Path of Exile 2 Beginner Guide: Campaign, Currency, Filters

The fastest way to get comfortable in Path of Exile 2 is to follow one build through the campaign, pick up every permanent reward the acts hand out, run a loot filter from the first hour, and hold on to Exalted and Divine Orbs instead of spending them on early gear. The game leaves Early Access and goes free-to-play on December 11, 2026 (PST), when version 1.0 adds Acts 5 and 6 and completes the campaign. Until then, the live build is 0.5.5. This guide covers campaign tips, skill and support gems, Spirit, currency basics, loot filter setup and how trading works.

Checked against Grinding Gear Games' 0.5.0 and 0.5.5 patch notes and the 1.0 full release announcement on November 12, 2026.

Everything below describes the live 0.5.5 Early Access build unless it is marked as a 1.0 change. GGG has not published 1.0 patch notes yet, so systems such as crafting and the passive tree can still shift at launch.

What should new players know before starting Path of Exile 2?

Pick a class you like the look of, follow a build guide for your first character, and expect a long campaign before the endgame opens up. At 1.0 the game has 10 classes and 26 Ascendancy classes, including the new Shadow and Duelist; the full classes and Ascendancies list covers each one.

The current Early Access campaign runs through 4 acts plus 3 Interludes. Act 4 ends with Tavakai, the Chieftain, and beating him opens the Interludes through the Hooded One in Kingsmarch. Version 1.0 finishes the story with Acts 5 and 6, and Act 5 takes place in Oriath. For the launch timeline and everything else arriving in December, see the 1.0 release date guide.

Build guides are easier to follow than they used to be. Since patch 0.5.0 the client supports .build files that creators publish alongside their guides. Load one and the game shows the build's passive skills, Ascendancy passives, skill gems and recommended support gems, so you are not alt-tabbing to a planner every level.

Two small quality-of-life changes from 0.5.0 also help on a first run: you can skip NPC dialogue by pressing Escape, and the second half of the campaign has lower monster density, especially in the Interludes.

How do skill gems, support gems and Spirit work?

Skills come from Uncut Gems that you shape into the specific skill you want, and each skill gem carries its own support gem sockets. Gear does not hold links the way it does in the first game.

• Uncut Skill, Spirit and Support Gems drop from monsters and quests and scale to the level of the area where you found them. Use one to engrave a new skill or to level an existing one.
• Requirements: every skill has a level and attribute requirement you must meet before you can engrave it.
• Gem slots: you get 9 skill gem slots by default. The Gemling Legionnaire Ascendancy adds 3 more, and some weapons, Unset Rings and uniques add others.
• Support sockets: a Lesser Jeweller's Orb sets a skill gem to 3 support sockets, a Greater one to 4, and a Perfect one to 5.
• Attributes matter for supports: your Strength, Dexterity and Intelligence decide how many supports of each color you can run across all your skills. You can swap supports at any time.

Spirit is the resource for persistent effects. Auras, permanent minions and Meta Gems reserve Spirit, while mana pays for normal skill costs. Sceptres give Spirit, and the campaign hands out more through boss rewards:

Most weapons also come with a built-in skill that costs no mana and accepts supports like a gem skill, which is handy before you find the skill gem your build wants.

What campaign tips matter most in Path of Exile 2?

Learn the dodge roll, collect every permanent stat reward, and unlock the crafting benches early. Those three habits carry a new character further than any single item drop.

Dodge roll and checkpoints

The dodge roll lets you move through enemies, so you can escape when a pack body-blocks you and step out of direct attacks. It does not protect you from area attacks such as boss slams; for those you need to get out of the marked zone. Boss arenas usually have a checkpoint close by, and a boss returns to full health when you die, so treat early boss attempts as practice for reading attack patterns. Patch 0.4.0 added an objective icon that tracks whether you have activated all checkpoints in an area.

Permanent rewards you should not skip

Several bosses and side areas grant stats that stay on your character for good. Missing them makes the later acts noticeably harder.

Bosses such as Crowbell, Mighty Silverfist and Kabala also drop Weapon Set Passive Skill Points, usually 2 at a time, which you spend on a second weapon set's passives.

Unlock the benches and your Ascendancy

• Salvage Bench: unlocked by the optional "Finding the Forge" quest in Ogham Village in Act 1.
• Reforging Bench: unlocked by defeating Mektul in the Molten Vault in Act 3.
• Trial of the Sekhemas: opens after you beat Balbala, the Traitor, in Act 2, and is the first way to earn Ascendancy points. The Temple of Chaos in Act 3 is the second.
• Farrow: a crafting NPC added in 0.5.0 with 4 campaign quests that unlock new crafting features, starting with Verisium Runeforging after his Act 1 quest.

Abyss encounters have been part of the core game since 0.4.0 and appear in specific campaign areas starting in Act 2, so expect to see them during leveling.

Which currency should beginners keep and which should they spend?

Spend Transmutation, Augmentation and Regal Orbs freely while leveling, and save Exalted, Divine and Chaos Orbs. Exalted and Divine Orbs work as the common trade currencies, so they are worth far more to you as buying power than as early crafting material.

• Gold drops from monsters. You use it at vendors, to respec passive skills, and to pay the fees on the Currency Exchange and Asynchronous Trade. Gold itself cannot be traded to other players.
• Vendoring: selling Magic items gives pieces of Orbs of Transmutation, and selling Rare items gives pieces of Regal Orbs.
• Shards: a stack of 10 Transmutation Shards becomes an Orb of Transmutation, and 10 Regal Shards become a Regal Orb.
• Salvaging: weapons and armour with quality break down into Blacksmith's Whetstones or Armourer's Scraps, and items with sockets give Artificer's Orb pieces.

A cheap early upgrade path is to drop an Orb of Transmutation and an Orb of Augmentation on a good white base, then add a Regal Orb only if the first two modifiers are worth keeping. The crafting and currency guide lists what every orb does and walks through the next steps.

How do you set up a loot filter in Path of Exile 2?

Follow NeverSink's PoE2 filter from the item filter page of your account on pathofexile.com, then select it in the in-game options. Followed filters update on their own, which is the simplest setup for a new player.

NeverSink's filter was written from scratch for Path of Exile 2 and covers both leveling and the endgame. It ships with 7 strictness levels: stricter versions hide more low-value items, which matters more once you reach maps and the screen fills with drops. A followed filter cannot be edited, so if you want custom colors, sounds or rules, use FilterBlade instead. FilterBlade lets you adjust the filter in a browser, preview it on sample drops, and download it, and it carries your changes into future versions.

1. Start the campaign on a lenient strictness so you still see useful bases and early currency.
2. Move to a stricter level when you reach the endgame and inventory trips start slowing you down.
3. Refresh your filter at the start of each new league or major patch, since NeverSink usually releases an update a few hours before launch and a second economy pass 7 to 14 days later.

How does trading work in Path of Exile 2?

Players trade through the official trade site at pathofexile.com/trade2, through Asynchronous Trade, and through the Currency Exchange for stackable items. Asynchronous Trade is not available in Solo Self-Found.

Asynchronous Trade unlocks through Ange in Kingsmarch, the Act 4 town, who also handles hideout selection and Currency Exchange access. You need a Merchant's Tab for it, which comes from the in-game shop or by converting a Premium Stash Tab bought before August 29, 2025. Sellers pay no listing fee, and earnings land in a remove-only tab in Ange's window.

To price-check something you found, Shift-Alt click it. Since 0.5.0 that fills the trade market search filters with the item's stats so you can see what similar items are listed for.

Related guides

• Path of Exile 2 crafting guide: currency orbs explained
• Path of Exile 2 classes and Ascendancies list for 1.0
• Path of Exile 2 1.0 release date, Shadow, Duelist and league
• Path of Exile 2 hub