Path of Exile 2 continues its legacy by offering updated character customisation, along with a complex passive skill tree, and methods to specialise your Exile. With all this additional complexity, each player may ask a question: how do you reset your build in Path of Exile 2? Respeccing, or resetting your passive skill points and character choices, allows you to experiment with different builds or fix mistakes made during progression.
While the system is familiar to veteran PoE players, Path of Exile 2 introduces a few adjustments. In this guide, we’ll explain everything you need to know about respeccing, the items involved, and how the process interacts with your PoE 2 currency, an essential aspect of the game’s economy.
Understand Respeccing in Path of Exile 2
The passive skill tree is always going to be big, complex, and rewarding in Path of Exile 2. The key to it all is that each class starts in a different section of the tree, specialising more in some paths and less in others, leading to what forms your character blueprint.
Respeccing allows you to reset the points to allocate more points and thus redesign your build, just like you were creating a new character, but without needing to actually create a new character.
What You Can Respec
- Individual Passive Nodes: You can unallocate single nodes by spending refund points or using specific consumable items.
- Entire Skill Sections: Some quests and events may allow limited refunds of clusters of skills.
- Ascendancy Resets: You can reset your Ascendancy class with unique items or big events, but this is more complicated and costlier.
What You Can’t Freely Respec
You cannot freely respec your entire passive tree at will. Full resets are extremely rare and usually only occur during major patches or balance overhauls when the developers introduce significant gameplay changes.
How Respeccing Works – Step by Step
Respeccing in PoE 2 uses a combination of refund points and respec currency items.
Here’s how the process typically works:
- Earn Refund Points: Completing certain quests during the campaign rewards you with a small number of refund points. Each refund point allows you to unallocate one passive skill node.
- Use Orbs of Regret: For most players, the primary item for respecs is the Orb of Regret. Consuming one Orb grants one refund point, letting you remove a single node.
- Access the Passive Skill Tree: First, open your passive tree, and right-click an Orb of Regret, then click on a node you wish to unallocate.
Full Respecs – Are They Possible?
Full respecs (or resetting your entire tree) are not an expected feature of Path of Exile 2. The game was designed so that players would be less likely to have to scorch their characters from the ground up, focusing instead on small adjustments.
However, there are limited situations where a full respec might become available:
- Major Patch Changes: From time to time, Grinding Gear Games puts out a significant balance update that changes a lot of the skill tree, and as such gives all characters one free full respec.
- Special Items or Events: Ultra-rare items or seasonal mechanics may provide almost a total reset, while these will be exceptions to the rule.
- League Resets: With the start of a new league, it allows all to wipe the slate clean with fresh characters.
- League Resets: When a new league begins, you start fresh with new characters, offering a natural opportunity to rebuild from scratch.
How Respeccing Affects Your Currency
Respeccing is directly tied to your PoE 2 currency usage. Orbs of Regret, the primary respec item, function as a medium-value currency that circulates heavily in player trading. Their value fluctuates depending on the league’s economy and the player base’s demand for respec materials.
Here’s how currency interacts with the respec process:
- Early Game: Refund points from quests are usually enough for minor mistakes. You likely won’t need to spend much currency early on.
- Mid to Late Game: When builds become more complex, and you begin optimizing towards endgame maps or bosses, you will depend on Poe 2 currency to purchase Orbs of Regret in large quantities.
- Trading for Respec Materials: You can buy respec with other currencies (such as Chaos Orbs and Divine Orbs).
- Experimentation Costs: It costs a lot to test out different build types.
A disciplined approach to currency management ensures that experimentation doesn’t cripple your endgame progress. Many players maintain a small reserve of Orbs of Regret specifically for late-game adjustments.
Tips for Efficient Respeccing
When considering how to use your refunds more efficiently and not waste resources, try the following tips:
1. Plan Ahead: Use tools like community ones or offline planners to try and simulate your build before you spend points in-game.
2. Don’t Make Unnecessary Changes: You don’t need to respec every time you come across a new meta build; small changes can be more effective.
3. Target the Denticles: When you respec, aim to get rid of nodes that don’t give a very good return on investment for your playstyle right now.
4. Currency Stock: Never run out of them – always have a few orbs of regret, or tradeable currencies at hand to make emergency changes.
5. Test in Low Danger Zones: If you plan to respect any major defensive or offensive nodes, test out your new build first in low-risk areas like acts or early maps.
Remember, respecs in PoE 2 are not just mechanical – they’re strategic. The best players adapt over time, adjusting builds as they gain experience and resources.
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Respeccing in Path of Exile 2 is a delicate balance between flexibility and commitment. The game encourages thoughtful planning but still rewards creativity and experimentation. Learning how to use refund points, manage Orbs of Regret, and control your PoE 2 currency flow is essential for mastering the system.
FAQs
Can I freely reset my entire skill tree in Path of Exile 2?
No. Full resets are hard to come by and are only given to certain people or applied by the game developers during large patches. You can, of course, slowly refund specific nodes with Orbs of Regret or refund points.
What if I screw up on my build too much?
There can be a point where respeccing is so costly that beginning with an entirely new character would make more sense than burning up tons of currency.
Are the Ascendancy nodes using the same respec as well?
Not exactly. Ascendancy points may require particular trials or unique items to respec. They are meant to be more permanent than normal passives.
