A Deep Dive Into Witch Class Gameplay In Path Of Exile 2

PoE 2 Patch 0.5 introduced Concussive Runes, bringing new possibilities to melee gameplay. This Concussive Ancestral Cry Titan build is a powerful build specifically designed around this mechanic.

It chains together Heavy Stun, Ancestral Cry, Armor Explosion, and Herald effect, turning a single normal attack into the starting point of a series of explosions.

The biggest feature of this build is its incredibly smooth pacing.

The character doesn't need to stop and wait for skill rotations; by constantly approaching enemies with high-speed movement, the first hit inflicts Heavy Stun, after which Concussive Runes and various explosions automatically take over the battlefield. Clearing maps is essentially a matter of charging straight in, with monsters falling one after another behind you.

Core Mechanics

In PoE 2, this build revolves around a simple loop: Attack enemy - Cause Heavy Stun - Trigger Concussive Runes Shockwaves - Destroy armor and trigger explosions - Herald effect continues to spread damage.

Return of the Ancients's Concussive Runes unleashes Shockwaves on Heavy Stun enemies, and this build has numerous Stun buffs. Through the area-of-effect buffs of Hulking Form, Sine Aequo Grand Manchettes, and Overwhelming Presence, most monsters will enter a Heavy Stun state after the first attack.

This is crucial because much of the build's damage only applies to Heavy Stun enemies.

Effects like Crushing Impacts and Smash provide additional damage after enemies are controlled. Against bosses, these damage spikes activate simultaneously as Stun gauge begins to build, resulting in a very rapid decrease in health.

Concussive Runes themselves also contribute to clearing mobs. Their impact range can grow, and with Runes' shield and area-of-effect buffs, a single heavy attack can cover a large area in front.

Armor Explosion provides an additional layer of damage. Equipped with Wolf Charm, the character continuously damages enemy armor, triggering an explosion upon armor breakage.

Combined with Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice, multiple explosion effects can be chained together. In actual gameplay, it's common for a single enemy to be stunned, wiping out surrounding enemies as well.

Ancestral Cry

Another unique feature of this build is the triggering method for Ancestral Cry.

In Patch 0.5, normally Glory needs to be accumulated to unleash Ancestral Cry. Here, Animus Exchange is used to quickly acquire Glory.

Animus Exchange itself consumes Mana, so when paired with Lifetap, it becomes a life cost. Combined with Second Wind III, this allows for continuous skill activation. Since Zerphi's Infamy also consumes life, this combination quickly replenishes Glory.

In PoE 2, casting Animus Exchange twice consecutively will activate Ancestral Cry. It's recommended to use instant health potions to avoid health stress affecting gameplay.

Weapon Set 2 is crucial here. It needs to have a skill effect duration bonus and also requires a hammer that provides +5 melee skill level.

Note that Ancestral Cry must be configured in two weapon slots simultaneously. Switching to Weapon Set 2 when casting grants the skill level and duration bonuses from that set; then switching back to Weapon Set 1 raises the skill level to 38.

After casting, using skills like Earthshatter set to Weapon Set 1 and switching back will restore the damage boost from Weapon Set 1.

If your Animus Exchange is only level 20, two casts might not fully fill Glory slot. In this case, you can replace Second Wind III with Uhtred's Constellation to allow the skill to be cast three times consecutively.

This build requires moderate investment to reach its full potential. Core upgrades include a high-level hammer, skill level bonuses, key unique items, and optimized Concussive Runes. While the build can function on a lower budget, additional PoE 2 Currency greatly improves damage, clear speed, and consistency.

Skill Combinations

This build's main damage output revolves around Ancestral Cry.

Ancestral Cry is paired with Voran's Siege, Zerphi's Infamy, Rakiata's Flow, and Concussive Runes.

Since a large portion of the damage in this build in Return of the Ancients comes from elemental bonus damage, Rakiata's Flow effectively supplements the overall output.

Earthshatter primarily serves to switch weapon sets. After casting Ancestral Cry, use Earthshatter to switch back to Weapon Set 1, regaining damage and passive effects.

Of course, it can also be used as a single-target PoE 2 skill, but in actual combat, the enhanced Ancestral Cry is sufficient to handle most targets.

The two Heralds are Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice. Herald of Thunder provides Lightning damage and status effects, while Herald of Ice helps supplement control. 

Since Cold damage itself doesn't easily cause a stun, Concussive Runes are included here, allowing armor penetration and bonus damage to help trigger control chains. 

Wind Dancer is used as a defensive skill, incorporating Concussive Runes. When enemies attack the character, Runes are triggered, and the character recovers status through Armour Explosion, Life Leech III, and other methods.

Passive Skill Tree

In Patch 0.5, the passive skill choices for this build primarily revolve around Stun, area-of-effect, and Elemental Armament.

Heavy Stun-related nodes are core, as a significant amount of additional damage is applied simultaneously when the boss enters Stun. Area-of-effect effects increase the coverage of Concussive Runes and Herald Explosion, while Elemental Armament further enhances Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice.

If your PoE 2 gear allows, you can choose a hammer with Stun accumulation affix for more consistent first-hit control. However, this build does not rely on attack speed; skill level and base damage are always higher priority attributes.

The greatest appeal of this Concussive Ancestral Cry Titan set lies in its combination of the impactful melee combat of PoE 2 Return of the Ancients with explosive map clearing. After a powerful punch lands, the enemy's armor, health, and formation all crumble together.

Just yesterday, marking the critical one-week milestone since the official launch of Path of Exile 3.29, the studio released Patch 3.29.1, the first major update for Curse of the Allflame league.

To be honest, the arrival of 3.29.1 was expected to be a pivotal turning point for the current expansion, delivering the comprehensive adjustments players had long awaited regarding rewards, combat density, and the overall gameplay experience.

In reality, however, while the patch introduced useful quality-of-life (QoL) features and targeted enhancements for specific systems, it left a significant portion of the player base deeply dissatisfied. By seemingly overlooking core feedback and failing to resolve issues stemming from newly introduced mechanics, the update ultimately proved underwhelming and even disappointing.

Notable QoL Optimizations and Mercenary Improvements

Fair is fair: Patch 3.29.1 was not without its highlights. Ducat, a brand-new currency type first introduced in patch 3.29, has been well-received by many players. This update also introduces a new Ducat: UKatoa's Ducat.

Ukatoa's Ducat allows players to convert the implicit modifier on a non-unique amulet into any other Eldritch implicit modifier. This offers an exciting and highly valuable option for players dedicated to build theorycrafting and Allflame crafting.

Beyond the new Ducat enhancement, Patch 3.29.1 included various minor fixes and refinements designed to smooth out the day-to-day gameplay experience.

Most notably, the developers implemented substantial improvements to Mercenary system; Mercenaries below level 83 received significant boosts to both damage output and overall survivability. For Luminary players who previously struggled with Mercenary support, this means a much smoother progression through the early and mid-game stages. 

Furthermore, to reduce the tedious grind involved in min-maxing builds, the developers added a base utility skill slot for mercenaries in Patch 3.29.1 and increased the spawn rate of Infamous Mercenaries in Tier 16 maps by 50%. For players tackling endgame content, acquiring a top-tier mercenary companion is now significantly easier than before.

The core issue remains: the disappointing drop rate of Abyss mechanic

Despite the welcome quality-of-life improvements mentioned above, the player base's overall reception of Patch 3.29.1 remains overwhelmingly negative due to how Abyss mechanic was handled.

As is well known, Abyss mechanic was originally introduced from Path of Exile 2 and was once a fan-favorite feature; however, the version implemented in PoE 1 suffers from a severe lack of rewards.

Prior to the release of Patch 3.29.1, the developers explicitly acknowledged that Abyss content was underperforming in terms of combat density, gameplay experience, and rewards, promising major adjustments within a few days.

Unfortunately, the actual adjustments fell far short of expectations. They attempted to address the reward issue merely by tweaking Abyssal chests: reducing the frequency and quantity of low-tier item drops, improving the quality and quantity of rewards from specific chests, and buffing Greater Abyssal Chests to yield small amounts of Chaos Orbs and Scarabs.

While the experience of opening chests has improved slightly, this stopgap measure completely ignores the most critical problem: Abyss monsters themselves drop almost nothing.

Abyss monsters in PoE 3.29 appear to be affected by an extreme negative loot multiplier. Even in a heavily enhanced T16.5 map (with over 200% item quantity bonus, nearly 200% item rarity bonus, high pack size, and additional currency drop multiplier), the drops on the ground are minimal after activating Abyss Scarab of Crystals and spawning hundreds of magic monsters. 

When a high-investment map spawns hordes of monsters yet fails to yield even a basic crafting currency item like an Orb of Alteration, it indicates that the issue isn't merely about low drop rates or poor quality; rather, there is a fundamental flaw in the drop mechanics, one that simple adjustments to chest rewards cannot fix.

A Regression in Loot Drop Patterns

This phenomenon has reignited strong community dissatisfaction regarding the balance between rewards from specific locations or chests versus rewards from killing monsters.

In fact, back in PoE 3.28, many players had already expressed strong discontent with the status quo where the vast majority of valuable loot was locked inside static chests rather than dropping dynamically from slain monsters. If everyone is simply farming POE currency through treasure hunting, what is the point of putting in the effort to level up characters, optimize builds, and conquer endgame bosses?

Fortunately, the developers recognized this flaw at the time and took proactive measures in Patch 3.28 to restore the base drop rates of orbs from ordinary monsters.

However, they have failed to carry this approach over to Curse of the Allflame league; while Patch 3.29.1 buffs Abyssal chests, it keeps the monster drop multiplier at zero, a worrying regression.

This forces players back into a rigid spot-based farming style: slaughtering waves of monsters yields no substantial rewards, while all valuable loot is strictly gated behind the moment one clicks a chest at the end of an encounter. This disconnect undermines the core satisfaction of boss-like challenges, as defeating large numbers of dangerous enemies ought to be the primary means of obtaining rewards.

Conclusion

Ultimately, while Path of Exile Patch 3.29.1 introduces some quality-of-life improvements and enhancements to the mercenary mechanics, it fails to deliver a satisfactory experience regarding Abyss gameplay loop. 

Clearly, the developers have ignored the core issue of Abyss monster drop rates, opting instead to fall back on a reliance on chest rewards in an attempt to mask the problem, thereby rendering a potentially compelling mechanic fundamentally flawed and unrewarding, much to the disappointment of players who enjoyed the original, fluid gameplay experience of Abyss.

Unless the developers open up channels of communication and directly address the issue of base monster drop rates, Abyss content will remain a missed opportunity, leaving players with little incentive to engage with a feature that was intended to be a highlight of the expansion.

Have you noticed that a new in-game jewel called Reclaimed Malignance was released alongside Path of Exile 3.29? This amazing jewel doesn't affect your Passive Skill Tree; instead, it directly alters your Ascendancy passives, preventing you from running out of mana during high-damage output.

Acquisition and Crafting

To obtain Reclaimed Malignance in PoE 3.29, players can't rely on in-game drops. You must first collect four smaller Abyss jewels: Baleful Dominion, Destructive Aspiration, Festering Vengeance, and Extinguishing Grasp.

Sacrifice these four jewels on an altar to craft Reclaimed Malignance.

Many players are already using this jewel, but its high price reflects its effectiveness.

Below, we'll explain how to use Reclaimed Malignance and why it's so useful.

Ascendancy Notable Replacement Mechanism

The biggest difference between Reclaimed Malignance and regular Timeless Jewel is that while regular Timeless Jewels affect core Keystones within a certain range on Passive Skill Tree, this one is different.

After inserting a Reclaimed Malignance into a jewel slot, the core Keystones on Passive Skill Tree remain unchanged.

For example, if you already have Eternal Youth keystone passive skill selected, it won't change at all.

However, if you open Ascendancy panel, you'll find that one of Ascendancy Notables has been replaced. Reclaimed Malignance directly affects your Ascendancy Notable, not Passive Skill Tree.

Available Replacement Options

In Patch 3.29, depending on the jewel's seed number and your class, Reclaimed Malignance will replace one of four Ascendancy Notables with one of the following: Sanguine Bargain, Spiteful Allies, Ephemeral Bolts, or From Below.

Ephemeral Bolts are quite interesting; they limit the maximum flight distance of your projectiles to five meters, stopping once it reaches that distance.

Skills like Fireball or Kinetic Blast, which explode upon stopping, essentially create a wall in front of your character, unleashing a burst of shotgun damage with considerable burst potential.

However, the skill most worthy of our attention is From Below, as it holds immense potential in Path of Exile.

From Below Mechanism and Application

This Ascendancy passive skill allows you to cast spells even when you don't have enough Mana, without getting stuck, but at the cost of completely preventing Mana Regeneration.

Your first reaction might be that this is awkward: without Mana, your character is doomed. But the brilliance of From Below lies in the fact that since you can cast spells even with insufficient Mana, you can simply use all your Mana to activate auras, allowing you to spam spells without saving Mana, maximizing the use of this mechanic.

Another advantage is that all map affixes related to Reduced Recovery are completely irrelevant to you, since there's no Mana Regeneration to begin with. Therefore, any affix won't affect your map selection, making it very easy.

Additionally, From Below can be used in conjunction with Righteous Fire of Arcane Devotion to replace Righteous Fire.

The regular Righteous Fire adds 39% more Spell Damage, but this version adds 25% More Cast Speed, which can reach 27% with higher quality.

Previously, Righteous Fire of Arcane Devotion would continuously consume Mana, but now even Mana is empty, so whether it consumes Mana or not makes no difference - it's like getting a huge amount of free Cast Speed.

Higher Cast Speed ​​not only increases damage output but also significantly speeds up teleportation skills like Frost Blink, greatly improving your map movement in PoE 3.29.

Furthermore, players no longer need to agonize over whether to choose Eldritch Battery + Mind Over Matter strategy, saving many points and eliminating concerns about Energy Shield-related affixes.

Even more practically, if you're using Headhunter, with a large amount of Soul Eater buffs boosting Cast Speed, your character's Mana would inevitably be insufficient.

But now that Reclaimed Malignance has replaced From Below for you, you don't need to worry about it at all. You can keep casting skills no matter how many Soul Eater characters you stack.

Limitations of Reclaimed Malignance

However, besides the advantages mentioned above, this Reclaimed Malignance also has its inconveniences.

Only Effective for Spells

Firstly, it only works for spells; attack skills will still be blocked because of insufficient Mana. Therefore, players can basically no longer use Shield Charge and will mostly have to switch to Frostblink of Wintry Blast for movement.

Loss of Ascendancy Notable

Second, it occupies your only Timeless Jewel slot, preventing you from using other Timeless Jewels and sacrificing an Ascendancy Notable. While you retain small Passives, you lose class-specific traits, a significant cost.

Randomness of Replacement

Another frustrating aspect of this jewel is that its effect depends not only on the seed number but also on your class.

You might get From Below on a Chieftain, but a completely different Ascendancy Notable on a Hierophant.

In other words, the same seed number might not produce the desired effect on a new character. Many players spend considerable PoE currency trying to reroll for their desired From Below and free Cast Speed, only to find it wasted when switching characters.

Practical Advice

To reclaim Reclaimed Malignance while simultaneously satisfying the correct Ascendancy Notable and the correct slot (without overwriting a crucial Ascendancy Notable you don't want to lose), you may need to spend more currency on rerolls early on.

Therefore, before a new character is fully developed in PoE, we can test the configuration with an older character to ensure everything works correctly before officially creating a new character, saving some trouble.

In short, this Reclaimed Malignance has a lot of room for development in Patch 3.29, especially in casting builds based on From Below. We should see many interesting builds emerge in the future.

Players, when you're meticulously planning your map and adjusting affixes in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0, have you noticed that this time is far longer than the actual time you spend on the map and fighting? The optimal gameplay everyone's chasing in endgames - finding suitable cities, stacking Deliriousness, and combining four tablets - seems to have gradually become repetitive labor.

Frankly, can we really derive enjoyment from PoE 2 endgames now?

The Preparation Phase is Tedious

Compared to the map's inherent appeal, the problems with Path of Exile 2 endgame gameplay seem to lie more in the pre-game preparation phase.

The tablet system, in particular, is incredibly tiring. Players constantly need to spend a significant amount of time managing tablet affixes and searching for suitable tablets to trade with, while also repeatedly searching for suitable city locations and modifiers in Atlas.

Furthermore, the search tools are limited, only allowing searches of visible areas and restricting bookmarks to 20, which falls far short of players' needs.

This results in players spending more time on tablets, trading, searching the map, and planning than actually fighting on it, leading to a significant imbalance in time allocation across PoE 2 content.

Profit Gap

The huge profit gap in endgames further exacerbates the players' predicament.

Based on player experiences, a single currency reward on a normal map is approximately 1 Divine, while a 200% Delirious map can yield a staggering 38 PoE 2 Divine Orbs!

This vast profit disparity forces many players, even those who find the preparation process tedious, to persevere for higher profits or to keep up with the game's economic pace.

While other gameplay options like Expedition exist, their efficiency is significantly lower than Delirious strategy, effectively limiting players' strategic choices.

Poor Map Design

Furthermore, many players have been tolerating the visual effects of PoE 2 endgame maps. Because the maps are so large, players have to spend a significant amount of time aimlessly running around in open areas, leaving very little time for meaningful combat.

Not only is the endgame map layout terrible, but the colors of the monsters and background terrain are also highly similar, making it feel like they are wearing natural camouflage during combat, which greatly affects the player experience, not to mention if Delirious effect is turned on.

Whether it's the clarity of combat or the ease of player control, the visually chaotic map design can, to put it bluntly, lead to player failure, wasting all their hard work and preparation.

Moreover, the core endgame mechanic, Towers, is actually quite disconnected from the overall game flow. If this isn't addressed, it will probably further damage the endgame experience.

Improvement Directions and Suggestions

To address the current issue of gameplay fatigue in PoE 2 endgames, the focus should definitely be on simplifying unnecessary and complex steps.

Many players believe that removing the mandatory requirement of four tablets is crucial for improving endgame gameplay. They argue that city terrain can be improved through other bonuses in Atlas Skill Tree, rather than relying solely on the benefits of four tablets.

Another important suggestion is to include key items like Grand Mirror in the currency exchange market, making them easily tradable like Breachstones or Ritual materials, thus reducing the time players spend trading and searching.

Based on the issues we mentioned earlier, another direction for game improvement is to optimize and modify the search tools and the maximum number of bookmarks, allowing players to truly devote more energy to endgame combat and character building.

Different Player Preferences

We need to recognize that everyone's gaming experience is highly subjective, so naturally, everyone will have different preferences.

Therefore, some players choose to ignore this strategy, continuing to farm at their own pace, or even enjoying the process of meticulous planning and pursuing maximum efficiency, viewing the complex preparation as part of the fun in PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0.

However, the third type of player - those forced to follow - deserves our most attention, because being forced to execute strategies is the biggest source of fatigue in endgame gameplay.

Game design can certainly require players to put in effort for substantial rewards, but this effort itself should be attractive - it could be researching builds, challenging powerful bosses, but not repeatedly searching maps, mechanically placing tablets, or wasting excessive time on trading.

When players find themselves spending far more time planning how to play PoE 2 than actually playing the game, and this planning process is tedious, lacking interaction and a sense of accomplishment, the game essentially becomes just repetitive labor.

Therefore, the core goal of optimizing PoE 2 endgame gameplay should not be to reduce the rewards of high-end farming, but rather to make the preparation and execution of strategies more engaging and enjoyable.

Unnecessary and tedious actions in the endgame should be prioritized for reduction, allowing players more freedom to choose their playstyle based on personal preference. Every step in a high-yield strategy should be enjoyable, not a heavy burden.

Are you the kind of player who would go to great lengths to achieve the optimal economic strategy in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 endgame?