Path of Exile 2 is the long-awaited follow-up to the popular action RPG. It adds new depth and strategy to leveling up and building your character.
Whether you’re a familar with the previos path of exile game or just starting, knowing how to earn experience (XP) quickly is key.
This guide will give you clear tips and smart tricks to get the most XP, helping you power through to the endgame.
How Leveling Works in Path of Exile 2
First, it’s important to know the basics. While you still get XP from killing monsters and finishing quests, several new things affect how fast you level up.
These include:
- Monster area levels versus your current character level
- Efficiency in clearing zones and avoiding roadblocks
- Vendor and gear strategies to streamline damage output
- Proper skill and passive node selection
- The role of loot filters and inventory management
Let’s break down each of these for maximum clarity.
1. The Best Areas for Earning XP
Secret #1: Zone Level Matching for Max XP
How much XP you get depends on the difference between your level and the monsters’ level. You can see a zone’s monster level on your map.
Why Zone Level Matters
You get the most XP if the monsters are no more than 4 or 5 levels higher or lower than you. If the level gap is too big, you will earn much less XP.
Practical Example:
If you are level 34, fighting level 37 monsters is perfect. If you are level 29 fighting those same level 37 monsters, you will get an XP penalty.
Actionable Tip:
Whenever you notice you’re outside the optimal range, press escape and respawn at checkpoint, redo an area, or clear subzones to squeeze out a level before advancing.
This keeps your progress smooth and prevents falling into the dreaded underleveling rut that will slow XP gain for the rest of your run.
Best Zones for XP Loops
The Dreadnaugh area in Act 2 is highly recommended for “XP looping.” If you arrive underleveled—say, level 24-26 for a level 31-32 zone—run the area twice if needed, cashing in both XP and loot.
2. Don’t Be Afraid to Change Your Class
Secret #2: You Can Change Your Specialization for Maximum Efficiency
Many players don’t realize that your advanced class (ascendancy) isn’t permanent. Early on, you can change it by re-doing the class trials.
This is great if your current class is slowing you down. You can switch to one that does more damage or survives better, which will help you level up faster.
Key Steps:
- If you have six ascension points, you’ll need to repeat three floor trials to respec.
- Four points lets you redo Trials of Chaos, and two points means you can repeat initial Trials of Secus.
This feature ensures your character can maximize damage, utility, or defenses, accelerating your XP gain by matching your build to the current progression.
3. How to Use Vendors for Better Gear
Secret #3: Sell Everything Early—Don’t Disenchant Yet!
A common mistake is to break down rare (yellow) gear for crafting materials. For most of the game, you shouldn’t do this.
The Golden Rule:
“Sell absolutely everything during the campaign up until endgame (level 65+), when disenchanting yellows finally becomes worthwhile.”
Why?
Early on, you need gold more than crafting parts. Vendors sell powerful weapons that are often better than what you find.
If you don’t have enough gold to buy them, your progress will slow down.
Additional Vendor Tips:
- Don’t gamble gold early! Target direct purchases over vendor gambling.
- Every time you level up, vendors refresh items. Squeeze out another level before each vendor visit for best selection.
- Prioritize main hand weapons with high base damage boosts; spells can use blues with good spell damage boosts.
4. Loot Filter Setup: Clarity Enables Speed
Secret #4: Use a Loot Filter—from Day One
Inventory management is more than convenience; it impacts leveling speed and XP gain. The default loot drop rates can overwhelm, obscuring valuable upgrades and slowing your run.
Recommended Approach:
- Use FilterBlade XYZ to generate a filter tailored to your leveling phase. Log in, choose ‘semi-strict’ for early campaign, ‘strict’ for endgame.
- Export and sync to POE2, pick from drop-down (e.g., ‘Strict – Dark Mode’ for visual clarity).
A great loot filter lets you spot upgrades instantly, spend less time in your inventory, and keep your leveling momentum high.
5. Use Movement Skills to Clear Areas Faster
Secret #5: Travel Skills are King for XP Farming
Historically, certain skills like Rake (from the spear) paired with Stomping Ground offered unparalleled clearing speed for fast XP. Recent patches (0.3.0 onward) removed Rake’s travel tag, but new skills have risen to fill the gap.
Best Travel Skills (Current Patch):
- Shield Charge: Now has zero cooldown and retains travel attributes, allowing constant spam to clear packs, including bosses. Herald of Ash further boosts area damage.
- Vaulting Impact (Monk skill): Also travel-based, paired with Stomping Ground for potential fast leveling, though less spammable than Rake. Works well in specific builds.
Alternative:
Amazon’s Disengage can be combined with Shield Charge if you prefer ranged mobility. Both skills now operate on independent cooldowns.
Tactics:
Shield Charge: This skill has no cooldown, so you can use it non-stop to zip around and damage groups of enemies.
Other Skills: Skills like the Monk’s Vaulting Impact or the Amazon’s Disengage are also great for moving around fast while fighting.
The core principle:
Pair your main movement skill with upgrades that make its area of effect bigger or its damage higher. Speed equals more XP.
6. Pick the Right Upgrades on Your Skill Tree
Secret #6: Skill Tag Matching for Dual-Skill Synergy
The skill tree can be complicated. The trick is to pick upgrades that make all of your main skills stronger at the same time.
- If you’re running Fissure (AoE, Melee, Slam, Fire) and Shockwave Totem (AoE, Melee, Slam, Physical), focus on nodes boosting Attack, AoE, Melee, and Slam.
- Nodes for 2H weapon damage benefit Fissure, but not totems, as totems only use your weapons’ base damage.
When using spell builds, such as Arc Stormwaver and Orb of Storms (both AoE, Spell, Lightning), go for nodes increasing spell crit, lightning damage, lightning penetration, and projectile bonuses.
Defensive Nodes Matter:
While offensive scaling accelerates XP, don’t neglect defense. Increased armor, life regen, and skill cost reduction let you spam attacks safely and for longer periods, mitigating deaths which slow your XP gain curve.
7. Use Your Crafting Materials Wisely
Secret #7: Targeted Currency Investment
Early game currency scarcity makes upgrade choices crucial.
Weapon Builds: Use your best crafting materials (Regal Orbs or Exalted Orbs) only on a weapon that already has very high damage to make it even better.
Spell Builds: For spellcasters, a good blue (magic) item with high “spell damage” is often enough. Save your best materials for rings that add extra damage to your attacks.
Don’t waste materials on small improvements. Wait for an item that will really make you stronger and help you kill monsters faster.
8. Play a Style That Fits Your Goals
Secret #8: Choose Builds That Fit Your XP Goals
Don’t just follow the crowd. Some people will say only one class is good, but that’s not true. Many different character types can be strong.
- Deadeye: Fastest clear and movement (tailwind), ideal for currency farming.
- Hunter (Lightning Spear): Also great for rapid clearing.
- Tactician (Totems): Capable of screen-wide clears.
- Detonate Dead: Incredibly efficient, especially for new players.
Any class, properly built, can reach Tier 16 maps and core bosses. The difference is the ease and speed of getting there, which impacts net XP.
Assess your own goals—currency farming, campaign completion, or boss hunting—and match your build accordingly. Enjoyment and engagement matter; you’ll level faster if you’re invested in the build, not fighting boredom.
9. How to Avoid Getting Stuck
Secret #9: The XP Squeeze Technique
If you enter a new area and the monsters are more than 5 levels higher than you, you will earn very little XP. This can trap you and slow you down for a long time.
- When you hit a wall, rerun late act 2 areas (the Dreadnaugh loop).
- This gives you more XP, drops, and gold, allowing you to buy the next tier of vendor gear for quick act 3 and beyond progression.
Never push into higher level acts if you’re underleveled. The penalty multiplies, crushing your XP gains for hours.
