[Top 10] Path of Exile Best Witch Builds

Updated:

28 Oct 2020

Greetings Exiles! Today is all about intelligence, energy shields, elements, minions, and bringing shear unforeseen terror to your foes. Want minions to do the work for you? Do you want the elements to burn, freeze, or shock your enemies? Maybe you’d like to suck the life force out of Sirus? Well then the Witch class is maybe what you are looking for.

We dive into the [Top 10] Path of Exile Best Witch Builds according to POE.ninja, everyone's best friend in the world of Path of Exile - or should be at least. So let’s get straight into it.

*Note that all gear, passive trees, and ascendancies are available in the provided links to POE.ninja.

10. Infernal Blow/Rain of Arrows Occultist

This is one of the more unique Witch builds on the list that utilizes both life and dexterity nodes on the passive tree. In this build, your two main sources of damage is Infernal Blow and Rain of Arrows.

What makes this build a little challenging is knowing that you will need to swap your weapon sets throughout fights to be efficient with your damage. This is because Infernal Blow is a melee attack and Rain of Arrows requires a bow.

Begin this build with a bow and Rain of Arrows until you level up enough to become tanky with the life nodes on the skill tree. Then at around lvl 30, you will need to start veering left on the skill tree towards the life nodes, pick up Infernal Blow, and you’ll be set.

Pros

+ Decent wave clear

+ Very Strong Single Target

+ Tanky for a Witch

Cons

- Difficult build

- Requires weapon swapping

Click here to see this Infernal Blow/Rain of Arrows Occultist build on POE.ninja.

9. Raise Zombie/Raise Spectre Necromancer

Yes...yes. Everyone’s favorite build on Path of Exile, Raise Zombie/Raise Spectre Necromancer. Raise your zombies from their graves to do the dirty work for you. They will slash and eat your foes with no regrets and will certainly die trying. Talk about ultimate dedication.

Raise Zombie and Raise Spectre will allow you to command an army of the dead, including enemies you’ve already killed. In this build in particular found on POE.ninja, this player used the strength portion of the tree to increase his life and armour wielding capabilities for a tankier approach. You would normally see this build with a plethora of energy shield points and even evasion.

Pros

+ Tanky Raise Zombie Build

+ Minions will take the hits and do the damage

+ Storm Brand use is also great to wave clear

Cons

- Utilizes a lot of the strength portion of the skill tree

- Gear should include most if not all of your resistances

Click here to see this Raise Zombie/Raise Spectre Necromancer build on POE.ninja.

8. Blade Vortex/Heralds Occultist

Next we have another unique and tricky Witch Occultist build that uses many Heralds and Blade Vortex.

While this build is tricky, it is very fun to play and excellent for boss killing as well as wave clearing. Thanks to the Occultist ascendancy, we scale very well defensively for builds that utilize skills like Blade Vortex. On top of that, this build in particular includes not one but four different Heralds such as Herald of Ash, Herald of Purity, Herald of Agony, and Herald of Ice.

Be sure to also get the Dash skill gem as it allows you to move quickly around your opponents as you still do damage with Blade Vortex.

Pros

+ Dedicated Boss Killer

+ Decent Wave Clear

+ Tanky with Occultist

Cons

- Tricky build and play style

- Late game build

- Jewel and Cluster Jewel Intensive

Click here to see this Blade Vortex/Heralds Occultist Build on POE.ninja.

7. Vortex/Cold Snap Occultist

Deal immense amounts of cold damage in front of you, in a trail behind you, and all around you with Vortex/Cold Snap Occultist.

This is a personal favorite cold damage build in Path of Exile that is a wave clearing and boss killing master. You also have the potential to gain over 14,000 energy shield points that will quickly recharge you back to 100% making you almost unkillable. Not much to say about this build other than if you like to freeze your enemies and smash them into a billion pieces, this is the build for you.

Pros

+ Very Strong DPS

+ Potentially Very High Energy Shield Points

+ Satisfying

Cons

- Gear contains most if not all resistances

- Requires unique flask usages that new players may not be used to

Click here to see this Vortex/Cold Snap Occultist Build on POE.ninja.

6. The Shocking Arc Elementalist

Using the skill gem Arc, electrocute your foes with ease with this Arc Elementalist build, a huge hit in Path of Exile. The Arc skill gem is your main squeeze.

The Arc Elementalist build is a pretty straightforward and strong early game build that doesn’t require too much planning in terms of your gems. Just make sure you find your support gems as well as the Heralds and you’re good to go. Since you also scale your lightning damage with crit, make sure to get the Precision aura skill gem as well. You’re basically a walking electric chair at this point, so have fun.

Pros

+ Great early game build

+ Very strong DPS

+ Decently Tanky

Cons

- Jewel and Cluster Jewel intensive

- Tricky flask usage for new players

Click here to see this Arc Elementalist Build on POE.ninja.

5. Animate Weapon Necromancer

Here is another interesting Necromancer build that doesn’t use the dead to fight for you. Instead, we capitalize on the skill gem Animate Weapon as our main source of damage.

Animate Weapon allows the player to summon melee weapons to fight for you. Tied with support gems like Multisrike, Melee Physical Damage, Brutality, etc, Animate Weapon is without a doubt a very high DPS, fast, and relentless ability that can take the place of zombies if you wish. With up to fourteen animated melee weapons, it can be a little confusing to tell what’s going on and is known to cause some lag. But if your computer can handle it, it’s very much worth it.

Pros

+ Strong wave clear

+ Strong single target

+ Can be tanky

Cons

- Can cause lag

- Flask usage can be tricky for new players

- Needs some sick jewels to obliterate late game

Click here to see this Animate Weapon Build on POE.ninja.

4. Barrage/Desecrate Necromancer

For some experienced players in Path of Exile, they are probably used to seeing Barrage on the ranger class using a bow. But it can also be utilized in the Witch class using a wand. This is the Barrage/Desecrate Necromancer build.

Barrage is an ability that allows the player to auto-attack in rapid succession while also producing multiple projectiles. Linked with support gems such as Culling Strike, Life Gain on Hit, and Faster Attacks, makes this ability a complete beast. You will also want to find the gem Desecrate as it summons up to ten corpses to fight for you. You are a necromancer after all.

Pros

+ Great wave clear

+ Great boss killer

+ Tanky

Cons

- Utilizes strength, intelligence, and dexterity nodes on the tree

- Expensive to get really strong

- Tricky flask usage for new players

Click here to see this Barrage/Desecrate Necromancer Build on POE.ninja.

3. Chaos Damage over Time Occultist

This build is arguably one of the strongest builds in the game right now. Utilizing skills such as Essence Drain and Bane, you suck the soul out of your enemies before they can even reach you.

While this playstyle won’t be for everyone, it is very strong for mapping. In terms of gameplay, use Despair and Bane on your enemies first acting as a fuse for that Essence Drain bomb. If this is your first time playing, it will be a struggle to get the gear you need early on to really feel the full power of Essence Drain.

Pros

+ BEST map clear from AoE Chaining

+ Kills stuff while moving

+ Essence Drain is strong Regen

Cons

- Not a braindead playstyle

- Hard to get good Gear early on (double 6-link)

Click here to see this Chaos DoT Occultist build on POE.ninja.

2. Kinetic Blast Elementalist

Completely blow up your enemies with this Kinetic Blast Elementalist build. With Kinetic Blast as your primary skill, your wand will fire projectiles that cause a series of mini explosions surrounding it’s point of contact. Very satisfying.

This build can be a little hectic while mapping as enemies surround you but great for destroying bosses as your single target DPS can be very strong. You will also have your Herald minions backing you up for support. Just make sure you are moving around a good bit as you aren’t too tanky. Linked with support gems like Damage on Full Life, Pierce, Elemental Damage with Attacks, etc, this build becomes very strong.

Pros

+ Destroy bosses

+ Satisfying

+ So strong

Cons

- Can be hectic while mapping

- Jewel and Cluster Jewel intensive

- Can be expensive to get good gear

Click here to see this Kinetic Blast Elementalist Build on POE.ninja.

1. Vaal Summon Skeletons Necromancer

Finally, we have the Vaal Summon Skeletons Necromancer build and you guessed it, skeletons are our best friend.

With Vaal Summon Skeletons as our main source of damage it is a complete bone fest. Yes, that may sound weird but true. Linked with support gems such as Minion Damage, Feeding Frenzy, Brutality, and Ruthless, your skeletons will completely obliterate your foes while they take all the damage. On top of Summon Skeletons, you can still use Raise Zombies as we discussed earlier to command an even larger army of darkness. Since 99% of your damage is your minions, you can dive deep into the strength portion of the skill tree to get as tanky as possible.

Pros

+ Feels good commanding your army of darkness

+ Easy playstyle, just move around and cast

+ Great DPS for mapping and bossing

+ Can utilize cheaper gear

Cons

- Spend skill points on passive tree wisely

Click here to see this Summon Skeleton Build on POE.ninja.

“They Were Right to Fear Me”

If built correctly, the Witch class is completely unstoppable. With the Witch’s versatility and intelligence based abilities, the world of Wraeclast is your oyster. Don’t be afraid to try out new things to decide which play style fits yours the best because your enemies will fear you even more. From tanky mage to being a commander of the dead, the possibilities are endless with the Witch.

We hope you enjoyed [Top 10] Path of Exile Best Witch Builds and that you learned something new about Path of Exile today. Note that it’s always best to further study these builds on websites such as PoEbuilds! Please don’t hesitate to ask us any questions about any of these builds and good luck on your new journey as the Witch.