Path of Exile 2's release date was December 6th, 2024, and PoE 2 released into Early Access to over 1 million players. Path of Exile 2 by Grinding Gear Games has already been labeled a huge success and a game that's already overshadowing Diablo IV.
Despite a large number of bugs (expected for an Early Access game), players are flying through the first 3 acts released in Early Access and ready to pick their Ascendancy.
There are 6 classes and 2 ascendancies to pick from, meaning there are 12 powerful ascendancies that players can explore while the game is in Early Access.
When the game released, little was known about how to actually ascend in PoE 2 - what level you would be, would it be during the story or in the endgame, etc. We now know that the first way to ascend opens to players in Act 2 after finding Balbala, and the second opportunity to ascend comes in Act 3.
There is also a third opportunity to ascend that's been hinted at in Act 4, but players won't have access to that until the game is fully released.
In order to Ascend in PoE 2, players will have to pass incredibly difficult challenges called Trials: The Trial of Sekhemas in Act 2 and the Trial of Chaos in Act 3. This complete guide explains how to access to Trial of Sekhemas, how to pass it, and how to ascend to power in PoE 2.
How to Access the Trial of Sekhemas
Players will be close to ascending once they reach the Trail of Corruption quest in Act 2. In the area called Traitor's Passage, players will find a sealed door with a prisoner inside.
After freeing Balbala, she will give you a coin key that allows you to travel to the Trial of Sekhemas from the Desert Map.
Balbala will also give you a Relic. This Relic is only usable during the Trial of Sekhemas. When you place it in the Relic Altar, it will give you a passive buff during the Trial. If you have an Orb of Augmentation that can add another affix to a Magic Relic, you can use it to get another buff during the trial.
After freeing Balbala, obtaining the coin key, and placing your Relic in the altar, you should be able to travel to the Trial of Sekhemas from the world map.
How to Complete the Trial of Sekhemas
The Trial of Sekhemas is a rogue-like dungeon where you have to clear a certain number of rooms to reach the boss room. There are four possible room challenges with four corresponding rewards to help you through the dungeon. In this trial, you will have to balance these random encounters with keeping a new health bar full.
Keep your honour bar full. Upon entering the Trial of Sekhemas, your character will get a third health bar called Honour. Whenever you take damage, your Honour bar will go down.
You fail the trial by either dying or depleting your Honour bar entirely. Honour can't be restored unless you get lucky and find a random shrine. Maxroll suggests that you should even pass up treasure in the dungeon and just focus on keeping your Honour bar as full as possible.
Access the trial at a low level. Since the Trial of Sekhemas is at a set point in the story, the level that characters will ascend at varies. However, the Trial of Sekhemas scales to whatever level you are, meaning it will be harder at higher levels.
This isn't a fight that you can grind levels for in order to make it a little easier. The higher level you are, the harder the trial will be, so try to run through the story and ascend at a lower level.
Understand the room challenges. There are four potential room challenges that will be randomly chosen when you enter a new room. Thankfully, each room also has a reward. Here are the possible challenges and rewards that you can get:
Gauntlet: The room is filled with traps and monsters. The goal is to get to the end of the room and leave. You don't necessarily have to kill every monster to complete this challenge.
Chalice Ritual: Kill rare monsters to fill up the chalice.
Hourglass Trial: Survive waves of monsters until the timer ends.
Escape Trial: Disable all the death crystals before the timer runs out.
Treasure Keys: Pick up extra keys to get bonus rewards at the end of the trial.
Sacred Water: A currency specific to the Trial of Sekhemas
Merchant: You can spend your Sacred Water if the merchant spawns at the end of the challenge.
Shrine to Restore Honour: This shrine costs Sacred Water
Boon Shrine: Restore some lost honour and gain a random buff
Pledge to Kohai: Gain an additional boon at the cost of also gaining an affliction
Survive the boss. The final boss in the Trial of Sekhemas is called Rattlecage, the Earthbreaker. This boss is a hulking magma monster that deals a lot of fire damage and aoe abilities. Try to consider his resistances while putting together your build for the Trial.
Rattlecage deals fire damage, so try to increase your fire resistances before entering the trial. Rattlecage is resistant to fire and lightning damage but is vulnerable to cold damage. He is also vulnerable to crowd control effects. A lot of his abilities have a long windup, meaning you can time your CCs to stop his attacks.
At the end of this trial, you will receive a horde of treasure and also the ability to choose your Ascendancy class.
The Trial of Chaos
During Act 3, players will encounter a much more difficult Ascendancy Trial, the Trial of Chaos. The Trial of Chaos features multiple floors with a random boss at the end. And in each room, players will be forced to choose a tribulation that makes the encounter harder.
Players can enter the Trial of Chaos after getting the key from the Trialmaster in the Vaal Jungle.
The Trial of Chaos will reward players with access to the Vaal Orb. This volatile currency allows players to randomly modify pieces of gear, making them either overpowered or corrupted and self-destructive.
There is also a third ascendancy trial in Act 4 that's still unknown. Grinding Gear Games said that PoE 2 will be in Early Access for at least 6 months, so we still have a long time before learning what will be in the later acts of the game.
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