Bleeding Blade Spirit & Pox Witch Hunter

A Nightblade summon-pet and the true star of this build. The core playstyle is kiting dangerous enemies while applying debuffs and Ring of Steel, letting Blade Spirit do the actual grinding-down.

An Occultist curse and one of the build's core debuffs. Bind the Huntress devotion's Rend proc here (20% chance on attack).

An Occultist contagious debuff that showers nearby enemies with damage and weakness — the build's biggest highlight. Bind the Unknown Soldier devotion's Living Shadow proc here (100% chance on crit, summoning a phantom pet that deals Pierce/Bleeding damage).

A Nightblade spinning-blade AoE. Taking its Circle of Slaughter modifier adds Bleeding damage, providing extra damage plus crowd control.

The other modifier for Ring of Steel. Invest just 1 point early on for its freeze crowd control, nothing more.

A Nightblade sustained-heal buff. Keep it up alongside Blood of Dreeg at all times as a core survival pillar.

An Occultist sustained-heal buff. Keeping it up alongside Pneumatic Burst doubles down on health regen.

A Nightblade defensive skill. Use it as a panic button in dangerous situations.

An always-on Nightblade passive that boosts offense.

An Occultist transformation skill that grants a damage-absorb shield. Consider investing spare points here once you hit level 100.

• ▸Start as Nightblade, putting 1 point into Amarasta's Blade Burst and 2 into the mastery bar every level. Equip a ranged 2H weapon (purchasable at the Devil's Crossing shop too).
• ▸After defeating Warden Krieg, head straight into Forgotten Gods (any faction is fine). Chase the Scarab Shell shield from scarabs around the Korvan Plateau. If Blade Spirit isn't unlocked yet, respec out of Amarasta's Blade Burst.
• ▸Put 1 point each into Ring of Steel, Ring of Frost, and Circle of Slaughter, plus 1 into the Occultist mastery. From here, put 1 point each level into Blade Spirit, Anatomy of Murder, and Curse of Frailty until maxed. Once you've restored your first 6 devotion shrines, spend 1 point in Crossroads (Eldritch) and complete Bat, binding its proc to Blade Spirit.
• ▸Once Bloody Pox unlocks, put at least 1 point into it. Late in Forgotten Gods, chase Gargoyle Visage (helm) and Gargoyle Waistguard (belt) from gargoyle mobs in the Astral Fields. Start investing in the Occultist mastery bar. The original guide's devotion order runs Crossroads (Chaos) 1, Crossroads (Primordial) 1, Lizard, then Behemoth — this article instead uses a budget-compliant route that skips Lizard and Behemoth entirely.
• ▸Back in the main campaign, chase the Boneblade weapon from Trogs in Mountain Deeps. In Pine Barrens, chase the Bloodbriar's Thorn amulet, and get your medal from Bloodfeast in Tyrant's Hold. Don't worry about affixes yet — just grab one of each and keep moving.
• ▸In Ugdenbog, ally with Barrowholm (it unlocks some of this build's gear and keeps the door open to fight Ravager of Flesh later). Keep investing in the Occultist mastery bar. On devotions (in this article's route), work through Crossroads (Order) 1, Tortoise, Crossroads (Ascendant) 1, Owl, and Scholar's Light.
• ▸Finish the main campaign and Ashes of Malmouth. Once respected with Black Legion, buy Legion Cuirass and Legion Spaulders. Start Elite around level 53, checking resistances and gear. Keep activating monster totems.
• ▸Around level 60, start investing in Pneumatic Burst and Blood of Dreeg. Finish Elite around level 78, and recheck resistances and gear entering Ultimate. Buy Writs to speed up faction reputation gains.

• ▸At level 90, upgrade to Elite Legion Cuirass. Buy Malmouth Blade Seal rings from the Malmouth Resistance faction. Upgrade shoulders to Elite Wendigo Tempered Pauldrons.
• ▸Elite Harvest Grips from Homestead can be your fixed gloves choice (part of the budget setup). If you want to push further, Mythical Grasp of Unchained Might (a random legendary drop) is an upgrade target. Upgrade weapon and shield chasing Bleeding-damage affixes ("of Blood", "of Butchery", etc).
• ▸Revisit Forgotten Gods to upgrade the helm and belt (picking Cult of Dreeg makes it easy to find both in the gargoyle-mob area). Mythical Abyssal Mask (a legendary that depends on a random blueprint) is an upgrade target for the helm. Malmouth Bladed Girdle (faction-bought) is a solid belt alternative.
• ▸Elite Legion Greaves can be your fixed boots choice (part of the budget setup). If you want to push further, Mythical Windshear Greaves (a random legendary drop) is an upgrade target. Revisit Bloodbriar and Bloodfeast for stronger versions of the amulet and medal (restoring the bridge in Twin Falls speeds up the farming loop).
• ▸Pants can stay on the reliable Dreeg-Sect Legguards, or Reaper's Legguards (farmable in Shattered Realm once allied with Barrowholm) work well too.
• ▸For Callagadra or Crate of Entertainment, the recommendation is to add some legendary items and swap the relic to Serenity.

• ▸Keep Pneumatic Burst and Blood of Dreeg up at all times, and spread damage with Curse of Frailty and Bloody Pox debuffs.
• ▸Kite dangerous enemies while applying debuffs and Ring of Steel, letting Blade Spirit grind them down.
• ▸Use Blade Barrier as a panic button in dangerous moments.
• ▸The demonstrated budget gear is entirely target-farmable or faction-bought with no reliance on random drops — only pushing into Mythical upgrades brings drop luck into play.

Aim for capped resistances, with extra emphasis on physical resistance and health regen given how fragile this class is. Keeping both Pneumatic Burst and Blood of Dreeg up at all times is central to damage management.

Overall more fragile than other physical/Bleeding-focused classes, so mismanaging incoming damage can end runs quickly. The playstyle assumes leaning on defensive layers (health regen, physical resistance, Blade Barrier) rather than diving in and tanking hits yourself — let Blade Spirit do that instead.

Farm scarabs around the Korvan Plateau for Scarab Shell, Trogs in Mountain Deeps for Boneblade, Pine Barrens for Bloodbriar's Thorn, Bloodfeast in Tyrant's Hold for the medal, and gargoyle mobs in the Astral Fields for the helm and belt. Restoring the Twin Falls bridge speeds up Bloodbriar/Bloodfeast farming loops.