Witches use Spirit (a new resource for summoning and necromancy) and Mana. As an intelligence-based class, they're great at casting spells and controlling the battlefield. They can summon skeletons and deal lots of chaos damage, making them effective against groups of enemies and bosses.
Unlike in the past, Witches no longer specialize in elemental magic. That's now the Sorceress's area. Instead, Witches are now focused on necromancy, with easier summoning and more chaos-based abilities.
You can check out some Witch gameplay in the PoE2 trailer. In this Path of Exile 2 Witch Class guide, you can learn how to master minions and spells to dominate enemies.
Pros and Cons
The Witch has its strengths and weaknesses. Knowing these will help you better understand how the class works and whether this class is the correct choice for you. Here are some key strengths:
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Minion Master: Summon lots of minions to fight, take damage for you, or heal you.
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Great Chaos Damage: Contagion and Essence Drain inflict heavy damage over time.
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Excellent Area Damage: Quickly clear groups of enemies with skills like Blasphemy and Hexblast.
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Highly Customizable: Build your Witch to focus on minions, curses, or direct damage, depending on how you want to play.
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Very Versatile: Skills like Bone Cage and Bone Offering can be used for both attacking and defending.
However, Witches also have some weaknesses:
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Weak at the Start: The Witch can be easily killed early in the game because they don't have much health or energy shield unless you plan carefully.
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Hard to Manage Resources: Keeping track of both Spirit and Mana can be difficult.
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Needs Strategy: To play the Witch well, you need to think about where you are, how you use Spirit, and how you combine your skills.
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Needs Good Items: The Witch gets much stronger with good intelligence-based items and spending in-game money.
There are constant updates and balancing being worked on by the developers of PoE2, this makes the strengths and weaknesses of any class feel well-balanced and thought out, ensuring an enjoyable gameplay experience.
Witch Weapons
Sceptres are the main weapons Witches use in Path of Exile 2 for casting spells and summoning undead. They're recommended because they give extra Spirit and let you summon stronger creatures. However, you can use other weapons too:
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Sceptres: These are the best for summoning. They give bonuses to Spirit and have skills that improve your summons, increasing their damage and your Spirit regeneration.
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Wands: These are good for spellcasters, increasing cast speed, mana, and chaos damage. You can even use two wands at once for even more offense.
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Daggers: These are good if you're focusing on chaos damage and critical hits.
Here are some examples of Sceptres a Witch can use in Path of Exile 2, along with their level requirements, stat requirements, and granted skills:
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Bone Sceptre: Requires Level 48 and 22 Intelligence.
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Desecrated Sceptre: Requires Level 6 and 19 Intelligence. Grants the Skeletal Warrior Minion skill.
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Omen Sceptre: Requires Level 45 Strength and 114 Intelligence. Grants the Malice skill.
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Stoic Sceptre: Requires Level 58 Strength and 149 Intelligence. Grants the Discipline skill.
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Celebrant Sceptre: Requires Level 3. Grants the Skeletal Warrior Minion skill.
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Horn Sceptre: Requires Level 12 and 29 Intelligence. Grants the Skeletal Warrior Minion skill.
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Rattling Sceptre: Grants the Skeletal Warrior Minion skill.
Sceptres are usually the best choice for Witches due to their beneficial bonuses. We strongly recommend using a Sceptre over Wands or Daggers. It maximizes your necromantic abilities and still allows you to cast spells effectively.
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Witch Skill Gems
Path of Exile 2 gives Witches many different skill gems, so you can build your character and play how you like, depending on what kind of minions you use.
Here's a list of Witch skills:
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Bind Spectre: Summon a fallen enemy as a minion.
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Blasphemy: Makes your curses into auras.
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Bone Cage: Creates a ring of bone spikes that explode when touched, damaging and pinning enemies.
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Bone Offering: You can sacrifice a Skeleton to generate a protective barrier around your minions. This barrier absorbs a single attack and then detonates.
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Bonestorm: Creates a whirlwind of bone spikes that damages enemies and embeds shrapnel, increasing attack damage and causing bigger explosions with Power Charges.
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Barrier Invocation: Gathers Energy when your Energy Shield is damaged and then releases it to trigger linked spells.
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Chaos Bolt: Your basic chaos damage attack.
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Contagion: An affliction that deals damage over time and spreads upon the target's death.
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Dark Effigy: Summons a totem that damages enemies suffering from damage over time.
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Detonate Dead: Explodes a corpse, damaging nearby enemies.
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Despair: A curse that lowers enemy Chaos resistance.
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Essence Drain: A projectile that inflicts chaos damage over time.
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Enfeeble: A curse that reduces enemy damage.
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Grim Feast: Consumes corpses to recharge your Energy Shield and creates Grim Remnants that temporarily increase your maximum Energy Shield.
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Hexblast: Detonates curses on enemies, causing a chaos explosion and removing the curses.
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Pain Offering: You can sacrifice one of your Skeletons to grant your other minions a temporary increase in attack speed.
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Profane Ritual: Puts a rune on a corpse that hurts enemies with chaos damage over time and gives you a Power Charge when you use the body.
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Raise Zombie: Summons a Zombie from a corpse or summons a zombie by using a power charge.
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Skeletal Warrior: Summons melee skeletons that revive after death.
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Skeletal Sniper: Summons ranged skeletons that fire gas arrows.
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Skeletal Arsonist: Summons exploding skeletons that can detonate other minions.
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Skeletal Brute: Summons tough, hard-hitting skeletons that can stun enemies.
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Skeletal Reaver: Summons aggressive melee skeletons that gain Rage (and lose health while enraged).
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Skeletal Frost Mage: Summons skeletons that cast frost spells and can freeze themselves to slow enemies.
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Skeletal Storm Mage: Summons lightning skeletons that create damaging shock zones on dead skeletons.
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Skeletal Cleric: Summons healing skeletons that revive allies and heal other minions while shocking enemies.
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Unearth: Summons short-lived bone constructs from corpses or the ground.
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Vulnerability: A curse that reduces enemy armor.
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Withering Presence: Passively applies Wither to nearby enemies, slowing them and increasing the chaos damage they take.
Many of the Witch's skills in Path of Exile 2 focus on summoning skeletons, making them more of a necromancer than a typical spellcaster. However, they still function as ranged damage dealers. You'll often have supporting skeletons like Clerics for healing, Brutes for tanking damage, or Reavers for close combat.
Ascendancies
Each class in PoE2 will eventually have 3 ascendancies to choose from, however, in the early access release, only 2 are available. Here is a brief overview of the two available Witch ascendancies:
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Blood Mage: Instead of mana, you now use your life pool as a source for abilities. Major skills include Sanguimancy, Gore Spike, and Crimson Power.
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Infernalist: based around managing heat, as well as conjuring an infernal hound. Major skills include Pyromantic Pact, Demonic Possession, and Loyal Hellhound.
Tips for Playing the Witch in Path of Exile 2:
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Use Spirit Wisely: Spirit is used for summoning and important spells. Make sure you always have enough to summon key minions or use vital skills like Contagion.
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Use Minions Smartly: Give your minions different jobs. Use Cleric Skeletons to heal, Zombie Skeletons to take hits, and Storm Mage Skeletons to damage groups of enemies while you stay safe and cast spells.
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Use Curses to Your Advantage: Skills like Despair and Enfeeble make your attacks stronger and enemies weaker, helping your minions a lot.
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Change Your Skills When Needed: Use different skills for different situations. Use Chaos damage skills like Essence Drain for fighting bosses and lots of minions like Reaver Skeletons for clearing groups of normal enemies.
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Get Good Gear: Look for gear that helps you get Spirit back faster, increases Chaos damage, and makes your minions tougher. Sceptres are the best weapons for summoning.
Conclusion
If you follow the tips in this Path of Exile 2 Witch Class guide, you'll be able to use the Witch to its fullest in Path of Exile 2. With strong chaos spells, a powerful army of undead, and lots of ways to customize your character, you'll be ready to dominate. Get good equipment, make your build strong, and let your Witch's magic take over the battlefield and win in Wraeclast! By equipping your Witch with the right gear and following the strategies outlined above, you'll enhance your gameplay significantly. To further bolster your Witch's capabilities and ensure you have the optimal equipment to unleash her full potential, consider buying PoE 2 Currency from LootBar, which offers the best and quickest service at the cheapest price, get your gear now and dominate the game!