Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0 brings exciting changes to Witch builds, particularly for Blood Mage Ascendancy, which now eliminates the need for complex mana stacking. By converting skill costs to Life costs, players can stack massive amounts of Health to achieve incredible damage scaling while enjoying top-tier farming speeds and immense critical hit potential. There has never been a better time to try a Blood Mage build!
Today, POECurrency.com is showcasing a game-changing, high-budget build: Reap Blood Mage. Provided you have enough PoE2 currency, this build shatters the stereotype of Witch as a character who must kite enemies from afar. It blends ranged spell-casting with melee combat, allowing the spellcaster to charge into the fray like a warrior! Let’s take a closer look.
How does it work?
The foundation of Reap Blood Mage build is an exceptionally rare, unique staff: Reaping Staff. In PoE 2 Patch 0.5.0, the powerful Reap spell is intrinsic to this weapon, meaning players must wield it to embark on this reaping journey.
It is worth noting that while Reap is a spell, its area of effect resembles the melee skill Sweep, which is why this build plays more like a melee brawler in actual combat.
Regarding damage conversion: since Reap possesses high base physical damage, we utilize a key weapon affix to gain extra lightning damage based on a percentage of that physical damage. Combined with bonuses from rings and passive skill tree nodes, the originally pure-physical Reap gains a massive boost in lightning damage.
This dual-damage profile excels against high-resistance enemies; by leveraging the resistance-inversion mechanic of Rakiata’s Flow, the build can easily push DPS figures past the one-million mark!
Furthermore, we have introduced a dual Cast on Critical (CoC) mechanism. By combining the standard setup for Spirit skill with the additional CoC granted by a unique amulet, Reap can trigger Entangle twice in rapid succession whenever it crits. The screen-filling Entangle not only provides additional physical damage but also, with the support of the skill tree, causes extremely rapid pin and stun buildups to the target enemy.
Therefore, in actual combat, even when facing a pinnacle boss like Arbiter of Ash, Reap Blood Mage build can forcefully pin it to the spot and easily stack fatal damage.
Core Gear Selection
Next, POECurrency.com must make it clear that this is an extremely luxurious and expensive build, with the sunk cost of the entire set of equipment even exceeding the imagination of ordinary players.
The centerpiece is Reaping Staff, a mirror-tier weapon refined countless times using Divine Orbs. In Runes of Aldur league, thanks to the newly introduced Perfect Flux and Perfect Jeweller’s Orb, players are able to upgrade the inherent skills of their equipment to a maximum of level 20 and even unlock 5 skill slots for the first time.
Pushing the weapon’s damage output to unprecedented heights comes at the cost of hundreds of Divine Orbs! If your budget is tight, the cheapest POE 2 currency for sale at POECurrency.com offers a shortcut to completing this build. Skip the tedious grind and immediately experience the thrill of mowing down enemies amidst a screen-filling spectacle of physical and lightning damage.
Getting back to the main point, for defensive gear, we chose Demon Stitcher Intricate Gloves. Through its unique mechanism of sacrificing life to restore an equal amount of shield, it transforms the originally costless Reap into a defensive weapon that can stack shields like crazy.
For the belt slot, you can freely choose between Headhunter and Mageblood. If you’re farming challenging Juice 200% Delirium endgame maps, then Headhunter can provide you with extra damage output, allowing you to easily crush everything. If you simply want consistent flask bonuses, Mageblood is more than sufficient. Of course, if your Path of Exile 2 currency reserves are insufficient to afford these two top-tier belts, a simple rare belt with stats like Life or Resistances will suffice.
As for boots, we have chosen Sandsworn Sandals. The key feature here is Legacy of Trampletoe, which converts 10% of Overkill damage into a chain explosion affecting enemies within a two-meter radius, pushing map-clearing efficiency to the absolute limit.
Skill Tree Setup
To capitalize on the 45% flask effect bonus provided by Mageblood, we have opted to skip numerous Critical Strike Chance nodes, reallocating those points into more efficient nodes for Spell Damage and hybrid Shield/Life pools.
It is worth noting that in order to fully realize the potential of the screen-filling Entangle, Wildsurge Incantation is an absolutely irreplaceable core skill; at the same time, the passive skill Cut to the Bone must be obtained through amulet or helmet oiling to ensure that Reap’s high physical damage is not reduced by high-defense enemies.
Reap Blood Mage build demonstrates near-effortless dominance in standard maps, where a single cast of Reap can trigger screen-wide chain explosions. However, due to the melee-oriented spellcasting style, POECurrency.com recommends that you remain focused when facing extremely hardcore Expedition or high-level Delirium, and avoid accidental death due to overly aggressive positioning.
In summary, this Reap Blood Mage build is undoubtedly an S-tier choice among spell-casting classes in Path of Exile 2 Patch 0.5.0. While the build comes with a high price tag, it delivers an unparalleled farming experience and incredible boss-crushing power. If you have the currency to spare, it is well worth experiencing the prowess of this melee-brawling spellcaster!