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Torment Warlock for Last Epoch

Torment Warlock for Last Epoch

A very powerful setup for Warlock that uses a non-stackable Curse to deal massive Damage over Time with necrotic energies.

Torment
Warlock Build

Updated for Patch 1.0
 

Build notes:
March 22, 2024
-Build created

 

Build Overview

The Torment is a more traditional type of Damaging Ailment, which is quite unique in the Last Epoch. It can be applied only once, but the Damage it offers is massive. The only way to apply it is the Chthonic Fissure Skill, which is where most of our scaling comes from. Thanks to this Skill Tree you will deal More Damage with Torment by stacking Necrotic Resistance and Critical Strike Multiplier. It also has a very high 600% Effectiveness of Added Damage, although it is quite hard to take advantage of. As a supportive Skill, you will use the Spirit Plague. It deals small amounts of Damage but grants you stacks that increase all Damage you deal, including Torment. It also applies Frailty, Bleeding, and Fear.  

The Profane Veil is another very important Skill for this setup. While Channeling this Skill you will Dodge every incoming Hit, your Torment will deal More Damage, and you will consume your Minions to gain massive amounts of Ward. The Minions in question are quite unconventional - the Bone Prison created by Bone Curse is considered a Minion with a very high amount of Health, which you can consume to gain tons of Ward. Until the recent Patch, it was vastly overperforming, but even after the changes, it is still very good, although you will have to invest more into Minion Health. 

Most of your Ward will be sourced from a commonly used combination of ExsanguinousLast Steps of the Living, and an Experimental modifier on your Gloves. The shared quality between those items is the "% of Missing Health gained as Ward per second" modifier, paired with Health drain that leaves you permanently on very low Health. To make the best use of it you will need to improve your Health and Ward Retention. The Boneclamor Barbute also generates a lot of Ward for you, as you will stack tons of Necrotic Resistance anyway. 

You can also view the full build on the Last Epoch planner here: Torment Warlock Build

For the defenses, this build utilizes:

  1. High amounts of Ward;
  2. Fear and Fraitly debuffs;
  3. Immune to Damage most of the time thanks to the Profane Veil;
  4. Hit and Run gameplay style. 

You can also check our other Last Epoch builds and character guides

 

 Pros
 A traditional gameplay of  Damage over Time Build that doesn't require constant reapplying.
 A very high amount of Ward with methods to quickly recover even more Ward. 
 Very safe Bossing due to the high uptime of Profane Veil which makes you almost immortal.
 Very good Damage with low Gear requirements to start. 
 Cons
 Single-target Damage starts to fall off at high Corruption levels. 
 High Mana consumption requires proper Skill usage management. 

 

Passive Skill Trees

Acolyte
Acolyte Skill Tree (22 Points)

Notable Passives:

Your basic Acolyte Tree is focused mostly on defense. It will boost your Ward, Resistance, and Intelligence. During leveling, you can pick Blood Aura, Blood Pact, and Eye of Damnation to boost your Damage, but it isn't very effective in the Endgame. The Stolen Vitality improves the Health of your Minions, so you will gain more Ward when you consume them. 

Lich
Lich Skill Tree (10 points)

Notable Passives:

The Lich offers some useful bonuses, especially during the leveling. Later on, only the additional Intelligence and Mana Regen are useful for you. 
The Survival of the Cruel is extremely useful during the campaign, as it offers Health Leech. You can also take Dance with Dead and Grasp of Fate to increase your Necrotic Damage. With your endgame setup, those Passives are not needed, so you should refund them. The Apocrypha is universally useful as it grants Mana Regen and Intelligence. 

Warlock
Warlock Skill Tree (81 Points)

Notable Passives:

The majority of your points should be allocated in the Warlock Skill Tree. It will greatly improve your Health, Ward, Intelligence, and Damage. 
The Unholy Torment and Duskbringer are very valuable, as they add flat Spell Damage for your Torment. The Doom Herald grants More Damage when you Chanel the Profane Veil. You will take slightly less Damage if you invest 5 points into Harrowing Armor, Dark Protections, and Wither. Thanks to the Fleeting Crone you will constantly have the Haste Buff with an increased Effect. Lastly, the Wreak Havoc grants you Crit Multiplier, which is converted into More Damage for Torment. 

You will gain a lot of Intelligence, Resistance, and Damage just by leveling up and allocating points to your Skill Tree. You should make some adjustments to the Passive Tree as you level up, as the respec cost is very low, and many Notables lose their value as you progress further into the endgame. 

 

Skills

Note: Left-Clicking on any of the ability trees below will open the full-size version in a new window. 

Cthonic Fissure

Chthonic Fissure - creates a rift in the ground that deals a bit of Damage and releases Spirits. Upon contact, the Spirits apply the Curse of Torment, which is the main source of Damage in this Build. 
Most of your Damage scaling comes from the Twisted Waves and Grim Tide, which grants you More Damage per point of Necrotic Resistance or Critical Strike Multiplier. You will also deal More Damage against Bleeding or Poisoned Enemies via the Tombgorger. The Stygian Current and Of Gloom and Flames increase the frequency of your Spirits, making it easier to apply your Torment. 

Chtonic Fissure

Spirit Plague

Spirit Plague - inflicts your target with a Curse of Spirit Plague, which deals a small amount of Necrotic Damage. In this Build it is used to Buff your Torment Damage even more.  
The Pestilence grants you global increased Damage as you continue to cast this Skill. The Enfeeblement weakens the Enemies you Hit, and the Anguish causes them to run in Fear. Note that the Enemy can be Feared only once. The Hemorrhage causes your Enemies to Bleed, which is the condition needed for the Torment to deal More Damage. 

Spirit Plague

Profane Veil

Profane Veil - a very powerful defensive Skill that makes you Dodge any incoming Hit when you keep Channeling it. In this setup, it is also used to generate a lot of Ward.  
With the Vampiric Pool Notable you will consume your Minions to get Ward based on their maximum Health. You will also deal More Damage with your Torments applied during Channeling the Profane Veil, which is useful, but not reliable. Thanks to the Stream of Profanity you will lower the Cooldown of the Veil by spamming any Curse Skill. 

Profane Veil

Bone Curse

Bone Curse - with this Skill, you will debuff your Enemies, but more importantly, create a Bone Prison that can be consumed to generate a high amount of Ward.
The Bone Prison traps enemies inside, but you will use it mostly to generate Ward. The Sigil of Mortality applies a Mark for Death, which causes Enemies to take more Damage. With the Marrow Thief, you will occasionally gain Bone Armor when you kill Enemies affected by the Curse. 

Bone Curse

Transplant

Transplant - it is your Movement Skill. You should cast this as soon as it goes off Cooldown, as it also restores your Mana and grants you Bone Armor. 
The Acolyte's Fervour grants you Haste and Frenzy Buffs for 3 seconds. The Azure Veins and Pale Blood restore your Mana, but only if you Hit at least one Enemy. The Bone Armor and its upgrades grant you the Bone Armor Buff, which reduces the Damage you take. 

transplant

 

Items

Stat priority:

The most important modifiers to scale your Damage are flat Damage for Spells, Necrotic Resistance, Critical Strike Multiplier, and Intelligence. You will also need some Mana Regeneration to comfortably spam your Fissure during Echos, although it is not that important against Bosses. The Necrotic Resistance and Intelligence will also boost your Ward. By increasing the Health of your Minions you will improve the Vampiric Pool interaction. To get Ward outside the Profane Veil you will need Items that generate it based on your Missing Health. Consequently, improving your Health will also boost the Ward you get. 

  1. Necrotic Resistance
  2. Intelligence
  3. Critical Strike Avoidance
  4. Added Spell Damage
  5. Critical Strike Multiplier
  6. Health 
  7. Other Resistances 
  8. Mana Regeneration
  9. Movement Speed 

Recommended Unique Items: 

 

Marinas Lost Soul
  • +(56 to 66) Spell Necrotic Damage
  • (56% to 66%) increased Curse Damage
  • -3 Spell Mana Cost
  • +(10 to 25) Spell Necrotic Damage
  • (100% to 160%) increased Spell Damage
  • (12% to 20%) increased Cast Speed
  • +20% Necrotic Penetration with Possess per stack of Damned on You (up to 7)
  • You are Damned when you cast a spell
  • 10% reduced Health

Marina's Lost Soul - it is a simple Wand, but it grants you exactly what you need. It offers a lot of flat Necrotic Damage for your Spells and decently increases your Spell and Curse Damage. Unfortunately, it also lowers your maximum Health a bit. 

 Exsanguinous
  • +32 Armor
  • +(2 to 7) Spell Damage
  • 20% of Current Health Lost per second
  • 20% of Missing Health gained as Ward per second
  • (15 to 30)% increased attack speed, cast speed, and movement speed if you have used a potion in the past 4 seconds
  • Immunity to Bleed at low health

 Exsanguinous - it is one of the core Items for your Ward generation. It drains your Health, but restores a portion of your missing Health as Ward, which you can then boost via Ward Retention or Ward Decay Threshold. You will also gain a decent boost to your Movement Speed when you use a potion.  

Last Steps of the Living
  • +8 Armor
  • (15% to 18%) increased Movement Speed
  • +(120 to 230) Ward Decay Threshold
  • (11% to 15%) of Current Health Lost per second
  • (11% to 15%) of Missing Health gained as Ward per second
  • +(300% to 400%) Freeze Rate Multiplier while at Low Health
  • You are Chilled every 3 seconds
  • (30% to 36%) increased Movement Speed

Last Steps of the Living - this pair of boots offers the same modifier as the previous Armor, further improving your Ward generation. It also offers a decent amount of Movement Speed, but unfortunately, it is mostly negated due to the Chill applied to you every 3 seconds. Your Skills will Cleanse negative Effects on you, but not as often as those Boots apply it. 

Boneclamor Barbute
  • +150 Armor
  • +(6 to 13) Dexterity
  • +(6 to 13) Intelligence
  • +(35% to 65%) Necrotic Resistance
  • 1 Ward per Second per 3% uncapped Necrotic Resistance

Boneclamor Barbute - with this Helmet your Necrotic Resistance will also boost your Ward. It also offers plenty of Intelligence and Necrotic Resistance, and it is fairly common, so getting one with good Legendary Potential should be too daunting to acquire. 

Idols:

Your Idols are useful, but they do not provide any build-enabling modifiers. You can use them to get more Health, Ward Retention, stack more Resistances or improve your Spell Damage a bit. If you find yourself Channeling to Profane Veil very often, you can try to get a modifier that generates Ward for each second spent in the Veil. 

Recommended Blessings:

  • The Black Sun: here you can choose the Critical Strike Multiplier or Void Resistance. The Resistance bonus is usually better, as it allows you to get more Necrotic Resistance elsewhere.  
  • The Age of Winter: another simple choice, you can take the Cold or Physical Resistance, depending on what you need more. 
  • Spirits of Fire: in this Timeline you can obtain the ability to Shred the Necrotic Resistance of your Enemies, which is very helpful against Bosses. But you can also pick Fire Resistance, and improve your Damage via stacking even more Necrotic Resistance instead. 
  • Reign of Dragons: here you can pick one of the Resistance bonuses, or get a Critical Strike Avoidance bonus, which is more important for your overall survivability.  
  • Ending the Storm: you can simply pick the Lightning Resistance bonus here, but the Ward-related bonuses are also worth considering, especially if you don't have the necessary Unique Item combination. 

END NOTE

This is the release version of our Torment Warlock Build for Last Epoch, which takes a classical approach to Damage over Time archetype. We had amazing results with the final form of this Build, and we can attest you won't be disappointed with it. If you enjoy watching your Enemies melt from a single stack of debuff, you have to try out this Build! Future Patches can change the performance of this Build, we will keep our eyes on it and update this guide accordingly to the game's growth. 

Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Eleventh Hour Games