Essence Drain
Lich Build

Updated for Path of Exile 2 Early Access

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The Essence Drain is an iconic Spell in Path of Exile that defines an entire Chaos Damage over Time archetype. It is a Projectile Spell that applies a Debuff on enemies it Hits, dealing a large amount of Chaos Damage over its Duration. Furthermore, you can use the Contagion Spell to apply another DoT effect. It deals significantly less Damage, but it will spread all Debuffs to nearby Enemies upon killing the main target. 

This combo is excellent for clearing masses of monsters, but is not that great against powerful enemies. You will need to use another synergistic ability, called Dark Effigy.  It is a Totem that fires Chaos Projectiles at all nearby enemies affected by any type of Chaos DoT, firing more Projectiles for each unique type of Debuff. For this reason, you will want to include in your Build additional Debuffs even if their Damage is not impressive, such as Poison or Decaying Hex Support. 

The Lich is a very powerful and universal Ascendency. It has a quite strict but unique way of providing defense: the Eternal Life Notable makes your Life unable to change as long as you have Energy Shield. Thanks to the Soulless Form, Atziri's Disdain Helmet, and the Heavy Buffer Notable, at least 25% of the incoming Damage will bypass your Energy Shield. Since your Life cannot be changed, it will be simply discarded. This setup has some restrictions - you have to get a lot of Energy Shield, although you can't use Chaos Innoculation Keystone, as with the Soulless Form, your Mana Regeneration is based on your maximum Life. Thankfully, Energy Shield is currently the best form of defense anyway. 

This Ascendency is also great for Damage. You can use the Eldritch Empowerment Notable to get 30% More Spell Damage, which is a lot. For the final Notable, you will have 2 choices. You can use the Crystaline Phyllactery to get an additional Jewel socket with increased effect, or improve your Clear Speed with Chaos Explosions from the Rupture the Soul Notable. 

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1. Gameplay

Use the Essence Drain and Contagion combo to devastate large packs of monsters. For tougher Enemies, you should summon two Dark Effigy Totems, empower them with the Sigil of Power, and apply extra Chaos DoTs to trigger more Projectiles. The Despair Curse will greatly reduce the Chaos Resistance of your Enemies, while the Temporal Chains will make them much slower.

2. Build's PROS & CONS

3. Leveling tips

The Essence Drain is a very good Skill even during the Campaign. At first, you will have to use the Chaos Bolt granted by your Weapon to supplement the Dark Effigy until you achieve the necessary level, but it will be required only against tougher Bosses and tanky Rares. Energy Shield is not a good idea during the Campaign, as it requires plenty of good Gear and investments to be a reliable layer of defense. Instead, you should focus on maximum Life, capping Resistance, and investing Passive Points into Damage. Remember that you can use Level 3 Support Gems right from the start; they do not have a level requirement. 

4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon

Final Skill Tree:

Click on the image to open the Passive Tree preview in a new window, or use the Path of Building (PoB) tool.

Ascendancy points:

Preferably in this order:

1. Eldritch Empowerment
2. Soulless Form
3. Eternal Life
4. Crystaline Phylactery

5. Final Gems links

[DPS] Essence Drain setup Weapon set 1
	Essence Drain - this is your main Skill to clear weaker enemies. It applies a Damaging Debuff on a single opponent.
	Swift Affliction
	Chain
	Considered Casting
	Chaos Mastery
	Zenith

[DPS] Contagion  setup Weapon set 1
	Contagion - this Spell spreads all other Chaos Debuffs upon killing the main target. It also deals a decent amount of Damage once it spreads a few times.
	Magnified Effect
	Unleash
	Intense Agony
	Derange
	Chaotic Freeze

[DPS] Dark Effigy setup Weapon set 1
	Dark Effigy - your main source of Damage against Bosses, this Totem fires Chaos Projectiles for each unique type of Chaos Debuff applied to an Enemy.
	Controlled Destruction
	Overabundance
	Arcane Tempo
	Deliberation
	Concentrated Effect

[UTILITY] Blasphemy setup Weapon set 1
	Temporal Chains - a defensive Curse that slows down your Enemies and makes Debuffs on them last longer.
	Blasphemy - turns a linked Curse into an Aura around you.
	Ritualistic Curse
	Encumbrance

[UTILITY] Despair setup Weapon set 2
	Despair - an offensive Curse that lowers the Chaos Resistance of your Enemies. Use the Second Weapon Set to boost its effectiveness.
	Decaying Hex - inflict another type of Chaos Debuff for the Dark Effigy.
	Heightened  Curse
	Focused Curse
	Cursed Ground
	Inspiration

[UTILITY] Withering Presence Weapon set 1
	Withering Presence - automatically applies the Wither Debuff to nearby Enemies, increasing the Chaos Damage they take.
	Persistence
	Clarity

[UTILITY] Convalescence setup Weapon set 2
	Convalescence - grants you a Skill with a short Cooldown that triggers your Energy Shield Recharge until you fully recover it. Use it on a second Weapon Set to save Spirit.
	Ingenuity

[UTILITY] Blink setup Weapon set 2
	Blink - replaces your Dodge Roll with a Teleport with a short Cooldown. Use it on the second Weapon Set to save Spirit and use it on demand by swapping Weapons.
	Second Wind

[UTILITY] Low-life Status setup
	Bonestorm - use the Visage of Ayah Helmet to temporarily get the Eldritch Battery Keystone to remove all your Energy Shield. Use any Channeling Spell to spend Life to enter the Low-life status.
	Lifetap

6. Gear Setup

The scaling options for your Damage are quite limited. You will need increases to your Chaos or Spell Damage, additional Chaos, Spell, or Projectile Gem Levels, and Cast Speed. A bit of Mana Regeneration might also be helpful if you can't sustain your costs comfortably. For defense, you will need to cap your Resistance and get as much Energy Shield as possible. 

(Weapon) Rare Wand - you will need additional Gem levels, increases to Spell or Chaos Damage, and Cast Speed. Use Essence of Ruin to guarantee the Chaos modifiers.

Min. requirements: 80% increased Chaos Damage +4 to Level of all Chaos Spell Skills 20% increased Cast Speed Optional affixes: increased Spell Damage increased Mana Regeneration Rate

(Focus) Rare Focus - the Focus can grant you plenty of Damage, but a bit of Energy Shield or Resistance can be found here too. Prioritise Gem Levels and increases to your Spell Damage.

Min. requirements: +200 Energy Shield +2 to Level of all Spell Skills 50% increased Chaos/Spell Damage Optional affixes: increased Chaos/Spell Damage % increased Cast Speed % total Chaos and Elemental Resistance

(Amulet) Rare Amulet - the Amulet is the last Gear piece where you can obtain additional Gem Levels. It should also boost your Energy Shield, grant lacking Resistance or Attributes, or possibly raise your Spirit.

Min. requirements: 40% increased maximum Energy Shield +2 to Level of all Projectile/Spell Skills Optional affixes: +# to Spirit % increased Mana Regeneration Rate % increased Cast Speed Resistance

(Ring) Rare Ring - the Rings should provide you with tons of Chaos and Elemental Resistance. You will also need a bit of Mana Regeneration Rate and Cast Speed.  Lastly, you can get some increases for Chaos Damage, but they are not very potent here.

Min. requirements: +80% total Chaos and Elemental Resistance  Optional affixes: % increased Mana Regeneration Rate % increased Chaos Damage % increased Cast Speed

(Belt) Rare Belt - here your options are limited only to Chaos and Elemental Resistances. Flask, Stun, or Charms modifiers are useful on top of that, but they are not mandatory.

Min. requirements: +80% total Chaos and Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: +# to maximum Mana % increased Flask Mana Recovery rate +# Charm slots

(Helmet) Atziri's Disdain - a mandatory Unique Helmet for nearly every Lich. The Damage bypass works as a Damage Reduction, and it also grants plenty of Energy Shield sourced from your maximum Life.

+(60–100) to maximum Mana (10–20)% increased Rarity of Items found 10% of Damage taken bypasses Energy Shield Gain (10–15)% of maximum Life as Extra maximum Energy Shield

(Helmet) Visage of Ayah - you can use this Helmet to gain the Eldritch Battery Keystone, which removes your Energy Shield and allows you to change your current Life amount. Use it to gain the Low-life status, granting you a minor Cast Speed bonus.

(50–80)% increased Energy Shield (10–15)% increased Rarity of Items found (20–30)% increased Critical Hit Chance +(10–20)% to Lightning Resistance Eldritch Battery

(Body Armour) Rare Armour - it is your main source of all your Energy Shield, far overperforming any other source. The base Implicit is also useful, you can get Mana Regeneration Rate or ES Recharge.

Min. requirements: +900 to Energy Shield Optional affixes: +% total Chaos and Elemental Resistance +# to Spirit % faster start of Energy Shield Recharge % increased Mana Regeneration Rate

(Gloves) Rare Gloves - you will need high Energy Shield and Chaos or Elemental Resistances. You might also need some Attributes.

Min. requirements: +150 to Energy Shield +80% total Chaos and Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes

(Gloves) Doedre's Tenure - provides a massive boost for your Chaos Damage, but also a severe penalty for your Cast Speed. It's a great boost for your Clear Speed with Essence Drain, but only a slight improvement for Single-target Damage with Dark Effigy.

+(20–30) to maximum Energy Shield 100% increased Spell Damage (15–25)% reduced Cast Speed +(10–15) to Intelligence

(Boots) Rare Boots - the Boots should grant you a decent amount of Energy Shield, but having 35% increased Movement Speed is the most important modifier here. They can also reduce the Duration of Chill, Freeze, or Shock on you.

Min. requirements: 35% Movement Speed +100 to Energy Shield +30% total Elemental Resistance Optional affixes: Attributes % reduced Freeze Duration on you

(Jewel) Rare Jewel - you will need one Jewel with a chance to Poison on Hit. The Dark Effigy Hits very often, so even a small chance is sufficient. The rest of Jewels should grant Energy Shield, Spell or Chaos Damage, and increase the effectiveness of Wither.

Emerald Jewel: % chance to Poison on Hit % increased Damage with Hits against Rare and Unique Enemies Sapphire Jewel: #% increased Mana Regeneration Rate Gain additional Stun Threshold equal to #% of maximum Energy Shield #% increased Spell Damage #% increased maximum Energy Shield Recover #% of maximum Mana on Kill #% increased Effect of Withered

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