Path of Exile — How to Play
What it is
A free-to-play action RPG by Grinding Gear Games (2013). You are an exile on the cursed continent of Wraeclast, fighting through a ten-act campaign and then into the endgame Atlas of maps.
What makes it different
- Skill gems. Your skills are gems socketed into your gear. Support gems in linked sockets change them — more projectiles, more damage, a trigger. Any class can use any skill.
- The passive tree. Well over a thousand nodes, shared by all seven classes; each class just starts in a different place.
- Ascendancy. Clear the Labyrinth to choose a specialisation for your class.
- Currency. There is no gold for trading: orbs that craft items are the money. Chaos and Divine Orbs are the common trade currencies.
Starting out
- Follow a beginner build guide for your first character — the tree is easy to get wrong.
- Start in the current league (see Leagues): it has the new content and the living economy.
- Keep a couple of life flasks and a movement skill on every character.
Trade only through the official trade site. Buying items or currency for real money is not allowed on our boards.