Witch and Sorceress: thematic separation & identity

I think Infernalist would work better as a Sorceress ascendancy, and Chronomancer could fit nicely with the Witch class.

I assume that this was considered at some point during class design, and I would love to hear the official reasoning behind the final decision.

Here is my reasoning for the reverse. As in the title, this is about the theme, not considering gameplay.

- Sorceress feels like she is aimed to be the Elementalist class, now fully realized in PoE 2. And Witch is the darker spellcaster that has no problem going too far into forbidden paths to obtain power. This is evident even in the Infernalist ascendancy, which is not really about the element of fire, but more about hellish power.

- Infernalist's entire pyromancy side is pure Sorceress thematically. See also Warhammer pyromancers, which were possibly the inspiration for this theme and related mechanics. Demon form and Hellhound don't it Sorceress so much, but then again neither do they fit Witch. But oh well, there is no Warlock class.

- Chronomancy, which I think is awesome and novel as a concept for PoE, doesn't fit with traditional elemental magic, but it can be seen as closer to arcane magic, which would fit better with Witch. It isn't a dark power, but it is certainly dangerous, and usually forbidden. I would associate the idea of toying with time more with a chaotic spellcaster than one who controls the elements.

- Chronomancy ascendancy is mostly about buffing the chronomancer, with little focus on affecting enemies. This fits very well with the self-serving and introverted nature of the Witch, while it is neutral with regards to the Sorceress.

*Speculation*

- Sorceress' third ascendancy will very likely be golems. A wilder speculation is physical spellcasting (let's say ironmancy), which is an available slot in PoE's magic systems. In any case, these are about affecting the real world with magic. Witch will almost certainly have a chaos-themed third ascendancy, and chronomancy ties thematically way better with other supernatural domains (chaos, life/death) than it does with worldly elements. Time is also loosely thematically connected with skeletons.


Gameplay considerations: One I can think of is that if Sorceress got Infernalist and golems then she would end up with two minion ascendancies. But the connection between Infernalist and minions is very weak; there is a spirit buff, and the Hellhound, which feels more like a passive buff that you never notice again after you turn it on - it is basically a PoE 1 golem. The spellcasting-related parts of the Infernalist tree (including Demon Form) give a far stronger thematic identity. As for Sorceress, golems in PoE 2 could easily provide big boosts to elemental magic without being part of a minion build.