What is the best class for Path of Exile beginners?
If you‘re just getting started in Grinding Gear Games‘ complex ARPG Path of Exile, the best class choice for beginners is the Necromancer Ascendancy for minion builds.
I‘ve played over 500 hours of PoE and specialized in a summoner playstyle for many leagues. As both a passionate gamer and content creator in the ARPG genre, I have lots of firsthand experience leveling Necromancers as league starters. In my opinion, going the pet build route greatly smooths out the early progression.
Let me explain in more detail why summoner Necromancers are the ideal beginner class…
Why is Necromancer the easiest PoE class for beginners?
The biggest reasons why the Necromancer Ascendancy dominates as the most beginner friendly class are:
- Extremely tanky – Your zombies and skeletons soak up enemy hits and aggro so you take less direct damage
- Passive playstyle – Rather than spam clicking skills, you‘re mostly directing your minion army
- Easy gearing – Minion builds function well with self-found/crafted items
- League starter viable – Easily able to defeat endgame bosses on 4-link items
Having played since PoE‘s early days of Open Beta, I‘ve found pet and minion builds to be by far the smoothest experience for players just getting to maps and endgame systems for the first time.
The passivity allows you to observe monster mechanics and boss fights more easily. As you take less direct hits, flask management also becomes less frustrating.
Let‘s take a deeper look at popular minion starter builds…
Top Necromancer league starters for beginners
Within the broader Necromancer class, most beginners go with either Skeleton Mages or zombies + spectres.
Going the skeleton mages route gives you more of an active damage-dealing playstyle, while zombies + spectres is very automated. Some key beginner builds I recommend trying are:
| Build | Primary Damage Source | Playstyle |
|---|---|---|
| Skeleton Mages | Projectile Spells | Active |
| Raise Zombies | Melee Attacks | Automated |
| Physical Spectres | Minion Attacks | Semi-automated |
As you can see, the minion skill determines how active or passive your playstyle is. While skelly mages have higher single target, zombies and spectres are easier to play for complete beginners getting started.
Now let‘s compare Necromancers to other top starter builds…
How Necromancer compares to other beginner classes
While the Necromancer Ascendancy stands out as most popular for new players, some good alternatives include:
- Toxic Rain Trickster – Smooth poison damage bow build
- Righteous Fire Inquisitor – Tanky caster with fire DoT
- Seismic Trap Saboteur – Throwing traps feels very powerful
One thing to note is that 15% of players actually league started Necromancer in recent leagues based on PoE Ninja data. Compare that to only 10% starting as Toxic Rain or 4% as Righteous Fire.
So the numbers support that roughly 1 out of every 7 players finds Necros the easiest starter experience. Why might this be the case?
A major factor is difficulty gearing attack-based starter builds like melee classes such as Duelist and Marauder. Finding good weapons while leveling as a new player poses more challenges than gearing casters and minions.
Pure spell casters like Enki‘s Arc Witch have very smooth leveling too. But the Witch class lacks innate defense on the passive skill tree until taking specialized Ascendancies. For raw tankiness while you‘re learning, Necromancer edges out other casters.
One last tip – choose builds with lots of written or video leveling guides. uild diversity gets very complex in PoE endgame, so following a guide helps immensely as you‘re getting started.
Let me know if this analysis helps explain why Necromancer and minion builds rule as the most beginner friendly class choice! I‘m open to discussing more PoE starter tips in the comments.
