3.8 New Queens Escape + Baron - super fast physical skeletons + zombies

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Thanks for the build guide, just cleared uber elder for the first time with it. Great all rounder build.

Can't overstate how much of a dps boost the +1 Gems and minion damage temple staff is. Made uber so much easier. Lvl 26 Skeletons are the nuts.

Congrats!
Did you try weapon swapping the queens escape for mapping?

Hi, I'm very interested in playing a classic necromancer again and this build seems to be exactly what I've been looking for.

How does it compare to the "Skeleton Warriors" build by "Path Of Exile Builds" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk6pMyWVK6Y)?

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grimlock9999 wrote:

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Thanks for the build guide, just cleared uber elder for the first time with it. Great all rounder build.

Can't overstate how much of a dps boost the +1 Gems and minion damage temple staff is. Made uber so much easier. Lvl 26 Skeletons are the nuts.

Congrats!
Did you try weapon swapping the queens escape for mapping?

Yeah I'm going to get to setting it up, Only linked the rare staff today to kill uber. Now I can throw currency at better gear since I tunnelled on life for uber and changed resistances to run purity of ice.

Getting some cast speed on the staff was super handy as in tougher bosses, it's very handy to cast summons quickly in the very few fights where minions die more than once in a blue moon.

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Hi, I'm very interested in playing a classic necromancer again and this build seems to be exactly what I've been looking for.

How does it compare to the "Skeleton Warriors" build by "Path Of Exile Builds" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qk6pMyWVK6Y)?

I was excited to watch that video, but was underwhelmed. Seems to me that, while they are similar, this version has far better synergy in literally every aspect. Cheaper, better defences, better damage, faster movespeed, smoother levelling, better vs bosses, more scope for imrpvements by spending currency, simpler playstyle. You'll notice in the highlights section of the video that the player is hanging back waiting for skellies to clear, while this build would have phased through and moved on. That's a great example of how good defence add to clearspeed, and make a build smoother.

The 'skeleton warriors' build beats this version with: a better video, hatred aura for party members, cold damage for chill

For more comparisons, there is a post in this thread comparing the cold damage skeleton builds to this one, as well as a post comparing the skeleton only build with this one.

Excellent guide! Big thanks to grimlock9999 for a newbie friendly, inexpensive build. It has been fun playing Necro in my first PoE league season.

Can I suggest some improvements to the Animate Guardian section? The stats don't show up in PoB but I think they help with minion survival. Especially for zombies.

Chest: Bloodbond Bone Armour - Gives minions 30% max life, minions 10% dodge attacks. Plus 25% max life and 1% life regen for the AG.

Gloves: Southbound Soldier Gloves - Gives 16% max life to AG and adds some cold damage. Small negative is 'Hits can only Kill Frozen Enemies'.

Both items can be easily found for 1 chaos or less in Trade.

Oh, and maybe add Efficient Training, Crimson Jewel to the jewel section? Makes it much easier to reach that 1k strength bonus for zombie life leech on The Baron.

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Jathura wrote:

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grimlock9999 wrote:

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Thanks for the build guide, just cleared uber elder for the first time with it. Great all rounder build.

Can't overstate how much of a dps boost the +1 Gems and minion damage temple staff is. Made uber so much easier. Lvl 26 Skeletons are the nuts.

Congrats!
Did you try weapon swapping the queens escape for mapping?

Yeah I'm going to get to setting it up, Only linked the rare staff today to kill uber. Now I can throw currency at better gear since I tunnelled on life for uber and changed resistances to run purity of ice.

Getting some cast speed on the staff was super handy as in tougher bosses, it's very handy to cast summons quickly in the very few fights where minions die more than once in a blue moon.

I was lucky enough to snag a +1 gem +minion damage staff today and managed to 6 link. The DPS boost is noticeable on bosses, especially guardians, but the Queen is much better for overall mapping I've found as your minions are so much faster and you can just phase run around through everything. Plus, was able to kill Shaper with the Queen sword so not like DPS is really lacking or anything with it, just swap out ruthless for melee splash on bosses.

I do plan on using the staff for uber elder though, like your idea of getting skeletons to lvl 26, thats huge! I got mine to 24 right now and per PoB, they hit about 180K dps with Minion Damage, Melee Phys, Brutality, Minion Speed & lvl 3 Empower.

Did you try cit support for bosses or stick with minion speed?

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Excellent guide! Big thanks to grimlock9999 for a newbie friendly, inexpensive build. It has been fun playing Necro in my first PoE league season.

Can I suggest some improvements to the Animate Guardian section? The stats don't show up in PoB but I think they help with minion survival. Especially for zombies.

Chest: Bloodbond Bone Armour - Gives minions 30% max life, minions 10% dodge attacks. Plus 25% max life and 1% life regen for the AG.

Gloves: Southbound Soldier Gloves - Gives 16% max life to AG and adds some cold damage. Small negative is 'Hits can only Kill Frozen Enemies'.

Both items can be easily found for 1 chaos or less in Trade.

Oh, and maybe add Efficient Training, Crimson Jewel to the jewel section? Makes it much easier to reach that 1k strength bonus for zombie life leech on The Baron.

thanks, I added southbound and efficient training to the relevant sections, but my understanding is that bloodbond on an Animated guardian won't give your other minions 30% increased health. This is because the other minions don't belong to the Animated guardian, so the only bonus bloodbond offers is extra health for itself and life regen for itself.

I am torn between this build and the Fourmulaic Summoner (https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2151224/page/1) which seems to be very, very fast but a bit squishy.

I don't have much currency or time so I have to be careful with both when it comes to spending them. How does this build (which has a much nicer guide) compare to the Fourmulaic one?

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Jathura wrote:

Thanks for the build guide, just cleared uber elder for the first time with it. Great all rounder build.

Can't overstate how much of a dps boost the +1 Gems and minion damage temple staff is. Made uber so much easier. Lvl 26 Skeletons are the nuts.

Hey, is the staff really worth the 10 exalts that ppl want for it?

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I am torn between this build and the Fourmulaic Summoner (https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2151224/page/1) which seems to be very, very fast but a bit squishy.

I don't have much currency or time so I have to be careful with both when it comes to spending them. How does this build (which has a much nicer guide) compare to the Fourmulaic one?

That guide is pretty darn detailed now: It was a bit unclear when it was first posted, but now it has great options, explanations, synergies and ideas. I enjoyed reading it, and also want to play with that build, but will probably not have the time either.

Looks like this build is simpler, levels easier and is cheaper, but that build has better clearspeed and better final form once you spend a ton of currency. (the build currently listed is waaay more expensive than this build can ever get)
I love how few button pushes it needs to clear maps, but the videos only show T11. I imagine it would get a bit risky running that fast in T15 maps. Conversely, this build doesn't lose much clearspeed at T15, and the playstyle doesn't get dangerous at high levels.
This one is better at lab runs, that one better at map farming with magic find gear.

This one seems to be less squishy, but that build got to level 100, so how bad can it be?

The good news is that the first 3 ascendencies are the same, the tree is the same up to about level 60, and many of the skill gems are the same, so you could get to the end of act 10, then spend a few chaos and regrets to swap builds for low level maps. That way you'll get to try both!