[3.16] Carrion Bomber

Occultist Summon Carrion Golem ( Auto- ) Bomber

- Warning : Build and guide are still work in progress, they still change a lot ( thanks to others who contacted me and contributed ideas ! ) -

- The most recent version uses Mageblood and Ancient Skull. Use the timemachine to see the Virid Veil / Darkness Enthroned version. The build is perfectly fine with "normal" gear. In case interest arrises I will add PoBs for the normal and the Mageblood version.

This build nukes screens of monsters by just running past them with currently ~17m Sirus DPS. It is not a tank though so bossing ( Sirus A8+, anything else just falls over ) relies on skill. If looking for a very decent build that can take on almost any content in game I suggest taking a look at Toxic Rain Champion. As a subjective comparison : A well geared wander / bow character has better clear ( golems can not compete with off screen projectile coverage ) and a tanky Toxic Rain build probably has slower clear but is way safer.

Not recommended for inexperienced players - the build is complex & hard to gear. It has gone threw several iterations and is still a work in progress. Use poe.ninja time machine feature to see progression. It excels at clearing maps fast in a fun way - (big) bossing is as easy / hard as on most other builds not specifically made for bossing as far as I can tell - life sustain is a bit weak ( roughly 5% life regen ) so knowing boss mechanics is key - not recommended for hardcore - it's biggest defense is killing enemies fast; that is not a viable defense for hardcore.

Currently the build's biggest weaknesses are :

- Elemental damage taken ( e.g. Scourge Flame golems are no joke ) - could be fixed by capping chaos res and using Divine Flesh - personally I might save up for a Mageblood though.

- Lack of high movement speed

https://poe.ninja/challenge/builds/char/AdFinitum/GhoulsNGolems

This build was created because I love Carrion Golems ( mostly for their ability to leap which makes Convocation completely unneccessary ) and Explosions. It makes use of several synergies. Occultist boosts chaos damage and cursed enemies including those killed by minions explode on death dealing chaos damage. Triad Grip convert all Carrion and Phantasm damage to chaos damage. United in dream grants lvl 25 Envy aura further boosting minion chaos damage. Phantasms boost Carrion golem base damage as well as keeping them alive with the defensive mastery "Minions gain 5% of life on minion death ( or resummon )" each time they are being resummoned ( several times per second ) plus deal a ton of damage on their own since they too benefit from support gems. Profane Proxy turns the chilling bot into a curse bot extending the range of explosions. Punishment as a second curse further boosts AoE explosions because killed enemies reflect overkill damage to nearby enemies. I tested the build 2 leagues ago and it was a bit too weak. Now it got some nice buffs ( first of all level 25 Envy on United in dream, second the minion life on minion death minion defensive mastery ). Furthermore it uses almost only uniques to utilize Scourging.

Videos
( older ones desync a bit - fixed now by using OBS )

- 10 Scourged mods T15 map with Baran influence
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVhc5vEp-3U

- Maven Invitation : The Hidden
https://youtu.be/3HANddaZ2VQ

Failed a run way earlier, probably due to chain mod. This is a white one and was easy. Be careful before doing it though - need enough damage and Animate Guardian could die if the fight goes messy / with bad mods like chain. Focus Tul ASAP since she kills minions.

- Maven Invitation : The Forgotten
https://youtu.be/YjJ-o83jLb0

No problems - one of them nuked all Carrions at once one time. But the fight is not as messy as The Hidden so there is enough time to resummon them.

- Maven observed Shaper
https://youtu.be/32Fr5cq_7hU

Died once at the end by running into a remaining bullet hell projectile but was easy.

- Aul, The Crystal King
https://youtu.be/TELXUfm0KFM

Died 4 times beforehand - my first time basically. Need to know the mechanics. Don't let the Ice charges blow up crystals to avoid Ice Spear phase. Due to the build not having reliable sustain its important to play correctly ( especially since he had all hits ignite ).

- Catarina, Master of the Dead, level 83
https://youtu.be/DRR1efbGkLw

Died once basically as the fight is already over, ran into a Chaos beam.

- Simulacrum ( Wave 23 )
https://youtu.be/_dIcpsJzzEw

Not being made for it I just wanted to jump in and test it for fun. Made it to wave 23. For dedicated Simulacrum builds check out https://youtu.be/I5qIT0Oo4js?t=990

- Baran - The Crusader A8
https://youtu.be/hlJb2nF2f7A

- Drox - The Warlord A8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geS8INdtk-I

- Al Hezmin - The Hunter A8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VvDUU472jWU

- Veritania - The Redeemer A6 ( forgot to set to A8 - my Atlas is built around A6 )
https://youtu.be/75T_Fjup9Q0

- Sirus A8
https://youtu.be/Ga_aO__vRnk

Almost failed it - uploaded it anyways since I am just pretty much bad at the fight yet, haven't done it alot. Ran threw all puddles and back into circle of Doom. The fight itself is as easy / hard as on any other build - need to know the mechanics.

- Maven : The Twisted
Done before recording. No major problems.

- Maven : The Formed
Done before recording. No major problems.

- Heist, Delve, Expedition
Not being an expert all of them are nice and easy - bascially any league mechanic with lots of monsters is great because even the toughest enemies get blown up in the middle of their pack.

Gear

- Weapons
Clayshaper is mandatory for +1 Golem. It also gives much needed Golem life & damage and is cheap so a corruption with increased Area of Effect is affordable. Increased Area of Effect scales the range of all auras as well as the range of explosions ( since some enemies die to poison those explosions are probably based on player stats ) as well as Occultis withering range ( I assume ).

United in dream is mandatory for the lvl 25 Envy aura and minion life leech but also gives damage and minion chaos resistance. Ideally Harvest enchant "Grants 1% increased area of effect per 4% quality".

- Amulet
Best in slot probably is Aul's uprising which grants "Envy has no reservation" for a free extra Aura. Jinxed Juju is a cheap and almost as strong alternative with Aura / Curse effect, Chaos resist, effective 10% more health due to damage taken from spectre life and not too costly with +1% to all maximum resists - I used one till level 100. Alternatively a rare amulet to cover resists and maybe +1 to physical / int skill gems.

Enchantment should be Decay Ward to give minions block chance and life on block.

- Rings
Profane Proxy is pretty much mandatory. It provides the second curse as well as resists and is cheap to be scourged. Furthermore the skitterbots extend explosion range hugely by cursing enemies far away.

The second ring is flexible. Since I use Virid's Veil I use a magic ring with increased maximum life implicit ( Vermillion or Synthesized, synthesized can have a 1% higher implicit and is often cheaper ), crafted Tier 1 life and +1 minimum endurance charge. It is affordable enough to be scourged.

- Belt
Darkness Enthroned is best in slot. The jewels give life, much needed resists and damage. Furthermore it is cheap and can be scourged. The ideal enchantment is "Enemies withered by you have -6% to all resistances".

Any other belt is fine though.

- Helmet
Virid's Veil is probably best in slot. It gives resists, curse immunity and +2 to socketed gems so the Chaos Golem hits lvl 22 for 5% base physical mitigation which then gets scaled by golem buff effect. Alternatively one can use a good rare ( for instance a Bone Helmet with life, resists and +2 to gems )

Enchantment : 40% Carrion Golem damage gives ~7.5% more golem damage.

- Chest
The Covenant is the perfect chest for the build. It gives a free 8 link with Added Chaos damage & Blood Magic which is important because Carrions cost more mana than is left after reservation. With Blood Magic they can be resummoned at any time if neccessary. Furthermore it is cheap, affordable to get a +1 to level of socketed gems and especiallly in this league a corrupted chest is easy to 6-link. Can be scourged on top of it.

Alternatively basically any other chest can be used even though I don't know any reason why one would do that.

- Gloves
Probably the most expensive part of the build. Triad Grip with 4 white sockets is manadatory since it converts all physical minion damage to chaos and is the core of the build providing ~50% more damage. Has to be corrupted in Alva Tier 3 room Locus of Corruption.

- Boots
Bubonic Trail are great for the Jewel sockets which provide life, resists & damage. A corruption with 10% movement speed would be great. Other than that basically any boots will do.

- Jewels
As seen on poe.ninja. Important note : I strongly recommend having 1 jewel with Taunt chance ( e.g. Scourge bosses are perma taunted so won't attack the player )

Scourge
Since the best gear is all uniques the best scourges are resistances. Another +1 level of gems on the chest / +1 minimum endurance charge on rings would be even better.

Pantheon
Pantheons are Soul of Lunaris ( mostly for the chain immunity ) and Soul of Garukhan ( with 1 Harvest crafted Recuced effect of Shock jewel in Darkness Enthroned + 1 other jewel this gives shock immunity - or 3 non Darkness socketed jewels ). Alternatively switch to Soul of Abberath for maps with Burning Ground / big bosses with high chance to ignite.

Tips

- The Scourge : Always clear maps from the outside to the inside to prevent being swarmed from all sides. Sidewards movement prevents getting hit. That way one can run threw a scourged map without ever stopping.

- For minion survivability it is important to grab the mastery "Minions Recover 5% of Life on minion death" in the Golem cluster. This gives all minions a permanent instant life recovery due to Phantasms being resummoned.

- Minion Speed support is huge for mapping. Swap to Increased Critical Damage support for big Bosses ( Sirus+ )

- Decay Ward is important for Golem survivability in hard content like Sirus A8+ or Maven Invitations The Hidden etc.

- Also for big boss fights ( Sirus A5+ ) it is better to use Spirit Offering instead of Flesh Offering to boost minion survivability at almost no damage loss

- Something about support Spectres has changed so that lifetap is not neccessary anymore to keep Host / Carnage chieftain charge generation going. Instead I use Elemental Army support. It is a huge survivability boost to Spectres and Animate Guardian ( I use anomalous to increase charge generation radius - if that even applies ).

- Under specific circumstances - e.g. when importing my build from .ninja - PoB is bugged and Awakened Generosity lvl 5 gives negative damage, set it to lvl 4 and Envy is calculated as old Envy lvl 15 which is ~25% less damage.

The peak Sirus damage of the build with top gear, charges and all phantasms up is around 17+ mil Sirus DPS. The playstyle feels a lot like an auto bomber.

Defensively it has up to 70%+ phys mitigation, 10% less damage dealt by enemies from Malediction and decent Chaos res. It is however not a tank and I would not call it hardcore viable. It's biggest defense is that most enemies die before they attack. I am running a lot 200% scourge in T14+ maps without dying. Scourge bosses are perma taunted, Harvest bosses just blow up in the middle of their pack.

Animate Guardian
Two versions : Low cost until he is survivable enough. High cost once he becomes tanky enough with ~50k life with Empower 4 socketed in Virid's Veil, 70% elemental resistance ( 40% base, 15% from Indomitable Army & 15% from Windshriek boots ), Decay ward & Minion life on minion death mastery allocate. Check if he is durable enough yet against e.g. Sirus / Veritania.

- Weapon(s)
Low :
Sin Eater to remove any Status ailments from yourself and golems and Relentless Fury for culling strike ( or Springleaf for 3-6% life regen ).

High :
Kingmaker : BiS, Crit Multi, Culling Strike and Fortify are all just great.

- Helmet
Low :
Maw of Conquest - As far as I can tell the damage taken recouped as life works and is a big survivability boost.

High :
Crown of the Tyrant ( with white socket ) which gives ~15% more damage.

- Body Armour
Low :
Zahndetus' Cassock or Gruthkul's Pelt for 5% life regen / consecrated ground.

High :
Currently testing which is better. Probably either Expedition's End to chill ( slow ) enemies or Garb of the Ephemeral for Crit / Freeze immunity.

- Gloves
Low :
Southbound : Increased Maximum life does more than flat life

High :
Vixen's Entrapment corrupted with Temporal chains on hit

- Boots
Low : Victario's Flight - Can never have enough movement speed

High : Windshriek for 15% resistances and an extra curse to apply Temporal chains on top of the other curses. Enchantet with 2% life regen when hit recently.

Levelling

- Till level 34 level any way you want / there are summoner levelling guides on youtube, for example Kay's. I suggest getting minion survivability nodes early on and vitality and use Raise Zombie with Feeding Frenzy support ( they are not aggressive without it ) as main damage skill.
- With gear available it is possible to switch to golems as main damage as soon as they are available ( lvl 34 ) with a big boost at level 41 when one can equip two Clayshapers.
- Run a blasphemy curse as soon as you get the first Ascension to start exploding packs
- Without any gear use Zombies as main damage dealers until you have 2 Clayshapers ( and keep in mind that before switching to gloves and sword the main damage is physical instead of chaos - so use Punishment and / or Vulnerability as curses )
- A major upgrade is Profane Proxy at level 52 - it extends the explosion radius hugely by cursing enemies far away
- The big switch comes with the 4 white socket gloves. The gloves contribute ~40%+ damage. As well as the sword United in Dream which almost doubles the damage with the Envy aura.
- While levelling pick up Sacrifice, Death Attunement & Lord of the Dead temporarily while rushing for Golem Commander. That way one has two extra zombies and an extra Golem by level ~34. Refund those points later once the minions are survivable enough without them.
- With regards to skill points towards level 92 I recommend picking up the 2nd cluster jewel ( with two Primordial Eminence ) last. That way it is possible to pick up enough life nodes to finish the core of the build by around level 92. If one feels a lack of life pool ( 5k+ should be maintained for red maps+ ) it is possible to fill the Scion life wheel temporarily and / or pick up Barbarism before getting jewel points.

Order of Ascendancies should be 1. Profane Bloom ( explode enemies, faster levelling ), 2. Malediction ( More damage, less damage taken ), 3. Void Beacon ( More damage ), 4. Withering Presence ( More damage, massive chaos resistance )

Very interesting build. I never play poison minion build before. How does it work? Summon phantasm for more poison? and it work with any minion build? The 4 white triad grip seem the most expensive core gear. Can i craft it with scourge or it have to be double corrupt alva room?

"

youngjuzell wrote:

Very interesting build. I never play poison minion build before. How does it work? Summon phantasm for more poison? and it work with any minion build? The 4 white triad grip seem the most expensive core gear. Can i craft it with scourge or it have to be double corrupt alva room?

- It is not actually a poison build. The poison adds a little bit of damage but the main damage is pure on hit chaos damage.
- The phantasms are mostly there to have 10 non golem minions around the carrion golems at all times for the 50% more damage buff they get from it and they deal quite a bit of damage on their own ( when all 11 Phatasms are up they deal ~50% of the damage the golems do ). Furthermore the Phantasms heal all other minions for 5% of their health each time they are resummoned / die.
- The gloves have to be corrupted in a Tier 3 corruption room in Alva temple ( with a 25% chance ).

Most player use zombies to buff carrion golem. But you use phantasm instead and lose 1 support gem? one support gem like melee physical support could give 40% more damage?

"

youngjuzell wrote:

Most player use zombies to buff carrion golem. But you use phantasm instead and lose 1 support gem? one support gem like melee physical support could give 40% more damage?

The Phantasms deal damage on their own which adds as much and more ( ranged ) damage as a support gem - they themselves benefit from Minion damage, Void Manipulation, Added Chaos Damage & Minion Speed / Increased Critical Damage. This build is made as Occultist. Occultist gets nothing for minion survivability - golems have ~20k life with only 30% resists and would die a lot. The Phantasms are resummoned several times per second - this gives the golems a huge amount of instant life from the minion mastery "Minions gain 5% life on minion death". It is pretty much mandatory when playing golems as Occultist IMHO.

Zombies would permanently die on Occultist and I don't like their look.

Damage is not an issue - as far as I know this version does more damage than regular Golem builds. With my current build / gear Carrions deal ~10m Sirus DPS plus ~7m Phantasm damage ( with all charges - even without charges the Phantasms deal ~4m Sirus DPS ).

Please be careful "testing" the build though. It is really very specific and one needs to be experienced to build and play it correctly I think.