Path of Exile 2 Witch Build Guide: Best Skills & Mastering the Minion Army

Key Takeaways:

1. The Witch in Path of Exile 2 is a versatile summoner capable of commanding an army of skeleton minions, supported by devastating spells and curses.
2. Early game minions can be weak but transition into powerhouse builds as skill gems and passive tree synergies improve.
3. Transitioning builds from levels 1 to 20 and beyond, with plans for mid-game and end-game, is critical for optimizing both single-target and area damage.

So, you’ve booted up Path of Exile 2 and decided to dive headfirst into the Witch class. Whether you’re a returning veteran or a new player enticed by the allure of commanding skeleton armies, this guide will give you everything you need to build a Witch that dominates from early game to endgame. Let’s break it all down step-by-step, starting with levelling strategies and transitioning into an unstoppable minion build.

Why Play a Witch?

The Witch is the epitome of a summoner archetype, leveraging dark magic, curses, and an ever-growing army of minions. At its core, this guide revolves around Skeleton Archers as the backbone of the build, supplemented with tanky Skeleton Warriors, support skills like healing clerics, and powerful curses. But before we dive into the specifics, let’s talk about the progression path.

Levelling Your Witch: Levels 1-20

Starter Build: Essence Drain + Contagion for Early Game Speed

Early in the game, minions are underwhelming because of their low survivability and spirit costs. To tackle levels 1-20 efficiently, we’ll focus on chaos damage-over-time (DOT) spells like Essence Drain and Contagion. This combination allows you to clear packs quickly while dealing significant single-target damage to bosses.

Key Skills for Levels 1-20:

1. Essence Drain – A chaos DOT spell that excels at melting single targets.
2. Contagion – Spreads Essence Drain’s chaos damage to nearby enemies for efficient pack clearing.
3. Unearth – Creates corpses for synergy with later minion setups and adds early mapping utility.
4. Chaos Bolt – A reliable single-target attack, especially during boss fights.

Early Support Gems:

• Essence Drain:
  • Chain (for AOE)
  • Added Chaos Damage
  • Swift Affliction (increased damage, reduced duration)
• Contagion:
  • Area of Effect (spread range)
  • Added Chaos Damage
• Unearth:
  • Brutality (physical damage boost)
  • Faster Attacks (boosts minion attack speed once they are summoned)

Transitioning Around Level 20: Prepping for Minion Builds

At this stage, you’ll gain access to stronger support gems and passives that significantly boost minions. Begin introducing skeleton-based skills, such as Skeleton Warriors for tanking and Skeleton Archers for ranged poison damage.

Key Transition Skills:

• Skeleton Warrior: Durable frontliners that tank for you.
• Skeleton Archer: Your main damage dealers, focusing on poison-based attacks.
• Pain Offering: Sacrifice a skeleton to buff attack/cast speed and damage of all your other minions.
• Skeletal Cleric: Heals and revives fallen skeletons to sustain your army.

Building Your Minion Army: Mid-Game Setup (Levels 20-50)

At this point, we fully embrace the minion archetype. The main focus is buffing the Skeleton Archers to deal maximum damage while creating synergy with support gems, curses, and passives.

Skill Setup

1. Skeleton Archer
   • Comorbidity: Adds extra poison stacks.
   • Feeding Frenzy: Minions take and deal more damage while in a frenzy.
2. Skeleton Warrior
   • Meat Shield: Makes them tankier and focus on protecting you.
   • Maim: Reduces enemy mobility and makes them easier to target.
3. Essence Drain + Contagion Combo (Optional)
   • Still useful for supplemental damage and clearing.
4. Pain Offering
   • Increased Area of Effect: Buffs more of your skeletons.
   • Increased Duration: Buffs last longer, requiring fewer casts.
5. Vulnerability (Curse)
   • Hex Bloom: Spreads the curse when a cursed enemy dies.
   • Heightened Curse: Increases curse effectiveness.
6. Skeletal Cleric
   • Clarity: Boosts mana regeneration for sustained casting.
   • Vitality: Provides life regeneration for you and your minions.

Passive Skill Tree Focus

To maximize minion effectiveness, prioritize the following passives:

Core Minion Passives:

• Raw Destruction: Boosts minion damage.
• Necrotised Flesh: Enhances minion survivability.
• Living Death: Increases minion life and damage.

Dexterity Focus:

• Dead Can Dance: Converts Dexterity to bonuses for Skeleton Archers.

Personal Buffs:

• Pure Energy: Enhances your energy shield.
• Relentless Fallen: Increases your survivability.

Witch Endgame: Skeleton Reaver Build

In the endgame, we shift to Skeletal Reavers melee minions with powerful stacking rage mechanics that deal massive damage. The strategy revolves around keeping Reavers alive and buffed using Skeletal Clerics and offering skills.

Key Endgame Minions:

1. Skeletal Reaver
   • Brutality: Boosts physical damage output.
   • Faster Attacks: Ensures quicker rage stack accumulation.
   • Close Combat: More damage at close range.
   • Life Leech: Keeps them alive as they lose health over time.
2. Skeletal Cleric
   • Support role for healing and reviving fallen minions.
3. Skeletal Sniper
   • Coercion: Reduces enemy armor in poison clouds.
   • Multiple Poisons: Stacks poison damage.

Supplemental Skills:

• Pain Offering: Double-cast for maximizing buffs.
• Bone Storm: A channeling skill that synergizes with minions’ damage.
• Vulnerability + Armor Break: For reducing enemy defenses.

Gear Priorities

For gear, balance Dexterity (for Dead Can Dance) and Intellect for mana, energy shield, and gem requirements. Look for equipment with the following:

• Evasion + Energy Shield: Maximizes survivability.
• Mana Regeneration: Sustain casting costs.
• Elemental Resistances: Mitigates damage in higher acts and endgame maps.
• Movement Speed: Helps you avoid being surrounded.

FAQ

Q: What makes Skeleton Archers the core focus of this build?
A: Skeleton Archers deal poison damage and can be buffed with Dexterity through Dead Can Dance. They are excellent at dealing consistent damage from range, which synergizes well with curses and support gems.

Q: When should I switch from chaos damage skills to minions?
A: Transition around level 20 when you unlock key minion-related passives and support gems like Meat Shield and Feeding Frenzy.

Q: How do I survive during boss fights?
A: Use Bone Cage to trap enemies, position yourself away from danger, and rely on Skeletal Clerics to heal your minions while they tank damage.

Q: Can this build handle endgame bosses and high-tier maps?
A: Yes, with proper gear optimization and skill gem setups, the Skeleton Reaver build excels in both single-target boss fights and high-density map clearing.