[3.16 updated] BRO, DO YOU EVEN SUMMON? Life/ES Dark Pact Skeleton Caster League Starter

Pretty good build but the only issue I'm having is with Gloomfang + Cannot Die Aura/Proximity Shields, I can kill myself in an instant if I don't spam Health Flasks and move away, even if my skeletons are inside the proximity shield, it seems that I have to get in there myself for Dark Pact to not be blocked by it.

Other than that, it is still a great build.

Try Brotherhood instead of Gloomfang, it's really broken. There is no reason not to use it with any power charge based build, especially chaos based with Withering Step. No more self-deaths and Gloomfang swaps :)

My current setup for maps/low Delve (self-cast, only using skelies for bosses and Blights):

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the only issue I'm having is with Gloomfang + Cannot Die Aura/Proximity Shields, I can kill myself in an instant if I don't spam Health Flasks and move away, even if my skeletons are inside the proximity shield, it seems that I have to get in there myself for Dark Pact to not be blocked by it.

Get some ring with life gain on spell hit so it will cancel the life loss from Gloomfang. I've got used to it and been always playing without life gain on hit ring but this league I said that's enough and I also got it. Proximity on blight encounters is too dangerous and this now lets me spam Dark Pact as much as I want without any worries of killing myself.

Did some delving on self-casting DP, it absolutely crushes all the Lvl 83 content - is fast and safe (got to Level 98 without any problems).

Ended up delving to 500 and before going deeper and switching to Skeletons wanted to share what It looked like:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ret7vndH__U

High leech and high eHP pool makes us supertanky with Withering Step providing huge DPS boost, survivability and mobility all at once.

It can be optimized even further to have more HP and more DPS, also sharing POB link:

Wanted to mention one thing : switched to Attack Dodge on boots plus Quartz Flask combo. Now dodge feels even more consistent, we are almost Attack Dodge capped when initiating Withering Step.

For general play (maps/bosses) Assassin would be better Ascendancy choice since its easy to dodge cap and Elusive has almost 100% uptime, but Delve needs those blooms ;) Delving in general now is much smoother than 3 leagues ago on DP.



That will probably be my flask of choice until Bottled Faith later on. Also finally added CWDT at depth 700, never felt like I needed it before :)

Delve 1000 completed yet again ;)

Did record the run, so you can see how far we've come from 3 Leagues ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Ro7Szi_jo


Old video just for comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx8vwWq4XgE

POB under the spoiler:



Not only the damage and speed is formidable, leech is too! At 1:04 of the video, I got hit down to 1.9k HP and 0 ES - second later I'm back at full HP and ES!

Considering moving even deeper!

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zoNiklv wrote:

Delve 1000 completed yet again ;)

Did record the run, so you can see how far we've come from 3 Leagues ago.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6Ro7Szi_jo


Old video just for comparison:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dx8vwWq4XgE

POB under the spoiler:

Spoiler

https://pastebin.com/wC2jHGZZ

If you noticed, Timeless Jewel is kinda busted for us - 160% minion Life allows to not use any of the affixes on the gear and still retain the damage, leaving more room to tankiness and utility. It can roll 240%, 320% and maybe even 400% there! Thanks, GGG

Not only the damage and speed is formidable, leech is too! At 1:04 of the video, I got hit down to 1.9k HP and 0 ES - second later I'm back at full HP and ES!

Considering moving even deeper!

Would you be so kind to open your characters on your profile? PoB is cool but does not present Timeless Jewels correctly.

Cheers!

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_phlv_ wrote:

PoB is cool but does not present Timeless Jewels correctly

I did represent the Jewel to the best of my ability. It goes into CI slot and takes 4 notables: Throatseeker (hence I've dropped 4 points and my character level looks like Level 94 not 98), both +30 nodes and the brand node. Nodes are 80% minion HP x 2, 80% spell damage and 10% damage per power charge.

Minion HP is more effective than % damage for skelies, so you want to be looking for more of it. If you need the seed - be my guest:



Also took a quick peek at your profile, if you are using Withering Step you have to pretty much use Brotherhood otherwise Elusive is 90% weaker and cooldown is not reduced. Brant didn't like the skill because of the long CD. Also Level 21 will net you 7 wither stacks on enemies (Level 20 is only 6) so if you don't vaal it to 21, just add an Empower.

To cover loss in leech you use Atziri's Flask with WE mod Flask Charge on critical and/or Overflowing Chalice for bosses. Urn for maps and you can keep your current Enchant.

As for what's been going on since, I've hit 1100 today and recorded a video with Tier 16 map run:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3fE65NYk_ng

Cassie encounters obviously are easier to do with Skeletons.

As for the gear, Skeleton setup is now:



The Gem gets them up to 71% res with 80% max res, adding also a small node to Pain Attunement side with 8% minion life, 8% ele res and 8% chaos res. Total res goes to 79%, so you don't really need the Level 21 here . This not only helps in Delve, but on Shaper/Elder/Delve bosses too.



Else, the Devil potion is now online and I cannot recommend it unless you are really pushing your build, but it helps in raw damage a bit plus sustaining skeleton life so the damage output can be higher. But it's hard to get in SSF unless you have 100+ Zana missions to open. Was one of my League goals to get it, so I did.

Finished 1st ring, slammed multy onto the 2nd one and finally got the correct Corruption on one of the Jewels. Corrupted Blood is nasty deep in Delves.

Open to questions if you have any!

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zoNiklv wrote:

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_phlv_ wrote:

PoB is cool but does not present Timeless Jewels correctly

Also took a quick peek at your profile, if you are using Withering Step you have to pretty much use Brotherhood otherwise Elusive is 90% weaker and cooldown is not reduced. Brant didn't like the skill because of the long CD. Also Level 21 will net you 7 wither stacks on enemies (Level 20 is only 6) so if you don't vaal it to 21, just add an Empower.

To cover loss in leech you use Atziri's Flask with WE mod Flask Charge on critical and/or Overflowing Chalice for bosses. Urn for maps and you can keep your current Enchant.


Open to questions if you have any!

Thanks for very comprehensive answer :)

I assume you meant Cinderswallow Urn flask ant not Atziri's one, correct?

Regarding Timeless Jewel - well, I'll play with Divines a bit. Tbh I'm not gonna push the build towards some deep Delve, I want rather very solid and tanky build which can do pretty much anything on mapping + maybe up to depth 500 in the Delve.

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_phlv_ wrote:

Thanks for very comprehensive answer :)

I assume you meant Cinderswallow Urn flask ant not Atziri's one, correct?

I want rather very solid and tanky build which can do pretty much anything on mapping + maybe up to depth 500 in the Delve.

Urn for maps, Atrizi for long bosses.

If that's your goal then just play Self-Cast. When transitioning few things you should/can do:

- You don't need minion Life on gear, simplifies itemization by alot. No need to rush and sell all that +life gear you might still use Minions now and then, but it opens up new options.
- Solve frenzy charge generation, my suggestion: Poacher's Mark that will be also a major QoL for maps since you can slack on flask usage. (Warlord's Mark doesn't work for spells).
- Since you have 9 frenzy charges you don't need any cast speed, frees up your passive points and slots on jewels. Jewel suggestion: http://poe.trade/search/ositamikadehiu
- Your rings can be life based + t1 life + t1 ES and you don't need non-channeling prefix - can just use a mana flask.
- More uniques can be used like gloves and belts.
Soul Tether stands out because it not only adds extra ES and has some good corrupts available. Also makes sure your ES is always leeching (ES support provides maximum damage), but you need leech source for it to work.
- Timeless jewel is not required as it doesn't add much since our % increase is high already, but ofc you can use one.

Self-cast works so good this league because for minions amulet swap from Gloomfang to Brotherhood is only a slight increase in DPS, but for Self-cast it's a huge boost!