[3.9] Pure Phys Skeletons & Friends Necromancer — Beginner/SSF/Budget Build

ty so much for your help, i'll do as much as i can from your suggestions.
edit:i've done some things, can you look for anything i can do to increase my mana pls?

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timtom1241 wrote:

ty so much for your help, i'll do as much as i can from your suggestions.
edit:i've done some things, can you look for anything i can do to increase my mana pls?

You're looking much more solid now, congrats! I think your next upgrade should be your boots. Aim for 30-35% movement speed, life, mana and resists. That should help some with your life/mana balance.

Next you can re-balance your passive tree. I would drop Warrior's Blood and temporarily remove 5% life nodes or the 12% minion damage nodes next to Righteous Army and pick up Arcane Will and/or Dreamer depending on your needs. Remember that for Mind over Matter you need 3/7 of your life total as unreserved mana.

Once you've done that there are some other upgrades you could purchase to increase your mana pool. Here they are from cheapest to most expensive:

1. You could get a weapon with mana (or an open prefix for crafted mana). I wouldn't go lower than 60% minion damage though.
2. The mana rolls on your accessories could be higher (I try for 70 life, 70 mana by end game).
3. You could upgrade your chest piece to something with life/mana/resists.
4. At 9ex these are super expensive, but an Unnatural Instinct jewel in the slot currently occupied by your abyss jewel would give you a lot of life and mana for a single passive. That would mean getting an abyss belt though, which can also be expensive depending on your resist needs. They're not too bad though at 90+ life and two resists. Speaking of belts, I suggest getting 5% movement speed as your crafted mod on your end game belt, it'll offset the lost movement speed from your heavy armor.

ty so much, you really are helping me alot.
i changed some things as you told me to, im not gonna buy the 10 ex jewel though, i don't think it's worth 10 ex...
ill try to find a weapon, for now I'll stay with what i have.
anyways, i've tried to run a map called: "The Hall Of Grandmasters", and i got rekt.
any suggestions on what i should do?

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timtom1241 wrote:

ty so much, you really are helping me alot.
i changed some things as you told me to, im not gonna buy the 10 ex jewel though, i don't think it's worth 10 ex...
ill try to find a weapon, for now I'll stay with what i have.
anyways, i've tried to run a map called: "The Hall Of Grandmasters", and i got rekt.
any suggestions on what i should do?

lololol yeah HoGM is NOT a map this build (or many other builds) can run. There are specific builds that are designed to run just that map. I always buy the map completion on trade channel 820.

This build will also have trouble with Uber Elder, Uber Atziri and Minotaur. Everything else should be deathless. (Not sure about Aul, I've killed the other two Delve bosses no problem though).

Where this build excels is:
1. able to run any map mods (toughest will be physical reflect and no regen, but just go slow and you can clear those maps) and easily kill all map bosses below T16
2. level/scale really quickly and cheaply
3. be really safe and deathless while having above average clear speed (which means hitting upper level exp is quick and painless)

I'm playing more casually this league than leagues past, so I'm just playing this build. But in previous leagues I used this build to rush to 90 (at a sub 100c cost) and then used all the currency I earned to build something meta (this league that would be a BV Elementalist, Arc Totems, Jugg Molten Strike, etc.).

ok,if you want i can add you in game, you can help me more.
anyways, ty for everything, you really helped me.

Love this build but I have several questions:

1) What do people consider cheap when talking about gear? This is the first time that I've bought or even considered trading. It's also the first time I've gotten this high in level (91).

2) How do you generate currency with this build? Do you use IQ or IR gear? Or is it just running through maps?

3) How do you sustain maps above T11? (More general of a question I guess)

4) What gear should I prioritize in acquiring. I know MOST of my gear probably needs upgraded. How do I decide what gear to get for chest? I was thinking of finding a good life/res piece and 6L myself but I've been told that's usually a waste of currency.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

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Naggun wrote:

Love this build but I have several questions:

1) What do people consider cheap when talking about gear? This is the first time that I've bought or even considered trading. It's also the first time I've gotten this high in level (91).

To my mind in end game (red maps) anything below 50c is cheap (buy it even if it's only a minor upgrade). Anything below 3ex is a moderate expense (be sure to get a good deal or a major upgrade). And anything above 3ex is an investment and should be entered into carefully.

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2) How do you generate currency with this build? Do you use IQ or IR gear? Or is it just running through maps?

There are some MF builds out there, but they're not very common in the current meta because you can get significant IQ and monster pack size from combining chisels, alch, vaal orbs, sextants and zana mods. So it's just running maps and (this league) delves. IR never hurts, but there's no need to seek it out in your items.

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3) How do you sustain maps above T11? (More general of a question I guess)

There are plenty of video guides around that explain these mapping mechanics, but personally I take any 3 of the same T13+ maps, scour them if they're magic or rare, use four chisels then alch each one. If the IQ is 60+ then good, if not then I scour and alch again. 80 IQ is what I aim for. Then I add one master sextant and any yellow sextants that can reach the map. If a yellow sextant rolls something that doesn't add IQ or monster pack size then I reapply a sextant. Then I run each map applying zana's 2c mod (this league it's onslaught) since it's the cheapest way to get an additional 20% IQ. Some people argue that Beyond at 4c is the better mod since it gets the 20% IQ and adds monsters but it's really a preference. Maybe if I was running just T15s consistently it would be worth the investment? Up to you.

So if you do all this, you should be running 80-100 IQ red maps with increased monster density. There's basically no way for you to not break even across each set of three maps. By "breaking even" here I mean having enough raw currency and maps drop to either continue running map sets or buying them. I normally save up and buy 10-30 maps all at once from people to cut down on the time spent trading. Rinse and repeat!

Note that this assumes you've gotten significant map completion (130% or more).

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4) What gear should I prioritize in acquiring. I know MOST of my gear probably needs upgraded. How do I decide what gear to get for chest? I was thinking of finding a good life/res piece and 6L myself but I've been told that's usually a waste of currency. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

So here's what I aim for when min/maxing this build (from most important to least):
1. 75% on all three resists
2. 155 dexterity and 155 strength
3. 6k+ life at level 90-93. I aim for 800 flat life from items.
4. 3/7 (43%) of your life total as unreserved mana (to take full advantage of Mind over Matter). I aim for 300 mana from items.
5. +1 Skeletons (to bring your total to 12 and allow for four summons of three to reach max quickly).
6. 35-45% movement speed (you get 5% from your passive tree, and ideally 35% from your boots and 5% from your belt)
7. Defensive mechanics like minion taunt (from an abyss jewel) and blind (from shaper gloves).
8. As much global minion damage as possible (90%+ from your weapon, 15% on your gloves, 20-60% from your helm, up to 20% on each Violent Dead jewel, up to 12% on your To Dust jewel)
9. 21/20 skill gems (some of these are more important than others, so there's a whole separate conversation to be had about which skills to max first and how to balance impact and cost)

So with all of that said, looking at your items, I would upgrade your chest piece first (and yeah buy one don't try to 6L it yourself). Right now you're not getting anything from it and it can go a long way to helping with the above list (especially 1, 3, and 5). Use your fusing orbs to try and 6L a unique chest that's in high demand but cheap to purchase when it's not 6L. Check out poe.ninja for ideas.

After that get a weapon with the highest minion damage you can afford. Resists and mana on the weapon are also nice to have.

Then work on getting better accessories (amulet/rings). I aim for 70 life/70 mana and as high resists as I can. Note that I disagree with the main guide's suggestion to get minion movement speed. I've never noticed the lack of it and am constantly recasting summon skeleton to both direct my minions and ensure the Puppet Master ascendancy 30% minion damage perk is up).

I'd spring for shaper gloves with blind next, but you could also argue for saving up for 35% boots or an elder bone helm. Keep an eye out for corrupted Violent Dead jewels (with an additional 5% minion damage) and a better To Dust jewel.

But this order in which to upgrade isn't set in stone. You'll want to find a balance between your currency, the value of different pieces, and the above list of stats to aim for. For example if you see a pair of shaper gloves for 30c that are perfect, don't ignore them to save up for a 100c ring with better life. Just make sure you hit #1 and #2 at all times and then upgrade as you can.

Hey guys, here's another end game enhancement that I've been testing this league and it's awesome! If you've seen my posts previously you know I like to run a CWDT + Phase Run or IC setup for an added defensive layer. This means that you have to move a gem to a socketed ring (clarity is what I normally choose).



However, if you can find one, get a shaper amulet with clarity and then use Animated Guardian in the now free skill gem slot. Ambu's Charge, Leer Cast, Dying Breath, Victario's Flight and Southbound all cost 1c and a 20/23 AG is like 30c. So super cheap considering you're getting:

1. 33% increased minion damage from gear and 76% increased minion damage from AG
2. 18% increased curse effectiveness
3. 10% movement speed for you and your minions from gear and 46% minion movement speed from AG
4. Additional flat physical damage

There's literally no downside if you can fit it in your gear, and it's super effective for this build because we have so many minions (especially when you pop vaal skele). I'm saving up for a socketed ring with +2 to gems which will basically ensure AG can't die. But even without that, so far I've run T14 elder and T15 maps without his health even moving from 100%.

Edit: pretty much insta-dies to shaper guardians so be sure to unequip.

Thank you.

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So with all of that said, looking at your items, I would upgrade your chest piece first (and yeah buy one don't try to 6L it yourself). Right now you're not getting anything from it and it can go a long way to helping with the above list (especially 1, 3, and 5). Use your fusing orbs to try and 6L a unique chest that's in high demand but cheap to purchase when it's not 6L. Check out poe.ninja for ideas.

So following your idea I think I'll start with a Belly of the Beast. Good life mostly and I don't feel the need for the 12th skeleton as it seems I'm just too squishy and this would be the best armor to fix that.

Could someone upload an Uber Elder kill with this build ? :)