Each class has access to multiple different weapons of various rarities in Path of Exile 2, with unique skills tied to each one. Each character has two loadouts they can equip at a time, with you being able to switch between them at any time in combat to better fight your enemy with a new tactic when necessary.
While you only have one hotbar for skills, you'll be able to equip skills of both loadouts and switch between them fluidly in combat. Here's how to equip and use both loadouts in Path of Exile 2.
Path of Exile 2: How To Equip Support Gems
In Path of Exile 2, Support Gems work a bit differently than they did back in PoE 1.
How To Change Weapons In Path of Exile 2
In your character's inventory, you'll see the Roman numerals I and II along the top right and left corners of the screen indicating a loadout. You can equip weapons in both hands and switch between the full loadouts using the, "Toggle Weapon Set" skill. This skill is already learned whenever your character is created, but will first need to be bound.
- Open your inventory and tab over to the skill panel menu.
- Select Open Bind Screen found at the bottom of the screen.
- Bind Toggle Weapon Set to an open slot in your hotbar.
Toggle Weapon Set doesn't cost any resources and is done almost instantly, changing your basic attack to that of the weapons you have equipped. Your character will continue to have that loadout equipped until you change back with the toggle skill or use a weapon skill of your backup loadout. While it's useful to switch between weapons with that skill, other skills tied directly to a weapon change how this process works, making it much more effective.
Path of Exile 2: How To Dodge & Block
Dodging and blocking are your main ways of avoiding damage in Path of Exile 2; here's how to do both.
Using Different Loadout Weapon Skills In Path of Exile 2
No matter what loadout you currently have equipped, you can use the weapon skills of your other loadout at any time without needing to fully switch your loadout. Using a skill of that other loadout will instantly trigger the skill with the same wind-up, and automatically switch your weapon to the necessary weapon to use that skill.
This essentially makes the Toggle Weapon Set skill obsolete, as you can trigger other skills to make your character switch loadouts and free up another skill slot to make room for actual skills. Each weapon has a long list of skills to exceed your hotbar's capacity, but mixing and matching the skills of two weapons can make your character a lot stronger as long as both weapons' skills pull from the same passive skill bonuses.
Path of Exile II
- Released
- December 6, 2024
WHERE TO PLAY
- ESRB
- Mature 17+ / Blood and Gore, Nudity, Intense Violence, Sexual Themes, Language, Users Interact, In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)
- Developer(s)
- Grinding Gear Games
- Publisher(s)
- Grinding Gear Games
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Multiplayer
- Online Multiplayer, Online Co-Op
- Franchise
- Path of Exile
- Early Access Release
- December 6, 2024
- Platform(s)
- PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC
- Genre(s)
- Action RPG, Hack and Slash, MMORPG
