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The Lich is one of the Acolyte’s three Class Mastery options inLast Epoch, capable of transforming into a Reaper Form that grants superior combat capabilities, but drains your health over time. This high-risk, high-reward playstyle may not be suited for everyone, but that doesn’t diminish its excellent clear speeds and survivability.
Compared to the Warlock, the Lich is a little more difficult to level with, but things even out in the endgame, and this build has the potential to be even faster than a Chthonic Fissure Warlock build, with the right setup. Below, we’ll take a look at how to level a Lich through the campaign using Reaper Form and Death Seal.
This build combines the mobility gained fromTransplantandReapin Reaper Form with the damage ofDeath Seal, allowing you to speed through maps while blowing up packs. When Death Seal is on cooldown, we’ll useRip Bloodfor respectable damage and sustain.Bone Curseprovides additional DPS and survivability in a large area, thanks to theSignet of AgonySpecialization node.
With theDeadlockSpecialization node for Death Seal, your health willautomatically be set to 33 percentwhen you activate Death Seal, allowing you to immediately take advantage of the number oflow-health bonuseswe have, mainly in the Reaper Form tree.
However, this also meansoutside of Reaper Form, Death Seal is a death sentence, as you won’t have the tankiness provided by Reaper Form to prevent you from dying. This also means that if you lose Reaper Form for any reason, you’ll be a whole lot weaker, and may need tohang back for a few seconds until Reaper Form is ready again.
Transplant can also be used to help you evade danger when outside of Reaper Form, but be sure to get theUnholy Dominionnode in the Reaper tree so that Reap and Transplant no longer share a cooldown. This will also provide aton of extra mobilityfor getting between packs faster, making it easier to keep Reaper Form up.
Skills And Passives
The core of this build is the Lich Mastery skill, Reaper Form, as well as Death Seal, which doesn’t unlock until you’ve put 30 points into the Lich Passive tree. This means until then, you’ll need to run a set of different skills.
Luckily,Rip Bloodis the Acolyte’s starting skill, and will be used for this build, so you can rely on that for the first section of the leveling process.Bone CurseandTransplantare also learned fairly early on, so you can get started on leveling these Skills early in preparation for Reaper Form.
In Rip Blood’s tree, focus on theHemomancerandArcane Absorptionnodes to start, then move into the left side of the tree withQuenchingandMana Feastfor better sustain. A few points inThirstwill also help with this. Eventually, you’ll want to get theRip Spiritnode, as this willhelp Rip Blood scale with the rest of the build.
TheSplatterandEvisceratenodes are also important to pick up for extra AoE, but you may hold off on these until later. Especiallyhold off on Eviscerate, as the added Mana cost can make it more difficult to use Rip Blood for leveling.
Once you get Reaper Form, the first Skill Specialization node you should get isUnholy Dominion, making it so Reap and Transplant no longer share a cooldown. Mobility is essential, especially early on, so that you’re able to get between packs of monsters andleech their health to stay in Reaper Form.
From there, you’ll want to pick up important damage nodes likeReaper’s CurseandRapid Destructionon the left side of the tree, then go for defensive nodes likeMistress of Decay,Soul Shroud, andVile Shroudon the right side of the tree.
Finish off the tree by maxing outDeath’s Door, increasing Reap’s damage while you’re low on health. This node isonly worth investing in once you have Death Seal and Deadlock active, however.
For Death Seal, start on the left side by maxing outCorrupted Consciousness, allowing you to unlockMortal Pulse. Then, continue down this branch and getDesperate ShroudandDeadlock. On the right side of the tree, focus on getting theDoomcallnode, as this will greatlyscale Death Seal’s damage, especially if you have theMarina’s Lost SoulUnique.
In the rest of the tree, be sure to grabTachycardiafor even more damage.
Passive Tree
This build uses 20 points in the Acolyte passive tree to unlock Lich, 10 points in the Warlock tree for some added Intelligence, and everything else in the Lich tree.
In the base Acolyte passive tree, during the leveling process, first put your points intoBlood Auraand a few inBone Aura.
If you’re using Summon Skeletons during the leveling process, you may add a few points intoDark Ritualsas well for added damage.
Once you have Lich unlocked, you’ll want torespec your Acolyte treeso that you have eight out ofeight points in Bone AuraandForbidden Knowledge, andfour points in Stolen Vitality orBlood Aura, depending on if you need more survivability or damage, respectively.
In the Warlock tree, putfive points into Soul Stealer, and the otherfive into Occultist’sMind. You canallocate these later, after getting the more important nodes in the Lich tree.
For the Lich tree, your first focus will be in theDance with Deathnode, as this greatly boosts damage while below 35 percent health, which will be easy to maintain thanks to Deadlock. After that,ApocryphaandGrasp of Fatewill get you to 20 points, at which point you can grabUnclosing WoundsandCrippling Insight.
For the rest of the tree,Deathbringer, Dark Guard, Clairvoyant Insight, and Ageless Asceticare the most important damage-increasing nodes, whileThree Plagues, Elixer of Death, and Soul Mawhelp with defense and sustain.Mind Over Bodyis also important, as it increases Intelligence and health drain, whichhelps keep your health low for Dance with Death.
Important Stats And Uniques
As you level this build, there are a few stats you’ll want to be on the lookout for. Because of the high innate damage of the Reaper Form, Dance with Death, Death Seal, and Deadlock combo, you’ll want tomainly focus on defensive statsto stay alive and in Reaper Form for longer.
That said, damage-boosting stats likeNecrotic DamageandCast Speedare always good, especially after you’ve unlocked theRip Spiritnode for Rip Blood. Here’s how you should prioritize your offensive stats on the gear you pick up throughout the campaign.
And here’s how you should prioritize defensive stats.
Uniques To Look Out For
While this build doesn’t need much in the way of gear to get started, and doesn’t rely on any particular Uniques, there are a few that bring the build to the next level.
TheMarina’s Lost SoulWand greatly increasesNecrotic Spell Damage and Cast Speed, andinflicts you with Damned every time you cast a Spell, further scaling your damage thanks to theDoomcall node from Death Seal. Since Reaper Form and Rip Blood provide so much sustain, the Damned DoT is easily offset.
TheGrimoire of Necrotic Elixirsis another great Unique that providesboosts to offense and defense when drinking a potion, and theRed Ring of Atlariais another great defensive option that onlygets better if you have over 180 total Attributes, which is easily achievable later on due to how much Intelligence we have built in.
None of these Uniques are essential for the leveling process, but they will make things a lot smoother. If you happen to get aRune of Ascendance, use it on a Wand first to attempt to getMarina’s Lost Soul, as this will have thebiggest impact on the build.
Unique boots likeAdvent of the ErasedorBlood of the Exileare also good options to try for using a Rune of Ascendance, as these will provideincreased Movement Speed, letting you move between packs faster and generally make it through the campaign quicker.
