There are lots of classes to choose from in PoE 2, but in our Path of Exile 2 Witch Guide you will learn about one of the best and most popular classes in the game. We are going to share the already known class changes, and basics of PoE 2 Witch gameplay, including Spirit, summons, and Ascendancy classes. You’ll learn what abilities are available to the PoE2 Witch, what skill gems are the best, and what weapon is the signature of the Witch.
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Path of Exile 2 Witch Overview
One of the classes who make its comeback from the original PoE is the Path of Exile 2 Witch. This time we get to see a damage dealer using powerful and deadly force of pure magic and a hint of necromancy. PoE 2 Witch is a strong DPS class, she can spawn ways of minions risen from the dead, and lots of her spells are aimed at amplifying your Necromancer abilities.
Rising a mob from the dead or using some of your spells consumes Spirit — the Witch’s primary resource. We are going to cover this aspect in this guide, so stay tuned. Additionally, the class attribute for PoE2 Witches is Intelligence (INT). It means that on a massive PoE 2 Skill Tree, the Witch class can be found at the very top.
It’s always hard to start a league without knowing what awaits you. It is even harder to decide what build to use. Luckily, you don’t have to — we can assist you with League Starter Build for your Witch, and you will start the league fully prepared.
Path of Exile 2 Witch Changes
The first notable thing about this class is that PoE 2 Witch has lost its elemental spellcaster features, transferring them to the new Sorceress class. Witches are now the masters of Chaos Damage and Summons.
Allegedly, PoE 2 Witch’s Summon spells have been simplified, making the class easier to master. You will be able to summon most of your undead warriors much easier than it used to be, and will easily keep the area crowded with your mobs.
Another important change in PoE 2 is the addition of the new ascendancy — The Lich — with the release of Dawn of the Hunt update.
📌 Note: Death and decay are the Witch’s weapons of choice. She can call forth hordes of undead minions to fight for her while casting powerful chaos spells.
Path of Exile 2 Witch Basics
Have you ever been wondering “Is Witch a good class in PoE 2”? Well, to get a satisfactory answer to your question, you need to understand the basics of the gameplay in this class. In this section of our dedicated guide, we cover the essential aspects of the Witch class in Path of Exile 2.
While we are on the subject, it’s also essential to mention that you’ll need a fair share of currency to allow smooth Witch gameplay. Therefore, think about Divine Orbs in advance to make sure that you never lack them for your crafts and trading.
Path of Exile 2 Witch Spirit
In Path of Exile 2, the Witch has 2 resources to use for summoning and spellcasting: Mana and Spirit. While Mana is a common resource known to a majority of players, Spirit is something new. Some other classes use Spirit for Auras, but in our case we will save it for summoning the undead army at our disposal.
Your Spirit bar can be found right above the Mana bar (huge blue bulb in the bottom right corner). Note that different spells and summons require different amounts of Spirit, and the most powerful spells can exhaust your Spirit bar. Always make sure that you have enough Spirit to summon.
Path of Exile 2 Witch Summons
Regarding that PoE2 Witch is a summoner, even a Necromancer, she has an army of the undead to call to battle. In PoE 2 you’ll have basic range melee minions, and tanky minions, building a larger army for you. You will need to master the Spirit management to make sure that when the time comes, you are able to summon the required mob.
Patch of Exile 2 Witch can summon the following types of mobs:
- Skeletal Arsonist;
- Skeletal Cleric;
- Skeletal Reaver;
- Skeletal Sniper;
- Skeletal Storm Mage;
- Skeletal Warrior;
- Zombies.
As we mentioned when discussing class changes for Witches, the summoning should be easier than in the original PoE 1. Also, summoned reviving minions will be your source of consistent damage in combat. So Skeletons can be summoned via related Witch Skill Gems. Skeletons will also auto-respawn. However, this is not the case for a Zombie. If you want to summon a Zombie, you need to look for an actual corpse on the battlefield and raise it up manually. This type of mob can not respawn upon death, so you’ll need to look for another body.
Your Witch playstyle can be really flexible due to the amount of minions, as they all can serve different purposes. It’s yet to be discovered, how all of them can be used in particular. But, Arsonists, for instance, can explode the bombs on your command, allowing extra damage and more fun. In any case, your army will add high amounts of devastating damage into combat so their extra abilities are a nice advantage.
If you are lucky enough to get the Bind Spectre Spirit Gem, then you can bind the spirit of a monster that you’ve defeated. This grants you the ability to summon this monster as a temporary minion (=non-reviving) to fight on your side.
📌 Note: Keep in mind, that the stronger the monster, the more Spirit it’ll take to summon it, limiting your capabilities of summoning and reviving supportive minions.
Path of Exile 2 Witch Ascendancy Classes
Path of Exile 2 Witch class received two Ascendancy Classes with the release of the game. However, the new Dawn of the Hunt update brings the third powerful ascendancy with new mechanics. Here’s a list of PoE 2 Witch ascendancies:
- The Blood Mage;
- The Infernalist;
- The Lich.
The Blood Mage Ascendancy
In PoE 2 The Blood Mage is one of the first ascendancies for the Witch class.
“Become a master of life energy. The Blood Mage uses her own life as a resource to bring destruction to her enemies”.
Path of Exile 2 Witch The Blood Mage Ascendancy is a unique source of powerful skills:
| Skill | Modifiers |
|---|---|
| Sanguimancy | Grants Skill: Life Remnants. Skills gain a Base Life Cost equal to Base Mana Cost. |
| Gore Spike | 1% increased Critical Damage Bonus per 20 Life |
| Vitality Siphon | 10% of Spell Damage Leeched as Life. |
| Crimson Power | Gain Energy Shield from equipped Body Armour as extra maximum Life. |
The Infernalist Ascendancy
The second available ascendancy for Path of Exile 2 Witch is The Infernalist.
“Infernalist transcends the need for mana, instead building heat as she casts spells. With an Infernal hound at her side she can even turn into a demon herself”.
Playing as Path of Exile 2 Witch The Infernalist will enhance your arsenal with the following skills:
| Skill | Modifiers |
|---|---|
| Pyromantic Pact | Maximum Mana is replaced by Maximum Infernal Flame Gain Infernal Flame instead of spending Mana for Skill costs. Take maximum Life and Energy Shield as Fire Damage when the Infernal Flame reaches maximum. Lose all Infernal Flame on reaching maximum Infernal Flame. 10% of Infernal Flame lost per second if none was gained in the past 2 seconds. |
| Bringer of Flame | While not on Low Infernal Flame, all Damage from you and your Minions contributes to Ignite Chance and Magnitude. |
| Demonic Possession | Grants Skill: Demon Form. |
| Loyal Hellhound | Grants Skill: Summon Infernal Hound. 20% of Damage from Hits is taken from your Hellhound’s Life before you. |
The Lich Ascendancy
The newest PoE 2 Witch ascendancy — The Lich — is a very promising and the most powerful option for this class.
“The Lich is a master of Chaos and Curses, using a Jewel to act as her Phylactery she has sacificed a part of her soul for power”.
Small Passives:
- 20% increased maximum Energy Shield;
- 30% increased Energy Shield if you’ve consumed a Power Charge recently;
- 3% increased maximum Life;
- 3% increased maximum Mana;
- 25% increased Area of Effect of Curses.
Notables:
- Crystalline Phylactery:
Can Socket one non-Unique Basic Jewel.
100% increased Effect of Socketed Jewels.
50% more Mana Cost if you have no Energy Shield. - Price of Power:
Non-Channeling Spells consume Power Charges to deal 25% more Damage. - Soulless Form:
10% of Damage taken bypasses Energy Shield.
No inherent Mana regeneration.
Regenerate Mana equal to 6% of maximum Life per second. - Eternal Life:
Your Life cannot change while you have Energy Shield. - Eldritch Empowerment:
Non-Channeling Spells cost an additional 3% of maximum Energy Shield.
Non-Channeling Spells deal 30% more Damage.
Spending Energy Shield does not interrupt Recharge. - Rupture the Soul:
Cursed Enemies Killed by you or Allies in your Presence hav a 33% chance to Explode, dealing a quarter of their maximum Life as Chaos Damage. - Blackened Heart:
4% increased Magnitude of Unholy Might buffs you grant per 100 maximum Mana. - Necromantic Conduit:
You and Allies in your Presence have Unholy Might while you are not on Low Mana.
Lose 5% of Mana per Second. - Dominion Over Flesh:
You can apply an additional Curse.
Your Curses can affect Hexproof Enemies.
Two different Ascendancies add more customization to an already intensive Witch gameplay, considering how many paths you can go with the Witch Passive Skill Tree in PoE 2. But the Lich ascendancy is even better, and you should definitely try it.
The higher the level, the bigger amount of passives will be available for this new ascendancy, so consider choosing Power Leveling for your Witch. Our pro team will take care of your character and make sure that you get a high-level hero in no time.
Path of Exile 2 Witch Abilities
In Wraeclast, Path of Exile 2 world, exilee do not have pure “abilities” like we are used to seeing. Instead, you will need to use Skill Gems which provide you with your active abilities. Moreover, you will also have hundreds of Passive Skills from the Tree.
The variety of Witch Active Skills is great, and the amount of passives is even bigger, so let’s take a deep breath and look for Active Skill Gems for Witch for now.
Path of Exile 2 Witch Skill Gems
Here is a table with all Path of Exile 2 Witch Active Skill Gems:
| Name | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Bind Spectre | Take the body of any enemy and capture its spirit to wield as a minion at your command. | Level: 8 Cast Time: 3.00 sec Requires: Level 33, 55 Int |
| Blasphemy | Combines all socketed Curse skills into a vile Aura, applying their effects to all nearby enemies. | Cost Time: Instant Requires: Level 10, 26 Int |
| Bone Cage | Raises a ring of bone spikes around you. The spikes explode when an enemy touches them, damaging and Pinning bearby enemies. | Level 2 Requires: Level 3 Cost: 12 Mana Cast Time: 1.00 Sec Crit Chance: 13% |
| Bone Offering | Impales a Skeleton on a bone spike to shield your Minions while the spike remains. The shield absorbs all damage from the next Hit each Minion takes, then explodes. The bone spike itself a Minion, and shields itself if it dies, shields on your other Minions disappear. | Level 11 Requires: Level 41, INT 95 Cost: 67 Mana Crit Chance: 8% |
| Bonestorm | Channel to conjure a swarm of bone spikes in the air, then release to fire them at enemies. Shrapnel lodges in enemies hit, causing Attacks against them to deal additional damage. Consumes your Power Charges to cause the spikes to cause much larger explosions. | Level: 5 Cost: 10.8 Mana per second Cast Time: 0.75 sec Critical Strike Chance: 15.00% Requires: Level 14, Int 34 |
| Barrier Invocation | Casting the skill once activates it, causing it to gain Energy when your Energy Shield is damaged by Hits. Casting again once sufficient Energy is gathered will consume the Energy to trigger socketed Spells. | Reservation: 60 Spirit Requires: Level 26, 61 Int |
| Cast on Minion Death | While active, gains Energy when one of your Minions dies, and triggers socketed Spells upon reaching maximum Energy. Cannot socket Spells which create Minions. | Level: 4 Reservation: 30 Spirit Cast Time: Instant Requires: Level 10, 25 Int |
| Cast on Critical | While active, gains Energy when you Critically Hit enemies and triggers socketed spells on reaching maximum Energy. | Reservation: 100 Spirit Requires: Level 58, 73 Dex, 73 Int |
| Chaos Bolt | Your Basic Starting Attack. | N/A |
| Contagion | Afflicts a single enemy with a debuff that deals Chaos damage over time. If the enemy dies while affected by Contagion, it and all other Chaos damage over time debuffs spread to nearby enemies and refresh their durations. Reanimating or detonating a corpse affected by Contagion will cause the minion or explosion to spread Contagion on hit. | Level 2 Requires: Level 3 Cost: 11 Mana Cast Time: 1.00 Sec |
| Dark Effigy | Raises a Totem that bombards enemies afflicated by Chaos damage over time Debuffs. | Level: 6 Cast Time: 1.00 sec Requires: Level 21, Int 38 |
| Detonate Dead | Causes a Corpse to violently explode, damaging surrounding enemies. | Level: 7 Cost: 22 Mana Cast Time: 0.80 sec Critical Strike Chance: 8.00% Requires: Level 22, Int 52 |
| Despair | Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Chaos resistance. | Level: 9 Cost: 89 Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Requires: Level 31, Int 72 |
| Essence Drain | Fires a Projectile that applies a Chaos damage over time debuff when it hits. | Level: 3 Cost: 10 Mana Cast Time: 0.80 sec Critical Strike Chance: 7.00% Requires: Level 6, Int 18 |
| Enfeeble | Curses all enemies in an area after a short duration, causing them to deal less damage. | Level: 3 Cost: 51 Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Requires: Level 6, 16 Int |
| Grim Feast | Feeds on corpses to bolster your Energy Shield. While active, enemies and Minions that die in your Presence will drop Grim Remnants. Picking up a Grim Remnant grants you Energy Shield, and can Overflow your Energy Shield up to double its normal maximum. | Level: 7 Reservation: 30 Spirit Requires: Level 22, 52 Int |
| Hexblast | Detonates Curses on enemies in an area, causing explosions of Chaos damage but removing the curse. | Level: 11 Cost: 65 Mana Cast Time: 1.00 sec Critical Strike Chance: 7.00% Requires: Level 41, Int 95 |
| Pain Offering | Impales a Skeleton on a bone spike to empower nearby Minions into a frenzy as long as the spike remains, causing them to use skills more quickly. The bone spike is itself a Minion. If it dies, the effect ends immediately. | Level: 6 Cost: 10 Mana Cast Time: 0.60 sec Requires: Level 21, 38 Int |
| Profane Ritual | Marks a Corpse with a profane rune, dealing Chaos damage over time to nearby enemies. When the ritual is complete the Corpse is consumed and you gain a Power Charge. | Level: 7 Cost: 14 Mana Cast Time: 1.00 sec Requires: Level 22, Int 52 |
| Raise Zombie | Consumes a Corpse or Power Charge to create a Zombie. Zombies created from Power Charges are Empowered. | Level: 4 Cost: 20 Mana Cast Time: 0.60 sec Requires: Level 12, Int 25 |
| Skeletal Warrior | Summons Reviving Skeletal Warriors. | Level 1 Requires: Level 1 Reservation: 60 Spirit |
| Skeletal Sniper | Summons long-ranged, Reviving Skeletal Snipers that can fire a gas arrow on command. | Level 1 Requires: Level 1 Reservation: 90 Spirit |
| Skeletal Arsonist | Summons bomb-throwing, Reviving Skeletal Arsonists that can detonate other Minions on command. | Level 1 Requires: Level 1 Reservation: 90 Spirit |
| Skeletal Brute | Summons hard-hitting, Reviving Skeletal Brutes that can Stun Primed enemies. | Level: 8 Reservation: 46 Spirit Requires: Level 33, Int 55 |
| Skeletal Reaver | Summons aggressive, Reviving Skeletal Reavers that can enrage on command. Enrage all Skeletal Reavers, causing them to lose life over time and gain Rage on hit. | Level: 7 Reservation: 28 Spirit Requires: Level 27, Int 46 |
| Skeletal Frost Mage | Summons Reviving Skeletal Frost Mages that can Freeze themselves on command to slow nearby enemies. Crystallises the air into icy shards that explode outwards when they hit the ground. | Level: 5 Reservation: 49 Spirit Requires: Level 14, 34 Int |
| Skeletal Storm Mage | Summons Reviving Skeletal Storm Mages that can call down a lightning storm on dead Skeletons on command. | Level: 11 Reservation: 42 Spirit Requires: Level 41, 95 Int |
| Skeletal Cleric | Summons Reviving Skeletal Clerics that heal other minions and revive fallen Skeletons. Lightning bolts strike all fallen Skeletons in the area, creating Shocked Ground around them. | Level: 13 Reservation: 14 Spirit Requires: Level 52, Int 119 |
| Unearth | Raises spikes of bone from the earth in front of you damaging enemies. The bones of Corpses in the are are ripped out and reassembled into short-lived bone-construct Minions that fight for you. | Level 1 Cost: 10 Mana Cast Time: 0.95 Sec Crit Chance: 15% Requires: Level 1 |
| Vulnerability | Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, reducing their Armour. | Level: 7 Cost: 74 Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Requires: Level 22, Int 52 |
| Withering Presence | While active, periodically Withers enemies in your Presence | Reservation: 30 Spirit Requires: Level 22, 52 Int |
Path of Exile 2 Witch Weapon
Here is a table with all currently known Sceptres and their attributes:
| Sceptre | Description | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Bone Sceptre | N/A | Spirit: 100 Requires: Level 48, Int 22 |
| Desecrated Sceptre | Grants Skill: Level # Skeletal Warrior Minion | Spirit: 100 Requires: Level 6, Int 19 |
| Omen Sceptre | Grants Skill: Level # Malice | Spirit: 100 Requires: Str 45, Int 114 |
| Stoic Sceptre | Grants Skill: Level # Discipline | Spirit: 100 Requires: Str 58, Int 149 |
| Celebrant Sceptre | Grants Skill: Level # Skeletal Warrior Minion | Spirit: 100 Requires: Level 3 |
| Horn Sceptre | Grants Skill: Level # Skeletal Warrior Minion | Spirit: 100 Requires: Level 12, Int 29 |
| Rattling Sceptre | Grants Skill: Level # Skeletal Warrior Minion | Spirit: 100 |
It’s common for classes to have their “signature” weapon, and PoE 2 Witch Weapon is a Sceptre. A significant advantage of Sceptres is that they provide you with skills and extra Spirit, which is essential for our Necromancy.
If you want to craft a specific weapon (or even gear) you will need to figure out which item suits best for your purposes. For a Witch, it’s best to choose options that provide Spirit boost and allow you to enhance your summoning abilities. But if you want to Craft Gear fast and easily, reach out to our team and learn all the tricks of the crafting process.
4.9To sum up our Path of Exile 2 Witch guide, this class is a good choice for Necromancy lovers, and it is believed to be less complicated in PoE 2. The variety of summoning monsters, paired with tons of active deadly Skill Gems will make you the greatest fighter in Wraeclast. Besides, with the Sceptre in hand, a PoE2 Witch is a good class for both beginners and experienced players. Just make sure that you always have enough Spirit for your ideas.
