In Path of Exile 2, you usually get life leech from gear, support gems, passives, or certain uniques that add a line like “Leeches X% of Physical Damage as Life” or “Leech X% of Physical Attack Damage as Life.” For a simple setup, the easiest sources are a weapon, ring, gloves, or a support gem that grants leech.

Common sources

  • Weapons: local mods like “Leeches 8% of Physical Damage as Life” only work with that weapon’s hits.
  • Gloves / jewelry: global leech mods can work for attacks and are often easier to build around.
  • Support gems: the Life Leech support can be unlocked with a Level 3 or higher Uncut Support Gem.
  • Passive tree / ascendancy: these usually improve leech amount, recovery, or reliability rather than being your only source.

What actually works

Leech generally comes from hits , not damage over time, so skills that hit repeatedly are the easiest way to benefit from it. Physical attack damage is the most common and straightforward way to scale leech early on.

Simple early-game example

If you’re using a melee attack, a ring or weapon with a physical attack leech mod plus the Life Leech support gem is usually enough to make the mechanic feel noticeable. Then you can add passive nodes that increase how much you leech or how fast you recover it.

TL;DR

Get life leech from weapon mods, gear mods, the Life Leech support gem, or passive tree nodes ; then make sure your build is actually hitting enemies, ideally with physical attacks.