With the launch of PoE 2’s Rise of the Abyssal league, the class and build meta have rapidly shifted. While player preferences may change as the season develops, with the early game tested, here we are going to sort out the new PoE 2 0.3 Tier List to rank the most popular class in The Third Edict, and the new best endgame builds that can level fast, kill bosses easily, and run late-game content effectively in Rise of the Abyssal league.
Path of Exile 2 0.3 The Third Edict Tier List for Rise of the Abyssal
The start of the Rise of the Abyssal league has seen dramatic changes due to significant updates: gems and support gems have been reworked, and core game systems have been revised. As a result, many players have gravitated toward familiar ascendancies that offer reliable progression, especially when pushing for early mapping and farming efficiency.
At the moment, Deadeye is the clear favorite, particularly in softcore trade leagues, where the ability to quickly clear content and accumulate wealth is highly valued. This popularity is visible across all ladders, with certain other ascendancies rising in modes like solo self-found and hardcore due to their defensive strengths or unique playstyles.
It's important to remember that all available data comes from either opt-in sources or official leaderboards, which are limited in scope but still offer valuable insight into the current meta.
PoE 2 0.3 Class Popular Tier List in Rise of the Abyssal
Here’s how ascendancies currently rank for overall performance in the Rise of the Abyssal league, reflecting trends across softcore, hardcore, and solo self-found modes.
1. Deadeye
Currently, Deadeye stands out as the top choice across all ladders, especially in softcore trade. There is a heavy leaning towards Deadeye in the opening days of the league. With skills like Lightning Arrow, Lightning Rod, and Herald of Thunder, Deadeye allows players to fly through everything and it's super easy. Many players pick this class knowing they can blow through the story, get to maps, and start farming efficiently, making it a surefire win for the start of the season.
2. Lich
Lich has climbed to the top spot in hardcore, with its defensive mechanics and flexible damage conversion. It’s actually number one in Rise of the Abyssal Hardcore Trade League, with about 22% of the top end. Lich can change the type of damage taken and offers some nice survival and cheat death mechanics. This ascendancy is popular in more challenging modes, where staying alive is valued.
3. Blood Mage
Blood Mage appears near the top for global rankings and continues to attract players for its crit-based spellcasting. Seeing Blood Mage up here for the global rankings is pretty cool. This ascendancy can invest heavily into min-maxing for crit, with builds like comet and frost bomb offering big DPS, though the playstyle can be less smooth. Blood Mage remains a favorite, especially for those who like to freeze and shatter packs from afar.
4. Invoker
Invoker has always been popular, sitting in the top five or six in every single league. Players love Invoker without question. Its flexible mechanics and familiar playstyle make it a go-to choice for many. Invoker’s popularity continues even as new builds and ascendancies enter the spotlight.
5. Tactician
Tactician is gaining attention thanks to the new mortar cannon build and changes to crossbow skills. Tactician is making its way up, possibly because of some of the new changes to mercenary, including the new mortar cannon that's making the rounds right now. This ascendancy is especially popular among players experimenting with new mechanics and looking for strong ranged options outside the typical bow builds.
6. Infernalist
Infernalist is a standout for minion-based builds, with more synergy than other ascendancies in this area. Infernalist is kind of like one of the better minion builds you can run for Witch in general. In solo self-found and hardcore, Infernalist offers strong choices for players who want to focus on summoning and minion play.
7. Amazon
Amazon was previously near the top but now sits just below the leading ascendancies. Amazon surprisingly is in fourth place here for softcore, but drops lower in hardcore due to changes in its parry mechanic and the way infusions now work. Amazon is still highly recommended for ranged and accuracy-stacking builds, delivering massive damage and attack speed for those who invest in accuracy.
8. Witchhunter
Witch Hunter is a mid-tier pick, sometimes rising, sometimes falling, but always present. Witch Hunter has been up and down, sometimes very popular, sometimes lower, but in the top third is at least interesting. This ascendancy offers a mix of offense and utility and remains a valid option for those seeking something different.
9. Stormwaver
Stormwaver once held the top spot but now sits just below the midpoint in most league lists. In season one, Stormwaver was where Deadeye is now—the best ascendancy in the game. The spark build blew everything out of the water and it was completely upset and ridiculous. Its popularity has faded, but it’s still chosen by players who remember its former glory.
10. Titan
Titan moves up the rankings in hardcore and solo self-found, where tankiness is important. Titan, along with other warrior ascendancies, benefits from changes to armor and damage reduction, making it more survivable in endgame content. Titan’s presence is more pronounced in challenging modes.
11. Warbringer
Warbringer was expected to climb even higher, but is still seen mainly in hardcore and solo self-found. It has interesting defensive mechanics and is part of the group of warriors that are usually much tankier, especially now that some changes to armor have landed. A lot more Warbringer can be found among players trying out totem builds and tanky playstyles.
12. Smith of Katava
Smith of Katava is another warrior ascendancy that sometimes struggles in popularity but occasionally makes a decent showing in hardcore solo self-found. Smith and Katava are down at the bottom in softcore, but in hardcore solo self-found, Smith of Katava is actually above the fold of all data points. Its unique mechanics, such as building your own armor, make it a sturdy but less common pick.
13. Ritualist
Ritualist is rarely chosen, especially in hardcore, possibly due to how parry and infusions have changed. Now, it seems like Amazons are in a weird state with the way the parry has changed and how things are set up, especially for Ritualist. Ritualist struggles to find a place in the current league but occasionally pops up in niche strategies.
14. Chronomancer
Chronomancer has always been near the bottom, with only a slight increase in representation in some hardcore leagues. Chronomancer coming up a little bit in hardcore solo self-found, but overall, it remains one of the least played ascendancies. Its time-based mechanics offer survival tools but haven’t drawn a large following.
15. Acolyte of Chalupa
Acolyte of Chalupa is rarely played and only shows up in small numbers in solo self-found or hardcore environments. There are no Acolytalupas on the softcore leaderboards as of two days into the league. It occasionally appears above Smith of Katava in certain modes but generally remains at the bottom.
16. Gemling Legionnaire
Gemling Legionnaire used to have a unique identity but has become less represented as support gem flexibility increased across the board. Gemling Legionnaire's identity was kind of just picked up and then, you know, salt base sprinkled across the whole game. In hardcore solo self-found, most of the Gemling Legionnaires that are on the leaderboard are still alive, but the class is still underrepresented.
17. Pathfinder
Pathfinder took a big hit this season. Pathfinder people are just kind of moving over to Deadeye and ignoring it, with recent concoction changes not leading to a major comeback. Pathfinder sits at the bottom in both softcore and hardcore, and many players who start Pathfinder end up abandoning it early in the league.
PoE 2 0.3 Best Endgame Build Tier List in Rise of the Abyssal
Based on leaderboard data and community discussion, these are the most effective endgame builds in the Rise of the Abyssal league:
1. Lightning Arrow Deadeye
The Lightning arrow deadeye stands out for combining lightning arrows with massive screen-clearing power, supported by herald of thunder, tornado shot, and lightning rods for devastating single-target damage. As deadeye, the ascendancy amplifies projectile bonuses and scaling, enabling lightning arrow to unleash beams that chain, freeze, and shock enemies, leading to explosive clear speed. For bosses, the build uses lightning rods and tornado shots for controlled, high-damage rotations, boosted further by Voltec Mark and storm color arrow for powerful shocks. The passive tree emphasizes projectile damage, attack speed, evasion, and eventually critical strike scaling, while Chaos Inoculation and ghost dance offer strong defenses against endgame threats. This build is highly versatile, forgiving to gear, and easily handles both map clearing and pinnacle bosses, making it a powerhouse choice for late-game progression.
2. Fissure Forge Totem Warbringer
The Fissure Warrior build is absolutely top tier, blasting through tier 16 maps and bosses with massive damage output reaching over 100,000 DPS, all while having no mana problems and increased survivability. The build’s gameplay loop revolves around engaging with totems, throwing hammers, and detonating them with war cries followed by spamming fissures, with totems repeatedly triggering fissures and providing both offensive and defensive benefits, soaking up damage, healing you, and giving life regeneration. The combination of high rage, multiple fissures, shockwave totems, branching fissures, and support gems like urgent totems and fund of blood ramps up both damage and sustain, while blood magic and recoup effects allow you to substitute mana costs for life and easily keep up with the action. With plenty of room to upgrade gear for even more life and damage, this build remains extremely powerful and reliable for all endgame content, making it a fantastic choice for endgame progression.
3. Unarmed Hallow Palm Ice Invoker
The Unarmed Hallow Palm monk build uses ice strike and shattering palm to deliver fast, high damage attacks while freezing and shattering enemies in large chains, all without using a weapon. By integrating hollow palm technique, the build gains attack speed, crit, and increased damage when unarmed, creating a swift and agile melee playstyle that scales with evasion and energy shield. Defensively, the build relies on high evasion, energy shield, and ghost dance for strong survivability even in melee, with gear focused on capping resistances and maintaining multiple active buffs. Offensively, cold conversion, support gems, and charge stacking allow for rapid map clear and quick boss kills, while ascendancy choices like the invoker and key nodes provide a balance of damage and tankiness. This setup comfortably clears acts and transitions into endgame, offering a unique and powerful approach that remains durable and effective against tough content in the Rise of the Abyssal league.
4. Vaal Guard Spectre Summoner Infernalist
The Minions Summoner Infernalist build in PoE 2 0.3 Rise of the Abyssal league offers massive boss damage, with the final boss of the trial dying within 5 seconds before even reaching the third ascension, and provides pretty massive map clear thanks to summoning raging spirits through flame wall and utilizing specters with multi-shot for great AOE. The build is very durable due to mind over matter, a high mana pool, and survivability from both gear and mechanics like infernal hound taking a portion of incoming damage, allowing you to tank almost everything in the game, including face tanking a tier 15 boss. Its damage is further boosted by pain and bone offerings, fire exposure, and gear with plus minion skill levels and bonus spirit, while skeleton warriors are used for sacrificial rituals to spike damage further. The setup enables the summoner to clear content quickly, and with the right upgrades, push into high-tier endgame maps, making it a reliable and powerful choice for all stages of the league.
5. Armour Explode Windblast Titan
The Armour Explode Windblast Titan build delivers massive endgame power, effortlessly smashing through T15 maps and one-shotting base T15 bosses with ease, even before final upgrades are in place. The rotation focuses on using wind blast to apply armor break and heavy stun, then finishing with hammer of the gods for huge single-target damage; if the enemy survives, you simply reapply armor break and keep smashing. With a fully upgraded hammer boasting 792 DPS, a chest piece with huge armor and chaos resistance, and overall armor values reaching up to 20,000, this Titan is very hard to kill and can face-tank most content. Sustain comes from life leech, high life per enemy killed, and overleech mechanics, while gear is packed with life, resistances, and physical damage. The build is extremely forgiving in leveling and can begin exploding packs as early as Act 2, scaling smoothly into endgame with further upgrades and ascendancies. This setup allows you to clear high-tier content, take on the toughest bosses, and enjoy a playstyle that feels both tanky and satisfying, with more room for damage and survivability as you continue to optimize.
6. Skeleton Archers Lich
The Skeleton Archers Lich build is meta in PoE 2 0.3 Rise of the Abyssal league because archers are just so damn good, with better clear and boss damage than other minions, and this character is killing all the endgame bosses and full clearing the abysses with ease. The build focuses on skeleton snipers that do physical, fire, and chaos damage, scaling with fireflower and sunsplitter for plus levels, and uses PoE 2 items like Ever Grasping Ring and spirit-based gear for survivability. Running as a Lich with CI and unholy might, the build maintains high energy shield and takes advantage of Voltexic Mark for both shock and armor break, letting the archers do more damage. The setup allows for high performance in endgame content, and the investment in plus levels and key uniques really makes the build shine once you can afford them.
7. Arc Stormweaver
The Arc Stormweaver build is described as one of the strongest caster builds in current league, with crazy area of effect that deletes mobs off the screen and boss damage so high that bosses die before the full damage rotation is even finished. This build leverages the reworked Arc skill, which chains across enemies and, when infused with lightning, does 200% more damage, with the goal to lightning infuse every single Arc cast for billions of damage and full-screen clears. The setup uses cast on elemental ailment, frequent shock application, and Snap to spawn lightning infusions, while unique nodes like shocking limit and strike twice further boost damage and shock stacking. For bossing, Arc applies double shocks, then Lightning Conduit consumes those shocks to one-shot bosses, and Orb of Storms plus overabundance enables rapid lightning infusion generation. Mana Tempest doubles damage and increases area, and defensive layers like high energy shield, Chaos Inoculation, chill stacking, and Convolescence provide a big ES pool and survivability. The result is a build that comes online early, scales into late game, and offers both insane clear and bossing power, making it a top choice for endgame.
8. Mortar Crossbows Tactician
The Mortar Crossbows Tactician build offers explosive damage that absolutely destroyed everything and had a good time the entire way through, with powerful single-target and area-of-effect thanks to Mortar and explosive shot setups. As a tactician, you gain access to pin, instantly pinning bosses and allowing you to stun them and stack up massive damage while they’re immobilized, making boss fights much easier. The build prioritizes high attack speed, life, and resistances on gear, and benefits from strong defensive options like armor and evasion, while war banners provide a huge damage boost and glory generation for every boss encounter. Despite a current bug with crossbow jamming, the build remains enjoyable and effective, and with the right gear and setup, it handles both campaign and endgame content with ease, standing out as a strong and satisfying choice for endgame progression.
9. Blackflame Fireball Mage Blood
The Blackflame fireball mage blood build transforms the classic fireball skill by leveraging the infusion system and the black flame covenant keystone to turn fireball into a purple chaos-igniting projectile, allowing damage over time to scale with both ignite and chaos mechanics. The build revolves around generating infusions with living bomb, solar orb, and snap, then consuming them with fireball for massive waves of secondary projectiles that clear maps effortlessly and deal tremendous boss damage. The blood mage ascendancy enables spells to cost life instead of mana, supported by a massive life pool, consistent regeneration, and leech, while gear and passive tree investments focus on life, chaos scaling, and spell casting utility. This setup has been making waves across the community because of how effortlessly it can shred through the maps, crush bosses, and scale into the end game.
10. Essence Drain Chaos Lich
The Essence drain chaos lich build focuses on combining essence chain and contagion to create a devastating spread of chaos damage over time, while summoning dark effigy totems to annihilate bosses and tough rares. Essence chain delivers high chaos dot damage, contagion spreads that damage across packs, and dark effigy amplifies single target output by multiplying projectiles based on the number of active dots. The lich ascendancy provides a massive energy shield pool and soulless form converts life regeneration into mana sustain, while eternal life locks health and mitigates incoming damage, resulting in a build with near unshakable sustain. With strong defensive layers, efficient skill gem and gear priorities, and a playstyle that balances offense and survival, this chaos witch build clears maps fast, melts bosses, and survives in fights that would destroy other chaos builds, making it one of the highest DPS and safest chaos setups for endgame content.
11. Warp Stormweaver
The Budget Endgame Warp Stormweaver build delivers fast, flashy, and super fun gameplay by dealing massive lightning damage while teleporting forward through maps, allowing players to shoot ball lightning into packs and instantly warp onto mobs for overlapping explosions that wipe out the screen. This setup is praised for requiring absolutely no investment, making it accessible to anyone and allowing for smooth progression from late Act 3 or early mapping all the way into endgame. The build shifts focus away from infusions and leans into lightning scaling and energy shield-based defenses, utilizing chaos inoculation for full chaos immunity and a huge energy shield pool, which means you can tank so many hits, making it one of the safest play styles. With affordable gear options, easy upgrades, and defensive layers like convolescence for instant energy shield recharge, the build remains comfortable, powerful, and reliable even on a zero budget, letting players push into higher-tier content with minimal risk and maximum fun.
12. Hollow Palm Deadeye
The Hollow Palm Deadeye build in PoE 2 0.3 Rise of the Abyssal league uses a combo of Shattering Palm and Ice Strike for mapping, massively increasing speed clearing in comparison to Storm Wave, as Shattering Palm gives you a dash forward and applies ice crystals that explode with Ice Strike, making everything go boom. For bosses, the build leverages Falling Thunder with Culmination 2 and Althious Chimes, turning Falling Thunder into a combo skill that can generate up to 450% more damage, leading to one-shots on bosses and even the potential to oneshot pinnacles with endgame gear. This setup is super comfy, tankier due to energy shield and better evasion, and provides a super fast and enjoyable combo for clearing everything else in the map, making it a strong choice for endgame content this league.
Google Safe
0
Home
![Grand Charms(Assassin)[36-39 Life & +1 Trap Skills]](https://www.aoeah.com/Images/D2/charm_large1.png)
![Enigma[Archon Plate(15 ED)][760-774 Defense]](/Images/D2/lightplate_graphic.png)
Follow us on Discord
