Support
Tier: 1
Requires: Level 1
Support Reqirements: +5 Str
Supports any skill, turning a portion of its Mana cost into a Life cost.
Skills Cost Life instead of 100% of Mana Cost
Place into a Skill’s Support Gem socket in the Skills menu to apply its effects to that Skill. You cannot have multiple copies of the same Support Gem socketed at the same time.
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The Lifetap Support Gem in Path of Exile 2 offers a unique mechanic for skill resource management by converting the mana cost of supported skills into life cost. This gem is particularly useful for builds that want to avoid the traditional reliance on mana, either due to low mana pools or builds optimized for life sustain and regeneration. By enabling skills to consume life instead of mana, Lifetap opens up new avenues for creative builds and strategies.
Gem Details
Category: Support
Type: Life, Cost Conversion
Tier: 1
Required Level: 1
Support Requirements: +5 Strength
Effect:
Supported Skills cost Life instead of 100% of Mana Cost.
Place into a Skill’s Support Gem socket in the Skills menu to apply its effects to that skill.
You cannot have multiple copies of the same Support Gem socketed at the same time.
How Lifetap Works
The Lifetap Support Gem replaces the mana cost of supported skills with a life cost equivalent to 100% of the original mana cost. This fundamental change to resource consumption creates opportunities for specific playstyles while demanding careful consideration of life sustain and defensive mechanics. Here’s how it operates:
Mana to Life Conversion:
Lifetap modifies supported skills so that instead of consuming mana, they now consume an equivalent amount of life for each cast or activation. For example, if a skill costs 20 mana, with Lifetap it will instead cost 20 life.
Bypassing Mana Constraints:
Lifetap is ideal for builds with low mana pools or builds that utilize mana reservations for auras or other effects, leaving little to no mana for active skills. It allows these builds to continue using their skills uninterrupted by mana limitations.
Life Sustain Management:
Since supported skills consume life, it becomes essential to ensure adequate life sustain through regeneration, life leech, or life flasks. Without sufficient life recovery, heavy skill usage can put your character at risk of self-damage.
Synergy with Life-Focused Mechanics:
Lifetap pairs well with mechanics that boost life regeneration or mitigate life costs, such as passives that enhance life recovery or items that provide flat bonuses to life gained on hit.
Advantages of Lifetap
Circumvents Mana Restrictions:
Lifetap is invaluable for builds that reserve a large portion of their mana for auras or other effects. By converting mana costs to life costs, it eliminates the need for mana investment entirely.
Simplifies Resource Management:
For players who prefer to focus on life as their primary resource, Lifetap removes the need to balance mana regeneration or invest in mana-related passives or items. This simplification can free up resources for other aspects of your build.
Enhances Build Flexibility:
Lifetap allows for more creative builds, especially those that prioritize life regeneration, life leech, or other life-based mechanics. It can also complement high-life builds with extensive defensive layers, where life usage for skills becomes negligible.
Effective with High Mana Costs:
Skills with high mana costs can be more manageable with Lifetap, especially in builds where mana regeneration or mana sustain would otherwise be insufficient to keep up with frequent usage.
Challenges and Considerations
Life Sustain Dependency:
Using Lifetap requires consistent life sustain, whether through life regeneration, life leech, or frequent use of life flasks. Without these, you risk depleting your life pool too quickly, leaving yourself vulnerable.
Limited Application for Low-Life Builds:
Lifetap is generally not suitable for low-life builds, as the life cost can become too risky without adequate mitigation or recovery.
Increased Risk in Combat:
Relying on life for skill costs can make you more susceptible to damage, especially during intense combat situations where you are frequently using skills and taking damage simultaneously.
Ideal Builds for Lifetap
Aura-Heavy Builds:
Builds that reserve a significant portion of their mana for auras often have minimal mana left for skill usage. Lifetap allows these builds to bypass this limitation entirely, letting you focus on life sustain instead.
Melee or Ranged Attack Builds:
Lifetap works well with physical attack builds that already utilize life leech or life regeneration as part of their survivability. By converting skill costs to life, these builds can optimize their resource management.
High-Life Pool Builds:
Builds with large life pools or significant life recovery can effectively utilize Lifetap without jeopardizing their survivability. These builds can afford to spend life on skills while maintaining high health levels.
Regeneration or Leech Focused Builds:
Builds centered around life regeneration or life leech mechanics benefit greatly from Lifetap. The life cost of skills can be offset by their strong sustain capabilities.
Synergies and Combinations
Life Leech:
Combining Lifetap with Life Leech ensures that your life recovery keeps pace with the life expenditure from using skills.
Life Regeneration:
High life regeneration from passives, items, or skills like Vitality can mitigate the life cost imposed by Lifetap, allowing for uninterrupted skill usage.
Items with Life Recovery:
Items that grant flat life recovery on hit or life gained on kill synergize well with Lifetap, ensuring you recover life with each successful attack or spell.
Flasks and Buffs:
Frequent use of life flasks or buffs that enhance life recovery can act as a safety net during prolonged engagements or high-skill usage scenarios.
Conclusion
The Lifetap Support Gem is a valuable tool for builds looking to bypass mana constraints by converting skill costs into life. It is particularly effective for high-life builds, regeneration-focused characters, and aura-heavy setups that reserve most of their mana. While it requires careful management of life sustain to mitigate its inherent risks, Lifetap enables new levels of resource efficiency and build creativity.
With the right balance of life recovery mechanics, Lifetap becomes a cornerstone of survival and skill usage in Path of Exile 2, offering unparalleled flexibility for players seeking to maximize their build potential. Whether you’re creating a tank-like melee fighter or an aura-stacking support, Lifetap can provide the resource management solution you need.