PoE2 Duelist Class Guide — Swords, Stances, and What GGG Showed

What is the PoE2 Duelist class?

The Duelist is the new player class Grinding Gear Games showed in Path of Exile 2: Duelist Deep Dive & 0.5.5 Event League. Jonathan Rogers (Game Director on PoE2) said it arrives with 1.0 on 11 December 2026 and that sword combat should feel like flow from attack to attack and from stance to stance, unlike other classes in the franchise. Mark Roberts (Game Director on PoE1) followed with two developer-built endgame examples that were not ascended, to show skill combinations before ascendancies.

What makes sword combat different?

Rogers framed swords as a new weapon type for PoE2. The demo stresses holding attack buttons after certain skills to enter Ready Stance, where a basic slash becomes a wider AoE cut. Sand Scour is an upgraded Ready Stance attack: stunning enemies with it enters Sand Stance, which can send sand disks on default attacks and change how skills behave. For Blood Stance, Rogers switched to dual wield swords, because dual wielding grants parry; after a parry, Bloodied Blade enters Blood Stance for a blood wave on default attacks and stance-modified skills.

Full stance behaviour is broken out on Duelist stances guide.

How do parry, buried blades, and Cyclone fit the kit?

On dual wield, Rogers said parry is more reliable than before and can be followed by Bloodied Blade. With a shield, you can shield bash from Ready Stance to parry without waiting for an enemy wind-up. Earthrend buries blades in the ground; Charged Slash and Blade Plunge interact with those blades (lightning Tesla coils, extra explosions, charged plunge). Cyclone still lets you spin, but from Sand Stance it spews sand disks; cycloning through blood pools or shocking ground from Blade Conduit adds those elements because Cyclone counts as a storm. World Cutter is a charged ultimate slash that Sand and Blood Stance can enhance further.

See Duelist parry guide for parry and shield bash, Duelist Cyclone guide for cyclone and ground effects, and Earthrend and buried blades for the buried-blade loop.

Where does the Grand Arena demo lead?

Rogers placed the tutorial fight in the ruins of the Grand Arena, where the dead keep fighting as the arena collapses. Beasts block the path to the centre; after them, the champion Thrax appears on a bridge arena. GGG did not narrate full boss mechanics or drop tables in this segment—only that proving yourself against prior adversaries gates the Thrax encounter. A dedicated boss page lives at Thrax boss page.

What endgame builds did Mark Roberts show?

Bringer of Blades focuses on Earthrend buried blades, Blade Conduit lightning, Sand Scour into Sand Stance, and Blade Plunge sandstorms across many blades, capped with Rain of Steel filling the screen. Scourge Walker uses the new unique sword Oro’s Sacrifice for fire damage and the Infernal Step skill, stacks Sacrificial Flame, enters Blood Stance via Bloodied Blade using frenzy charges, then Cyclone with flesh-explosion and fire supports; for single target it swaps to a one-hand sword and targe setup with parry (including a Runeforged Targe that keeps stances through parry). Details: Bringer of Blades build and Scourge Walker build.

What is still unknown?

GGG did not name or demonstrate Duelist ascendancies in this video—only teaser art and a pointer to Exilecon. Rogers and Roberts avoided numeric tuning (damage, costs, cooldowns, tree values). Many supports and uniques were shown only in build context, not as a complete skill list. For release timing and the 0.5.5 event, see Duelist release date; for ascendancy honesty, Duelist ascendancy status. Every skill named in the presentation is listed on Duelist skills list.

Sources and last check

• GGG Duelist Deep Dive, class intro & swords (Jonathan Rogers)
• Stances, parry, buried blades, Cyclone, World Cutter
• Bringer of Blades & Scourge Walker builds; no ascendancies shown (Mark Roberts)
• Ascendancy tease & Exilecon

Last checked 19 Oct 2026; this page covers what GGG showed before the 1.0 release on 11 Dec 2026 and will be updated when it changes.