Overview
The Witch is one of the most approachable campaign classes in Path of Exile 2 patch 0.5 when built around a strong minion foundation that lets your skeletons and the Infernalist’s demonic companion absorb hits while you deal damage from range. This full-campaign guide from Spud The King walks through every act of the game with timestamped routing, passive tree decisions, and skill transitions that keep the Witch ahead of the content throughout the lengthy four-act campaign.
The Infernalist ascendancy is the primary recommendation, transforming the Witch’s playstyle with fire-based enhancements and a powerful demonic companion. Blood Mage is an equally valid pick that trades the fire enhancement for life-based sustain mechanics. The guide confirms it also works for Lich and Abyssal Lich, which are new Witch ascendancies introduced in patch 0.5. The leveling approach uses core Witch skills — Raise Skeleton and Bone Curse — that function effectively across all four ascendancy choices, making this an excellent template before you commit.
Survivability is a highlight of this build: minions absorb the majority of enemy attention, and Bone Curse keeps dangerous enemies locked down before they reach you. The passive tree routing prioritizes minion life and damage early, then transitions to Witch-self damage passives at the Act 3 branching point the guide demonstrates in detail.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Minions act as a persistent meat shield, dramatically reducing hits taken throughout the campaign
- Bone Curse provides reliable crowd control against dangerous unique enemies
- Works for all four Witch ascendancies — flexible endgame decision
- Extremely forgiving on gear: life and resistances are the only requirements
Cons
- Minion-based builds depend on minion survivability, which can drop sharply on very high-damage boss phases
- Full campaign video is lengthy — use act timestamps to navigate to your current position
- Flasks require active management to keep minions healthy through Act 4 content
Key Skills
- Raise Skeleton — Core minion skill; summons skeleton warriors that tank and deal sustained physical damage
- Bone Curse — Curses a target to increase physical damage taken and reduce their resistances
- Raise Zombie — Secondary minion skill providing a larger meat-shield buffer in open-world zones
- Flammability — Fire curse that reduces enemy fire resistance; directly amplifies Infernalist fire bonuses
Gear & Anointments
Minion builds want minion damage on gear where available, but the build tolerates generic life and resistance gear throughout the entire campaign.
- Weapon: Wand or sceptre with cast speed, spell damage, or minion damage
- Offhand: Spirit shield for maximum spirit reservation to summon more skeletons
- Helmet / Chest / Gloves / Boots: Life and resistance pieces; minion life bonus a welcome suffix
- Amulet / Rings: Life, resistances, and spirit where possible
Leveling / Campaign Notes
The guide covers Acts 1–4 with timestamps: 0:30 Act 1, 52:00 Act 2, 1:55:00 Act 3, 2:53:00 Act 4, and 3:44:00 Interludes. Raise Skeleton is available from the Act 1 vendor and should be the first gem slotted. Add Bone Curse as soon as you hit a vendor that carries it — it immediately improves boss encounters. Raise Zombie supplements skeleton count early where spirit permits.
Credits & Source
Created by Spud The King.