You can refund Ascendancy points through the Ascendancy altar in your hideout, but the process resets your entire Ascendancy tree and costs currency
Path of Exile lets you undo Ascendancy choices by visiting the Ascendancy altar in your hideout and paying an Orb of Regret for each point you want to refund. This is different from a standard skill tree refund—it wipes your entire Ascendancy progression and forces you to rebuild it from scratch. You cannot refund individual points selectively; the system is all-or-nothing.
The cost scales with how many Ascendancy points you have allocated. If you have 10 points spent, you need 10 Orbs of Regret. If you have all 8 points (the maximum), you need 8 Orbs of Regret. The altar sits in your hideout and is available to every character on your account.
Key Takeaways
- Refunding Ascendancy points requires Orbs of Regret—one per point—and erases your entire Ascendancy tree, not individual choices.
- The Ascendancy altar is located in your hideout and is free to access; you only pay the Orb cost when you confirm the refund.
- After refunding, you must walk through the Ascendancy trials and labyrinth again to reallocate your points.
- Orbs of Regret can be found as drops, purchased from other players, or obtained through vendor recipes and league mechanics.
Where to find the Ascendancy altar in your hideout
The Ascendancy altar appears automatically in your hideout once you have completed the Ascendancy labyrinth on any character. It looks like a stone structure with a glowing center and sits in a fixed location—you cannot move it or hide it.
If you do not see it, check that you have actually completed the labyrinth (not just entered it). The altar only appears after you have defeated Izaro and claimed your first Ascendancy point. If you are on a character that has never done the labyrinth, the altar will not be there yet.
The cost in Orbs of Regret and where to get them
Each Ascendancy point costs one Orb of Regret to refund. These are tradeable currency items that drop from monsters, chests, and strongboxes throughout the game. They are not common, so expect to either farm them yourself or trade for them using other currency.
Orbs of Regret also come from vendor recipes. If you sell a full set of rare items with specific properties to an NPC vendor, you may receive an Orb of Regret as part of the trade. The exact recipe depends on the league and patch, so check the Path of Exile wiki for the current version. You can also obtain them through league-specific mechanics—Heist, Delve, and Expedition all have ways to earn them.
On trade leagues, you can buy Orbs of Regret from other players using chaos orbs or other currency. Prices fluctuate based on supply and demand, but they typically cost between 5 and 15 chaos orbs each, depending on the league and how far into the season you are.
What happens after you refund your Ascendancy points
Once you confirm the refund at the altar, your Ascendancy tree resets completely. All points you had allocated are removed, and you return to having zero Ascendancy points. Your character's stats and bonuses from those points disappear when ready.
You then have to complete the Ascendancy trials and labyrinth again to earn your points back. This means running through the labyrinth on the same difficulty level you last completed—if you were on Merciless labyrinth, you run Merciless again. You do not have to redo trials you have already completed; they stay done on your account. You only need to run the labyrinth itself.
After you defeat Izaro again, you can reallocate your Ascendancy points however you want. This is the only way to change your Ascendancy choices once they are made.
Why you might need to refund Ascendancy points
Most players refund Ascendancy points because they chose a path that does not work well with their build, or because the build itself changed after they allocated points. If you picked Ascendancy nodes that do not synergize with your gear or skill gems, refunding lets you pivot to a better path.
Ascendancy choices are permanent until you refund them, so there is no "undo" button for a single bad choice. You have to commit to the full refund, pay the Orb cost, and rebuild. This is why many players plan their Ascendancy path before they enter the labyrinth, using build guides or the Path of Exile wiki to check what nodes work best for their class and skill setup.
Refunding vs. respeccing your regular skill tree
Ascendancy refunds are separate from regular skill tree refunds. If you want to change your regular passive skill tree (the big web of nodes you allocate points to as you level), you use Orbs of Regret on individual nodes—one orb per node. You can refund as many or as few nodes as you want without touching your Ascendancy tree.
Ascendancy refunds, by contrast, are all-or-nothing and cost one orb per Ascendancy point. The two systems do not interact. You can refund your regular tree without touching Ascendancy, and you can refund Ascendancy without touching your regular tree.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I have to redo the trials if I refund my Ascendancy points?
No. Trials stay completed on your account. You only have to run the labyrinth itself again. Once you defeat Izaro, you can reallocate your Ascendancy points without repeating any trials.
Can I refund just one Ascendancy point instead of all of them?
No. The altar refunds your entire Ascendancy tree at once. You cannot pick and choose which points to refund. If you want to change even one point, you have to refund all of them and reallocate from zero.
What if I do not have enough Orbs of Regret?
You cannot refund without paying the full cost upfront. The altar will not let you confirm the refund if you do not have enough orbs in your inventory. You have to farm or trade for the orbs first, then return to the altar.
Do I lose my Ascendancy points forever if I refund them?
No. Refunding just resets your tree. Once you run the labyrinth again and defeat Izaro, you earn your points back and can spend them however you want. You are not losing anything permanent—just resetting your choices.
Can I refund Ascendancy points on a hardcore character?
Yes, the process is the same. You still need Orbs of Regret and still have to run the labyrinth again. The only difference is that if you die in the labyrinth on hardcore, your character is gone, so plan accordingly.