Master the Witch Class in PoE 2 – Tips, Skills, and Summoning

PoE 2 Witch Guide: Overview, Skills, and Ascendancies

Introduction to the Witch Class

Path of Exile 2 is bringing back the Witch, one of six returning classes from PoE 1. While the Witch class returns, it has undergone significant changes compared to its original form.

The introduction of the Sorceress in PoE 2 has shifted the Witch’s role. The Sorceress inherits the elemental spellcasting aspect previously associated with the Witch. This change allows the Witch to focus on Chaos Damage and Summoning as its primary mechanics, creating a new identity that sets it apart from its predecessor.

This guide will provide a detailed overview of the Witch class, exploring its abilities, gameplay, and how it fits into Path of Exile 2.

PoE 2 Witch Overview

The Witch class is a returning character with a focus on the Intelligence (INT) attribute. While the Witch doesn't technically "possess" the INT attribute, she begins at the top section of the passive skill tree, which is heavily populated with INT-based nodes. These nodes enhance stats and mechanics such as Spell Damage, Minion Damage, Energy Shield, and more.

The Witch in Path of Exile 2 is designed as a specialist in occult magic, excelling in summoning an undead army and dealing Chaos Damage through effects like poisons and contagion.

With the release of PoE 2, there are several quality-of-life improvements and balance adjustments that significantly affect the Summoner playstyle. Below, we’ll touch on some of the most notable changes.

Spirit Mechanic

In Path of Exile 2, the mechanics for summoning minions have undergone a significant overhaul. Previously, in PoE 1, the number of minions you could summon was inherently limited by skill-specific caps. In PoE 2, a new resource called Spirit replaces these limitations and acts as the primary resource for summoning minions.

Spirit is a resource similar to mana but is reserved specifically for abilities such as auras and, in the Witch’s case, summoning her undead army. The size of your Spirit pool determines how many minions you can maintain simultaneously.

As you progress through the game, your available Spirit will grow through leveling, acquiring better gear, completing quests, and other milestones. This allows for the summoning of a larger and more powerful army as your character develops.

The Spirit bar is located just above the mana bar in the UI, making it easy to monitor and manage your summoning capacity during gameplay.

Sceptre: The Witch’s Signature Weapon

The Sceptre serves as the signature weapon for the Witch in Path of Exile 2. These weapons are essential for the Witch's playstyle, as they not only provide skills directly but also increase the wielder's Spirit pool, which is crucial for summoning minions.

At the beginning of the game, around levels 1 or 2, the Sceptre will be your primary tool for starting your minion army. For example, an early-game Sceptre might grant the Skeletal Warrior Minion skill along with a base 100 Spirit.

Interestingly, the Skeletal Warrior skill provided by the Sceptre does not consume Spirit, functioning similarly to how Wands provide Fireball skills that don’t cost mana for the Sorceress. This ensures that even at the very start of the game, the Witch has a reliable way to summon her first minions.

As you progress through the game, Sceptres will scale in power, offering higher amounts of base Spirit and access to more advanced summoning skills. Additionally, crafting opportunities may allow players to enhance their Sceptres with modifiers that further increase their Spirit pool or improve summoning capabilities.

Auto Revive for Summon Skills

In Path of Exile 2, most Summon Skills include an auto-revive mechanic, significantly improving quality of life for summoner builds. This change eliminates the need to continuously resummon your minions when they die, allowing you to focus on gameplay and strategy rather than micromanagement.

However, some skills summon temporary minions, and these do not benefit from the auto-revive feature. Once these minions die or expire, you will need to manually resummon them if required.

This distinction between permanent and temporary minions provides versatility to summoners while ensuring certain skills maintain their unique mechanics and challenges.

Commands for Summons

Path of Exile 2 introduces a new feature called Commands, allowing players to exert some control over the AI of their summoned minions. This feature adds a layer of strategy to summoner builds by letting you:

• Move minions to a specific location.
• Target a specific enemy for your minions to attack.
• Interact with the environment, such as opening doors.

Additionally, some Summon Skills include unique activatable effects that can be triggered using Commands. These effects provide further customization and tactical options, enhancing the versatility of summoner builds. More details on these unique effects will be covered later in the guide.

Witch Skill Gems

In Path of Exile 2, the Witch class primarily utilizes Occult Skill Gems, which revolve around Chaos Damage, minion summoning, and utility effects. While these skills are not exclusively tied to the Witch, they align closely with the core themes of most Witch builds. Below are some of the notable Skill Gems showcased during the Witch gameplay demo, along with their descriptions.

Skill Descriptions

• 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.
• Skeletal Warrior
  Summons Reviving Skeletal Warriors.
• Skeletal Sniper
  Summons long-ranged, Reviving Skeletal Snipers that can fire a gas arrow on Command.
• Unearth
  Raises spikes of bone from the earth in front of you, damaging enemies. The bones of Corpses in the area are ripped out and reassembled into short-lived Bone Construct Minions that fight for you.
• Essence Drain
  Fires a Projectile that applies a powerful Chaos damage over time debuff to enemies it hits.
• Skeletal Arsonist
  Summons bomb-throwing, Reviving Skeletal Arsonists that can detonate other Minions on Command.
• Bone Cage
  Raises a ring of bone spikes around you. The spikes are destroyed when enemies touch them, damaging and Pinning those enemies.
• Raise Zombie
  Consumes a Corpse or Power Charge to create a short-lived Zombie. Zombies created from Power Charges are Empowered.
• Skeletal Frost Mage
  Summons Reviving Skeletal Frost Mages that can be Commanded to cast icy explosions.
• Pain Offering
  Impales a Skeleton on a bone spike to send nearby Minions into a frenzy as long as the spike remains, causing them to use skills more quickly and deal more damage.
• Bonestorm
  Summons a swirling storm of bones, dealing damage to all enemies in its radius.
• Detonate Dead
  Causes a Corpse to violently explode, damaging surrounding enemies.
• Vulnerability
  Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, making Hits against them ignore a portion of their Armour.
• 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.
• Despair
  Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their Chaos Resistance.
• Skeletal Reaver
  Summons aggressive, Reviving Skeletal Reavers that can enrage on Command.
• Dark Effigy
  Raises a Totem that bombards enemies afflicted by Chaos damage over time Debuffs.
• 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.
• Skeletal Storm Mage
  Summons Reviving Skeletal Storm Mages that can call down a lightning storm on dead Skeletons on Command.
• Hexblast
  Detonates a Curse on every enemy in an area, causing explosions of Chaos damage but removing the Curse.
• Skeletal Brute
  Summons hard-hitting, Reviving Skeletal Brutes that can Stun Primed enemies.
• Skeletal Cleric
  Summons Reviving Skeletal Clerics that heal other minions and revive fallen Skeletons.
• Power Offering
  Sacrifices minions to grant offensive bonuses, such as increased damage or crit chance.

PoE 2 Witch Ascendancy Classes

In Path of Exile 2, each class will eventually have three Ascendancy Classes to allow for further specialization. However, during the Early Access phase, only two Ascendancies will be available per class.

For the Witch, the two available Ascendancies are the Infernalist and the Blood Mage, each offering distinct playstyles and mechanics to tailor your build.

Infernalist

The Infernalist is a versatile Ascendancy that enhances both your character and your summoned minions. Key features include:

• Summoning a Loyal Hellhound, which acts as a tank, absorbing some of the damage directed at you.
• Replacing your Mana bar with a resource called Infernal Flame, providing unique resource management mechanics.
• Passive skills that enable you and your entire minion army to Ignite enemies with any damage type, increasing damage over time potential.

The Infernalist is ideal for players who want to mix offensive power with minion-focused gameplay and unique resource management.

Blood Mage

The Blood Mage centers around using Life as a resource to enhance offensive and defensive capabilities. Key features include:

• Using your Life pool to increase the critical strike chance of your spells.
• Leeching Life based on the damage dealt by your spells, offering sustainability in combat.
• Defensive options like a passive that grants extra maximum Life based on the Energy Shield provided by your Body Armour, making this Ascendancy versatile for both offense and defense.

The Blood Mage is a perfect choice for players who prefer risk-reward mechanics and want to maximize the effectiveness of their spells while maintaining survivability.

Wrap-Up

This concludes everything currently known about the Witch class in Path of Exile 2.

The Witch is highly anticipated in PoE 2 due to the significant quality of life improvements and new gameplay mechanics. While summoner builds have been popular in PoE 1, the playstyle isn’t for everyone. However, with PoE 2, the Witch adopts a fresh identity, focusing on Occult magic, including Chaos Damage and Summoning.

As you level up, your undead army grows both in size and strength, making the Witch a strong choice for players who enjoy commanding minions to do the heavy lifting while they focus on staying safe. This playstyle is particularly appealing for Hardcore gamers, as it provides a safe and strategic approach to combat.

With its unique mechanics and engaging playstyle, the Witch class is poised to be a favorite among players looking for a mix of power, strategy, and versatility.