Last Epoch Season 3: All New Lich and Necromancer Skills

The upcoming Season 3 update for Last Epoch: Beneath Ancient Skies is set to shake up the Acolyte class with major changes, including new skills, passive nodes, and even the ability to dual-wield weapons. Players who enjoy playing as the Acolyte, whether they lean toward the Lich or Necromancer Masteries, have plenty to look forward to in this update. Among the most notable additions is a brand-new skill called Flay, which promises to bring fast-paced, melee-focused gameplay to Acolyte builds, while also synergizing with dual-wielding mechanics.

For veterans and newcomers alike, here's everything you need to know about Season 3's Lich and Necromancer updates.

Flay Skill: Lich's New Melee Power

The Lich Mastery, one of the most popular endgame Acolyte builds, receives a major boost with Flay. This new skill is a melee attack that slashes all enemies in range, and it has an additional effect: when an enemy dies from Flay, it triggers a Blood Eruption, dealing physical damage in an area-of-effect (AoE). This gives Liches a new tool for chaining attacks across multiple enemies and scaling their damage in dense encounters.

Key details about Flay include:

·Unlock requirement: 30 points invested in the Lich Mastery

·Range: Dash to an enemy within 3 meters and perform a melee slash

·Cooldown: None, allowing continuous chaining as long as Mana is available

Alongside Flay comes a dedicated Skill Tree with multiple nodes that modify its behavior:

·Deadly Plot: Increases damage based on maximum Mana. Each point adds 5% more Spell damage per 100 Mana, affecting Flay and skills triggered by its Skill Tree.

·Transference: Transfers the Aura of Decay to rare enemies and bosses hit by Flay, dealing self-damage while also applying the aura to the enemy.

·Corrupted Blood: Converts Bleed into Poison stacks, though it doesn't stack with Soul Ripper or Frostblight.

·Frostblight: Converts all physical damage to cold damage and applies Frostbite instead of Bleed. Incompatible with Soul Ripper.

·Soul Ripper: Converts physical damage into Necrotic Damage, applying the Damned status effect to enemies.

Flay adds both flexibility and aggression to Lich builds, giving players multiple options to customize their playstyle.

Acolyte Class Rework in Season 3

Season 3 also brings a broad Acolyte rework, which affects both base skills and Mastery-specific nodes. Many adjustments focus on Rip Blood, the Acolyte's iconic ability. These changes enhance early-game viability while providing smoother progression into endgame content.

Key Acolyte Changes

·Rip Blood: Now hits all enemies in line-of-sight, making it a stronger option for clearing packs. Enemies still hit create orbs that heal the player.

·Blood Bond: Attacking bosses or rare enemies with Rip Blood creates Blood Tether, dealing damage-over-time (DoT) to the enemy while healing the player.

·Blood Tether Scaling: Damage scales with the number of Bleed stacks applied to the target, with each stack adding 1% more damage.

·Carnage: Casting Rip Blood on three enemies simultaneously triggers Marrow Shards, adding extra AoE damage.

These changes improve the fluidity of Acolyte gameplay, allowing players to handle packs more efficiently while maintaining strong single-target damage.

Lich Mastery Updates

Most Lich Mastery adjustments revolve around Aura of Decay and its related mechanics. Aura of Decay reduces self-damage, but it previously made Liches vulnerable if mismanaged. Season 3 aims to balance this with new passive nodes and damage conversion options.

Aura of Decay and Skill Tree Changes

·Aura of Decay: Now reduces damage taken from the aura itself by 50%, while reducing enemy aura damage mitigation from 50% to 30%.

·Damage Conversion: New nodes allow players to convert Poison damage into other forms. Blood Font changes poison to physical damage, while Cold Death converts it to cold damage.

·Putrid Bombs: Every dodge now leaves a poison bomb, previously generated every 2 seconds while the aura was active.

·Fester: A stationary node increasing Poison damage from Aura of Decay. Up to three stacks are possible, each adding 6% damage.

Lich Passive Node Updates

·Executioner: Synergizes with dual-wielding axes or daggers, increasing attack speed and damage taken, providing both offensive and defensive trade-offs.

·Accursed Feast: Grants enhanced health leech but only activates below 66% health. Replaces Corrosive Consciousness.

·Impact Ward: Replaces Symbol of Decay, granting 3% damage reduction from DoT skills per stack, up to 9%. Trade-off: all DoT damage bypasses Ward and damages health directly.

These changes make Lich builds more strategic, allowing players to balance offense, defense, and resource management effectively.

Necromancer Mastery Overhaul

The Necromancer Mastery sees significant updates, particularly with Assemble Abomination, which consolidates all minions into a single, powerful Abomination. This rework enhances both damage output and survivability for Necromancer builds focused on minion management.

Key Necromancer Changes

·Assemble Abomination: Creates one mega minion without health decay, dealing higher damage and regenerating health by consuming other minions.

·Tower of Bones: Each absorbed Bone Golem increases Stomp damage and AoE, with cooldown reduced to 1.5 seconds.

·Dead Eye: Absorbing Skeletal Archers allows the Abomination to cast Eternal Arrow every 4 seconds. Each intelligence point improves bow damage.

New and Reworked Necromancer Passives

·Forbidden Teachings: Grants 1% increased minion critical strike chance per intelligence point and 1% more DoT damage per vitality point after investing three points.

·Effigies: Previously allowed consuming one minion to regain health. Now, it mitigates 2% of damage to a minion, while other minions gain health equal to 20% of the dying minion's health.

These updates make Necromancer minion builds more durable and strategically complex, rewarding careful minion management and skill synergy.

Dual-Wielding and Weapon Mechanics

One of the most exciting additions for Acolytes in Season 3 is the ability to dual-wield weapons. This isn't merely cosmetic; wielding two weapons increases attack speed for skills, allowing for faster Flay combos and higher damage output across the Lich and Necromancer Masteries. Players can now experiment with dual-wield builds, enhancing mobility, melee damage, and resource management strategies.

Conclusion: Why Season 3 is Exciting for Acolyte Players

Season 3 of Last Epoch promises a substantial overhaul for Acolyte players, particularly those who invested Last Epoch gold in Lich or Necromancer builds. The introduction of Flay provides a new melee-focused tool for Liches, while skill tree updates and dual-wield mechanics offer fresh ways to optimize damage and survivability. Meanwhile, Necromancers gain stronger minion management capabilities through Assemble Abomination and reworked passives, making them more durable and versatile in both solo and party play.

With reworked base skills like Rip Blood, new passive nodes, and skill synergies, the Acolyte class is poised to offer a richer and more strategic gameplay experience in Season 3. Whether you prefer the high-speed melee chaos of the Lich or the summoning mastery of the Necromancer, Last Epoch's latest update is shaping up to be one of the most exciting expansions for the class yet.

Flay, dual-wielding, and passive reworks make it clear that Season 3 isn't just about power scaling; it's about giving players tools and buy Last Epoch gold to craft the Acolyte experience they want, from devastating melee combos to unstoppable minion armies.

For dedicated Last Epoch players, mastering these changes will be essential for taking full advantage of Season 3's new content and exploring all the ways to optimize Lich and Necromancer builds. With these updates, the Acolyte class has never looked stronger-or more fun to play.