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Last Epoch: Best Acolyte builds and skillsLearn the best builds and skills for the Acolyte class in Last Epoch
Learn the best builds and skills for the Acolyte class in Last Epoch
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Eleventh Hour Games
Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Eleventh Hour Games
Wondering what the best Acolyte skills and builds are in Last Epoch?The Acolyte class inLast Epochis for those who aren’t afraid to challenge the powers of life and death - or rather undeath. If you’ve ever played an undead summoner in any other ARPG, you have some idea of what to expect here. Lots of henchmen skeletons and spirits are waiting for you, and Acolytes even possess the ability to morph into a deadly version of the Grim Reaper!
That said, it can be tricky to determine whether you’d rather unleash a hex on your nearest enemy or open a rift in the ground to send them straight to the Underworld. There are quite a lot of creepy options at your disposal when studying the Acolyte’s three Masteries: the Lich, the Necromancer, and the Warlock. But thankfully, we’ve done this frightening work for you, and below you’ll find our favourite builds for each of these Masteries, along with the right Skills, Specialization Tree nodes, and Passives to select for each. Read on, and pretty soon the horrors of the great beyond will be at your beck and call.
Last Epoch Official Launch Trailer | Echoes from the VoidLast Epoch’s launch trailer shows off the game’s classes as well as its time-travelling theme.Watch on YouTube
Last Epoch Official Launch Trailer | Echoes from the Void
Last Epoch Best Acolyte Lich build
Behold the intimidating aura of the Lich Grim Reaper! |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Eleventh Hour Games
Bone Curse
Bone Curseis a reliable long-term Skill that gives an enemy a curse for 8 seconds. Hit the enemy when the curse is active, and watch them suffer the consequences. You can steadily build on Bone Curse, making the curse last longer, affect more enemies, and cause different types of damage.
After you’ve Specialized in this nefarious hex, pour points intoConflationto spread Bone Curse to a wider area. Follow up withDefile Defenses, which gives Bone Curse a chance to reduce enemy armour. From there, it’s a matter of choosing which way you want your curse to fall - I like to go forMarrow ThiefandBone Feast, which give your Acolyte a chance to gain handy Bone Armor after killing a foe suffering from Bone Curse. You can also work your way towardsBitter Winterif you like the idea of freezing your cursed foes.
Death Seal
Death Sealis a Skill for those who like to gamble on death’s door. It seals your Acolyte’s health, preventing it from going above its current value for five precious seconds. During that time, you can deal damage equal to your missing health and take less damage. This Skill can also be used to shoot off a wave of death dealing damage all at once.
This is obviously a risky Skill to Specialize in, but a calm Lich who masters it is a force to be reckoned with. On the Death Skill Specialization Tree, you’re going to want to max outCorrupted Consciousness,Desperate Shroud, and finallyDeadlockto amplify damage even further and grant yourself extra armour, ensuring that you don’t accidentally bite the bullet before seeing Death Seal to its end.
Harvest
Welcome to your main method of attack; this is theHarvestLich build after all! Harvest nicely sweeps through all enemies in front of you and will deal extra damage to those who are cursed. Aren’t you glad you took Bone Curse?
On the Harvest Specialization Tree, take theGreat Scythenode to deal more damage in a larger area andHarrowing Bladeto reduce enemy necrotic resistance with your successful hits. To continue building upon this Skill’s synergy with Bone Curse, max outSymbol of Lossnext.
Reaper Form
It’s time to assume the form of the reaper of souls and slash the life out of anything that dares to challenge you! In my mind, this is one of the coolest Skills in all ofLast Epoch, simply for the sheer novelty of becoming the Grim Reaper. Of course, there’s a trade-off, and your health will decay over time. Once you hit 0, you’re back to normal human form.
Transplant
All of the builds listed here useTransplantto some extent, because it’s the best movement Skill that the Acolyte has at their disposal. It’s also very cool - activate it to teleport to a new body and detonate your old one for a brief blitz of physical damage. Since Transplant uses health instead of mana, it’s an appropriate inclusion for the Lich build.
Take theFleeting FormandAcolyte’s Fervornodes to gain increased cast and cooldown recovery speed for Fleeting Form, along with Haste and Frenzy for a brief duration. Then, work your way towardsBone ArmorandApostasy, which both work well alongside the Bone Armor you can gain from your Bone Curse Skill.
Passives
To maximise your potential with the Harvest Lich build, we recommend the following Passives:
Last Epoch Best Acolyte Necromancer build
Skeletal minions, get to work and defend your master. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Eleventh Hour Games
It’s not always worth it to wade into battle, and with thisSkeletal Mage Necromancerbuild, you’ll find that it’s much more fun to manifest a bunch of bony spellcasters who can fling magic on your behalf. In other words, this is the perfect build for a mage who’d rather sit back and let their army do the tough stuff.
Chaos Bolts
Chaos Boltsfires an array of twisting projectiles all around the Acolyte, dealing necrotic and fire damage. This is a great offensive spell that becomes even better when you realise that you can customise it to empower your skeletal mages.
To do so, you’re going to want to veer towards the right side of the Chaos Bolts Specialization Tree - specificallyMana AnarchyandRevolution. Ensure that both nodes are filled out, and you’ll find that your Chaos Bolts consume more mana, deal more damage, and also empower your minions with additional spell damage and increased casting speed.
Dread Shade
Infernal Shade
The nodes you should prioritise for Infernal Shade areInfluenceandFanning the Flames, both of which make this Skill deal damage in a larger area. I’m also partial toDevour in Flames,Subjugation,Soulfire, andManic Pyreto boost the strength of your fire shades just a little bit more.
Transplant
The Skeletal Mage Necromancer might be a bit squishy, which is what happens when you play a class that leaves the bulk of fighting up to their summons.Transplantis thus an essential Skill to ensure that your Acolyte can dart out of the way when mobs get too close.
Fleeting FormandAcolyte’s Fervorare vital for increased cast and cooldown recovery speed. along with Haste and Frenzy for a brief duration.Bone ArmorandApostasyare both good picks, and you may also want to takeReign of BloodandViolent Emergenceto cause explosions every time you Transplant for a little extra safety insurance.
Summon Skeletal Mage
Would you rather have two skeletons with decent abilities, or one really big skeleton with beefier stats? That’s the question to consider as you choose your nodes. If you’d rather go for one bony fellow, then take theArchmagenode, which gives your single mage much more health and damage and lets them fire twice the number of Dread Bolt blasts. You can amplify this singular skeleton’s skillset withForbidden ArcanaandSplintered Dominion, which are fine choices even if you’d rather stick to the default of two skeletal mages.Celer MortisandGrey Merchantare also must-haves for improving critical strike chance, critical multipliers, and move speed.
Passives
To maximise your potential with the Skeletal Mage Necromancer build, we recommend the following Passives:
Best Acolyte Warlock build
For erupting fissures and lots of stray spirits that will aid you in combat, you can’t go wrong with the Warlock. |Image credit:Rock Paper Shotgun/Eleventh Hour Games
The Warlock is an Acolyte Mastery that’s all about summoning spirits and forcing them to inflect long-lasting curses on your foes that deal damage over time. TheTorment WarlockAcolyte build outlined below is a particularly effective option for slowly sapping the resources and lifeblood of your opponents in a most satisfying manner, ensuring that you’re the last one standing on a bed made out of their corpses.
Chthonic Fissure
This will be your primary attack spell.Cthonic Fissureopens up a sickly green rift in the ground, inflicting fire damage to foes atop it and sending out spirits to feast on their bones. The spirits deal Torment, a curse that slows and causes necrotic damage over time.
I recommend filling out theFragile Crustnode to make this Skill cost less mana, and then putting points into a smattering of Skills from the left side of the Cthonic Fissure Specialization Tree. For instance,Eradicationto deal more damage to rare enemies and bosses, andDamned Watersto make your spirits inflict the Damned ailment.
Profane Veil
To reduce those pesky damage over time effects, take theSpirit Platenode.Seanceis also a necessary choice for this build, as it’ll create great synergy with Wandering Spirits (outlined below). Basically, whenever one of your Wandering Spirits comes into contact with your Profane Veil, the spirit will do much more damage.
Spirit Plague
Specialise inSpirit Plaguefor your own damage over time effect. This handy curse generates necrotic damage on a target over three seconds before jumping to another foe once the first target dies.
Your goal with the nodes in the Spirit Plague Specialization Tree should be to ensure that your plague keeps growing in size and potency. This means putting points intoPleague Bearer,Rotten to the Core,Concentrated RotandExsanguination. It’s all a little disturbing, being a distributor of disease and all that, but you didn’t become a Warlock to keep people healthy.
Transplant
As with the other builds in this guide,Transplantwill be your movement go-to. Need to get into an advantageous position to rip open the ground with Chthonic Fissure? Hoping to target a slippery enemy with Spirit Plague? Use Transplant, and be there in an instant.
Acolyte’s FervorandFleeting Formare both good nodes to fill out in the Transplant Specialization Tree, and consider investing inAnemia,Bone Armor,Plated Bone, andApostasyto keep your Warlock healthy and sturdy in the field, even as they inflict waves on sickness on everyone else.
Wandering Spirits
Wandering Spiritsis perhaps my favourite Skill out of this build. It does exactly what it says on the tin, setting free a group of spirits that swirls about you for six seconds, wrecking anything in your path. This Skill will be another of your main methods of assaulting enemies, and works excellently with Profane Veil, which buffs all your spirits to increase their potential as death-dealing chaos shades.
TakeSpirit Swarmto give Wandering Spirits a shorter cooldown, and thenTerrifying PresenceandFalse Courageto ensure that your spirits inflict fear on foes. I’ve also foundFamiliar Soulsuseful if you want a more concentrated burst of spirits to spiral around you,Lingering Soulsfor making your spirits last longer in general, andReap the Damnedfor granting your spirits the ability to deal more damage to cursed and damned enemies.
Passives
To maximise your potential with the Torment Warlock build, we recommend the following Passives:
That finishes our look at the best builds available for the undead-summoning necrotic goth that is the Acolyte. For more on all the class options available to you in Last Epoch, keep an eye on Rock Paper Shotgun in the coming days as we proceed to delve into thespell-slinging Mage, thebrutal Primalist, theshifty Rogue, and thenoble Sentinel.
