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PoE 2 Build

ED / Bonestorm Levelling & League Starter

0.4 TLotD

Witch

Lich

Starter

Speed Leveling

Creator

By Cyclon Definitiv

Updated on May 1, 2026

May 1, 2026

Build Overview

This is a PRE-REVEAL Guide based on the current Speedrun Meta for Witch, but adjusted for general use.

The Build is capable of doing Sub 5 Hour 100% Campaign Runs, and top Speedrunners have done 4 Hour Campaigns on it, thus it might get nerfed in 0.5 Return of the Ancients.

THIS GUIDE ONLY GOES UP TO LEVEL 90. IT IS FOR CAMPAIGN AND EARLY MAP PURPOSES ONLY. It is recommended to transition into the desired League Starter between Level 70 and Level 80. If you want to stay on Essence Drain, check out Deadrabb1t's Endgame Guide.

The Essence Drain Bonestorm Witch combines everything Broken the Witch has Access to:

In Campaign Infernalist Demon Form for better Mobility, increased Cast Speed, and almost Permament 30% More Damage Boost.

Bonestorm with Living Lightning to proc its own Impales and nuke Bosses out of Existence.

Essence Drain and Contagion for Full-Screen Clear.

Lich Eternal Life with Atziri's Disdain for Excellent Endgame Survivability.

Making it an excellent Levelling Build and League Starter for a fast Start into the new League.

Strengths and Weaknesses

Sub 5 Hour Campaign Viable
T15 Viable with no Uniques
Absurd Single Target
Amazing Clear
Can skip Ultimatum ( Only 1 Ascendancy Point in Campaign)

Requires Ascendancy Change for Endgame
'Weak' from Level 1 to Level 6
ES Defense is weaker than Armour in Campaign
Uses Weapon Sets

Build Variants

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interludes

Early Maps

T15 Maps

Overview

Essence Drain is a Tier 3 Skill Gem requiring Level 6. Before unlocking Essence Drain, we use the Primal Skill Entangle.

Our Crazy Single Target Damage is unlocked at Level 14 with the Tier 5 Skill Bonestorm and further enhanced in Act 2.

Before Level 14, we need to rely on Base Skills from our Wand/Staff like Firebolt or Lightning Bolt and Frost Bomb.

Regex

Equipment

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interludes

Early Maps

T15 Maps

Set 1

Set 2

Equipment Priority

Weapon

Any Staff or Wand + Focus with +Level to Gems. Equip any Staff Early in Act 1 for higher Damage Basic Skill like Ashen Staff or Voltaic Staff.

Make sure you have the correct Weapon for Weapon Set 1 and Weapon Set 2. Physical in WS1 and Chaos in WS2 or use a +2 All Spells with Weapon Set Lock in both Weapon Sets.

Modifier Priority:

+Level to Physical/Chaos/All Skills
% increase Spell Damage
1. or specific Physical / Chaos
Cast Speed

If using a Wand the same priority applies to the Focus.

Weapon Threshold for new Modifier Tiers

Level | Specific | All for Wands & Staffs

+1 is Level 2 / 5
+2 is Level 18 / 25
+3 is Level 36 / 55
+4 is Level 55 / 78

Inc Spell Damage for Wand | Staff

~30 / ~ 60 is Level 1
~40 / ~ 80 is Level 8
~50 / ~ 100 is Level 16
~60 / ~ 120 is Level 33
~70 / ~ 140 is Level 46
~80 / ~ 180 is Level 60

Sockets

Use a Lesser Storm Rune or later a Storm Rune in your Weapon to gurantee Damage as Extra Lightning to proc Living Lightning with Bonestorm. Otherwise you need Orb of Storms to proc Living Lightning.

Armour

While able to prioritise Armour or Armour/Energy Shield Bases over pure Energy Shield Bases.

For Modifiers, you only care about Life, Resistances, and Defenses.

The exception is Boots, where your highest Priority is Movement Speed.

Jewellery

For Rings, also prioritise Life and Resistances.

For Amulet, always use +Level to Spells if you find one, otherwise Life & Resistances.

If able, use a Rawhide Belt. Look for Life and Resistances and/or Armour

Skill Gems

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interludes

Early Maps

T15 Maps

Support Gem Requirements:

Str 0

Dex 10

Int 20

Expand all

Chaos Bolt

Level 4

Entangle

Level 2

Unearth

Level 1

Contagion

Level 3

Essence Drain

Level 4

Arctic Armour

Level 5

Bonestorm

Level 5

Gem Priority

Link and Quality Priority

Quality

Bonestorm
Contagion
Temporal Chains
Despair
Blasphemy
Enfeeble

Basic Skills

During Act 1, the Build relies on the Basic Skills of the Wand / Staff for added Single Target Damage

Preferably use a Staff to get Firebolt or Lightning Bolt or a Withered Wand for Chaos Bolt.

Socket Unleash into your Basic Skill for bossing and in Contagion otherwise.

Entangle

Entangle is our 'Budget' Essence Drain from the Primalist Section. It is a Tier 1 Spell and can be used right from the start. Use it for early Clear and once every 8 Seconds during Boss Fights until unlocking Essence Drain. It places a Fisure in the casting Direction and acts as a pseudo Damage over Time Effect. While it is not spread by Contagion, 1-2 cast do enough Damage to clear a White Pack and spread the Contagion.

Essence Drain & Contagion (Weapon Set 2)

Essence Drain is the primary Skill of the Build, used for Bossing before Level 14 and for Clear throughout the Campaign. It deals a little Chaos Damage on Hit and applies a Native Chaos Damage over Time Effect for 4 Seconds. One noteworthy interaction is that Chain I only reduces the Hit Damage, not the DoT Damage, so it is 'free' Coverage.

On its own, it is very simple, but combined with Contagion it unlocks it full Potential.

Contagion applies a weak Dot to a single Enemy, which will spread itself and all other Chaos DoTs to nearby Enemies when the afflicted Enemy dies. With each spread, the Contagion DoT increases in magnitude. Most importantly, this spreads the powerful DoT of Essence Drain.

Until Quality is applied, toContagion, it is recommended to support it with Unleash. While we technically only need to infect one Enemy with Contagion and Essence Drain, hitting one enemy with both skills can be a bit annoying. Supporting them with Unleash and Chain allows for a much smoother Feel and clear.

Bonestorm (Weapon Set 1)

Far into the Endgame Essence Drain and Dark Effigy have enough Single-Target Damage to deal with Bosses, we don't have time to watch them slowly die. We want quick, instant Death for every Boss standing in our Way into the Endgame.

Bonestorm solves that for us. It is a Channeling Skill that charges up an array of up to 20 Bone Spikes. Once stop Channeling all Spikes fire in the targeted Direction. Each Bone Spike deals separate damage and applies their Impale Stack. Impale takes 30% of the Physical Damage and stores it in the Debuff. Each Attack against an Enemy with an Impale Stack will consume one and apply that Damage to the Attack as Base Damage, scaled up by increases and Crit.

While intended to be used with Attack-based Minions or a 2nd Player using a quick Hitting Attack Skill, the best Way to proc your own Impales is Living Lightning. By either using a Orb of Storms or having a Storm Rune to grant Bonestorm any amount of Lightning Damage, we spawn up to 5 small Lightning Orbs, which use a Chaining Lightning Attack. They quickly consume all the Impale Stacks we build up with Bonestorm.

Dark Effigy (Weapon Set 2)

One of the latter skills of the Occult Skill Section is Dark Effigy, which actually does nothing on its own. It requires Chaos DoTs on Enemies from other Skills like Essence Drain, Contagion and Poison I.

This Skill is also our first 5-Link and will take over Single Target Damage as we get into the Endgame. That said, during the campaign, this is optional, but it should definitely be set up in advance.

Spirit Gems

Arctic Armour or Ravenous Swarm

With 30 Spirit in the Early Stages of Campaign, we have 2 decent Options.

The Defensive option is Arctic Armour applying a small Cold Hit when attacked which can chill and freeze the Attackers.

The Offensive option is Ravenous Swarm which regularly spawns a Swarm of Insects applying a small Poison on Enemies. This Poison can be spread by Contagion and can break Armour if linked with Corrosion.

I currently recomend Arctic Armour, but Ravenous Swarm is a great offensive Option if you are confident in your Dodge Roll Skills.

Blasphemy

After defeating Ignaduk, we get 60 Spirit and can use Blasphemy with either Temporal Chains or Despair.

Temporal Chains slows enemy down as they aproach us and prolongs the Duration of our Debuffs and DoTs on them.

And Despair reduces their Chaos Resistance, making them take more Chaos Damage over Time.

I recommend Temporal Chains for the same Reasons above. Despair is theoretically better for Advanced Players.

Passive Tree

Act 1

Act 2

Act 3

Act 4

Interludes

Early Maps

T15 Maps

main:

123

set 1:

set 2:

The early % Spell Damage Nodes are very important. Allocate those on each Level Up

You need 1 Dexterity Node to use both Chain I and Swift Affliction I on Essence Drain.

Allocate the Physical Damage Nodes in Weapon Set 1 and the Chaos Nodes in Weapon Set 2, make sure to also setup your Skills to the Correct Weapon Set!

How it Plays

Clear

Level 1-5:

Use Contagion and kill the Mobs with Entangle to spread Contagion.

Level 6+:

Use Contagion and Essence Drain on a Pack and watch it die.

Single Target

Level 1-5:

Use Entangle every 8 Seconds and whatever Staff/Wand Skill available. Gem Swap Unleash from Contagion to your Basic Skill for Boss Fights.

If your Basic Skill is Elemental-Based, also use Frost Bomb on Cooldown for additional Damage and Exposure.

Level 6-13:

Use Essence Drain every 4 Seconds and whatever Staff/Wand Skill available. (2-3 Skill uses inbetween Essence Drain casts)

If your Basic Skill is Elemental-Based, also use Frost Bomb on Cooldown for additional Damage and Exposure.

Level 14+:

Use Bonestorm channel up to as many Projectiles as possible and fire at the Boss or Rare.

Moving around

Start each Zone transforming into Demon Form once available.

In Low-Density Zones, sprinting is viable. Cast Essence Drain and Contagion behind you as the Packs Gather to chase after.

In High-Density Zones ONLY Dodge-Roll. Demon Form has increased Dodge-Roll Distance. In super high-density zones like Dreadnought or Cuachic Vault use Essence Drain and Contagion in front of you, and accept the slightly slower pace.

How it Works

Essence Drain & Contagion

In Path of Exile 2 Contagion spreads all Chaos Damage over Time Debuffs on an Enemy upon Death. This interaction is the main use of Contagion. Apply a powerful DoT with Essence Drain and spread it with Contagion to clear the Screen.

The more Damage of Contagion for each time it spreads is barely noticeable compared to the Potent DoT of Essence Drain.

Essence Drain has a Hit Part, but it is weaker than the DoT Debuff it applies. It is also commonly used with Chain I or Chain II, which only reduces the Hit Damage and does not affect the DoT.

Bonestorm & Living Lightning

Bonestorm is a Physical Channeling Spell. Up to 20 Bone Spikes can be prepared. Each Bone Spike deals its individual Damage. If one Cast of Bonestorm crits, each Bone Spike will do Critical Damage.

A portion (30%) of the pre-mitigated Physical Damage is applied as a Stack of Impale. Attacks from the Player, Minions, or other Players consume the Impale to apply that Physical Damage again.

If Bonestorm has any amount of Lightning Damage, Minions spawned from Living Lightning within Bonestorm can proc the Impale Stacks.

Additional Projectiles from Sources like Psychic Fragmentation or Multishot I will cause each Channel Tic to summon that many Bone Spikes instead of 1. Reaching the Maximum of 20 quicker.

Demon Form

Demon Form is a Skill unique to the Infernalist Ascendancy. It grants Spell Damage scaling with Level and a Demonflame Stack every second. Each Demon Flame grants 3% more Spell Damage but drains more Life as the Level increases. The Life Loss is a Flat amount and can be counteracted easily by gaining Life Regeneration.

The Demon Form counts as a Shapeshifting Skill, and Modifiers that apply while Shapeshifted work during the Demon Form.

The Demon Form also grants an increased Dodge Roll Distance, which improves maneuverability.