Skill Gem Setup

Act 1-2 Setup:

Contagion + Unleash
Unearth + Prolonged Duration
Essence Drain + Chain
Chaos Bolt + Rapid Casting

Act 3+ Setup:

Despair + Heightened Curse
Dark Effigy + Controlled Destruction
Sigil of Power (precast before Path of Exile 2 Currency bosses)
Convalescence + Rapid Casting II

Optional Early Skill:

Use Flame Wall at levels 2-5 for early single-target coverage until Essence Drain unlocks.

Passive Tree & Ascendancy Progression

Start with Eldritch Empowerment for raw Chaos scaling, then pick Soulless Form for mana sustain and defensive layering.

After gaining access to three Chaos clusters, respec Witch's early Intelligence nodes to free up points for key multipliers in the Chaos and DoT clusters.

Recommended Ascendancy Order:

1. Eldritch Empowerment (damage scaling)
2. Soulless Form (mana sustain + defense)
3. Occult Infusion (boosts damage over time)
4. Unholy Precision (final scaling node)

Permanent Buff Recommendations

Valley of the Titans Medallion: +30% Charm Charges
Venom Crypts Poison Vial: +30% Stun/Ailment Threshold
Orbala's Pillar: +3% Movement Speed
Goddess of Justice: +30% Flask Mana Recovery

These bonuses stack nicely with Contagion/Essence Drain uptime and cheap Path of Exile 2 Currency sustain effects.