{3.10} Speaker for the Dead | The Mass Minion Summoner | League Starter, Leveling Guide 💀

@ IFollowYou:

"

Tried out Kitava's heralds

Their natural mortar AOE will be great for clumped monster packs, but something like the 4-way conflict will painfully highlight their weakness to scattered monsters.

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summon phantasms (~1.25 mil in dps)

Phantasms in PoB are incorrectly linked to Spectre level. Their Monster Level should instead be based on their Gem Level, starting at ML70 for GL20 and +2ML per 1GL. With the Unnatural Strength ascendancy in effect, you'll need to drop your Spectre gem level down to 14 (ML70) or 15 (ML73) to see the true DPS of Phantasms. In short, it's going to be roughly half.

"

anyone tried using the physical variant of the Vaal Risen Advocates?

They were absolutely terrible when I experimented with them in ~3.7. They couldn't even maintain full Phantasms in a T6 Fields map. Their damage and AOE was too low.

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if you're going this route, you might as well grab a Baron and go full zombie / skele for your 6 links and relegate spectres to pure charge generation

I've been designing a 2H variant that tries to have Cold Triad Grip, CwC+Spirit Offering, Bonechill Skitterbots, Generosity Hatred, Blood Magic Frenzy Apes, and a tanky Animated Guardian. I couldn't seem to fit everything when losing both the glove sockets and shield sockets. Then, I did it, I figured out a way. But due to certain compromises it was starting to look more like the various Baron builds in terms of minion composition. Although not terribly pleased with that prospect, but, since this variant is all about pushing the DPS envelope, it's hard to deny the efficacy of numbers. So what would this offer over a Baron build?

Baron = 1% increased minion damage per 10 STR, so 1000 STR = 100% increased minion damage (=~20% more damage), 500 flat life (=1500 life @200%), 2% life leech (= 26% life regen w/ Bone Barrier), and +3 Zombies. But you need a lot of specific gear to make this happen.

Just with the gear I already have and adding in a 2H, no Animated Guardian, Cold Triad Grip is worth 45% more damage. With further cold res debuffing it'll go up in value.

We make up the difference in life and leech of Baron with ES and constantly triggering Spirit Offering with CwC.


Now for some Shaper DPS numbers:

13,230,204 Skeleton DPS (1.1M each x12)
6,322,556 Zombie DPS (575k each x11, 404k Slam @1.85sec cooldown)
3,009,985 Carrion Golem DPS (1M each x3)

24,910,100 Vaal Warrior DPS (996k each x25)
1,914,696 Vaal Archer DPS (160k each x12)
~1,238,856 Vaal Caster DPS (155k each x8, Lightning casters deal 0.33 damage)
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22,562,745 Shaper DPS w/o Vaal Skeletons
50,626,397 Shaper DPS w/ Vaal Skeletons (not including General)


Again, this is without any minion damage jewels, Elemental Army debuff, or a Kingmaker Animated Guardian debuffing cold res. Altogether those can add up to another ~67% more damage.

As you might have guessed, the compromise was dropping Phantasms. =o( Carrion Golems and Zombies would carry clear, with Skeletons for bosses, room-sweeping, and multi-front fights. Losing both Phantasms and Spectres for clear is regrettable, but Carrion Golems are no slouches with their leap and cascade. Their damage and combo attack AOE would put them at the level of Slave Drivers, and the cone of their cascade has about the coverage of a GMP Phantasm. Still, only testing will say for sure if it's worth the trade-off.

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@ Veraclus:

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replace my frost sentinels with slave drivers?

I recommend trying both, in all honesty. Raising, replacing, and changing Spectres is far less painful now. Socket colors might be an issue, though.

Slave Driver damage is no joke, and their high cast speed and movement speed help against their much smaller coverage. In linear maps, like Guardians or Toxic Sewers, they will do extremely well.

In open maps, especially when monsters are spread out instead of clumped up, the superior coverage of Frost Sentinels wins out. Keep in mind L84 monsters have 16k base life * type * map mods * rarity. Boss level DPS is wasted on them. What's more important is delivery efficiency: Hitting sooner and hitting a wider area. When only the toughest rares remain standing, your Zombies can dogpile and make short work of them.

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@ vincentk:

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for slave driver minions: Wrath or Summon Skitterbots?

Wrath is 50% reservation, meaning you'll need to make additional investments into reservation reduction if you're also using Hatred.

Wrath is 21% more Spell Lightning Damage (29% more w/ Generosity), and then some flat lightning damage for attacks. Zombies and Skeletons won't get much out of this.

Skitterbots will boost all our minions by essentially 24% more damage, and it only costs 35% mana reservation so no additional investment. They also reduce the action speed of monsters with a 12% chill, giving defense. This also lets us use Hypothermia as a green support or a cheaper helm affix, if we wanted.

My vote is Skitterbots, unless your Slave Drivers are reliably shocking on their own and not using Elemental Focus Support.

"

[Slave Driver] "flame whip" attack that does lightning damage. Is the damage strictly lightning

Yes, they only deal Lightning Damage. "Flamewhip" is just an internal name, so don't take them literally. You see, to save time it's not uncommon for a dev to just copy+paste the data from another skill, like Flame Surge, and then tweak the numbers, shaders, and damage type from there to fit the new monster.

Also, just in case there's any confusion, their skill is a Spell, not an Attack.

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@ Apsiu:

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is it worth having skitter bots or maybe something else? Some aura? Curse aura? Frostbite?

I like Skitterbots. They're cheap, universal, use only one socket, and have full effect on bosses.

Meanwhile, curses have many alternatives to Blasphemy:

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frost sentinels fire a lot of different projectiles. Slave drivers only one. Isn't it impeding the clear?

Depends on map terrain and monster distribution. Frost Sentinels will cover several screens at once but might take several hits to kill while Slave Drivers will surely kill whatever they hit but then must run to their next target.

Did Uber Elder deathless with this build for first time today. Twice. And I am definitely not the best player. This is a seriously solid, genius build.

Not sure if it is in the Guide, if so my bad, but i am unable to find any information about which lab enchants to go for, any recommendations?.

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Islonosch wrote:

Not sure if it is in the Guide, if so my bad, but i am unable to find any information about which lab enchants to go for, any recommendations?.

https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/2242389/page/123#p22331184

Ascendancy order
1. Mistress of Sacrifice - To take advantage of ES heals from CWDT + Spirit Offering. Duration means longer Vaal Skeletons.
2. Mindless Aggression - No choice, our other picks are behind this one. Provides great movement speed, though.
3. Bone Barrier - Incredible defense. We'll want that phys reduction and recovery rate to protect us in Uber Lab. The free Bone Armour skill also removes Bleeds.
4. Unnatural Strength - It's tempting to take this earlier, to hit minion breakpoints sooner. I prioritized defense, but you are free to go for this earlier if you're fine with taking more risk.


guys, van i do anything with these two? or how much should i sell it for?

@ Veraclus:

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Veraclus wrote:

Did Uber Elder deathless with this build for first time today. Twice. And I am definitely not the best player. This is a seriously solid, genius build.

Congrats!

I took a peek at your gear. Nice job stacking Endurance Charges! Diamond Flask shouldn't be doing anything for you, so I'm guessing you just needed an anti-freeze flask? We also no longer need anti-bleeding, since Bone Armour removes bleeds. Empower isn't doing a whole lot for you right now. It only becomes powerful when stacking levels with +1 and +2 Support mods on our weapon.

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@ Islonosch:

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Islonosch wrote:

Not sure if it is in the Guide, if so my bad, but i am unable to find any information about which lab enchants to go for, any recommendations?.

Original FAQ covers enchantment candidates.

Thanks for the response Herc. It is greatly appreciated!

Yes I only use the diamond flask for anti-freeze. The life flask of staunching was sort of just left where it is because I forgot it had staunching on XD

I am having huge difficulty getting a claw with +1 to sockets AND Maim. But working on it.

Hi, I am a bit lost. Do I change the gems if I choose to go with Slave drivers instead of Frost sentinel.

ALso I do remove Purifiying flame for discpline if I go for a watchers eye for ES on hit?

Hey @Hercanic, when can we possibly expect updates on the page 234? I wanna invest in some new gear but I'm scared that I'll have to change it afterwards :s

Now that Grip of the Council has come down in price, I'm wondering about the merits of Triad cold conversion vs Grip of the council. I am feeling like Triad is a bit too restrictive with the 4 green slots, but not sure if I go back to Grip I am losing a lot of dps. if I go Grip, should I drop skitter/bonechill?

Hi, any tips?