In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put together theChaos Witch buildfor you to use to get into thelate-gameorend-gameof the game.Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount ofskillsandbuild possibilitiesavailable in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensiveskill treeand a multitude ofskill gems.
This guide is here to help you get through all that and lay out a path for you to follow as you reach the end of thecampaignand prepare for yourCruelplaythroughs orendgame.
Introduction
TheChaos Witchis aspell castingbuild that will allow us to shred our foes using the bones of fallen enemies.
This build is ahigh-risk, high-rewardoffensive build that will provide us with a highcritical hit chancefor ourspells, allowing us to take down our enemies quickly without much resistance—at the cost of ourlife points.
Starter Class
For this build, we will be starting with theWitch Class, which is one of the seven available for now.
On the expansiveskill tree, the Witch starts on thenorthern side.
This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related tospell damage,spell casting, andminions, which we will be taking advantage of to maximize our effectiveness with this build.
Passive Skill Tree
For this build, we will be focusing on making ourspellsmore powerful early on by going for the moreoffensive routeamong the two main paths available.
We will be taking the nodes that increase ourspell damagethrough theRaw Destructionnode.
Afterwards, we will take the three nodes that increase ourcast speedwith thePracticed Signsnode.
After these nodes, we will go up two paths—initially going for both theEntrophy, which increases ourchaos damagedealt while increasingskill effect duration, and all five nodes of the middle branch, including theCritical Overloadnode.
These nodes will increase ourspell damagealong with thecritical hit chancewhen using our spells.
TheCritical Overloadskill node increases our damage even further after acritical hit.
Following this, we will work our wayeasttowards passive skill branches that will increasechaos damageand enhance ourcurses.
The first branch we will come across will increase ourChaos damageand contains theLingering Horrorspell.
The passive nodes on this branch will also increase theeffect durationof our spells, in addition to the raw damage—magnifying the effectiveness of ourchaos-related spells.
The next branch of passive nodes will help ourcursesby increasing thearea of effect.
TheZone of Controlnode at the tip of the branch will also increase themagnitudeof the curse along with the area of effect.
Additionally, cursed enemies will behindered, reducing theirmovement speed.
Once we are done with these two branches, we will continuenorthalong thecentral axis, taking thegem slot.
From there, we will gowestfirst, going for a branch that will increase ourChaos damage.
This is the branch with theVoidnode, and these four nodes will increase ourchaos damageby a total of50%.
Following this, we will go for a branch on theother sideof the gem slot which will increase ourCurse Effect.
TheMaster of Hexesand corresponding nodes will increase themagnitudeof ourcursesat the cost of a25% reduction in duration, but this can be alleviated by the sister branch on the outer ring, which we will go for next.
This is the branch with theLinger Whispersnode, which will increase thedurationandmagnitudeof our curses.
The combination of all the passive nodes in this branch will increase the duration of our curses by100%, so investing in both branches results in anet positive of 75% curse duration.
After this, we will go for theChaos branchon the outer ring, for theDark Entriesnode.
This node increases thelevel of all Chaos spells by 1, and the minor nodes will further increase thedamageof our chaos spells.
Thesepassive skill nodesform thecoreof this build and should beprioritizedfor your playthrough. After these nodes, this build can scale well into theendgameby investing incritical chanceandcritical damagenodes, allowing us to deal massive damage with our spells.
Ascendancy
Regarding theAscendancyfor this build, we will be using theBlood Mageclass for the Witch.
The first node,Sanguimancy, addsbase life costin addition tomana costto our spells.
Additionally, this node grants us theLife Remnantsspell, which gives us a chance to spawn remnants upon killing or critically hitting an enemy. Picking up theLife Remnantsrecoverslife points, which canoverflow maximum life.
For this build, we take thewestern branchof the ascendancy—grabbing theGore SpikeandSunder the Fleshnodes.
Gore Spikeincreasescritical damagescaling with life points, andSunder the Fleshincreasesbase critical chanceof spells by15%.
We will also take theVitality Siphonnode, which allows our spells toleech life, aiding sustain.
Active Skill Setup
For ouractive spellsfor this build, we will be relying on ourChaos spellsand inflictingcursesto take out our enemies.
The first spell,Contagion, while targeting only a single target initially and dealingchaos damage over time, will spread to nearby enemies once the target is dead—contaminating the whole mob and expediting the elimination process.
Our second spell,Essence Drain, is ourmain damaging spellfor this build, and this fires off a projectile that dealschaos damage over timein addition to the initial damage. Combined withContagion, these spells are extremely effective at clearing out mobs of enemies.
The third spell is ourdefensive spell,Enfeeble.
This is acursethat will weaken any enemy that is caught within thesigilafter a short delay upon casting. This is especially great when fightingbossesbecause it will reduce thedamage they dealand lessen the chance of you beingone-shotted.
Next, we will be using a spell that targets thecorpses of our enemies, and this is theProfane Ritual.
Performing the ritual on a corpse creates aglyphthat will dealchaos damage over timeto any enemies within, and at the end of the ritual, the spell will provide us with apower charge. Thispower chargecan be used to amplify ourBonestorm, adding to the already high damage of the skill.
Our next spell is anoffensive debuffspell that will increase ourdamage dealtwith ourchaos spellseven further by reducing thechaos resistance.
Despairis anothercurse spell, and this spell will strip away thechaos resistanceof any enemy caught with thecurse glyph, making them more susceptible to damage.
Afterwards, we will use theDark Effigyspell with this build.
This spell will put down atotemthat will fire projectiles towards enemies afflicted bychaos damage over time, dealing additionalchaos damage.
Lastly, we will be using theHexblastspell for our build, and this spell will detonate acurseon the enemy, dealing hugechaos damage.
This spell works together withEnfeebleandDespair, as you can detonate them subsequently, dealing massive amounts of damage.
Spirit Gems
For ourspirit gems, we will be using theConvalescencespirit gem.
This will enable the use of the skill toimmediately begin recovering our shield without interruption, adding anotherrecoverabilityoption in addition tohealthandmana, helping with oursurvivability.
Another spirit gem that greatly helps with this build is theArctic Armourgem.
This skill gives us anicy barrierthat will dealcold damageto anymelee attacks, giving us an additional layer oficy protectionand lessening the chance of us being taken out quickly.
Support Gems
For oursupport gems, we will be focusing onamplifyingourchaos spellsandcursestomaximize our damage output.
Regarding theContagionskill, we will use theProfanityandSwitch Afflictionsupport gems.
TheProfanitysupport gem will make it so that the skill willconsume a corpse if possiblewhile increasing thechaos damagedealt by the skill.
TheSwitch Afflictionsupport gem willshorten the durationof thedamage over timewhile alsoincreasing the damage dealt, making it so that you will deal more damage in a shorter duration.
For ourEssence Drainskill, we will be using theChainsupport gem and thePersistencesupport gem.
TheChainsupport gem will allow our spell tochain to additional targets, dealing more damage over time.
ThePersistencesupport gem willincrease the durationof ourdamage over timeinflicted by ourEssence Drain.
With ourEnfeeble curse skill, we will be using theHeightened Cursesupport gem and theImpending Doomsupport gem.
TheHeightened Cursewill increase themagnitude of the weaknessinflicted by our curse, increasing thedamage reduction.
TheImpending Doomsupport gem will allow us to deal additional damage with the curse because it willcause the glyph to explode, dealingchaos damageequal to15% of your current mana.
With ourDespairskill, we will be using theDecaying Hexsupport gem and theClaritysupport gem.
TheDecaying Hexgem will allow us toinflict damagewith ourDespair cursein addition tobreaking the armor, and theClaritysupport gem will allow us toreplenish our manawhen laying down the curse.
For ourProfane Ritual, we will be using theMagnified EffectandProfusionsupport gems.
TheMagnified Effectsupport gem willincrease the size of the curse by 30%, and theProfusionsupport gem will give us a50% chance to gain an additional power charge, which we will be using with theBonestormskill.
With ourDark Effigy, we will be using theOverabundancesupport gem andWithering Touchsupport gem.
TheOverabundancegem will allow us toput down two effigies, and theWithering Touchsupport gem will enable ourtotemsto inflict theWithered ailment, which will increase thechaos damage taken.
For our last active spell,Hexblast, we will slot in theConcentrated Effectand theZenithsupport gems.
While theConcentrated Effectsupport gem willdecrease the area of effectof our blast, it willincrease the area damage by 30%. TheZenithsupport gem will alsoincrease the damageof our blast by anadditional 30%whenever we havemore than 90% of our maximum mana.
Regarding ourspirit skills, we will be using thePersistencegem andEnergy Barrierfor ourConvalescenceskill.
This willincrease the durationof the buff, and theEnergy Barrierwill make it so that if you getstunnedwhile using the skill, it willadd to the rechargingof theEnergy Barrier, making it a soliddefensive ability.
For ourArctic Armor, we will be using theCold Infusionand theGlaciationsupport gems toincrease the ice damagewe deal and thefreeze build-upwhenever we dealice damagewith ourArctic Armorcharges shattering.
Gears and Equipment
For this build, we will be using theWand and Focusgears in ourweapon slots, benefitting from passives from two pieces of equipment. From the various types ofwands, we will be using theWithered Wand,as it enables us to use theChaos Boltspell.
This spell will give us anadditional source of chaos damagethat can be used to dealdirect chaos damage. Although this build doesnot require any Unique gearto function and work well, it will benefit from having theWicked Quill, which will greatlyboost your damage output. The build will also benefit from gear having buffs forspell damageandchaos damage.
Leveling Guide
The build canlevel reliablyby usingContagionandEssence Drainto quickly take care of mobs. Placing downtotemsafter inflicting them withContagionwill greatlyhasten the process of mappingand will help you dealconsistent damageagainst bosses.
While leveling up, it is important to remember to put in at least2–3 attribute nodesforDexterityandStrength, enabling us to use moresupport gemscorresponding to those attributes.
Mapping and Bossing
This build is efficient at bothmappingandbossing, and its performance is greatly enhanced by utilizing thedifferent types of cursesavailable to you.
When fightingbosses, it will help with yoursurvivabilitytoEnfeeblethe boss toreduce their damage, and theDespaircurse willprime the bossfor yourChaos spellsandHexblastto deal even more damage.
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Remembering theboss’s attack patternsanddodging appropriatelywill also help, as you will not be able totank through the damagewith this build—especially since yourhealth will also be drainingas you repeatedly use your spells.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scaling is enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseMovement Speed,Cast Speed,Critical Damage, andCritical Chance.
The build has great options to scale by investing into eitherpure spell damageandcritical chanceor a moredefensive routeby investing inEnergy ShieldandMana nodesafter getting thecore nodeson thepassive skill tree.
This build has the ability to perform well inSSFandHardcore, thanks to itshigh damage outputusingChaos damage.
It will be on theharder side, and you may struggle if you are planning to use this build for yourvery first character and playthrough.
You do need to becareful and efficientwith yourdodgesandpositioning, as the build hasfewer hit pointscompared to other builds since we will be using both ourlife poolandmana poolwhen casting our spells.
So, this wraps up my article for theChaos Witch build guideforPath of Exile 2. I hope you found this guide helpful, and if you have any suggestions or tips, feel free to leave them in the comment section.
