Cold ANIMATE WEAPON Summoner | League-Start & Leveling Guide

Yo, started one but got scared as ppl seemed to struggle surviving end game? And other thing that imo wasnt told in guide is what to do differently when going fire instead cold?

I'm enjoying the build but, like others, struggling a bit with survivability once damage mods start adding up.

https://pastebin.com/Nwm7vvNf

Just about all of my gear is mediocre (Xbox economy makes things tougher) but I'm not sure what the "aha" thing will be to make the dramatic changes I really need; getting base armor reduction from ~68% to ~80% is doable and will help, but I'm not seeing a realistic way to get unsquishy. I can do carefully-rolled red maps well enough, but with more than one big damage mod the one-shots start to get extreme -- and that's not even talking about the fun with Scourge!

Does it end up just being all about having granite/basalt flasks going at all the right times? Any other secret sauce?

> Fortress Covenant is a large damage and survivability boost for minions. Place it in socket southwest of the Scion life wheel

Where? The scion life wheel is the southmost area of the tree you show; can't see any socket(s) south or southwest from it... Could you please clarify?

Any 1 have an 3.16 video with this build? i wanna see before tryng to do ir

Loving the build so far!

I've been doing the fire conversion build and was curious: You say to use physical damage ghastly eye jewels so they can double dip from hatred but i use the fire build so is there any reason i should use physical over flat fire damage?

Thanks bunch for the guide!

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it if it has (Thanks GGG for the "wonderful" way to search forums).

Is there any twink leveling gear aside from the normal seven league, tabby, goldrim? Any special weapons or anything to make life better/easier running this as a second or third character of the league?

"

Nyrin wrote:

I'm enjoying the build but, like others, struggling a bit with survivability once damage mods start adding up.

https://pastebin.com/Nwm7vvNf

Just about all of my gear is mediocre (Xbox economy makes things tougher) but I'm not sure what the "aha" thing will be to make the dramatic changes I really need; getting base armor reduction from ~68% to ~80% is doable and will help, but I'm not seeing a realistic way to get unsquishy. I can do carefully-rolled red maps well enough, but with more than one big damage mod the one-shots start to get extreme -- and that's not even talking about the fun with Scourge!

Does it end up just being all about having granite/basalt flasks going at all the right times? Any other secret sauce?

Taking the armor nodes helps, getting an Animated Guardian with defensive boosts helps, you could anoint extra maximum resist notable onto your amulet, and so on. It will never be SUPER tanky but that will help.

"

Myythic wrote:

Loving the build so far!

I've been doing the fire conversion build and was curious: You say to use physical damage ghastly eye jewels so they can double dip from hatred but i use the fire build so is there any reason i should use physical over flat fire damage?

Thanks bunch for the guide!

There is very small double-dipping off added phys from the Raze and Pillage support. However, you're right, you can just use extra added fire on the abyssal jewels - it makes them much cheaper to trade for than phys.

"

sdooweloc314 wrote:

Sorry if this has been asked before but I couldn't find it if it has (Thanks GGG for the "wonderful" way to search forums).

Is there any twink leveling gear aside from the normal seven league, tabby, goldrim? Any special weapons or anything to make life better/easier running this as a second or third character of the league?

Getting yourself a low level 4 link helmet with +1 minion gems is the biggest aid for leveling. I also like Sidhebreath amulet. Anything to add minion speed, like a +20 quality Animate Weapon gem, that makes leveling much smoother. But this build in general will rip through the acts with ease.

Important note for anyone checking this in PoB with Cold Iron Points - there seems to be a BUG where Deal No Elemental Damage incorrectly applies to your Minions, resulting in Elemental Conversion reporting 0 damage.

I fixed it in my PoB by commenting out the "Deal No Elemental Damage" by manually editing the item.

Build report:

I'm at 1.45 sDPS (Sirus) while still level 74, with Cold Iron Poins and 4R Triad Grip, Matua Tupuna and Skullhead as the damage buffing items. Most of my skills are still level 17. The PoB reports 2.1 sDPS once they get fully leveled (might just shortcut that with trading).

Considering the near constant up-time, this deals more damage than my Toxic Rain Conqueror while bossing, and the map clear is fast enough. Quite relaxing to play with the Arcanist Brand going.

I'm currently using a couple of Host Chieftains as Specters. Will add a couple Carnage Chieftains when I can. Power Charge and Frenzy boosts the damage and clear significantly.

This build was recommended as leveling for other AW Necro, but I will likely linger for awhile because of how effective it is at my budget. Incredible!

Thank you for the build, cheers!

Very happy that you are enjoying the build! Great review.

"

Tenet wrote:

Important note for anyone checking this in PoB with Cold Iron Points - there seems to be a BUG where Deal No Elemental Damage incorrectly applies to your Minions, resulting in Elemental Conversion reporting 0 damage.

I fixed it in my PoB by commenting out the "Deal No Elemental Damage" by manually editing the item.

I think what is happening here is that you have the Animated Weapons using YOUR gear (the Cold Iron Point) in set up for PoB.

How-to get accurate DPS readings and avoid this problem in PoB:

Items >> Item Set >> Manage
New >> assign a name for gear set, for example "shank", then select it
still in Items: >> Create custom... >> select "Normal"
Glass Shank
>> Create
Equip the normal Glass Shank in the "shank" gear set, then change back to your regular gear
On the left, near the skill stats for Animate Weapon, select the "shank" gear set.
Done!

Thank you, that workaround worked. I was advised the same thing on the github under my bug report. I think at least they can make it clearer for AW users with some warning if not a config option.

I wonder whether the build's defenses can be boosted. Some options I am consideringL

1. Switch to the ES defensive build with 1hp. At my budget I can reliably hit 6K ES at level 78, which is manageable - and it will keep improving with levels.

2. Trust the simple plan and invest more into hp/armor increases (doesn't seem cost effective at market prices)

3. Modify the Armor/HP build to somehow marry it to the more complex tanking builds I noticed. For example, Divine Flesh + Armor layers from this PConc Build, with Vaal Molten Shell https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nzi7MLNLkhs (this will raise the price, and cost some passives)
Here's one path I am considering on the tree: https://i.imgur.com/SDkH6gm.png

I'm curious about your thoughts (though understand if you are too busy).