Summary
Despite a mostly negative reception of the Dawn of the Hunt update forPath of Exile 2when it first came out, it proved to be a good thing for the game as it sparked debates among the community and with GGG developers themselves. After several hotfixes and smaller patches, Dawn of the Hunt is in a much better state than when it came out, and many previouslynerfedPath of Exile 2buildsare now thriving with more or better tools. The update also added five new Ascendancy classes to the game - two for the Huntress, one for the Mercenary, one for the Witch, and one for the Warrior. Two of them are game-changing, and there should be more of them.
Balancing Ascendancy classes is not an easy task, considering the incredible number of moving pieces in a givenPath of Exile 2build, so it makes sense that some of them may be more powerful than others under certain circumstances. For example, the Warbringer and Acolyte of Chayula were the least used Ascendancies inPath of Exile 2before Dawn of the Hunt, but they received decent buffs with patch 0.2.0. Yet, the new Lich and Smith of Kitava Ascendancies stand out from the rest, proving more like them should be added.
Why Path of Exile 2 Players Shouldn’t Sleep on Lich and Smith of Kitava
The reason thatPath of Exile 2’s Lichand Smith of Kitava are peculiar Ascendancy classes lies in the fact that they both have nodes that interact in some way with players' gear, making loot an active part of buildcrafting rather than a means to a goal. Normally, loot is extremely important in ARPGs because it enhances what a character can do, and while some items (especially Uniques) can be build-defining, it is mostly the other way around - a build defines what kind of gear players should use.
The Lich and Smith of Kitava can dramatically change this in different ways. The Lich has a node called Crystalline Phylactery, which has some simple rules:
What this does, other than the obvious benefit of having a juiced-upJewel inPath of Exile 2builds, is allow players to craft their builds accurately and potentially even make gear slightly more relevant than ever.
Likewise,PoE 2’s Smith of Kitava Ascendancyallows players to grab the Smith’s Masterwork node for free and gain great benefits at the cost of not being able to wear a body armor above Normal rarity. This would normally be a massive detriment to any build, as body armor items tend to have great stats in terms of defenses, Life, Mana, Resistances, and even some other niche rolls, like Thorns. Not every Smith of Kitava build will want to grab Smith’s Masterwork even if it’s free, but the fact that it is free also dictates how useful it can be - be it to have incredibly strong effects while leveling or craft interesting builds in the endgame.
Smith’s Masterwork can provide one of 12 different effects, making it versatile and interesting at the same time.
Path of Exile 2 Needs More Ascendancies That Interact With Items
A lot of whatPath of Exile 2’s endgamerevolves around is player builds, as one can’t truly tackle all the harder content the game has to offer without a powerful character. The endgame is also where the power fantasy of a given build should reach its apex, and that’s because better and more powerful gear starts dropping - or at least the currency to purchase it. As such, more Ascendancies should be like the Lich and Smith of Kitava in the way they approach their design - have more direct interactions with loot and items to make each character feel more unique and simultaneously give players more space to get creative with buildcrafting.
