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

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viperesque wrote:
Finished the 3.8 update to the proper guide. Everything should now be much more clear and better explained. Please PM me if you find any issues!

Cheers for the guide, haven't finished reading the updated part, but do you think spectres are in any way mandatory, especially for end-game?

Currently leveling with skellies and never had a smoother leveling experience, bar dual wielding pre-nerf poet's pen.
Last edited by MillenniumDH on Sep 9, 2019, 7:40:59 PM
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MillenniumDH wrote:
do you think spectres are in any way mandatory, especially for end-game?

Nope. They're just a damage boost, and this build already has heaps of damage. I'd say you wouldn't want to do T16 maps without either spectres or a 6-link, but that's as "mandatory" as they get.
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JayRizzo03 wrote:
This build is just bonkers. It was smooth leveling right off the bat. Once I got skellies it was like the build took off and never stopped. I'm in red maps now, and nothing even gets a chance to look at me before it falls under a wave of minions. I can start a blight encounter, pop vaal skellies, and go afk.

I am using zero uniques. almost 6k health, 1k es, 1.8k mana with MoM. Running a full zoo build - 9 zombies, 10 skellies, 4 spectres, 10 phantasms, 2 carrion golems. Pop Vaal Skellies when i just want to meme entire breaches without moving.

Only bad thing - blight maps are just impossible. Game crashes even without me popping vaal skellies. But hopefully there is a fix coming for that this week.

Here's my current gear/links:



There's nothing impressive here. Just general, solid gear.

I have to ask you guys though: What keystone are you allocating? I have all the good ones (Gravepact, Death Attunement, Ravenous Horde, Grave Intentions)..are there any that would significantly add QoL anywhere? I don't die so I dont really need more health...



Is there a reason that you have not linked your shield and CWDT is not proc'ing vulnerability? Mistake?

I noticed you didn't craft the minion movement speed on the jewelry as the author suggested?
I've been wondering about movement speed vs. damage on that craft personally. Wondering if there is more than simply faster movement in maps to benefit which doesn't seem to make sense given we can flame dash and all but skeletons insta show up (and we recast skeletons who time out anyhow).
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viperesque wrote:
Finished the 3.8 update to the proper guide. Everything should now be much more clear and better explained. Please PM me if you find any issues!


Thank you viper, looks great!

I really like to drill into the build I'm playing, so hopefully you don't mind some questions and discussion.
1) In your PoB, it has DPS of 331k. This for each skeleton correct?
2) Is it better to anoint Death Attunement or Indomitable Army? Both are similar cost vials, but it looks like you get more value on the wheel for Death.
3) I was curious about your Essence Glutton choice. You are basically getting 250 mana on your build (so 75eHP with MoM). Do you think the 75 is worth it when you already have almost 6500 total eHP over Plague Bringer (10% more dmg, 10% reduced dmg taken)?
4) Why did you decide on the movement speed enchant for jewelry over the minion damage?
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ZeroCloud wrote:
Is there a reason that you have not linked your shield and CWDT is not proc'ing vulnerability? Mistake?

Vulnerability is level 19, so it's probably being self-cast.

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ZeroCloud wrote:
I noticed you didn't craft the minion movement speed on the jewelry as the author suggested? I've been wondering about movement speed vs. damage on that craft personally. Wondering if there is more than simply faster movement in maps to benefit which doesn't seem to make sense given we can flame dash and all but skeletons insta show up (and we recast skeletons who time out anyhow).

In the case of things like Blight's Tower Defence and Legion's bum rush, minions having more movespeed so you don't have to babysit getting them from A to B faster can allow them to be more "summon and forget" friendly. But ultimately, even with suggestions on what affixes you should be aiming for are important, it'll all come down to personal decisions for what stats you value overall. In this case, more mana will will add some more EHP to the MoM pool, while allowing you to retain some to cast if you're under heavy attack or surrounded by a lot of traps.

And of course, there's always the fun in experimented with variations. I, for example, will probably replace Immortal Call with Animate Guardian* for some content. I'll probably slot IC back in for very hard content, though (which would probably kill the Guardian anyways). Similarly, if you'd rather have any other curse than Vulnerability, that'll be fine too. Since Skeletons seem to have more damage overall this time around - and I've played a Queen's Escape build at least three times prior to Blight - then swapping Vulnerability for Enfeeble would probably be better overall.

*That being said, still a work in progress overall. I'm not using a Baron build, so unless I give it equipment that stacks strength, I'm unlikely to give it a Meginord's Vise to add to its survivability. But a damage buff via Dying Breath and increased movement speed via Victario's Flight are at least considerations.
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ZeroCloud wrote:
1) In your PoB, it has DPS of 331k. This for each skeleton correct?

Yep.

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2) Is it better to anoint Death Attunement or Indomitable Army? Both are similar cost vials, but it looks like you get more value on the wheel for Death.

That is a good call. The Indomitable Army suggestion is a thought I just had recently cause I've started to notice my minions dying a bit in some T16 content, so I hadn't fully thought it through. Anointing that instead of DA seems better, I will edit accordingly. Thanks!

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3) I was curious about your Essence Glutton choice. You are basically getting 250 mana on your build (so 75eHP with MoM). Do you think the 75 is worth it when you already have almost 6500 total eHP over Plague Bringer (10% more dmg, 10% reduced dmg taken)?

I'm not sure I understand this question. My current build has ~2600 mana. That directly translates to ~2600 eHP. That said, I am wavering on the Essence Glutton choice over just using a mana flask permanently, since Bone Barrier's phys DR essentially matches the effect of a basalt flask.

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4) Why did you decide on the movement speed enchant for jewelry over the minion damage?

Minion movement speed really improves the clear speed of the build. I don't think more damage is particularly important at this point, the build already does a lot of damage.
Have you done something awesome with [url=http://pathofexile.gamepedia.com/Sire_of_Shards]Sire of Shards[/url]? PM me and tell me all about it!
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ZeroCloud wrote:

Is there a reason that you have not linked your shield and CWDT is not proc'ing vulnerability? Mistake?

I noticed you didn't craft the minion movement speed on the jewelry as the author suggested?
I've been wondering about movement speed vs. damage on that craft personally. Wondering if there is more than simply faster movement in maps to benefit which doesn't seem to make sense given we can flame dash and all but skeletons insta show up (and we recast skeletons who time out anyhow).


No its intentional. I just wanted to have Vulnerability available when I needed to chew down a particular boss faster (guardians or shaper, etc).

Regarding the amulet, I just wanted a bit more EHP. I feel like there's a lot of room to try stuff out in this build, so I'm just making a few small variations to see how I like it. If something bombs, its fairly cheap to undo. I don't know if minion movement speed is totally necessary, as I just steamroll through maps as it is. But you should probably follow the build over anything I do.
Last edited by JayRizzo03 on Sep 10, 2019, 12:35:52 AM
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imAnoob079 wrote:


Thank you for you info! thank god im not the only one that crashes/dc's in blight maps :D

Are the phantasms better than having meat shield on the zombs ?


You know, I actually think they may have fixed whatever was buggin out blighted maps. Just ran one after patch and it was smooth as butter.

You know, the phantasms were something I did while leveling and decided I liked it so much I would just leave it. This is the safest character I have ever played by far, so I didn't feel like I needed the defensive wall of zombies. That may change as i progress my way through red maps. And you may desire a more defensive setup, which meatshield+zombies would do very well for.
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Boltonsquads wrote:
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JayRizzo03 wrote:
I have to ask you guys though: What keystone are you allocating? I have all the good ones (Gravepact, Death Attunement, Ravenous Horde, Grave Intentions)..are there any that would significantly add QoL anywhere? I don't die so I dont really need more health...



I took Death Attunement and removed 6 points from the tree


I've been running Battle Rouse and liking it. It's like an auto-mana flask. I feel like the nodes leading up to Death Attunement are worth the pathing.


Awesome suggestion, I grabbed Battle Rouse as well. Thank you!
What do you think about anointing Ravenous horde and then taking the minion damage/mana nodes by Scion with Indomitable as well? Seems more point efficient, provides you more tank and minions a little more DPS so long as you don't need the extra 1 skill point somewhere else

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