It’s only been a couple of days since the international servers opened, but you can already feel the pace of the new season picking up fast. If you’re staring at your fresh character wondering which class won’t make you regret your life choices, you’re not alone. After watching streams, running maps, and messing around with gear and PoE 2 Currency, the early meta’s starting to show its shape, even if it’s not quite what folks expected.

Druid Struggles

The roughest pick right now has to be the Druid. You can tell the class was meant to feel dynamic, but once you actually play it, the whole thing ends up feeling awkward. If you’re not pushing that one specific Dragon Druid setup that melts bosses in seconds, the rest of the toolkit just doesn’t pull its weight. You’re juggling movement, cooldowns, and that odd Devouring Ball, and meanwhile random mobs are chewing you up. It isn’t that the class can’t work; it’s that you need tight mechanics and a stable connection, and most players don’t want to fight their own keybinds just to stay alive.

Sharp Eye Dominance

Compared to that, Sharp Eye feels almost too easy. The grenade build is the cleanest start you can pick. You drop grenades, everything explodes, and you barely have to think. It’s the sort of build people choose when they’re tired after work and just want to see loot drop. The Cyclone version is a totally different vibe though. You can start using it straight away, and once you hit the mid-teens, it really takes off. It’s sweaty, sure, but in a good way—you dash around nonstop and the damage actually keeps up, which is more than some melee options can claim.

Poison Stalker and Summoner Options

Poison Stalker sits in this weird middle ground. It’s strong if you line up your hits right, but that early-game slog with Ruthless support can feel rough. A lot of players I’ve seen swap to something easier to level and only switch once they’ve got the gear and patience for it. Summoner, though, is the quiet winner for people who want a chill run. You keep a couple of key skills active, drop a curse here and there, and let your minions do all the risky work. It’s slow-paced in a good way, and it’s hard to mess up unless you go AFK in the wrong spot.

Empty Palm Late Bloom

The last one worth mentioning is Empty Palm Monk. The first stretch feels like you’re punching enemies with pillows, and you’re squishier than you’d expect, but once the actual Empty Palm mechanic unlocks, the build wakes up fast. If you can push through those early levels, it becomes one of the more satisfying melee picks, especially if you like straightforward damage without too many buttons. It’s a bit of a niche choice, but with the right setup and some decent poe2 materials, it’s absolutely capable of keeping up.