Sacrifice

Sacrifice skills are skills that decrease the health of the caster, ranging from 8% to 33% of the caster's maximum health depending on the skill. Health is only sacrificed if the skill is performed successfully. Cancellation or interruption of the skill will not trigger the sacrifice effect. Only Necromancers and Ritualists have skills that require sacrifice.


 * Because sacrifices are based on the caster's maximum health and not current health, it is possible for a caster to kill himself by sacrificing more than his remaining health.


 * The math for sacrificing health rounds the health loss. This means that a caster with a maximum of 1 health will not actually sacrifice any health (since 33% of 1 health rounds down to zero life lost).  One way this could happen is by dying as an Invincimonk and being resurrected with 100% health, through a Resurrection Signet or Shrine.

Offsetting Health Loss
Sacrifice skills are challenging to master. They include some of the most powerful skills, but using them at the wrong time is a good way to earn a quick trip to the nearest resurrection shrine. Fortunately, there are a number of ways to offset the dangers of self-sacrifice.

Necromancers

 * Regeneration: The necromancer has a range of health regeneration skills. With forethought and patience, a necromancer can easily achieve a nearly constant health regeneration of between 6 and 10 pips, even without a friendly monk's Healing Breeze.  This should quickly repair most sacrifice damage when not taking heavy damage from the enemy at the same time. Regeneration skills include Life Siphon, Life Transfer, Well of Blood, and Well of Power.  Blood Renewal is another regeneration option, but care must be taken as it is also a sacrifice skill.


 * Stealing health: Another stategy is to quickly follow up sacrifice skills with those that instantly transfer health from an enemy to the caster. Useful skills for this include Vampiric Gaze, Vampiric Touch, Shadow Strike, and Unholy Feast. A sacrifice-based necromancer is also the ideal candidate to take advantage of Grenth's Balance.  This skill can do a large amount of damage to an enemy but only if the caster is significantly low on health when it's cast.


 * Feasting on the dead: A necromancer can use either corpses or his own animated minions to replenish large amounts of health cheaply and quickly. Soul Feast and Taste of Death are both exceptionaly large instant heals.  The former is fueled by corpses and the latter steals health from one of your minions.  Consume Corpse is a more moderate heal but it can also be used to regain energy.


 * Mitigating damage: The necromancer also has a couple of tricks for preventing damage before it happens rather than healing it after the fact. Aura of the Lich temporarily halves direct damage from all sources, and because of the way it works, provides an even greater benefit against sacrifice damage. Alternatively, Dark Bond transfers 75% of all direct damage the necromancer suffers to one of his minions.

Ritualists

 * Healing: The ritualist has a number of spammable pure healing skills such as Mend Body and Soul that can easily repair the health sacrifice.


 * Spirits: Some ritualist sacrificing skills such as Spirit Light prevent the sacrifice if there is a spirit nearby.

Related Skills
These skills sacrifice health (sacrificed amount is shown in parentheses):

These skills involve sacrifice in other ways:
 * Scourge Sacrifice increases the cost of sacrifices by foes.
 * Awaken the Blood increases its user's sacrifice costs.
 * Dark Aura deals damage to nearby foes and removes health from its user whenever he sacrifices.
 * Aura of the Lich halves the amount of health sacrificed and therefor an interesting combination with Dark Aura