Path of Exile 2: Witch Class Guide
Path of Exile 2 is the much-anticipated sequel to the highly successful ARPG Path of Exile, developed by Grinding Gear Games. The game promises to deliver new gameplay experiences while retaining the core mechanics that made the original so popular. One of the most iconic classes returning in Path of Exile 2 is the Witch. Known for her mastery of dark magic, curses, and elemental spells, the Witch is a versatile class that excels in both damage output and utility. Whether you prefer to wield devastating elemental forces or manipulate the dead, the Witch has something for every type of magic-user. In this guide, we will explore the Witch’s capabilities, skill gems, and how to optimize your build for Path of Exile 2.
Overview of the Witch
The Witch in Path of Exile 2 remains true to her roots, focusing on spellcasting, elemental damage, and summoning minions. Her playstyle is flexible, allowing players to adapt to various gameplay scenarios, whether they prefer playing as a pure spellcaster or a summoner who commands an army of the undead. With the introduction of new Skill Gems and passive abilities in Path of Exile 2, the Witch has more tools than ever to Path Of Exile 2 Gold control the battlefield, deal massive area-of-effect (AoE) damage, and provide crowd control.
Starting Attributes
Strength: Low – Not essential for a spellcaster build.
Dexterity: Low – Dexterity is rarely needed unless you are experimenting with hybrid builds.
Intelligence: High – Intelligence is the Witch’s primary attribute, enhancing spell damage and mana pool.
Skill Gem System in Path of Exile 2
One of the biggest changes in Path of Exile 2 is the revamped Skill Gem system. In the original game, players would link skill gems with support gems through gear sockets. Path of Exile 2 does away with this system and introduces socketable Skill Gems directly within the gems themselves, making it much easier to customize your abilities. For the Witch, this means more control over the synergy between elemental and support gems, allowing for more powerful spell combinations.
Popular Witch Builds
1. Elementalist (Elemental Spellcaster) Build
The Elementalist is a go-to build for Witch players who want to focus on dealing massive elemental damage. Whether it's hurling fireballs or summoning lightning storms, the Elementalist excels at high AoE damage and controlling the battlefield.
Key Skills:
Fireball: A classic skill that allows the Witch to cast fiery projectiles, dealing significant fire damage to enemies. It can be enhanced with support gems that increase damage, speed, or area of effect.
Lightning Orb: This new skill in Path of Exile 2 lets the Witch summon an orb of lightning that zaps enemies as it moves. This is a great skill for crowd control and sustaining DPS over a wide area.
Frost Nova: A cold-based AoE skill that creates a chilling burst of ice, freezing enemies in place. It’s a great defensive tool for dealing with mobs that get too close.
Passive Tree Focus: Elemental damage nodes, AoE radius, critical strike chance, and mana regeneration.
Gear Priorities: Look for gear that increases elemental damage, spell power, and mana regeneration. Critical strike modifiers can also enhance your damage output, especially in high-level content.
2. Necromancer (Summoner) Build
For those who prefer to let minions do the dirty work, the Necromancer build is an excellent choice. The Witch can summon an army of skeletons, zombies, and spectres to fight on her behalf. With the right support gems, these minions can become nearly unstoppable, dealing immense damage and tanking for the Witch.
Key Skills:
Summon Skeletons: Summons a group of skeleton warriors to fight for you. They can be enhanced with support gems that increase their damage or health.
Raise Zombies: Zombies act as frontline tanks, absorbing damage while dealing solid melee attacks.
Spectres: Summon spectral versions of fallen enemies to fight on your behalf, with different spectres offering a variety of abilities based on the monsters they came from.
Passive Tree Focus: Minion damage, health, and number of minions. You’ll also want to invest in aura nodes to support your minions with buffs.
Gear Priorities: Items that increase minion damage, health, and resistances are essential. You may also want to focus on items that grant additional minion capacity or bonuses to auras.
3. Occultist (Chaos and Curse Specialist) Build
The Occultist build focuses on chaos damage and curses. Chaos damage bypasses energy shields and resists, making it extremely potent against both normal and high-tier enemies. Curses debilitate foes, reducing their damage output and resistances, allowing the cheap Path Of Exile 2 Gold Witch to control the battlefield effectively.
Key Skills:
Essence Drain: Fires a projectile that deals chaos damage over time. Excellent for sustained damage output and self-healing via leeching.
Bane: A chaos-based AoE skill that applies multiple curses to enemies within its radius. It’s highly effective at softening up mobs for stronger spells.
Despair: A curse that lowers enemies’ chaos resistance, making your chaos damage even more effective.
Passive Tree Focus: Chaos damage, curse effectiveness, and damage over time nodes.
Gear Priorities: Focus on increasing chaos damage, curse effectiveness, and energy shield recovery. Defensive gear with resistances and life regeneration is also key to staying alive.
General Tips for Witch Players
Mana Management: Witches rely heavily on mana to cast spells, so prioritizing mana regeneration or reduced mana cost modifiers is essential to keep casting without running dry.
Defensive Tools: Although the Witch is primarily a damage dealer, don’t neglect defensive mechanics like energy shields, armor, or crowd control spells to keep yourself alive in tough situations.
Playstyle: The Witch excels at long-range combat, so positioning is key. Stay mobile and avoid getting swarmed by enemies.
Conclusion
The Witch in Path of Exile 2 continues to be a powerful and versatile class. Whether you prefer to summon an army of undead, obliterate enemies with elemental magic, or weaken them with chaos and curses, the Witch has a build to suit your playstyle. By mastering her spells, optimizing gear, and choosing the right passive skills, you can dominate the challenging environments of Path of Exile 2 and carve your path to power.
