Path of Exile 2 (POE 2 Currency Orbs) continues to push the boundaries of action RPG mechanics, delivering unique item synergies, complex skill interactions, and endless opportunities for creative build-making. One standout example comes from community builder Sza, who has showcased how a single unique weapon, The Last Lament, can be transformed from a seemingly risky pick into a cornerstone of one of the most powerful and unorthodox builds in the game.

In this article, we’ll break down the mechanics behind The Last Lament, how the Lich ascendancy turns its downsides into strengths, and why this build has quickly become one of the most fascinating case studies of PoE2’s design philosophy.

The Last Lament: A Dangerous Crossbow Turned Infinite Engine

The Last Lament is a unique crossbow introduced in patch 0.21, designed with a steep drawback that makes it unsuitable for most characters. Normally, this weapon bypasses the need to reload—but at a cost. Every time the crossbow automatically reloads, the wielder sacrifices 300 life.

For most characters, this trade-off is punishing. Losing chunks of life repeatedly in the middle of combat can quickly result in death, especially in high-tier content. But for the Lich, a class defined by its mastery over death and undeath, The Last Lament’s drawback becomes irrelevant.

Eternal Life: The Key to the Combo

The Eternal Life node on the Lich ascendancy fundamentally alters the way life interacts with gameplay. While the Lich has an Energy Shield buffer, their life total cannot change. This means that even though The Last Lament is coded to consume 300 life per reload, the Lich doesn’t actually lose anything. The crossbow reloads infinitely without cost, turning a dangerous downside into a limitless advantage.

Even better, since the reload process is tied to the life cost, this also eliminates the mana cost of skills. With life stabilized and mana irrelevant, the Lich gains the ability to fire constantly without resource constraints—a dream scenario for any ARPG player who loves relentless offense.

Skill Synergies: Galvanic Shards and Compose Requiem

Sza paired The Last Lament with Galvanic Shards, a lightning-based shotgun skill that excels at clearing large packs of enemies. The rapid-fire synergy between the crossbow’s infinite reload and the shard skill allows for devastating bursts of damage across wide areas.

For single-target scenarios, The Last Lament has a unique built-in ability: Compose Requiem. Once charged, this skill unleashes a powerful attack capable of obliterating bosses. As a flourish, the crossbow even “sings” during the attack, adding a flavorful, eerie element to gameplay. This dual functionality—pack clearing through Galvanic Shards and boss destruction via Compose Requiem—makes the build incredibly versatile.

Making the Most of Every Node

One of the most impressive aspects of Sza’s build is how it fully utilizes the Lich ascendancy nodes.

Crystalline Phylactery: This node doubles the effects of socketed jewels. By placing a crossbow focus jewel here, the build gains immense offensive power, pushing the weapon’s potential far beyond its base stats.

Necromantic Conduit: This grants the Unholy Might buff, significantly boosting damage. Normally, Unholy Might deactivates when a character runs out of mana, but since the Lich never spends mana in this setup, the buff remains active indefinitely.

This meticulous use of ascendancy nodes demonstrates the flexibility and depth of PoE2’s design, rewarding players who look for unconventional interactions.

The Low-Life Advantage

If you’ve played Path of Exile, you’re familiar with the concept of “low life”—a state where your character’s life total is at 35% of maximum life or lower. Being on low life is often a risk, but PoE2 introduces a range of new mechanics that turn this state into a source of power.

For the Lich build, staying at low life is easy and safe, since the Eternal Life node prevents natural regeneration. With life permanently sitting below the 35% threshold, Sza was able to stack several powerful bonuses:

Execute Support Gem: Grants 30% more damage while on low life. Applied across multiple skills, this becomes a massive consistent damage multiplier.

Dire Strike Support: Another boost tied to low-life mechanics, provided you have enough spirit to fuel it.

Passive Tree Nodes: Several new nodes in patch 0.30 reward players who operate under low-life conditions, adding yet more layers of power.

This synergy makes low life not a liability, but an integral design choice. By deliberately locking the Lich’s life total in this zone, the build reaps a suite of damage multipliers with virtually no drawback.

The Pursuit of Speed

Once the foundations of damage were in place, Sza invested the rest of the build into one of the most satisfying qualities in an ARPG: speed.

Because The Last Lament allows the Lich to fire continuously without stopping, movement penalties tied to attacking become a major consideration. Many crossbow builds suffer from slowed movement while attacking, but in PoE2, this can be mitigated.

Desecrated Modifiers and passive tree options allow players to reduce the movement speed penalty while using skills on the move. With enough investment, it’s possible to reach 100% reduction, effectively eliminating the penalty.

With penalties gone, the build can run the Deliberation Support Gem, which provides a significant damage boost but normally comes with harsher movement restrictions. Here, it’s pure upside.

Techrod’s Gaze, a socketable item, adds yet another 10% movement speed while on low life—perfectly fitting the build’s theme.

The result is a character who can fire endlessly while running at full speed. In Sza’s words, “Who needs a raw mount when you have powerful legs?”

Rage Mechanics: An Angry Lich with a Shotgun

Sza didn’t stop at speed. To squeeze even more power out of the build, he incorporated the Rage mechanic. Rage increases attack damage the more you accumulate, but usually comes at a cost to life. Once again, the Lich’s mechanics trivialize this drawback.

Death Articulated Gloves: These unique gloves grant a constant supply of rage, typically draining life. For the Lich, no life is lost—just free, permanent rage.

Rage Max Increase: Socketables and passive tree nodes allow the maximum rage pool to grow, further amplifying its benefits.

Berserk Buff: Normally risky, as it consumes rage and life for a burst of power. In this setup, life isn’t a concern, making Berserk a potent and sustainable option.

Thematically, the image of a deathless lich, shotgun in hand, fueled by endless rage, is as amusing as it is powerful. Mechanically, it provides a colossal boost to damage output.

Defensive Layers

Of course, no build is complete without defenses. While this version leans heavily into offense and speed, Sza emphasizes that the build isn’t glass-cannon fragile.

Evasion and Energy Shield form the backbone of survivability.

Gear choices provide additional mitigation, especially against burst damage.

For players seeking more balance, the rage mechanic and Death Articulated Gloves can be skipped, reallocating those points into defense-heavy options on the tree.

This flexibility allows players to tailor the build to their preferred playstyle, whether they want maximum risk-reward damage or a safer all-rounder.

Why This Build Matters

The Last Lament Lich build is more than just a fun curiosity. It highlights the core strengths of PoE2’s design:

Risk and Reward – Items with steep downsides can be recontextualized into immense advantages with the right ascendancy.

Player Creativity – The build demonstrates how deep mechanical understanding can unlock unique synergies that developers may not have originally envisioned.

Versatility – From pack clearing to bossing, from speed running to rage stacking, this build shows how one unique weapon can support multiple modes of play.

Thematic Flavor – Beyond raw numbers, the idea of an undead sorcerer wielding a shotgun-like crossbow while sprinting at full speed and roaring with rage is simply unforgettable.

Conclusion: An Ode to The Last Lament

Sza’s build proves that Path of Exile 2 continues the tradition of its predecessor: rewarding experimentation and bending the rules in clever ways. The Last Lament, once considered too dangerous to use, becomes the centerpiece of a build that is fast, buy POE 2 Chaos Orbs, and endlessly fun.

For players looking to try something new, this Lich build offers everything—constant damage, unique mechanics, speed-focused gameplay, and the sheer joy of defying death itself. Whether you want to farm efficiently, melt bosses, or simply revel in the absurdity of an “angry lich with a shotgun,” this build captures the essence of what makes PoE2 so special.

As the game evolves and new patches introduce more items, skills, and mechanics, it’s exciting to imagine what other “impossible” synergies creative players will uncover. But for now, The Last Lament stands as a shining example of turning weaknesses into strengths, and proof that in Wraeclast, even death can be just another resource.