Soul Drainer

Soul Drainer vambraces offer dual leech for physical builds in Diablo 2 Resurrected, but this seemingly attractive combination struggles to find practical applications against superior alternatives. While the concept of simultaneous life and mana leech sounds appealing, the execution fails to justify equipment slots.

Dual Leech Appeal

Soul Drainer provides both 4-7% Life Stolen Per Hit and 4-7% Mana Stolen Per Hit, making it one of few items offering dual leech. The -50 Monster Defense Per Hit stacks with each attack, theoretically improving both leech effectiveness and hit rate. The 8% Chance to Cast Level 3 Weaken On Striking adds negligible defensive value.

Opportunity Cost Problem

The fundamental issue is competition. Physical builds rarely struggle with mana management—most use minimal mana or have Insight mercenaries. For life sustain, Dracul's Grasp provides superior recovery through Life Tap while adding open wounds. For pure damage, Laying of Hands crushes demons far more effectively. For crushing blow and strength, Steelrend or crafted blood gloves outperform. Soul Drainer excels at nothing while being adequate at dual leech—a stat combination few builds actually need.

Niche Uses

Melee casters using skills like Blessed Hammer or Concentration might theoretically benefit from mana leech, but these builds rarely engage in sustained melee combat. Characters using Exile shields already have Life Tap, eliminating the life leech requirement.

Trade value is minimal. Soul Drainer remains a relic of questionable design—serviceable on paper, irrelevant in practice.