Overview
This build turns the 0.5 unique Raven’s Flock Perching Staff into a hands-off damage engine. The staff grants Spiral Conspiracy — a swirling flock of ravens that ticks chaos damage over time to everything nearby — so the core gameplay is simply walking through packs while the flock does the killing. The creator likens the feel to Righteous Fire from the first game: no buttons to press, just position and move.
The twist is that Spiral Conspiracy scales off minion damage, so the whole character is wrapped around minion modifiers rather than spell or attack stats. The Lich ascendancy ties it together: pack-wide explosions on cursed enemies, Necromantic Conduit granting Unholy Might for extra chaos, and mana-as-scaling through a huge Mind over Matter / Eldritch Battery mana pool that doubles as the effective life bar.
A cloud of self-destructing skeletons (Infernal Legion + Essence Harvest) constantly dies around you, which recoups mana, spreads Despair via Cast on Minion Death, and keeps Onslaught and Arcane Surge permanently active. It is an unusual, low-input playstyle — but, as the creator is refreshingly honest about, an expensive one for the damage you get back.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Fully passive damage — the flock kills as you walk, no rotation to manage
- Comfortable, tanky clear through T15–T16 8-mod corrupted maps
- Lich explosions and permanent curses keep normal map clear feeling smooth
- Self-sustaining mana economy from dying skeletons (Onslaught + Arcane Surge always up)
Cons
- Very expensive — the creator’s version sits around 1,500 divines and still lands at only ~170k DoT
- Damage is low relative to meta skills; struggles hard against 200% Delirium and juiced content
- Not recommended for Expeditions — juicy Expedition packs can overwhelm it
- Heavily gear- and jewel-gated; needs Raven’s Flock plus stacked minion/mana rares to function
Key Skills
- Spiral Conspiracy (from Raven’s Flock) — the passive chaos DoT flock; your only damage source, scaled by minion damage
- Muster support — the biggest multiplier, ~7% more damage per distinct minion type summoned
- Skeletal minion suite + Infernal Legion + Essence Harvest — disposable minions that self-detonate to fuel mana recoup and minion-count scaling
- Cast on Minion Death → Despair — auto-applies the curse map-wide off constant minion deaths
- Blasphemy (Temporal Chains) + Withering Presence — slow and wither layers that add defence and DoT magnitude
Gear & Anointments
Raven’s Flock Perching Staff is the mandatory item — prioritise the highest “minions deal increased damage” roll plus spirit reservation efficiency. Everything else stacks energy shield (converted to mana via Eldritch Battery) alongside maximum mana, “+X to all minion skills,” and “minions deal increased damage.” Grip of Kaom-style max-mana rings, a +2 all-minion-skills belt, and three Grand Spectrum Emeralds for spirit round it out. Jewels lean on a Heroic Strategy timeless jewel (roll starting ~6,000 for the minion-damage node) plus generic minion-damage/mana jewels; a Megalomaniac granting Warlord Leader adds 40% increased damage and presence area. Confirm exact item rolls against the source video.
Endgame Notes
The honest ceiling is comfortable T15–T16 8-mod corrupted map farming. Bossing feels acceptable when the main skill is common-skilled for extra hits, but the low overall DoT means heavily juiced maps, 200% Delirium, and Expeditions are where the build falls off. The creator’s own verdict is that the skill needs buffs before it justifies its cost — treat this as a fun, low-effort clear character rather than an all-content powerhouse.
Credits & Source
Build credited to ExFluent. See the source video for the full build breakdown, gem links, and skill tree walkthrough: Raven’s Flock Lich Build Guide: Is It Worth It? | PoE 2 0.5.