The Witch class returns in Path of Exile 2 with a renewed image, but its chaotic essence remains intact. If you're wondering how to make the most of this character, you've come to the right place. Join us in this exploration of the Witch and discover her potential in Path of Exile 2's early access.
Despite the modifications implemented in this sequel, the Witch continues to focus on three fundamental pillars: minion control, devastating damage over time, and manipulation through curses. While the beginning of the game may feel slow, her power scales exponentially as you unlock higher-level skills.
One of the most significant improvements for the Witch is the new Prisoner Ball mechanic. This addition grants her a mobility that she lacked in the original game, opening up new tactical possibilities and allowing her to move more freely on the battlefield.
In Path of Exile 2, while class flexibility has increased, each retains a distinct focus regarding equipment and skills. The Witch, in particular, specializes in managing energy shields and maximizing health. To optimize her performance, it's crucial to understand how these elements interact.
The energy shield should be conceived as a second health bar, capable of recharging or replenishing quickly enough to minimize direct damage to health. This premise dictates the choice of attire: robes, sandals, and light equipment are ideal, as they offer a solid base of energy shield and a higher chance of obtaining additional bonuses for this attribute.
Regarding weapons, versatility depends on the preferred playstyle. Scepters are practically indispensable, as they constitute the primary way to summon minions, a distinctive trait of the Witch. While it's possible to do without them, this implies giving up a fundamental part of the class's identity.
Therefore, the ideal setup combines scepters with other elements. For an offensive approach, wands complement scepters, providing greater attack power. On the other hand, for a defensive configuration, shields are the best option. Light shields or those focused on mana or energy shield are especially beneficial for the Witch, as they better suit her playstyle and offer more relevant improvements.
While Path of Exile 2's skill tree encompasses all classes, the paths for the Witch are usually straightforward, especially for fiery minion configurations. In this case, the priority is to maximize damage, health, critical stats, elemental resistance, attack speed, and minion reanimation speed. This combination transforms the minions into unstoppable forces, capable of eliminating most enemies, a power that is further amplified with the use of Offer of Pain.
For Chaos builds, the passive skill tree requires a more diversified approach. It is crucial to enhance attributes that go beyond physical damage to achieve a complete Witch. Chaos damage and ailment duration bonuses are ideal options, as they maximize both the damage inflicted and the time the effects persist. Minions also require some attention, although in this case health and resistance can be prioritized, turning them into frontline tanks that relieve pressure on the main character. In short, the key is to adapt the skill tree to the specific playstyle, prioritizing synergy between skills and attributes.
The Witch class in Path of Exile 2 presents two main builds that stand out for their effectiveness: fiery minions and chaos damage. Both offer a unique and devastating playstyle.
- Fiery Minions: This build focuses on synergizing skills like Skeleton Pyromancers, Offer of Pain, Wall of Flames, Flammability, and Detonate Dead. Flammability reduces the fire resistance of enemies, boosting the damage of Skeleton Pyromancers and Wall of Flames. Offer of Pain significantly improves nearby minions, being especially effective with the Skeleton Warriors summoned by scepters. Detonate Dead provides a useful bonus for eliminating the corpses left by minions, maximizing area damage.
Thanks to the high fire resistance inherent in this configuration, it is possible to explore additional elemental skills. Fire spells like Sun Orb or Fireball can complement the damage without detracting from the minions' prominence. However, the main focus should remain on empowering the minions, preventing secondary skills from interrupting the main rotation.
- Chaos Damage: Although it has undergone some adjustments, chaos damage remains a viable and powerful alternative. The particularity of this type of damage, especially for the Witch, is its damage over time (DoT) nature. Fortunately, skills like Contagion, Profane Ritual, Despair, and Dark Pact compensate for this characteristic.
Contagion inflicts chaos DoT and spreads with greater intensity if the target dies. Profane Ritual transforms corpses into areas of chaos DoT. Dark Pact acts as a turret that attacks enemies affected by chaos debuffs.
Despair, a key curse at high levels, reduces the chaos resistance of enemies, amplifying the effectiveness of the DoT damage. It can be complemented with skills like Essence Drain for some initial impact and additional DoT.
Within the subclass options for the Witch in Path of Exile 2, two stand out: Infernalist and Bloodmage. The former, focused on fire damage and spell amplification, presents itself as the most robust option. Its key abilities are Loyal Hellhound and Demonic Possession. Loyal Hellhound summons a revived hellhound that, while not inflicting massive damage, acts as a tank and absorbs 20% of the damage received by the character. Demonic Possession, on the other hand, transforms the Witch into a demon, increasing casting speed, spell damage, and skill levels, in exchange for a continuous loss of health while the transformation is active.
The Bloodmage, although with potential, is positioned as the weaker option in comparison. Its abilities are based on sacrificing health and defenses to increase overall damage. While it offers interesting skills like Gore Spike and Sunder The Flesh, which grant additional critical chance and base damage, its disadvantage lies in the synergy with the current state of the Witch class, where the Infernalist offers superior performance. In summary, if you are looking to maximize the Witch's potential, the Infernalist is presented as the most solid choice.