With the Path of Exile update 3.3, Covens of Umbra, the game reintroduced Reliquarian Ascendance. A continuation of the Scion class, this Ascendancy specializes in items and passives related to gems and armor. You can unlock this ascendancy through the first labyrinth after defeating Izaro. Now that you have the basic information, let’s jump into the changes to the Reliquarian.
Reliquarian and its builds:
How to Unlock Reliquarian in Path of Exile
- Create a Scion character.
- Progress through the campaign and complete the six Trials of Ascendancy in Acts 1–3.
- Enter the Normal Labyrinth through the Aspirants’ Plaza.
- Defeat Izaro and complete the Labyrinth.
- At the Altar of Ascendancy, select Reliquarian rather than Ascendant or Luminary.
- Continue the Cruel, Merciless and Eternal Labyrinths to earn more Ascendancy points.
To unlock the Reliquarian Ascendancy in Path of Exile 1, you must play as a Scion and complete the standard Labyrinth. Older versions of the game unlocked the Scion class at the end of Act 3, but as of version 3.29, Scion is available from the character creation menu.
Pick Scion and play the game normally until you finish the three acts and reach the first Labyrinth. Finish the first Labyrinth and kill the boss, Izaro. At the Altar, pick Reliquarian and done; you are officially in the club.
How Does the Reliquarian Ascendancy Work?
Reliquarian is an ascendancy mirroring its name. Relique means an item of great power. So this ascendancy is based around powerful items, and the passive around each node mirrors those items related to the category. The choices change with each league that gets implemented into the game, and for this league, Covens of Umbra, you have the following choices.
TL;DR: You acquire powers inspired by Unique items without necessarily equipping those actual items. This frees your equipment slots for different gear.
| Group | Choices Available in 3.30 | Main Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| Armour Display | 5 | Defenses, life, resistances |
| Caster Weapon Display | 6 | Spells, minions, mines |
| Martial Weapon Display | 6 | Attacks, melee, shields |
| Jewellery Display | 6 | Mana, elemental damage, utility |
| Total | 23 | Unique-inspired effects |
The class cannot take all 23 effects. You choose one effect at each reachable display cluster, and the Ascendancy-point budget limits which branches you can combine.
All Reliquarian Ascendancy Passives in PoE 3.30
Having 23 passives means there are so many different ways you can build your Reliquarian. But before you can decide, let’s take a look at the passives of each node.
Armour Display
The first actual node that you unlock is all about pieces of armor and focuses mostly on defence. However, the best option in this node is the one that gives you a mix of defence, offence, and magic. Yep, the one and only Crown of the Inward Eye. A close second would be The Brass Dome for extra armor in exchange for less health. Other options, in my humble opinion, pale in comparison to these two options.
| Passive | Verified Effect |
|---|---|
| The Brass Dome | +5% maximum elemental resistances; no extra damage from critical strikes; Strength no longer grants maximum Life |
| Crown of the Inward Eye | 20% increased maximum Life, Mana and Energy Shield; grants three Transfiguration effects |
| Shadowstitch | +10% maximum Life and +15% maximum Energy Shield per corrupted item equipped; -2% to all resistances per corrupted item |
| Death’s Door | 25% increased movement speed, immunity to Bleeding, +1 maximum Endurance Charge |
| The Scales of Justice | Adds 4-8 Fire Damage per 100 maximum Life or Mana, whichever is lower; conditional Ignite and Shock protection |
Caster Weapon Display
One of the two choices to go for after armor display, this node offers you passives related to items of magic potency. The crown jewels of this node are The Crustacean’s Call and the Festring Resentment. Each offers you a powerful but different playstyle.
| Passive | Verified Effect |
|---|---|
| Foulborn Tremor Rod | Mines can detonate one additional time; 50% increased effect of auras from mines |
| The Draugur’s Lantern | Draugurflames burn nearby enemies for 8 seconds after you Ignite a target |
| The Crustacean’s Call | +1 maximum totem, 100% increased totem movement speed; Spell Totems become Crab Totems |
| Festering Resentment | Triggered spells Poison on hit; all damage from triggered spells can Poison |
| Shade of Solaris | Critical strikes deal no damage, but you gain 200% increased Spell Damage for 8 seconds after a critical strike |
| United in Dream | Minions gain 60% chance to Poison on hit, alongside an Envy-related effect |
Martial Weapon Display
The second choice to go for after the armor display, as the name suggests, focuses on martial relics, and its passives are very attack and sustain focused.
Rigwald’s Quills is especially attractive for Spectral Shield Throw builds. The Monastery Bell also enables unusual retaliation-skill combinations, because the block interaction can help make retaliation abilities available without waiting for an enemy to attack you.
| Passive | Verified Effect |
|---|---|
| Rigwald’s Quills | Attack projectiles Fork and can fork an additional time |
| The Living Blade | Cannot be poisoned; two additional active Tinctures; 10% chance to remove Mana Burn on kill |
| Essentia Sanguis | Leech Energy Shield instead of Life, improves Energy Shield leech, but prevents Energy Shield recharge |
| Tidebreaker | Gain Endurance Charges from melee stuns; 6% increased damage per Endurance Charge; chance to gain Brine Charges |
| The Monastery Bell | The first enemy struck by a Shield Attack counts as having blocked your attack |
| Starcaller | Triggers Level 20 Starfall on melee critical strikes; gains 25% of weapon physical damage as extra damage of a random element |
Jewellery Display
The third Node that you get is the Jewellery Display, focused on accessory relics. The passives in this node are very elemental and magic-related, with 4 of them about elemental damage and effects. This node is where you want your build to really come online and start doing what you envisioned it to do.
| Passive | Verified Effect |
|---|---|
| Natural Hierarchy | Gains physical as extra Lightning, Lightning as extra Cold, Cold as extra Fire, and Fire as extra Chaos damage, at 5%, 10%, 15%, and 20%, respectively |
| Box of Jewels | Extends Shock avoidance and Ignite duration modifiers to other elemental ailments; conditional curse immunity |
| Praxis | 12 Mana regenerated per second, -8 skill Mana cost, 16% damage taken recouped as Mana, 50% increased Mana Cost Efficiency |
| The Arkhon’s Tools | Summon Skitterbots also summons a Scorching Skitterbot; 100% increased non-damaging ailment effect from Skitterbots |
| Blackflame | Ignited enemies take Chaos Damage instead of Fire Damage from Ignite; Withered doesn’t expire on enemies Ignited by you |
| Choir of the Storm | Trigger Level 30 Lightning Bolt on critical strikes; critical strike chance benefits from overcapped Lightning Resistance |
Best Reliquarian Builds in PoE 3.30
There are several builds that you can make for this subclass of Scion due to the huge variety of skills in its skill tree. But here’s a list I have gathered of what professionals build for this Ascendancy:
Crab Totem Reliquarian
Core Setup: Built around The Crustacean’s Call from the Caster Weapon display (which grants +1 maximum totem, 100% increased totem movement speed, and turns Spell Totems into Crab Totems) combined with defensive and utility nodes like Crown of the Inward Eye or The Arkhon’s Tools.
Why it’s popular: It provides a strong, smooth progression path for league starting and mapping without requiring expensive gear upfront. Players can use a standard leveling spell (like Freezing Pulse or Spark) through the campaign before transitioning into crab totems once the third Labyrinth is completed.
Static Strike Reliquarian
Core Setup: Pairs melee-oriented nodes (such as Tidebreaker for endurance charges on stun or The Living Blade for Tinctures) with physical-to-elemental scaling.
Why it’s popular: Offers a traditional melee strike playstyle for players who prefer staying up close while leveraging the Reliquarian’s peculiar defense-and-charge interactions.
Frostblink Mines Reliquarian
Core Setup: Leverages Foulborn Tremor Rod from the Caster Weapon display, which allows mines to detonate an additional time and grants 50% increased effect of auras from mines. It is frequently paired with The Arkhon’s Tools to bring in Scorching Skitterbots for massive elemental debuffs.
Why it’s popular: This is a clean, reliable mine setup (using skills like Icicle Mine or Pyroclast Mine) that scales utility and burst damage cleanly for day-one mapping and boss rushing.
Is Reliquarian Good for Beginners?
Beginner friendly: 2/5
Pro Friendly: 5/5
Not exactly. This is one of the few Ascendancies that come online later than their peers. While other Ascendancies get a good power spike the moment you choose them, Reliquarian just gives you generic passive points, and the real power spike comes after the Cruel Labyrinth; by that point you get to your first node.
So beginners may struggle a little bit, not knowing this fact, or not planning accordingly to counter the weak early ascent. If you are a pro, you would find some of these passives familiar and know how to build around them.
Best Reliquarian Leveling Tips
- Don’t plan around a powerful first Labyrinth
The first Labyrinth provides additional passive-point progression, but you won’t immediately get a major Unique effect. Your leveling setup needs to work without relying on the completed Reliquarian combination. - Prioritize defenses in your first major choice
For a general-purpose build, Crown of the Inward Eye and The Brass Dome are both sensible starting considerations. Choosing Shadowstitch too early without the corrupted equipment needed to capitalize on it may offer less immediate value. - Understand which effects are mutually exclusive
The Caster and Martial branches compete for your limited Ascendancy points. A melee build taking Starcaller can’t simply assume it will also acquire Festering Resentment through its Ascendancy tree.
Planning your path before spending points will save respec costs. - Don’t blindly copy PoB damage figures
A 10-million-DPS Path of Building configuration may assume expensive equipment or a high character level. It may also rely on conditional buffs that aren’t permanently active.
Check the actual gear, passive allocation, and defensive statistics rather than choosing by the largest number.
What Changed for Reliquarian in PoE 3.30?
In patch 3.29, the Reliquarian had the options to spend points on Black Cane, Kaom’s Roots, or The Apostate. But with the new patch, these options have been wiped and replaced with the new choices. This is part of the Reliquarian gimmick: having passives that change with the season.
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