[3.23] [SC+HC] Summon Homing Missiles (SRS) Necromancer: Starting, Leveling & Endgame Mapping

Great build!

Just a quick question; It looks like, in your finale SRS setup, you use "Concentrated effect", instead of "Increased Critical Damage".

Is that correct?

Thanks for a great guide!

Good news, everyone! With the release of version 2.38.0 of Path of Building Community Fork today, they now have support for the transfigured gems!

This means I can finally update the PoB to include Summon Raging Spirit of Enormity. This is taking me some time, since I'm also adjusting/correcting a few things in the process. Hopefully I'll have this update posted in the next 24 hours.

Note that at least some of the updates that will be in it are already written into the posts themselves, and much of the rest was covered in the past couple pages' worth of comments. So for anyone that's been paying close attention, there won't be any real surprises there.

Thank you everyone for your patience!

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WoodDude42 wrote:

I would like to suggest adding Windscream to the boots section, since it can help with elemental resistance and also allows you to apply an additional curse, meaning you don't have to anoint Whispers of Doom on the amulet.

That's a fair suggestion. I personally don't like it just due to the lower movement speed on it, but so far my testing has shown that it's still pretty workable without it. Granted, there's not many terribly strong anoints we could do for DPS otherwise, and it does add a bit more challenge to getting our resistances capped.

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faaroar wrote:

Yes, it does stack. With 3 of Perfect Meatsack, I'm getting 121k SRS minion life with the SRS of Enormity.

And it's less when you don't have them? As admittedly, 121k with Enormity is actually within the sort of range (actually a little lower) than I'm getting without that. Unfortunately, PoB doesn't have any purchasable specters implemented yet, nor am I in league to test it myself...

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Magnan1979 wrote:

Just a quick question; It looks like, in your finale SRS setup, you use "Concentrated effect", instead of "Increased Critical Damage".

Is that correct?

No, I'm in the process of updating the PoB. I've been holding off since until today, PoB didn't have support for transfigured gems, making it pointless to try and put in the support gems for something that doesn't yet exist.

If you have the transfigured version ("Summon Raging Spirit of Enormity") then always use Increased Critical Damage. (ICD) Otherwise, never use ICD if you don't have the transfigured version.

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ACGIFT wrote:

And it's less when you don't have them? As admittedly, 121k with Enormity is actually within the sort of range (actually a little lower) than I'm getting without that. Unfortunately, PoB doesn't have any purchasable specters implemented yet, nor am I in league to test it myself...

My bad, I didn't state before and after HP. Without the 3 perfect meatsack, I'm getting 96k HP.
+1 meatsack = 104k
+2 meatsack = 113k
+3 meatsack = 121k

The PoB has now been fully updated for 3.23!

My apologies for the delays; I was kept away from the project for a few days. However, I have substantially expanded what's covered in it: there is now a set of gems (with the appropriate levels) to match every single act and 3 endgame levels. Likewise, I've revamped the gear section, showing multiple tiers of gearing to reflect what you should be chasing during a given part of your progression.

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faaroar wrote:

My bad, I didn't state before and after HP. Without the 3 perfect meatsack, I'm getting 96k HP.
+1 meatsack = 104k
+2 meatsack = 113k
+3 meatsack = 121k

That's quite interesting! I found out what was going on on my end in part; I had an unusually high number of minion life mods on gear. (helmet + both wands) So that means your figures are about where they should be.

Sadly, PoB doesn't yet have the Perfect Meatsack implemented. I have, however, adjusted the PoB to bring the player within 1 point of Death Attunement, so that the build is easily adjusted for use of them. It's just that there's no way to get the DPS to reflect their use.

I have reached the endgame with this build! Can't seem to survive maps with many mods though, or a mavened shaper/elder. What can I do to improve my defenses/life?

I do use the technique of casting and kiting the mobs but still get one or two shotted most of the time when caught. :/

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666tyco666 wrote:

I do use the technique of casting and kiting the mobs but still get one or two shotted most of the time when caught. :/

I took a look over your build. Life and armour are a little low; when you can, try to see to upgrades with even more than you already have.

Beyond that, part of it's mechanics, especially for end bosses. But there's one part I actually just realized I forgot to update into the guide as well: do try to keep an eye on your guard skill cooldowns, and see about making use of your Bone Armour ability; that's an extra 2,209 hit points you get, which in your case should make a fairly decisive difference.

There's two routes about it; a lot of people (that like to minimize the amount of thought & effort put into playing) will just bind Bone Armour to the mouse button they use to move with, so it's always proc'd if not on cooldown whenever you move.

The alternative is to have it as its own button, and remember to proc it manually right before putting yourself up against something that could hit you hard. (such as weaving right into a nastier pack of monsters) This does require a bit more effort, but lets you better guarantee you'll have the skill (be it bone armour, molten shell, or other) up when you're going to need it most.

Beyond that I'd keep a close eye to see what your uptime is, particularly for your granite flask & guard skills. If you're used to them being pretty automated for you, it can make the game feel a little inconsistent with a "one moment your fine, the next everything 2-shots you" sort of situation. With a little study & practice, you can pretty instinctively know your uptimes, and this will dramatically improve your survival; not just for this build, but any build that you use defensive flasks & guard skills on.

Thanks for replying! I guess I'll keep trying to get better gear.. The good stuff is so expensive!

Wont Bone Armour share a cooldown with Molten Shell though?

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666tyco666 wrote:

Thanks for replying! I guess I'll keep trying to get better gear.. The good stuff is so expensive!

Wont Bone Armour share a cooldown with Molten Shell though?

Yes, so you can only have one up or the other. But I can attest that it's actually pretty easy to work with two guard skills: one of them is a low level and supported by CWDT, and the other is maxed and a manual-cast. Because they share a cooldown, the former will never go up when you've remembered to manually cast the latter.

So the CWDT one basically becomes a passive "in case you forget" option. In most scenarios, it will periodically proc to keep the not-too-dangerous stuff hitting you even softer. But it will leave you with the option to manually force it on whenever you know you're about to be at risk of getting seriously hit.

Likewise, since they share a cooldown, you only need the manual one on your skill bar, as its icon will let you know the cooldown situation at a glance.

(I actually use this sort setup with a lot of my characters, even with different builds; with flicker strike in particular I've found it invaluable!)

is there a way to add the 4 perfect dark marrionetts in pob?

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dragnmith1 wrote:

is there a way to add the 4 perfect dark marrionetts in pob?

Sadly as it stands right now, PoB does not include any of the purchasble corpses for spectres.

If it did have them, then you would indeed be able to account for them: if you were to select "Raise Spectre" as your main skill on the left-side panel, it will show a button for "Manage Spectres..." that would allow you to specify which monsters you have. It has a fairly long list... Just none of the new purchasable corpses in there.

That said, I'm not sure I'd recommend them as a choice for this build; while they do explode, they won't have all the benefits to deal anywhere near as much damage (or be available so rapidly) as our raging spirits. A better choice would be Perfect Meatsacks, which do have a bonus for us: that 40% increased minion life both makes our golem/zombies/etc. tougher, as well as adding a significant damage boost to our SRS.

I know for this part, we can sorta-mimic this effect by going to the Configuration tab, and under the "Custom Modifiers" box, entering in the line Minions have 160% increased maximum Life. (assuming we'll have four perfect meatsacks; if different, adjust the number accordingly)