Path of Exile 2 Sorceress and Monk Abilities Overview
In ExileCon 2023, Grinding Gear Games took us through a section of Act 3 and showed off two of its six new character classes. Of course, I’m talking about the Sorceress and the Monk. The demo showed 30 minutes of uninterrupted gameplay, where many saw how the classes work in practice. The co-founder of Grinding Gear Games—James Rogers—emphasized that the dev team has done serious work to make using skills satisfying for Path of Exile players.
Much like the shadow, the Monk is based on Intelligence and Dexterity, while the Sorceress is based on Intelligence alone. If you’re curious about their skills and abilities, read our overview of the classes to find out!
Table of Contents
Sorceress Skills
The Sorceress is an Intelligence-based class that specializes in elemental destruction. By wielding lightning and ice spells, she can use the following skills:
- Spark: A lightning attack that bounces around; great to use in tight passageways. You can use a Piercing support gem to up the voltage, enabling Spark to hit an entire room of targets instead of being a single-target attack. If you use Arc support with it, it’ll turn into a powerful, single-target hit.
- Ice Nova: An AoE skill that hits all enemies around you and slows them down. Since the Sorceress is squishier than most classes, having Ice Nova around is an excellent way to escape the melee range.
- Frost Bomb: Places a bomb on the ground. Before detonation, the bomb will reduce the enemies’ cold resistance for a while. It’s a great skill to use in conjunction with your other cold skills before it expires.
- Arctic Armor: A buff that builds up when the Sorceress stands still. The armor helps increase her melee defense, which is weak compared to the other classes. Monsters that hit the Sorceress while the buff is active will take cold damage until it builds up into the Freeze effect. The only caveat of Arctic Armor is that standing still will leave the class vulnerable to enemy attacks.
- Comet: A hard-hitting skill that costs a lot of mana to use. It has a long cast time, but it’s worth the wait if you pull it off. Comet deals devastating damage, especially on enemies that move slowly or stand still. Whenever the Sorceress casts this spell, she’ll automatically move back slightly to move out of the range of danger.
The Sorceress looks pretty rad despite being a glass cannon. Whereas the Witch class is centered around occult magic and summons, the Sorceress is all about using elemental magic. No doubt some of her skills will feel familiar when she goes live in Path of Exile 2, but the dev team assures that they’ll play differently to the Witch in practice.
Monk Skills
A melee fighter who excels in raw strength and mobility, the Monk’s primary focus is power charges, which significantly benefit his skills. The Monk’s skills are the following:
- Wind Blast: Blasts away enemies; great for crowd control purposes. The closer the enemies are to the caster, the farther they get knocked back. However, Wind Blast isn’t as effective on larger mobs.
- Killing Palm: A strike that marks an enemy as culled. When the target dies, the Monk will gain a power charge. Many of the Monk’s skills interact with power charges, making Killing Palm a great prep skill. It also has a built-in dash forward, enabling you to target the skill right where you need it.
- Whirling Assault: It doesn’t do as much damage as the other skills, but it covers a lot of ground and allows you to turn as you execute it. If you turn at the perfect time, you can even get a couple of extra hits on the monsters.
- Falling Thunder: Creates a small lightning AoE in front of you (without a power charge). If you have some power charges added in, Falling Thunder becomes a larger AoE attack with extra projectiles capable of clearing out a mob.
- Flicker Strike: If you’re actively playing Path of Exile, then Flicker Strike might be a familiar skill to you. This skill teleports you to a nearby monster by consuming power charges and temporarily increasing your movement duration. It’s a great finisher to use on a challenging boss should you have power charges built up beforehand.
- Glacial Cascade: Creates a wave of ice in front of the Monk. Most of the damage occurs at the end of the wave, so your best bet is to stop the enemy in its tracks first, then place the wave just right to end at the mob. Hitting frozen mobs with Glacial Cascade will deal more damage.
- Shattering Palm: A palm strike that puts an ice bomb on the target. Once the target has enough damage dealt to it or is dead, the bomb will explode. The explosion will deal damage and can freeze a mob or boss.
- Ice Strike: Creates three sequential attacks that have a chance to freeze a target.
- Wave of Frost: An attack that has a built-in retreat. Tosses out a cold attack that can freeze a mob and lets the user move backward; it pairs well with Glacial Cascade.
Since many of the Monk’s skills have built-in movements, he’s a versatile and agile fighter. The class’s mobility is further emphasized with the upcoming dodge roll mechanic, allowing you to quickly reposition and evade attacks while in combat.
