[0.2] Skeletal Storm Mage Witch Infernalist Leveling and Endgame Build Guide

Hello everyone!

I have made a leveling and endGame Guide for the Witch with the Infernalist Ascendancy that focuses on Skeletal Storm Mages.

You can find the full guide here: https://maxroll.gg/poe2/build-guides/storm-mage-infernalist-build-guide

Video showcase: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A0Fb2rSwfbM
The video is for the Lich version but the gameplay is identical.

Edit: Updated for Dawn of the Hunt.

Remember to tag this Witch so it shows under Witch builds!

How does this build do compared to Arsonists with Raging Spirits? RS are a classic and always perform well, but they were never my favorite. Also the entire screen being always in fire gets tiring at some point.

I hadn't thought that you can use two setups for the same minion, I assume summon one Mage for debuff and the rest for damage? Great idea!

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Devilator#4354 wrote:

Remember to tag this Witch so it shows under Witch builds!

How does this build do compared to Arsonists with Raging Spirits? RS are a classic and always perform well, but they were never my favorite. Also the entire screen being always in fire gets tiring at some point.

I hadn't thought that you can use two setups for the same minion, I assume summon one Mage for debuff and the rest for damage? Great idea!

Hey, Thanks for pointing that out, forgot to add a tag which is now done.

This build has better clear speed than arsonists since Storm mages has longer cast range and instant casts instead of delayed throwing bombs.

This build is A LOT nicer to your PC as well since there is not a lot of screen clutter with fire wall, SRS and bombs going off.

Yeah this build has both damage dealing storm mages and 1-2 debuffing storm mages that apply shock and exposure.

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Hoffen#2482 wrote:

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Devilator#4354 wrote:

Remember to tag this Witch so it shows under Witch builds!

How does this build do compared to Arsonists with Raging Spirits? RS are a classic and always perform well, but they were never my favorite. Also the entire screen being always in fire gets tiring at some point.

I hadn't thought that you can use two setups for the same minion, I assume summon one Mage for debuff and the rest for damage? Great idea!

Hey, Thanks for pointing that out, forgot to add a tag which is now done.

This build has better clear speed than arsonists since Storm mages has longer cast range and instant casts instead of delayed throwing bombs.

This build is A LOT nicer to your PC as well since there is not a lot of screen clutter with fire wall, SRS and bombs going off.

Yeah this build has both damage dealing storm mages and 1-2 debuffing storm mages that apply shock and exposure.

Sound like exactly what I am looking for then! The passive tree and gear look the same, this build even saves two passive points because it doesn't need minion accuracy. It is a free swap, except that I will need a few new skill gem sockets. But even with 4-linked skills, I am sure I will see how it works.

Looking good after a couple of maps, even though I don't have as many supports as I had for Arsonists and RS.

For new players coming from the Arsonist build, one thing to watch out for is that there is no safety net if all your minions are dead - you have to survive on your own until they are up again. With the Arsonist variant you always had RS up.

You can keep Detonate Dead in the build, since there is space for one more skill (even if you want to use Blink, that comes much later). It should add some more clear speed, and help you finish off some enemies while you wait for your minions to respawn.

Uhh would like to ask, what about Electrocute on the dps minion?? I'd assume that's really good for some CC especially since the mages's lightning could chain

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lumine99#5604 wrote:

Uhh would like to ask, what about Electrocute on the dps minion?? I'd assume that's really good for some CC especially since the mages's lightning could chain

It is not worth loosing a damage support for the damage setup just to get electrocute.

So I tried this build out and I dont know if Im doing it right as it feels signifigantly less powerful than the Fire build. Which ring of the Storm mages do I make active?

edit - ok I forgot to enable the 2nd ring- so i put 5 on each Skeletal Storm Mage ring

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Hellzwraith#0237 wrote:

So I tried this build out and I dont know if Im doing it right as it feels signifigantly less powerful than the Fire build. Which ring of the Storm mages do I make active?

edit - ok I forgot to enable the 2nd ring- so i put 5 on each Skeletal Storm Mage ring

Ring ?
If you mean gem, you are supposed to use 1 storm mage that is used to shock enemies and the rest should be used for your damage gem setup.

I am lvl 92 and I have 9 storm mages for the damage (gem level 34) and 1 for shock (I have only 383 spirit, using the Trenchtimbre). DPS ones show me the number around 20.6k dps per skeleton. I can kill any boss without issues, clear maps without stopping, even killed the Arbiter for the first time. The issue is that for the second kill, it seems, the damage is too low for some reason (well, +1 arbiter difficulty?)
After that point I faced a couple of things that a real bottleneck for me. If I drop down any item with + minion level but set the +spirit, DPS can drop almost in half. But amulet for + minions and + spirit costs kinda...too much.
Can I humbly ask you to share a couple of trade filters for items with spirit that could fit into the build?