How to Get Ascendancy Points in Path of Exile 2: All 8 Points From Sekhemas and Chaos (0.5.5)

Your Ascendancy is where a Path of Exile 2 build really comes alive, and every one of those nodes costs an Ascendancy Point. There are eight in total, handed out two at a time each time you clear a trial at a higher tier. Two trials can get you there: the roguelike Trial of the Sekhemas and the wave-based Trial of Chaos. You can mix them freely, and either one alone can take you all the way to 8.

This guide is up to date for the current early access version of the game (patch 0.5.5, Forbidden Rites, live since September 4, 2026). Version 1.0 arrives on December 11, 2026 with a reworked Trial of Chaos, so some details below may change at launch.

Quick answer

The smoothest route for most players: Sekhemas in Act 2, the Chaos quest in Act 3, then two endgame runs with keys you find or trade for.

Requirements

• A trial key for every run. Sekhemas uses a Barya coin; Chaos uses an Inscribed Ultimatum. The two campaign keys come from bosses, and everything after that drops randomly from monsters.
• The right key level. A key's level comes from the monster that dropped it, and the level decides how many floors or trials the run has. Always check the item before you use it.
• Enough defenses for Honour (Sekhemas only, explained below).

Step-by-step: all 8 Ascendancy Points

1. Act 2 – get Balbala's Barya. As part of the Act 2 story, defeat Balbala, the Traitor in the Traitor's Passage. She drops the quest coin, and the Trial of the Sekhemas becomes available to travel to.
2. Clear the first Sekhemas trial. Enter, place the coin and fight through the floor of rooms to its boss. Your first completion of any trial unlocks your Ascendancy class and grants points 1 and 2. The quest coin isn't used up if you fail, so you can retry.
3. Act 3 – get the Chimeral Inscribed Ultimatum. Kill the unique boss Xyclucian, the Chimera, in the Chimeral Wetlands. His Ultimatum opens the Trial of Chaos in the same zone.
4. Clear the Act 3 Trial of Chaos. If this is your first trial, it gives you points 1 and 2 instead. If you already ascended in the Sekhemas, it gives you points 3 and 4. Like the coin, the quest Ultimatum can be retried after a failure.
5. Points 5–6 in early endgame. Choose one:
   • A level 60+ Djinn Barya showing three trials (floors) in the Sekhemas, or
   • An Inscribed Ultimatum with Number of Trials: 10 in the Trial of Chaos.
6. Points 7–8 – the final trial. Choose one:
   • A level 75+ Djinn Barya with four floors. The fourth floor ends with Zarokh, the Temporal – beat him to finish your Ascendancy.
   • A 10-trial Inscribed Ultimatum run in the Trial of Chaos where you also collect the three Fates – Cowardly Fate, Deadly Fate and Victorious Fate – and use them to open the door to the Trialmaster. Defeat him for the last two points.
7. Spend the points. Open the passive tree and assign them in your Ascendancy panel.

Endgame keys are consumed when you fail, so don't burn a rare level 75 key on a character that isn't ready.

How Honour works in the Sekhemas

The Sekhemas adds a second health bar called Honour. It starts at your maximum life plus energy shield and drops when monsters or traps hit you. Ordinary life recovery doesn't restore it, and the run ends if it hits zero even when your life bar is full.

• Honour Resistance cuts that loss and is capped at 75%.
• Since patch 0.5.0, your maximum Runic Ward is added to your starting Honour when you begin a run.
• The entrance has a Relic Altar where you slot relics before you start, so fill it before you go in.

If your build is fragile or relies on taking hits, the Trial of Chaos is usually the more forgiving road.

What changed in the Trial of Chaos with 0.5.5

Patch 0.5.5 made the Chaos route a lot friendlier, which is worth knowing if you skipped it before:

• You can now leave a run and resume it later from the same room, instead of having to finish in one sitting.
• There's a reward chest at the end of each room, so a death late in a run no longer costs everything.
• After completing a 10-trial Inscribed Ultimatum, you can continue the run – up to twice per Ultimatum – with modifiers and reward quality carried over.
• Run rewards are now only currency and Soul Cores.

Tips and common mistakes

• Don't redo an old tier. You only gain points by clearing a higher tier than before. Another first-floor run gives you nothing new.
• Check the key's level and trial count before you use it. A Barya that's too low won't have enough floors for your next pair of points.
• Learn your Tribulations. In the Trial of Chaos, you pick one of three modifiers between rooms and it stays for the rest of the run. Skip anything that shuts down your defenses or damage type.
• Trade for keys if drops are slow. Djinn Baryas and Inscribed Ultimatums can be bought from other players, which is often faster than waiting for a level 75 key to drop.
• Can't beat Zarokh? Try the Trialmaster – or the other way around. Points from both trials count toward the same total, so you can switch routes whenever one isn't working for your build.