Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2

Discover everything you need to know about the best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2 and what makes this build stronger.

Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2
Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2 (Source: Grinding Gear Games)

Path of Exile 2 has received an initial release on December 6, 2024. There are 12 distinct Classes, each granting its own uniqueness in the game. Unfortunately, the Classes in Path of Exile 2 are gender-locked, meaning you cannot choose the gender of a specific Class as it is predetermined. Selecting the best Blood Mage build is crucial early because gameplay depends on it. Explore the Blood Mage Build in Path of Exile 2 and see how he redefines gameplay! In this guide, we’ll discuss the Best Blood Mage Build in Path of Exile 2 including the best gear and passive skills to use.

Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2 Explored

The Blood Mage in Path of Exile 2 taps into Life energy to make sacrifices for incredible power. Blood Mages offer vast amounts of vitality and use spells with their own Life. They can deal massive damage and can withstand punishment as well. They focus on controlling Life energy to amplify spells and boost combat capabilities. However, it requires sacrificing portions of the character’s Life to cast powerful spells. We include skills like Punch, Spark, and Flame Wall in this Witch Blood Mage build to make your character stronger. Lupine Sceptre is your primary weapon in this build as it increases the skill level of minions in combat.

In this full overview of the setup, we will explain what skill gems and links you should focus on. Then as well, we’ll see what is the best gear and how to get it for both the leveling and midgame. And then finally we will go over the passive skill tree, stats, and your skill rotations, so we can get the highest damage possible, and much more.

Blood Mage Build ProsBlood Mage Build Cons
High Damage PotentialGear Dependent
Enhanced SurvivabilityVulnerability to DoT
Infinite Curse DurationRisky Playstyle
FlexibilityReduced Access to Energy Shield
Unique Resource Management 
Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2

Best Blood Mage skills and support gems in Path of Exile 2

Here are all the best active skills and Support Gems for the Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2.

  • Punch
  • Spark
    • Controlled Destruction (Support Gem)
    • Arcane Tempo (Support Gem)
  • Flame Wall
    • Fiery Death (Support Gem)
    • Searing Flame (Support Gem)
  • Frostbolt
    • Scattershot (Support Gem)
    • Acceleration (Support Gem)
  • Ice Nova
    • Considered Casting (Support Gem)
    • Glaciation (Support Gem)
  • Raging Spirit
    • Bullseye (Support Gem)
    • Feeding Frenzy (Support Gem)
    • Execute (Support Gem)
    • Minion Mastery (Support Gem)
    • Fire Mastery (Support Gem)
  • Skeletal Arsonist
    • Immolate (Support Gem)
    • Elemental Focus (Support Gem)
    • Fire Infusion (Support Gem)
    • Martial Tempo (Support Gem)
  • Flammability
    • Highlighted Curse (Support Gem)
    • Lifetap (Support Gem)
  • Shield Charge
    • Ingenuity (Support Gem)
    • Maim (Support Gem)
    • Unbreakable (Support Gem)

Punch

Perform an unarmed strike.

Spark

Spark Skill POE 2
Spark Skill POE 2

Launches a spray of sparking projectiles that travel erratically along the ground until they hit an enemy or expire.

  • Projectile duration is 2 seconds
  • Fires (6-13) projectiles
  • Deals (1-12) to (8-229) lightning damage
  • (1-19)% increased projectile speed

Additional Effects From Quality:

  • Fires (0-4) projectiles

Controlled Destruction (Support Gem)

Supports spells that hit enemies, boosting their damage but preventing them from dealing critical hits.

  • Supported skills cannot deal critical hits
  • Supported skills deal 30% more damage with hits and ailments

Arcane Tempo (Support Gem)

Supports spells, causing them to cast faster.

  • Supported skills have 25% more cast speed

Flame Wall

Flame Wall Skill
Flame Wall Skill

Create a wall of Fire in front at the character, which deals Burning damage t everything in its area. Enemies that touch the wall are also inflicted with a lingering Burning Debuff for a short duration. Any Projectiles fire through the wall by you and allies deal added Fire damage and inflict the lingering burn on hit.

  • Wall deals 4.2 Fire Damage oer second
  • Wall duratinn is 4.5 seconds
  • Lingering Ignite duration is 2 seconds
  • Lingering ignite deals 2.8 Fire Damage per second
  • Projectiles which pass through the wall deal 2 to 3 added Fire Damage

 Additional Effects From Quality:

  • Projectiles which pass through the wall have 0(0-10)% more effect of Ignite.

Fiery Death (Support Gem)

Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing enemies it ignites to have a chance to explode on death.

  • Enemies ignited by supported skills have 60% chance to explode on death

Searing Flame (Support Gem)

Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing inflicted ignites to deal more damage but its hits to deal less damage.

  • Supported sills deal 25% less damage with hits
  • 75% more magnitude of ignite inflicted with supported skills

Frostbolt

Frostbolt POE 2
Frostbolt POE 2

Fires a slow moving Piercing Projectile that leaves a wake of Chilled Ground, deals Cold damage and explodes on colliding with terrain.

  • Deals (5-135) to (7-203) Cold Damage
  • Projectiles Pierce all Targets
  • 100% increased Magnitude of Chill inflicted
  • Chilled Ground radius is 0.9 metres
  • Chilled Ground duration is 4 seconds
  • Explosion radius is 1.6 metres
  • Explosion deals (2-68) to (4-101) Cold Damage

Scattershot (Support Gem)

Supports projectile skills, making them fire extra projectiles. Also lowers and cast speed of supported skills, as well as lessening their damage.

  • Fires 2 additional projectiles
  • Supported skills deal 20% less damage
  • Supported skills have 20% less attacks and cast speed

Acceleration (Support Gem)

Supports projectile skills, making those projectiles travel faster.

  • Supported skills have 40% more projectile speed

Ice Nova

Ice Nova POE 2
Ice Nova POE 2

A nova of ice expands from you, Knocking Back enemies based on how close they are to you. Casting Ice Nova targeting near a Frostbolt Projectile will cause it to originate from the Frostbolt instead of you, and cause more Freeze buildup.

  • Deals (4–113) to (6–170) Cold Damage
  • 100% more Magnitude of Chill inflicted
  • Knock Enemies Back on Hit
  • Nova radius is 3.2 metres

Additional Effects From Quality:

  • (0–20)% more Damage with Hits against Enemies that are Chilled

Considered Casting (Support Gem)

Supports spell skills that hit enemies and you cast yourself, boosting damage at the cost of cast speed.

  • Supported spell skills have 15% less cast speed
  • Supported skills deal 40% more damage with spell hits

Glaciation (Support Gem)

Supports any skill hits enemies, making it more effective at freezing enemies.

  • Supported skills cause 50% more freeze buildup

Raging Spirits

Raging Spirits POE 2
Raging Spirits POE 2

While active, your fire spells will also summon Raging spirits, which are short-lived flaming skills that rush at nearby enemies and rapidly attack them. Enemies will not directly engage these minions and can pass through them.

  • Maximum spirits summoned per spell cast
  • +10 to maximum number of summoned Raging spirits
  • Fire area spells summon a spirit per 15 meters of radius projectiles from fire spells summon a spirit on hit
  • Minions from this skill convert 70% of physical damage to fire damage
  • Maximum (5-8) spirit summoned per spell cast

Bullseye (Support Gem)

Supports attacks, causing them to gain accuracy

  • Supported Skills have a 50% more accuracy rating

Feeding Frenzy (Support Gem)

Supports skills that create minions, making them deal and take more damage

  • Minions from Supported skills take 20% more damage
  • Minions from Supported skills deal 30% more damage

Execute (Support Gem)

Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing it to deal more damage against enemies on low health.

  • Supported skills deal 40% more damage with hits against enemies that are on Low Life

Minion Mastery (Support Gem)

Supports minion skills, granting them an additional level.

  • +1 to the level of Supported minion skills

Fire Mastery (Support Gem)

Supports fire skills, granting them an additional level.

  • +1 to the level of Supported fire skills

Skeletal Arsonist

Skeletal Arsonist POE 2
Skeletal Arsonist POE 2

Summons bomb-throwing, reviving Skeletal Arsonists that can detonate other minions on command.

Immolate (Support Gem)

Supports attacks, granting them extra fire damage against ignited enemies but making them unable to ignite enemies themselves.

  • Cannot inflict ignite
  • Supported attacks gain 30% of damage as extra fire damage against ignited enemies

Elemental Focus (Support Gem)

Supports any skill that hits enemies, causing it to deal more elemental damage but be unable to inflict elemental ailments.

  • Cannot inflict elemental ailments
  • 25% more elemental damage

Fire Infusion (Support Gem)

Supports attacks, causing them to gain fire damage but deal less cold and lightning damage

  • Attacks gain 25% of damage as extra fire damage
  • Supported attacks deal 50% less cold and lightning damage

Martial Tempo (Support Gem)

Supports attacks, causing them to attack faster

  • Supported Skills have 25% more attack speed

Flammability

Flammability POE 2
Flammability POE 2

Curses all targets in an area after a short delay, lowering their fire resistance.

  • +-30% to fire resistance
  • Curse applies after 1 second delay
  • +(-30+36) to fire resistance

Highlighted Curse (Support Gem)

Supports curse skills, magnifying their power.

  • 25% increased effect of your curses

Lifetap (Support Gem)

Supports any skill, turning a portion of its Mana cost into a Life cost, Does not support skills which reserve spirit.

  • Skill Mana costs converted to Life costs

Shield Charge

Sheild Charge POE 2
Sheild Charge POE 2

Channel to charge in the target direction. You will crash into enemies on your path, stopping your charge and dealing damage to enemies in an area, and extra damage to the enemies you collided with. While charging, your shield is raised and you will block all incoming blockable hits.

  • 2 to 3 added physical damage per 15 armour on Shield
  • 4 to 6 base Off hand physical damage
  • (2-4) to (3-6) added physical damage per 15 armour on Shield
  • (4-88) to (6-132) Base Off hand physical damage

Ingenuity (Support Gem)

Supports skills with cooldown, increasing the rate at which those cooldowns recover.

  • 30% increased cooldown recovery rate

Maim (Support Gem)

Supports attacks, causing them to Maim enemies.

  • Attacks always Maim on hit

Unbreakable (Support Gem)

Supports any skill that you can use, making you harder to Stun while using it.

  • 200% more Stun Threshold while using Supported skills

Best Blood Mage Stat Priorities

Witch Skill gems Path of Exile 2

Regular Stats

  • Dexterity
  • Strength
  • Intelligence

Intelligence is your primary stat as a Witch in Path of Exile 2 as it increases the core abilities. Strength and Dexterity are also crucial to varying degrees based on the build. Intelligence stats boost Energy Shield, Mana, and spell damage. Strength increases Life, and auras, and enables the use of gear or gems. Dexterity increases accuracy and evasion.

Defensive Stats

  • Energy Shield
  • Life
  • Fire, Cold, and Lightning Resistances
  • Movement Speed
  • Evasion
  • Mana Recovery

This Witch Blood Mage build depends on archetypes like spellcaster, summoner, and chaos damage dealer. As a Witch, you depend on Energy Shield for survivability along with other layers of defense. Fire, Cold, and Lightning Resistances are essential to survive elemental damage. Life adds extra survivability by stacking life rolls on gear. Invest points in boots with high movement speed. Armour can reduce physical hits effectively in combat. Evasion is effective for summoners or chaos builds. Stats like mana regeneration rate and modifiers mitigate the mana cost of spells.

Offensive Stats

  • Spell Damage
  • Cast Speed
  • Critical Strike Chance
  • Minion Damage
  • Minion Life

The Witch in Path of Exile 2 excels in a variety of damage types, including elemental damage, chaos damage, damage-over-time (DoT) effects, and minion-focused builds, like this one. Enhance the damage of your spells and reduce the time it takes to cast spells. Critical Strike Chance enhances the burst damage significantly. Boost the damage dealt by minions to keep your minion alive.

Best Blood Mage Passive Skills

Path of Exile 2 offers passive skill nodes that we recommend grabbing when you can because they’re highly effective. The Blood Mage has stronger early options for the passive skill, enhancing the initial survivability. However, if you want to min-max more, they are easily respec-ed. You will get a massive boost to attack power and rate without depending on flasks. Consider picking notable passives in the star-shaped cluster from your starting point.

  • Relentless- +10 to Strength. 15% increased armour. Regenerate 0.5% of Life per second. Your and nearby allies regenerate 0.5% of Life per second
  • Stormcharged- 20% increased critical hit chance. 40% increased elemental damage if you’ve dealt a critical hit already.
  • All Natural- 30% increased elemental damage. +5% to all elemental resistances.
  • Breaking Point- 30% increased magnitude of non-damaging ailments you inflict. 10% increased duration of elemental ailments on enemies.
  • Echoing Flame- 30% increased elemental damage if you’ve ignited an enemy recently.
  • Echoing Thunder- 30% increased elemental damage if you’ve shocked an enemy recently.
  • Necrotised Flesh- Minions have a 40% increased maximum Life. Minions have a 10% reduced Life Recovery rate
  • Restless Dead- Minions revive 25% faster
  • Lord of Horrors- Minions have a 12% reduced reservation
  • Life Regeneration- Regenerate 0.2% of Life per second. You and nearby allies regenerate 0.2% of Life per second

How Skill Tree is Set in POE2

For most new players, the passive skill tree is extremely daunting but actually, it’s quite simple. A character is granted one passive skill point every time they level up and are sometimes even granted more from completing certain quests. In extremely simple we have the intelligence section which focuses on spell damage, summoning, and elemental damage.

Next, we have the Dexterity section which is more focused on ranged combat, evasion, and speed. At the bottom left, we have the Strength section which is more melee and defense-oriented. Next, we’ve passive nodes and they are split into two categories. The small passives that grant minor bonuses such as a small increase in attack speed, spell damage, melee damage, or attributes.

Second, we’ve notable passives. These are larger passive points that grant greater bonuses than the smaller ones but they have stats on them that are often closely related to the small passives leading up to them. Think of these as checkpoints to work towards. On top of this, we have a third passive point but is not entirely compared to the two others. For the third one, we have the keystones which are build changing character defining that often provide a massive amount of power with a downside. However, these downsides can be reduced or worked towards.

Following a specific setup is extremely useful and understanding the passive skill tree can make or break your character. Investing more time in this specific section will definitely upgrade your knowledge of the game.

Best Blood Mage Gear

Gear in the Blood Mage build allows you to handle the tougher battle in Path of Exile 2. Armour reduces fire, lightning, and cold damage that you take in combat.

Gear SlotGearRequirementEffect
Main Hand WeaponLupine Sceptre12 level(61-65) increased spirit +5 to level of all minion skills
HelmetAdvanced Elite Greathelm59 level, 108 str.+(200-214) to maximum Life +5 to level of all minion skills
Body ArmourAdvanced Steel Plate55 level, 133 str.+(200-214) to a maximum Life +(57-51) to spirit
ShieldAdvanced Braced Tower Shield48 level, 88 str.+(200-214) to maximum Life
GlovesAdvanced Riveted Mitts45 level, 73 str.+(200-214) to maximum Life
BootsIron Greaves11 level, 20 str.+(200-214) to maximum Life 35% increased movement speed
Ring 1Advanced Riveted Mitts45 level, 73 str.+(200-214) to maximum Life
Ring 2Iron Greaves11 level, 20 str.+(200-214) to maximum Life 35% increased movement speed
AmuletAmber Amulet8 level+(10-15) to Strength +(150-174) to maximum Life Adds (12-19) to (22-32) physical damage to attacks +(36-40) to fire resistance  
Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2

How to Play Blood Mage in Path of Exile 2

Summon skills like Summon Zombies and Raise Skeletons to build your undead army. Essence Drain is used for early crowd control and damage over time. Increase minion health and damage by allocating skill points. While you learn the game mechanics, minions can carry you through the initial stages. Stay at a safe distance while your minions are handling the fights. Use the curse spells and ranged chaos to weaken enemies.

Use Support Gems to upgrade minions’ skills that enhance their damage output and survivability. You can summon more minions by investing additional in passives to increase spirit. Get access to summons like Golems and Skeletal Mages for additional utility. Combine Contagion with curses to multiply their effects. Equip gears that boost minions’ stats and chaos damage.

Gears with affixes +Minion Attack and +Minion Gems can enhance Chaos damage and cast speed. Aim for spells like Chaos Magic that deal damage over time and expand to nearby enemies. Use chaos DoT spells and curses to take down bosses while minions are busy handling aggro.

Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2 Summary

States

  • Regular Stats
    • Dexterity
    • Strength
    • Intelligence
  • Defensive Stats
    • Energy Shield
    • Life
    • Fire, Cold, and Lightning Resistances
    • Movement Speed
    • Evasion
    • Mana Recovery
  • Offensive Stats
    • Spell Damage
    • Cast Speed
    • Critical Strike Chance
    • Minion Damage
    • Minion Life

Passives

  • Stormcharged
  • All Natural
  • Breaking Point
  • Echoing Flame
  • Echoing Thunder
  • Necrotised Flesh
  • Restless Dead
  • Lord of Horrors
  • Life Regeneration
  • Relentless

Gear

  • Main Hand Weapon- Lupine Sceptre
  • Helmet- Advanced Elite Greathelm
  • Body Armour- Advanced Steel Plate
  • Shield- Advanced Braced Tower Shield
  • Gloves- Advanced Riveted Mitts
  • Boots- Iron Greaves
  • Ring 1- Advanced Riveted Mitts
  • Ring 2- Iron Greaves
  • Amulet- Amber Amulet

Skills

  • Punch
  • Spark
    • Controlled Destruction (Support Gem)
    • Arcane Tempo (Support Gem)
  • Flame Wall
    • Fiery Death (Support Gem)
    • Searing Flame (Support Gem)
  • Frostbolt
    • Scattershot (Support Gem)
    • Acceleration (Support Gem)
  • Ice Nova
    • Considered Casting (Support Gem)
    • Glaciation (Support Gem)
  • Raging Spirit
    • Bullseye (Support Gem)
    • Feeding Frenzy (Support Gem)
    • Execute (Support Gem)
    • Minion Mastery (Support Gem)
    • Fire Mastery (Support Gem)
  • Skeletal Arsonist
    • Immolate (Support Gem)
    • Elemental Focus (Support Gem)
    • Fire Infusion (Support Gem)
    • Martial Tempo (Support Gem)
  • Flammability
    • Highlighted Curse (Support Gem)
    • Lifetap (Support Gem)
  • Shield Charge
    • Ingenuity (Support Gem)
    • Maim (Support Gem)
    • Unbreakable (Support Gem)

FAQs about Best Witch Blood Mage build in Path of Exile 2 (POE 2)?

How important is gear for my Blood Mage build?

Gear in Path of Exile 2 is crucial for any build, including your Blood Mage build. The Gears determine how strong and survivable your build will be in combat. Gear in the Blood Mage build allows you to handle the tougher battle in Path of Exile 2, so always focus on improving gear through crafting, buying, or farming.

How do I acquire Blood Mage’s new skills?

Yes, you can respec your Blood Mage build by refunding passive skill points through The Hooded One, an NPC located in the Clearfell Encampment. Complete the “Sorrow Among Stones” quest in Act 1, to unlock this feature. However, it will take you 2 to 5 hours, depending on your pace.

Can I respec my Blood Mage build if I make a mistake?

The Witch class in Path of Exile 2 has a wide variety of skills, primarily centered around elemental damage. Getting new skills involves obtaining skill gems that you can socket into the equipment to grant corresponding abilities. You can obtain the skill gems while progressing through the campaign or you can purchase the skill gems from the vendors. Use the support gems to increase the strengthen the effects of your primary skills.

What’s the best way to level up the Blood Mage build quickly?

The best way to level up the Witch Blood Mage build quickly is by selecting skills, ascendancies, and equipment, and employing synergistic combat techniques. Enhance your gear and equipment and optimize the skill gem selection.

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