S-TIER | BUILD SORCIÈRE PURE SUMMONER INFERNALIST (@Mattjestic Life) | SAISON 5

Build Video

Build Overview

This is a pure summoner build designed for fast leveling and mapping from Day 1 of Path of Exile 2 Season 0.5. The concept is straightforward: build up a true army of minions as quickly as possible and let your summons do the heavy lifting while you stay safely in the back. Damage is centered around Skeletal Arsonist, complemented by Raging Spirits and a constant Flame Wall thanks to Flame Wall.

The guide is tailored for the Witch going Infernalist, but the author has also prepared a pathing for the Druid as Shaman: both starting paths share the exact same key skills early on. The major highlight of this season is the new 0.5 runes that massively boost Spirit and resistances — you can go from a few dozen to nearly 300 Spirit by Act 2, allowing you to summon up to seven high-level Skeletal Arsonist.

The result: a smooth power ramp-up, remarkable survivability (the author clears every campaign boss on the first attempt), and a very low starting budget since most of the gear simply drops while playing. It’s an excellent league starter for anyone who enjoys easy-to-play minion builds.

Strengths / Weaknesses

Skill Gem Setup by Step

This build offers 3 progression steps from leveling through to the final build. Select a step to view the corresponding gem setup.

(Witch Path) Acte 1 Act 2-3 (infernalist) Act 3-5 & Early Mapping

(Witch Path) Acte 1

6 skills • 12 gemmes

Guerrier squelettiqueSkeletal Warrior

Contagion

Esprits enragésRaging Spirits

Incendiaires squelettiquesSkeletal Arsonist

ExhumationUnearth

Mur de flammesFlame Wall

Acte 2-3 (infernalist)

11 skills • 29 gemmes

Invocation de Molosse infernalSummon Infernal Hound

Guerrier squelettiqueSkeletal Warrior

Levée de bouclierRaise Shield

Eternal March

Esprits enragésRaging Spirits

Incendiaires squelettiquesSkeletal Arsonist

Contagion

Offrande de douleurPain Offering

ExhumationUnearth

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Mur de flammesFlame Wall

Acte 3-5 & Early Mapping

9 skills • 28 gemmes

Invocation de Molosse infernalSummon Infernal Hound

Guerrier squelettiqueSkeletal Warrior

Levée de bouclierRaise Shield

Eternal March

Esprits enragésRaging Spirits

Adjonction spectrale

Sensibilité aux élémentsElemental Weakness

Offrande de douleurPain Offering

Mur de flammesFlame Wall

Recommended Equipment

The gear list is intentionally simple: the author stresses that nearly all pieces drop while playing, except for two uniques purchased on Day 1.

• Unique chest: the biggest investment piece. Socket it with two of the new 0.5 runes — its price tends to drop after Day 1.
• Unique boots: aim for good movement speed and especially more than 25% Reservation Efficiency, essential for summoning more minions.
• Weapon: +1 to minion skills (ideally upgraded to +2).
• Helmet: +1 to minion skills.
• Amulet: +1 to minion skills.
• Runes: Rune of the Prison (elemental resistances, lowers maximum resistance with no real danger in early game) and Rune of the Blossom (large Spirit bonus). Note: each is limited to one copy.
• Rest of the gear: life, resistances, strength or dexterity to meet your support gem requirements. Nothing fancy, just solid stats.

Gameplay Tips

• Always hit with Unearth: this spell requires you to have « hit recently » to grant your minions 30% increased damage, and it also applies some armour break as a bonus.
• Kill the King of the Mist in Act 1: this is what unlocks additional Spirit and your first Spirit gems to obtain Raging Spirits.
• Core combo: cast Flame Wall while moving, then follow up with Pain Offering — that’s all you need for the vast majority of content.
• Against rares and bosses: place Elemental Weakness at their feet to boost your damage.
• Spirit tip: after equipping your boots and the reservation node, unsummon then resummon your minions — the reservation sometimes applies after the fact and you’ll recover Spirit.
• Resummon your dead skeletons during boss fights: it grants a small damage bonus.

The New Season 0.5 Runes

The real game-changer this season for summoners are the two new runes you socket into the chest piece. The Rune of the Prison grants a solid amount of elemental resistance at the cost of reduced maximum resistance — a safe trade-off early in the league, where you’re already comfortably running between 20, 30, or even 65% resistance.

The second one, the Rune of the Blossom, offers a massive Spirit bonus: around 45-50 right from the start. Combined with the chest piece and a well-placed reservation node, it lets you climb to over 200 — even close to 300 Spirit — by the time you reach Act 2. This is what unlocks the ability to summon a full minion army very early on. One small caveat: each rune is limited to a single copy, so there’s no point buying more than one.

Building Your Minion Army

The classic summoner trap is the slow start while your army is still being assembled. The author’s solution: Unearth, which summons around ten temporary minions to fill the gap while your permanent summons are still lacking Spirit. The more minions you have on screen, the faster the Mapping becomes.

The damage backbone remains the Skeletal Arsonist — the best choice regardless of your starting point — supported by Multishot and an area of effect increase for generous fire damage. Add to that the Raging Spirits, which multiply on contact with Flame Wall for continuous waves of damage. Remember to re-summon your skeletons as soon as they fall during boss fights: it’s both a presence gain and a small damage boost.

Infernalist or Druid: Which Starting Point?

Both ascendancies share the same build skeleton but diverge on the defensive layer. As an Infernalist, the Summon Infernal Hound provides a lot of durability and survivability, along with an extra summon via the mastery bonus — this is the author’s choice for this guide. You also gain defensive options such as Loyalty and Raise Shield.

The Druid as Shaman, on the other hand, frees up jewel and charm slots to target 120 free Spirit, since it doesn’t use charms. It’s a more offensively oriented starting point in terms of raw Spirit. In both cases, you end up on the same minion damage nodes and the same minion skill reservation — the choice ultimately comes down to your preference between tankiness (Infernalist) and Spirit (Shaman).

Making Currency from Day One

Beyond the build itself, the author shares his method for generating currency quickly. The first source is seasonal mechanics: by completing rune events (especially when four runes are available), you unlock the ability to craft uniques or land Divine Orbs. This is how he obtained a Polcirkeln that he resold for six Exalted Orbs.

The second method is city trading: by buying and reselling Chaos Orbs against Exalted Orbs at the right time, the author managed some surprisingly good flips (buying a Chaos Orb for one Exalt, then reselling it for four). These small transactions aren’t the most profitable individually, but they add up quickly and fund the key leveling pieces. Also remember to adjust your trade filters (by Orb of Alchemy, Orb of Transmutation, etc.) to spot good deals at the start of the season.

Skill Tree