Path of Exile 2’s respec options allow you to experiment with different builds or tweak your existing one. Here’s everything you need to know about the system.
Path of Exile 2 is currently in the midst of an extended period of early access so that players can test the game’s limits. These pioneers have already allowed the dev team to fix a progression-blocking bug but they don’t want Grinding Gear Games to touch the difficulty.
Despite the extreme challenge of the game and the fact that it still hasn’t reached its full release, Path of Exile 2 has amassed a respectable player count. If you’re one of the many people trying it out, you may want to know how to backpedal your build.
This guide covers everything you need to know about Path of Exile 2’s respec mechanics including how to unlock the feature.
How to unlock respecs in Path of Exile 2
In order to respec your character in Path of Exile 2, you’ll need to unlock the feature. To do this, progress the main questline until you’ve completed the Mysterious Shade quest and cleared the Lachlann of Endless Lament boss encounter.
This should be the last activity you complete in the Cemetary of the Eternals area and your character will likely be somewhere between levels 7 and 12 at this point. Return to the Clearfell Encampment and heal the Hooded One to unlock the respec option.
How to respec Passives in Path of Exile 2
Once the Hooded One is healed, it becomes an interactable NPC in Clearfell Encampment and one of its speech options is to respec your Passives. Selecting this option will take you into the game’s daunting Passive skill tree.
From here, you can hover over nodes that you’ve invested in and click or press the relevant face button on controller to refund the Passive point you spent to unlock it. In order to refund a passive, you’ll need to spend Gold and the amount required varies based on how far into the Passive tree the node you want to refund is.
For this reason, you’ll want to take some time to thoroughly inspect the Passive tree. Respeccing in Path of Exile 2 can be a costly affair and if you’re not careful, you may end up destitute.
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Can you respec your Ascendancy Class in Path of Exile 2?
In Path of Exile 2’s early access period, there is no way to respec into a different Ascendancy Class. This means you are locked into the choice you make when you complete your first Ascendancy trial.
You can however respec points spent in your Ascendancy tree and try out alternative options. It’s currently unknown whether you’ll be able to swap Ascendancy Classes in the full game.
Changing skills in Path of Exile 2
Unlike its contemporaries in the ARPG genre, Path of Exile 2’s skills are not housed within a tree. Whereas in games like Diablo 4, you would swap the skills equipped to your action bar by respeccing your skill tree, in Path of Exile 2, skills function like items.
To unlock a skill, you must find an Uncut Skill Gem and engrave it with a skill of your choice. The type of skill you can engrave will depend on the level of the gem you use and the weapon set you have equipped.
You can set a total of nine skills in the menu but if you want to swap one out, simply navigate to the skills tab and head into your inventory. From here, you can grab the Skill Gem you want to socket in and drag it to the existing skill you want to replace.
The Skill Gem you have replaced will then be moved into your inventory. Skill Gems you are no longer using can be sold but if you’re testing out a new skill you’re not sure you want to keep, unused Skill Gems can also be placed in your Stash to grab later.
That’s everything you need to know about Path of Exile 2’s respec mechanics. With the information here, you should be able to effectively change your build around.
