Best Witch leveling build in Path of Exile 2 – Destructoid

The Witch class is a powerful option in Path of Exile 2, with two unique ascendancies, the minion-centric Infernalist and the deadly Blood Mage. Regardless of which you choose to play, you’ll first need to level your Witch high enough to complete the ascendancy trials, so we’ve put together the best Witch leveling build in Path of Exile 2 that utilizes summons to do your bidding.

Best Witch leveling build

When built properly, the Witch can utilize a deadly minion build to command an army to do her bidding, which is the goal of this build. The build works by summoning Raging Spirits when you case Flame Wall, and then increasing the damage they deal with Flammability. As you work around the passive tree, only put attributes into Strength and Dexterity as needed for gear, with the rest of your points going into Intelligence.

Passives Tree

Passive Tree: Witch Leveling Passive Tree for PoE2

Ideally, you’ll want to follow the above Passive Tree when leveling as a Witch, prioritizing placing your passive skill points in the nodes in the order they are marked above. Choose +5 Intelligence for any attribute nodes unless you specifically need more Strength or Dexterity to meet gear requirements. Here are all the passive points you should pick while leveling:

1. Start by grabbing the increased spell damage and minion damage nodes, up through Power of the Dead which grants 15% increased damage and 3% increased attack and cast speed to minions.
2. Head right into the blue area of the above tree, grabbing some attribute nodes before heading into the chunk of minion-based nodes where you should grab Gravedigger, Necrotised Flesh, Relentless Fallen, and Fear of Death.
3. Now head left from where you split right, grabbing the Energy Shield Delay nodes and Essence Infusion on the way. More left, grab Relentless Dead and Growing Swarm as well as Crystalline Flesh.
4. Go north from here into the orange area of the above tree, grabbing your first Jewel Socket. Put some sort of Sapphire Jewel in there that buffs minions in a meaningful way, such as elemental resistances. Continue left and grab Holy Protector, Bringer of Order, and Silent Guardian.
5. To the right of where you are now, head up into the next minion section and grab both Lord of Horrors and Left Hand of Darkness.
6. Now go for the yellow area of the above tree, back towards where you split off into step 2. Wrap around both sides of the circle and pick up both Insightfulness and Melding.
7. Next to where you started on the tree, pick up Open Mind, Pure Energy, Dampening Shield, and Living Death.
8. Finally, back at the top of the tree, grab the white area which includes Enhanced Barrier and Glazed Flesh.

Important Note: If at any time you are having mana issues, you can always pick up Open Mind for just two points earlier than Step 7 to get a 25% increased mana regeneration rate, but the necessity and usefulness of this node will depend heavily on your gear.

Ascendancy Tree

Each time you complete the required Trial of Sekhemas or Trial of Chaos, you’ll earn two Ascension points. For this Witch leveling build, we are going with the Infernalist Ascendancy. Here is how you should spend each point as you get them:

1. Minion Life and Loyal Hellhound
2. Life and Altered Flesh
3. Life and Beidat’s Will
4. Life and Beidat’s Hand

Skills and Support Gems

While leveling as a Witch, you’ll change up your skill and support gems several times throughout your progress, with your first build focused on pre-Ascendancy, then switching once you officially become an Infernalist, and then again once you’ve maxed out your Ascendancy and add Grim Feast to your arsenal.

Gem Setup for Leveling Before Infernalist

Early on, you’ll need to use something other than Raging Spirits until you’re at a high enough level to unlock it. I recommend just using your other minions like Skeletal Warrior and Skeletal Sniper until you unlock Raging Spirits. Once you do, this should be your gem setup, selecting support gems in order from left to right for each respective skill gem:

• Raging Spirits – Martial Tempo – Fire Infusion
• Flame Wall – Fortress – Arcane Surge
• Flammability – Heightened Curse – Spell Cascade
• Skeletal Arsonist – Concentrated Effect – Scattershot
• Pain Offering – Magnified Effect – Persistence

Gem Setup for Leveling with Infernal Hound

Once you complete your first Ascendancy Trial (either Trial of Sekhemas or Trial of Chaos), you can ascend to Infernalist and unlock your Infernal Hound. Once you do, switch to this gem setup:

• Summon Infernal Hound – Elemental Army – Meat Shield – Fire Exposure
• Raging Spirits – Fire Infusion – Elemental Focus – Feeding Frenzy
• Flame Wall – Fortress – Arcane Surge
• Flammability – Heightened Curse – Spell Cascade – Inspiration
• Skeletal Arsonist – Heft – Scattershot – Martial Tempo
• Pain Offering – Magnified Effect – Persistence

Gem Setup for Leveling with Grim Feast

The final stretch of your leveling journey as a Witch will include picking up Grim Feast and adding your fourth support gems to your primary skills. Here’s your final gem setup while leveling:

• Summon Infernal Hound – Elemental Army – Meat Shield – Fire Exposure – Strip Away
• Grim Feast – Clarity
• Raging Spirits – Fire Infusion – Elemental Focus – Feeding Frenzy – Immolate
• Flame Wall – Fortress – Arcane Surge – Mobility
• Flammability – Heightened Curse – Spell Cascade – Inspiration
• Skeletal Arsonist – Heft – Scattershot – Martial Tempo – Last Gasp
• Pain Offering – Magnified Effect – Persistence – Font of Rage

With this PoE2 Witch leveling build you should have no problem completing the campaign and getting into the endgame and maps. Once you do, you can easily transition this build into an end-game Inferlist build that still utilizes Raging Spirits and your Infernal Hound.

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