PoE 2 WitchhunterB
Mercenary ascendancy · verified 2026-07-04 · STRDEX
community tier · patch 0.5.4b (editorial)
The anti-caster executioner who melts single targets with life-percent removal and turns packs into chain-reaction explosions.
You lean on crossbows and physical/attack skills to strip enemy life before your hit even lands, then let on-kill explosions cascade through the rest of the pack. It is a proactive, single-target-first playstyle that rewards weakening a target and finishing it, with strong clear falling out of the kills you set up. In 0.5.4b its defensive layer (Sorcery Ward) was toned down, pushing it more toward an offensive, endgame-investment ascendancy.
Strengths
- Elite single-target and boss damage via life-percent removal (Decimating Strike) plus the missing-Concentration damage ramp
- Explosive pack clear from on-kill explosions that chain across screens
- Excellent against Undead and Demons, whose explosion chance is doubled
- Built-in culling of weakened enemies smooths out execution on tanky targets
Weaknesses
- Defensive nerfs in 0.5.4b (Sorcery Ward and the armour/evasion trade-off both worsened) mean survivability leans harder on gear
- Explosion clear is kill-dependent, so it can stutter when it cannot land the first kills in a dense pack
- Best results demand endgame investment; it is not the smoothest early-leveling pick
Current standing (B-tier): Great boss-culling identity; middle of the pack for overall clear this patch. (community tier · patch 0.5.4b — editorial rank, community meta consensus (maxroll · mobalytics · game8 0.5 tier lists), editorial — checked 2026-07-03)
Key Witchhunter notables
What each ascendancy notable actually does for the build — effect directions, not raw numbers (exact values shift every patch; check in game before committing points).
Zealous Inquisition
Gives enemies you kill a chance to violently explode for a chunk of their own life as physical damage, driving chain-reaction pack clear; the chance is doubled against Undead and Demons.
Judge, Jury, and Executioner
Grants Decimating Strike, which removes a percentage of a full-life enemy's life before your hit's damage is applied — a huge front-loaded chunk against fresh targets and bosses.
Witchbane
Introduces an enemy Concentration pool tied to their maximum life; your damage erodes it, setting up the missing-Concentration payoff.
No Mercy
Scales your damage up sharply based on how much Concentration an enemy is missing, rewarding sustained pressure on a single target.
Obsessive Rituals
Grants the Sorcery Ward defensive skill (a damage-absorbing barrier) at the cost of a large chunk of your Armour and Evasion — a deliberate offense-for-caster-defense trade.
Pitiless Killer
Grants Culling Strike, instantly finishing enemies once their life drops below a rarity-scaled threshold, smoothing execution on tanky targets.
Best Witchhunter skills (0.5.4b)
Galvanic Shards
Explosive ShotHow to unlock Witchhunter
Unlock via your first Ascendancy Trial in Act 2 (Trial of the Sekhemas or Trial of Chaos); 8 points total across the trials. See the full points & trials table + tracker → for exactly which run grants points 3–8, or the respec guide if you want to switch into Witchhunter from another Mercenary ascendancy.
Want Witchhunter online today?
Timesaver pros run the Trial of the Sekhemas and Trial of Chaos on your character — all 8 ascendancy points on your Mercenary, your build, usually same-day.
Other Mercenary ascendancies
Back to all Mercenary ascendancies, the ascendancy hub and full tier list.
Notables and effects verified against patch 0.5.4b (2026-07-02) — qualitative effect directions only; exact values change between patches. Tier ranks are editorial community-meta consensus, never game facts. Ascendancy art is in-game artwork © Grinding Gear Games, used for identification. Last verified 2026-07-04. Timesaver.gg is not affiliated with Grinding Gear Games. Source notes: High. All notables cross-verified on poe2db.tw and Fextralife. Exact 0.5.4b Sorcery Ward / armour-evasion percentages differ slightly between poe2db (current) and older Fextralife text; qualitative direction (defenses nerfed) is confirmed. No exact numbers published here.