Ascendancies in the Mercenaries League

Patch 3.26 for Path of Exile brought sweeping changes to Ascendancy classes, skill gems, and passive tree interactions. As the Mercenaries League unfolds, the meta has shifted once again, making certain Ascendancies stronger than ever, while others have fallen off hard.

In this guide, we break down the 3 best and 3 worst Ascendancies in Path of Exile 3.26, based on performance, synergy with current skill gems, and accessibility for players looking to push content efficiently.

Top 3 Best Ascendancies in Path of Exile 3.26

1. Elementalist (Witch)

Why it's top-tier:

Elementalist is the biggest winner of the 3.26 patch. The reworked conditional bonuses from Shaper of Storms, Shaper of Winter, and Shaper of Flames now trigger when their damage type is applied, instead of being manually chosen. This means hybrid elemental builds are easier to execute nd far more rewarding POE currency.

Major Buffs:

·+2 additional golems (with passive tree support)

·Great mana reservation efficiency, perfect for persistent elemental skills

·Easy scaling with shock, chill, and ignite combinations

Top Builds:

·Explosive Arrow Ballista Elementalist

·Golemancer Hybrid Damage Build

·Hexblast Ignite

2. Deadeye (Ranger)

Why does it remain meta? Deadeye didn't get direct buffs in 3.26, but it didn't need them. Its dominance in ranged clear, chaining, and projectile speed keeps it on top. It offers high QoL for bow-based builds and synergizes incredibly well with popular gems like you can buy POE orbs Elemental Hit of the Spectrum.

What makes it shine:

·Great map, clear speed via Ricochet, Endless Munitions, and Far Shot

·Synergy with quivers and projectile scaling uniques

·Strong leveling and endgame viability

Top Builds:

·Spectral Throw Deadeye

·Ice Shot or Lightning Arrow clear speed setup

·Elemental Hit + Mirage Archer farming

3. Berserker (Marauder)

Why it's a powerhouse:

If you're looking to delete bosses, Berserker still dominates. The Rage mechanic provides scaling multiplicative damage, and 3.26 didn't change its identity - just made it easier to integrate into newer builds.

Why it's effective:

·High-risk, high-reward gameplay with the Aspect of Carnage

·Crave the Slaughter and Rite of Ruin offer aggressive scaling

·Compatible with melee meta and rage-based uniques (e.g., Kaom's Primacy)

Top Builds:

·Rage Vortex Slayer Berserker hybrid

·Boneshatter Slam

·Cyclone Rage Berserker

3 Worst Ascendancies in Path of Exile 3.26

1. Ascendant (Scion)

Why does it underperform? While Ascendant offers versatility, she's still not worth the complexity in 3.26. She received only minor buffs, such as mana reservation improvements, but lacks the direct synergy or strong baseline offered by other Ascendancies.

Problems:

·Requires heavy passive investment

·Too many hybrid decisions with minimal payoff

·Aura-stacking builds are still gear-gated and niche

Only viable in:

·High-budget Aura bots

·Omni-stacking Scion variants

2. Assassin (Shadow)

Why did it fall off?

Once a top dog in poison and crit scaling, Assassin lost relevance due to:

·The Pathfinder rework, which shifted poison builds toward the Ranger

·Meta favors survivability, which Assassin lacks

Core issues:

·No innate defense

·Poison duration scaling is weaker than before

·Suffers in content with reflect, chaos resist, and fast mobs

Still viable for:

·Trap + Poison meme builds

·CI (Chaos Inoculation) Crit setups - but only with big gear investments

3. Guardian (Templar)

Why it declined:

Guardian was once the king of defensive aura synergy and party support. In 3.26, Chieftain now does most of that better, with stronger defensive scaling and fire res shredding.

The rework issues:

·Random shrine buff every 10 seconds is unreliable

·Bastion of Hope now grants block recovery, not block chance

·Scaling is outclassed by newer Templar and Marauder archetypes

Only worth using in:

·Niche party play

·Shrine-meme builds

Final Thoughts

In the wake of 3.26's Mercenaries League reworks, the best Ascendancies are the ones that either received clear synergy upgrades (Elementalist), retained top-tier utility (Deadeye), or continue to scale with gear investment (Berserker). Conversely, Scion's complexity, Assassin's fragility, and Guardian's randomness make them far less attractive for most players.