[3.7] "Herald of Asenath" | Physical Bow Summoner | Tornado Shot + Mirror Arrow + Herald of Purity
//GENERAL//
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Introduction
This [meme] Deadeye build balances both "bow" and "summoner" aspects by attacking with Tornado Shot, Clones [from Mirror Arrow], and Sentinels [from Herald of Purity] to deal pure physical damage. The majority of utility skills are triggered through Asenath's Chant, while clones are automatically summoned through Maloney's Mechanism.
The name Herald of Asenath is a blend of Herald of Purity and Asenath's Chant (one of the build's cornerstone items). According to lore, "Asenath" was a heroine and legendary archer who united the Maraketh tribes in rebellion against the Eternal Empire. Not only does this build don a unique item with her name, but also wields a bow and commands a contingent of followers - very akin to Asenath. I like being corny with my builds (^-^);;
As of now, the build can handle Uber Labs and T14 Maps. Things start getting a little dicey at T15 - I believe this build might not be Shaper/Elder viable, but you're welcome to try!
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Pros & Cons
Spoiler
+ Easy to play! You only use two active skills, minions are auto-summoned, and all utility skills are triggered.
+ Unique! Seriously, how many "bow summoner" builds do you see?
+/- I made this build purely for fun :) As such, I take a more casual approach to this build and I don't intend it to do insane amounts of damage. You can view this as either a positive or negative (lol).
- The build might be difficult for new players or league starters as it requires/suggests expensive and very specific items.
- The build cannot handle maps with physical reflect.
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Why Deadeye?
Spoiler
I chose Deadeye because, again, this build is designed to balance "bow" and "summoner" aspects. Assuming an ascendancy is not selected, the build is clearly more "summoner" oriented - Guardian and Necromancer lean more towards "summoner" and, without Deadeye, you'd miss out on a bunch of goodies:
* Blink/Mirror Arrow with 1.5s Cooldowns * Built-in Pierce * 70% increased Projectile damage * +30 Life Gain on Hit * Reduced Bleeding damage on you * 20% more Action Speed for you * 10% more Action Speed for minions
Of course, choice in ascendancy is ultimately up to you. Just remember you may have to compensate for consistency in the build's mechanics that the Deadeye simply has a much easier time doing.
//SKILLS//
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Path of Building
* PoB Code: [Sorry, PoB cannot generate codes at the moment - I'll update soon]
Here's a screenshot of non-Shaper DPS (I haven't tried Shaper yet) from PoB, along with calculations for single target DPS. All player buffs, enemy debuffs, and 20/20 gems are accounted for. Your minions' damage should be higher due to Tailwind, but PoB doesn't calculate this yet. PoB also doesn't calculate DPS from Mirage Archer; Mirage Archer DPS is not included in the following calculations.
Avoid using Vicious Projectiles; its attack speed penalty is counterproductive as you want as much attack speed as possible to frequently trigger Asenath's Chant.
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Mirror Arrow + Minion Damage + Brutality
This setup must be in Maloney's Mechanism. With increased duration nodes and the "Fast and Deadly" notable from Deadeye, you can have up to four clones active. Keep in mind your clones will use the same bow and quiver you have equipped.
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These support gems were selected due to mana reservation multipliers. If you can manage the additional reservation cost [by messing around with gear or the passive tree], substitute Faster Attacks for Melee Physical Damage.
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This setup must be in Asenath's Chant. If you have corrupted gloves with "Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit," change Vulnerability to another utility skill; I use Cold Snap for crowd control and Frenzy charge generation.
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I prefer Lightning Golem for the extra attack speed, but it can be swapped to any other golem of your choice. Ensure Steelskin, Blood Rage, and whatever golem you choose is maxed out so they can be triggered by CWDT.
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[Here] is the current passive tree for approximately Level 90. Much of the tree focuses on minion, life, duration nodes.
To meet the high Dexterity requirements of bows, consider placing one Careful Planning in the socket between the Templar and Witch starting areas. The rest of the jewels are up to you - I have abyss jewels that give minions a chance to taunt for an extra defensive layer.
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When leveling, head straight to the Sovereignty notable to allow use of Herald of Purity. Until then, focus more on supporting your bow attack than Herald of Purity. I suggest Caustic Arrow, eventually switching out Caustic Arrow for Toxic Rain after killing Merveil in Act 1. Switch to Tornado Shot only after allocating the "Powerful Precision" Deadeye passive.
Go with Eramir's reward (+2 passive skill points). You can never have enough passive skill points as a bow summoner.
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Pantheon
For the major god, use Brine King to prevent getting stun- or freeze-locked. The minor god is more flexible. Since I have a life flask, I use Ryslatha to regain charges during boss fights, but feel free to select any other minor god.
//ITEMS//
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Equipment
Required Items
Spoiler
*Asenath's Chant: Permits automatic casting of up to four utility skills, which is a massive benefit as summoners typically rely on manual casting of utility skills. For the helmet enchantment, aim for "Flesh Offering grants an additional 21% increased Attack Speed."
*Maloney's Mechanism: As aforementioned, with Mirror Arrow socketed, your clones will automatically be summoned as you attack. Until you get one of these, you'll have to manually summon your clones, which is quite an inconvenience.
*Lioneye's Glare: "Hits Can't Be Evaded" is fantastic for bypassing accuracy and an embedded "Far Shot" provides more damage [for both you and your clones].
*Belly of the Beast: Offers a considerable amount of increased maximum life, resistances, and life flask recovery.
*Thief's Torment: Combined with Tornado Shot and high attack speed, you will quickly recover a ton of life and mana; "50% reduced Effect of Curses on you" is also great.
The rest of your items should focus on core stats: Life, resistances, defense, etc. Corrupted gloves with "Curse Enemies with Vulnerability on Hit" is not necessary; it's just easier for curse application. You can craft rare amulets with Deafening Essence of Fear for the increased movement speed for Sentinels.
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Flasks
Spoiler
Flasks are flexible; use whatever works best for you.
//DISCUSSION//
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Videos
(I finally have time to record videos! They'll be uploaded soon)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Spoiler
Why not Guardian/Necromancer?
I understand the Guardian streamlines the Sentinels from Herald of Purity and the Necromancer provides a ton of minion damage. Please revisit the "Why Deadeye?" subsection for further details.
Why not Impale?
I've tested Impale for this build, but it's not as intuitive as running with Champion. Champion has so many perks related to Impale that including Impale in the build essentially necessitates moving to the Champion. Of course, I also tried a Champion version of this build, but the lack of inherent pierce and decreased Mirror Arrow cooldown was too much of a turn-off for me. You're welcome to adapt this build to Champion and toy around with Impale - let me know your results!
Why not Null's Inclination?
Null's Inclination is often considered the quintessential weapon for bow summoners. However, I didn't want to use it for a number of reasons:
* First, the bow is more for chaos damage and its physical damage is way too low.
* Second, the high intelligence requirement puts great strain on a build that's already low on intelligence.
* Lastly, the "Trigger Socketed Minion Spells on Kill with this Weapon" mod is not boss-friendly. Moreover, it's inconsistent because your Sentinels will inevitably score kills. Of course, one can use Speaker's Wreath with Null's Inclination, but that would remove Asenath's Chant, which is obviously the cornerstone of this build.
Why not other minions?
Most other minions do not align with the mechanics of this build. Raise Zombie, Summon Skeletons, and Raise Spectre need a bit of micromanagement, which goes against the build's auto-summoning nature. Animate Guardian can fit in the build, but you may need to rearrange some skill gem setups.
//MISCELLANEOUS//
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Change Log
Spoiler
* 1/2/2019: Initial guide posted in the Ranger forum.
* 2/2/2019: Passive tree changes (reduced focus on critical strikes in favor of more consistent damage). Skill changes (Vaal Haste removed due to reduced use during boss fights; Greater Multiple Projectiles added to Barrage to further scale various on-hit mechanics; Lightning Golem swapped for Stone Golem for increased defense). Equipment changes (Tombfist added for more balanced damage; rare amulet/belt changed to compensate for loss of resistances from equipping Tombfist). Flask changes (reduced number of life flasks from 3 to 1; included Basalt and Jade flasks for increased defense). Guide changes (updated images; restructured layout; fixed grammatical errors).
* 6/15/2019: Major update for 3.7. Changed Barrage to Tornado Shot for better AoE clearing. Added Maloney's Mechanism and Mirror Arrow (more minions!) for more single target damage. Replaced Tombfist with rare gloves to compensate for loss of resistances and life from quiver. Updated gems, passive tree, and a minor items. Guide changes (updated images; restructured layout; fixed grammatical errors).
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Conclusion
While this build isn't the strongest in the game, it's certainly a different take on a "bow summoner" that is fun and exciting. Overall, I thoroughly enjoy Herald of Asenath (particularly how it ties into the game's lore) and I hope you try it out. Thanks for reading!
really like this build idea, i'm very new to the game so im still quite on the fence about how to even go about choosing a build, but this is a pretty unique one that sticks out to me (this is very similar to the blood archer summoner i wanted to do back in launch before i realized how impossible that was)
My question is, what is your ms like, whats your boss damage, your clear speed on maps, how high can you handle, etc
im afraid this build even after pouring a ton of money into it could not really clear red maps quickly, thus making it a pretty novel build, but just a novelty
also i find it strange you're playing on standard lol
Last edited by kaydiechii on Jan 8, 2019, 6:35:37 AM
I will admit this build is definitely a novelty. I've gotten into T15 maps recently, aaaaaand it doesn't do too well (as I expected, haha). As such, I don't suggest my build for end-game content, but it certainly holds entertainment value [at least for me].
And I play Standard because I dislike having to start over every few months. I have a busy personal schedule and I, for the most part, play PoE in short bursts whenever I have large gaps of free time.
Regardless, thanks for checking out the build! Let me know if you have any other questions :)
I'm probably missing something but, how do you generate endurance charges? You took 2 extra endurance charges on the tree. Thanks for the update on the lioneye's fall :).
Last edited by JorganWindcaller on Jan 9, 2019, 7:48:24 PM
The "staff" nodes are converted to "bow" when they're in radius of Lioneye's Fall, which is placed in the jewel socket right above "Resolute Technique." This also means the "Disemboweling" node wheel [and a few nodes in the "Bone Breaker" node wheel, if you choose to use them] will convert to "bow."
Nice guide looks sweet and straight to the point. you said the video was coming soon no video yet...have you had any success with the build. what are the defense layers to stay alive in t16's?
My apologies - the semester just started, so I've been very busy with classes lately. I'll try to get a video in as soon as possible. For now, I'm changing "Sometime this week" to an indefinite "Working on it," heh.
As mentioned in other comments, the furthest I've pushed to was T15, but it gets a bit challenging. I do not expect this build to be viable for end-game bosses (i.e. Shaper or Uber Elder), but you're certainly more than welcome to try.
Regarding defenses, the build itself doesn't heavily invest in any of the armor stats. However, according to PoB, evade chance is about 64% and physical damage reduction is about 31% (with all buffs/debuffs accounted for). Additionally, life recovery is roughly 3,200 life per second thanks to Thief's Torment. Immortal Call lasts approximately 3 seconds when augmented by Endurance Charges. Other indirect layers of defense include frequent knockback from "King of the Hill," taunt applied by your minions (which redirects aggro, as well as provides 10% less damage taken for you), and your Sentinels (which are good for body-blocking).
Threshold jewels do not require stat points to be allocated on the passive tree. In other words and in the case of Volley Fire, there just needs to be at least 40 Dexterity (both allocated and unallocated) within radius of the jewel.
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