In Path of Exile 2, the Witch plays with her army of minions similarly to a Necromancer. We will show you a Witch build that takes you through all acts to the endgame.
What kind of build is this? This is the “Minion Infernalist” build for the Witch in Path of Exile 2. The Witch is one of the classes that you can currently play in the early access of PoE 2. The build we present here refers to the subclass “Infernalist,” with which the Witch casts powerful fire spells, commands an army of the undead, and summons an Infernal Hound.
The build guide is based on our own player experiences since the release of the “Early Access” version of Path of Exile 2 and on the experts from maxroll.gg.
In our guide, we show you how to optimally skill your Witch throughout your journey and what you need to know about gems and gameplay in the endgame. In this build, you will use skills from the “Occult” and “Elemental” categories.
Skills for the Beginning: From Act 1 to Act 4
This is how you get through the acts: As you play through the campaign with its four acts, you expand your army of minions. The minions support you in battle and are the main component of your build. The key is the skill “Flame Skull,” which you will receive during the campaign. Note that you will need to place support gems into other skills intermittently.
Act 1: All Skills and Gems
| Skills for Act 2 | Support Gems for Act 2 |
|---|---|
| Unearth | – Brutality 1 |
| Skeletal Sniper | – Multishot 1 – Last Gasp |
| Vulcano | – Ignite 1 – Arcane Surge |
| Skeletal Warrior | – Last Gasp |
| Frost Bomb | |
| Raging Spirits | – Fire Attunement – Last Gasp |
How does the rotation work? You actually let your snipers and the volcano do most of the work. When ignited enemies are hit by the gas arrows of the Skeletal Sniper, they explode. You also use Raging Spirits to increase your damage in boss fights – make sure to always have 10 spirits active. Frost Bomb serves as a debuff to further weaken your enemies.
What should I focus on in the passive skill tree? Follow these major nodes on the skill tree:
- Raw Destruction
- Open Mind
- Power of the Dead
- Necrotised Flesh
Act 2: All Skills and Gems
| Skills for Act 2 | Support Gems for Act 2 |
|---|---|
| Unearth | – Brutality 1 |
| Skeletal Sniper | – Multishot 2 – Last Gasp – Fire Attunement |
| Vulcano | – Ignite 1 – Arcane Surge |
| Skeletal Warrior | – Last Gasp |
| Frost Bomb | – Potent Exposure |
| Raging Spirits | – Fire Attunement – Last Gasp – Minion Splash 1 |
| Elemental Weakness | – Spell Cascade – Efficiency 1 |
| Summon Infernal Hound | – Last Gasp – Loyalty |
How does the rotation work? Not much changes in the rotation of your build. Your snipers are still the main DPS source along with the volcano. Elemental Weakness now gives you the chance to further weaken your enemies, which increases your overall DPS. Additionally, the Infernal Hound allows you to ignite your enemies much more easily, thereby increasing damage.
What should I focus on in the passive skill tree? Follow these major nodes on the skill tree:
- Emboldening Lead
- Chronomancy
- Crystalline Flesh
- Restless Dead
- Growing Swarm
- On the path the smaller nodes for more damage from minions, near the large node “At your Command”
- Ascendancies of the Infernalist:
- Loyal Hellhound
Act 3: All Skills and Gems
| Skills for Act 3 | Support Gems for Act 3 |
|---|---|
| Unearth | – Brutality 2 – Feeding Frenzy 1 |
| Skeletal Sniper | – Multishot 2 – Last Gasp – Fire Attunement |
| Vulcano | – Ignite 1 – Arcane Surge |
| Skeletal Warrior | – Last Gasp – Sacrificial Lamb 1 |
| Frost Bomb | – Magnified Area 1 – Potent Exposure |
| Raging Spirits | – Fire Attunement – Last Gasp – Minion Splash 1 |
| Pain Offering | – Meat Shield 1 – Elemental Army |
| Elemental Weakness | – Spell Cascade – Efficiency 1 |
| Summon Infernal Hound | – Last Gasp – Loyalty – Meat Shield 1 |
How does the rotation work? Everything remains the same, only now you have the option to sacrifice one of your minions through Pain Offering. This puts your minions into a frenzy state and buffs them.
What should I focus on in the passive skill tree? Follow these major nodes on the skill tree:
- Profane Commander
- Lord of Horrors
- Right Hand of Darkness
- Expendable Army
- Splintering Force
- Relentless Fallen
- Ascendancies of the Infernalist:
- Altered Flesh
Act 4: All Skills and Gems
| Skills for Act 4 | Support Gems for Act 4 |
|---|---|
| Unearth | – Brutality 3 – Feeding Frenzy 2 – Muster |
| Spectre (Get the Vaal Guard that throws bombs and replace this with the archers) | – Feeding Frenzy 2 – Multishot 2 – Muster – Magnified Area 2 |
| Vulcano | – Ignite 1 – Arcane Surge – Rapid Casting 2 |
| Skeletal Warrior | – Last Gasp – Sacrificial Lamb 1 – Meat Shield 2 |
| Frost Bomb | – Magnified Area 1 – Potent Exposure |
| Raging Spirits | – Feeding Frenzy 2 – Last Gasp – Minion Splash 1 |
| Pain Offering | – Meat Shield 2 – Elemental Army – Danse Macabre |
| Elemental Weakness | – Cursed Ground – Efficiency 2 – Heightened Curse |
| Summon Infernal Hound | – Last Gasp – Loyalty – Meat Shield 1 |
| Skeletal Cleric | – Last Gasp – Rapid Casting 2 – Meat Shield 2 |
How does the rotation work? The most important change is replacing your archers with Vaal Guards that throw bombs. Aside from that, you also give your troops the Skeletal Clerics, who heal your units and provide you with more breathing room when maps get stressful.
What should I focus on in the passive skill tree? Follow these major nodes on the skill tree:
- Enhance Barrier
- Bringer of Order
- Holy Protector
- Silent Guardian
- Refund Chronomancy for more points
- Dampening Shield
- Melding
- Ascendancies of the Infernalist:
- Beidat’s Hand
- Beidat’s Will
Minion Infernalist: Witch Gameplay
How does the build play? The gameplay runs through all four acts and the additional acts, with minor changes in your skills and support gems:
- One of the most important skills for the build that you unlock is Vulcano. This causes fire damage, but more importantly: Later, Flame Skulls will fly out of the Vulcano and automatically attack enemies. In principle, you can spam Vulcano as long as you have enough mana, grilling your enemies with the Flame Skulls. The Flame Skulls do not appear in the skill bar and are permanent.
- With Frost Bomb, you apply elemental weakness to your enemies. Additionally, the skill adds damage to enemies. Furthermore, Elemental Weakness lowers the elemental resistances of enemies. So you need this skill in the skill bar.
- Your scepter grants you Skeletal Warriors that resurrect themselves. So you do not need to equip the skill in the skill bar; the skeletons spawn and support you automatically.
- Exhume adds damage to enemies and combines creatures from the corpses in the area that fight for you temporarily. Use the skill when the Flame Skulls are grilling your enemies to always have as many minions as possible.
- Pain Offering buffs your minions – with support gems, they also do not die as quickly.
- Even your Skeletal Snipers fight and resurrect themselves, however, you can still press the command for them to shoot a gas arrow at enemies. You can use as many snipers as your will allows.
- The Infernal Hound ignites enemies and absorbs a portion of the damage you would otherwise take. You do not equip the skill in your bar; it is permanent.
Witch Build: Equipment
What items should I equip? In the campaign, you will primarily encounter enemies that deal physical damage. Equipment that increases your armor and energy shield helps here. It is also important to increase your resistances against fire, cold, lightning, and chaos damage. You can add sockets to your armor and deploy runes that increase resistances, armor, and other defensive values.
Furthermore, it is important to increase your maximum life points. A high movement speed is also important to evade attacks and to better manage time trials.
As for your main and off-hand, it is advisable to equip a scepter and a shield. Scepters provide you with the skill “Skeletal Warrior,” so you do not need it on the skill bar. As for attributes, those associated with your minions fit here, such as:
- Level on Minion Skills
- Allies deal increased damage
- Allies have increased attack speed
- Increased Will
Tip: Check in regularly with the NPC traders. After each level-up of your character, the offerings change, and you can get some really powerful items. If you’re short on gold, pick up as much gear as possible and teleport back to town to sell it in between.
Witch Build: Ascendancy Class
What are Ascendancy classes? They were already present in the first Path of Exile and allow you to specialize your class by following the path of an Ascendancy. You will receive the first points for your specialization in Act 2 through the “Trial of Sekhem”.
You will follow the Infernalist path and gradually equip the following points:
- Loyal Hellhound
- Altered Flesh
- Beidat’s Will
- Beidat’s Hand
By taking this path, you will receive a hellhound that reduces the damage that hits you. You will also gain more life points, more will, and a higher energy shield.
Witch Build: Passive Skills
How do I allocate my passive skill points? For Acts 1-4 and the additional acts, you will work your way up and to the sides and activate the points that relate to your minions. These include, among others:
- Minions deal increased damage
- Minions have increased life
- Minions revive faster
- Minions have increased movement speed
In between, you will collect points that increase your intelligence, as it is essential for the build. If you lack intelligence points, you may not be able to improve/equip certain skills. Once you have “enough” intelligence, you can also spend individual points on strength or dexterity, depending on what your gear requires.
- A complete skill tree for all acts and the endgame can be found at maxroll.gg.
At the NPC “The Veiled,” you can revise your skills for gold. However, he also has another useful function:
Witch Build with Minions in Endgame
What do I change in the endgame? After the 4 acts, you enhance existing skills. Here, you continue to rely on a large army of minions.
Skills you use after Act 4:
- Vulcano, to spawn Flame Skulls and deal enormous damage.
- Pain Offering, to buff your minions.
- Frost Bombs, to apply Elemental Weakness and damage.
- Exhume, to spawn more minions that fight for you.
In the early endgame, you fully rely on your army of minions and replace Vulcano and Flame Skulls with more skeletons. Additionally, you equip a Skeletal Storm Mage that casts lightning strikes.
Skills you use in the early endgame:
- Pain Offering: Increases the damage of minions against bosses and elite enemies.
- Vulnerability: Curses bosses and elite enemies so that minions deal more damage to them.
- Skeletal Slasher: Stuns and intimidates enemies.
- Exhume: Spawns more minions that fight for you.
The “Minion Infernalist” build for the Witch in Path of Exile 2 is a great choice for all content and could be just what you need if you enjoy playing necromancer. With a few adjustments, you’ll be ready for all acts and the endgame. You can get an insight into the classes from the early access here: Path of Exile 2: Tier List of the strongest classes in the game
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