Last Epoch Build Guide: Immortal Lich (DoT Acolyte)
Aug. 25, 2020Last Epoch Build Guide: Immortal Lich (DoT Acolyte)
In this Last Epoch Guide we’re going to be covering aLichBuildthat focuses on the use of several Damage Over Time skills to build huge Poison and Necrotic damage stacks.Last Epochhas very deep customization options for passive trees, and Skill perks, that can be difficult to navigate. In this Build Guide I’ll explain how to get the most from this Build, which also works as a great starter build. So if you’ve been struggling to find a good Lich Build that’s less dependent on gear then this Guide is for you.
TheImmortal Lichuses a combination of passives that apply multiple stacks of damage over time effects at same time. Additionally it utilizes spells that hit several times per cast multiplying the number of stacks quickly, applying damage over time, that can kill enemies even after you move away from them. This helps the build to not rely on standing still in one place for long periods of time, but let the player manoeuvre more quickly, before being overwhelmed by enemies. It’s a perfect setup forMonolith of Fateruns, where you need to reach the end boss quickly.
This Last Epoch Build also takes advantage ofHealing Effectiveness, andLife Leechto keep the second life bar fromReaper Formrefilled all the time, the reason for this, is that it’s currently one of the easiest ways to stay alive against all content. With Healing Effectiveness fromAura of Decayworking passively to regenerate life, and Life Leech works actively to heal every time you deal damage, letting you can breeze through campaigns and endgame content without stopping. Having two movement skills also gives great mobility, and makes you able to avoid enemy skills pretty much all the time.
This is also a very versatile build that can do a variation of content. For example you can move to the pack of mobs before the first pack has been taken down, and it will sustain a very high health leech this way from doing damage to so many monsters at the same time. If you can out do your enemies in damage then you have little to worry about when it comes to taking damage. Boss fights will usually mean you will need to “hug” the bosses, staying close to them and circling around them, as it’s much easier to avoid boss projectiles that way. And staying close is also a good way to apply huge poison stacks from Aura of Decay.
Using this build I could reach wave 89 and rank up in Top Five in SSF with little to no effort, killed only by void damage which my character has the lowest resistance for. At the same time, I could farm the Monolith level 100 with ease, so this build becomes pretty useful in terms of the different content it can take on.
In this section we’ll take a look at what Skills should be on your Skill bar to make this Lich Build work. There is really only three must have Skills for this Build, giving you some freedom and flexibility for the other two spells. Since we have a huge focus on Damage Over Time and mobility, I have recommended the ones that synergize best with this particular playstyle here.
As we will go deep into the Lich tree, we only use skills from Acolyte Base class, and Lich Master class:
This spell unlocks after spending 5 passive points in Acolyte passive tree, and is the first skill we specialize in. It hits multiple times, deals hit damage and possesses the target, applying Necrotic damage over time, so you will open all fights with it, and you will find it can carry you through a quite good amount of the way through the game. As the PerkRisen Cemeterycan fire 11 projectiles per cast (which auto aims towards enemies), this helps spreading damage over larger areas, or hitting a single enemy multiple times, applying several poison stacks in the process.
Start with 1/5Inspired Hungerto get toRisen Cemetery,then put 2/2 points. Proceed to take the whole 5/5Descent into Madness, this will give you the projectiles numbers, and increase damage over time needed for early levels. After that, get 5/5Caustic Wretchesfor poison chance, and return toInspired Hungerto fill 5/5. After that put the final three points into the perks you prefer. I recommend putting 1/3 inDominion of Undeathand 2/4 inLife HuntFor smoother ‘cast and move’ playstyle.
This spell is your main damage source from early game to the very endgame. It reveals invincible, untargetable spirits around the player, with each having a chance to throw a poison projectile towards enemies every second. Wandering Spirits will maximize the damage output, as we aim to increase the reveal rate, duration of spirits, and reduce the cooldown of the spell.
We will unlock this skill at level 8, and specialize in at level 9, taking the second specialization slot.
Put 2/4 points in theSouls of Rageperk, to open the path toSpectral Putrescence1/1 , then finish this branch with 3/3Soul of Filth.This gives poison projectiles to the spirits. Follow with 5/5Thin Veiltogether with 4/4Lingering Soulsto maximize the uptime of spirits, increasing potential to apply more poison stacks on enemies. We will use 1/1Infectious deadto convert Necrotic damage of initial hits into poison, so it benefits from poison damage modifiers, and finally, 3/3Spirit Swarmreduces cooldown of skill. This leaves you with 1 point, which I suggest putting intoSpectral Scornfor higher range of spirits.
One of the best movement spells in last Epoch, and the best utility skill in our arsenal. You unlock this skill at level 13, and can be specialized at third slot at level 19.
There are many ways to build Transplant, but we aim to use it to recover life and mana, and grant us defensive buffs. The skill drains health to teleport you into the desired spot on screen, and we can allocate 1/1Drink deepto heal this amount drained over next four seconds, with the amount healed affected byHealing Effectiveness, so we end up healing more than what we drained. 3/3Bone Armorgrants armor buff, and makes characters take less damage, which we can also extend by taking on 3/3Apostasy.
We will take 1/3Acolyte’s Ferverand 2/5Sadism, which are requirement for reaching the good PerkPale bloodto replenish mana when you use Transplant, you can either use 2/3 or 3/3, depending on how much cooldown we have. 3/3Dance of Bloodis another good way to add more poison stacks, by hitting enemies 3 more times, and can also heal some extra life.
Get 2/4 inScarlet Rainto reachEthereal Bodyand put 1/1 point to turn spell damage into Necrotic. For the last one or two points there are several good choices, and you can’t go wrong with any of the additional detonation perks.
The trademark of Lich class that you get by mastering it, is when you finish the first quest forThe End of Time.The skill transforms the Lich into a reaper, adding duplicate life pools that degenerate slowly over time, giving you a new transformation attack and the movement skill calledReap.We can use the skill un-specialized until the final specialization slot opens at level 49.
Once specialized, we can put points into the best perks that increase the uptime for Reaper Form, and improve healing effectiveness. We do that by putting 4/4 points inMistress of Decay, and 4/4 inHarbinger of Blood
The other branch we invest into is poison chance, poison duration, and chance to apply Mark for Death, a debuff that make enemies take 30% increased damage. Put 1/4 intoDeathtouch Scytheto open the way toHaunting, get it to 3/3 and move to 1/1Pestilence. Finally, get 2/3 intoVenomous Coatingand 5/5 inHerald of Rot.All of these are global modifiers that help all other spells we have in our arsenal, soReaper Formcan still perform well, even if you not useReapitself.
This is the last spell you will get after allocating 10 passive points into theLichtree. I recommend specializing in it when the 4th slot opens at level 34, because it can improve the overall damage and life recovery plus heal. The skill casts an Aura around the character, applying poison stacks to you and enemies in the radius every second. So it helps you kill enemies faster, and drains your health at same time.
To counter the life drain from Aura of decay, we take 4/4 inAbsence of lifeperk, and 5/5Inoculation,this makes you take less poison damage, and heal a portion of your missing health every second, withHealing Effectivenessincreasing this heal.
We take 4/4 inPlague Rat, and 3/3 inRot Weaver,for increased area of effect, and higher poison frequency on enemies. From here, there are many good choices, but I prefer adding a ranged projectile to the skill, by taking 2/3Vulnerability, and 1/1Poison Bolt.Then finish with 1/3 inBubonic Aurato add a chance for another damage over time debuff that spreads between enemies.
Figuring out how to spend your points in the passive tree is one of the most important parts of making a Build in the Last Epoch, and generally it takes a respec or two before it’s gotten right. In this section, I want to show you how I’ve set this up for maximum performance.
You start with Acolyte tree by default, and it’s required you to spend 20 points here to unlock the master class trees, so put 8/8 inBone Aura, and 7/8 inStolen Vitalityfor armor and resistances. Then finish with 5/5 inPutrid Demisewhich improves your chance to poison enemies.
At endgame, I recommend coming back to Acolyte to put 6/6 in theEye of Damnationpassive to add another damage over time ailment to our arsenal. But for now, we move on.
Once you reachThe End of Timeand get to master the Lich class, you will be able to invest in this tree. We will spend the rest of our points here, and we will find very good health, leech, and damage over time passive that will shape our build.
8/8Survival of the Cruelis where we start, with good health bonus and much needed life leech. Then I’d get 3/3 inWraith bringer, which summons a range of minions with a high chance to poison enemies, then put 4/8 points inDesolationto open the higher tier passives. Return toDesolationlater to max at 8/8.
Get both,Bed of Soulsandlasting Stenchto 8/8, for more resistances, poison damage, and poison duration. Note that Health regeneration doesn’t benefit us in Reaper Form, but it helps sustain Aura of Decay when out of Reaper Form. Afterwards, put one point 1/8 inThree Plagues, and 5/5 inContagion Engine,this gives a huge buff to our damage over time.
If you are using a one handed weapon as a main hand and Catalyst in off hand, you can grab 5/5 inSymbol of Decayfor another decent damage over time buff. Then go for 8/8 inAgeless Ascetic, and 5/5 inSoul Mawat top of the passive tree, the build survivability will reach new heights with this passive.
Now fill upCorrosive Consciousnessto 8/8 , and put as many points as you can handle inDecaying Form, because it causes you take more poison self damage from Aura of Decay. Max to 10/10 only if you have good poison resistance, and have Idols that decreases damage over time taken.
This concludes the passive tree, and gives a strong foundation to the build. So with some gear improvements we can become theImmortal Lich.
In this section we’ll be covering the type of equipment that you want to aim for, for the Immortal Lich Build. The first thing you’ll want is a good weapon that ideally has Damage Over Time, Chance to Poison On Hit, some Poison Damageand Reduced Spell Mana Costas modifiers. Seek a weapon with some of these stats, and open Affixes, so you can craft the rest of these modifiers. If you don’t find a weapon that have these stats, you can gamble at Artem the Gambler a few times for a good base to use for crafting.
Good bases for weapon crafting areDivine Scepter, orMoonstone Scepter. Players should note Wands can’t roll Chance to Poison,orPoison Damagemodifiers, but it will have high spell damage, so they are helpful in the earlier levels before you build up your damage over time.Prophecy Wand, orInfernal Wandbases is a good alternative to craft if you can’t find the perfect Scepter.
Armour wise, look forSet Glancing Blowsand+% Health. This will take care of most damage taken, and after you maxGlancing Blows, look for some Armor, Elemental Resistances, and Poison Resistance. Cooldown Reduction is also nice to have on your Helmet slot, so get that if you can. Also, grab Movement speed on Boots, it will make moving between packs of enemies that much smoother.
You need a good Catalyst in off hand, so seek outBloodburst AegisorBrass AegisCatalyst to getIntelligenceandWard Per Secondon top of your stats.Ward Per Secondis nice way to counter the poison degeneration fromAura of Decay.
Look for+% Increased Damage Over Time, and+% Healing Effectivenesson Amulet, Rings, Catalyst, and Relic. Additionally, craft Critical Strike Avoidance, to further increase your survivability against higher levels Arena and nasty monsters modifiers in Monolith of Fate
Idols are good way to augment your character, and for this particular build, we have several options to build towards. Either use fourAdorned Immortal Idolwith hugeHealing Effectivenessmodifier, fourOrnate Bone Idolwithincreased damage while transformedandLess Damage Over Time Taken,or fourHuge Immortal Idolwith% Poison Chance on Spell HitandAura of Decay area.
You can mix and match twoAdorned Immortal Idolwith two of other Idols if you like, but you can’t mixOrnate Bone IdolandHuge Immortal Idol ,so try different combinations to find what suits your playstyle the best
Remember to level up with best weapons you can find, you are not locked into certain types of weapon, but only by whatever improves your damage. Use your crafting shards, to improve your items while leveling. Players tend to hold onto it and not do anything with it until later levels, while they could use them and get the upper hand against tougher content. You will find more shards as you level up, and you can target farm specific modifiers by shattering items that have these affixes.
Be careful when usingReapto charge into enemy packs, because enemies can block you from moving, and stun-lock you into place, specially if you get FPS drops during high density Arena waves. Try to edge around them, withReapandTransplant, and be sureWandering Spiritsis doing their job even if you don’t get in melee range forAura of Decay. You also don’t need to face enemies to hit them with Hungering Souls, the souls have auto aim towards the nearest enemies, so you can use it while running away from enemy packs.
The survivability of this build can take you far, that you will feel like a true Immortal, butReaper Formhealth degeneration keeps building up over time, so after few minutes, it will tend to decay much faster. If you don’t have enough immediate monsters around you to leech their life, yourReaper Formmight end abruptly, so it’s good advice to keep an eye on how much your life decreases in a single drop down, and if it goes too high, wait before engaging more enemies. Just turn off yourAura of Decayso you lose the healing spell, andReaper Formwill end and go into cooldown. Wait for the cooldown, then continue re-cast and roll. You can also use same pauses between Arena waves, for higher convenience.
Hopefully thisLast Epochbuild gets you ready to take on the masses as an Immortal Lich! If you enjoyed this build be sure to lookout for moreLast Epochcontent.
Be sure to check out our Last EpochAlpha Preview Part OneandTwo, and ourBeta 0.7.8 Preview, and keep an eye out for future Builds and Guides.
elnawawi
Thanks for this build, I’m enjoying it quite a lot ATM. But I have two questions for you.
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What amount of resistances should I AIM ?
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At end-game do you rely around Hungering Soul or you just cast it when you have spare time and mostly trust aura of decay for damage dealing.
Hello traveler,
tldr: the stats have changed drastically since this build was out, and it’s pretty much exprected since game is still beta. That’s one of reasons I don’t do so many builds for Last Epoch even though it’s my most preferred ARPG. And for your question, probably “Forbidden Knowledge” is much better than “Stolen Vitality” now.
When these new tier armour introduced, and people could get very high resistances over time, they would hit the cap with some builds, so resistances become less desired stat in skill tree, and people would not use it. That’s where the change to Vitality comes from, giving flat HP instead of resistances. Flat HP is important because it gets multiplied by percentage %HP stat, so many builds would get it on every item. So giving it on Vitality would allow more build diversity and free up many stat slots for most builds.
So is new Vitality better? Well, flat HP is good, but health regeneration is useless in Reaper Form. So it needs extended tests, to weight the value of 80 base HP v.s Forbidden Knowledge. on top of my head, I’d say “Forbidden Knowledge” is much better than “Stolen Vitality” now. But I’d still hold to the armour from Bone Aura, because 6% damage from Blood Aura is not worth it in endgame.. There are much better damage modifiers in Lich tree that we are getting. Also most of our points are spent on offense already, so we need something in defense. Blood Aura is still viable of course, just not my recommendation.
hI elnawawi,
I’m just staring the game and getting my head around things, but your build immediately appealed to my playstyle. I’m very early in the game (lvl 14) and currently following your build exactly, but when looking at the acolyte passives I’m wondering why you choose to put early points into Bone aura and stolen vitality, as opposed to Blood Aura or forbidden Knowledge which seem like they would boost damage significantly… Is the small amount of extra armour and health worth it? Like I say I am completely knew to the game and have very basic understanding of it, so I’m probbaly missing loads, but I’m just curious.
Ps thanks for the guide, it’s really well written and helpful!
Thanks.
The best offensive Unique you can use for this build is “Chimaera’s Essence” which is Amulet that gives 100-160% increased damage while transformedand 5-10% increased movement speed while transformed, at the cost of reduced armour and resistances. Then Vipertail belt, which comes with no negative effects.
You can use either just fine, and they will give you more damage, but makes it slightly easier for you to do die, especially at high level arena waves.
The best thing about Draalsting spear is the melee poison chance, which is useless for us, we poison by spells, not melee attacks, so it’s huge wasted opportunity, but feel free to experiment with it, these guides are meant as a way to inspire people to try new things, not hand hold them into taking exactly the same steps.
Woven Flesh is best unique item in game, giving many benefits to every build in game (with its generic stats), but I honestly prefer well crafted rare Profane Robes with way more resistances and better life. I usually prefer resistances for such builds, because it prevent being 1 shotted
Hello, thank you for the awesome guide! Currently lv 64. I have a question regarding uniques. Do you think there are uniques that are better than rare crafted items? I droppeda vipertail (belt): 56% chance to poison, 60% chance to slow on hit, 47% increased dodge ratingWoven flesh (body): 3% increased health, 3.4% overkill damage leeched as health, 39% increased damage leeched as health, 40% increased leech rate, 85% chance to receive glancing glow when hitDraalsting: 175% increased poison damage, 142% chance to poison on melee hit
Thanks again for the guide
, thanks for the kind words, it makes me happy to see people find these builds useful.
For two handed weapons you don’t get any use for “Symbol of Decay”, so skip it, and Max out “Desolation” at 8/8 to unlock next tier passives. If you are following the guide closely you would have 37 points in Lich (with 4/8 Desolation), so just put the remaining 4 points into it and you are golden for the next tier.
You will get all your other passive skills earlier, and eventually you will have some extra points. You can put them in “Crippling Insight” at the bottom of Lich tree, health regeneration become less and less important at later levels (because you stay in Reaper Form longer, which sets your health regeneration to zero anyway), and 2 int per point equals 8% increased damage for several spells of ours.
hey Elnawawi – GREAT guide ! Can’t tell you how much I appreciate all the work you put into it. I just started LE 2 weeks ago & I am using this build for my 2nd character (at lvl 60 for my 1st char and almost up to lvl 50 on this one). I’m following your build fairly closely with only a few minor changes of my own, but I do have 1 question. On the Passive Tree for Lich you take Symbol of Decay for 5 pts but that’s only good if you use a 1H weapon. I’m currently using Draalsting a 2H weapon & the other 2 passive options at that level are underwhelming – Elixir of Death is not helpful as I don’t like to use potions unless absolutely necessary and more health drained is not what I want – that leaves Clairvoyant Insight for 50% more Crit Multi & since we rarely crit (5%) that’s worthless. There really should be a decent passive for 2H players at that stage of the tree to get to the higher passives that are desirable. I think the devs should address this issue. What are your thoughts & what would you recommend? Thanks for making such a user friendly guide. -Bob
