits when your energy shield is above the “low” threshold. With PoE 2’s potential adjustment of “low” thresholds to 30% of a resource (from 50% in PoE 1), this node becomes even more reliable.
4. Calibration
Effect:
An excellent node for builds scaling energy shield, especially those that also stack mana. Calibration provides a solid foundation for defensive scaling and synergizes well with nodes like Bolstering Presence for aura-heavy builds.
5. Covering Ward
Effect:
Perfect for block-based builds, Covering Ward allows you to maintain energy shield recharge even under heavy attacks. This node works especially well with active blocking mechanics introduced in PoE 2.
6. Adamant Recovery
Effect:
This node offers excellent synergy for hybrid armor-energy shield builds, enhancing energy shield recovery based on your armor investment. A great pick for defensive-focused builds that stack both mechanics.
7. Fleshcrafting
Effect:
A solid node for minion builds, boosting survivability by adding energy shield to your minions. This is particularly useful for keeping your minions alive against tougher enemies.
8. Restless Dead
Effect:
This node reduces downtime for your minions, making it easier to maintain your army during extended fights. It’s particularly valuable for permanent minions that auto-revive.
9. Spiral Cluster
Spiral into Insanity
Effect:
Spiral into Depression
Effect:
Spiral into Mania
Effect:
This cluster offers niche bonuses for chaos damage builds, hybrid defenses, and cast-speed scaling. While Spiral into Insanity and Depression are strong options, the cluster’s awkward positioning and high point cost may deter some players.
10. Supportive Ancestors
Effect:
This node enhances totem-focused builds, particularly attack totems, which are currently the only totems available in PoE 2. It also synergizes with nodes that increase the maximum number of totems you can summon.
11. Ancestral Bond
Effect:
A reworked Keystone from PoE 1, Ancestral Bond now allows unlimited totems but requires spirit investment. This opens up new scaling opportunities for totem builds, though balancing spirit consumption will be key.
12. Zealot's Oath
Effect:
Zealot’s Oath returns with significant changes. Instead of directly converting life regeneration to energy shield regeneration, it now applies excess life recovery to energy shield. This makes it weaker for Chaos Inoculation builds but still valuable for builds with high flat life regeneration.
13. Ancient Aegis
Effect:
A powerful defensive node, Ancient Aegis provides consistent energy shield recovery for builds stacking armor and block. This is especially effective in PoE 2, where active block mechanics allow you to reliably block hits and recover energy shield.
More meta passive skill notables will be updated for other classes in Path of Exile 2, stay tuned!
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