Sorceress Lighting Warp Conduit Endgame Build

Introduction

With the sweeping balance changes to every system coming in Patch 0.2, builds require additional testing to make any optimizations. We will do our best to get guides updated as soon as possible. Make sure to check back often to see if any changes have been made.

The Lighting Warp Conduit Sorceress build features an engaging two-button playstyle. A Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp skill combo creates explosions to destroy groups of enemies while mapping. Lightning Conduit deals even greater damage to one-shot any elites or bosses.

---

Strengths and Weaknesses

---

Build Mechanics

Ball Lightning fires three projectiles, and then Lightning Warp is cast onto them to teleport and cause highly damaging explosions.

Lightning Conduit is automatically triggered from Cast on Freeze to deal even higher damaging hits than Lightning Warp. The damage is scaled by the Shock effect on enemies.

Against bosses, a self-casted Lightning Conduit is capable of one-shotting them with moderate investment into the build. The Boss Kill Skill Rotation sets up multiple buffs and debuffs while the boss takes time to spawn. If the full rotation cannot be executed, the Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp combo can Stun or Freeze the boss to allow Lightning Conduit to land.

---

Skill Rotations

Follow the basic skill rotation below to progress through the campaign and clear groups of enemies in maps.

1. Cast Ball Lightning to fire three projectiles through Scattershot.
2. Cast Lightning Warp up to three times on Ball Lightning projectiles.

Execute the steps below to optimize damage against bosses. All the steps can be completed before a boss spawns if time permits, ending with Lightning Conduit finishing its cast time right as the Life bar of the boss appears.

1. Cast Sigil of Power (Weapon Set 2) to buff damage.
2. Cast Conductivity (Weapon Set 1) to reduce the Lightning Resistance of the boss. Conductivity can be pre-cast before a boss spawns if supported by Cursed Ground.
3. Against bosses that take an extended amount of time to spawn, like Pinnacle bosses, buff stages of Sigil of Power can be ramped up to 4 by spamming Conductivity to spend Mana.
4. (Optional) Cast Mana Tempest for an additional buff to maximize damage. Be careful using Mana Tempest as draining Mana reduces your survivability.
5. Cast Ball Lightning once to fire three projectiles through Scattershot.
6. Cast Lightning Warp three times on Ball Lightning projectiles to apply Shock.
7. Cast Lightning Conduit when you have an opening to deal damage. You may need to dodge incoming attacks beforehand.
8. Continue to use Ball Lightning, Lightning Warp, and Lightning Conduit while keeping buffs/debuffs active.

---

Video Guide

---

Skill and Support Gems

The Lightning Warp Conduit Sorceress utilizes the following Skill Gems and Support Gems, listed in order of socket priority.

Skill Gems	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Support Gem 4	Support Gem 5
Ball Lightning	Scattershot	Unleash	Acceleration	Arcane Tempo	Unbreakable
Lightning Warp	Magnified Effect	Soul Drain	Overcharge	Lightning Exposure	Strip Away
Lightning Conduit	Elemental Focus	Inevitable Critical	Ambush	Supercritical	Lightning Mastery
Conductivity	Heightened Curse	Cursed Ground	Ritualistic Curse	–	–
Sigil of Power	Persistence	Mobility	–	–	–

---

Spirit Gems

The Spirit Gem setup requires 160-170 total Spirit. Defeat The King in the Mists (Act 1, Normal Difficulty) and Ignagduk (Act 3, Normal and Cruel Difficulty) for 100 base Spirit. Obtain the remaining 60-70 Spirit from a Body Armor and Amulet.

Clarity is optional if you have 170 total Spirit.

Blink is an optional weapon swap tech that can be activated only for Weapon Set 2. Swap weapons to access Blink when needed. Set Ball Lightning and Lightning Warp to only be used with Weapon Set 1 to automatically swap back when they are cast. Ensure Cast on Freeze is only active for Weapon Set 1 to enable this setup.

Skill Gems	Support Gem 1	Support Gem 2	Support Gem 3	Support Gem 4	Support Gem 5
Archmage	–	–	–	–	–
Cast on Freeze (Weapon Set 1)	Lightning Conduit	Considered Casting	Inspiration	Impetus	Clarity
Blink (Weapon Set 2)	Ingenuity	Second Wind	–	–	–

---

Ascendancy

Stormweaver is the recommended Ascendancy for the Lightning Warp Conduit Sorceress. Select your first Ascendancy after completing the Trial of the Sekhemas in Act 2. The trial is not difficult, so complete it within the level range of 20-30. During the early access of Path of Exile 2, you have the option between Stormweaver and Chronomancer. This choice is permanent so choose carefully!

Stormweaver

The Stormweaver is the best Ascendancy choice due to the Mana Regen and damage increases within its nodes. Allocate the Ascendancy nodes in the following order:

1. Constant Gale and Force of Will — The Arcane Surge nodes are highly beneficial for more Mana Regen and more Cast Speed. The separate multiplier to Mana Regen is needed to sustain the increased Mana costs from Archmage. Both effects become more potent as Maximum Mana is increased.
2. Strike Twice — The extra Shock effect applied to enemies provides a massive increase in damage output. The benefit of the node becomes more effective as Shock/Ailment magnitude is increased.
3. Scouring Winds — The final damage increase from the Stormweaver Ascendancy causes Exposure to reduce resistances by a base 40% instead of 20%, before any increased Exposure Effect is applied.

Chronomancer

The Chronomancer is not usually recommended due to the lack of any Mana Regen or damage increases. The benefits are instead based on survivability. Allocate the Ascendancy nodes in the following order:

1. Footprints in the Sand and Ultimate Command — Time Freeze is especially useful against bosses to deal uninterrupted damage without risk.
2. Apex of the Moment — Slow provides an additional layer of survivability.
3. Circular Heartbeat — Damage taken Recouped as Life provides some sustainability.

---

Passive Skill Tree

Path of Building is a build planner with helpful theorycrafting tools. Use the following URL for advanced details and calculations on the Lightning Warp Conduit Sorceress:

For more instructions on downloading the app, check the guide on Path of Building 2.

---

Gear

The preferred gear for the Lightning Conduit Sorceress is listed below with affixes and socketables ranked in order of importance. Prioritize gear with the correct base stats and beneficial explicit affixes.

A Shield is recommended over a Focus if you are having trouble surviving.

Equipment Slot and Base Stats	Prefixes	Suffixes	Sockets
Wand	3. Maximum Mana 4. Spell Damage 5. Extra Lightning Damage	1. Level of all Lightning Spell Skills 2. Critical Hit Chance for Spells 3. Mana Regeneration Rate	–
Focus	3. Maximum Energy Shield 3. Increased Energy Shield 4. Maximum Mana	1. Level of all Spell Skills 2. Critical Hit Chance for Spells 3. Mana Regen Rate	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Iron Rune
Shield (Armor and Energy Shield hybrid)	1. Increased Block Chance 2. Maximum Life	1. Resistances 3. Attributes	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Helmet (Energy Shield)	1. Maximum Mana 1. Maximum Energy Shield 1. Increased Energy Shield	1. Resistances 2. Attributes	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Iron Rune
Body Armor (Energy Shield)	1. Spirirt 2. Maximum Energy Shield 2. Increased Energy Shield	2. Resistances 3. Attributes	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Iron Rune
Gloves (Energy Shield)	Maligaro’s Virtuosity	Maligaro’s Virtuosity	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Boots (Energy Shield)	1. Movement Speed 2. Maximum Mana 2. Maximum LIfe	2. Resistances 3. Attributes	1. Any Rune that grants Resistance if not yet capped. 2. Soul Core of Zalatl
Amulet	1. Spirit 3. Maximum Mana 3. Maximum Energy Shield 4. Maximum Life	2. Level of all Spell Skills 3. Mana Regeneration Rate 4. Attributes	–
Left Ring Slot	Snakepit	Snakepit	–
Right Ring Slot	1. Maximum Mana 2. Maximum Life 3. Rarity of Items Found	1. Mana Regeneration Rate 2. Resistances 3. Attributes	–
Belt (replaced by Ingenuity)	1. Maximum Mana 1. Maximum Life 4. Flask Life Recovery Rate	1. Resistances 2. Attributes 3. Stun Threshold	–

Jewels

The beneficial affixes for Jewels are listed below, ranked in order of importance. Prioritize Rare Jewels with two prefix and two suffix.

• Prefixes
  1. Magnitude of Shock
  2. Area of Effect
  3. Elemental Damage or Spell Damage
• Suffixes
  1. Mana is taken from Mana before Life (up to 70%)
  2. Recover Mana on Kill (1 affix of 2%)
  3. Cast Speed

Campaign Buffs

Quest rewards during the campaign offer a selection of buffs to your character. Choose the following buffs for the build:

• Valley of the Titans Altar
  1. 15% increased Mana Recovery from Flasks
  2. 15% increased Life Recovery from Flasks
• Venom Draught
  1. 25% increased Mana Regeneration Rate
  2. 10% Chaos Resistance

For more details, check the guide on Campaign Difficulties and Permanent Stat Bonuses.

Flasks and Charms

Prioritize the following Flasks and Charms:

• Health and Mana Flasks
  • Prefix: Increased Amount Recovered
  • Suffix: Increased Charges or Increased Charges Gained
• Charm: Stone Charm or Thawing Charm.

---

Changelog

• April 4th, 2025: Skill Rotation adjusted since Lightning Warp cast on Ball Lightning projectiles no longer creates Shocked Ground.
• March 28th, 2025: Guide created for Path of Exile II, Early Access.