Come Choose The Best Equipment And Skill For Witch In Path Of Exile 2 Early Access!
Path of Exile 2, a sequel that players have been waiting for a long time, has made great changes to most of the classes in the original game, including Witch. As the outstanding single-player exploration class in POE 2 Early Access, it mainly relies on its minions to deal with continuous damage and curses. In addition, as you continue to deepen the game content, Witch will also benefit from the new dodgeball mechanic, making it more mobile.
Thanks to the power of this class itself, choosing some suitable items for its construction is a top priority in the game. So this guide will give you a specific introduction to Witch build based on the 3 aspects of the game’s regular construction that are most concerned about: equipment, skill gems, and passive skill.
Best Equipment
Although POE 2 has made all classes more flexible, the characteristics of each class are still very distinct. For example, Witch needs to use enough energy shields and a large maximum health value to ensure a stable output of damage. It is important to note that the items you have in the early game are not high-level, so before you get into some difficult challenges or battles, you can use POE 2 Regal Orb to upgrade them and add a new affix to make them more effective.
Energy shields are a new type of health in the current game. You can think of it as an auxiliary health bar with a super fast recharge speed, which is used to prevent the real health from being too damaged. So when choosing equipment for the Witch build, you can focus on those POE 2 Items with energy shields or that can enhance them, such as some robes, sandals, or lighter equipment.
For the weapons used by Witch, the specific type will depend entirely on your play style, which is very free. But here is a suggestion for you that Scepters may be a must-have weapon as the only way to summon minions. You can also remove this weapon according to your needs, but your build will be missing some core.
At the same time, you can also use Wands and Scepters together, so that your build will be more aggressive. If you are an Exile who focuses on defensive capabilities, you can also use Scepters and various lighter or more concentrated shields, which will greatly enhance the mana and energy shields of this Class.
Best Skill Gems
Since the release of POE 2 Early Access, there are two main Witch builds that players prefer: Burning Minions and Chaos Damage. We also look forward to more interesting and powerful Witch builds in subsequent official versions. For Burning Minions build, the skill gems you can choose for it are Skeleton Arsonists, Pain Offering, Flame Wall, Flammability, and Detonate Dead.
Among them, Flammability can quickly reduce the resistance of enemies in the target area to fire damage, which makes Skeleton Arsonists and Flame Wall more likely to cause more damage to the enemy. At the same time, Pain Offering will rapidly increase the number of minions around the enemy, especially when used on Skeleton Warriors summoned by Scepters. The effect will be more obvious. Detonate Dead is a skill that makes earning your POE 2 Currency bonus simple, as it detonates all the corpses of your remaining minions and deals with explosion damage to enemies.
Since there are so many fire resistance shreds in Burning Minions build, you can make this build’s elemental damage stronger and have no worries. Simple fire skills like Solar Orb or Fireball can be used to increase damage, and the damage output of the minions will not be reduced.
Although Chaos Damage’s damage capacity has been reduced a bit in the sequel, it still remains one of the best Witch builds. However, using this as your main damage type will have a negative impact on Witch’s damage over time. Fortunately, you can make up for this with some properties in Contagion, Profane Ritual, Despair, and Dark Effigy.
Contagion is a very simple spell in POE 2 that causes enemies to suffer some light damage over time. However, if an enemy dies in the process, the damage carried by Contagion will be spread to nearby enemies at a higher capacity until all enemies are gone. And Profane Ritual will also turn those dead enemies into circles that can deal Chaos Damage to other enemies over time, so that Dark Effigy, as a turret or totem that can be placed at will, will make it easier to target all enemies that are debuffed by Chaos Damage.
When you reach the late game content of POE 2, you can continue to develop your Chaos Damage build around Despair curse, as it will greatly reduce the enemy’s resistance to this damage type, indirectly making those continuous damage more effective. Or you can use all the above skills with Essence Drain, which can have an initial impact and continuous damage, which will make your build more deterrent.
Best Passive Skills
While the skill tree in POE 2 is very large and complex, the skill tree path used by Witch is relatively simple. For builds that focus on minions, especially Burning Minions just introduced, you need to focus on getting more minion damage, health, critical hit attributes, elemental resistance, attack speed, and resurrection speed from passive skills. This way, your minions will have very strong natural forces and can clear most enemies in battle without you having to do it yourself.
For builds that need to cause Chaos Damage, the path to unlock and upgrade passive skill points will no longer be fixed, because at this time, all attributes except physical damage in the Witch build need to be further enhanced to promote the overall development of the build. Here you can focus on the two attributes of Chaos Damage and status duration gain. But in this build, you also need to pay attention to your minions. You can increase their resistance and health, so that your pressure as a rear commander will also be reduced.
The above are the equipment and some skills selected for the Witch build in POE 2. I hope you can use them to make this powerful class easier and smoother in your single-player exploration. I wish you have fun in this brand new sequel, and look forward to the appearance of the subsequent official of POE 2!
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Path of Exile 2 is currently in patch 0.3.0, Rise of the Abyssal League, which is now in its third month. The current league will end in a few weeks. After it ends, player characters and items will be migrated to the Standard or Hardcore early access league without any data erasure.
If PoE 2 follows a four-month release schedule, patch 0.4.0 is expected to arrive in early December. An official livestream and the exact release date for this patch will be announced soon. According to leaked information, patch 0.4.0 will include a new class.
Predicted Release Date For Patch 0.4.0
Based on the four-month release cycle of PoE 1 and the fact that Rise of the Abyssal League launched at the end of August, it is speculated that PoE 2 patch 0.4.0 will be released soon. Considering the development team’s Christmas break, they typically don’t release new patches right before the holidays, so patch 0.4.0 should arrive in the first half of December.
The next league’s launch event is usually held the week before the current league ends, and the likely date is December 6th, which also marks the one-year anniversary of PoE 2. The official release of patch 0.4 is expected around December 13th. It’s anticipated that full patch notes for 0.4.0 will be revealed in the last week of November.
Of course, the development team might also announce a delay due to unfinished content, releasing it after Christmas holidays in January 2026.
Possible New Content
ToTA Mechanics
ToTA (Trial of the Ancestors) mechanic was originally planned for patch 0.3.0 but wasn’t completed, so patch 0.4.0 is almost certain to introduce it. It will be a full gameplay mechanic, not a small seasonal feature, and may be tied to Ascendancy Class system.
Delve
Delve is one of Game Director Jonathan’s favorite mechanics. The related content was already present in the patch 0.3.0, which is Isle of Kin.
Since tablets in PoE 2 now function similarly to scarabs in PoE 1, introducing a mechanic like Delve - which consumes PoE 2 currency to enter - is a logical next step. Delve is also a nearly infinite long-term mode that can sustain player engagement, making it an ideal feature for a Christmas season release.
Breach Rework
Breach received a major rework in PoE 3.27, and the outcome was well-received. PoE 1 currently acts somewhat like a beta realm for PoE 2, so the developers may rework systems in PoE 1 to refine them before porting them into PoE 2. Therefore, Breach is very likely to receive a rework in patch 0.4.0.
New Classes
Patch 0.4.0 will likely introduce new classes, as patch 0.3.0 made very few updates to classes and ascendancies. To deliver a strong seasonal update impact during Christmas, the official team is expected to release at least one new class. While nothing is confirmed yet, several possibilities exist.
Druid
Druids were mentioned alongside Huntresses in patch 0.2.0, suggesting that development on the class may already be complete. Therefore, seeing a Druid class in patch 0.4.0 seems logical. However, Druids are inherently complex, with form-shifting mechanics that may conflict with certain design systems, so delays are possible.
Templar
If Delve is added, PoE 2 will need more tank-oriented classes capable of enduring sustained damage. Warrior and its ascendancies alone may not be enough. Therefore, introducing Templar class alongside Delve is a strong possibility.
With the introduction of new classes comes a wave of new skill gems, support gems, and possibly new weapon types.
These new skills will not be restricted to the new classes; all classes can use them, which will inevitably impact existing builds and the broader meta. Some balance changes are expected, potentially affecting overperforming builds such as Lightning Arrow Deadeye.
Predicted Content
Atlas Endgame Overhaul
Patch 0.3.0 added more unique maps, further refined Atlas Tree, and removed the requirement to use Towers, completely changing how players cultivate the map.
These changes lower the reward ceiling for top-tier players on maps, but simultaneously raise the reward floor for average players, making farming smoother for less hardcore players.
Patch 0.4.0 is likely to include a major overhaul of the endgame. Since patch 0.3.0 already adjusted towers and tablets, this may be a prelude to even larger changes.
If currency-intensive mechanics like Delve are added, the existing Atlas passive skill tree may require adjustments. Additionally, there are signs that the team favors certain PoE 1 endgame philosophies. They may keep the large otherworldly maps of PoE 2 but rework how they operate, improving tower interactivity to make gameplay more engaging and reduce the current tendency toward mindless grinding.
New Acts
If patch 0.4.0 already includes large systems like Delve and ToTA, the team may not have enough development bandwidth to finish Acts 5 and 6. These may instead be introduced next year in patch 0.5 or 0.6.
Players can remain optimistic about PoE 2 Patch 0.4.0, as Patch 0.3.0, by adjusting the pace between PoE 1 and early PoE 2 versions, has brought significant improvements in player numbers, playtime, and player satisfaction. Therefore, future updates to Path of Exile 2 will continue to move towards hyper blast fun.
Path of Exile 3.27 has been running for over two weeks, and many players have moved beyond the early campaign phase and are focusing on mapping.
At this point, players typically need builds that offer high survivability and fast map-clearing speed to improve farming efficiency. Below are 10 of the strongest builds currently available.
1. Kinetic Blast Wander Build
Kinetic Blast Wander build theoretically boasts over 20 million DPS, making it an extremely powerful build, though it's highly likely to be nerfed in the next patch. This build primarily utilizes Bloodline node, Farewell to Flesh, and the new skill gem Kinetic Blast.
Kinetic Blast is a ranged projectile skill that explodes into multiple additional explosions upon hit, all of which hit a single enemy.
Farewell to Flesh node amplifies the damage of each Herald skill as long as mana is preserved. Combined with Herald of Thunder and Herald of Ice, it achieves nearly 90% mana preservation. This build also boasts a permanent 24% shell, elemental immunity, and energy shield over-life drain, making it exceptionally survivable.
Early on, place Herald gem in Honourhome helmet, focusing on stacking power and elemental focus. Use Essence Worm Unset Ring for double scaling. Later, stack Herald effects with Tattoos, Cluster jewels, and Corruptions to ensure the buffs are self-circulating.
2. Earthshatter Berserker Build
Earthshatter Berserker is a classic power-based build, excelling in Hardcore SSF and the trade league. It's fast, brutal, and surprisingly tanky.
During the campaign, you can focus on crafting physical weapons, using PoE currency appropriately to ensure your magical or rare weapons have suitable affixes. During the farming phase, you can acquire an axe through gambling, then stack life, resistances, and movement speed on rare items.
While farming, you need to constantly use Blood Rage to maintain exerted attacks and destroy everything in its path. This build is very easy to gear up, allowing for high damage even on the first day of your league journey.
3. Archmage Hierophant Build
This build requires a transfigured version of Frostbolt, making Frostbolt have no cooldown and heavily reliant on cast speed scaling, and its gameplay is similar to a spell-based Flicker Strike.
By unleashing Frostbolts to fill the screen, you can instantly destroy hordes of monsters, while simultaneously adding overlapping explosions with Vortex of Projection. You no longer need to manually cast Vortex, and it's automatically triggered by the projectiles, allowing you to maintain movement and safety. After acquiring Echoing Shrine, it transforms into a spell-based Gatling gun.
4. Venom Gyre Deadeye Build
Venom Gyre Deadeye build scales damage and defense directly from Dexterity. Each point of Dexterity translates into Speed, Poison Power, and Evasion.
Early on, you can use Cobra Lash for a smooth upgrade path, switching to Venom Gyre later in the game. This build blends melee and projectile gameplay, excelling in content like Legion, Breach, Blight, and Strongboxes thanks to its high-resolution map speed and mobility.
5. Energy Blade Inquisitor Build
Energy Blade is a hybrid build that converts the energy shield into pure lightning damage, and it can enhance almost any spell. Initially, you only need a small number of Divine Orbs. Later, their powerful AOE capabilities provide substantial rewards, and you can use them as a base to develop various playstyles.
6. Penance Brand Of Dissipation Build
This build primarily involves placing brands to attach to enemies, accumulating energy, and then exploding them into pulse waves.
Mind Over Matter and Eldritch Battery can absorb damage using mana. The energy shield is used as mana, making this build incredibly tanky when fully charged.
In boss fights, timing and control are crucial. The explosion deals the most damage when the brand reaches maximum energy.
7. Cyclone Hollow Palm Gladiator Build
This build utilizes the signature Cyclone skill, but forgoes weapons. Every drop of its damage and defense comes from Dexterity, which simultaneously increases damage, attack speed, and evasion.
You can pair it with Devoto's Devotion helmet for increased attack speed, and Purity of Elements for elemental resistance, making your character almost impossible to hit. Gladiator Ascendancy also provides block and damage reduction, which, combined with potion effects and Ralakesh's Impatience boots, allows for even faster attack speed, making it one of the fastest map-clearing builds in the game.
8. Animate Weapon Of Ranged Arms Necromance Build
This classic summoner build is reborn with the new support ability Bladefall of Trarthus. The new ability eliminates the need to manually cast it every few seconds to generate weapons; it now continuously generates blades, perfectly maintaining the duration of Animate Weapon.
This build is more powerful, more resilient, and more flexible. It's viable in hardcore mode, capable of pinnacle bosses, and requires only simple gem switching between farming and boss fights. The primary damage comes from Animate Weapon itself, supplemented by Spectres, Animate Guardian, and Despair.
9. Poisonous Concoction Of Bouncing Build
This is the most beginner-friendly build and performs exceptionally well in the current version. It's fast, deadly, and has extremely low gear requirements, making it virtually immune to bad luck. Because its damage relies entirely on the character's health, potions, and skill gem levels, players don't even need a weapon. Simply stack health, resistances, and dodge on your gear to achieve this. Pathfinder provides permanent flask effects, a huge amount of movement speed, and powerful poison sustain.
10. Flicker Strike Frost Blades Champion Build
Flicker Strike is undoubtedly one of the most iconic and chaotic skills in Path of Exile, and in version 3.27, it returns faster, stronger, and more insane.
The fun of this build lies in its extreme speed and chaos. You can teleport infinitely between enemies, sometimes even your screen can't keep up with your movements. The rework of Champion Ascendancy further enhances this.
That concludes these PoE build recommendations. Hopefully, this will help you find a more fun and easier build.
It's been almost two weeks since Path of Exile 3.27, but most players should already have a general understanding of the league. The official event is Keepers of the Flame Uber Boss Kill event.
The event challenges players to defeat Uber Incarnation of Dread in designated matches, rewarding the first to succeed with prizes including a gaming laptop.
Date
The event lasts for one week, starting this Thursday:
- Start Time: November 13, 2025, 1 PM PST or November 13, 2025, 3 PM CST.
- End Time: November 20, 2025, 1 PM PST or November 20, 2025, 3 PM CST.
How To Participate?
To participate in this event, several conditions must be met:
- Your character must be on HC SSF. This is to prevent you from receiving help from other players (console players can participate through Softcore Self-Founded Server).
- Account sharing or similar activities are prohibited; otherwise, you will be disqualified.
- Players who participated in Alpha test server, as well as former and current employees of the official team, are not eligible for rewards.
This event is open to all players. The event panel will appear on the character selection screen 30 minutes before the event starts. Click Join to participate. Your character cannot move before the event starts. The official team also stated that if the event encounters technical issues, such as server instability, the team will launch a new league and restart the event.
Console players may not be able to receive the first-place physical prize, which is only available to PC players. However, console players can still claim other virtual item rewards.
Rewards
The first player to kill Uber Incarnation of Dread will receive a grand prize, while the top five players will each receive a microtransaction bundle. All players who participate in this event and reach level 50 during the event period will receive a Third Edict Mystery Box. Final rankings will be determined by the official team.
First Place Reward
The first place winner will receive an official Alienware 16X Aurora Gaming Laptop, with the following specifications:
- Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 275HX, 24 cores
- Windows 11 Home
- NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5070
- 64 GB DDR5
- 2 TB SSD
- 16” Non-Touch QHD+
Top Five Rewards
Each of the top five players will receive one of the following microtransaction bundles:
- Celestial Warlord Armour Pack
- Celestial Warlord Back Attachment
- Divergence Weapon Effect
- Celestial Emperor Finisher Effect
- Breach Hedron Portal
- Midnight Pact Character Effect
- Harmony Footprints Effect
- Tumbling Exalted Orb Pet
Level 50 Reward
Players who reach level 50 will receive a Third Edict Mystery Box, with a chance to obtain the following item:
- Charge Skin Variations (3 variations)
- Dodge Roll Effect Variations (2 variations)
- Fractured Dreamer Helmet Variations (2 variations)
- Fractured Dreamer Body Armour Variations (2 variations)
- Fractured Dreamer Gloves Variations (2 variations)
- Fractured Dreamer Boots Variations (2 variations)
- Fractured Dreamer Alternate Helmet Variations (2 variations)
- Fractured Dreamer Back Attachment Variations (2 variations)
- Fracturing Character Effect Variations (3 variations)
- Fractured Dreamer Weapon Skin Variations (2 variations)
- Goblin Shaman Helmet Variations (2 variations)
- Goblin Shaman Body Armour Variations (2 variations)
- Goblin Shaman Gloves Variations (2 variations)
- Goblin Shaman Boots Variations (2 variations)
- Goblin Shaman Back Attachment Variations (2 variations)
- Goblin Shaman Weapon Skin Variations (2 variations)
- Goblin Shaman Skin Variations (2 variations)
- Giant Sphynx Pet Variations (5 variations)
- Shifting Portal Effect Variations (2 variations)
- The Forgemaster's Map Device
- Molten Portal Effect
- Explosion Level-up Effect Variations (3 variations)
- Rhoa Mount Variations (2 variations)
- Well Hideout Decoration Variations (2 variations)
- Doryani's Rare Finisher Effect Variations (4 variations)
How Can Regular Players Obtain Rewards?
Although this event will last for 7 days, the prizes are clearly designed for players with time and skill, such as Ben, Alex, Jung, Exil, etc. However, Third Edict Mystery Box rewards are also quite good for regular players. The question is how to safely and quickly level up to 50 in HC SSF.
In Hardcore SSF, you cannot buy PoE Currency or trade items with other , and your character is deleted upon death. Therefore, to reach level 50, survivability is paramount, followed by damage and leveling. Ideal builds maintain sufficient damage output while also possessing some AoE capabilities, allowing for quick monster clearing.
Melee Slam Builds
These builds utilize Slam-type skills for wide-area, high-damage attacks. Juggernaut is highly recommended due to its extremely high defensive capabilities, making it suitable for Hardcore Fighting (HCSF) progression.
It enhances survivability through Endurance Charge and additional elemental and physical damage reduction. You can complete all content and Tier 17 maps with only 5-link gear.
Alternatively, you can choose Slayer or Berserker, but their defense is not as high as Juggernaut's.
Wand Builds
Wand builds utilize Wands for attacks, primarily launching Projectiles. The wands in PoE 3.27 are incredibly powerful, especially with the new skill Somatic Shell and developer demos focusing on projectile attacks and wands. Three new wands have also been added this league. The damage and upgrade speed of wand builds are undeniable.
Kinetic Blast of Clustering Hierophant and Kinetic Rain Elementalist or Hierophant are also very powerful wand builds, but their survivability is lower than melee Slam builds, requiring a certain level of skill.
Mines builds
Mines builds can use mines to trigger abilities, creating large-area AOE explosions. In the current league, it's recommended to pair them with Exsanguinate and Reap. This proved effective in the previous league and doesn't have high gear requirements.
As for Ascendancy class, you can choose Trickster and Elementalist, although Trickster has been nerfed in this league.
If you're unsure which specific build to play, you can first check the performance of HCSSF ladder builds from the previous league to confirm their viability before choosing trap builds.
That concludes the overview of POE 3.27 Uber Boss Kill Event. We hope you achieve your desired ranking and win the grand prize.
The current Keepers of the Flame league in PoE is interesting because it not only adds several new mechanics, but its core mechanic, Breaches, is essentially a reset and echo of the permanent gameplay and the past Breach league.
Besides the new Breaches, which are worth experiencing, some permanent gameplay has been updated through 3.27 league, offering a better experience and a large amount of loot. Among these gameplay, Blights is quite important.
So why does Blights remain valuable among the many new gameplay elements, and how can you farm it in the new league to obtain currency and various items? We will explain.
Blights Mechanism Overview
Blights are essentially a tower defense encounter that generates through Fungal Growths in any map area. Generally, the probability of triggering it on non-unique maps is at least 8%.
In addition, you can also unlock Blight encounters by transferring other normal maps from using the modifiers. Blights on these special maps are larger, allowing you to earn more rewards by killing more enemies.
Compared to most Path of Exile encounters or events, Blights are easier to complete and trigger, and more importantly, offer a wider variety and greater quantity of rewards. Therefore, trading Blighted maps is very popular.
When Blights appear, they are represented in-game as fungi. The important NPC Sister Cassia will then place a purification pump on these fungi, causing them to randomly grow roots in various directions.
As the roots extend, you'll find a portal at the end of each root, from which enemies spawn and converge towards the center of the fungus. The number of roots that can spawn depends on the map tier you're in when Blights are triggered, with a maximum of 8 roots.
Your task is to build defensive towers on each root to prevent enemies from entering the fungus's core. Sometimes, certain roots may spawn even more enemies or special Blight bosses.
Furthermore, the enemies on different roots have different resistances, requiring you to build defensive towers based on their characteristics. The resources for building these towers are obtained by completing other game tasks or defeating Blight enemies.
Once an enemy breaches the defensive tower and reaches the core, the durability of the purification pump placed by Cassia will decrease until it disappears. While enemies will stop spawning, this also means your Blight challenge has failed.
However, if you successfully defend against and defeat all the enemies on the roots, a reward chest will spawn at the portal at the end of the root. Even if you fail, a portion of the reward will be retained, preventing you from returning completely empty-handed.
Changes To Blights In 3.27 League
While the main Blight mechanics weren't changed in 3.27 league updates, the experience was improved through several details.
Firstly, now when you open a chest, other chests within a 1.5-meter radius will automatically open, and their items will be automatically collected into your inventory, eliminating the hassle of walking between roots to collect items.
Secondly, the boss summoned by Blight Scarab of Blooming will no longer bring additional monsters, thus appropriately reducing the difficulty of completing Blight encounters and making it easier to earn rewards.
How To Choose Passive Nodes, Scarabs, And Maps?
Keepers League has updated the entire Atlas tree, so to more effectively clear Blights, you need to change your passive tree setup.
To this end, you should prioritize unlocking nodes in both small and large passive nodes that increase the spawn rate of Tier 1-15 maps, thereby increasing the chance of triggering Blight encounters by generating many maps.
An additional node to mention is Singular Focus, which will cause more regular maps to be converted into Favored maps instead of Blight versions, so you should avoid it.
Furthermore, you need to unlock nodes that increase the number or type of Scarabs dropped when killing enemies on the map, thus providing more enhancements to your Blight maps and increasing their farming value. Available Scarab nodes include:
- Amplified Artifacts and Remarkable Relics
- Scarab of Bosses
- Strongbox Scarabs
- Scarab of Fortifications
- Amplified Artifacts and Remarkable Relics
- Scarab Nodes for Specific Mechanics
Based on this, besides the already mentioned optimized Blight Scarab of Blooming, another recommended Scarab is Blight Scarab of Invigoration, which increases the difficulty and loot rewards of all Blight enemies within its effect range.
Since triggering Blights randomly during exploration is too random, converting existing maps is a better way to farm them efficiently. Therefore, we recommend prioritizing converting Toxic Sewer map.
Which Eldritch Altar Should You Choose?
You might find this altar on the map after defeating specific enemies. There are two types: the red Searing Exarch Altar and the blue Eater of Worlds Altar, each applying different buffs to your Blight map.
The red altar increases your chances of obtaining different types of currency, while the blue altar increases the quantity and rarity of your drops.
In 3.27 league, both blue and red altars are viable for Blight maps; the final choice depends on your desired effect: blue altars offer higher overall value and are better suited for upgrades, while red altars require less investment.
Tower Building Strategy
In the current league, Atlas passive skill Templar Ingenuity allows you to build all types of Blight towers and upgrade them to the highest level.
We recommend building one of each type of tower to diversify their attributes and ensure you can defend against a wider variety of enemy types.
These are the tips for continuing to farm loot using the classic Blight farming mechanic in Keepers of the Flame league. We hope this helps you progress through the league!
