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[3.9] Pure Phys Skeletons & Friends Necromancer — Beginner/SSF/Budget Build

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Bainand wrote:

Haha, glad to see someone else is trying the updates. I think there is further room for improvement as well, just trying a few different things. I don't know why leash of oblation has been basically unused as it is very powerful!


Hi, I'm looking at your PoB. Can I ask why Pain Attunement is specced? I thought minions aren't affected by this?
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Ckuttah wrote:


Hi, I'm looking at your PoB. Can I ask why Pain Attunement is specced? I thought minions aren't affected by this?


Thats because he use a glorius vanity jewel.
Guys I think I just came up with a small breakthrough for Animate Guardian after some of the recent changes. If you are using the Triple offering build, Bone offering gives Minions a 39% block chance. This item which was previously overlooked because the AG normally doesn't equip a shield now looks great.

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Zahndethus%27_Cassock

Zahndethus' Cassock:

The highlights are on block it has a 100% to Create Consecrated Ground ( 6% life regen and 100% crit chance on enemies) and provides a big 50% boost to Chaos Resistance for AG as well.

Other than if you prefer "10% maximum life as energy shield" mod this is probably a no brainer to equip right? It's dirt cheap too.
Last edited by Undisputed22#8447 on Jan 24, 2020, 10:39:51 AM
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Undisputed22 wrote:
Guys I think I just came up with a small breakthrough for Animate Guardian after some of the recent changes. If you are using the Triple offering build, Bone offering gives Minions a 39% block chance. This item which was previously overlooked because the AG normally doesn't equip a shield now looks great.

https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Zahndethus%27_Cassock

Zahndethus' Cassock:

The highlights are on block it has a 100% to Create Consecrated Ground ( 6% life regen and 100% crit chance on enemies) and provides a big 50% boost to Chaos Resistance for AG as well.

Other than if you prefer "10% maximum life as energy shield" mod this is probably a no brainer to equip right? It's dirt cheap too.


Interesting idea... but you'd need to be lucky enough for him to drop consecrated ground in the correct spot. Also in my setup he's got a defensive AI so doesn't get attacked that often I think, therefore not really spamming that proc.
I'll stick to my Garb of the Ephemeral... immune chill, frozen, temporal chains, immune crit!
So I am seeing lots of people asking what they can do to their build or what changes have been made. There’s a ton of info in the different forum post but it’s clearly not ideal to browse. If you are having trouble I strongly recommend just clicking on some of the frequent posters names and taking a look at their gear and tree. A few I recommend are Solanales, Dragomirov, Bainand, Varmemester and Coaa. That should answer most basic questions on what to do next.

I thought I would also provide a centralized post for consensus changes to the guide since there have been so many and it can be hard to keep track. I’ll list the changes and also highlight optional paths to go down. Again this is just focused on changes from the original guide. I’m operating under the assumption that Leash of Oblation is now core to the build.

Gear Changes

Weapon: You want a convoking wand with at least +1 minion gem / +1 spell gems and to have “trigger a socketed spell when you use a skill” - This enables us to trigger all 3 offerings which leads into…

Belt: Leash of oblation – It lets us use all 3 offerings at once which not only boost our minions but us due to Mistress of Sacrifice. The constant energy shield boost and extra block% chance makes us almost un-killable. Some may be able to shed the “almost” label with enough investment. We supplement bone offering with extra block chance from…

Flask: Rumi’s Concoction – It increases block chance 20% for attacks and 10% for spells and helps us trigger the regen from Bone offering more often.

Chest – We need a hunter influenced item lvl 80+ to get the mod 21-25% increased effect of offerings. This offsets the 25% reduction from our belt. Can also roll +1 curse limit if you are really lucky.

Amulet – Get a hunter influenced amulet with +1 to all intelligence gems.
Ring – If using MOM get an essence worm ring to socket in Pride so that you don’t have to reserve 40% mana. If not using MOM you don’t need to do this.

Gem Changes:

(Vaal optional) Summon Skeletons – Impale - Melee Splash/Multistrike – Ruthless(or Brutality) - Minion Damage - Melee Physical Damage

The Main source of damage. All other minion damage is pretty much irrelevant. With Spirit offering up (provides bonus chaos damage) Ruthless is generally better than brutality because it blocks non-physical damage. We swap multi strike in for melee splash during boss fights. Impale replaces feeding frenzy for added damage and also because we can get the boost from Frenzy somewhere else because it boost all minions when triggered.

Dread Banner – Generosity: Significantly boost Skeleton Damage with Impale. Multiple options of where to Socket. You don’t need to plant banner

Socketed in a Trigger Wand (trigger a spell when you use a skill crafted mod): Spirit Offering - Bone Offering - Fleshing offering : These will cast in rotation when you use spells. The main triggers will be Desecrate and Flame Dash/Shield Charge. Our belt, Leash of oblation, let’s up use all three at once and the trigger wand helps us keep all 3 up all the time.

Pride Gem – Big boost to physical dps. Socketed in an Essence Worm ring if using MOM or anywhere if not.

Carrion Golem – Maim – Feeding Frenzy – Optional slot ( Chaos Golem, Stone Golem or preference ) - We use the golem to earn the feeding frenzy and maim buffs. To clarify Feeding Frenzy when triggered will be a buff that shows on you and applies to all minions. Lots of people are experimenting here with using a second golem for their buffs or removing passives and going to 1 golem. Some people are switching gems around and getting Zombies to apply these.

Spectres – As opposed to 2 carnage chieftains and 2 host chieftains I strongly recommend replacing one host and adding a Merveil’s Retainer which adds a 50% Vulnerability damage debuff ( way stronger than a lvl 20 gem). It blanket cast vulnerability pretty much non-stop. This also applies to your curse limit so plan accordingly with Enfeeble. Merveil’s Retainer can only be found in maps with the mod "Area is inhabited by Sea Witches and their Spawn". You can search for low level maps with this mod if you don’t have any.

Other interesting options for spectres are:
Carnage Chieftains - Great for Frenzy Charge generation
Host Chieftains - Decent for Power Charge Generation
Ruins Hellion - Taunts and Warcry provides a 30% less damage debuff on enemies, 10% increased damage cry for allies. Mixed info on how often it cast.
Flame Sentinels - Really good clearspeed
Slave Drivers - Good for AoE clear
Reanimator - Casts an enfeeble that is stronger than the lvl 20 gem and also raises zombies


Animate Guardian – Typically slotted with Zombies replacing Brutality. Honestly it shouldn’t be optional but required. I repeat ANIMATE GUARDIAN IS NOT OPTIONAL TO THIS BUILD. It really should not die. My Guardian never has. If you read horror stories it’s typically in HOTG or some really fluky metamorph. Start it on a budget but the goal is to get all the Kingmaker Buffs. So once again ANIMATE GUARDIAN IS NOT OPTIONAL… KINGMAKER IS. Here is a link to read about it :
https://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Animate_Guardian

Recommended items

Budget:
Weapon: Dying Breath- 18% damage boost and curst boost
Helmet: Leer Cast – 15% damage boost
Armor: Belly of the Beast – 40% health boost/ 15% resistance
Zahndethus' Cassock (if using bone offering) - Creates consecrated ground on block (6% life regen and 100% crit chance against enemies.
Gloves: Southbound 16% increased life or Meginords – 2% life regen
Boots: Victario's Flight – 10% movement speed aura
From there test our you AG and you will quickly notice he will never drop below 80%. Once you want to add here are items to look at

High Budget:
Weapon: Kingmaker – The crown jewel which provides an aura for Culling Strike, Fortify and +50% to Critical Strike Multiplier
Helmet: Mask of the Stitched Demon – Combines with Grave intentions passive to provide massive life regen
Armor: Rare Increased Max Life chest with "10% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield" crafted on. Garb of the Ephemeral: immune chill, frozen, temporal chains, immune crit. Gruthkuls pelt 5% life regen but Zahndethus Cassock may make it obsolete.
Gloves: Same unless you find a crazy rare that makes sense
Boots: stick w Victario's Flight or get rare boots with life mods and resist.


Optional Paths

MOM (Mind over matter) is the core of your build. You focus on Mana nodes and generally want Mana at 35-40% of your health. You avoid reserving mana except for Dread Banner. If using pride it goes in an essence worm ring.

Pure life - You remove MOM and mana nodes and focus purely on life. Contrary to as it sounds this actually is more DPS focused since you can reserve mana for Pride, Dread Banner, and sometimes Skitterbots

Glorius Vanity Doryani Jewel (Timeless Jewel) - The main premise is this corrupts a Keystone Passive (typically Pain attunement) and gives corrupted soul where the big bonus is
Gain 20% of Maximum Life as Extra Maximum Energy Shield
50% of Non-Chaos Damage taken bypasses Energy Shield

2 wands – DPS focus

1 wand / 1 shield - Boost survivability. Typically Ahn’s shield is used but with Bone offering there may be better options since we want to hit the 75% block cap. The block from shield helps trigger bone offerings regen.


Passive tree optional routes:

Besides the basic stuff like getting life nodes, mana nodes for MOM or pathing towards a spot for Doryani Jewel. Here are a few interesting ideas:

Whispers of Doom: Only costs 3 points and adds a second curse to pair with Vulnerability. Typically enfeeble.

Remove Golem Commander: Should save 4 points and should only minimally lower dps.

Grave intentions: 3 points if you have a Doryani slotted. Makes minions tankier especially Animate Guardian because the 10% of maximum life as energy shield. Also provides Unholy might on kill.

If you are really hurting for a point I’ve seen people remove Spiritual aid on the very left side of tree. Other than the 15% damage it just gives accuracy bonuses. If you still take righteous army and redemption it saves you one point. So the question is if 1 point is worth 11% less damage (and accuracy bonuses if they matter)

Intuitive Leap Jewel – A few spots on tree where you can save passive points and hit multiple nodes.

Necromatic Aegis – Some interesting things you can do especially with bone offering giving minions regen on block.

Well that should sum it up. If anything was missed and should be added please let me know.
Last edited by Undisputed22#8447 on Jan 24, 2020, 4:19:10 PM
Thank you for the summary Undisputed!
EDIT: Undisputed posted a summary of the leash of oblation build just as I was writing this, so there is a lot of overlap in my post and his above me.

This is a summary of the changed needed to go from the base build to a triple offering version.

I followed this original build guide when I was first starting off, but part way through the season I changed a number of things in the build that made a MASSIVE improvement to the base build. A few changes I adopted from this thread (doryani jewel, no more MOM, impale/banner), and a few others I tried but didn’t like (Ahn’s shield, various passive tree changes).

The other changes that I have made have put me over 4M dps per skelly, while being almost unkillable, with room for improvement. I am currently doing MUCH more damage than I was with the previous build, and am way more tanky than I was even with Ahn’s shield.

My POB: https://pastebin.com/UHuf3bG1

Mandatory pieces:
- Leash of oblation belt

- Trigger socketed gem when you cast a spell wand with 3 blue sockets for the three offerings.

- +spirit offering chest (this is a hunter influence item and is quite cheap at the moment). Close as you can get to 25. If it is above 21, you can divine orb it to 25.

There are a few other changes in my POB to the tree (like getting mystic bulwark) that synergize nicely with the build but are not necessary, but you can browse through POBs to see what works for you.

Main change I have made:
- The major change is running “Leash of Oblation” belt to fully leverage offerings. This belt seems to be grossly underused despite being incredibly powerful. An almost perfect one with 100-110 life and 19-20 to all attributes is only a few chaos, and poor ones are an alch. This is higher than my 1ex stygian was, and it also has 20 all attributes on it so I was able to drop a dex enchant on my boots. Only loss is a ghastly gem slot which is nothing compared to the benefits. I did loss resist but I haven’t had an issue over-capping resist on this build so far anyways. I found one with 30% to pride aura and have been using that.

The 25% reduced offering effect is very easily counteracted by +25% offerings in chest giving you THREE full strength offerings. This 25% increased offering effect is the only real cost for this change. When testing I bought a 6L hunter base for 40c, and spent around 100 alterations to get a good life roll plus increased offering, then regaled and enchanted it with +skellies for a very solid chest at a cost of around 50c cost. Or you can buy a non-six linked with life and offering already, and six-link it.
Note: Leash is still VERY worth running without the chest, but the offering chest pushes it over the top.

This requires a “Trigger socketed spell when you cast a spell” wand with all three offerings in it, which isn’t a big change since many people were running one anyways. Normally, summoning skeletons and flame dashing keeps this up 100% of the time without thinking about it. For bosses with no corpses, casting desecrate 3 times (which takes about 0.5 seconds with faster cast linked) puts all three offerings up instantly. If I get hit and energy shield drops, I can just cast it again to bring up the spirit offering energy shield pre-emptively without waiting for CWDT. The trigger has a 4 second internal cooldown for those wondering.

Note: I originally thought the 50% reduced offering duration would be an issue, but it isn’t at all. With 5 corpses and 20% qual, base duration is 11 seconds, and various passives for skill duration bring that to 18 seconds, so with the 50% reduced duration, they last 9 seconds which is more than enough.

Evalution of the Offerings:
1. Flesh offering: This was already used in the build, but wasn’t even close to 100% uptime. I found my spirit offering was procced so often, especially when I most needed the damage, that it didn’t really bring much to the build. Other POBs showed it up as 100% for damage calculation which wasn’t even close.

2. Spirit offering: This was primarily used for defence in the original build. It still provides the same bonus here, but it is always up, and it reapplies very regularly just from flame dash and summoning skeletons so is much more reliable, and actually helps with true one-shots. Also it is now used at full gem level instead of low level for CWDT. Since spirit offering now has 100% uptime, technically you no longer need to resist cap as you get around 25% all resist depending on gem level and +spell gem wands. I have left myself capped since my gear already does it, but you could drop below the cap with no issues if you are struggling with resists.

3. Bone offering: Incredibly powerful, and I underrated it initially due to it seemly being outshined by the other offerings. However, this is what makes this build WAY more tanky than the ahn’s shield version and allows for more DPS than the non-ahn versions. This gives my skeletons 39% spell and attack block which already is way better for their survival than other options like indomitable army, and on top of that they get 1000 life every time they block which is almost 50% of the time. Even my skeletons rarely die now.

On top of this, I now go from 15 attack/8 spell block to 44/36. With rumi’s flask (which is easy to keep up) I get to 64/46 block and EVERY time I block I get 750 life back. Now when I get jumped, my energy shield gets trounced, but once it hits my life it keeps popping back up every time I block. Note: Running a shield can cap attack block and bring spell block to 58. This may be an option for early gearing with <4k life.

- This build required a couple more gem slots to work smoothly (faster casting and one more offering). I noticed that my non-skeleton minions were not contributing much to dps other than buffs for my skellies, so I got rid of the DPS gems for golem and zombies. They hit like a wet paper bag compared to my skellies even gemmed. I left Feeding Frenzy and Maim for the buffs they give to skellies, but moved them to zombies since more minions maimed = more DPS. It is valid to run maim with golem as well if you want the defensive zombies.

- I didn’t see much point in having two carrion golems since the buff range is quite large, and the damage of an extra golem is less than 5% of a skeleton. I swapped this out for stone golem whose life regen is excellent, and brings me to 780 regen per second, which is around 12% per second. This is a personal choice, and I may get rid of the two golem passive in a future build anyways.

- Vulnerability curse helps a ton with this build. Originally I had it on my animate guardian on gloves, then I moved it to my wand where faster casting gem is. However, I tried merveil’s spectre and it does an insanely good job of keeping it up (way more reliable than chieftain charges). On top of that it seems to be even more powerful than level 20 gem (which is 40%). According to multiple forum posts and this link it is 50%, so I dropped my gem so I am no longer casting over the more powerful version: https://poedb.tw/us/mon.php?n=Merveil%27s+Retainer

Note: I couldn’t figure out how to simulate the mervail in POB since it will not go to 50%. I should have 59% (50 from vuln and 9% from helm if they stack properly), but had to use a combination of war banner and vuln gems to simulate this 59%. There is probably a better way to do this.

This is not specific to the build, but I crafted a bone helm with -9 phys for this build using jagged fossils (very cheap) and according to POB, it comes out better than the godly pseudo-6slot ones that go for 25+ex. I sold my old one which freed some ex up to play with this build, and got an upgrade in the process.
Last edited by Bainand#6913 on Jan 24, 2020, 1:38:25 PM
Laudable effort. As soon as we're onto page 277 the guys will keep making new posts asking for the most basic questions... "how come I keep dying at -60% chaos res in a Metamorph/Hunter map?" "please fix my gear kthxbye" "I can't see my impale dps in PoB like you, is there a way to see it that I couldn't find with a simple google search?" "can you please explain why this is not good for my build? I know there is a PoE Wiki page explaining minions but I couldn't put the words together in my mind".
I wish there was a quick way to delete all these posts after 1 week.

Regarding your earlier question Bainand, normally I would simulate the "increased physical damage taken" with Maim, but since we're already using it (and can't bump it up to a high enough level to represent what we lack), your War Banner alternative is correct and accurate. I checked the numbers by equating a Maim 20 vs a War Banner 31, both giving "enemies take 14% increased physical damage", and the dps impact is exactly the same. So that's proof enough for me.
Last edited by Dragomirov#7603 on Jan 24, 2020, 2:24:27 PM
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Last edited by Undisputed22#8447 on Jan 24, 2020, 3:10:00 PM
How does feeding frenzy work ?


"Minions from Supported Skills deal (5-14)% more Damage while you have Feeding Frenzy"

So this my question is, do the minions only gain the increased damage while they are supported by the gem or it doesn't matter who is giving the buff, as long as you have it it applies to every minion.

Because I am getting feeding frenzy buff from my golem but I need to know if it applies to my skelies as well even though they are not support by feeding frenzy support linked.
Never invite Vorana, Last To Fall at a beer party.

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