Essence Drain

Essence Drain (often referred to as ED) is a spell that fires a chaos projectile that applies a damage over time debuff when it hits the enemy. The spell also regenerates a portion of the debuff damage as life. If target dies while afflicted with both ContagionContagionSpell, AoE, Duration, Chaos
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (5-20) Mana
Cast Time: 0.60 sec
AoE Radius: 20Requires Level 4Unleashes a vile contagion on enemies, dealing chaos damage over time. If an enemy dies while affected by Contagion, the debuff spreads to other enemies.Deals (3.5-235.9) Base Chaos Damage per second
Base duration is 5.00 seconds
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Base radius is 1.7 metres
Spreads when affected Enemy dies

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Base radius is (0.01-0.2) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. and Essence Drain, the remaining duration of both degeneration effects will be spread to nearby enemies.

Skill functions and interactions

• Damage over time: Modifiers to spell, chaos damage, and damage over time affect the damage over time component of this spell. Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this skill's Damage Over Time modifier also affects other damage over time effects created by this skill, such as poison or ignite.
• Traps and Mines: Essence Drain can not be supported by Trap SupportTrap SupportSupport, Trap
  Icon: T
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 120%Requires Level 8Supports spells, or attacks that use bows or wands. Instead of using that skill, you will throw a trap that will use the skill for you when an enemy walks near it. Traps cannot use channelling skills.Supported Attack Skills cannot be used with Melee Weapons
  Trap lasts 4 seconds
  Supported Skills deal (20-6)% less Trap Damage
  Supported Skills have (0-19)% increased Trap Throwing Speed
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  Supported Skills deal (0.5-10)% increased Trap DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket. and Blastchain Mine SupportBlastchain Mine SupportSupport, Mine
  Icon: Y
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 50%Requires Level 8Supports spells, or attacks that use bows or wands. Instead of using that skill, you will throw a mine that will use the skill for you when you detonate it. Mines cannot use channelling skills.Supported Attack Skills cannot be used with Melee Weapons
  Supported Skills deal (59-53)% less Damage
  Mine lasts 5 seconds
  Supported Skills have a Base Mine Detonation Time of 0.25 seconds
  Supported Skills gain a Base Reservation equal to Base Mana and Life Cost
  Supported Skills deal 5% more Damage for each prior Mine in Detonation Sequence
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  (0.5-10)% increased Mine DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket..
• Debuff Regeneration: The amount of life regenerated from the debuff damage caused by Essence Drain is calculated solely off the final amount of outbound damage dealt by the skill, not the damage inflicted on an enemy. An easy way to calculate the amount of regen provided is to multiply the tooltip amount of debuff damage by 0.5%. This will give you the amount of regen that Essence Drain will grant you per target effected. This means that using methods to increased the enemies received damage from sources such as DespairDespairSpell, AoE, Duration, Chaos, Curse, Hex
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: (16-33) Mana
  Cast Time: 0.50 sec
  AoE Radius: 22Requires Level 24Curses all targets in an area, lowering their chaos resistance.Base duration is (8.00-11.80) seconds
  +(0-1) metre to radius
  Cursed enemies have -(15-30)% to Chaos Resistance
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  (0.5-10)% increased Effect of CursePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., WitherWitherSpell, AoE, Duration, Chaos, Channelling
  Level: (1-20)
  Cost: (3-9) Mana
  Cast Time: 0.28 secRequires Level 10Casts a debilitating debuff on enemies in an area, hindering their movement and also inflicts the Withered debuff, which increases the Chaos Damage they take and can stack up to 15 times.Withered lasts 2 seconds
  Base duration is 0.50 seconds
  (0-19)% increased Area of Effect
  (30-36)% reduced Movement Speed
  6% increased Chaos Damage taken
  
  Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
  (1-20)% increased Skill Effect DurationPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket., or the Occultist Void Beacon notable does not influence the amount of regen provided by Essence Drain.

Strategy

The damage per cast of this spell is humongous, the damage it does per second is comparable to the damage of most spells and it keeps dealing damage (like with totems). Because this spell normally can hit only one enemy, it's not very useful alone unless the target is a boss or a player. However, it can be supported by Lesser Multiple Projectiles SupportLesser Multiple Projectiles SupportSupport, Projectile
Icon: l
Level: (1-20)
Cost & Reservation Multiplier: 130%Requires Level 8Supports projectile skills.Supported Skills deal (15-6)% less Projectile Damage
Supported Skills fire 2 additional Projectiles

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Supported Skills deal (0.5-10)% increased Projectile DamageThis is a Support Gem. It does not grant a bonus to your character, but to skills in sockets connected to it. Place into an item socket connected to a socket containing the Skill Gem you wish to augment. Right click to remove from a socket. or similar projectile support skills to hit more enemies at once and in the case of weaker monsters, ContagionContagionSpell, AoE, Duration, Chaos
Level: (1-20)
Cost: (5-20) Mana
Cast Time: 0.60 sec
AoE Radius: 20Requires Level 4Unleashes a vile contagion on enemies, dealing chaos damage over time. If an enemy dies while affected by Contagion, the debuff spreads to other enemies.Deals (3.5-235.9) Base Chaos Damage per second
Base duration is 5.00 seconds
Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect
Base radius is 1.7 metres
Spreads when affected Enemy dies

Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality:
Base radius is (0.01-0.2) metresPlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. can be used to spread it to the whole pack and kill a lot of monsters just with two casts.

Gem level progression

Level				Mana Cost	Chaos Damage per sec	Chaos Damage	Exp.	Total Exp.
1	12	14	21	8	31.2	9 to 13	0	0
2	15	17	25	9	40.6	12 to 18	15249	15249
3	19	21	30	10	56.4	17 to 25	41517	56766
4	23	24	35	11	76.5	24 to 36	81983	138749
5	27	28	41	12	102.5	33 to 49	147968	286717
6	31	32	46	13	135.7	44 to 67	250557	537274
7	35	36	51	14	178.9	60 to 90	405086	942360
8	38	38	55	15	217.5	75 to 112	447718	1390078
9	41	41	59	16	264.8	92 to 139	615318	2005396
10	44	44	63	16	319.2	114 to 171	834639	2840035
11	47	47	67	17	385.9	141 to 211	1570760	4410795
12	50	49	71	18	464.9	173 to 259	1633987	6044782
13	53	52	75	19	554.9	212 to 318	2151030	8195812
14	56	55	79	19	664.8	259 to 388	2812189	11008001
15	59	58	83	20	794.5	316 to 473	5099360	16107361
16	62	60	87	21	947.2	384 to 576	9400731	25508092
17	64	62	90	21	1063.7	438 to 656	15273366	40781458
18	66	64	92	22	1193.4	498 to 747	26286582	67068040
19	68	66	95	22	1337.8	567 to 850	62890590	129958630
20	70	68	98	23	1509.4	644 to 966	212046017	342004647
21	72	70	100	24	1689.2	732 to 1097	N/A	N/A
22	74	N/A	N/A	24	1888.9	831 to 1246	N/A	N/A
23	76	N/A	N/A	25	2110.5	942 to 1414	N/A	N/A
24	78	N/A	N/A	25	2356.2	1069 to 1603	N/A	N/A
25	80	N/A	N/A	26	2649.6	1211 to 1817	N/A	N/A
26	82	N/A	N/A	26	2954	1372 to 2058	N/A	N/A
27	84	N/A	N/A	27	3290.9	1554 to 2331	N/A	N/A
28	86	N/A	N/A	27	3663.6	1759 to 2638	N/A	N/A
29	88	N/A	N/A	28	4110.1	1989 to 2984	N/A	N/A
30	90	N/A	N/A	28	4569.8	2250 to 3375	N/A	N/A
31	91	N/A	N/A	28	4817.3	2392 to 3588	N/A	N/A
32	92	N/A	N/A	29	5077.4	2543 to 3815	N/A	N/A
33	93	N/A	N/A	29	5397.5	2703 to 4055	N/A	N/A
34	94	N/A	N/A	29	5687.3	2874 to 4310	N/A	N/A
35	95	N/A	N/A	29	5991.7	3054 to 4581	N/A	N/A
36	96	N/A	N/A	30	6311.3	3246 to 4869	N/A	N/A
37	97	N/A	N/A	30	6646.8	3449 to 5174	N/A	N/A
38	98	N/A	N/A	30	7062.6	3665 to 5497	N/A	N/A
39	99	N/A	N/A	30	7436.2	3894 to 5841	N/A	N/A
40	100	N/A	N/A	31	7828.2	4137 to 6205	N/A	N/A

Item acquisition

Essence Drain can drop anywhere.

Recipes

Essence Drain can be created from the following recipes:

Amount	Part	Description	Meta
3	The Bitter BlossomThe Bitter Blossom3Level 21 Chaos Gem Quality: +23% CorruptedThe pain you feel is of no consequence, it is evolution, to be made whole within something greater.	Random corrupted level 21 Chaos gem with 23% quality	A
13	The CataclysmThe Cataclysm13Level 21 Spell Gem CorruptedThe mighty warriors traded in blows, the nimble archers in arrows, yet it was the brazen thaumaturgists who would bring catastrophe to all.	Random corrupted level 21 Spell gem	A
6	The FoxThe Fox6Level 20 Gem"Masters of wit, strength and cunning. To survive the harsh winters, you must be like the fox." - Ezomyte Proverb	Random level 20 gem	A
3	Gemcutter's PromiseGemcutter's Promise3Gem Quality: +20%"I swore to use my position to help the people. What good is power when it just accumulates on the already-powerful?" - Erasmus, Imperial Gemcutter	Random gem with 20% quality	A
1	Gemcutter's IncubatorGemcutter's IncubatorStack Size: 10Adds an incubated Quality Gem item to an equippable item Item drops after killing {0} monstersRight click this item then left click an item to apply it. The Incubated item drops after killing a specific number of monsters.	Random gem with 1–20% quality	A
1	The VoidThe Void1Reach into the Void and claim your prize.	Random divination card set exchange	A

Quest reward

This item is given as a quest reward for the following quests:

Class →	Witch	Shadow	Ranger	Duelist	Marauder	Templar	Scion
Quest ↓
The Siren's Cadence Act 1	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✗	✗

Vendor reward

This item can be bought at the listed NPC vendors, after completing the following quests:

Class →	Witch	Shadow	Ranger	Duelist	Marauder	Templar	Scion
Quest ↓
The Siren's Cadence Act 1 Nessa	✓	✓	✗	✗	✗	✓	✓
A Fixture of Fate Act 3 Siosa	✓
Fallen from Grace Act 6 Lilly Roth	✓

Alternate skill effects

Name	Cost	Description
Arcane Essence Drain EffectArcane Essence Drain EffectSkill Gem EffectYour Essence Drain becomes a blue arcane effect.	80	Replaces the standard effect on a Essence DrainEssence DrainSpell, Projectile, Duration, Chaos, AoE Level: (1-20) Cost: (8-23) Mana Cast Time: 0.70 sec Critical Strike Chance: 5.00% Effectiveness of Added Damage: 140%Requires Level 12Fires a projectile that applies a damage over time debuff when it hits. You are healed for a portion of the debuff damage. The debuff is spread by Contagion.Deals (9-644) to (13-966) Chaos Damage Deals (31.2-1509.4) Base Chaos Damage per second Base duration is 3.80 seconds Modifiers to Spell Damage apply to this Skill's Damage Over Time effect Regenerate 0.50% of Debuff Damage as Life Additional Effects From 1-20% Quality: Regenerate +(0.025-0.5)% of Debuff Damage as LifePlace into an item socket of the right colour to gain this skill. Right click to remove from a socket. skill gem with a blue arcane effect. Preview

Related helmet enchantments

The following helmet enchantments affect Essence Drain.

Note that helmet enchantments are no longer obtainable since version 3.23.0 and can only be obtained in permanent leagues as already enchanted items from before this patch.

Name		Labyrinth	Stats	Spawn Weighting
Enchantment Essence Drain Damage 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	25% increased Essence Drain Damage	helmet 100
Enchantment Essence Drain Damage 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	40% increased Essence Drain Damage	helmet 100
Enchantment Essence Drain Duration 1	66	Merciless Labyrinth	20% increased Essence Drain Duration	helmet 100
Enchantment Essence Drain Duration 2	75	Eternal Labyrinth	30% increased Essence Drain Duration	helmet 100

Version history

Version	Changes
2.1.1c	Fixed an instance crash with Essence Drain [...]. Fixed a bug with Essence Drain spreading between enemies.
2.1.1b	Fixed a bug where players could get the Essence Drain life recovery effect stuck on their character until changing instances.
2.1.1	Essence Drain can now be supported by "Cast On" trigger support gems.
2.1.0	Added to the game.