Builds in Path of Exile
The Path of Exile forums provides a great starting point for the type of characters you would like to play.
Choosing Your Class
Visit the Path of Exile Forums and scroll down to the CLASSES/BUILDS section to view discussions about the seven different classes in the game.
Six of the seven classes break down into three separate, more specific ascendancies which each carry their own powerful unique skills and buffs to differentiate themselves even within a major class archetype.
For beginner-friendly starting builds, look for titles that include phrases such as: League Starter and All content viable. These words signal that the class guide was created with new players in mind.
The [x.xx] prefix on builds denotes the version of Path of Exile the build was created for.
Find popular builds by visiting poe.ninja and checking the percentage of high-level playing certain classes.
Popular builds change each season to reflect skill changes and power adjustments from major patches. You may see the word “meta” referring to popular builds within a patch.
Example of a Class
Here is an example of a build guide you may come across on the forums.
Remi wrote this beginner’s guide for a Ranger class in Patch 3.16 that focuses on the Toxic Rain skill.
The ascendancy within the Ranger class is Deadeye.
The build is “all content viable” with in-depth information and covers common questions a player might have while playing the build from level 1 to 100.
Path of Building Note
Many guides on the forums and around the internet will include a pastebin link for you to import to an external tool called Path of Building.
Remi’s Toxic Rain guide is no exception. Path of Building (PoB) allows players to view the game’s entire skill tree and simulate their skill points and in-game equipment to calculate possible damage.
This allows build guide makers to show players where to allocate their skill points and avoid confusion.
The Path of Building section of this site will cover how to install Path of Building and how to import builds with their pastebin links.