One of Path of Exile 2’s Best Classes Has a Skeleton in the Closet

Even though it only came out in early access at the start of December of last year, Path of Exile 2 has 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 new PoE 2 Ascendancies 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 as Path of Exile 2‘s Lich class having 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.

Related

Path of Exile 2 Needs to Bite The Bullet Patch 0.2.0 Has Dodged So Far

Path of Exile 2 is making some important changes to its Dawn of the Hunt “League”, but one seems to be a long way off still.

Path of Exile 2’s Smith of Kitava Ascendancy is The Epitome of Its Power Fantasy

The Smith of Kitava Ascendancy in PoE 2 takes 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:

• Leather Bindings – Regenerate 5% of maximum Life per second
• Molten Symbol – Take 25% of Physical damage as Fire damage
• Flowing Metal – +5% Maximum Fire Resistance
• Support Straps – Gain 20% increased Strength
• Kitavan Engraving – Gain 15% increased maximum Life
• Tantalum Alloy – Gain +75% Fire Resistance

The reason why these nodes are all very powerful is that players can then Coal Stoker and Forged in Flame in their Path of Exile 2 builds. 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 the passive tree in Path 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 this Path of Exile 2 Ascendancy 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.

Path of Exile II

9/10

ESRB

M For Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Nudity, Violence

Engine

Proprietary Engine

Multiplayer

Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op

Franchise

Path of Exile

Early Access Release

December 6, 2024