Pure Summoner Build

Thx for answering.. So my idea isn't going to work at all :D (necromantic aegis doesn't work with shield nodes, or tempest shield).
Now, if I imagine it without necro aegis, than i have a tanky templar with a lot of shield bonuses, and weaker minions without block chance..and this may work according to Minion Instability.
On the other hand if I choose to keep necro aegis and I remove every single shield node I will have A LOT of free points, not just 1. I could spend these points on %life, wich may be a good way to get a good defensive bonus without removing the block chance on my minions..And i probably prefer to do so, even if i like MI..it will work anyway, will it? (also +life may be spent to pay some auras)

Now my mind replaced the previous ideas with some new ones, this time focusing on 'Elemental equilibrium'. Our minions deal fire dmg when they explode, and both fire and lighting dmg when they hit (wrath and anger, right?). Our totems can deal any kind of dmg, based on the chosen ability (lightining warp is the coolest but never tried, so..). We can cast something by ourselves, for example adding cold dmg (ice spear, cold snap)..so, shouldn't it work well? And if we also use elemental weakness..we can have a significant dmg boost, MAY BE.. What do you think about it?

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CanHasPants wrote:

That would have been the only reason I'd want to take NA -- to run a shield with inherent damage reflection and Tempest Shield. Otherwise, I want my minions to take hits, and I want the added defense if I'm mobbed up before I get my minions rolling.

You can still get quite a bit of damage returns as base stats on a shield. Some evasion/es hybrid shields have inherent damage return mods. And it could be supplemented with a damage returns rare mod. With NA this would be super effective since the damage will basicly be multiplied by the amount of minions (that get hit)

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Ows wrote:

On the other hand if I choose to keep necro aegis and I remove every single shield node I will have A LOT of free points, not just 1. I could spend these points on %life, wich may be a good way to get a good defensive bonus without removing the block chance on my minions..

Ask yourself the following question:

Why would I want block on my minions and not on me. I wouldn't advise anybody to use NA just to give minions block %. You can easely respawn them if they get hit/die. Plus its a good thing if they die, since they will explode.

If you get hit on the other hand, you can't respawn yourself and dying doesn't yield any beneficial effects.

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Ows wrote:

Now my mind replaced the previous ideas with some new ones, this time focusing on 'Elemental equilibrium'.

Hold your horses sir. Elemental Equilibrium is quite a complicated mechanic. Please inform yourself about the exact mechanics behind it before you start thinking about using it. It takes a very specialized build to effectively use it with a very specialized damage output.

It won't do you anything good with the things you described.

Great replies Hellskin, thank you for clearing up some things I was wondering about too.

I tried NA for a bit but it didn't really seem to make any noticeable difference to my minions so I dumped it.

I am really happy with my build now, I think for my personal play style it's the most effective way to progress through the game and grind/farm end game maps, although I would love more rarity percentage but that will come with more progress in open beta/live game.

Thx for the infos Hellskin. I knew I was not enough informed about EE to plan something, my purpose, as a new player, was just to ask and try to understand/discover the mechanics..

I'm still pretty low level, so I'm still figuring things out a bit. I've got a question about higher level play though. Now that you don't have an energy shield, do you ever get close to death? I know you said you hardly get hit, unless you aren't really paying attention, but when you do, does it hurt pretty bad? Especially boss fights?

Now that you've finished the "core" nodes of the summoner build, are you just kind of filling in extras like inc % health and inc casting speed for a little more survivability and insurance? Or just because there's really nothing else you want?

What if you still took a couple of those %Health nodes but worked your way down the left side and grabbed the extra Totem node too? It'd be an extra 8 points to get it, but do you think having an extra totem would help with that survivability at all? Maybe an extra Nova totem or something? Would there even be enough room for gems on your items or slots on your bar to have an extra totem?

Or is that just too far out of the way for not much gain? Just stick with some extra life and faster casting nodes for durability?

Maybe something like this:

The only boss I have died to is the Act 2 boss and only (most of the time) when he does the mace ability which drops rubble from the ceiling and I get hit twice by it in a row before my potions can recover my HP to full.

I tried to fix that by putting a few points into HP nodes and getting flasks that have the 100% recovery modifier when low health.

And then there was this death: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCNqlpAG7qg&feature=plcp

which I call BS on lol.

The nodes after the core build are more insurance because I don't know how difficult the maps (end game)can be at higher levels or what the boss at the end of Act 3 will be like.

About extra totem node, I think it's too much to manage with 2 totems, but it could help to put one curse on a totem and place it near the bulk of the minions so it spams the mobs with that curse or even another damage spell. Some builds have the summon skeletons on totems.

It would be something to consider for sure. The HP nodes could be sacrificed to get it and make up the HP with better gear choices, I think.

Nice post. Nice build. Especially nice replies. +1 all around from me. I will most likely be using this topic as a major reference for when I start playing hardcore in open beta.

This is my build so far, level 61 in hardcore. Farming maps relatively easy for now. The only close call i've had was on Merciless Vaal's rocksfalling. Scared the shit out of me. I'm basically picking up Energy shield%/Recovery at this point. Probably going to go CI later on.

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Eruption88 wrote:

This is my build so far, level 61 in hardcore. Farming maps relatively easy for now. The only close call i've had was on Merciless Vaal's rocksfalling. Scared the shit out of me. I'm basically picking up Energy shield%/Recovery at this point. Probably going to go CI later on.

Spoiler

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAQMBAYFuigQjMGQL6q9zDTEnnA9mTEwRxEu8E2sjvhYJv9IWXlhpF-8Y3hpJ8EkanVm0IXnaeiGuO_Yn7RoXMuq57DYjBVc_nl9NRA31REav_vNJRzicSiZLGUrF0wpNM76rTmKMJ2IW8uNmEqjuZ2J6umfpMtRoxUAZdwAWCXescSt50r5penHH_JYcZWqQaVMl4vYHPcC_y8j1ObqP_Zht070hu1bNymZj7de5eLj3KaOwSX2ii2a2EvrjGZPLQR0RvfupcacuWc6Dhhva0pEnCq129y6uc3ED7SUyS6NZqk2_f_fi95J9zcS4hTymxKf_2Qkd2aGqfAShCJm_uWOOxdiZt-yQzW9_4jL7dbQO8i4=

If I was to go the ES/CI route, I would use a very similar build.

Looks great.