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

Any clue if a low life version would work with this build? And if so, what are the pros and cons compared to hybrid?

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Noctilucent wrote:

Any clue if a low life version would work with this build? And if so, what are the pros and cons compared to hybrid?

I've no doubt it would work. I don't know if you'll reach a larger pool or more dps, though.

Pro -
30% More Spell Damage
1-2 more Auras (in theory)

Con -
You're link-starved as it is, Low-life just makes it worse.
Lose base crit or other mods from your chest...
Probably more expensive to gear.


Overall, I don't think you need the boost in DPS, so I'd avoid low-life here.

Here's an example for what a friend did on Metamorph:
https://pastebin.com/Pa85AxEn

39 mil dps without any shenanigans or vaal skills, 10k pool. What more could you want?

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CantripN wrote:

Pro -
30% More Spell Damage
1-2 more Auras (in theory)

Con -
You're link-starved as it is, Low-life just makes it worse.
Lose base crit or other mods from your chest...
Probably more expensive to gear.

Adding to the cons:

- Harder to gear since you need 2 prefixes on your gear for ES and minion life.
- You will probably be using Chayulas so amulet slot is fixed and you can't run Brotherhood or Gloomfang for dps.
- Your chest is also fixed so no variety (resistances/added dmg/utility) you can gain here.
- Notably reduced damage if you want to self-cast since HP pool is non-existant. Also needs life gain on hit ring for self-casting otherwise more multiplier will not work.
- Will have less eHP pool in the end than Hybrid version since you cannot afford to not take at least a bunch of Minion Life nodes and you can't benefit from Life as ES mods on the Chest, Belt and Timeless Jewel. If combined together, that's a crazy total added amount of ES.

I tried to play a LL Dark Pact this League since I had all the gear from LL Vortex. In few words: It's not worth it compared to Hybrid.

anyone wanna buy this? lol

That's a build i've been looking to get going for quite a while and always disliked the survivability part several patches ago.

Wondering about Ascendancy choices though, despite it being spoken a bit about on first page.
Well aware that Occultist offers higher clearabily through Profane Bloom and way easier Power Charge sustainability, while Necromancer offers survivability.

* Mostly wondering how Assassin fares against these 2. Elusive is a powerful defensive ability and crit' will be easier to get but aren't minions a bit too squishy if you're not going Necromancer ?
* Are Brinerot Flag + Corrupted Apes enough to sustain Power Charges ?
* What about Leash of Oblation on Necro' ? We benefit from every Offering and the bonus Attributes is welcome. Might force Unset Rings for additional gems.
* Since we're Hybrid, what about Shadowstitch ? Necromancer + Spirit Offering offers lots of Resistances, getting double Corruption is obviously nice on a caster and the sustain is there aswell. A bit difficult to get a nice one though.

Edit : * Animate Guardian with -Chaos Res Helmet would come in handy aswell, with Leer Cast + Dying Breath, allowing us to get Malachai's Vision if one could get +1 Gem/+2 Duration double corruption boots/gloves to replace the +3 Helmet.
* Awakened Chain is insane for single target, being a 90% more damage support, while Chain is a decent one at 50% more, albeit worse than other options since it doesn't work on self cast.

Assassin would probably work, I made this version on POB with my current gear (SSF) - https://pastebin.com/XRqSiwQN

Currently on Occultist = https://pastebin.com/4M8SQRWM

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Both clearly work, so far I like Occultist a LOT. As you can see, Animate Guardian is still quite tanky if you go for +level wands and/or minion life on gear and tree. Charges are very reliable if you have 2+ spectres of a single type, less so if it's just 1 per charge.

Leash of Oblation is pretty shitty for this build imo, compared to a good rare belt, even for Necro.

Is it possible to make a clear speed focused version of this build? Like the current map clear is a bit slow for my liking but idk if I've maybe just gotten too used to how good leap slam and shield charge are...

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TheRebirthed wrote:

Is it possible to make a clear speed focused version of this build? Like the current map clear is a bit slow for my liking but idk if I've maybe just gotten too used to how good leap slam and shield charge are...

Just make an assasin for movement speed, and get explode chest. (skeletons only for bosses) and you are good to go.

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Nirdana wrote:

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TheRebirthed wrote:

Is it possible to make a clear speed focused version of this build? Like the current map clear is a bit slow for my liking but idk if I've maybe just gotten too used to how good leap slam and shield charge are...

Just make an assasin for movement speed, and get explode chest. (skeletons only for bosses) and you are good to go.

Occultist also works for clear speed. Profane Bloom is amazing!

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TheRebirthed wrote:

Is it possible to make a clear speed focused version of this build?

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Iyacthu wrote:

Wondering about Ascendancy choices though, despite it being spoken a bit about on first page. * Mostly wondering how Assassin fares against these 2. Elusive is a powerful defensive ability and crit' will be easier to get but aren't minions a bit too squishy if you're not going Necromancer

Although guys have helped you a bit, just wanted to add my few cents.

Assassin clearly provides faster clears especially with the tools we now got. Bloom is nice, but it also generates quite a bit of lag and you don't really need it to rush maps.

Instead, there are few ways to improve clear:

Explody chest was already mentioned and is hardest to get, but works quite well.
Increase your Area, that might be tough but it will work.
Get the temp chains explode gloves, might not be the best option since you want to have Rampage gloves for mapping.
Use Herald of Ice, simple and neat solution with only downside being unable to do reflect stuff. HoT - Inc. Crit - Inc. Aoe - Power Charge on Critical will be your links of choice here or pseudo 5-6L if you want.

I'm also a big fan of Harby belt - adds that little umpf to your clear.

Anyways, you can check my YT below. Just note my builds are primarily geared towards Delve pushing. Still work for all normal content.

https://www.youtube.com/user/zNtlv/videos

Also, there plenty of people who experiment with DP in their own ways. FastAF has his own thing going:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QrZG8Fxhr8g

Altough I'm not big fan of LL and that low HP pool, using LW with Tailwind actually makes sense for speedclear. Used to be a tag too clunky for my taste before. It will still get your stuck in bad spots time to time and can make you dizzy, but it's hella fast.

Hope it helps ;)