In Path of Exile 2, the Witch class stands out as a versatile and powerful choice for players who enjoy casting devastating spells and manipulating the elements. Whether you’re summoning minions, unleashing destructive elemental forces, or harnessing dark magic, the Witch is a compelling class that offers numerous opportunities for exciting playstyles. In this guide, we’ll take a look at the PoE 2 Witch, her skills, and ascendancy options, helping you navigate her unique strengths and gameplay mechanics.
Overview of the PoE 2 Witch
The Witch is a magic-focused character who excels in dealing AoE damage, controlling the battlefield, and utilizing a range of elemental and chaos spells. Whether you're drawn to fire, ice, or lightning, or prefer summoning an army of minions to do your bidding, the Witch can be an ideal starting point for your PoE 2 journey.
Her base attributes are heavily focused on Intelligence, which is the cornerstone of her power. Intelligence increases her mana pool, which is essential for casting spells, and boosts the damage of spellcasting-based abilities. Her starting position on the skill tree gives her access to many defensive and offensive nodes, allowing for a highly customizable character build that can scale as you progress through the game.
Skills Available to the PoE 2 Witch
The PoE 2 Witch has access to a vast array of skills that fall under various spellcasting categories. Here are a few of the standout skills available to her:
Elemental Skills
Fireball – One of the most iconic spells in PoE, Fireball allows the Witch to launch explosive projectiles that deal massive fire damage. It’s an essential skill for those focusing on fire-based builds, and can be further enhanced with support gems and passives.
Ice Nova – This cold-based AoE spell releases a burst of icy damage, freezing and chilling enemies in its radius. Ice Nova works well for crowd control while also dealing significant cold damage.
Lightning Strike – Perfect for those who prefer lightning damage, Lightning Strike strikes a target and can chain to other nearby enemies. It’s a great skill for clearing large packs of monsters efficiently.
Chaos and Damage Over Time Skills
Essence Drain – A powerful chaos spell, Essence Drain drains life from enemies over time and deals chaos damage. It’s particularly effective for damage-over-time builds, as it allows you to deal significant sustained damage while staying at range.
Contagion – Another chaos spell, Contagion spreads a debuff to enemies, causing them to take damage over time. When paired with Essence Drain, this skill creates a deadly synergy, allowing you to wreak havoc on large groups of enemies.
Summoning Skills
Raise Spectre – A key skill for summon builds, Raise Spectre allows the Witch to summon powerful minions to fight by her side. The spectres you summon can have different abilities and traits, making them a versatile addition to your army.
Summon Raging Spirit – Summon Raging Spirits (SRS) are fiery, summoned creatures that will attack enemies on their own, dealing fire damage. They’re highly effective for players focused on a summoner Witch build, as they can overwhelm enemies with their sheer numbers.
Ascendancy Classes for the PoE 2 Witch
The PoE 2 Witch has two primary ascendancy classes that can help tailor her abilities to specific playstyles: Elementalist and Necromancer. Each of these ascendancies offers unique bonuses and powerful abilities, allowing you to fine-tune your Witch’s playstyle.
Elementalist Ascendancy
The Elementalist is a perfect choice for players who want to focus on elemental magic and deal massive damage with fire, cold, and lightning spells. This ascendancy specializes in buffing elemental spells and resistance while also providing aura-based buffs to enhance the effectiveness of your spells.
Ascendancy Bonuses: The Elementalist ascendant class grants you access to powerful elemental damage buffs, resistance boosts, and enhanced elemental ailment effectiveness. This makes it a perfect choice for those who want to scale their elemental damage to its highest potential.
Unique Skills: The Elementalist also offers a unique ability called Storm's Call, which summons a powerful elemental storm that damages and stuns nearby enemies. This skill is highly effective when paired with lightning spells, turning the Witch into a deadly storm-wielding mage.
Necromancer Ascendancy
The Necromancer ascendancy focuses on summoning and minion-based builds, making it an ideal choice for players who want to dominate the battlefield with an army of undead and other minions. The Necromancer ascendant class enhances summoning mechanics, granting powerful minion-related bonuses.
Ascendancy Bonuses: The Necromancer ascendancy provides numerous benefits to minion-focused builds, such as increased minion damage, resistance to minion damage, and the ability to raise additional minions. The added minion life and enhanced damage allow your summoned creatures to survive longer and deal more damage.
Unique Skills: One of the Necromancer’s signature abilities is Commander of the Dead, which grants a huge bonus to your minion’s stats and the ability to raise even stronger creatures. This ascendancy is perfect for players who want to focus on summoner Witch builds, where your minions do the heavy lifting while you cast support spells.
Best PoE 2 Witch Builds and Playstyles
When choosing a build for your PoE 2 Witch, the ascendancy class you select will play a significant role in shaping your playstyle. Here are a few popular builds you can consider:
Fireball Elementalist Build
For players who want to focus on high elemental damage, the Fireball Elementalist build is a classic. Combining Fireball with Elementalist bonuses to fire damage, spellcasting speed, and area of effect, this build offers powerful AoE and boss-killing potential. It’s an ideal choice for players who love high-damage explosions.
Essence Drain Contagion Necromancer Build
If you prefer damage over time mechanics, then the Essence Drain and Contagion combination is a perfect fit. Paired with the Necromancer ascendancy’s minion bonuses, this build allows you to deal immense chaos damage while summoning powerful undead allies to support you.
Conclusion
The PoE 2 Witch is a versatile and dynamic class that excels at dealing elemental, chaos, or damage-over-time damage, and she offers multiple paths for specialization. Whether you choose the powerful Elementalist for elemental magic or the commanding Necromancer for minion-based gameplay, the Witch provides an exciting journey filled with devastating spells and strategic gameplay.
As you build your Witch, keep in mind that PoE 2 currency is an essential part of progressing through the game. Whether it’s purchasing gear, upgrading your skills, or obtaining other valuable items, knowing how to manage and spend PoE currency wisely is crucial to your success. If you’re looking to enhance your PoE 2 experience, platforms like SSEGold offer safe and efficient ways to purchase PoE 2 currency, helping you maximize your character’s potential without spending excessive time farming.
Happy adventuring, and may your Witch lead you to victory!
