PoE Vaal Pact — Path of Exile

Vaal Pact is a keystone passive skill in Path of Exile that provides a powerful mechanic for instant life leech from melee damage, but at the cost of disabling all other forms of life recovery. This keystone is particularly beneficial for builds that rely heavily on life leech for survival, especially in situations where rapid life recovery is crucial.

PoE Vaal Pact

Key Features

Life Leech from Melee Damage is Instant: The primary feature of Vaal Pact is that it converts life leech from melee damage into instant life recovery. Normally, life leech recovers life over time, but with Vaal Pact, the recovery is immediate, allowing your character to regain life instantly upon dealing melee damage. This can be a lifesaver in high-damage situations where sustaining life over time might not be fast enough to keep you alive.
Cannot Recover Life other than from Leech: As a trade-off for instant leech, Vaal Pact disables all other forms of life recovery. This includes life regeneration, life gained on hit, life flasks, and any other sources of life recovery that are not leech-based. The only way to recover life with Vaal Pact is through life leech.

Mechanics

Melee Damage Leech: Vaal Pact only affects life leech from melee damage. This means that any life leech gained from melee attacks will be instant, allowing you to recover life as soon as you hit an enemy. This does not apply to life leech from non-melee sources, such as spells or ranged attacks, which will still recover life over time as usual.
No Effect on Other Leech Types: Vaal Pact specifically alters life leech mechanics and does not affect energy shield leech, mana leech, or any other type of leech. For instance, if you have the Ghost Reaver keystone, which converts life leech into energy shield leech, the instant leech effect from Vaal Pact will not apply to energy shield recovery.
Interaction with Other Mechanics: The inability to recover life from non-leech sources means that any mechanics or items that provide life regeneration, life gained on hit, or similar effects will be negated by Vaal Pact. However, life recovery modifiers are still part of your character’s stats and can be utilized in conjunction with other mechanics. For example, life regeneration can be converted to energy shield regeneration using the Zealot’s Oath keystone, allowing you to benefit from regeneration while still using Vaal Pact.

Optimal Use Cases

High-Damage Melee Builds: Vaal Pact is most effective in builds that deal significant melee damage and rely on life leech for survival. The instant recovery from leech allows these builds to withstand large bursts of damage by immediately recovering life with each hit.
Glass Cannon Builds: For builds that prioritize damage output over defense, Vaal Pact can provide a critical layer of survivability by enabling instant life recovery. This can help mitigate the risk of being one-shot by powerful enemies.
Hybrid Builds with Overleech: Vaal Pact can be combined with mechanics like Brutal Fervour, which allows you to leech beyond your maximum life (overleech). When used with skills that have both melee and non-melee components, such as Molten Strike, you can benefit from both instant life recovery and sustained leech over time.

Considerations

No Life Regeneration: Since Vaal Pact disables all life recovery that is not from leech, you must be careful when building around this keystone. You will not be able to rely on life flasks or life regeneration for recovery, making it essential to maintain consistent life leech.
Skill and Gear Choices: To maximize the benefits of Vaal Pact, you should focus on skills and gear that enhance life leech or increase your damage output. This ensures that your life leech is strong enough to keep you alive in the absence of other recovery methods.
Synergies with Other Keystones: Vaal Pact can work well with certain other keystones, such as Zealot’s Oath (converts life regeneration to energy shield regeneration) or Pain Attunement (more spell damage on low life). However, it is important to carefully consider how these interactions will affect your build.

PoE Vaal Pact Build

Classes:

Slayer: 69%
Warden: 16%
Juggernaut: 5%
Champion: 3%
Gladiator: 2%
Berserker: 1%
Ascendant: 0.8%
Necromancer: 0.6%
Deadeye: 0.5%
Occultist: 0.5%
Trickster: 0.2%
Elementalist: 0.2%
Pathfinder: 0.1%
Hierophant: 0.1%
Chieftain: 0.1%
Inquisitor: 0%
Assassin: 0%
Saboteur: 0%
Guardian: 0%
Shadow: 0%

Main Skills:

Lightning Strike: 64%
Vaal Lightning Strike: 56%
Flicker Strike: 14%
Frenzy of Onslaught: 6%
Frost Blades: 6%
Unhinge: 5%
Leap Slam: 5%
Molten Shell: 3%
Vaal Flicker Strike: 2%
Volcanic Fissure of Snaking: 2%
Cyclone: 2%
Cyclone of Tumult: 2%
Assassin’s Mark: 1%

Masteries:

12% increased Mana Reservation Efficiency of Skills: 73%
Non-Vaal Strike Skills target 1 additional nearby Enemy: 56%
3% increased Damage per Endurance, Frenzy or Power Charge: 53%
50% increased Effect of non-Damaging Ailments you inflict with Critical Strikes: 42%
Hits have 25% chance to treat Enemy Monster Elemental Resistance values as inverted: 35%
Elusive also grants +40% to Critical Strike Multiplier for Skills Supported by Nightblade: 31%
80% increased Critical Strike Chance against Bleeding Enemies: 30%
Skills Supported by Nightblade have 40% increased Effect of Elusive: 29%
+25% to Critical Strike Multiplier against Unique Enemies: 27%
10% chance to gain a Frenzy Charge when you Hit your Marked Enemy: 26%
120% increased Critical Strike Chance with Swords, -20% to Critical Strike Multiplier with Swords: 25%
+500 to Accuracy Rating, -2 to Accuracy Rating per Level: 23%
8% increased Damage for each of your Aura or Herald Skills affecting you: 18%

Summary

Effect: Grants instant life recovery from melee damage leech and disables all other forms of life recovery.
Ideal For: High-damage melee builds, glass cannon builds, and hybrid builds that utilize overleech mechanics.
Playstyle Shift: Requires a focus on consistent life leech as the sole method of life recovery.
Key Synergies: Pairs well with keystones and mechanics that enhance life leech or convert life recovery to other forms, such as energy shield.

Vaal Pact is a powerful keystone for players who prioritize instant recovery and can afford to sacrifice other forms of life recovery. With careful build planning, it can provide a significant boost to survivability in the most challenging encounters in Path of Exile.

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