Grinding Gear Games had already packed the Sorceress reveal with plenty to chew on, so the extra clip felt like a little gift. Mark Roberts stepped in and showed the Disciple of Varashta, and it didn’t read like a standard “pick your minion node, call it a day” setup. It’s more like you’re assembling your own toolkit, one spirit at a time, and that changes how you plan everything from boss pacing to PoE 2 Currency spending when you’re gearing around a specific angle.
Earned Power, Not Free Power
What landed for me is how the theme actually matches the unlock. Varashta isn’t just a name slapped on a passive tree. Her legacy is tied to the Trial of the Sekhemas, and you have to clear it to even claim the Ascendancy. That little bit of friction matters. It frames the class as something you fought for, not something you clicked into after a couple of levels. And once you’re in, it feels like you’re commanding djinn, not dragging pets around on autopilot.
Commands Make the Class Feel Active
The big mechanical twist is that your djinn aren’t permanent tag-alongs. You can bind up to three, but they show up when you press their “Command” skills. That’s it. In practice, it means you’re making decisions every pack. Do you bring out the spirit now, or save it for the rare? It’s closer to swapping stances or timing a burst window than it is to playing a classic minion army. The tempo stays snappy, and you’re not stuck babysitting an entourage.
Three Djinn, Three Different Jobs
Each spirit pushes you toward a different kind of build, and the overlap is where it gets fun. Ruzhan is the fire option, built for pressure and damage that keeps rolling. Kelari’s leans into speed and execution, which is going to tempt anyone already stacking crit and looking for a clean finisher. Navira is the water djinn, and she reads like the “keep me casting” pick, helping with mana and energy shield so you don’t stall out mid-fight. You start with basic commands, then add more involved ones as you invest points, so you can go all-in on one spirit or cherry-pick the utility you actually use.
Why Players Are Already Theorycrafting It
The appeal is the freedom without the mess. You can play it like a summoner, sure, but you can also treat djinn as timed buttons that patch weaknesses: extra sustain when you’re running dry, extra burst when a boss opens up, extra speed when you’re trying to keep maps flowing. People are going to test weird hybrids, and that’s the point. If you’re the type who tweaks builds constantly, you’ll probably end up reworking gear and passives more than once, and it’s easy to see why some folks will just buy PoE 2 Currency to keep those experiments moving instead of waiting for the perfect drops.