Summary
Even though it only came out in early access at the start of December of last year,Path of Exile 2has already evolved quite a lot from its first iteration. While not every change the game went through has enjoyed positive reception and feedback from fans, there are some great new features and gameplay alterations that have seen the light of day. For example, Dawn of the Hunt introduced newPoE 2Ascendancies as well as the Huntress class and spear skills, making a huge splash in the meta. One of the new best classes in the game came out with patch 0.2.0, but it has a not-so-flattering secret about it.
Most of the new Ascendancies in the game ended up being quite powerful, such asPath of Exile 2’s Lich classhaving some potent interactions between Energy Shield and Life that make new builds possible. Similarly, the Amazon Ascendancy for the Huntress is one of the best for damage with the OP Lightning Spear skill, whereas the Ritualist is great for endgame builds with fully geared characters. Interestingly, the new Smith of Kitava Ascendancy for the Warrior suddenly skyrocketed in popularity, and though it’s very strong and flavorful, it does sin in one key area - build diversity.
Path of Exile 2’s Smith of Kitava Ascendancy is The Epitome of Its Power Fantasy
TheSmith of Kitava Ascendancy inPoE 2takes a very interesting concept to the next level by allowing players to “craft” their body armor in various ways, thanks to the Smith’s Masterwork Ascendancy node, which is free to grab rather than cost one point. While Smith’s Masterwork is free, players can then spend however many Ascendancy points they want (up to 8, which is the maximum one can have) on the several nodes unlocked thereafter. There is a drawback to Smith’s Masterwork, and that’s that players can only use Normal rarity body armors when this is active.
However, Smith’s Masterwork offers many great choices that do justify taking some of its follow-up nodes, even with just a Normal body armor. Some of the best include:
The reason why these nodes are all very powerful is that players can then Coal Stoker and Forged in Flame in theirPath of Exile 2builds. The first grants 50% of Fire Resistance applied to Cold and Lightning Resistances, and the second allows modifiers to Maximum Fire Resistance applied to Maximum Cold and Lightning Resistances.
What follows is that the Smith of Kitava can be incredibly tanky with very little investment, allowing players to go ham on damage nodes in thepassive tree inPath of Exile 2, while also taking some good defensive nodes to further boost survivability. For example, players can use the Infernoclasp Unique belt to gain up to 5% extra Maximum Fire Resistance and up to 50% extra Fire Resistance, synergizing perfectly with Coal Stoker, Forged in Flame, and other nodes unlocked by Smith’s Masterwork.
Why PoE 2’s Smith of Kitava Fails to Keep Builds Creative
While this is all great, and finally gives Warrior fans an amazing Ascendancy that changed the meta, there is very little build diversity for the Smith of Kitava. Considering how powerful Coal Stoker and Forged in Flame are, and how they perfectly match with other Smith’s Masterwork nodes, it’s hard to justify taking any other nodes offered by thisPath of Exile 2Ascendancy class. Against The Anvil is potentially slowing the game down, Living Weapon calls for some sort of Minion build to excel, and Heat of the Forge requires hybrid melee and spell gameplay - all characteristics that are not as exciting outside their niche uses. Instead, Smith of Kitava players mostly all run the same build with little variations, which proves how powerful the Ascendancy can be but also how little creative room it offers, despite near-endless options.
