Witches can specialise into one of these three Ascendancy classes: Occultist, Elementalist, Necromancer.
The Witch is Path of Exile's pure intelligence class, making her an unmatched master of the elemental and dark arts. She wields the power of raw magic to decimate her foes from a distance. Her tremendous will surrounds her with a shimmering barrier against physical and magical attacks, a barrier that must first be pierced before the Witch herself is vulnerable. In addition to pure damage-based magic, the Witch can also cripple and kill her enemies with curses and diseases. She is a leery friend, and a dangerous enemy.
| Classes | Occultist | Elementalist | Necromancer |
|---|---|---|---|
| Skills Build |
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The Occultist is an Ascendancy class for Witches. It is a Witch class that specializes in cold and chaos damage over time (DoT) effects as well as curses, with a minor affinity for both energy shield and power charges. The class is capable of reliably generating said Power Charges without needing to trigger on-kill effects, using Forbidden Power. Malediction and Profane Bloom are a great boon to builds that utilize curses in any form, though to bring out their full potential you would ideally combine them with other sources of non-chaos damage. Withering Presence and Frigid Wake, the two specialized damage over time nodes behind Void Beacon, amplify the power of chaos and cold damage over time respectively.
| Name | Category | Skill Tree |
|---|---|---|
| Energy Shield, Curse Effect |
Basic | 6% increased maximum Energy Shield 5% increased Effect of your Curses |
| Energy Shield, Cold and Chaos Damage |
Basic | 6% increased maximum Energy Shield 10% increased Chaos Damage 10% increased Cold Damage |
| Energy Shield, Power Charge Duration |
Basic | 6% increased maximum Energy Shield 15% increased Power Charge Duration |
| Energy Shield, Energy Shield Recharge Rate |
Basic | 6% increased maximum Energy Shield 15% increased Energy Shield Recharge Rate |
| Profane Bloom |
Notable | Cursed Enemies you or your Minions Kill have a 40% chance to Explode, dealing a quarter of their maximum Life as Chaos Damage Your Hexes can affect Hexproof Enemies |
| Malediction |
Notable | You can apply an additional Curse 15% increased Effect of your Curses Enemies you Curse have Malediction |
| Vile Bastion |
Notable | Regenerate 2% of Energy Shield per second for each Enemy you or your Minions have Killed Recently, up to 10% per second Cannot Be Stunned while you have Energy Shield Regenerate 40 Energy Shield per second |
| Void Beacon |
Notable | Nearby Enemies have -20% to Chaos Resistance Nearby Enemies have 100% reduced Life Regeneration rate Nearby Enemies have -20% to Cold Resistance |
| Forbidden Power |
Notable | +1 to Maximum Power Charges 6% increased Area of Effect per Power Charge 6% increased Damage per Power Charge Gain a Power Charge after Spending a total of 200 Mana |
| Energy Shield, Chaos Damage |
Basic | 6% increased maximum Energy Shield 10% increased Chaos Damage |
| Energy Shield, Cold Damage |
Basic | 6% increased maximum Energy Shield 10% increased Cold Damage |
| Withering Presence |
Notable | 15% more Chaos Damage +60% to Chaos Resistance Every second, inflict Withered on nearby Enemies for 15 seconds Nearby Hindered Enemies deal 15% reduced Damage over Time |
| Frigid Wake |
Notable | 15% more Cold Damage Cannot be Chilled Cannot be Frozen Every 4 seconds, Freeze nearby Chilled Non-Unique Enemies for 0.6 seconds Every 4 seconds, 33% chance to Freeze nearby Chilled Unique Enemies for 0.6 seconds Nearby Chilled Enemies deal 10% reduced Damage with Hits |
The Elementalist is an Ascendancy class for Witches. It deals in all things elemental. They can enhance the power of elemental ailments to be more powerful, even against bosses, and make them compatible with other damage types. They also have access to Mastermind of Discord to make elemental Exposure more powerful, Heart of Destruction to gain powerful conditional offensive bonuses, and Bastion of Elements to ward off against elemental damage. Finally, Elementalists have access to golem-related skills, which not only enhance their survivability, but also give bigger enhancements to your own character the more golems you have active.
| Name | Category | Skill Tree |
|---|---|---|
| Elemental Damage, Attack and Cast Speed |
Basic | 10% increased Elemental Damage 4% increased Attack and Cast Speed |
| Elemental Damage and Resistances |
Basic | 10% increased Elemental Damage +6% to all Elemental Resistances |
| Liege of the Primordial |
Notable | Summoned Golems are Resummoned 4 seconds after being Killed +1 to maximum number of Summoned Golems 100% increased Effect of Buffs granted by your Golems |
| Mastermind of Discord |
Notable | Exposure you inflict applies an extra -25% to the affected Resistance Regenerate 1% of Mana per second if you've inflicted Exposure Recently |
| Heart of Destruction |
Notable | Gain Convergence when you Hit a Unique Enemy, no more than once every 8 seconds 60% increased Area of Effect while you don't have Convergence |
| Bastion of Elements |
Notable | Triggers Level 20 Primal Aegis when Allocated Primal Aegis can take 75 Elemental Damage per Allocated Notable Passive Skill Other Aegis Skills are Disabled Cannot take Reflected Elemental Damage |
| Elemancer |
Notable | +1 to maximum number of Summoned Golems Summoned Golems are Immune to Elemental Damage 25% increased Effect of Buffs granted by your Golems per Summoned Golem |
| Elemental Damage, Fire Damage over Time Multiplier |
Basic | 10% increased Elemental Damage +4% to Fire Damage over Time Multiplier |
| Elemental Damage, Lightning Ailment Effect |
Basic | 10% increased Elemental Damage 10% increased Effect of Lightning Ailments |
| Elemental Damage, Cold Ailment Effect |
Basic | 10% increased Elemental Damage 10% increased Effect of Cold Ailments |
| Shaper of Flames |
Notable | All Damage with Hits can Ignite Your Hits always Ignite 25% more Damage with Ignites you inflict with Hits for which the highest Damage Type is Fire |
| Shaper of Storms |
Notable | Your Hits always Shock All Damage with Hits can Shock 25% more Effect of Lightning Ailments you inflict with Hits if the highest Damage Type is Lightning Shocks from your Hits always increase Damage taken by at least 15% |
| Shaper of Winter |
Notable | All Damage with Hits can Chill 50% more Effect of Cold Ailments you inflict with Hits for which the highest Damage Type is Cold Chills from your Hits always reduce Action Speed by at least 15% Your Chills can reduce Action Speed by up to a maximum of 40% |
The Necromancer is an Ascendancy class for the Witch. It is an Ascendancy class themed around the dead and the undead. They are an excellent choice for minion-based builds, having access to minion-enhancing skills, as well as bonuses related to auras and Offering skills. They also have skills based around corpses, gaining powerful bonuses from spawning and consuming corpses, which makes them pair well with corpse-based skills like Unearth and Detonate Dead.
| Name | Category | Skills Tree |
|---|---|---|
| Minion Damage and Life |
Basic | Minions deal 10% increased Damage Minions have 10% increased maximum Life |
| Minion Damage, Skill Duration |
Basic | Minions deal 10% increased Damage 10% increased Skill Effect Duration |
| Minion Damage, Mana |
Basic | Minions deal 10% increased Damage 8% increased maximum Mana |
| Minion Damage, Aura Effect |
Basic | Minions deal 10% increased Damage 5% increased effect of Non-Curse Auras from your Skills |
| Mindless Aggression |
Notable | Minions deal 30% increased Damage Minions have 10% increased Attack Speed Minions have 10% increased Cast Speed Minions have 10% increased Movement Speed |
| Unnatural Strength |
Notable | +2 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems |
| Bone Barrier |
Notable | Grants Level 20 Bone Armour Skill 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction per Minion, up to 10% 2% increased Recovery Rate of Life and Energy Shield per Minion, up to 20% Minions have 20% more Maximum Life |
| Mistress of Sacrifice |
Notable | 40% increased Skill Effect Duration Your Offering Skills also affect you Your Offerings have 50% reduced Effect on you |
| Essence Glutton |
Notable | Regenerate 4% of Mana over 2 seconds when you Consume a corpse Regenerate 8% of Energy Shield over 2 seconds when you Consume a corpse For each nearby corpse, you and nearby Allies Regenerate 5 Mana per second, up to 50 per second For each nearby corpse, you and nearby Allies Regenerate 0.2% of Energy Shield per second, up to 2.0% per second |
| Commander of Darkness |
Notable | Auras from your Skills grant 3% increased Attack and Cast Speed to you and Allies You and nearby Allies have +30% to Elemental Resistances You and nearby Allies deal 30% increased Damage |
| Minion Damage, Cast Speed |
Basic | Minions deal 10% increased Damage 4% increased Cast Speed |
| Plaguebringer |
Notable | With at least one nearby corpse, nearby Enemies deal 10% reduced Damage With at least one nearby corpse, you and nearby Allies deal 10% more Damage If you've Consumed a corpse Recently, you and your Minions have 30% increased Area of Effect |
| Corpse Pact |
Notable | Corpses you Spawn have 50% increased Maximum Life Enemies near corpses you Spawned Recently are Chilled and Shocked 2% increased Attack and Cast Speed for each corpse Consumed Recently, up to a maximum of 200% |