Path of Exile 2: Demon Form Infernalist build guide (0.3.0 League-starter)

The Infernalist Witch is one of the most played archetypes in Path of Exile 2, and with the latest Patch 0.3.0, this archetype has finally gotten a well-balanced Demon Form. With the latest updates to the systems, you can now wield weapons while in Demon Form, allowing for more versatility.

The guide will revolve around the Lightning Demon Form Infernalist, with a smooth league-starter Contagion and Essence Gain setup that evolves into Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp once you’ve reached level 75+.

This guide will break down all requirements for this highly mobile and flashy Infernalist build.

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Pros and cons of this Infernalist build

Pros

• Tremendous clear speed (once you have Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp).
• Smooth scaling into the late game and works well with Essence Drain early on.
• Powerful Demonic Form with excellent visual flair.
• Extremely adaptable towards both SSf and Trade playstyle.

Cons

• Like every mana-hungry build, resource management is key to making the build work optimally.
• Squishy in the early game, making positioning crucial for survival.
• Requires specific gear stats for performance.
• Difficult to master.

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Build progression (Starter)

The Infernalist has one of the smoothest progressions into the early endgame, but is difficult to master (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

The Infernalist build in Path of Exile 2 evolves smoothly from level 1 to level 75+ without requiring major changes. For a perfect start, begin the journey with Contagion and Unearth as the primary spells. These spells grant you crowd control for early game mapping while your Skeleton Warriors tank the majority of incoming damage. The Infernalist starts out quite squishy, so Skeletal Warriors are necessary till you can acquire Lightning Warp and Essence Drain.

1) Contagion

Casting the skill afflicts a single enemy with a debuff that deals DoT Chaos damage. The affliction spreads to nearby enemies if it dies during active affliction. Reanimating Contagion-afflicted corpses causes an explosion that further spreads contagion.

• Cost: (8-83) Mana
• Cast Time: 1.00 sec
• Deals (1.9-93.9) Base Chaos Damage per second
• Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to Debuff's Damage over Time
• Debuff deals 100% more Damage for each time it has spread, up to 300%
• Spread radius is 1.7 metres
• Debuff duration is 5 seconds

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:

• Contagion targets (0.1-2) additional Enemies when Cast

2) Unearth

Erect bones in front of you, dealing damage. These auto-triggers Minions to rise from nearby corpses and fight for you. Larger corpses create more than one Bone Construct.

• Deals (4-117) to (6-176) Physical Damage
• Limit (8-20) Bone Constructs
• Cone length is 6 metres
• Bone Construct duration is 15 seconds
• Reviving Minions can only create one Bone Construct per death.

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:

• +(0.25-5) seconds to Bone Construct duration
• Minions have (2.5-50)% increased Movement Speed

3) Skeleton Warriors (gained from Rattling Scepter)

Raise Skeletal Warriors to mitigate incoming damage by using them as the buffer.

• Reservation: (60-20) Spirit
• Activate to summon Reviving Skeletal Warriors.
• First 2 minions summoned have no base spirit reservation

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:

• Minions have (1-20)% more Maximum Life

4) Lightning Warp

Teleport directly into a target body and explode violently, dealing massive Lightning damage to nearby enemies while gaining mobility options. Can only be teleported to Ball Lightning projectiles or enemies who can be culled.

• Cost: (8-83) Mana
• Cast Time: 0.50 sec
• Critical Strike Chance: 11.00%
• Deals (2-54) to (30-1032) Lightning Damage
• Explosion and Shocked Ground radius are 4 metres
• Shocked Ground duration is 10 seconds

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:

• (0.5-10)% increased Magnitude of Shock inflicted

5) Essence Drain

Fire a projectile that deals Chaos damage over time (DoT) on impact.

• Cost: (5-57) Mana
• Cast Time: 0.80 sec
• Critical Strike Chance: 7.00%
• Deals (5-138) to (9-257) Chaos Damage
• Damage over Time
• Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to Debuff's Damage over Time
• Debuff duration is 4 seconds
• Deals (9.2–409.4) Base Chaos Damage per second

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:

• +(0.05-1) seconds to Debuff duration

Support gem priority

• Unleash - Contagion
• Last Gasp - Skeletal Warrior
• Swift Affliction I - Contagion

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Early Gear progression

• Main Hand - Use the Torture Wand (grants Chaos Bolt) until you can acquire the Sanctified Staff (grants you Consecrate).
• Off-hand - Rattling Sceptre (grants Skeletal Warrior) is a solid option for early mapping.
• Armor (helmet, body, gloves): Prioritize life and mana regen for sustainability. For boots, equip anything with increased movement speed.
• Amulets and Rings: Prioritize resistances, life, armor, and levels to spells.

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Stats to prioritize

• Levels to skills/spells
• Spell damage
• Chaos damage
• Maximum Mana
• Mana regen
• Life regen
• Cast Speed
• Maximum Life
• Elemental Resistance
• Movement Speed

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Passive Tree for the Infernalist build in Path of Exile 2 (level 1-16 starter)

For the early stages of PoE 2, spell damage and mana generation are the most important passives to acquire (Image via Grinding Gear Games)

For the early stages of Path of Exile 2, the priority is to map as much as possible, which requires good damage output as well as sustainability.

• Start with Spell and Minion Damage (grants you a total of 32% increased spell damage and 32% increased minion damage) till you reach Raw Destruction (grants you +10 Intelligence, 16% increased Spell damage, and 16% increased minion damage).
• Practiced Signs and both Cast Speed nodes, which grant you a total of 12% increased Cast Speed.
• Open Mind and 2x Mana Regeneration grant you a total of 45% increased Mana Regeneration Rate.
• Pure Energy grants you 30% increased maximum Energy Shield and +10 Intelligence.
• 2x Energy Shield Recharge grants you a total of 30% increased Energy Shield Recharge Rate.
• Dampening Shield grants you 28% increased maximum Energy Shield, an additional Ailment Threshold equal to 12% of maximum Energy Shield, and an additional Stun Threshold equal to 12% of maximum Energy Shield.
• Mana Blessing grants you +20 to maximum Mana and a 20% increased Mana Regeneration Rate.

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Infernalist league starter playstyle

The Infernalist league-starter build manages to deal damage from a distance with Contagion and Unearth, while Skeleton Warriors give you the much-needed damage buffer. This is viable till you can acquire Essence Drain and Lightning Warp.

• Launch the attack with Contagion, followed by Unearth.
• Strategically use Skeletal Warriors to gain tankiness when dealing with mobs or bosses.

Once you have Essence Drain and Lightning Warp:

• Use Essence Drain to apply chaos damage, while Lightning Warp allows you to jump to the launched chaos projectile and explode, dealing Lightning Damage.
• When tackling bosses, revolve between Contagion and Essence Drain.

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Check out our other Path of Exile 2 guides and features

• Path of Exile 2 Endgame systems guide
• Path of Exile 2 Item Crafting guide
• Path of Exile 2 Runes and Sockets guide