Path of Exile 2 is the latest loot ARPG from Grinding Gear Games that everyone is talking about, and, as fans of the series may tell you, there’s plenty of systems to get your teeth stuck into. Indeed, many find the massive Passive Skill Tree to be a bit daunting, but fortunately, there is a way to respec. Keep reading to learn how and when you can refund your points.

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You will need to rescue The Hooded One to make use of Path of Exile 2’s respec feature.

Table of Contents¶

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Unlocking Path of Exile’s 2 Respec Feature¶

Any big fan of Loot ARPGs will tell you that being able to change your build up at any time is very important, and that couldn’t ring truer for Path of Exile 2. As has become iconic with the series by now, you’re presented with a massive Passive Skill tree that has all manner of useful goodies, be it attribute increases, powerful passive skills, or even increasing your armor and evasion rating, it’s all here for you to dig into.

Just looking at all of the options can be daunting though, or you may hit a roadblock where you can’t progress due to a boss using a specific element or ailment against you, perhaps you’ve got a bit too squishy and need some extra armor? Well, once you unlock The Hooded One at a town, you’ll be good to go in terms of using the respec feature.

How to Rescue The Hooded One¶

As mentioned above, the person who offers the refunding points feature, The Hooded One, is related to Path of Exile 2’s main storyline. As such, you’re going to need to progress through the campaign until after you complete the Secrets in the Dark main quest. This is fairly early into the adventure, and you’ll be around Level 8-10 by the time you can complete it.

This quest will task you with heading to the Grelwood, locating The Hooded One, and then venturing to the Red Vale to find Runes of Power. You’ll need three of them to help The Hooded One, and they’re scattered around the entire area, just be ready for a fight as soon as you examine an Obelisk of Power, with the final one pitting you up against The Rust King! Once you have all three Runes of Power, return to the Grelwood and free him, having Una take him back to town.

Still, this won’t unlock The Hooded One’s services though, as he’ll be too injured to do so. Instead, you’ll need to continue progressing the storyline until you complete The Mysterious Shade main quest, this tasks you with heading to the Cemetery of the Eternals and getting past the Memorial Gate, done by completing the two side dungeons in this area and getting their keypieces. Once open, you’ll need to defeat the challenging Lachlann of Endless Lament boss, after which you can loot Count Lachlann’s Ring, the item Una needs to help The Hooded One. Now, once you hand it over, you will be able to make use of The Hooded One’s services.

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It’s easy to make a mistake when using a skill tree of this size, thankfully, you can refund your points in exchange for some gold.

Using the Refund Passives Service¶

Once you speak with The Hooded One now, you’ll spot that you now have access to two new options - Identify Items, and Refund Passives. As you may expect, using Refund Passives will do what it says on the tin, but there is a catch to all of this. You will have to pay Gold for each point refunded, with it costing more the deeper into the tree you’re having to go.

With this in mind, you’ll want to save your respecs for those times where you really need it, rather than doing it constantly as you’ll quickly find yourself out of pocket. Still, if you’re hitting your head against a particular boss, then now is the time to make use of this handy system.