Level 95 Summon Skeletons Necromancer^3.16

Notes

----------------------------------------
WARNING WARNING WARNING
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	THIS BUILD REQUIRES 2 VERY SPECIFIC ITEMS TO FUNCTION.  The build is setup so that you can make it all the way to
	low tier red maps comfortably without them, and they should not be insanely expensive by the time you get there.

	These 2 Items are the Dead Reckoning unique jewel and a Medium Cluster with the notable Blessed Rebirth, more on those later.

	Path of Exile 3.17 is bringing a MASSIVE update to the endgame Atlas, new bosses, many new items and much more.
	Without knowing exactly how the new bosses function I cannot give good advice on those specific fights.

	I will do my best to keep this PoB updated as needed with new items or strategies that present themselves in the coming expansion.

	If you have any issues or need guidance on this build join my discord, linked in the description of every one of my videos. 
	Understand that I myself am not capable of helping so many people but the community is extremely helpful.
	
	That being said they are not there specifically to help you. They play the game just like you do and if you want to be successful
	in Path of Exile you have to put the work in. Don't expect them to be Google for you, and make sure to help others if you can!


---------------------
INTRODUCTION
---------------------

	Please check the most recent build guide on my YouTube channel at https://youtube.com/c/bigducks

	Liking my Videos and Subscribing to my YouTube channel help me to keep bringing you more
	content like this, if you just grab the PoB please consider giving me a like to help me out,
	I appreciate all of your support!

	Keep in mind there may be multiple videos per build, always look for the most recent video.

	Stormblast Mine + Orb of Storms -> Absolution -> Skeleton Mages

		This is a minion build that Utilizes the Dead Reckoning Jewel to convert the Summon Skeleton Warrior ability into Mages.

		This build is meant to be a bossing and difficult encounter (think Simulacrum) character. It can clear maps but is not extremely efficent at it.
		It doesn't do absolutely insane amounts of damage without high investment, but is very very safe during these situations.

		We are mainly focused around being durable and having a legion of minions around us to protect us from damage.

		We scale our defenses and recovery through a few ways.

		Armour
		Life
		Energy Shield
		Block + Recovery on Block
		Divine Shield
		Giant Legion of Skeleton bois standing inbetween enemies and us
		
	
		As for damage we are mainly focused on buffing our Skeleton Mages to do as much damage as we can while also making sure they
		don't just randomly fall over as soon as they spawn. This is accomplished through a medium cluster jewel with the Blessed Rebirth notable.


------------
RATINGS
------------

	GOOD -> 	Bossing, Survival, Cost, Playstyle, Elemental Damage Taken, Physical Damage Taken, Chaos Damage Taken, Trade League, Softcore.			

	MEH	 -> 	Damage Taken Over Time, Clearing, Movement Speed, Hardcore.

	BAD	 -> 	Solo Self Found (Requires specific Unique to function)


	DIFFICULTY OF PLAY - LOW

		The build requires almost no skill to pilot and is built to be very tanky while letting your minions do the targetting and damage for you.
		All of the difficulty in the build comes from putting your items and skills together.

-----------------------
CONFIGURATION
-----------------------


	The current configuration is set to reflect the damage you would do while clearing maps and then finishing off a map boss.

	It does not do any "PoB warrioring" and should reflect typical boss damage you could do during a map.

	You will need to adjust for any alt qualities that you don't have or your personal gem levels/qualities.

	For accurate damage on a boss account for turning flasks on/off.

	NOTE: The damage of Skeleton Mages is hard to represent properly in PoB. Do not expect to get an accurate representation here by any means.


---------------------------------------------
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
---------------------------------------------

Q: Bandit?

	A: Kill All.

---

Q: Pantheon?

	A: Brine King and Shakari

---

Q: I can't find an item with those exact stats what do I do?

	A: You don't need the exact stats on every single item, Jewels are a big culprit for people getting
	confused. Get what stats you can and prioritize the stats in the defensive and offensive sections below.

---

Q: The leveling skills are all level 1, do I keep them at that level?

	A: No, this is to signify that it is a leveling skill and you level it up as you go.

---

Q: Can I play Summon Skeletons from the start? I don't like Absolution

	A: If you do not have the Dead Reckoning jewel you cannot play Skeleton Mages from the start, however if you would like you can
	use Skeleton Warriors, this guide is not setup to facilitate that. I feel Absolution is much better for leveling.

---


Q: How do I stop dying?

	A: BOSS SLAMS WILL KILL YOU ON ALMOST ANY BUILD.

	YOU CANNOT TANK BOSS ATTACKS IN PATH OF EXILE WITHOUT A *VERY* SPECIFIC BUILD.

	This build relies mainly on Armour, Block, Spell Block, and a legion of minions to tank attacks and take aggro for you. It has solid
	defensive layers but the recovery is mainly from the Life Gain on Block shield as well as Life Flasks and Divine Shield.

	That being said make sure you have the following:

	75+ of ALL Elemental Resist (Resistances max at 75, having a bit over will help for ele weakness maps etc.)
	50+ (Ideally 75+) Chaos Resist.

	Armour, Block, and Spell Block are VERY IMPORTANT and you should focus on getting as much of these as you can. Armour will provide us
	with Physical Damage Reduction as well as make our Molten Shell more powerful. 

	Block and Spell Block are our sources of complete damage avoidance. When you Block a Spell or Attack you take ZERO damage from it. 
	We can get Maximum (75) of both of these with high investment.

	High tier Life roll on every piece that can have life
	Some pieces can have % Life on this build, such as Jewels, Belt, etc.

	Keep your Flasks up at all times while clearing.

---

Q: How do I do more damage?

	A: Imagine that you are playing a support character for your skeletons, you will need to utilize all of the buffs and auras that you can give them.

		More Skeletons is one of the highest sources of damage you can get, from an Amulet Mod, a Helmet Craft, The Unique Boots etc.

		Vaal Haste and Zealotry on Generosity + Spectres providing Frenzy and Power Charges, an Arena Master providing his Onslaught style buff.

		Links are very important for damage as well.

---

Q: There are a lot of auras listed in the skills section, I feel like I will have no mana left, how do I cast my abilities?

	A: You can craft -mana cost of non channeling abilities on your rings and the mana nodes towards the top of the tree are VERY IMPORTANT.
	Mystic Bulwark + the Mana Mastery are the main sources of mana recovery for this build.


---

Q: What about Clusters? Do I HAVE to use them?

	A: Yes you have to use ONE Medium Cluster with the Blessed Rebirth Node. Other than that no, but they are insanely good for damage.

---

Q: My question isn't in here, what do I do?

	A: Double check that you have looked through the video and this PoB. If you can't find it you can join my discord, linked in the description of all of my videos.
		Please remember that the people in the discord channels are very helpful but it is not their job to assist you. This is a knowledge based game and you have
		to put in the work to be successful.


------------------
LEVELING UP
------------------

Prioritize The Gems you need immediately, Main Links > Movement > Auras > Utility. Check the "Skills" tab for which gems to grab.

Levels 1 - 11 || Stormblast Mine + Orb of Storms

	Place your Orb of Storms down and then use Stormblast Mine while inside it to deal massive boss damage.

	Don't forget to put Detonate Mine on left click for ease of use.

Levels 12 - Transition || Absolution

	Absolution is a minion ability that gives you a lightning strike. You will need to consistently use this ability while moving around to keep your Sentinels of Absolution
	up, they will do all the damage for you.

	If you want an in depth explanation of this ability I have a video talking about my testing for league starting it here -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yi-8Ynd1fKE


	Gearing 

		- In act 2 at around level 20 you can use a Vendor Recipe to get Lightning Damage Added to Spells wands.
			
			That Recipe is -> BLUE Wand + Alteration Orb + BLUE or YELLOW Topaz Ring = Lightning Damage Added to Spells wand.

			YELLOW Ring will be a higher tier mod but will require a higher level, I suggest waiting until 20 and doing the yellow recipe, use an essence on
			the ring so you can save your Alchemy orbs.

			Use 2x of these and they should carry you through the campaign.

			You can also use Sapphire Rings for Cold Damage.


		- Focus on getting Movement Speed boots, Gear with the Links that you need, Life and Resists as well as Sapphire Rings for the Merveil fight.

		- Pick up Blue/Yellow items and sell them unidentified to the vendor for Transmutation Shards and Identified for Alteration Shards.

		- Focus on topping off your resists early on and re-checking them after the Act 5 Boss and Act 10 Boss, grab as much life as you can.

		- Do not ignore links, if you feel your damage is lacking it is 100% because you are not setting up your links properly. Every ability is important, and
		you should be prioritizing links in softcore. You can run a few white pieces of gear with resists crafted on them from the bench in your hideout (talk to helena in act 2)
		with proper links until you can get your items together.

		- Don't ignore Essences, they can be very powerful for turning white pieces of gear that have proper links into resist / life gear.

		- Don't forget about your flasks, update your life and mana flasks consistently and make sure to stay on top of getting new flasks as they become
		available to you.

			There is a quicksilver flask available from both Mercy Mission (Act 1) as well as The Great White Beast (Act 2)

			A Silver flask is available from The Key to Freedom (Act 5)
			
			There is a Quartz flask available from The Silver Locket (Act 7)

	Tips

		- If you are having issues with bosses make sure you are using the Faster Casting Link and hitting them as much as you can to keep your Sentinels up.

		- If you need upgrades for your gear as you level remember that Expedition will be available from Act 6 Onwards. This is an excellent source of items and gear.

------------------------------
GENERAL PLAYSTYLE
------------------------------

	The video guide will be MUCH better at showing how to do this but I will give you some basics.

	- Use Summon Skeleton to spawn 8 Skeleton Mages (Spell Echo) to fight enemies.

	- Your Trigger Wand should auto cast your Desecrate and Bone Offering for you, if you do not have a trigger wand, manually cast these abilities occasionally.
	
	- Press Vaal Summon Skeletons for difficult encounters or bosses to summon a HUGE army of various skeletons with auras and such.

	- Buff your army with Vaal Haste for difficult encounter or bosses.

	- Make sure to keep your Spectres, Golem, and Zombies alive in that order of importance.


---------------------------
BUILD TRANSITIONS
---------------------------

	This build requires a transition from Absolution into Summon Skeleton Mages. The trees for these two abilities are very similar and it should only be roughly
	15 Respec points (obtained through the campaign and by using Orbs of Regret) to transition.

	There are TWO ABSOLUTELY REQUIRED ITEMS before you can transition to Skeleton Mages, you can transition as soon as you have BOTH of these items.

	- The Dead Reckoning unique jewel. This makes you summon Skeleton Mages instead of Skeleton Warriors, kind of straightforward why you need this.

	- A Medium Cluster Jewel with the Blessed Rebirth notable. This notable makes it so that minions that are created recently cannot be damaged. 

	Once you have BOTH of these items you can make the transition to Skeleton Mages. I do suggest that you have Blight Oils available to annoint
	Death Attunement (Clear,Crimson,Silver) to make the tree transition easier.

	Almost all of the abilities besides Absolution will be kept and transition over into Skeleton Mages. There is a very handy Divination card called
	The Bones that provides a level 21 Vaal Summon Skeletons gem and it is relatively cheap but feel free to corrupt some Summon Skeleton gems and level them
	up if you so desire.


-------------------
ASCENDANCY
-------------------

		Necromancer
		- The premier Minion / Summoner ascendancy. It provides us ample ways to empower our minions as well as generous generic stats to help ease the requirements
		on our gear.

			Mindless Aggression
			- Generic Solid Damage Stats for our Minions. Moreso a requirement for the BIG node.

			Unnatural Strength
			- +2 to Levels of ALL Minion Gems. Easily one of the most powerful effects for minions in the game.

			Commander of Darkness
			- Provides us and our minions Solid Damage and Defensive Stats.

			Mistress of Sacrifice
			- Allows us to benefit from our Offerings at half effectiveness and gives us some Skill Effect Duration.


-------------------
SPECTRES
-------------------


		We will eventually use 4 Spectres, the 4th Spectre is obtained by having a level 21 Spectre Gem, Socketing those minions into a +2 or +3 Minion Helmet
		and having the +2 Ascendancy point.


		We use 3 different kinds of Spectres, there may be new ones that pop up from the new monsters we will be facing but this is the current list.


		Carnage Chieftain (Act 7 The Ashen Fields) - Provides Frenzy Charges

		Host Chieftain (Act 7 The Ashen Fields) - Provides Power Charges

		Arena Master (Drox Influenced Mob) - Provides a short duration Onslaught like buff


		With 4 Spectres you would use
		2x Carnage Chieftain
		1x Host Chieftain
		1x Arena Master

		3 Spectres
		2x Carnage Chieftain
		1x Host Chieftain

		2 Spectres
		2x Carnage Chieftain

		1 Spectre 
		1x Carnage Chieftain

		Crit is not insanely important for this build it mainly facilitates your Skeletons applying ailments.


-----------------------------
ANIMATED GUARDIAN
-----------------------------


		I'll be honest, I hate this ability, Pseudo Hardcore mechnics being forced upon us is garbage.

		That being said its insanely powerful. You turn pieces of gear into a powerful Guardian that gives you the benefits of a team member wearing those pieces.
		But if it dies you lose all the gear...

		It doesn't die to much if you gear it properly but you have been warned.

		Suggested Gear

		Body Armour

		- Ambu's Charge - Endurance Charges for Nearby Allies, Regen
		- Gruthkul's Pelt - Huge Life
		- Garb of the Ephemeral - Prevents Enemies Critting and prevents Action Speed going below Base
		- Doppelganger Guise - Makes the Guardian VERY tanky

		Weapons
		
		- Dying Breath - Increased Damage for Allies, Enemies have increased Curse Effect on them
		- Kingmaker - Provides Rarity, Culling Strike, Crit Strike Multi, and 10 Stacks of Fortify to Nearby Allies

		Helmet
	
		- Leer Cast - Nearby allies deal increased damage

		Gloves

		- Southbound - Huge Life %
		- Corrupted Curse on Hit Gloves - They Curse on Hit (You will need a +1 Curses Chestpiece with Life Gained as ES / Life ETC ON THE GOLEM to make this function)

		Boots

		- Rainbowstrides - Resists, Spell Block
		- Victario's Flight - Movement Speed for Allies




--------------------------------------------------
CRAFTING AND OBTAINING THE GEAR
--------------------------------------------------

	REMEMBER that you can always just buy all of the final pieces from the trade website. Crafting most of the time is cheaper.

	Typically leveling items or items in the "Budget" section that are just Life / Resists and that are not hard to obtain will not be included in this section.

	There will be items that simply aren't in need of detailed crafting notes, I will mention that in those cases.


	Weapons / Offhands


		- Absolution Weapon

		Early budget wands can be obtained through a vendor recipe

		White Rune Dagger/Sceptre/Staff/Wand + 2+ Skill Gems with the Lightning Tag that have a combined total of 40% quality. = +1 Lightning Spells Weapon.

		Craft 1 of these, augment, regal and craft either spell damage or spell crit chance. 



		- Budget Minion Weapon

		Obtain a Convoking Wand which is able to roll Minion modifiers.

		Use Alterations, Essences, Chaos, Alch etc, or Any Harvest Rerolls to fish for solid minion modifiers, you are looking for:

		- +1 to Minion Gems
		- Minions deal #% increased Damage
		- Minion Attack and Cast Speed

		Craft Trigger Socketed Spells on Using a Skill, this can be obtained through Unveiling Weapons.



		- Expensive Minion Weapon

		Obtain an ilvl 84+ Convoking Wand.

		Use 4 Socket Resonators with the following combination:

		Corroded
		Jagged
		Metallic
		Shuddering

		It takes on average 12 tries to obtain a wand with the following mods:

		+1 to Level of All Spell Gems
		+1 to Level of All Minion Gems
		- Various other Minion Etc Modifiers

		Depending on what you have open on the item you can craft it in a variety of ways.

		Ideally we are looking for +1,+1, minion damage, and minion cast/attack speed, crafting Trigger in an open Suffix.

		You may end up with a wand filled with trash suffixes, this can be potentially remedied by using a Harvest craft called Reforge Keeping Prefixes to open
		up a single suffix, once you have an open suffix, craft Prefixes cannot be changed and scour the item leaving you with blank suffixes.

		Next you will want to craft "Can Have up to 3 Crafted Modifiers" "Trigger a Socketed Spell on using a Skill" and "Minion Attack and Cast Speed"



		- Life Gain on Block Shield

		Obtain Minimum ilvl 68 Shaper or Warlord influenced Shield

		Use Pristine Fossils or Harvest Life Rerolls until you obtain Recover % Life on Block and hopefully a solid Life roll, craft resists.



	Amulet

		I am not aware at this current time of an easy way to obtain a +1 Skeletons and +1 Int or All Gems. If a method presents itself please contact me on
		Discord so I can update this guide. I am aware of Fracturing one of these mods and then rolling for it, but that is extremely expensive and unlikely.

		Obtain an Elder Amulet of at least ilvl 68 (higher for better other mods).

		Use Alteration orbs or Harvest rerolls of any kind to obtain +1 to maximum Number of Skeletons

		Augment + Regal + Craft a mod or Craft a mod of your choice if you obtained it through a harvest reroll.


	Cluster Jewels

		The medium cluster with Blessed Rebirth is VERY straightforward to obtain.

		Obtain a Medium Minion Life Cluster of at least ilvl 68

		Alteration + Augment spam until you land the Blessed Rebirth Notable (average of 53 alterations).

		If you want something more powerful later on consider using Harvest Life Rerolls or Alt + Aug + Regal.


		Large minion Clusters are relatively straightforward to roll.

		You can use Harvest rerolls or Fossil Combos to obtain what you are looking for

		Check Craftofexile.com and select the mods you are looking to obtain and use the Compute Best Selection option for Fossils.


------------------------
FINAL THOUGHTS
------------------------

	Old Diablo 2 Necromancer Vibes, bossing feels solid and safe.

	If you have suggestions or just want to hangout with the community make sure to join my discord linked here -> https://discord.gg/aDtqeDC


	Thanks for taking the time to read through all of this! If you enjoy the build make sure to let your friends know about my YouTube Channel / Twitch Stream and have them
	join the discord server!

	Thanks, have fun and stay safe out there in Wraeclast, and I'll see you all next time!!
















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