Are you exploring the depths of the mysteries of the Karui Tribe in the latest Trials of the Alliance of the Ancestors, eager to know which rulers reign supreme? Look no further because we've prepared an in-depth poe 3.22 Ascendancy class tier list guide to help you navigate the myriad of options and make informed decisions for your character's growth. You'll find invaluable insights to decipher the array of options, enabling you to chart the optimal course for your character's evolution. 

 

• Tiers System
• Scoring System
• Berserker
• Chieftain
• Juggernaut
• Champion
• Slayer
• Gladiator
• Pathfinder
• Deadeye
• Raider
• Saboteur
• Trickster
• Assassin
• Occultist
• Elementalist
• Necromancer
• Guardian
• Hierophant
• Inquisitor
• Ascendant

 

 

↖ Tiers System

In our tier system, we've categorized ascendancies into 6 distinct tiers based on their performance in Trial of the Ancestors League. Let's break down each tier:

 

Tier	Description
God Tier (S)	These ascendancies stand as the cream of the crop, excelling in their respective archetypes. They effortlessly outclass all others and are a safe bet for any top-tier builds.
Gold Tier (A)	Just beneath the god tier, these ascendancies are extremely powerful and versatile. Although slightly weaker than the top-tier choices, you will be okay with picking them.
Silver Tier (B)	Ascendancies in this tier are solid contenders. They boast numerous advantages and are quite appealing in the current League.
Bronze Tier (C)	The middle-ground ascendancies, are suitable options for average playstyles. While not the best, they might cater to non-meta enthusiasts.
Barely Playable Tier (D)	These ascendancies have their struggles. There's usually a better option for your chosen archetype, but if you have a particular fondness for them, you can make them work.
Trash Tier (E)	This is the lowest of the low. Ascendancies in this tier are in dire need of buffs or rework to become viable choices.

 

 

↖ Scoring System

We assess each ascendancy's performance based on 5 core criteria, each rated on a scale of one to 5:

• Accessibility: How well-suited is the ascendancy as a league starter? Does it offer useful early-game stats and a smooth leveling experience?
• Offense: How does the ascendancy's damage output compare to alternatives? Does it shine in clearing maps or boss encounters?
• Defense: How tanky is the ascendancy? Does it rely on external mechanics or offer solid defensive attributes within the ascendancy itself?
• Scalability: Can the ascendancy thrive in late-game scenarios? How well does it fare against other ascendancies in endgame content?
• Popularity: We analyze the percentage of players using each ascendancy across different league ladders SSF, Trade Softcore, and Hardcore to gauge its popularity.

 

Based on these criteria, we assign points to each ascendancy, with the most played ascendancies in each category receiving the highest points.

 

↖ Berserker

Historically a solid League starter for melee, Berserker boasts unmatched damage, excelling even with subpar weapons. However, in recent leagues, melee has struggled, making Berserker the weakest melee ascendancy. Offensively, it's a powerhouse with massive damage, earning a 5. Defensively, it falters, relying on inconsistent features like berserk uptime and unreliable armor. A 1 for defense. Scalability is decent, especially for strong Min-maxed builds. Popularity is low, with around 2% of players using it in various leagues. Total score: 13, placing it around the low B to high C tier.

 

↖ Chieftain

Chieftain is a reasonable League starter with options for attack, spell, and totem builds. Leveling is comfortable due to resistance and damage bonuses. Offensively, it lacks compared to other ascendancies, and its unique features can be found elsewhere. Defensively, it shines with solid baseline defense, recovery, and endurance charge generation, earning a 4. Scalability is decent, especially defensively. Popularity is limited, around 0.7-2% in different leagues. Total score: 14, placing it alongside Berserker in the seat tier. Chieftain could use buffs to shine more.

 

↖ Juggernaut

Juggernaut is a top-tier League starter with outstanding accessibility. It excels in both offense and defense, particularly with recovery and tankiness. Offensively, it's only exceptional if strength-stacking, earning a 2. Defensively, it's near unparalleled, with incredible endurance charge generation and recovery, earning a 5. Scalability is strong, and Juggernaut's popularity is high, with usage ranging from 14-28%. Total score: 21, firmly in the god tier. Juggernaut's recent improvements have solidified its dominance, especially in defense-focused builds.

 

↖ Champion

Champion accessibility scores high as a League starter due to versatile options, benefiting from fortifying nodes and high armor/evasion. The aura effect enhances offense and defense, making it smooth to level. Defense is strong but slightly weaker than Juggernaut. Scalability is solid due to the Aura effect. Popularity: 16% in softcore trade and 11% in softcore solo self-found, total score 21. Champion remains in the god tier due to versatility and powerful auras.

 

↖ Slayer

Slayer accessibility is decent but excels in bone chatter builds. It offers good offense with a coal node and strong clearing ability. Defensively, over leech and damage reduction while leeching offer nice recovery. Scalability is good, with offensive and defensive stacking. Popularity: 3% in softcore trade and 6% in softcore solo self-found. Total score 18. Slayer is a solid melee ascendancy, best for mapping with bone chatter.

 

↖ Gladiator

Gladiator's accessibility suffers due to limited League start options and current state of melee. Offense is weak due to poor bleed mechanics, but bleed explosions aid mapping. Defense relies on the block, becoming less effective with strong auras. Scalability is transitional; better early, not ideal for the end game. Popularity: 0.4% in softcore trade and 1% in softcore solo self-found. Total score 12. Gladiator is considered barely playable due to its lackluster performance.

 

↖ Pathfinder

Pathfinder is a strong league start with great potential, offering build diversity and early mapping power. Its flasks provide defense and solve issues. Offensively, it's solid due to a reworked node. Defensively, flask-based defenses are strong, with interesting interactions like the life loss node. Scalability is excellent, allowing for tanky endgame builds. It's popular in this League, scoring 23 points, and landing in the god tier.

 

↖ Deadeye

In this bow-focused League, Deadeye is a good league starter with potential. Offensive strength is boosted by Vengeant Cascade. Defensively, it lacks reliability but excels in scalability with high damage output. Popularity varies across leagues, totaling 19 points, placing it in the A tier. Deadeye is balanced with room for improvement.

 

↖ Raider

Raider shines as a league start due to quality of life nodes, early speed, and ailment immunity. Offensively, it's decent in the early game but lacks at higher levels. It offers good defenses with evasion, ailment immunity, and phasing. Scalability is limited, and popularity is consistent across leagues, earning 15 points. Raider falls into the B tier, being a comfortable but not overly powerful choice.

 

↖ Saboteur

In terms of accessibility, Saboteur scores a low two due to recent nerfs to its trap and mine playstyle, making it less appealing for league starters. Offensively, it's a three; while the ascendancy rework hurt trap and mine builds, trigger bots offer potential for good damage. Defensively, Saboteur is strong, with a score of four, featuring solid defensive nodes. Scalability is a four, as it can scale well with various builds. In terms of popularity, Saboteur scores a one, being one of the least played ascendancies. Overall, it lands in the C tier, needing some improvements.

 

↖ Trickster

Trickster has good League start potential and offers flexibility with various builds. It scores a full mark in accessibility. Offensively, it's a three, delivering good damage but sometimes outclassed by other ascendancies. Defensively, it's a solid four, excelling in survivability. Scalability also earns a four due to its capacity to become both tanky and damaging. Popularity-wise, Trickster scores a two, making it more favourable. Overall, it lands in the B tier, being a versatile and successful ascendancy.

 

↖ Assassin

The Assassin's accessibility is rated at two, as it struggles to find a place in league starts and has been surpassed by other ascendancies. Offensively, it's a three, capable of decent damage but needs to catch up in certain builds. Defensively, it's a two, with limited reliable defenses. Scalability is a three, as it can scale well, albeit outperformed by others. Popularity is very low at one, placing it in the bottom tier. Assassin is in the D tier due to its need for significant buffs or changes.

 

↖ Occultist

Occultist excels as a League starter due to Profane Bloom's power. Mapping is great; Profane Bloom's offensive and defensive benefits are notable. Damage-wise, it's slightly outclassed. Defensive effectiveness decreased after losing Maladiction. Corpse denial via Profane Bloom is strong. It's a solid choice but could be better in offense or defense. Popularity varies across leagues: 8% play rate in SC trade, 3% in SCSSF, 3% in HC trade, 2% in HCSSF. Overall score: 17.

 

↖ Elementalist

Elementalist is fantastic for League to start with ignite options and powerful damage multipliers. Offensive strength is high, perfect for ignite builds. Defense is weak; Golem setup is unreliable, and Bastion of Elements is weak. Offense is top-tier, defense lacks. Scalability is solid but needs to catch up in defense. Popular: 8% in SC trade, 13% in SCSSF, 7% in HC trade, 9% in HCSSF. Overall score: 20.

 

↖ Necromancer

Necromancer remains premium for minion builds. Good stats for leveling. Offensively strong with minions and ignite DD builds. Defensive options work well for corpse-focused setups. Great in HC leagues. Good scalability; weaker offensively than Elementalist but excels defensively. Popular: 6% in SC trade and SSF, 8% in HC trade, 5% in HCSSF. Overall score: 19. A solid choice, slightly overshadowed by newer options.

 

↖ Guardian

Guardian is a solid League starter. It excels in offense, with good clear speed for specific builds like SRS and Dom Blow. Its defensive tools are mainly suited for mapping, featuring a block node and reduced curse effect. Offensively, it scores 3 due to being outperformed by Necromancer in damage. Defensively, Guardian scores 4 due to its strong mapping defenses but lacking bossing defenses. In terms of scalability, it gets 4 for its potential to stack armour and energy shield. Popularity-wise, it has good hardcore popularity (4%) but low softcore numbers (2% SSF, 0.6% trade), totalling 17 points.

 

↖ Hierophant

Hierophant offers diverse build options, including totem setups, cold DoT, and Armageddon Brand. Offensively, it excels in high-end totem builds for bosses but lags slightly in clearing. The recent change to Arcane Surge benefits it. Defensively, Hierophant has mixed options, scoring 3. While scalable into the endgame, its popularity is modest (3.5% average pay rate), resulting in 17 points.

↖ Inquisitor

Inquisitor shines as a League starter with its strong recovery from consecrated ground. It's potent offensively, particularly for builds like Righteous Fire, spark, and brand setups. Defensively, it's weaker than Juggernaut but compensates with recovery. It scales well into the endgame defensively and offensively, scoring 4 in both aspects. Popularity-wise, Inquisitor has dropped (4% trade, 2% SSF in softcore), achieving 16 points.

 

↖ Ascendant

Last, Ascendant could be better for League starters due to low power spikes while leveling. It shines as an aura bot in Party play, scoring A2 offensively. It can outclass competing builds like cold dot variations (offensive score: 4). Defensively, it's limited by chosen ascendancy notables, earning an A3. In endgame, it can out scale rivals, despite average popularity (popularity: 1), with 5% player use in Softcore Trade and 1.5% across other Leagues. Total score: 14. Considering overall performance, it's accurately placed as CTA. While strong for aura bots, its lack of popularity and defensive weaknesses balance its tier placement.

 

Conclusion:

The POE 3.22 Ascendancy Classes Tier List provides a comprehensive guide for players delving into the mysteries of Wraeclast. With five tiers and thorough criteria, it navigates the strengths and weaknesses of each ascendancy, aiding in informed character development. Ultimately, the tier list stands as a valuable tool, assisting players in making wise decisions for their characters' growth. Whether exploring new possibilities or refining existing strategies, this guide aids in uncovering the optimal path within the diverse realm of POE 3.22 Ascendancy classes.