How to unlock Ascendancy in Path of Exile 2

Unlocking Ascendancy in Path of Exile 2 is an important step in advancing your class and picking a specialism you want your character focused towards. These advanced classes grant a mini skill tree that's separate from your regular passive one, providing powerful abilities and buffs that make a big difference when facing down bosses and monster hordes.

It's a pretty well hidden mechanic, though, and you'll have to find and defeat an entirely optional boss during act two to start the Ascent to Power quest that puts you on the right path. Even then, you still have to complete the Trial of the Sekhemas activity. So, I'll explain how to unlock the quest, plus how both the activity and Ascendancy works.

How to unlock Ascendancy

You'll first need to unlock the Trial of the Sekhemas activity in act two to access Ascendancy. This is part of the Ascent to Power quest and is well hidden. During the act two storyline, you find yourself in an area called the Traitor's Passage and while there you need to find and defeat the Balbala the Traitor. Just keep exploring the area until you discover her boss room door covered in paper talismans—if you find the exit out into The Halani Gates you've gone too far.

Balbala is quite a tricky foe, moving a lot and summoning smaller phantoms who chase you. The main move to watch out for is when she disappears and starts to summon poison gas from the hole in the centre of the room which slowly spreads. Search around the edge of the room to find her and she'll stop.

Once you've defeated Balbala, you'll get the Ascent to Power quest and the Balbala's Barya item which you use to start the trial. Head back to the Ardura Caravan and speak to Zarka as the quest directs, then activate the desert map by Asala and travel to the Trial of the Sekhemas location in the north. You need to complete the first trial in order to choose your Ascendancy, but I'll walk you through how the activity works below. 

Trial of the Sekhemas explained

The Trial of the Sekhemas is basically your standard roguelike game mode. Here's what you need to know:

1. To start a trial you'll slot Balbala's Barya into the altar and then insert relics to give you buffs. You can get more relics during the activity from chests and enemies. Completing each named test expands the altar's relic capacity.

2. The activity consists of selecting a series of trials with a variety of rewards. These can grant you buffs, keys, sacred Water, or honour, but they'll also inflict debuffs as you go. Once you've completed enough trials you'll reach the final boss.

3. Honour is the most important currency. This is shown at the bottom of the screen and degrades over time or when you're hit by enemies. If honour runs out, you die and fail the trial. Dying in general will also fail the trial.

4. Sacred water is converted into extra keys at the very end, though you'll also use a little to purchase buffs at the end of each room. Sacred water also drops from enemies you defeat.

5. Keys are used to open loot caches after the boss. The caches you can open correspond to each key's rarity—bronze, silver, or gold—and you can also find keys in chests.

If you fail the trial, speak to Balbala next to the altar and request another Barya using the dialogue option on the right side. When you complete the Test of Strength you can use the Altar of Ascendancy in the room after the boss to choose your Ascendancy.

How does Ascendancy work?

You can pick between two Ascendancies when you complete the Trial of Strength, and upon choosing one, it'll appear at the very centre of your passive skill tree. You'll get two passive Ascendancy skill points that you can spend here—these are different from regular passive skill points, and to get more you have to earn them through further Trials of the Sekhemas.

You can, however, still respec them with The Hooded One, though it will cost you significantly more than a regular passive skill node. To earn further Baryas you can use in the Trial of Sekhemas, you'll have to progress the story into act three and continue to level up. While in act two you can find further Djinn Baryas, but it's worth noting that these will activate the same Test of Strength again, and won't award additional Ascendancy points, though they will still reward you with loot.