Summary
There are many benefits to choosing a specific Ascendancy class over another inPath of Exile 2, and even if some of them may need some help to truly shine, they are all good in their own way. For example, while the Invoker is easily the more popular Ascendancy for the Monk,Path of Exile 2’s Acolyte of Chayulahas a lot to offer in terms of defenses for Energy Shield builds, as it can instantly leech both Mana and ES on hit. Likewise, there are many ways for the Witch’s Blood Mage Ascendancy to be great, even if its initial reception wasn’t - but there’s a catch.
The Witch is another case of skewed Ascendancy popularity in the game, with the Infernalist being extremely more frequently used than the Blood Mage in Hardcore due to the inherent boost to survivability of a necromancer/summoner archetype over a caster that spends Life as Mana. The Infernalist is very strong and there are merits to picking it over the Blood Mage, but the latter can also be an incredibly powerful boss killer.Path of Exile 2’s Blood Mage can be built in various ways, and while multiple of those can deal immense damage, the Ascendancy has a major flaw: its starting node is forced instead of giving players a choice, and it’s essentially a nerf in the early game.
Path of Exile 2’s Blood Mage Finds Itself Between the Anvil and the Hammer
EveryAscendancy class inPath of Exile 2has access to at least two major nodes as players' first choice, meaning there is some degree of customization even when the class is chosen early on in Act 2. This is true for all Ascendancies but the Blood Mage, which instead has only one option for its starting node, and that is Sanguimancy. What Sanguimancy does is grant the Life Remnants skill, which will heal players whenever they pick up Life Remnants from defeated enemies or critical hits with spells, but it also makes spells cost as much Life as they do Mana.
Life Remnants is a very powerful skill, especially since it can Overflow the Blood Mage’s health pool up to double its value, making the class especially tanky. At the same time, paying as much Life as Mana for every cast can be extremely taxing in the early game, and the bonuses from Life Remnants will never offset it enough or make it a fair trade. Furthermore,Path of Exile 2’s Blood Mageonly truly shines later on when it gets access to better gear and the remaining Ascendancy nodes. As such, Ascending as a Witch early in the game can feel more like a punishment than an accomplishment that makes players' lives easier.
There are ways for the Blood Mage to be good despite the issue that Sanguinomancy presents, but it also means relying on some gear pieces that may not be readily available or at least on some of the next Ascendancy nodes. For example, players can grab Vitality Siphon as their second major Ascendancy node, which can happen as soon asPoE 2’s Act 3, just about 10-to-15 levels after one can get Sanguinomancy, and then also pick Gore Spikes and Sunder the Flesh to make spells more likely to crit and have powerful crits, while also leeching Life back.
This particular combo is especially powerful with the Atziri’s AcuityUnique Item inPath of Exile 2, which grants instant leech from critical hits, making the life lost from casting not that big of a deal.
Why it May Be Best Not to Ascend Early in Path of Exile 2 as a Blood Mage
What follows is that it may be best not to Ascend with a Witch in the early game if one wants to play a Blood Mage, and since the second major Ascendancy node is likely not going to be enough for a build to work, one may have to wait untilPath of Exile 2’s endgameat level 65 or more to fully Ascend and grab three nodes at once - and the final node would still be missing. It is far from ideal, and it can be frustrating to have half of a functioning character for at least 65 levels, but there is currently no other option if one doesn’t want Sanguinomancy to get in the way. Ascending in Act 2 is usually a big boost in power for any class, but the Blood Mage is not there just yet.
