Last updated: 5 September 2026

How to Unlock Your Path of Exile 2 Ascendancy (All 8 Points)

Every powerful build in Path of Exile 2 runs through Ascendancy — the subclass system that grants up to 8 bonus passive points on a dedicated skill tree. Those points come from completing Trials of Ascendancy: the Trial of the Sekhemas in Act 2 and the Trial of Chaos in Act 3. Here is exactly what each trial demands, how to prepare, and how to earn every last point — including the fact that you don't have to run both.

01What Is Ascendancy and Why It Matters

When you create a character, you choose one of the base classes. Ascendancy lets you specialise further by picking a subclass tied to your class. Each subclass has its own small passive tree loaded with powerful keystones and stats that do not exist on the main tree.

Ascendancy points are earned in pairs — 2 per completion — for a total of 8 points across four completions. You do not unlock your subclass choice until you clear your very first trial. Most players do this via the Trial of the Sekhemas, since it unlocks first in Act 2 — but the Trial of Chaos (Act 3) works just as well if you reach it first.

Here is the important part a lot of guides get wrong: the two trials are not a fixed sequence. Every pair of points — including the first — can come from either trial. You can run the Sekhemas exclusively all the way to 8 points, run Trial of Chaos exclusively, or mix the two, whichever suits your build and Honour tolerance better:

• Points 1–2: clear the first floor of the Trial of the Sekhemas (defeat its floor boss) or clear the campaign Trial of Chaos — either also unlocks your Ascendancy subclass
• Points 3–4: a further Sekhemas or Trial of Chaos run — pick whichever trial you're more comfortable with
• Points 5–6: a higher-level Djinn Barya (Sekhemas) or a higher-level Inscribed Ultimatum (Trial of Chaos)
• Points 7–8: a high-level Sekhemas run, or a high-level Trial of Chaos with all three Fate fragments and a Trialmaster kill

02Trial of the Sekhemas: How to Enter

The Trial of the Sekhemas is first encountered in Act 2. During the quest you explore the Traitor's Passage and fight Balbala the Traitor, a djinn boss. Defeating Balbala rewards a Djinn Barya — a one-use key item that opens the trial entrance.

Take the Barya to the trial entrance, place it in the altar, and the run begins. For your very first two Ascendancy points you don't need a full clear — reaching and defeating the boss at the end of the first floor is enough to claim them at the Altar of Ascendancy and unlock your subclass. In the endgame you farm higher-level Djinn Baryas to unlock additional relic slots and push for further floors and points. Baryas are consumed on entry whether you succeed or fail, so treat each as a meaningful resource.

• The campaign Barya comes directly from Balbala; endgame Baryas drop from specific bosses and endgame nodes
• An endgame Barya's item level determines how many relic slots are available
• Unique Relics socketed into the altar grid are consumed on entry; non-unique Relics are kept regardless of outcome

03The Honour System: A Second Health Bar

The defining mechanic of the Sekhemas is Honour — a secondary health bar that exists alongside your normal Life and Energy Shield. Honour is derived from your combined Life and Energy Shield total but is completely separate. If your Honour reaches zero, the entire trial is immediately failed, even if your character is still alive.

Honour damage is taken whenever enemies hit you. It cannot be restored by flasks, regeneration, or leech. The only ways to recover it are through Boons (passive upgrades chosen at room shrines), specific Relic bonuses, and special shrine rewards.

This makes the Sekhemas a careful resource-management exercise. High Life and Energy Shield raise your Honour ceiling, Honour Resistance reduces how much you take per hit, and boons that restore Honour can carry a struggling run. Tanky builds find this trial far more forgiving than glass cannons.

• Prioritise Honour Resistance relics before entering — they reduce every hit on your Honour bar
• Choose boons that restore Honour or reduce incoming Honour damage whenever offered
• Clear rooms quickly to reduce total hits taken — standing in damage is the fastest way to fail
• Telegraphed boss slams are disproportionately dangerous; dodge them above all else

04Trial of Chaos: Escalating Waves and the Trialmaster

The Trial of Chaos becomes available in Act 3 after you defeat Xyclucian the Chimera in the Chimeral Wetlands. That boss drops your first Inscribed Ultimatum — the entry token. In the endgame, Ultimatums drop from various sources and their item level determines how many chambers you can traverse.

The trial is wave-based and escalating. At the start of each chamber the Trialmaster offers three negative modifiers called Afflictions — you must pick one, and it persists for the rest of the run. Each chamber stacks another on top, so the challenge compounds quickly.

1. Enter the domain using an Inscribed Ultimatum (campaign entrance is in the Chimeral Wetlands).
2. At each chamber, read the three offered modifiers and choose the one that least punishes your build.
3. Survive the waves; all enemies must be defeated before the gate opens.
4. Repeat until you reach the final chamber or the Trialmaster appears.
5. For the highest ascendancy points via Trial of Chaos, collect the three Fate fragments from trial bosses and present all three, then defeat the Trialmaster.

As of the 0.5.5 Forbidden Rites update, the Trial of Chaos is noticeably less punishing than it used to be: you can now leave a run at any point and resume later from the same room instead of being forced to finish in one sitting, and each room drops its own reward chest — so a death partway through no longer wipes everything you've earned in that run. Rewards from the trial are now Currency and Soul Cores rather than a mix that used to include Corrupted items. Builds with strong burst damage still thrive here because clearing a room's waves quickly minimises hits taken, but the run itself is far more forgiving to pause and retry than it was in earlier patches.

05Endgame Ascendancy: Points 5 Through 8

Once you hit the Atlas endgame, two more pairs of ascendancy points wait, and — as covered above — you can earn each pair from whichever trial you prefer rather than being forced to alternate. The requirements scale up either way: higher-level Baryas or Ultimatums, tougher modifiers, and (for the Trialmaster route through Trial of Chaos) gathering specific boss-dropped Fate fragments.

If you go the Sekhemas route for points 5–6 and 7–8, farm higher-level Djinn Baryas and push further floors at that tier. Your relic loadout becomes critical here — slots unlocked by clearing trial bosses let you stack Honour Resistance, boss damage, and movement-speed relics to smooth out the run.

If you go the Trial of Chaos route, higher-level Inscribed Ultimatums let you push more rooms, and the final pair (7–8) additionally requires bringing all three Fate fragments and defeating the Trialmaster. The fragments drop from sub-bosses in endgame Trial of Chaos runs, so expect several farming sessions before you gather the set.

• Build up your relic collection before attempting high-level Sekhemas — a well-slotted altar is the biggest single factor in success
• If Honour keeps wiping your Sekhemas runs, switch to Trial of Chaos for your remaining points instead — since 0.5.5 it's also the more forgiving option to retry, as you can leave and resume a run from the same room
• Each failed Barya or Ultimatum is lost; do not attempt a high-level trial while under-geared

06Quick Preparation Checklist Before Each Trial

Both trials punish unpreparedness sharply. A few minutes of prep saves wasted entry tokens and frustrating failures:

1. Check your resistances — being capped at 75% elemental is baseline; chaos resistance matters in higher-level runs.
2. Sekhemas only: equip your best Relics before activating the Barya; Honour Resistance relics slot in first.
3. Know your Ascendancy options — read the subclass trees for your class before your first run so you can commit a direction immediately.
4. Bring appropriate flasks — neither trial gives you vendor access mid-run. Since 0.5.5, Trial of Chaos lets you leave and resume a run later from the same room, but the Sekhemas still expects you to see a Barya's activation through in one sitting.
5. Trial of Chaos only: know which modifiers are worst for your build so the chamber choice is fast and confident.
6. Clear the campaign quests in the right zone first — no Barya from Balbala means no Sekhemas, and no Ultimatum from Xyclucian means no Trial of Chaos.