Path of Exile 2: Best Notable Passive Skills in Early Access

Ben Author

Created - 28.11.2024 Updated - 05.12.2024

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As we count the days before Path of Exile 2 Early Access goes live, we know that you are pretty excited to dive right in and choose the new classes, such as the Mercenary or the Monk.

The upcoming sequel to one of the most successful ARPGs on the market is rather complex. Even though developer Grinding Gear Games is trying what it can to make the game more accessible to new players, there is still some level of complexity that needs to be explained.

That is actually what we want to accomplish in this article. Today, we will talk about the best notable passive skills in PoE 2. We invite you to join us because this is an important topic that needs to be talked about.

What Are Notable Passive Skills?

Path of Exile 2 Early Access is reportedly going to have over 1,500 passive skills when it launches on December 6. As you can tell, the passive skill tree will be very massive, so much so that it might intimidate beginners.

The thing is, the passive skill tree does look quite daunting at first glance. Fortunately, when you look closer, you will find that it is not as hard as initially thought. You just have to think of a concept, which serves as your guide as you navigate your way to the different paths on the tree.

Having said that, the passive tree contains nodes of different sizes. The small nodes are composed of minor and travel nodes. Minor nodes grant one or two effects that might be beneficial for your particular Path of Exile 2 build. Think about increased spell damage or increased fire damage, for example.

On the other hand, travel nodes provide attributes. They are called as such because you have to allocate a bunch of them in order to reach the more powerful passive skills.

An important thing to note about travel nodes in Path of Exile 2 is that they can actually be altered to suit your needs. Do you need more Strength to equip your two-handed mace? You can do that to travel nodes at any time!

Now, the topic for today’s PoE 2 guide is all about the notable passive skills. These are larger than the minor passive nodes and grant more beneficial effects. For instance, “Subterfuge Mask” is a notable passive skill that grants evasion rating based on the energy shield value of your equipped helmet.

In the image below, you will find the minor node on the left and the notable passive skill on the right:

Notable passive skills can only be found in clusters and they provide effects that are similar to the minor passive nodes connecting to them, albeit much stronger.

Best Notable Passive Skills

There are a couple of things you need to know before we talk about the PoE2 best notable passive skills. First, we will separate the notable passives into categories so that you will know where they are located on the passive skill tree.

Second, we will only feature ones that we think are a cut above the rest. Surely, there are a ton of them out there, especially considering that the game has over 1,500 passive skills to choose from. However, we feel that these are the “bang for the buck” nodes that make every skill point you spend worthwhile.

Strength Notable Passives

The passive nodes in this section of our Path of Exile 2 guide are situated on the lower left side of the passive skill tree. Most of the minor nodes here are suited for melee classes, including the Warrior and the Marauder.

Spike Pit

Jagged Ground is a new mechanic in PoE2 that is caused by certain abilities. For example, the Earthquake skill creates a Jagged Ground that slows down enemies that step on it.

Spike Pit is an incredible node for melee classes simply because monsters that are within the Jagged Ground’s area of effect suffer from 10% increased damage taken. Titans, in particular, will greatly benefit from this notable passive due to its heavy reliance on slam skills.

Unbending

It is a known fact that passive nodes that grant bonuses to life have been removed in Path of Exile 2. Well, at least most of them anyway.

Unbending is an amazing node because it increases maximum life by 3%. You might think that it is a measly number, but wait until you see that each point of STR provides four times the amount of flat HP compared to Path of Exile 1.

Aside from that, the 30% increased stun threshold gives you a cushion that almost prevents you from getting stunned; that is if you also incorporate the Dodge Roll as part of your defensive strategy.

Heatproofing

Heatproofing significantly bolsters your defense against fire damage. This notable passive is even more pronounced when you go the armor-stacking route.

You see, armor in Path of Exile 2 only reduces the physical damage you take from hits. However, Heatproofing enables a quarter of your total armor value to mitigate fire damage as well.

It is worth noting that the effect only applies to hits, so it does nothing against Ignite damage—an elemental ailment that deals fire damage over time.

Unnatural Resilience

Although GGG has not revealed all the skill gems that you can use in Path of Exile 2 Early Access, there might be some that have the same effect as that of Righteous Fire in PoE1. More specifically, the part where you receive fire damage per second when the skill is activated.

If there is such a skill gem, you might want to take Unnatural Resilience. The fire damage you receive from activating RF in the previous game is manageable by making sure that you have high fire resistance.

With Unnatural Resilience, you go beyond the default cap of 75%, making fire damage almost negligible! This can be further enhanced by equipping some unique items, such as the Cloak of Flame, which takes 40% of the physical damage you receive and converts that to fire damage.

Skullcrusher

Do you want to play the Titan ascendancy class in PoE 2 Early Access? If so, taking the Skullcrusher notable passive is a no-brainer.

This allows you to deal considerably more damage against enemies that are affected by a heavy stun. For the uninitiated, a “heavy stun” occurs when the enemy’s stun meter has been filled to the brim. The meter gradually fills up by hitting enemies with your basic attacks or skills.

Dexterity Notable Passives

These PoE 2 notable passive skills are located in the lower right section of the tree, where most of the ranged nodes and projectile damage bonuses are found.

Catalysis

While the 20% increased elemental damage with attack skills that this passive node provides is good, its defensive effect is better. The 5% of physical damage from hits taken as damage of a random element allows you to take on monsters with confidence knowing that you won’t die easily.

Take note that the physical damage conversion only applies to damage from hits via attacks or spells. This does not affect bleeding, which is an ailment that deals physical damage over time, so you still have to be ready to use your Life Flask when necessary.

Falcon Technique

One of the best passive nodes in Path of Exile 2 for DEX-stacking builds, Falcon Technique is amazing because it grants bonuses to attack speed for every 15 points of Dexterity. This incentivizes you to have the said attribute on most of your pieces of gear.

We are hoping that GGG will introduce unique items in the future that provide stat-stacking effects to get the most out of Falcon Technique.

Falcon Dive

Did you know that you now get more accuracy rating per point of Dexterity in PoE 2? That’s right! One point of DEX equals five points of accuracy.

The reason why we focused on that point to introduce this next notable passive skill is that it has something to do with accuracy rating. In fact, you gain increased attack speed relative to the amount of accuracy your character has!

Falcon Dive is useful not only for ranged classes but also for STR-based melee classes like the Titan and the Warbringer. The latter ascendancy classes may have to instill this particular notable passive, though unless passive skill points are not an issue.

Woodland Aspect

Those who have played Path of Exile: Affliction League will be familiar with Charms. Well, GGG decided to bring Charms to PoE 2, though they now have very different effects. Instead of granting modifiers akin to ascendancy passive skills, they now offer benefits when using flasks under specific conditions.

The Thawing Charm, for example, automatically grants freeze immunity if you get frozen. Keep in mind that this only activates when a specific condition is met and if the Charm has full charges.

So, how does the Woodland Aspect factor in? This passive node essentially increases the effect of Charms by 10%. At the time of writing this guide, the full list of Charm effects has not been revealed yet. We can only speculate that the powers they possess are meaningful enough to spend a couple of points to obtain the Woodland Aspect.

Unexpected Finesse

Think of this notable passive as a toned-down version of “Undeniable” from the Juggernaut ascendancy class in PoE1. Taking this will make your accuracy rating equal to the amount of STR your character has.

It is possible that there are unique items that will be added later on that can benefit from a high accuracy rating. We just have to wait and see.

Additionally, it should go without saying that STR-stacking, or at least having a relatively higher amount of Strength than usual, is needed when you take Unexpected Finesse.

Stacking Toxins

In Path of Exile 2, you can only apply one stack of poison to the enemy. Subsequent attacks that inflict poison will only refresh the duration of the first one that you’ve applied.

With Stacking Toxins, you can apply an additional stack of poison on the enemy, thus effectively dealing more damage as a result.

Don’t worry about Stacking Toxin’s downside. The 20% reduced effect of poison can be easily addressed by increasing the poison effect through gear and other passive skills.

Low Tolerance

The fact that you can only apply one stack of poison on an enemy is actually a good thing, particularly when you take advantage of that by getting Low Tolerance.

Low Tolerance greatly increases the destructive component of poison. For the uninitiated, poison is a damaging ailment in Path of Exile 2 that makes monsters suffer from chaos damage over time.

To utilize this passive skill to great effect, you have to find a way to reduce the duration of poison on the enemies. This is so that you can apply a fresh stack shortly after.

One way to address that is by taking the Pathfinder’s “Overwhelming Toxicity” ascendancy node, which grants 35% less poison duration.

STR/DEX Notable Passives

If you are planning to play as the Mercenary or Duelist in PoE2 Early Access, you must read through this section very carefully. The best notable passive skills in this area are located at the bottom portion of the passive tree, just in case you’re wondering.

Cull the Hordes

Culling Strike is a mechanic that allows you to instantly kill enemies that are below a certain HP threshold. This is a pretty useful mechanic because all you need is to whittle your opponent’s life down and they’ll be gone in a jiffy.

That said, the Culling Strike threshold in Path of Exile 2 is different from its predecessor. In the original game, monsters are automatically killed if you hit them while they’re below 10% of their maximum life.

In the sequel, the threshold is now based on monster rarity. The values are as follows:

• Normal Monsters (White): 30%
• Magic Monsters (Blue): 20%
• Rare Monsters (Yellow): 10%
• Unique Monsters (Orange): 5%

Armed with that knowledge, now you understand why we deem Cull the Hordes as one of the best passive nodes in PoE 2. With this notable passive allocated, magic monsters now only have to drop to below 25% of their maximum health in order for you to slay them with Culling Strike.

Quick-Change Act

Weapon swapping plays a crucial role in any Path of Exile 2 build. That is because you can easily switch to different passive nodes on the fly depending on the weapon you have equipped, allowing for incredible build diversity.

Having said that, Quick-Change Act is a notable passive skill that significantly increases your weapon swap speed. This could help you unleash more deadly combos by enabling you to swap to a second weapon (and vice versa) much quicker than usual!

Polymathy

Attribute-stacking is a build archetype in PoE1, where you increase a single attribute as high as you can to take advantage of certain modifiers on gear. For instance, there is a synthesized modifier that adds some lightning damage for every 15 points of INT that you have.

In line with that, Polymathy is useful because it raises all of the main attributes (STR, DEX, and INT) by 10%. Judging by the effect of this notable passive skill, it is safe to assume that attribute-stacking builds are also a possible meta in Path of Exile 2.

Now, it remains to be seen if PoE 2 Early Access will have mods that are similar to the ones mentioned earlier. But, there is a huge chance that they’re going to be added at some point, possibly during the full launch of the game sometime next year.

Apocalypse

Mapping is one of the endgame systems in PoE2, where you will spend most of your time. The next notable passive skill we are going to talk about is perfect for those pure mapping builds.

Apocalypse reduces your damage by a considerable amount. In exchange, you will gain a whopping 200% damage boost for your active Herald Skills!

Herald of Ash can make great use of this. Apocalypse amplifies the burning damage of this particular Herald Skill, thus enabling it to get rid of map monsters quickly.

Apocalypse’s 40% reduced damage penalty is rough, so it might not be the most ideal node to take when creating a Path of Exile 2 character specifically meant for killing bosses.

Be that as it may, there is a possibility that GGG is going to release some unique items that improve the single-target aspect of Herald Skills. If this comes true, then this passive node will be even more appealing!

Lay Siege

Ideal for melee builds in Path of Exile 2, particularly those that wield a shield, Lay Siege is an incredible passive node primarily for its bonus attack damage based on block chance. This incentivizes you to cap your block chance ASAP if you are to take advantage of this notable passive skill.

While this node is undoubtedly good, the only problem with Lay Siege is that you have to spend several passive skill points just to get it. Because of this, you might have to instill this on your amulet by using the new PoE2 Currency.

Bulwark

Dodge Roll is one of the best new features in Path of Exile 2. This allows you to get out of harm’s way by quickly rolling to a new location. Time a Dodge Roll perfectly and you can evade most melee attacks and projectiles in the game.

That said, Bulwark removes the damage avoidance aspect of the Dodge Roll. Instead, this passive skill replaces that with a defensive effect that makes you receive 30% less damage from hits while rolling.

We find this to be a useful node, especially considering that the Dodge Roll still makes you susceptible to boss slams and AoE skills.

Fast Metabolism

In Vanilla Path of Exile, the Slayer ascendancy class has an overleech effect granted by Brutal Fervour. The “overleech” here essentially means that life leech does not stop even if you are already at max health.

That particular effect is also present in the sequel in the form of the “Fast Metabolism” notable passive skill. This is great for survivability, particularly for PoE2 builds that do not have plenty of armor or evasion to work with.

Multitasking

The Mercenary is a new playable class in Path of Exile 2 that specializes in killing enemies with a deadly crossbow and a handful of grenades. If you intend to choose the Mercenary in PoE 2 Early Access, then you might want to consider getting Multitasking.

Multitasking is a passive node that reduces the cooldown of your skills, allowing them to be usable again without the long downtime. This is ideal for Mercenaries who want to hurl grenades as often as possible.

Aside from that, Multitasking’s 15% increased effect duration is useful for builds that rely on temporary buffs.

Grenadier + Cluster Bombs

This is us hitting two birds with one stone. Grenadier and Cluster Bombs are located in the same wheel on the passive tree. That’s why we’ve decided to talk about them in the same subsection of this PoE 2 notable passive skills guide.

Cluster Bombs is actually a pretty good passive node from an offensive standpoint since it enables Grenade Skills to fire an additional projectile.

Grenadier, on the other hand, allows you to use Grenade Skills twice before they go on cooldown. This comes in handy if you utilize the Flash Grenade to stun enemies more consistently, for example.

By taking these two passive nodes, you not only fire more grenades on a single cast, but you’ll also be able to use grenade skills a couple of times without any penalties.

Repeating Explosives

On the topic of grenades, Repeating Explosives is another amazing node to take. This basically grants grenades a small chance of activating a second time. This not only works for damage-oriented grenades, but also utility ones like Flash Grenade.

INT/DEX Notable Passives

Even though Path of Exile 2 Early Access is still more than a week away at the time of writing this guide, it seems like the Monk is going to be one of the most popular classes in the game.

According to the community, this is mainly because of the Monk’s innate speed and ability to bend the elements to his will, not to mention his expertise in killing enemies with his cool martial arts moves!

If you want to play as the Monk in the upcoming beta launch of the sequel, then bookmark our page and visit this particular section often for some guidance.

Siphon

Despite the fact that GGG introduced Spirit as a means of reserving ongoing skills, there is still a chance that you need a considerable amount of mana for your other abilities. If you’re using a PoE 2 build that gets starved for mana quite frequently, then Siphon is likely going to save you!

Siphon is quite useful for mana-hungry builds because it gives the ability to gain mana back in two ways. The first is by killing enemies, and the second is by amplifying mana leech by 25%.

Although there is no restriction as to which build can take advantage of this, we find Siphon to be more powerful on the Monk’s Acolyte of Chayula ascendancy class. Why is that, you ask?

That is due to the fact that his “Ravenous Doubts” and “Consuming Questions” ascendancy nodes have something to do with improving mana leech.

Spaghettification

Spaghettification is an odd one not only because of its name, but also due to its combination of positive and negative effects.

When this notable passive skill is allocated, you gain a slight increase in movement speed, as well as a considerable boost to chaos damage and attributes. The downsides, however, include a reduction in chaos resistance and light radius.

With some of the environments in PoE 2 being a bit darker than the previous installment, the 23% reduction in light radius could negatively impact visibility while mapping. If this becomes a nuisance, you can either address that by increasing your light radius through items or opting for another notable passive skill entirely.

Slippery Ice

The Dodge Roll only lets you avoid attacks by default. This is, of course, assuming that you’ve timed one of the best new features in Path of Exile 2 correctly. The thing that you have to remember about the Dodge Roll is that you’re still vulnerable to other forms of attacks and mechanics like elemental ailments, for example.

One of the most annoying elemental ailments in the game is Chill, which can be inflicted upon you when you receive cold damage. If you are affected by this condition, your action speed is reduced, making you move and attack slower than normal.

Slippery Ice is a good defensive node because it makes Dodge Roll work the same way as if you were not affected by Chill. Besides that, Chill’s inherent action speed reduction is lowered in magnitude by 25%.

Inner Faith

Another defensive passive node worth mentioning is Inner Faith. This boosts evasion rating and maximum energy shield by 20%.

More importantly, Inner Faith reduces the effect of curses on you. This is helpful in fighting monsters and bosses that have the ability to reduce your defenses with a curse.

Spectral Ward

You may have heard from the grapevine that the Trickster is back in Path of Exile 2. Well, the ascendancy class might not be, but one of its nodes certainly is, at least in some capacity.

Spectral Ward is basically the Trickster’s “Escape Artist” ascendancy node minus the evasion rating per maximum energy shield on your equipped helmet.

When you take this notable passive skill, it should be accompanied by well-crafted body armor, specifically one that has a ton of base evasion rating for maximum effect!

Energise

In case you do not know, the “Energy” mechanic in Path of Exile 2 is tied to triggers via the new Meta Skills that reserve or utilize Spirit. Every time their specific conditions are met, the Meta Skills themselves accumulate Energy.

When enough Energy is collected, the Meta Skills will trigger the active skill gem they are linked to. After that, all Energy is lost and you’ll have to accumulate it again.

With that in mind, Energise is awesome because it provides a considerable chance for trigger skills to refund half of the Energy cost. This enables your Meta Skills to trigger more frequently, which may improve map-clearing speed.

Wild Storm

Lightning damage in Path of Exile 2, compared to other damage types, has a much broader range of minimum and maximum damage. The Wild Storm notable passive skill just makes it so that the top-end of the lightning damage from your attacks or skills are boosted, making them hit a lot harder.

Monk players will certainly find Wild Storm useful, especially if they opt for the Invoker ascendancy class.

Manifold Method

The Manifold Method greatly increases the amount of mana you get from mana leech. This encourages you to have a more active playstyle if you want your mana to recover much faster.

This helps address the negative aspect of the “Mind Over Matter” keystone, specifically the portion where your mana recovery rate is essentially cut in half.

Aside from the increased amount of mana leeched from your enemies, the Manifold Method boosts your chance of inflicting ailments on rare and unique enemies. Do you want to go endgame farming with the Monk class? Make the Manifold Method an integral part of your build!

Building Toxin

A slightly less powerful version of the Pathfinder’s Overwhelming Toxicity ascendancy node, Building Toxin is a more accessible way of getting an almost similar effect. This is useful when paired with the “Low Tolerance” notable passive skill that was mentioned earlier in the guide.

Tips

With the best notable passive skills in Path of Exile 2 already highlighted, we offer you some tips to help you allocate the ideal nodes for your particular build.

• Use the search function to find the bonus or effect that you need. This allows you to determine the best path forward, saving you valuable skill points for use in other nodes.
• Don't be afraid to veer away from your starting position. If your PoE2 build begins from the top portion of the passive tree and you need to go left to get some STR nodes, then do not be scared to do so.
• Use Weapon Specialization to your advantage. Having two weapons with very distinct passive skills for each one enables you to create dynamic builds that will decimate any monster you encounter!
• Instill the node that is too far away from your original location, so you don’t spend points needlessly. This can be done by using the new Distilled Emotions from the Delirium mechanic.
• Lastly, do not be afraid to experiment. Path of Exile 2 is a new game and the best way to learn is to make decisions that you think will lead to a better outcome. If things do not work out as planned, simply respec the skill points you’ve used by talking to the Hooded One in Act 1 and start over.

Final Thoughts

Notable passive skills provide so much more benefits to any PoE 2 build. This is even more pronounced when you consider the fact that masteries are no longer present in the highly anticipated sequel, at least for now.

Where you begin on the passive tree depends on the base class you choose. For example, the Warrior always starts at the lower left portion of the tree, while the Monk begins at the upper right.

Whichever class you play in Path of Exile 2 Early Access, we hope that we’ve provided you with the information you need in terms of getting the best notable passive skills for your build.

With that said, feel free to read our other PoE 2 guides to learn more about this fantastic ARPG!