BALANCE · 0.5 RUNES OF ALDUR

Is Instant Leech in 0.5?

Short answer: no. All Instant Leech was removed in 0.5, and Leech as a whole took a heavy nerf. If your old build facetanked off instant leech, that panic-button recovery is gone. Here’s what changed and how to adapt.

01 The short answer

There is no Instant Leech in 0.5. Leech now always applies over time. On top of that, two new caps landed:

The 0.5 leech rules: only one source of Leech per resource applies at a time (the strongest), and a single hit counts at most 40,000 damage toward leech. Instant leech is gone entirely.

02 Why it matters for your build

Builds that used instant leech for burst sustain (big slams, melee facetanking, one-shot-and-refill) lose that instant top-up. You now recover gradually, so layered defenses matter more than they did. Blood Mage got a compensation buff: Vitality Siphon now leeches 20% of Spell damage.

03 What to do instead

Lean on the recovery that still works: life/mana regen, recoup, life-on-hit, and Energy Shield recharge. And don’t rely on a single huge hit to refill you. If you’re rebuilding for 0.5, check whether your skill survived the patch first.

FAQ Quick answers

Is Leech still good in 0.5?

Yes, but it heals over time now, only one source per resource applies, and a single hit is capped at 40,000 damage toward leech. It’s steady sustain, not an instant refill.

What is the leech damage cap in 0.5?

40,000 damage from a single hit can count toward leech. Bigger hits don’t leech more than that.

Did Blood Mage get nerfed too?

Leech changes hit everyone, but Blood Mage was compensated: Vitality Siphon was buffed to 20% Spell damage leech.

→ More 0.5 answers

▸ CHECK YOUR BUILD ALL 0.5 CHANGES

Based on the PoE 2 0.5 “Runes of Aldur” patch notes. If GGG changes this mid-league or a detail drifts, tell us and we’ll update.