How to ascend in Path of Exile 2

Ascendancy classes act as subclasses in Path of Exile 2. They provide you with another, and thankfully smaller, skill tree — allowing you to gain even more powerful abilities. With how challenging Path of Exile 2 can be, ascending is a must.

If you’re blazing through Path of Exile 2 and not completing any side quests, it’s easy to miss the initial ascendancy quest. Here’s how to ascend in Path of Exile 2, plus how to get more Ascendancy points.

How to ascend in Path of Exile 2

To ascend to your Ascendancy class in Path of Exile 2, you’ll need to complete the Trial of the Sehkemas in Act 2, which is unlocked after defeating Balbala, The Traitor in Traitor’s Passage in Act 2. Make sure to pick up the Balbala’s Barya coin as it’s your key to entering the trial.

To complete the Trial of the Sehkemas, you’ll need to progress through seven challenges and a boss in the final room.

Some challenges will have their own conditions that’ll either hinder your character with a penalty or add debuffs to make the trial even harder. Additionally, you’ll have a life total that spreads across the entire gauntlet called honour, which is shown at the bottom of your screen. With every hit you take during the trial, your honour will decrease. Once it reaches zero, you’ll fail the trial and need to start all over again, so be mindful of it!

Once you complete the Trial of the Sehkemas, interact with the Altar of Ascendancies to choose your Ascendancy class and receive two Ascendancy points.

How to get more Ascendancy points in Path of Exile 2

To get your second pair of Ascendancy points in Path of Exile 2, you must complete the Trial of Chaos at the Temple of Chaos in Act 3, which is unlocked after defeating Xyclucian, the Chimera in the Chimeral Wetlands in Act 3. Make sure to grab the chimeral inscribed ultimatum dropped by the boss as that is your key to the trial.

The Trial of Chaos functions similarly to the Trial of the Sehkemas in that it is a gauntlet of challenges you must complete, but rather than choosing between rooms to enter, you must choose a negative modifier that’ll persist throughout each subsequent room. After you’ve completed the three challenges and defeated the boss, you’ll receive your rewards and two Ascendancy points.

As for the next pair of Ascendancy points, it’s assumed to come from the Trial of the Sehkemas and Trial of Chaos in cruel difficulty, or a Djinn Barya coin or an Inscribed Ultimatum coin, which are variants of the trial keys. The Djinn Barya coin must be marked with three trials, while the Inscribed Ultimatum coin marked with seven trials. However, as of this writing (Dec. 10), those methods seem to be bugged, as players are having trouble receiving more points.

Once the method has been fixed, we’ll update this post with more information.