Path of Exile 2 (PoE 2) offers an incredible depth of build crafting, allowing players to customize their characters with endless combinations of skills, passive trees, and items. Among the various playstyles, the Witch Minion build stands out as one of the most compelling for players who love commanding undead armies. Whether you’re summoning skeletons, zombies, or powerful spirits, this guide will walk you through the process of crafting a potent Witch Minion build, from leveling up to dominating the endgame.
Witch Overview in Path of Exile 2
The Witch in PoE 2 embodies the Necromancer archetype, making it perfect for those who want to command an army of undead minions. Your army includes skeletal warriors, archers, bombers, and even spellcasting witches. These minions serve as both distractions and devastating damage dealers, clearing mobs and taking down bosses with ease.
While early in the game, your minions may be fragile and vulnerable, as you progress, you’ll unlock more powerful minions and ways to enhance their survivability and damage output. The Witch also relies on a resource called Spirit, which governs how many minions you can summon. As your Spirit capacity increases, you’ll be able to summon more and stronger minions, making your army formidable.
In terms of Ascendancy choices, Infernalist is the top choice for Witch Minion builds, as it synergizes well with minions and boosts their damage and survivability. On the other hand, Blood Mage tends to be less effective for minion-based builds.
Witch Minion Build Leveling Guide
Leveling as a Witch can be challenging early on, especially in the first few Acts where your minions are fragile. Here’s a step-by-step guide to help you progress smoothly:
Act 1: Early Struggles and Survival
The first Act is tough for Witch players, as your minions will die easily and leave you vulnerable. Here’s how to optimize your build early:
- Unearth: Unlock this ability to deal decent damage and summon additional minions.
- Skeletal Sniper: Focus on this skill for its Gas Arrow ability, which provides high damage and can be used effectively against bosses.
- Flame Wall: Synergizes with Gas Arrow for burst damage, useful for clearing mobs and damaging bosses.
- Contagion: A useful Chaos damage debuff for bosses, though optional.
At Level 5, unlock Bonestorm as your primary DPS skill. Pair it with auto-cast Raging Spirits, Flame Wall, and Gas Arrow to maximize your damage potential.
Act 2: Ascendancy and Enhanced Minions
Act 2 marks a shift in focus towards improving your abilities and preparing for your Ascendancy:
- Flammability: Replace Contagion with this curse to boost Flame Wall’s damage.
- Unlock Infernalist: Complete the Trial of Sekhemas to ascend to Infernalist. The Loyal Hellhound passive will make your minions more powerful.
At this point, your minions will start to gain momentum, and you’ll be able to focus on refining your build.
Act 3: Transitioning to Endgame Viability
By Act 3, you should be transitioning toward endgame viability. Use a Lesser Jeweller’s Orb to unlock a third gem slot, allowing you to equip more skills. At this stage:
- Feeding Frenzy (from Skeletal Snipers) should be equipped to enhance your minions.
- Skeletal Arsonist can replace Skeletal Snipers, adding more firepower to your army.
- Add Martial Tempo and Fire Penetration gems for even more damage.
Cruel Mode and Endgame Preparation
As you enter Cruel Mode, you’ll finalize your build for endgame content:
- Unlock Skeletal Storm Mage to apply the Shock status to enemies, increasing the damage they take.
- Equip Skeletal Cleric to heal and resurrect your minions, making them harder to wipe out.
- Swap Fire Penetration with Immolate on Raging Spirit for better boss damage.
- Equip Elemental Focus to further boost your elemental damage.
Passive Skill Tree
For your Passive Skill Tree, prioritize nodes that increase minion health, damage, and revive timers. Focus on Intelligence, as that is key for boosting your minion abilities. Put only minimal points into Strength and Dexterity to meet equipment requirements.
Endgame Build Overview
By the time you reach the endgame, your Witch Minion build should focus on these key elements:
Key Skills:
- Flame Wall: Great for clearing mobs and boosting your minion damage.
- Raging Spirits: A primary damage dealer.
- Loyal Hellhound: A must-have for boosting minion damage.
- Skeletal Arsonist: Provides powerful area damage.
- Skeletal Storm Mage: Useful for applying the Shock status.
- Skeletal Cleric: Heals and resurrects fallen minions.
- Flammability: A curse that amplifies your damage.
- Bone Blast: A powerful AoE skill.
Key Passive Skills:
- Power of the Dead
- Restless Dead
- Lord of Horrors
- Gravedigger
Key Items:
- Wands or Scepters: Boost minion damage.
- Armor: Look for armor that provides additional Spirit passives and life regeneration.
- Resistance Gear: Make sure you can survive against endgame bosses.
Tips for Playing a Witch Minion Build
- Play Defensively: Let your minions take the lead in battle. They’ll absorb the brunt of enemy attacks while you stay behind and deal damage.
- Maintain Curses: Always apply Flammability to bosses and tough enemies to maximize your damage output.
- Position Carefully: As a Witch, you’re squishy. Always maintain a safe distance from enemies and let your minions tank.
- Upgrade Consistently: Make sure you invest your poe 2 currency for sale into upgrading your minion’s survivability and boosting your overall damage output.
Conclusion
With the Witch Minion build in Path of Exile 2, you’ll command an undead army that tears through your enemies while you stay safe in the rear. Whether you’re leveling up or preparing for endgame content, this build provides exceptional flexibility and power.
For those looking to fast-track their progression, U4GM is an excellent resource for purchasing PoE 2 Currency and path of exile 2 items that will help you maximize your build. With the right equipment and strategies, you’ll be well on your way to mastering the Witch Minion build and dominating the battles of Wraeclast.
If you want to know more, you can read this article: Path of Exile 2 Real Build Guide: Witch Infernalist Summoner – Master of Fire and Chaos