Path of Exile 2: Huntress Class Guide Skills and Ascendancies

Discover everything you need to know about the Huntress class guide in Path of Exile 2, including its skills and ascendancies.


Path of Exile 2: Huntress Class Guide Skills and Ascendancies (Grinding Gear Games)
Path of Exile 2: Huntress Class Guide Skills and Ascendancies (Grinding Gear Games)

Path of Exile 2 just revealed the new class, as well as the 5 new ascendancies along with it. The Huntress is a new class that comes with two unique ascendancies. Each Ascendancy grants access to a unique passive tree, distinct from the base class’s passive tree. The spear attack can make some valuable combo chains, allowing you to deal massive damage. Spears are basically new base item types that she uses as either a thrown weapon or in melee range. The Huntress is depicted as a female character. They have the skills that allow for switching between ranged and melee combat, with elemental abilities. The Classes in Path of Exile 2 are gender-locked, meaning you cannot choose the gender of a specific Class, as it is predetermined. In this guide, we’ll discuss the Huntress Class in Path of Exile 2, along with The Ritualist and The Amazon Ascendancy.

Huntress Class Overview in Path of Exile 2

poe 2 dawn of the hunt
poe 2 dawn of the hunt

The Huntress in Path of Exile 2 is a brand-new class introduced in the Dawn of the Hunt update. This class is a dexterity-based class that offers us a new weapon called a Spear. The Ritualist and The Amazon are the two ascendances of The Huntress. The players of this class use a spear and a buckler, allowing them to deal damage in both melee combat and ranged combat. They can harness energy from the wild, tame beasts, and weave in and out of combat with the help of 20 new Huntress skills.

While The Ritualist focuses on the dark side of Azmeri traditions, the Amazons are masters of Azmeri fighting techniques. The Huntress can combine many of her skills to create different variations of attacks. They can even tame defeated beasts and summon them to fight at their side. However, the players can only have 1 active beast at a time. You can stab with the spear and throw it. Not only do they have a parry when using a buckler, but you’ve also got these spinning whirlwind slashes and tornadoes/

Key Features and Mechanics of the Huntress Class

The Huntress class in Path of Exile 2 excels in both ranged and melee combat. This allows you to have a flexible and dynamic approach to battles. You specialize in using spears that offer both ranged attacks and melee combat versatility. Ritualist abilities allow for sacrificing enemies to gain power, and Amazon abilities focus on elemental skills and brute force. These features of The Huntress class allow you to increase critical hit capabilities along with exposing enemy weaknesses.

Path of Exile 2 offers some unique skills that allow you to throw your spear as well as attack in melee range. It’s worth mentioning that The Huntress is not a tanky class, so battling in melee range can put you in danger. You get the opportunity to shoot out cyclones of ice, lightning, or fire while also having the opportunity to do a complete bleed build. Your main skill will be whirling the slash that you can create around you, and it gets bigger the more you do it on the spot. The major mechanics for the Huntress class are Spear Attacks, Parry, Frenzy Charges, Ritualist abilities, and Amazon abilities. Timing is crucial for parrying because it allows you to avoid attacks but also stun enemies with counterattacks.

How to Play as Huntress in Path of Exile 2

huntress poe 2
Path of Exile 2: Huntress Class Guide Skills and Ascendancies

The Huntress in Path of Exile 2 is specifically designed for players who prefer high mobility, ranged combat, and melee combat. As a Huntress, you start with skills related to movement, traps, and mobility. Whirling Slash is the first of wind-themed skills and is a bit of an archetype here within The Huntress. It’s a combo piece for quite a few other skills as well. You slash in a circle for fairly low damage and create a whirlwind. Each whirling slash adds a stage to the Whirlwind, increasing its area up to three total stages.

If you leave the Whirlwind area, then it explodes, dealing more damage per stage in that larger area. Its main use early on is AOE for a group of enemies. You will get a feel for how much damage you need to do to the enemies before you detonate, so you might end up doing an extra slash. Use the skill gems that complement your playstyle and build. The Huntress equipped with a Spear and Buckler, seamlessly weaves melee and ranged attacks together, using high mobility and counterattacks.

Use the Twister ability to simply send a projectile that pierces through all targets and bounces off walls until it runs out of duration. The Pursuit and Retreat provide you with a great combo. The hybrid melee range playstyle of the Huntress and Spears is encapsulated in a brand-new pair of support gems. The Pursuit makes the linked melee attack deal 30% more melee damage if you damage the enemy with a projectile attack in the last 8 seconds. Retreat is the opposite, as it deals 25% more damage if you’ve damaged an enemy with a melee hit in the last 8 seconds. Use Support Gems to upgrade your skills that enhance the damage output and effectiveness in combat.

Huntress Class Skills

huntress class skills poe 2
huntress class skills poe 2

The Huntress class uses a spear and a buckler, allowing them to blend range and melee combat into one. The game offers multiple skills that players from this class can choose to use while fighting the enemies in combat. Most of the skills interact with each other in many different ways.

  • Disengage- Jump back as you rupture the earth in front of you with spear points, damaging enemies. Consumes the parried Debuff on hitting enemies to release a shockwave and grant you a Frenzy Charge. This skill can be used while using other skills and cause strikes and projectiles to miss you while jumping. This skill cannot be ancestrally boosted.
  • Whirling Slash- Perform a circular slash that kicks up a spinning storm of wind and dust around you, slowing enemies and blinding them in its area of effect. Leaving the area unleashes the swirling storm, causing it to deal damage.
  • Twister- Whip up a twister with a flick of your spear. The twister moves forward erratically, blinding and repeatedly hitting enemies within. If a twister touches a Whirlwind from your other skills, it consumes the Whirlwind to create additional twisters that deal more damage. Passive over elemental ground surfaces or consuming an elemental whirlwind will grant twisters extra damage to that element.
  • Explosive Spear- Hurl a payload spear that pierces through enemies and lodges in the terrain where it lands. The Spear will explode at the end of its detonation time or if it is detonated. Consumes a frenzy charge if you have one to explode immediately, dealing more damage in a cross-shaped area and creating ignited ground.
  • Spearfield- Stab the ground, causing multiple spears to burst off the ground in front of you in a large area. The spears remain for a duration or explode when enemies touch them.
  • Lightning Spear- Throw a single copy of your spear. When it hits an enemy, it bursts, firing secondary lightning bolt projectiles at multiple other enemies within a large area around it. Consumes a frenzy charge if possible to cause the main spear to split into multiple copies on impact, each of which then bursts.
  • Fangs of Frost- Perform an extended icy stab that exploits enemies who are already off balance. Hitting a parried target consumes the debuff to cause a nova of frost and leave the chilled ground.
  • Rake- Dash toward an enemy and perform a lacerating slash, inflicting bleeding on all enemies struck.
  • Herald of Blood- While active, killing an enemy with blood loss will cause a bloody explosion that deals physical attack damage to surrounding enemies based on the life of the exploded enemy, destroying their corpses in the process. The explosion also has a chance of aggravating bleeding.
  • Rapid Assault- Perform a series of six rapid stabs. The final stab inflicts bleeding and leaves a spearhead stuck in the target, maiming them for a duration. Detonator skills will cause the stuck spearheads to explode, dealing further damage to the target and other nearby enemies. 
  • Storm Spear- Throw a single copy of your spear. When it hits an enemy, it bursts, firing bolts of lightning at multiple other enemies within a large area around it.
  • Storm Lance- Throw an electrified spear that lodges in the ground and periodically zaps nearby enemies with lightning bolts. If the spear is detonated by another skill, it immediately unleashes a volley of bolts and expires. Consumes a frenzy charge if possible to fire bolts more frequently for a shorter duration, automatically detonates at the end of its duration, and creates shocked ground on detonation.
  • Barrage- Ready a volley of arrows or spears, empowering your next bow or thrown spear attack to repeat multiple times. Consumes your frenzy charges on use to add additional repeats.

All Huntress Skill Gems

Here are all the Huntress skill gems that can be obtained at certain levels in Path of Exile 2.

  • Skill Gem Level 1 and Above
  • Disengage
  • Whirling Slash
  • Twister
  • Explosive Spear
  • Skill Gem level 3 and Above
  • Spearfield
  • Lightning Spear
  • Fangs of Frost
  • Rake
  • Skill Gem level 5 and Above
  • Barrage
  • Rapid Assault
  • Storm Lance
  • Skill Gem level 7 and Above
  • Sniper’s Mark
  • Blood Hunt
  • Glacial Lance
  • Primal Strikes
  • Skill Gem level 9 and Above
  • Thunderous Leap
  • Bloodhound’s Mark
  • Tame Beast
  • Skill Gem level 11 and Above
  • Whirlwind Lance
  • Elemental Sundering
  • Skill Gem level 13 and Above
  • Wind Serpent’s Fury
  • Spear of Solaris

Huntress Class Ascendancies

Ascendancies are the specializations for your character, granting you additional options to customize them to your playstyle. Path of Exile has three Ascendancy Classes for every Class. At the beginning of the game, only two will be available per Class. As you progress you will unlock powerful ascendancy options to refine further and enhance your build. The Ritualist and Amazon are the two different ascendancies of the Huntress class in Path of Exile 2. Let’s break them down to understand which one works better with your playstyle or build.

The Amazon

the amazon ascendancy poe 2
the amazon ascendancy poe 2

The Amazon is just doubling down on the Huntress, making your spears more valuable using things like power charges and frenzy charges. This is only to get different elemental bonuses, increasing your abilities against rare and unique enemies with opened weaknesses. It allows you to deal 50% more damage and do some interesting things with your life and mana flasks. It also allows you to leech life with both elemental and physical damage. The next one here, the Forgemaster, is very interesting.

You can forge your weapon and increase its viability in the middle of battle. This adds explosions to your weapon with a tempered weapon. You can also craft your own chest piece using the ascendancy. Your body armor will essentially be a blank slate where you can add different stats on top of it using your ascendancy. This is a unique thing, and it allows for some interesting customization. This is where you normally wouldn’t be able to get some of these mods or be able to just perfectly change your build on a whim if you get an upgrade somewhere else. Here are the best skills of The Amazon Ascendancy in Path of Exile 2.

  • Elemental Infusion- Grants the skill: Infuse Weapon. When you consume a power charge trigger, infuse the weapon to gain 2 cold infusions. When you consume an Endurance Charge Trigger Infuse weapon to gain 2 fire infusions. When you consume a frenzy charge trigger, infuse the weapon to gain 2 lightning infusions.
  • Infused Avatar- 50% chance for infusion to not be consumed when infusing a projectile.
  •  In for the Kill- 20% increases movement speed while an open weakness is in your presence. 40% increased skill speed while an enemy with an open weakness is in your presence.
  • Penetrate- Attacks using your weapons have added physical damage equal to 25% of the accuracy rating on the weapon.
  • Predatory Instinct- Reveal weakness against rare and unique enemies, 50% more damage against enemies with an open weakness.
  • Critical Strike- Chance to hit with attacks can exceed 100%. Gain an additional critical hit chance equal to 25% of the excess chance to hit with attacks.
  • Stalking Panther- Evasion rating from equipping helmet, gloves, and boots is doubled. Evasion rating from equipped body armor is halved.

The Ritualist

the ritualist ascendancy poe 2
the ritualist ascendancy poe 2

The ritualist has some unique abilities from blood boil, which would cause explosions that will give corrupted blood to nearby enemies. However, the big one that I see here is that you can get an extra ring slot. If somehow this pairs with Ingenuity, then this is busted. You’re also able to perform rituals on rare monsters, steal some of their mods, or even sacrifice your own HP to get a random mod that a monster could get. The Ritual Sacrifice allows you to sacrifice the corpse of an enemy to gain one of its monster modifiers for a short time. You also gain a third ring slot by unlocking the Unfurled Finger node. Mastic Attunement increases all stats on rings and amulets by 25%. Here are the best skills of The Ritualist Ascendancy in Path of Exile 2.

  • As the Whispers Demand- Ritual Sacrifice can be used on yourself to remove 20% of maximum Life to grant a random monster modifier. A maximum of one modifier can be granted this way.
  • Mind Phylacteries- Can instead consume 25% of maximum Mana to trigger charms with insufficient charges.
  • Intricate Sigils- It grants +1 Charm Slot and 20% more charm charges gained.
  • Mastic Attunement- 25% increases bonuses gained from equipped rings and amulets.
  • Attributes- This skill allows you to gain 3% increased attributes.
  • Reduced Resistances- Provides you with 15% to all elemental resistances.
  • Reduced Spirit- Grants a 25% reduced spirit.
  • Reduced Mana- You gain 30% reduced maximum mana.
  • Wildwood Persistence- Grants 5% increased Life Recovery rate per 5% missing Life.

The Amazon vs The Ritualist Ascendancies

The Amazon is the powerful Ascendancy for The Huntress Class in Path of Exile 2 due to its effective playstyle and skills. The skills of The Amazon are shattering and can turn the tide of victory on your side if used strategically. The Ritualist Ascendancy has decent skills that are not as powerful as the Skills from Amazon Ascendancy. Amazon seems like it might scale better into the late game, especially with accuracy stacking. However, the 1 extra ring is the same as 50% ingenuity. Then, the follow-up node has a 25% increased effect, and in total, you get 87% ingenuity. While The Amazon looks generic, the Ritualist looks quirky.

FAQs Path of Exile 2: Huntress Class Guide Skills and Ascendancies

Is Huntress a Good Class in Path of Exile 2?

Yes, Huntress is one of the best classes in Path of Exile 2 to choose due to is mixed melee and ranged skills that allow you to benefit from both melee and ranged combat.

Should you choose Huntress Class in Path of Exile 2?

Yes, you should definitively choose the Huntress class if you’re struggling to win both melee and ranged combats. The spear can be used to eliminate enemies closer to you or far away from you using different skills.

What Gender is the Huntress Class in Path of Exile 2?

The Huntress in Path of Exile 2 is a female class that specializes in both ranged and melee combat, using spears and buckles.

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