[3.4] The Baron Smite summoner

Hello!


This is my first ever build and i would like some advice and opinions on what i have been able to come up with thus far.


1. Introduction


2. PoB link


3. Skill Gems


4. Animate Guardian and Spectres



5. Skill Tree, Bandits and Acsendancy



6. Items


7. Outro

Im a little unsure about my weapon of choice, any sugestions are welcome. We do want a weapon that can hit hard with Smite, but i had a hard time finding a weapon that could do that and at the same time work well with the minions.

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Remember that a melee-summoner is a hybrid between melee and summoner. To make the most out of such builds, you have to cater to melee aspects with little to no detraction from summoner aspects [and vice versa]. In other words, be sure the mechanics you've chosen synergize well with both melee and summoner.
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In regards to your build:

* Unless I'm missing something, there's a clear gap between Baron and Smite, mainly that Baron scales physical damage while Smite [at least in your build] scales flat elemental damage. Wrath and the Smite aura won't provide much benefit to your Zombies because they're better scaled with added % damage (such as Hatred or Added Fire Damage) rather than flat damage.

* Alternatively, you can support your Zombies with Physical to Lightning to convert 50% of their physical damage to lightning. Replace Wrath with Blasphemy + Conductivity (this way, reduced enemy lightning resistance will prove beneficial to both you and your Zombies, in addition to giving a chance to shock).

* Why only one copy of Violent Dead? You definitely want to aim for two copies of Violent Dead to reduce the cooldown of your Zombies' slam. Also note that you're going to need a fair amount of minion movement speed to maximize the use of Zombies.

* Do you plan on using an Offering? Based on your build, Flesh Offering seems like the best choice. Consider including a low-level CWDT + Desecrate + Flesh Offering setup.

* I feel like you're adding too many minions to your build. Consider getting rid of Spectres. Perhaps use Victario's Charity with Necromantic Aegis instead to generate Frenzy charges for both you and your minions.

* Do you plan on improving the damage of your Sentinels? If so, remember that connecting Herald of Purity to support gems will increase the mana reservation cost, thus limiting your options for other reservation (like the Blasphemy + Conductivity combo). You can either reduce mana reservation costs with passives or items, or perhaps include The Coming Calamity to ensure your Herald of Purity always reserves 45% mana.

* As for your weapon: That really depends on how you want to scale Smite's damage. If you want something hard-hitting, try Augyre (it also gives an inherent 50% physical to lightning conversion, thus freeing up a socket on your 6-link) until you find something better. If you want something with fast attack speed, Brightbeak or perhaps a 1-handed thrusting sword with lots of lightning damage might work.

* Lastly, remember that you need to survive. Invest more into life and armor/evasion/energy shield, in addition to stacking other defensive mechanics (i.e. Mind Over Matter). Also, do you plan on using Endurance Charges? If so, you can keep a high-level CWDT + Immortal Call setup. If not, switch to a low-level setup.
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Keep it up though! With the advent of 3.4, melee-summoners are certainly becoming more mainstream and I absolutely love and encourage new builds like this one :)

The tree in the pob link seems incomplete, only 60 points allocated

You forgot the best new unique item for this build, the Iron Fortress Crusader Plate!

https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/9bf9uf/iron_fortress/

I instantly thought about combining this with The Baron for the new meleemancer, lots of inc. melee dmg, and the high armour flat gain plus added block chance sinergises really well with Guardian, should be worthwhile.

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DaCurse wrote:

The tree in the pob link seems incomplete, only 60 points allocated

You can change which tree to look at at the bottom of the program. You are looking at the Leveling Tree 1 one

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OzUnOo wrote:

You forgot the best new unique item for this build, the Iron Fortress Crusader Plate!

https://www.reddit.com/r/pathofexile/comments/9bf9uf/iron_fortress/

I instantly thought about combining this with The Baron for the new meleemancer, lots of inc. melee dmg, and the high armour flat gain plus added block chance sinergises really well with Guardian, should be worthwhile.

Oh that sounds positively diabolical. I love the thought. Though I am trying to figure out if there is a way to combine this with something like Consecrated Path and Herald of Purity.

I dropped Spectres in favor of Victario's Charity. This allowed me to 3 link Animate Guardian with minion life and minion resist. By doing this, I 4 linked Consecrated path, Shield Charge, Faster Attacks, and Fortify. This really allows me to zip around the map easily. I would also suggest picking up resolute technique. Seems silly to not use it.

Brutus Lead Sprinkler could be a cool choice for a build like this.

Not sure it would be great with Smite, but maybe? Or Another skill but the similar build. Good synergy potential.