There are seven classes, each with three Ascendancies they can further specialize in, except for the Ascendant. The latter has access to some of the abilities of all other Ascendancies. Anyway, all these choices mean it can be difficult to choose which one to go with. Which one can be an efficient PoE currency farmer or more importantly, which is fun to play?
Here’s a survey of the most popular Ascendancies and Classes of the Expedition League. While going with what’s popular may not be your style, it’s still a good reference. It’s okay to move on to another class or ascendancy if the one you started with didn’t fit your preferences.
Best Classes and Ascendancy for Normal Expedition and Hardcore Expedition
For Classes, the top three most used ones in this league are Witch, Ranger, and Duelist. That’s a good balance between a mostly magic user, ranged combat, and melee combat. While all classes can use all kinds of skills, they will excel more when their specialties match the skill. That means spells for Witch, dexterity-based ones for Ranger, and strength-based ones for Duelist.
It’s possible to make up for the lack of other stats through equipment, but it won’t hold a candle to a class that is specialized in that stat.
At any rate, the most popular ascendancies for those 3 classes would be the Necromancer, Raider, and the Gladiator. These three Ascendancies offer the best synergy with the viable skills in this league after the massive nerfs.
Best Classes and Ascendancy for Solo Self-Found and Hardcore SSF Expeditions
There’s not much change from normal. There’s only the addition of the Shadow’s Saboteur. Perhaps this difference is because of trading. When you can trade it’s somewhat easier to find good gear (if you have enough patience for the slow PoE trade process). The SSF leagues are self-sufficient and must procure their equipment and currency such as Exalted Orbs.
The addition of Saboteurs might indicate that it’s a versatile class with easy-to-gear builds. Anything too specific or exacting isn’t well-received in those leagues, as those take a lot of time to obtain. At any rate, it seems like this class has a good balance between offense and survivability.
Most Used Skills
Aside from the Classes and Ascendancies, there are also popular skills to build around. The most popular ones are:
- Raise Spectre
- Signal Prey
- Summon Skeletons
Raider
- Spectral Shield Throw
- Phantasmal Spectral Shield Throw
- Toxic Rain
Gladiator
- Spectral Shield Throw
- Shield Crush
Saboteur
- Ice Trap
- Seismic Trap
- Divergent Ice Trap
It’s Up to You
Of course, it’s up to you to choose a skill to build around and use. If you can’t enjoy the game, it becomes a chore and it’ll become demotivating to play. Your preferences influence how much you enjoy the game.
If you enjoy combat, it should fit your play style. Do you prefer to stay at a distance? Otherwise, do you like getting in close and personal with the enemy? Would you rather focus on single targets or annihilate crowds of enemies? For every strategy and style, there’s always a handful of skills that would fit it.
Just be sure to leave some room for defensive maneuvers. Even if you build full offense, there will come a time that enemies will survive that first blast. Without some defense, that could prove fatal for you. Also, bosses have a thicker shell than mobs and will hit harder. If you’re the type to not be mechanically adept, it’s harder to dodge attacks and area mechanics.
Conclusions
While these are popular, you don’t have to follow the trends. After all, these might not fit your preferred play style. These are just the main ones players have found to be successful or enjoyable for them. As long as you enjoy it, going for a niche class, ascendancy, and build is fine.
Even though the community rants and raves about what should be fixed, you can still enjoy the game. Focusing on the negatives like those people do suck out the enjoyment they once had for it. So don’t mind them and enjoy the game your way.
