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How to get Ascendancy Points in Path of Exile 2

You mean Path of Pain, right?

An official Path of Exile 2 screenshot showing a monk
Image credit: Grinding Gear Games

Leveling up your character in Path of Exile 2 to become a godlike fighter you need to obtain Ascendancy Points.

Making a powerful character is part of the fun in Path of Exile 2. However, the game is not easy and the way to reach true power is paved with difficult challenges and deadly creatures.

But if you're still only starting in your journey to godhood - and suffering - we can help you with this guide. Here we cover what Ascendancy Points are and how to get them.

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Path of Exile 2 Ascendancy Points explained

In Path of Exile 2, Ascendancy Points are unique passive skill points that you can only use to unlock nodes from your Ascendancy Class. You can identify how many of these points you have by checking the top-right corner of the Skill Tree screen.

A Path of Exile 2 screenshot showing the ascendancy points screen
Image credit: Grinding Gear Games/Eurogamer

The Ascendancy Classes are specializations that you can unlock and give you a new segment of passive skills which can completely change the way you play the game. Check out our All Classes and Ascendancy Classes guide to learn more about each specialization. Although the method to obtain Ascendancy Points differs from the usual, you can still refund these points in case you want to try other combinations. Refunding them costs a little bit more than regular passive skill points.

How to get Ascendancy Points in Path in Exile 2

In Path of Exile 2, you need to complete either the Trial of the Sekhemas or the Trial of Chaos to get more Ascendancy Points. You earn the first two points when your Ascendancy Class is unlocked, which can be done by completing for the first time one of the two trials. Getting more of these points, however, requires some extra work.

If the Trial of the Sekhemas was the first one you completed, then the next step is to go to the Trial of Chaos and vice versa. The Trial of the Sekhemas becomes available once you defeat Balbala, the Traitor, a secondary boss who you can find in The Traitor's Passage during Act II. Beating them rewards you with the special item Balbala's Barya. On the other hand, to run the Trial of Chaos for the first time, look for the Chimeral Inscribed Ultimatum. This unique item drops from Xyclucian, The Chimera, a boss found in Act III in the Chimeral Wetlands region.

Both the Balbala's Barya and the Chimeral Inscribed Ultimatum don't disappear if you fail the trials, giving you the opportunity to try as many times as you need to unlock your Ascendancy Class and, later, the next two ascendancy points.

A Path of Exile 2 screenshot showing the loading scene in one of the trials
Image credit: Grinding Gear Games/Eurogamer

Acquiring more Ascendancy Points besides the first four involves using two quite rare items, Djinn Baryas and Inscribed Ultimatum. These are tradeable items that work as keys for you to repeat both trials and will give you access to a certain number of floors, which is described in the details of the items you collected. As you complete more floors the trials with these keys, you are rewarded with more Ascendancy Points.

According to the YouTube creator wudijo, you must use a Djinn Baryast to gain access to at least three floors. While the Inscribed Ultimatum lets you access seven floors – although, at the time of writing, he reports the latter is not correctly working. You start seeing these items from Act II, but, different from the ones you used before, if you fail, they will disappear. So prepare properly before you use these items.

Good luck earning Ascendancy Points!

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