Overview
This is the true endgame, Cast-on-Critical iteration of the Detonate Dead Abyssal Lich for patch 0.5. The build is meant for characters already deep into high-tier mapping who have unlocked the Abyssal Lich ascendancy by defeating Kulemak in tier 14+ maps. Before that point you follow the same passive tree but play the regular Lich plant version; once Abyssal Lich comes online the build hits its full power spike.
The engine is the synergy between Entangle and Thunderstorm. Entangle carpets the ground with long-lasting fissures that slow and pressure enemies, while Thunderstorm pushes those fissures into their overgrown state and feeds a steady stream of crits. Every crit auto-fires Cast on Critical Detonate Dead, turning corpse clusters into chaining explosions that wipe packs. Defensively it stacks a huge energy-shield pool and abuses Abyssal Lich’s eternal life, so damage that bypasses ES converts into effective damage reduction.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Smooth, reactive screen-clearing from cascading Detonate Dead explosions
- Strong single-target with high uptime on bosses via Wrath of Vines and Bone Storm
- Very tanky — large ES pool plus eternal-life damage bypass makes it feel nearly unkillable
- Performs well across essentially every content type once geared
Cons
- Hard endgame setup: CoC Detonate Dead does not function until your crit chance is high enough in red maps
- Costs a bit to assemble (crit jewels, crafted staves, crit rings)
- Requires unlocking Abyssal Lich (Kulemak in T14+) before the build comes together
- Trigger-and-plant rotation has real complexity to manage
Key Skills
- Cast on Critical Detonate Dead — the core engine; auto-detonates corpses on every crit
- Entangle — lays fissures that slow enemies and set up the loop
- Thunderstorm — overgrows the plants and supplies the crit stream
- Wrath of Vines / Bone Storm — single-target supplements for tough rares and bosses
- Blasphemy + Temporal Chains — permanent slow aura for defense and control
Gear & Anointments
Rare items stack energy shield while keeping some life for a big effective HP pool, and handle resistances, attributes and rarity. The big offensive upgrades come from weapons and jewelry: a rare staff with physical gem levels, spell crit and added elemental damage as the main offensive slot, plus a second staff dedicated to powering Thunderstorm. Rings split between a generic resistance/defensive piece and a breach-crafted crit ring. Jewels should each carry two critical-damage-bonus rolls. Uniques Atziri’s Disdain (life-to-ES conversion plus a damage-bypass line) and Nightscale (crit chance and a mana engine) both slot in cheaply. Take ascendancy as Soulless Form, Eternal Life, Rupture the Flesh, then Crystalline Flask Tree.
Endgame Notes
Level as a plant setup from level one, adding Volcano in Act 1, and keep the same core gems from Act 2 onward — just do not enable CoC Detonate Dead until you are reliably critting in endgame maps. Chase items like high-tier crit amulets, Heart of the Well variants, Headhunter or Mageblood push the tempo into near-constant crit chains that delete bosses.
Credits & Source
Build credited to Odealo. See the source video for the full skill, gear and ascendancy breakdown: CoC Detonate Dead Abyssal Lich 0.5 update - Path of Exile 2.