In thisPath of Exile 2article, we will be taking a look at how to put together theBlood Witch buildfor you to use to get into the late-game or endgame of the game.
Path of Exilehas become notorious for the sheer amount of skills and build possibilities available in the game, and the sequel follows suit with an extensive skill tree and multitude of skill 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 yourCruel playthroughsorendgame.
Introduction
TheBlood Witchis aspellcasting buildthat will allow us to shred our foes using the bones of the fallen enemies.
This build is a high-risk, high-reward offensive build that will provide us with a highcritical hit chancefor our spells, 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 expansive skill tree, the Witch will start on thenorthern side.
This side of the skill tree consists mainly of passives related tospell damage,spellcasting, 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 our spells more powerful early on by going for the more offensive route among the two main paths available. We will be taking the nodes that increase ourspell damageand going through theRaw Destructionnode.
Afterwards, we will be taking the three nodes that increase ourcast speedwith thePracticed Signsnode.
After these nodes, we will be going up two paths, initially going for both theJagged Shards, which increases ourphysical damagedealt using our bone spells, and all five nodes of the middle branch including theCritical Overloadnode.
These nodes will increase our spell damage along with thecritical hit chancewhen using our spells, with theCritical Overloadskill node increasing our damage even further after acritical hit.
Following this, we will take a node in thecentral north axisand then go for the branch of passive skills that will increase ourspell damage.
This is the branch with thePotent Incantationspassive skill node, and taking all four of these nodes will give us a60% increase in spell damage.
Afterwards, we will work our way west from theJagged Shardsbranch and continue along thenorthwestern axial branchof the passive skill tree, taking only theattribute nodes.
We will be choosing at least 3Strength attributesfor our passive nodes, as this will allow us options to use more of theStrength-based support gemswith our spells, as well as increasing ourmax health. As we progress along the axial branch, we will take a short detour by veering south to go for a small branch that will increase thecast speedof our spells.
This four-node branch includes theErraticismpassive node at the end, which will increase ourspellcasting speedby16%if our spellscritically hit, with a10% reduction in Critical Chance.
While the reduction might feel like a huge trade-off, it can be alleviated by investing in other nodes.
Once we’re done with this branch, we will continue outward along the axis where we get agem slot, and then we will invest in thephysical damage branchopposite.
This skill group has8 nodesin total, and putting our points in all of them will give us increases inphysical damage, increase the chance we’ll inflictBleedwith our spells, and also increase thecritical chancewith ourbone spells.
After this branch, we will be going for a similar group of passive skill nodes and go for the group with theCut to the Bonenode.
This node and the corresponding nodes of the branch give us the ability tobreak armorusing ourbone spells, while also increasing thephysical damageandBleeding chance, contributing to our overall damage output.
Thesepassive skill nodesform thecoreof this build and should be prioritized when putting this build together for your playthrough. After these nodes, this build has the potential toscale well into the endgameby investing incritical chanceandcritical damagenodes, allowing us to dealmassive amounts of damagewith our spells.
Ascendancy Class
Regarding theAscendancyfor this build, we will be using theBlood Mageclass for the Witch. The very first node available for the class,Sanguimancy, will addbase life costin addition tomana costto our spells.
Additionally, this node will also give us theLife Remnantsspell, which gives us a chance to spawn remnants uponkilling an enemyorcritically hittingan enemy. Picking up theLife Remnantswillrecover life points, which canoverflowthemaximum life.
For this build, we will be taking thewestern branchof the Ascendancy by taking theGore SpikeandSunder the Fleshnodes.
Gore Spikewill increase thecritical damagescaling with ourlife points, andSunder the Fleshwill increase thebase critical chance of spellsby15%. We will also be taking theBetween the Cracksnode, which will allow ourcritical hitstoignore the Monster’s armor, boosting ourdamageeven further.
Active Skills Setup
For our skills, we will be prioritizingspells that deal mainly physical damage, and these are ourbone spells.
The first spell available to the Witch and our main mapping tool is theUnearthskill.
This skill will send outspikes of bonesthat dealphysical damagein acone areain front and is great for dealing with groups of enemies.
The skill will alsospawn bone constructsas it passes through the corpses, adding to thedamage outputwhile also letting the constructs shield you from damage, acting as both anoffensive and defensive tool.
The second spell,Contagion, while not being aphysical damage spell, helps us greatly when clearing out mobs.
Although the spell targets only asingle targetinitially, dealingchaos damage over time, it willspreadto nearby enemies once the target is dead, contaminating the whole mob and expediting the elimination process.
The third spell is our defensive spell, calledBone Cage.
This spell will allow us to surround ourselves with acage of bonesthat willentrap and immobilizeany enemy that touches them, pinning them in place while also dealing damage.
This is a great spell to use forpreventing yourself from getting surroundedby mobs and is great atpinninganddealing additional damage against bosses.
Another defensive spell we will be using isEnfeeble.
This is acursethat will weaken any enemy caught within thesigilafter a short delay upon casting.
This is especially great when fighting bosses because it willreduce the damage they deal, lessening the chance of beingone-shotted.
The next skill is our mainhigh-damaging toolagainst bosses—Bonestorm.
This is aChannelling spellthat allows us to conjuremultiple bone projectilesthatexplode on impact, and a fully channeledBonestormcan take away chunks of the boss’s health and causemassive stun build-up.
Most bosses will quickly go down after a couple of hits from fully channeledBonestormstrikes, making this a very good tool forboss fights.
Our next spell is anoffensive debuff spellthat will increase ourdamage dealtwithBonestormeven further byremoving enemy armor.
Vulnerabilityis anothercurse spell, and it will strip away thearmorof any enemy caught in thecurse glyph, making them more susceptible todamage.
Lastly, we will use a spell that targetsenemy corpses—Profane Ritual.
Performing the ritual on a corpse creates aglyphthat dealschaos damage over timeto any enemies within. At the end of the ritual, the spell will provide us with aPower Charge, which can be used toamplify Bonestorm, adding to its already high damage.
Spirit Gems
For ourspirit gems, we will be using theConvalescencespirit gem.
This will enable the use of the skill to immediately begin recovering our shield without interruption, adding another recoverability option in addition to health and mana, helping with our survivability.
Another spirit gem that greatly helps with this build is theArctic Armourgem
. This skill gives us an icy barrier that will deal cold damage to any melee attacks, giving us an additional layer of icy protection, lessening the chance of us being taken out quickly.
Support Gems
For oursupport gems, we will be focusing on amplifying both our offensive and defensive options to fully round out the build and lessen the risk of burning out from our internal flame.
With ourUnearthskill, we will be slotting in theControlled DestructionandLaceratesupport gems.
TheControlled Destructionwill increase the damage of the skill by 25% but will take away the ability of the spell to critically hit. Although this may feel like a huge trade-off, since the spell is not our main high-damage skill, the flat increase in damage is more helpful in clearing mobs.
TheLaceratesupport gem will also allow us to bleed our enemies using the Unearth skill, which will be amplified by our passive skill nodes.
Regarding theContagionskill, we will use theProfanityandSwitch Afflictionsupport gems.
TheProfanitysupport gem will make it so that the skill will consume a corpse if possible while increasing the chaos damage dealt by the skill.
TheSwitch Afflictionsupport gem will shorten the duration of the damage over time while also increasing the damage dealt, making it so that you will deal more damage in a shorter duration.
For ourBone Cageskill, we will be using theExpansesupport gem and theLockdownsupport gem.
TheExpansesupport gem will increase the area of effect of our cage by 50% at the cost of an additional 8 seconds cooldown time.
This is useful as we will mainly be using the Bone Cage defensively and we will not need to repeatedly use the skill.
TheLockdownsupport gem will increase the pin build-up of our skill, making it easier to crowd control using the Bone Cage.
With ourEnfeeblecurse skill, we will be using theHeightened Cursesupport gem and theImpending Doomsupport gem.
TheHeightened Cursewill increase the magnitude of the weakness inflicted by our curse, increasing the damage reduction.
TheImpending Doomsupport gem will allow us to deal additional damage with the curse because it will cause the glyph to explode, dealing chaos damage equal to 15% of your current mana.
For our high-damage offensive skill, theBone Storm, we will be using theBrutalityandBurgeonsupport gems.
Brutalityincreases the physical damage of the skill by 25% andBurgeoncan increase the damage output of the channelling skill by up to 40% depending on the time spent channeling.
These two gems really help increase the damage output of the already high-damage skill, making it the best tool to use when going up against bosses.
With ourVulnerabilityskill, we will be using theDecaying Hexsupport gem and theClaritysupport gem.
TheDecaying Hexgem will allow us to inflict damage with our Vulnerability curse in addition to breaking the armor, and theClaritysupport gem will allow us to replenish our mana when laying down the curse.
For ourProfane Ritual, we will be using theMagnified EffectandProfusionsupport gems.
TheMagnified Effectsupport gem will increase the size of the curse by 30% and theProfusionsupport gem will give us a 50% chance to gain an additional power charge, which we will be using with the Bonestorm skill.
Regarding ourspirit skills, we will be using thePersistencegem andEnergy Barrierfor ourConvalescenceskill.
ThePersistencegem will increase the duration of the buff and theEnergy Barrierwill make it so that if you get stunned while using the skill, it will add to the recharging of the energy barrier, making it a solid defensive ability.
For ourArctic Armor, we will be using theCold Infusionand theGlaciationsupport gems to increase the ice damage we deal and the freeze build-up whenever we deal ice damage with our Arctic Armor charges shattering.
Gear and Equipment
This build does not rely onUniquesto function and can perform well with good gear of“rare”quality. Ourspear skillswill benefit from increasedphysical damage, and if the gear hasleeching propertiesof eitherlifeormana, it will greatly help with our sustain.
For ourshield, the build will greatly benefit from those with high basearmor value, with properties that increase the armor value even further,scaling damagegreatly as well.
While not Unique-dependent, usingTyranny’s Gripwill greatly increase yourdamage output, especially early in the game, and will greatly help as you progress through thecampaign, at the cost of losing access toranged attackssuch asSpear ThrowandExplosive Spear.
Leveling Guide
The build levels smoothly by using theShield ChargeandResounding Shieldskills, followed by finishing off the mobs withRakeandBloodhunt.
This combo will allow you to go through most of the mobs without pressure during your playthrough, as long as you don’t put yourself into a corner and get surrounded by an overwhelming number.
As you level up, you can either start investing intoarea attack nodesfor more damage or start working towardsthorn nodesto add to yourpassive damagewhile giving you additionaldefense. One important thing to note when leveling is that it is a requirement to chooseDexterityfor yourattribute nodesin order to meet the requirement for thespear weaponand the corresponding skills at the higher levels.
Mapping and Bossing
Although this build performs well in bothbossingandmapping, dealing with bosses can take getting used to, as the playstyle is different from other more traditionalwarrior builds.
Path of Exile 2 Shield Spear Warrior Build
In this article, we’ll be taking a look at how to put together The Smashing Titan Build for getting into the endgame
You will need to time your skills more carefully between the bosses’ attacks andblockthe incoming attacks to regain yourresources, while whittling down the boss’s health using thebleedfrom thespear.
The build performs surprisingly well inmapping, as you can basicallyShield ChargeandSlamacross the map without any big trouble.
Endgame Scaling and Optimization
Endgame scaling is enhanced throughcluster jewelsthat increaseArmor Value,Area of Attack,Attack Speed, andAttack Damage. The build has great options to scale by investing into eitherWarcries,Rage, orAttack Speed nodes, and benefits fromhigh-Strength gearto further boostLifeandMelee Damage.
This build performs well inSSFandHardcore, thanks to its high damage and high survivability due to the higharmor value. It is not reliant on expensive uniques and offers a balance betweensafety,damage, andstrategic gameplay.
So, this wraps up my guide for theShield Spear Warrior buildforPath 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.
