Chucking spells around or hitting enemies with a quarterstaff in Path of Exile 2 is fun—but what if you could do both at the same time? Dual specializations aren’t always accessible in ARPGs, but thankfully, this game has a neat system to let you customize your experience.
Here’s how to set up dual specs in PoE 2, including a breakdown of what dual specializations actually mean in this game and where to find this unique mechanic.
How to set up dual specializations in Path of Exile 2
The term “dual specs” in Path of Exile 2 refers to a dual weapons spec instead of something like a rogue-mage or druid-tank dual-class option that you might find in another game. It’s not as simple as swapping between two talent trees, but it is a powerful feature that can make the endgame a breeze.
Firstly, you’ll need to pick out which weapons you want your character to have access to. Our Witch had weapon set I dedicated to a wand and staff, for example, letting her shoot spells and summon the undead, while weapon set II featured a two-handed mace instead.
(This isn’t an entirely viable combo, admittedly, but it was fun to play with and helped the Witch spec to feel more durable if an enemy got too close for comfort.)
Once you’ve picked out your weapons and assigned them to the weapon set slots in your inventory, open up your Skills tab to see which abilities are associated with your weapons.
Next to each ability, you’ll be able to see I or II, indicating which weapon set is relevant. For example, in our image above, Chaos Bolt comes from weapon set I with the wand and Mace Strike, unsurprisingly, comes from weapon set II with the mace.
Hit the little arrow next to the DPS stat to open up the independent Skill tab when you want to change which abilities are associated with which weapon set.
At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see “Used with weapon set” and two check boxes that you can tick or untick as needed.
Remember to sort out your bindings before taking your dual spec character into a battle so that you can easily tab between your abilities as needed. It’s worth experimenting on some lower-level enemies to see how your rotation feels before taking it into a boss battle.
You won’t need to manually change weapon sets to use abilities, providing you’ve bound everything as needed. There is a manual weapon set change button if you want it, though, which is X on PC.
One of the best things about PoE 2 is the level of freedom and customization that it gives to players, and this dual weapons spec system is second to none. It can help you cover more resistances or prepare for a nasty boss fight while also making combat feel more fun and engaging, too.
