While Chaos DoT is one of the most visible paths for POE2 Currency Lich players, what’s surprised the community most is its sudden emergence as the go-to minion ascendancy in patch 0.2—an area previously dominated by the Infernalist.

The Lich has usurped the Infernalist’s hold on this archetype, largely due to nerfs that left Infernalist’s minion viability in shambles. With Loyal Hellhound gutted and Demon Form completely reworked, players have migrated their minion builds to the Lich, which offers both survivability and Chaos scaling—two things minions desperately need in the current meta.

Players are now experimenting with hybrid builds—minions that deal Chaos damage and benefit from the same nodes that empower DoT spells. This kind of overlap is rare in Path of Exile 2 and helps give the Lich an edge in creative buildcraft.

Build Diversity and Accessibility

One of the Lich’s greatest strengths lies in how accessible and flexible it is to both new players and veterans. While some ascendancies (like Ritualist or Tactician) require high-end gear to truly shine, the Lich delivers strong performance on a low budget, making it a top-tier league starter.

Whether you’re running:

    a solo-self-found character focusing on Essence Drain,

    a summoner setup with Zombies and Spectres, or

    a hybrid build with minions and Chaos spells,

…the Lich can support it.

This wide appeal is reflected in the ascendancy statistics: by Day 10 of the Dawn of the Hunt patch, the Lich had established itself in the top half of all ascendancy popularity rankings, second only to POE2 Currency for sale the Amazon in terms of performance and play rate.