Overview
Lowepe’s pick for the Path of Exile 2 0.5 league launch is a Spell Totem Infernalist built around the patch’s reworked totem keystone. With 0.5, Ancestral Bond’s spell-totem variant no longer demands Power, Endurance or Frenzy Charges to summon a totem and no longer carries a mana cost — only the 75 spirit per totem remains. That removes the entire charge-conversion juggling act 0.4 totem players had to run (Power Charge gloves into Endurance Charge swaps, dodging the Shock penalty, etc.) and turns Spell Totem into a clean, button-light setup that any league starter can fold into a Witch shell from level 1.
The plan is to level the way Witches have always leveled — Essence Drain, Contagion and Bonestorm through Act 1 — then pivot the clearing half of the kit onto Spark on Spell Totems in Act 2, dropping ED/Contagion and rerouting the tree through the Elemental and Skill Effect Duration cluster. Spark is singled out as the only totem-friendly spell that actually does both jobs at once: screen-filling clear from bouncing projectiles plus enough single-target to take down bosses. Bonestorm stays in the bar for tough fights, and the player keeps a self-cast skill in rotation — Arc, Flame Wall, Frost Bomb, plus a curse — so you are never just standing still waiting for totems to do the work.
The endgame angle is what pushes the pick onto Infernalist rather than Shaman or Oracle. Reserving 25% life via an Infernalist node lets the belt count you as Low Life, which unlocks Pain Attunement next to Ancestral Bond, the Executioner support gem (30% more damage to Low Life enemies, 60% if you are also Low Life), and the increased-cast-speed-while-Low-Life cluster. Infernalist also gives you the strongest early mana stack in the game, which feeds Arc Mage scaling — and because totems do all the casting, the normal Arc Mage tax (paying mana every cast) just disappears. Top it off with Infernalist’s 50% more critical damage bonus node and the build scales hard into pinnacle content without ever taking the ‘crit hurts you’ fire-recoil downside.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Patch 0.5 removes charges and mana costs from Spell Totem, so the kit is the cleanest it has ever been for a starter.
- Witch + Essence Drain / Contagion / Bonestorm leveling is a known quantity — comfortable, forgiving, and the creator’s long-time default through Act 1.
- Spark on totems is both clear and single-target, so you do not need a second skill setup for bosses.
- Strong endgame ceiling via Arc Mage, mana stacking, Low Life + Pain Attunement, and Infernalist’s crit damage bonus.
- Spirit-friendly: two totems are essentially handed to you by campaign spirit rewards plus one sceptre.
Cons
- Not a speedrunner setup — damage in the campaign is solid but not blow-the-doors-off, by the creator’s own admission.
- Three to four buttons in rotation (totem, self-cast spell, curse, occasional Bonestorm) — more piano than a one-button starter.
- The full Low Life / Arc Mage / crit-scaling endgame requires a real respec and several keystones; it is a destination, not a day-one state.
- Plan was still being tested at the time of recording, so specific gem links and tree paths will shift over the first days of the league.
Key Skills
- Spark (Spell Totem) — main clear and single-target, two totems running at all times once spirit is online.
- Bonestorm — leveling damage and a boss-fight panic button kept through the early acts.
- Essence Drain + Contagion — Act 1 clear, retired once Spark Totems come online.
- Arc / Flame Wall / Frost Bomb + Curse — self-cast supporting layer so the player has something to do between totem placements.
- Arc Mage (endgame) — mana-stacked self-cast that powers the totems via Spell Totem of Battery / Arc Mage interaction without burning your mana pool.
Gear & Anointments
Leveling gear is the standard Witch starter pool — sceptre for extra spirit, ES chest, anything with spell damage and cast speed. The keystone hardware kicks in once you pivot into the endgame:
- A reservation belt that flips you to Low Life once you have reserved 25% via the Infernalist mana/spirit nodes — required for Pain Attunement and the Executioner support gem.
- Executioner support on the totem link for 30% more damage to Low Life enemies (60% while self-Low-Life).
- Eldritch Battery to feed ES into the mana pool that Arc Mage scales off.
- A unique jewel that enables a second Spell Totem setup is referenced but flagged as mirror-tier in standard at recording — assume it is aspirational, not required.
Specific uniques, jewels and ascendancy node order to be confirmed against the source video as the creator iterates on the plan during the first days of the league.
Endgame Notes
The Infernalist endgame stacks four things on top of the totem chassis: Mind over Matter via the Mana Nodes cluster, Arc Mage as a free damage multiplier (mana stack doubles as a defensive pool), Low Life keystones (Pain Attunement, Executioner, Low Life cast speed), and the Infernalist ascendancy’s 50% more critical damage bonus for the final scaling lap. Because the player themselves does not crit-hit enemies — the totems do — the usual Infernalist downside of taking 15% of max life and ES as fire damage on your own crits never triggers. T15+ mapping and pinnacle bossing are the explicit endgame targets; pure speedrun mapping is not.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Lowepe. See the source video for the full build’s gameplay footage and voice commentary: Spell Totems ohne Charges?! Mein Infernalist League Starter für PoE 2 0.5.