Passive skill

Every character in Path of Exile has access to the passive skill tree. The passive skill 'tree' is a large network of stats and raw attributes increases for the player's character. All classes use the same tree, but start in different places. When a character levels up or completes certain quests, he or she gains one skill point. A skill point allows the player to allocate a node on the skill tree, provided that it is already connected to an allocated node. This is how the character's passive 'path' is formed.

Mechanics

Characters can accrue 99 passive skill points from levels, 22 or 24 skill points from quests (depending on the choices a player makes in the quest Deal with the Bandits), and 20 skill refund points from quests.

Players that choose the Scion as their character may also gain up to 5 additional passive skill points, depending on the choices they make in their Ascendancy class.

While the passive tree (sometimes referred to in-game as the Skilldrasil or Skill Web) may seem complicated, it actually only has two parts. It can be thought of as a map, with suburbs and roads.

The clusters of related passive nodes that boost a specific area (swords, maces, archery, damage types, evasion, and so on) are like suburbs. These will form the bulk of a character's build. The pathways between these clusters, comprised entirely of nodes that give +10 to a certain attribute, are like roads. Some of these roads can cover a great distance much quicker than if the player detours through the suburbs: what may look like a short path with passive boosts could in fact be much longer than taking the +10 to attribute path.

Pressing 'c' in-game and hovering over each of the three attributes will show what these do. Anything the attributes don't do, such as increase ranged damage or attack speed, will likely be handled by passive nodes on the skill 'tree'.

Layout

• The tree can be divided into three primary sectors of equal size, one third of the relatively circular tree, surrounding a central wheel. - They are the north or blue sector, the southwest or red sector and the southeast or green sector.
• The north or blue sector is also known as the magic sector; passives there boost intelligence, elemental damage, energy shield, wand damage, minion stats, etc. Everything related to magic, and the skills normally found on blue gems.
• The southwest or red sector is also known as the melee sector; passives there boost strength, armor, physical damage and nearly every known aspect of melee combat, as well as all skills normally found on red gems.
• The southeast or green sector is also known as the Ranged sector; passives there boost dexterity, ranged projectile damage, evasion, most known aspects of ranged combat and all skills normally found on green gems.
• As the player moves to the borders between sectors the passive skills available there become more hybridized between the two.
• When a new game is started, each character starts at the border of the inner wheel of the tree at a different location; the Witch for example starts at the due-north border of the inner wheel, smack in the middle of the blue sector showing her preference for magic. The wheel of character images (on the right) shows which position each class starts in and therefore their preferred method of combat; the Marauder starts in the middle of the red sector showing a preference for melee combat and the Ranger starts in the middle of the green sector for ranged combat, with the other characters starting in a position to put them in more of a hybrid role to start.
• Although it takes some extra skill points to do this, there is nothing stopping the player from choosing passives to quickly get into a different sector than the character started out with to, for example, make a melee-combat Witch, given that there are no set equipment limits on which character can equip what, other than what their passive stats allow. However, keep in mind that the campaign quests that give skill gems as rewards, gives gems related to the natural preference of that character, i.e. the Witch will usually only see magic-type gems, and the Ascendancy classes available to a particular character are mainly designed to work with a build within the natural section of the skill tree. So it is highly not recommended to make an atypical build except for show/giggles

Passive nodes

There are several types of passive skills.

Basic passives

Basic passive skills only grants minor improvements to the character.

Notable passives

Main page: Notable

Some notables are only acquired via cluster jewels and anointment. Cluster jewels provide a unique set of notables, while every notable on the main skill tress can be anointed, plus an additional 11 notables that exclusive from anointment.

Notable passive skills grants notable improvements to the character.

Keystone passives

Main page: Keystone

Keystone passive skills significantly alters how the character functions. Some of them are granted exclusively from unique cluster jewel and unique Timeless Jewel.

Jewel sockets

Jewel sockets are passives that can be filled with Jewels. By default, they are empty and don't grant any bonuses. There are currently 21 sockets distributed around the tree. There is no cap on the amount of sockets the player can allocate.

Ascendancy passives

Main page: Ascendancy class

Every character has an opportunity to gain a subclass called Ascendancy class that grants access to an Ascendancy skill tree specific for the character class chosen.

Planning your build

With the number of nodes on the skill tree, the variety of starting positions, the number of passive skill points you can gain and the variety of available Jewels, the number of possible configurations of skill builds on the tree is so large it can for all intents and purposes be considered infinite. Planning a good build in this tree can be a daunting task for many players, but there are ways to make it much easier.

There is a VERY effective Search function at the top of the passive tree viewing window. If you put a word, or even part of a word, into this search function, every single passive node in the entire tree that has this word either within its name or its main effect description sentence will be highlighted by a pulsing glow, easily visible even with the tree view zoomed out to the maximum. You can then quickly hover your mouse over that node for more details on what it specifically does, and compare its position to the parts of the tree you have already allocated points to.

To then proceed with an effective build design, do the following:

1. Think of an effect that you want, such as a specific Passive listed within another page on the Wiki that sounded attractive, or a more general concept such as passives that affect Shields.
2. Type a corresponding key word into the search function, such as part of the name of the specific Passive you're looking for or a concept word like Shield.
3. Zoom out the tree view and find the corresponding glowing nodes, and hover your mouse over them to check the corresponding direct effects
4. Compare the positions of these passive clusters with the node path you've already unlocked, and determine the most efficient path that uses the lowest number of Passive points to get you to the desired nodes and/or puts you nearby/through other nodes with other effects that will also greatly help you in other ways later.
5. Get the passive skill points through the normal means, and apply them according to plan.

With a bit of work you should be able to plan out an extremely effective character design using the above process.

Jewels

Some unique jewels grant the ability to allocate all passives in a limited radius, without them needing to be connected to your tree. In some cases, this can allow certain desired passives to be allocated without investing in a large number of undesired connected passives. Thread of Hope has the largest possible radius options for investing in passives unconnected to the rest of the tree.

Other jewels can alter passives on the tree. For example, Might of the Meek increases the effect of non-keystone passives in range, but makes notables in range grant nothing.

Unnatural Instinct can give all the bonuses of all small passives in range, without them being allocated.