Path of Exile tier list: All Classes and Ascendancies ranked (3.26)

Path of Exile's Secret of the Atlas was the first expansion in almost a year, and it brought some significant changes. However, if we were to talk about a shift in the tier level of each character class, the Settlers of Kalguur made a lot of changes, including the Legacy of Phrecia event, which inspired the new ascendancy nodes.

That said, we are now two months into Path of Exile patch 3.26, and a lot has changed. Let’s find out what the current class tier list looks like.

Note: This article is subjective and reflects the writer's opinions. With proper builds, all Ascendancies can do endgame content.

Every Path of Exile Ascendancy ranked: 3.26 League Tier list

Path of Exile features 19 Ascendancy classes, spread across seven characters. Each has its strengths and weaknesses, with some being stronger than others. The balance changes in each league ensure nothing stays on top, especially for meta-defining passives.

It is also important to note that performance for some character classes also depends on the Ascendancy. This tier list is also made keeping the Ascendancy class in mind.

For this tier list, we will divide the Path of Exile Ascendancies into the S, A, B, C, and D-tier. Before you proceed, note that what we take into account here is the number of meta builds that can easily do all sorts of endgame content with some degree of ease. Ease does not always mean purely button-heavy APM complexity here - but in general, the most popular builds in Path of Exile tend to be tuned for simplicity in execution.

The main criteria for ranking the best and worst Ascendancies in Path of Exile is how they were affected by the balance changes in the 3.26 League patch. At large, this means that the Ascendancies on the higher end of things will let you delete bosses and maps with various two-button and three-button setups. Meanwhile, those on the lower tiers might have you play piano to achieve the same level of efficiency - if they can indeed do it as efficiently, that is.

A note for newer Path of Exile players before you proceed to the tier list

A big nuance to consider is the gear availability. As the meta crystallizes in a Path of Exile patch, good endgame Rares (and Uniques) for higher-tier builds become more expensive in the League. Meanwhile, those on the middle end of the spectrum may not pump out the same sustained or peak damage numbers, but that also means their items will be easeir to achieve.

If you're a new player visiting this Path of Exile tier list to get a sense of which Ascendancy is good, my advice is to go with whatever feels good and is not absolutely D-tier. After all, it's your own playtime, so your playstyle and preferences should carry a lot of weight.

S-tier

These are some of the strongest Ascendancy classes in the game that excel in map clearing as well as boss damage. Since these are usually the meta, equipment for them is always expensive.

Deadeye (Ranger): Deadeye is a fan favorite Ascendancy in Path of Exile, which has been consistently on top when it comes to league starters. It's easy to build for damage with skills like Lightning Arrow, Tornado Shot, or Kinetic Blast. The only downside is survivability, which requires a lot of investment to fight endgame bosses.

Necromancer (Witch): If someone tells you a Witch can’t be tanky, they’re lying, but no one probably will. The Necromancer Ascendancy passives provide a large amount of self and minion damage buffs, along with life regen when minions deal damage. More minions mean more damage and more survivability. The most popular build to try in patch 3.26 is the BAMA Necromancer.

Occultist (Witch): Another strong Witch Ascendancy, the Occultist is the best option for building around Chaos damage and resistance in Path of Exile. Applying multiple curses to enemies and lowering their Chaos resistance are a few things that this Ascendancy excels in. With the introduction of transfigured gems, Forbidden Rite of Soul Sacrifice is the most popular skill to use with an Occultist.

A-tier

Ascendancy classes in this category are also a strong option. They aren’t necessarily meta, but have received notable changes that make them a strong pick in most cases.

Berserker (Marauder): One of the most popular league starts for the Mercenaries League, Berserker came out as an offensive and defensive powerhouse with Volcanic Fissure of Snaking. It provides great single-target damage as well as fast map-clearing speed. The downside is the cost and complexity of making the build work.

Elementalist (Witch): With recent changes to golems and the addition of new Ascendancy passive granting mana reservation and damage buff to Herald skills, the amount of damage you can deal as an Elementalist has set a new bar. As for builds, anything that’s based around elemental damage, like Lightning Conduit or Glacial Cascade, works well.

Pathfinder (Ranger): If you like playing poison builds, there’s nothing better than Pathfinder. Her entire kit revolves around spreading poison and regaining flask charges, which makes Poisonous Concotion the best skill to use. The build can be cheap since you don’t need a weapon to throw bottles, and the poison spread covers a large part of the map, providing good clear speed.

Trickster (Shadow): Despite getting some nerfs, Trickster remains one of the most popular Ascendancies after patch 3.26. The passive skills for this class are focused on survivability through life, health, and mana leech, alongside improving the attack speed. This helps in dealing a large amount of damage with skills like Smite and Kinetic Blast, while being topped up on HP and Mana.

B-tier

Templar in PoE (Image via Path of Exile)

This Tier usually contains Ascendancies that don’t require too much effort or investment to build, but can still take you through Tier 16 maps. However, they struggle to clear Tier 17 maps.

Cheiftain (Marauder): If you love Righteous Fire, you probably know Cheiftain is the best pick. It's popular for providing an incredibly tanky build that can reach over 80% across all resistances and improve fire damage dealt towards enemies by reducing their fire resistance. All while being very kind to your currency tab.

Slayer (Duelist): With strong life leech ability and built-in Culling Strike, Slayer is currently one of the top Ascendancies in Path of Exile. It is mostly paired with Cyclone, which is still a strong skill, but Smite of Divine Judgement was the fan favorite for patch 3.26. If you aren’t looking to follow the meta, Flicker Strike is also a good combination with this class.

Warden (Ranger): The Warden is a completely new Ascendancy for Ranger that replaced Raider. The old one was based around stacking frenzy charges, which is something that many other classes can do. Warden is based around the use of Tinctures to increase skill damage. Passive nodes provide you with improved Mana burn and the ability to activate two Tinctures at once.

Ascendant (Scion): The Ascendant hasn’t received a direct change for a while now as all of her updates are based on changes to other Ascendancies. Depending on the changes, she can become viable during one league and off-meta during the next one. Having access to every Ascendancy also means you get a lot of options when it comes to skills.

C-tier

Ascendancy classes in this Tier are on the weaker side and have received nerfs or are simply forgotten for some time. This results in more investment for a marginal increase in performance.

Champion (Duelist): A Champion excels at dealing physical damage and provides 20% damage reduction through Fortification. The gameplay for this Ascendancy revolves around taunting and intimidating enemies. Both skills make enemies take more damage, which is good for bossing. In exchange, the enemies become aggressive towards you.

Hierophant (Templar): Mana is an important aspect of Path of Exile, and Hierophant is among those who can provide good sustain. Patch 3.26 reworked one of its Ascendancy passives, changing Mana reservation to Mana regen. This allows you to pair it with a damage mitigation passive like Mind over Matter or use it with channeling abilities. A popular skill to try with Hierophant is Vortex of Projection.

Inquisitor (Templar): Before Cheiftain, Inquisitor was the first pick for Righteous Fire. The Ascendancy provides you with the ability to create Consecrated Ground and increase damage taken by enemies. However, it is also a downside, as you need to stay still to maintain Consecrated Ground, and without investing in defense, surviving strong enemies can be challenging.

Gladiator (Duelist): A Gladiator excels in Bleed builds that deal damage over time with skills like Lacerate. However, it’s been a while since bleed was a meta ailment in Path of Exile. Nowadays, enemies with energy shield regen can pose problems. A safer approach would be going with Chaos or Poison damage, which bypasses energy shields.

D-tier

Marauder in PoE (Image via Path of Exile)

This Tier contains the least popular Ascendancies among all. That is likely because someone else does the job much better, or they simply lack the damage to complete high-level content in the game.

Assassin (Shadow): Once a meta for crit or poison builds, Assassin has been outclassed by others throughout the years of updates. The main reason is the amount of investment you need to make when Pathfinder and Trickster can deal similar damage with much less effort. That isn’t to say poison or tap builds are now obsolete on an Assassin, but there will be sacrifices, either in damage or defense.

Saboteur (Shadow): Saboteur was made for trap-based builds, but traps aren’t in a very great spot in Path of Exile and have only seen nerfs over the years. Some popular skills for this Ascendancy, like the Seismic Trap and Lightning Trap, saw multiple nerfs over the last few major patches.

Juggernaut (Marauder): If you want to be as tanky as possible, Juggernaut is the Ascendancy you need to go with. All you need to do is stack armor and endurance charges, but you also need something to deal damage. However, there are no passives that provide damage scaling other than Endurance charges, which is something a lot of other Ascendancies can do.

Guardian (Templar): The Guardian excels at playing as a support for the team by providing armor along with spell and attack block chance. With reservation efficiency, this Ascendancy can run multiple persistent aura skills for the entire team, but it prevents you from building towards damage. Since there are no passives that encourage an offensive gameplay, this class is a bad pick for SSF or Hardcore League.

That's all about a Path of Exile tier list ranking (as best as we could) all the Ascendancies. Check out our other guides on the game:

About the author

Bipradeep Biswas is an undergraduate student majoring in Computer Science and Engineering. He has a passion for anime and gaming, which he enjoys in his free time. Recently he has started writing articles for Sportskeeda. In addition to his love of writing, he is fascinated by new technologies as well as possesses an insatiable curiosity for the mysteries of the universe and beyond.

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Edited by Anirudh Padmanabhan