Path of Exile

Overview

A free-to-play online action RPG from 2013, Path of Exile drops you into Wraeclast with one goal: survive long enough to get strong enough for revenge. You begin as an Exile, and the world wastes no time making that sound like a bad career choice. The tone is dark fantasy, the combat is visceral, and every step forward is built on items, skills, and sharp decisions.

The game leans hard into character building. You can pick from seven classes: Duelist, Witch, Ranger, Templar, Marauder, Shadow, or Scion. From there, Path of Exile lets you shape hundreds of skill combinations through gems and a huge Passive Skill Tree. That means your hero is less a fixed template and more a machine you assemble, tweak, and occasionally break on purpose.

Wraeclast itself is part of the pressure. You move from forsaken shores to Oriath, through ruined lands full of nightmare creatures and high-level maps that keep testing your build. Trading, crafting, and combat all feed into the same loop: find better gear, make it work harder, then push deeper into the Atlas of Worlds before the next problem with too many teeth shows up.

Why play it

• Seven classes with different starting points
• Huge Passive Skill Tree for deep builds
• Free to play, with no pay-to-win
• Online co-op, PvP, and MMO options

Quick facts

Beginner walkthrough

Pick a class, then commit to the tree

Choose one of the seven classes and start from its own point on the Passive Skill Tree. Every class shares that same vast web, so your early choices matter. You can lean into your class’s strengths or travel across the tree to pull in skills from other disciplines. It is a build system that rewards planning and, occasionally, stubbornness.

Build through gems, links, and passives

Skill gems, support gems, and trigger gems are the heart of your toolkit. Socket them into gear, combine them, and use linked sockets to add effects like faster attacks, chaining hits, or life leech. As you level up, you also gain passive skill points, which let you push damage, defence, speed, or regeneration in the direction you want.

Treat items as the real engine

Path of Exile is built around items. Flasks are persistent, maps can change the challenge and rewards of endgame areas, and currency items are used to modify equipment rather than sit around pretending to be gold. The Atlas of Worlds then opens up more than a hundred high-level maps, giving you a tougher route to follow once your build is ready.

Key characters

• Duelist starting class

  The Duelist is one of the seven classes you can choose, starting from a point on the shared Passive Skill Tree.

• Witch starting class

  The Witch is one of the seven classes, letting you build from a distinct start on the same enormous skill web.

• Ranger starting class

  The Ranger is one of the seven classes and begins in a different part of the Passive Skill Tree.

• Templar starting class

  The Templar is one of the seven classes available when you create your Exile.

• Marauder starting class

  The Marauder is one of the seven classes, with its own starting position on the tree.

• Shadow starting class

  The Shadow is one of the seven classes and can be shaped through the game’s deep customization system.

• Scion starting class

  The Scion is one of the seven classes and starts from its own distinct position on the shared tree.

Our take

Path of Exile is a loot-and-build machine wrapped in dark fantasy grime. If you like shaping a character from the ground up, juggling gems and passives, and chasing stronger gear through an online economy, it gives you plenty to chew on. If you want a lighter, simpler action RPG, this one will happily bury you in options.

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