Stress-Free PoE w/ BONE ZOMBIES! Relax & SSF League Start-End w/ “Any” Items & 1-Button | 3.17
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Hey everyone! I have good news and bad news.
Bad news first: Unfortunately I am unable to continue guide writing. If you're curious as to why you can find out here. Good news: Though it's mentioned in the above link, I'll quickly say here that I'll still be playing this build and updating it. This is my One-Stop-Shop. When I update a build for me, it'll be up to date there for you too. The same goes for my filters. I'll tweet whenever I update a build so you don't have to play the "refresh" game at league start. Thank you so much for all of your edifying posts over the years. I'll REALLY miss this. Have a wonderful 3.18 and thank YOU for making these threads such a safe place to be. You really made this fun for me every day. WELCOME TO MY BONE ZOMBIES GUIDE :)!
I Have a Path of Exile podcast (Forever Exiled) that You Should Probably Love
https://www.ForeverExiled.com/
If you're looking for a Podcast that's 99% Path of Exile, my buddy Tagz and I have exactly that! A podcast that is 99% about Path of Exile! We put out an episode once a week and talk about all things Path of Exile 99% of the time. We aren't concerned about the community's opinion regarding the game. We talk about what we like/don't like, and laugh the whole way through! Tagz started playing Path of Exile during Beta (April 2012) and I started playing Path of Exile in 2014. We've been gaming together since the NES days. We have VERY different preferences and playstyles when it comes to playing Path of Exile so we never run out of things to make fun of each other about...I mean...discuss. If you check out the podcast, let us know what you think. We're growing like crazy and we couldn't be more thankful to our listeners. Thank you so much to all that listen!  This Zombie guide is my oldest (and most seasoned) of all my guides and has withstood the test of every meta change since 3.0. This is a well-balanced physical Zombie build. There are plenty of other support minions but the Zombies are the focus. Even though we'll be playing as a Necromancer, we'll be in close-quarter combat with our zombies right beside us, tanking and smashing all the content we come across. All of our minions will survive all content (except for physical reflect) so all you need to do is take care of yourself. This is a well-balanced build for both offence and defence. We ourselves aren't a pure tank, nor a glass cannon; we're a great balance between the two. The only thing we have to do is make sure we're safe while Bone Armour, Bone Offering, Stunning, Taunting, many other wonderfully automatic mechanics, and our minions keep us safe. You'll clear the Atlas with a yawn and smile. It's easy 1-button fun! All of my guides revolve around a relaxing playstyle: easy buttons, easy movement, easy thinking...so no button spamming, required button combos, or crazy gear/mods. I just like to sit back and RELAX when I play PoE...while also clearing the content :). I LOVE the old-school dungeon crawlers where you had to be successful with whatever items dropped. So I design my builds to be successful with the same mentality. SSF to the core. No item is required. Every replacement is an improvement. Pure RNG fun :).
Don't Be Dumb...
Now don't go being a Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins and think that because this build doesn't require any specific items that you can go and melt end game content with crap gear. Crap gear will clear crap content while amazing gear will clear amazing content. My build/guide style just allows you more freedom to get there...m'kay?
- BONE ZOMBIES 3.17 Example Video. - My personal character's gear. (I follow my own guides. I only post what I play. So if something's different, it's just cause I'm trying something out. This is a different account than my PC account. I typically play on console.) - PoEPlanner's link. (Follow it for automatic updates (if I make any changes).) - I don't use Path of Building, but everyone else seems to. You can download PoB here and use this 3.17's Pastebin: https://pastebin.com/0H9RThyK. For those with similar limitations to mine, I can play this build on both PC and Console. (Thanks Tagz for always being willing to figure out the Wiki with me.) A Couple Quick Notes:
Why My Builds Are the Way They Are
All of my builds revolve around my medical situation and my love of old-school dungeon crawling (which in PoE Land we call Solo Self Found). So if you're curious about why I design my builds the way I do (the limitations I revolve around), I explain it all in my One Stop Shop. (I have multiple guides. So some information is easier to explain in one location rather than many.)
A Quick Note Players new to Path of Exile
Welcome! PoE is a really in-depth game. Its million different mechanics work together in so many countless combinations that there really are endless ways to play this game. If you love theory crafting (coming up with different combos of skills and seeing if it'll work out), there is no other game that compares to this one.
For new people trying to learn Path of Exile, it's my opinion that the most efficient way to learn the game is by doing things for yourself; trying things out in-game, reading nodes/mods/skills, and making choices for yourself. I understand that some people look to guides for help progressing in the game, while others are simply looking for a neat idea to try out. It is the intent of all my guides to give people a relaxing way to play PoE (no matter their experience with the game) while also helping new people understand what's going on. So, when it comes to my guides, it is my goal to help new players learn the game, but learn it in a way that you'll really grasp what's happening on your own. I give direction in my guides, but not many "step by step" directions. Nor do I tell you to do things in a certain order. I give lots of detail but it's to help explain and simplify the mechanics and concepts within the build and have you understand what's going on. My guides aren't intended to be the PoE wiki (but I provide many links to it, so don't worry). My guides are massive because they completely revolve around helping new players understand what's going on. Just be prepared to discover the game and make some choices for yourself :). I hope the guides help you have a relaxing PoE experience and also help you learn and love the game as well. Happy slaying! (I'll reference my One Stop Shop a few times in my guides. It has some Tips for New Players in there that you may find useful.) The Build:
Gem Links
PoE restricts which gems are available to each class until Act 3. Until then you can get some gems for free from quest rewards, purchase some from specific NPCs in each town, or find them as loot.
There are two NPC's that sell all purchasable gems: the first one is Siosa in the Library in Act 3 (the Library is connected to The Imperial Gardens) and the second is Lilly Roth in Act 6 (you have to do their quests first). *If I have a level next to a gem, stop levelling that gem at that level. For example: "Cast when Damage Taken (Level 1)". Don’t level Cast when Damage Taken past gem level 1. Otherwise, fully level all gems.
Body Armour: Main Skill - ZOMBIES
- Link all these gems.
- Zombies are in our Body Armour for the simple fact that we want our damage to have as many linked supports as possible. Using Body Armour gives us the option to use any weapons we want. Zombies are our main skill. They are the type of minions that once raised, follow you around. Zombies don't have a duration but stay raised until they die. We've included lots of survivability for them in the tree and they'll survive 99% of the content you come across. Because of Brutality, our minions only do physical damage and nothing else. So if you add any type of element or chaos damage to your minions, it'll be pointless and do 0 damage (though sometimes those mods come incidentally). (I actually use Increased Critical Damage Support instead of Brutality. One of my Spectres is a Host Chieftain which provides allies with Power Charges. Power Charges are way stronger on minions than they are on players. The three Power Charges the one spectre gives our minions and the minion crit mastery node, makes Increased Critical Damage Support the strongest support we can link. (The reason I don't have Increased Critical Damage Support as an official support for the guide is that I want people to have the freedom to pick whatever spectres they want.)) Ruthless Support is pretty interesting. It only deals damage every third hit (for each minion individually). But that third hit deals 98% More damage. (Because we have multiple individual minions, that third hit will happen quite frequently.) So on longer boss battles that averages 33% More damage per hit. There are supports that deal more damage than 33% More damage per hit, but Ruthless has the benefit of Stun. Stun is also a pretty interesting mechanic. Ruthless has a minimum stun duration of .8 seconds which is actually a lot (if you aren't familiar with stun in PoE). So, because of Ruthless, when a minion Stuns an enemy, you'll see a little "spinny" icon above the enemy's head. - Multistrike Support - is not in this build but people often as about it. It works perfectly with this build...if you use it to replace Ruthless. Multistrike makes one Attack hit 3x. BUT when combined with Ruthless, that "one Attack that hits 3x" only counts as one Attack with Ruthless. So technically, if Ruthless was combined with Multistrike, Ruthless's Ruthless Blow would only activate every 9th Multistrike hit. That likely doesn't make any sense but I can't explain it well no matter how many times I try. So if you HAVE to use Multistrike, replace Ruthless. All of the other supports are self-explanatory. They buff melee physical damage which is the type of damage our zombies do; they Attack Melee style. Meat Shield is obviously selected for its defensive upside. Just quick, you don't have to have Skeletons in this build. I just hate omitting Vaal Skeletons from this build. - Meat Shield Support - Melee Physical Damage Support - Ruthless Support - Brutality Support - Summon Skeletons or Predator Support
Helmet: Spectres, Bonus Damage, & Defensive Auras
- Only Spectres and Maim Support need to be linked.
- We socket Spectres in our Helmet so that we can switch our weapon sets stress-free. If Spectres were in a weapon/shield, they'd die when we switch our weapon sets (which gets old real fast). Eventually, there are also mods that are specific to helmets benefit socketed minion.) Determination and Defiance Banner are for physical damage mitigation. Without items, Determination on its own would give just over 40% physical damage mitigation. Defiance banner, on its own, less than 5%. Combined, however, they give over 60%. Combined with a Chaos Golem and an active Bone Armour skill, we're sitting at over 70% physical damage mitigation without any thought at all. Add gear to that and you're dancing :). Spectres are a beast of a subject. They can be as offensive/defensive/supportive as you like. Hundreds of enemies in the game can be summoned to help in the way that you wish. I like to use them as supports which is why I have the support gems listed. (On console, the spectre button shows you which spectre you're highlighting. On PC, holding "A" lets you highlight dead enemies and see their information.) Maim isn't actually for the Spectres (though you can take advantage of that if you want). When an enemy is maimed by our spectres, they take increased physical damage. So that increases our Zombie damage :). So pick a Spectre that matches the requirements of Maim Support. Now, whether you choose to have these minions support you or your allies is up to you. Feel free to min/max this to your heart's content of course. Feel free to discuss within the community via this thread what support combos people come up with! There's isn't enough space in this guide to fully explain Spectres. The options are infinite. So I'll only be answering questions about Spectres regarding the suggestions that I make. But please please please feel free to discuss the infinite options at your disposal with everyone else. Spectres don't have a duration (like zombies) and are amazing. There are so many options to consider. Too many. So I use this site here for help. It shows monster damage types, life pools, where to find them...it's great. If you care to find your own Spectres, remember to look for physical damage minions. Remember, you can mix and match, you don't have to have all of your spectres as the same type. For Spectres, here are a few options (out of the hundreds) that I dabble with: - If you want your minions to be like all the other minions (and not feel left out) and just deal lots of sweet damage themselves, try Kitava Heralds. They are those awesome-looking big winged demons you start seeing in the Cathedral Rooftops and Feeding Trough (in acts 5 and 10 respectively). They deal lots of physical damage. - For those that want to keep themselves and keep their allies a little more safe, try the Undying Evangelists. They provide temporary Proximity Shields around themselves that protect themselves and allies within the shield of projectiles. They can be found in the Sceptre of God and Upper Sceptre of God in Act 3 and The Grand Promenade in Act 8. - If you want to buff your allies, the big monkey things found in the Riverways give charges that REALLY improve damage. For Frenzy Charges go to the Riverways in Act 2 and look for Stygian Silverbacks[/b]. For Power Charges, go to the Riverways in Act 6 and look for Host_Chieftain[/b]s. (One of each big monkey thing is good enough to sustain all three of their charges most of the time.) - The Ruins Hellion give a huge physical damage boost to allies and weakens the physical offence of enemies, but...their life pool sucks; they die often One of my favourite thing about Spectres is that we don't have to raise them every time we login :). Just like zombies. Now, feel free to replace these gems based on your choices. IF THE PROSPECT OF SPECTRES MAKES YOU BONKERS don't worry. It doesn't have to be min/maxed. You can be very care-free with this and still have the build function perfectly. Pick one of the three suggested Spectres and then ignore it. Easy peasy. - Maim Support Determination Defiance Banner
Gloves: Crowd Control & Cursing
- Link all gems.
- The reason these skills are to be socketed in gloves is that I want Spectres in our Helmet and Withering Step and Desecrate in our boots. The socketed skills don't have specific benefits being in gloves. - Cast when Damage Taken and Void Sphere stay at level one because we don't gain a benefit from void sphere being a higher level (for this build). So they aren't worth increasing our mana cost for no reason. Void Sphere's cooldown keeps the CwDT Level 1 from casting too often. - The order of the gems linked to CwDT are not important. Void Sphere sucks in non-unique enemies for some great crowd control (and getting everyone together for a big Zombie Slam party) but it also constantly pulses which is the part of the skill that's Hits. Those constant Hits apply our curse. CwDT automatically casts linked spells. Linked spells can't be self-casted. - Void Sphere (Level 1) - Hextouch Support - Vulnerability
Boots: Blocking & Phasing Explained
- Link all gems.
- The reason these gems go into boots is that I eventually want to have Fugitive Boots. It's partly an Evasion basetype and rolls green gems a little more often. This is the only group of links we have with 2 green gems in it...so it makes sense. - Withering Step and Desecrate stay at level 1 because we don't gain a benefit from higher levels (for this build). So they aren't worth increasing our mana cost for no reason. - Bone Offering stops levelling at level 9 because I like numbers that are easy to remember ;-). When Bone Offering is at gem level 11 (Unnatural Strength (one of our ascendancy nodes)) both our Attack and Spell Block are at an even 30%. - CwDT stops levelling at gem level 3 because I want our block to be up as much as possible (but it has to be high enough to cast our Offering). - CwDT automatically casts linked spells. Linked spells can't be self-casted. (For this set of links it's optimal to have CwDT on one of the end links and Desecrate right after it. This will ensure that Desecrate casts before the offering skill. BUT it's not important at all. There are almost always corpses around. I don't reroll socket colours to get this.) Desecrate guarantees Corpses for our Offering Skill. Bone Offering consumes corpses to provide Block chance to our minions! And thanks to the Mistress of Sacrifice ascendancy node, this block chance impacts us as well (but at a reduced value). We'll be taking a Keystone on the tree that doubles our block chance but increases the damage we take from blocks. Normally when a block happens, we take 0 damage. With this build, because of the Glancing Blows node we'll take on the tree, we'll have a good amount of block chance, but we'll be taking 65% of the damage a blocked hit would have given. It sounds like a big negative deal, but it's not. Think of it this way, it's like a Fortify Support that gives 35% damage reduction for ALL types of hits (instead of Fortify's 20%) and it applies to you AND your minions. Sweet. BONE ZOMBIES! Withering Step step is only there for the Phasing (from the Elusive buff). Brainless Phasing is huge for survivability for me. - Withering Step (Level 1) - Desecrate (Level 1) - Bone Offering (Level 9)
Wand/Staff: Golem, Bonus Offence, & Offensive Aura
- Only the Chaos Golem and Feeding Frenzy Support need to be linked.
- These get socketed in your weapon, if you go with a one-handed setup, because eventually, you'll want a Convoking Wand. Wands are easy to roll two blue sockets on. You can honestly use whichever golem you like. Whichever golem you choose, it'll be a great support. We always want our golem out because it applies some nice survivability bonus to us for free...along with buffing our minions' offence. It gives ALL OUR MINIONS the Feeding Frenzy buff which gives them increases to damage, movement speed, and attack speed. It also makes the linked minion Aggressive. (Aggressive just means they don't stay as close to you and are more eager to kill stuff.) Golems have a lot of base health so you rarely have to reraise them. Check on them though, as they will be the only aggressive minion in your group. Pride is an odd aura. It technically doesn't impact your minions. It impacts the enemies instead. Instead of giving your minions more damage, it makes the enemies take more damage instead. (That's something to keep in mind when considering some aura mods/nodes). Pride is at its best when the enemy has been within the aura's range for 4+ seconds. Pride's radius almost fills (from top to bottom) a whole "normal" TV/monitor. - Feeding Frenzy Support Pride
Shield/Staff: Optional Auras
- Link these gems.
- These gems are linked in your shield, if you go with a one-handed setup, because two red gems are easier to socket in a Strength shield than the two blue gems in the weapon. So, Arrogance is a lifesaver that has a heavy cost...life :). It makes the linked auras reserve life instead of mana at twice the normal cost. So both Vitality and Clarity will reserve around 1000- flat life. That's a lot. So that's why it's optional. I use them all the time. But if you get mods on your gear that make up for these auras, feel free to turn one, or both, off...play around with it and see what you like. Just make sure you have the mana regen to keep your CwDT skills casting. Both Vitality and Clarity reserve a flat amount of mana/life, not a percentage. The amount reserved increases as the gems level. Keep that in mind while going through the campaign. - Vitality - Clarity A Free Amazing Defensive Skill! - Bone Armour - This skill comes for free from the Bone Barrier Ascendancy node. It doesn't use up a socket on your gear, but it does need to be allocated to a button. It is amazing. It gives damage reduction to you and your minions AND it also makes you and your minions immune (and removes) bleed! It is amazing. It is an Instant Skill which means you can press this skill's button in the middle of any animation and it'll cast no matter. It won't interrupt what you were doing too! Gosh, it's perfect! (On PC, it can be allocated to the movement button (left-click for most) with no consequence to ensure it's always getting used :). On console, I allocate it to "X" and just hold it down all the time...like I would a trigger for gas in a racing game.) Also, here's a quote from Rory at GGG regarding the Bone Armour skill: "Its tags are Spell, Duration, Guard, Minion. It's not a gem though, so won't be increased by global modifiers to minion skill gem levels. It will count as "Casting a Spell" as well as "using a minion skill". It has the same stats as a level 20 Steelskin, with the added benefit of also applying to all of your minions." So this DOES count as "using a minion skill recently" along with the other tags mentioned.
Passive Tree
- PoEPlanner's link. (Follow it for automatic updates (if I make any changes).)
- I don't use Path of Building, but everyone else seems to. You can download PoB here and use this 3.17's Pastebin: https://pastebin.com/0H9RThyK. Here's 3.17's passive tree. (You'll get a bigger blurrier picture if you click on it ;-) .)  Mastery List Selections: Take them in whatever order you wish, though these are in the order I take them in. Resistance and Ailment Protection Mastery - 20% chance to Avoid being Stunned - Corrupted Blood cannot be inflicted on you Minion Defence Mastery: - Minions Leech 1% of Damage as Life - Minions have +8% to all maximum Elemental Resistances Minion Offence Mastery: - Minions Attacks Overwhelm 20% Physical Damage Reduction - Minions have a 100% increased Critical Strike Chance - 20% increased effect of Offerings Reservation Mastery - Auras from your Skills have 15% increased Effect on you
Ascendancy
As you go through the game you'll come across Trials of Ascendancy. Starting in Act 3 you'll see their value. Once you have completed all 6 of the first set of trails, you'll get to attempt your first Labyrinth (lab). Good luck! Upon completion Choose Necromancy. You get two ascendancy points per lab. There are four labs for a total of 8 points. (Redoing the same lab difficulty will not reward you with more ascendancy points if you've already completed it.)
You can spend your points in any order you like. My preference is as follows: - 1st Two Points - Mistress of Sacrifice. Part of our core defence that's coupled with the Glancing Blows Keystone on the tree. Having our Bone Offering impact us is the only reason I chose Bone Offering. This essentially makes all of our blocks like a super-strong Fortify. - 2nd Two Points - Mindless Aggression. Increases Minion Damage, Movement Speed, and Attack/Cast Speed. - 3rd Two Points - Bone Barrier. This is a busy node. It gives us physical damage reduction, increased life recovery rate per minion, and it gives our minions more life. Most importantly, it also gives us a free skill, Bone Armour (explained in the "gem" section). Free is nice. It can be manually cast after you assign it a button. - 4th Two Points - Unnatural Strength. This increases the level of ALL of our minion skill gems by 2; even beyond their maximum level (which is VERY powerful). Minion gems get crazy strong when they exceed the default maximum gem level. This is our strongest offensive ascendancy node. **Unnatural Strength doesn't change the level requirement required to equip/trigger the gem. So it won't impact CwDT. When looking at the gem in-game, CwDT will use the gem level that is written in White Text, while the actual gem level is in Blue Text. You'll start as a Witch that ascends into a Necromancer. It's a minion-heavy ascendancy (obviously). Levelling Path: **Just follow the tree and take the nodes as they come. You'll find it quite naturally balanced. The tree will take you to level 91; it'll be easy to achieve. Pick anything you like after that. (If I was to level this character again, I'd literally just "hug the right" and pick the nodes as they come. Seriously. The tree is balanced with all aspects of the build as long as you don't skip nodes along the way.) Feel free to pick your own path. I'm intentionally vague so you can learn as you go. You honestly can't screw up unless you save all your life nodes for last. Tree Focuses: - Minions - I've selected the nodes that increase minion limits and really focused on minion life, leech, and regen. I want the Zombies to live while they taunt. Obviously, I put in as much minion damage as possible as well. - Health. You need it to live. :) - Mana Reservation Efficiency is needed to run all the skills we want that require mana reservation. - Mitigation comes in a few ways for us. Half of it comes from gems, the other half from Keystones. We'll be getting our huge block chance from Glancing Blow, stun (and bleed and poison) prevention from the Tolerance cluster, physical damage mitigation from the Sovereignty cluster (so we can equip more defensive auras). Don't forget about attributes. You'll pass some nodes on the tree that give +30 to Strength or Dexterity. If you don't have items to cover what you're short in, feel free to select some of these as you pass them. You'll get respec points that will let you remove them later once you have better gear. Now, feel free to modify this in anyway. This is just my preference for easy Solo Self Found. Take your time to look at each passive node as they come along. Some of the nodes are pretty dramatic. Some quests earn you respec points in case you regret any decisions you made on the tree. You can also use Orbs of Regret for the same thing.
Gear
This is my setup if you're interested. I play the same as the guide unless I'm testing something out.
USE ANYTHING YOU WANT! - I like having a shield and one-handed weapon instead of two one-handed weapons or a staff or something. It's just a preference; no right or wrong there. If you’re new to PoE, check out my One Stop Shop. It gives lots of help and tips on gear, mods, currency, levelling, and endgame mapping. Some good to know stuff that you'd hate not knowing. - Weapon - Anything you like. - Shield - Anything you like. - Head - Anything you like. - Chest - Anything you like. - Hands - Anything you like. - Feet - Anything you like. - Amulet - Anything you like. - Ring - Anything you like. - Ring - Anything you like. - Belt - Anything you like. - Jewel - Anything you like. - Flasks - Anything you like. Remember, you have two weapon sets that you can swap between. I like to have two Convoking Wands or a staff in one set, and a Convoking Wand and Shield in the other so I can swap between having more damage or more defence. (Just remember that auras in swapped weapon sets will need to be turned back on after you switch weapon sets.) ***Now don't go being a Cotton Headed Ninny Muggins and think that because this build doesn't require anything specific that you can go and melt end game content with crap gear. Crap gear will clear crap content while amazing gear will clear amazing content. My build/guide style just allows you more freedom to get there...m'kay?
My Dream Mods
Here are some examples of perfect items that we can aim for. Two things to note: 1) Its Path of Exile. There are a million different ways to min/max a build as open as this one. These aren't your only options. These are just my preferences (and on some, I had to make hard choices). 2) These are all T1 mods. You won't get an item with all the mods you want, nor will you get that item with all the best rolls for each mod. This is just to show you what the highest tiers look like for the mods I would choose for a "best in slot" item.
**You'll want to pick and choose which mods are more important to you on every piece of gear you craft. That'll help you filter out which crafting results you're happy to stick with or want to re-roll. (The # at the beginning of each item/mod is the item level that the item, or the T1 version of that mod, unlocks.) (72) Convoking Wand(s): Implicit: Can roll Minion Modifiers Prefix: - (55): +1 to Level of all Spell Skill Gems - (60): +1 to Level of all Minion Skill Gems - (84): Minions deal (75–79)% increased Damage Suffix: - (83): Minions have (23–25)% increased Attack Speed/Minions have (23–25)% increased Cast Speed - (82): Minions have (37–40)% increased maximum Life - (40): Minions have (26–30)% increased Movement Speed (64) Ezomyte Tower Shield: Influence: Shaper Implicit: +(30-40) to maximum Life Prefix: - (73): +(100–109) to maximum Life - (86): (101–110)% increased Armour and Energy Shield - (62): +(49–96) to Armour/+(29–33) to maximum Life Suffix: - (81): +2% to all maximum Resistances - (68): (Shaper) Recover (3–5)% of Life when you Block - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance (73) Bone Helmet: Influence: Elder Implicit: Minions deal (15-20)% increased Damage Prefix: - (64): +(90–99) to maximum Life - (86): +3 to Level of Socketed Minion Gems - (60): +1 to maximum number of Raised Zombies Suffix: - (85): (Elder) 9% increased Physical Damage taken/Nearby Enemies take 9% increased Physical Damage - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance (70) Saintly Chainmail: Influece: Hunter Prefix: - (86): +(120–129) to maximum Life - (78): +(97–144) to Armour/+(34–38) to maximum Life - (85): (Hunter) (9–12)% increased maximum Life Suffix: - (80): (Hunter) (21–25)% increased effect of Offerings - (86): 8% additional Physical Damage Reduction - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance (66) Crusader Gloves: Influence: Warlord Prefix: - (54): +(80–89) to maximum Life - (40): Minions deal (10–20)% increased Damage - (46): +(33–48) to Armour/+(24–28) to maximum Life Suffix: - (73): (Warlord) Culling Strike - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance (70) Fugitive Boots: Influence: Elder Prefix: - (86): 35% increased Movement Speed - (54): +(80–89) to maximum Life - (68): (Elder) Unaffected by Shocked Ground Suffix: - (75): (Elder) +1 to Level of all Raise Spectre Gems - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance (16) Citrine Amulet: Influence: Elder Anointment: Redemption: Minions have 10% increased Attack Speed/Minions have 10% increased Cast Speed/Minions deal 20% increased Damage Implicit: +(16-24) to Strength and Dexterity Prefix: - (68): (Elder) +1 to maximum number of Raised Zombies - (75): +1 to Level of all Skill Gems - (54): +(80–89) to maximum Life Suffix: - (60): Minions have (18–22)% increased Movement Speed - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance (80) Vermillion Rings: Influence: Hunter Implicit: (5-7)% increased maximum Life Prefix: - (44): +(70–79) to maximum Life - (80): (Hunter) You and your Minions take (46–55)% reduced Reflected Physical Damage - (84): (25–28)% increased Rarity of Items found - Something Cool :) Suffix: - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance - (79): (13–15)% of Damage taken Recouped as Life - (60): Minions have (18–22)% increased Movement Speed (1) Stygian Vise (Belt): Influence: Elder Implicit: Has 1 Abyssal Socket Prefix: - (75): (Elder) (8–10)% increased maximum Life - (64): +(90–99) to maximum Life - (86): +(461–540) to Armour Suffix: - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance - (84): +(46–48)% to Fire/Cold/Lightning Resistance OR (81): +(31–35)% to Chaos Resistance (60) Divine Life Flask: Prefix: - (80): Gain 7 Charges when you are Hit by an Enemy Suffix: - (80): Grants Immunity to Bleeding for (15–17) seconds if used while Bleeding/Grants Immunity to Corrupted Blood for (15–17) seconds if used while affected by Corrupted Blood (18) Ruby Flask: Implicit: Used when you become Ignited Prefix: - (80): Gain 7 Charges when you are Hit by an Enemy Suffix: - (74): (35–39)% less Duration/Immunity to Ignite during Flask effect/Removes Burning on use (18) Sapphire Flask: Implicit: Used when you become Chilled Prefix: - (80): Gain 7 Charges when you are Hit by an Enemy Suffix: - (72): (35–39)% less Duration/Immunity to Freeze and Chill during Flask Effect (18) Topaz Flask: Implicit: Used when you become Shocked Prefix: - (80): Gain 7 Charges when you are Hit by an Enemy Suffix: - (74): (35–39)% less Duration/Immunity to Shock during Flask Effect (18) Amethyst Flask or (27) Quartz Flask: Implicit: Used when you become Poisoned Prefix: - (80): Gain 7 Charges when you are Hit by an Enemy Suffix: - (76): (35–39)% less Duration/Immunity to Poison during Flask Effect Weapon Mods: - Anything Minion (Increasing the gem level of your minions will be the strongest mod you can find.) - Any other minor thing that helps (resists, attributes...). This isn't important. It's just a bonus. Your goal on the rest of your gear is: - Increases to Maximum life - Increases to Resists - Increases to Movement Speed (typically on Boots) - Anything Minion (Increasing the gem level of your minions will be the strongest mod you can find.) - Ensuring you have high enough attributes for your skills. ***Remember that the only mods that help minion damage SPECIFICALLY SAY "minion" or "ally". Any other improvements to damage only affect you (and you don't do damage).***
My Filters
Oh my goodness! A link! You should click on it. Definitely. WOW! Look at all those pretty green FOLLOW buttons. You should press them all ;).
https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Wrecker_of_Days/item-filters I LOVE FILTERS! So, I make my own filters! THEY ARE AMAZING ;). For me, making filters is just as fun as playing Path of Exile. If you're looking to cut down on the amount of garbage on your screen but don't actually want to miss anything, my filters are right up your alley. They only filter equippable items. Everything else will show. I've made two types of filters: 1 - A filter that only shows gear relevant to my guides. 2 - A filter for everyone that's relevant for all builds. Each filter is available on all platforms. The descriptions/details of each filter are within the fitlers themselves. Just click on the filter and you'll see the explanations there. But don't worry, I've explained it in normal English, not in "filter-talk". The filters are progressive, which means that they will become more strict as you progress; the further you progress in the game, the less the filter will show. The filters are designed for SSF play and, once you're out of the campaign, will show only rare items (with some obvious exceptions). Here's the gist of how the filters work: - When an item's better version becomes available, the worse item becomes hidden. For example, a Small Life flask will only show until a Medium Life flask is available. - But the same goes for ALL items. I've based replacements on base types and implicit ratings. So when a Tiger Hook becomes available, it'll hide the Grappler. When the Sorcerer Boots are capable of dropping, the Arcanist Slippers will be hidden. - Once we get into T14, then T15, then T16, I restrict things further and further based on item level vs. area level. By that point, we should be nicely set up for gear and are starting to get pretty picky in what we want. The filters still show all other currency, fragments, maps, div. cards...everything. I personally think the filters are at a really good balance of not showing too much, while also giving you decent opportunities for upgrades based on where you are in the game. Please let me know if you have any feedback or see any errors you may find within the filters...otherwise, I hope they enhance your PoE experience! If my filters interest you, once you've clicked on the provided link, click "Follow" next to the filter(s) that you want. It'll automatically load to your filter list in-game when you login AND it automatically updates upon each login as well!
Pantheon
Choose any you like. Use them to fill holes in the build, something that helps the build fit your style of play, make your favourite part of the build stronger...whatever you want. I personally bounce around with them all the time.
Bandits
With the Bandits in Act 2, I kill them all for the extra 2 skill points. You, of course, do what you like.
Attributes
You'll get most of the attributes that you require to use your gems from the tree. You'll need a little bit of Dexterity that we don't get from the tree.
You'll Be Short: Strength: 11 Dexterity: 24 Intelligence: 0 Needing 11 Str. & 24 Dex. is really easy to get. An Amulet can easily accommodate your needs. Our Str. & Dex. don't come right away on our tree. It'll typically come later (if you "hug the right" like me). So don't pass by Str. or Dex. mods apathetically. From the Tree You'll Get: Strength: 144 Dexterity: 44 Intelligence: 242 Your Gems Need: Strength: 155 Dexterity: 68 Intelligence: 155
Uniques/Jewels/Anointments...
Uniques, Jewels, Anointments, and the many other tidbits that can modify a vanilla build, are amazing. I LOVE what they bring to a build. I use them in my builds all the time. But I don't include them in my guides because I want my guides to rely on as little as possible to function properly and efficiently. But don't be scared to add your own twists into the build! Add any of the above to your build and see how it goes! Weigh the pros and cons of your choices and have a great time testing things IN-GAME. It's what games like PoE are all about.
Now, as I'm sure you know, in PoE even a small change to a build can have massive ramifications. So, in terms of the guide, feel free to make any changes you like, chat about it tons in the forum, but I'll only be answering questions regarding the guide, not theory-crafting options. https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast Last edited by Wrecker_of_Days#7691 on Aug 19, 2022, 12:47:10 AM Last bumped on Feb 14, 2023, 3:50:14 PM
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Extra Info:
Gameplay (How the Build Functions When It's All Setup)
This build is really easy to play. Sooooo easy.
Quick Version: Move around and our zombies kill everything. That's it! Honestly! Everything else is automatic! Slightly Detailed Version: This build's offence is 100% minions. We do no damage ourselves. Our defence is from Bone Armour (from our ascendancy), block chance (Bone Offering and Glancing Blows), Phasing (Withering Step), support skills (like Void Sphere and Vitality), Spectres (if you so choose), stunning enemies, having our zombies taunt, and Determination and Defiance Banner. With this build, you walk around while your zombies stun and kill everything. Just be safe. It's really easy. Offence: Our zombies can do all content and once raised; everything else is support. Our zombies deal pure physical damage. Maim Support and Pride only help that damage. You can add other damage types if you like but if you added Brutality Support, your minions will ONLY deal physical damage. Adding any other type of damage to your minions would be lost on them. Pride makes enemies take more damage the longer they are within the Pride aura (which is large). It fills almost the whole screen (of a normal monitor/TV screen). Defence: Bone Armour is a skill that comes from our ascendancy that is really awesome. It requires a button press for half of the skill, but as mentioned, I always forget about it and simply take advantage of the passive physical damage mitigation it provides. It's extremely strong and should be active as often as you think about it. It's considered an Instant Skill which means it has no cast time. This also means it can be cast in the middle of another animation without interruption. The button it's assigned to can also just be held down. Bone Offering gives us some pretty good block chance for almost zero investment and is automatically cast when we take very little damage. Coupled with Glancing Blows on the tree, when Bone Offering is active, we'll have 64% Attack Block and 42% Spell block (without any items equipped). Blocked Hits will give us 35% damage mitigation. Also, Void Sphere is a lifesaver when used occasionally. It'll suck all non-unique enemies to its centre while also making enemies take more damage (via the curse it applies). You'll get used to the cooldown. It's a fun occasional skill that casts automatically. Withering Step is another automatic defensive skill. It just helps us phase through enemies when we take damage. Keep in mind, when we get hit is how we cast our Offering skill. Getting hit isn't required in this build, but when we do get hit, our defence really picks up. Obviously your Spectres play a big role, but I have no idea what you chose to do with those. How Minions Work: Minion damage only increases with items, gems, or passive tree nodes that specifically increase "minion damage". If a node on the tree or mod on an item doesn't specify "minion", it won't be useful at all. So something that says, "Increases your damage by 30%" won't improve your minions' damage. In this build your character will do almost no damage, only your minions will. Minions ARE considered Allies. So auras, nodes, or items that improve allies will benefit our minions. (Not every skill that reserves mana is an aura.) Minions are NOT considered Party Members and will not gain any benefit from Party Member benefits. Our minions "Attack" enemies, they don't "cast" Spells. So anything that improves minion/ally Attack Speed will help our build, but not Cast Speed (that's for spells). Lastly, minions are their own entities. Once you bring them into the world, they attack who they want. Some minions are summoned, others are raised. Summoned minions (like the Skeletons) don't follow you but will keep attacking and chasing enemies within their attack radius. These minions have a duration. Other minions are raised, such as Zombies. They do not have a duration and will stay raised until dead. These types of minions will follow us wherever we go. They will also follow the lead of summoned minions as well. Lastly lastly, minions don't care about you. So if you're taking damage, they aren't going to run back and help you. You have to help yourself. Let me know if you have any questions.
Levelling
In my opinion, there are two types of "levellers" in PoE:
1. The first, is a player that knows the game well enough that, no matter the guide/build, they have no need for direction. 2. The second is a player that wants to be able to level like the person I just mentioned. Though newer PoE players may find PoE daunting, I feel the most efficient way to learn PoE is to make decisions for yourself. I think you'll be surprised how quickly you catch on to each mechanic you start playing with. So this section won't be about holding your hand and giving you a step-by-step process. It'll guide and encourage you to choose between the pros and cons your character will constantly face...while levelling and selecting gear. I know, I know, you hate me. But maybe you'll thank me later? Maybe? (Remember, I have some tips for new players in my One Stop Shop that'll help in the overall PoE experience that any levelling process will benefit from. Below are tips for levelling this character, not general levelling tips.)
Where to Get All the Gems You'll Need
There are two NPCs that sell all purchasable gems: the first one is Siosa in the Library in Act 3 (you have to do his quest first (the Library is connected to The Imperial Gardens)), the second NPC is Lilly Roth in Act 6 (Do her quest in Act 6).
Act 1 - Enemy at the Gate - Reward - Level 1 - Raise Zombie (1x Scroll of Wisdom) Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Reward - Level 10 - Summon Skeletons (1x Orb of Transmutation) Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Purchase - Level 10 - Clarity (1x Orb of Transmutation) Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Purchase - Level 10 - Vitality (1x Orb of Transmutation) Act 1 - The Caged Brute - Purchase - Level 10 - Withering Step (1x Orb of Transmutation) Act 1 - The Siren’s Cadence - Purchase - Level 12 - Bone Offering (1x Orb of Transmutation) Act 2 - Intruders in Black - Reward - Level 16 - Desecrate (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Reward - Level 18 - Predator Support (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Purchase - Level 18 - Increased Critical Damage Support (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 2 - Sharp and Cruel - Purchase - Level 18 - Melee Physical Support (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 3 - Lost in Love - Purchase - Level 24 - Pride (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 3 - Sever the Right Hand - Reward - Level 28 - Raise Spectre (1x Orb of Chance) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Reward - Level 31 - Meat Shield Support (1x Orb of Chance) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 1 - Ruthless Support (1x Scroll of Wisdom) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 14 - Vulnerability (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 16 - Defiance Banner (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 24 - Determination (1x Orb of Alteration) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 28 - Maim Support (1x Orb of Transmutation) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 31 - Arrogance Support (1x Orb of Chance) Act 3 - A Fixture of Fate - Purchase - Level 31 - Feeding Frenzy Support (1x Orb of Chance) Act 4 - Breaking the Seal - Reward - Level 34 - Summon Chaos Golem (1x Orb of Chance) Act 4 - Breaking the Seal - Purchase - Level 34 - Void Sphere (1x Orb of Chance) Act 4 - The Eternal Nightmare - Purchase - Level 38 - Cast when Damage Taken 2x (1x Orb of Alchemy each) Act 4 - The Eternal Nightmare - Purchase - Level 38 - Hextouch Support (1x Orb of Alchemy) Act 6 - Fallen from Grace - Purchase - Level 38 - Brutality Support (1x Orb of Alchemy) (Let me know if you see any errors in the list.) - I suggest doing every quest in the game. It doesn't take too much longer and you'll get some nice bonus gear to help the SSF process. For those that just want to rush to the Endgame, here's a link to all the quests that give Passive Points as a reward. You don't want to miss those. Bandits - With the Bandits in Act 2, I kill them all for the extra 2 skill points. You, of course, do what you like. The Lord's Labyrinth - Here's a list of all the lab trials for the first three labyrinths (the trials for the fourth lab are found randomly in endgame maps). How to Level the Build What Skill(s) Should I Use - Our main skill, Raise Zombies, is available right away. They don't really have the survivability to be efficient right away so I like to use Summon Raging Spirits (SRS) or Summon Skeleton. You'll want to keep a mana flask for SRS. Feel free to use SRS/skeletons until any point in the game, just be sure that you're levelling the build's gems too. Once your zombies hit around gem level 11 they start to be able to hold their own. I've found that Zombies-Minion Damage-Summon Phantasm is a great 3 link to level with. This build is really easy to level. Passive Tree - You can honestly go in any direction you like. The main points to the tree are: life nodes for you, minion nodes, the Glancing Blows Keystone, and the Sovereignty cluster (so we can run all of our auras). No matter the direction you choose, if you pick all nodes as they come across without skipping any, you'll have a very balanced character as you level. There really isn't a wrong way to go. There isn't anything wrong with getting any major nodes early or later on. - If you have to be told what to do in order to progress ;), progress on your tree like I progress my maps; "hug the right wall". There's no reason for it though. I just like turning right :). - Another thing to consider is that some major nodes won't become relevant right away. It'll take time for the build to come together. So there isn't a reason to rush to a node (except for maybe the mana reservation efficiency nodes) until your gear and gems are all set up nicely. Gear - Gear is so easy here. Minions only benefit from terms that specifically say Minion or Ally, and most of those mods don't drop while you're levelling, only in the end-game. So you're really only looking for gear for yourself that has better life and resists than what you currently have equipped. It's really that simple. High-five for minions!
Endgame Mods to Avoid
At the end of the game, the levels (maps) you try and clear will have random modifiers (mods) allocated to them. There are A LOT of mods that can go on a map.
This build should only avoid maps that roll Physical Reflect and No Mana Regen. Some other map mods might be inconvenient, but they won't be impossible to run. For example, I HATE maps that lower my recovery rate of anything. You don't have to avoid it for this build, but I try to anyway. You'll learn your personal preferences the more you play. If you hate dying, pay attention to map mods. Some maps may look innocent, but the mods combined together may be a killer combo. Some mods are fine for mapping but are deadly because of the boss in the map. You'll learn over time if you're not apathetic. Also, just a heads up, if you don't like re-rolling maps, you may need to modify your playstyle slightly for each map based on the mods rolled on a map.
Media (Videos/Filters/Tools/Links/Social Media)
- Here's BONE ZOMBIES 3.17 Example Video.
- My YouTube channel shows my most recent Path of Exile sessions. - My broadcast channel. Twitch keeps the last 14 days worth of broadcasts. I don't always play awake, but I'd rather play than not :). Filters: - I make my own filters AND YOU ARE REQUIRED TO LOVE THEM! Just kidding...but they are awesome. They will make looting a MUCH more relaxing experience. They only filter gear. So if you don't want to miss out on ANY currency these are perfect for you. One filter is guide specific (it only displays gear relevant to all my guides) and the other is a global filter for any build. The filters are progressive. So you don't have to worry about switching filters when you want gear to get more strict. It does it for you! Details for each tier of each filter are within the filters themselves. Both the "Guide Specific" and the "Everyone" filters are available on all platforms. If you click "Follow" next to the filter that you want, it'll automatically load to your filter list in-game when you login! And it automatically updates upon each login as well! Social: - Forever Exiled - A Path of Exile Podcast is a PoE podcast hosted by both Tagz and myself. We talk about everything Path of Exile...and only PoE. If you're looking for a podcast run by casual gamers but lovers of PoE, feel free to check it out! - My Twitter. I only use my twitter account to give updates on PoE stuff like my guides and filters. I don't use Twitter for anything personal. So if you want updates about when guides are done or filter corrections have been updated, feel free to follow. Software and Build Links: - PoEMate - My primary build planning tool. It's mobile. (If the link doesn't work in your area, just search PoEMate in your mobile store. Hopefully, it's available in your region. Every league it's updated faster than any other tool I use.) - PoEPlanner's link. (Follow it for automatic updates (if I make any changes).) - I don't use Path of Building, but everyone else seems to. You can download PoB here and use this 3.17's Pastebin: https://pastebin.com/0H9RThyK. Curiosity:
Change Log
More damage and more Defence! Nice, right?
- The passive tree changed a bit to accommodate a little min/maxing for accuracy, damage, and masteries. (Thanks for your feedback last league!) - Stun is still in the build, but I removed Stun Support. - The last 2 supports for Zombies are now optional. Players can choose between Brutality, Increased Critical Damage, Skeletons, and/or Predator. - Skitterbots was removed and replaced with Determination and Defiance Banner - Minion life was removed from Spectres to accommodate the extra aura I added (hopefully the Spectres I like to use weren't part of the spectre group that GGG cut the life on...) - I removed Culling strike and added CwDT to the Void Sphere link - I modified the gem levels of utility skills so they weren't costing as much mana (again). - Replaced the Carrion golem with the Chaos Golem. Without Items: - The build's damage with the spectres I use (gaining both power and frenzy charges) went from 450K DPS to 1.2M DPS - Our physical damage mitigation went from 12% to 74% All in all, some solid improvements! Let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by again!
Build History
3.16 - Stress-Free PoE w/ BONE ZOMBIES! Relax & SSF League Start-End w/ “Any” Items & 1-Button | 3.16
3.15 - Stress-Free PoE :-) | BONE ZOMBIES: No Required Items, 1-Button Play, SSF League Start-End | 3.15 3.14 - Stress-Free PoE! BONE ZOMBIES: No Required Items! 1-Button Play! SSF League Start-End! 3.14 3.13 - Stress-Free PoE! BONE ZOMBIES: No Required Items! 1-Button Play! SSF League Start-End! 3.13 3.12 - Stress-Free PoE! BONE ZOMBIES: No Required Items! 1-Button Play! SSF League Start-End! 3.12 3.11 - 3.11 - Stress-Free PoE! SLOW-MO ZOMBIES: No Required Items! 1-Button Play! SSF League Start-End! 3.10 - 3.10|Stress-Free PoE| SLOW-MO ZOMBIES |Use Any Items You Want|1 Button Gameplay|Easily Customizable 3.9 - 3.9| Stress-Free PoE - SLOW-MO ZOMBIES |SSF the Atlas w/ 1 Button & Any Gear|Dungeon Crawl PoE! 3.8 - 3.8| Stress Free PoE - SLOW-MO ZOMBIES |Clear the Atlas with YOUR Items at YOUR Pace (SSF & Co-op) 3.7 - 3.7| Stress Free PoE - SLOW-MO ZOMBIES |Clear the Atlas with YOUR Items at YOUR Pace (SSF & Co-op) 3.6 - Stress Free PoE| SLOW MO ZOMBIES |ANY Items Work|Easy/Relaxing Play|Easily Clears the Atlas [3.6] 3.5 - Slow Mo Zombies! (No Uniques Needed|Relaxed Playstyle|Easy to Gear|Anyone Can Play|All Content)[3.5] 3.4 - Super Slow Mo! (All content! No uniques required! Perfect for new, SSF, & challenged gamers.) (3.4) 3.3 - Super Slow Mo! (No uniques required! Made for new, physically challenged, & SSF gamers.)(3.3) 3.2 - 3.2 - Wrecker of Days - Super Slow Motion - Explained and Designed to Take New Players to the End 3.1 - 3.1 - SRS - Super Slow Mo - Cheap (5C) (Perfect for new players, poor players, and endgame players). Replies: Awesome! So if you have any questions about the guide or build, let me know and I'll respond the best I can. Don't feel embarrassed or shy. Ask anything you like. It's easy to miss/overlook details in the guide or on the wiki. Likely someone else wants to know the answer too :). Plus, I may have missed putting something valuable in the guide. A Few Things to Note: - I'll reply to questions and comments related to the posted guide, not to personal modifications. I have no problem at all with people changing the build up and "making it their own". I even partially design the guides to be easily accommodating in that sense. BUT in PoE, small changes are big changes. It may not seem like much, but the chain reactions of any change to a build (both in the theoretical sense and its impact on actual gameplay) are always farther reaching than we think. I don't want to miss something in my advice on changes you're making if I haven't played with it in-game myself. So I'm not trying to discourage you from trying things out or making it your own by any means. Just do so at your own risk. If it doesn't work out for you, just revert back to the guide and you'll be dancing :). - I likely won't have time to evaluate characters (sorry!). I'll do what I can but it may not be feasible sometimes. Hopefully, the gear and levelling sections along with the tips in the One Stop Shop are helpful enough so you know what to look for on your items and how to improve them. - Feel free to respond to other players' posts! The more that's out there, the more we learn. Please be kind, respectful, and theoretical (not a Know-It-All) when helping others out. I will happily respond to questions but please note that I have multiple guides and I'd like to respond to each poster equally. I’ll do my best to get back to you as quickly as possible but set your expectations that I'll respond to each guide once a week. Also, I have to remind myself all the time that everything in real life should always be more important than Path of Exile :(. So I'll try to respond when I can (cause I want to!) but only when it's appropriate to do so. The End: Here's a list of my other guides if you're interested :). OH! Don't forget, to support GGG by buying a skin for all your favourite skills you use. They last forever, you look rad, and it keeps PoE going too :). Double OH! I make a new thread every league for every guide I do. So all the comments, questions, and answers you read are all relevant for this current expansion. (At the end of a league I post links in the previous guide to guide players to the newest rendition of the build.) Tripple Oh! Please let me know if you see any errors. I'll fix them as soon as possible! K. Done. Happy gaming :). https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast Last edited by Wrecker_of_Days#7691 on Feb 8, 2022, 6:00:22 PM
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Mine. Just in case, you know?
https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast Last edited by Wrecker_of_Days#7691 on Jan 28, 2022, 6:06:20 PM
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Also, mine. Just in case...again.
https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast Last edited by Wrecker_of_Days#7691 on Jan 28, 2022, 6:06:47 PM
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Thank you for the update, I tested this in the 3.16 iteration, standard league, and it was stress free. Will the rf chieftain be updated any time during 3.17, or not? Asking for informative purposes, because I will certainly be league starting bone zombies. Your builds are my go tos from now on. Thank you very much again.
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"Isaiah521353! That's really kind of you :). Thanks for your kind words :). I'll be working on re-wording the RF guide tonight after we finish recording the podcast. It'll likely be posted tomorrow morning. Thanks again for taking the time to be kind. https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast
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Hello! I've been using your build since 3.16 after I started playing PoE again after a long break and planning on using it in 3.17, but I made some changes that I think improve it.
Sorry for a wall of text :) First of all I think it's much better to take the basic jewel sockets near the Eternal Youth and Unwavering Stance nodes. You can remove the needed skillpoints from the Constitution circle. Constitution circle small nodes provide only 5% hp while common rare jewels can provide both 7% hp and also more resistances/defences/etc in the same jewel. So it has much more value per skillpoint. (for example I have the 5% life, 9% allres, 15% reduced effect of shock jewel, and the 7% life, 12% fire and lightning resistance jewel, it's much better than a single 5% life node and they both cost the same 1 skillpoint.) Then I'm skeptical about the Ravenous Horde nodes. Yes the attack speed increase is a great dps increase, but you waste 2 skillpoints on 2 intelligence nodes and the Ravenous Horde isn't great of a buff imo. The main threat in this game are bosses and other special enemies, more often than not it's just one powerful enemy so the "chance to get Onslaught on kill" won't do much if you are only fighting one big dangerous enemy and there is no small enemies to kill. And the 30% movement buff while being nice doesn't provide any dps. So I think it's better to take these 6 skillpoints off and put them into the Spiritual Command node (also an attack speed increase without needing to waste 2 points on intelligence nodes) and put the rest in the Redemption nodes which is much better, providing both huge attack speed and a whooping 40% damage. Also I'd take the 16% dmg nodes near Righteous Army and Redemption because our zombies really need this damage. (so by removing 4 Ravenous Horde nodes and 2 Intelligence nodes we get -12% attack/cast speed, -30% movement speed and lose Onslaught but putting these 6 skillpoints into Spiritual Command and Redemption nodes (+ one 16% minion damage after Redemption) we get 28% attack/cast speed and 56% increased damage instead which is much better) Now considering the gems. I had to remove the cwdt-hextouch-voidsphere-vulnerability gems. One of my spectres is a Diabolist, his Enfeeble curse is oh so powerful and I don't want it to be overwritten. Also I find Void Sphere kinda meh, yeah it locks some normal enemies in place but they still can cast their nasty spells at you. I use Enlighten-Skitterbots-FleshAndStone-Pride and also Dread Banner for their both offensive and defensive buffs. Also I can't for the life of me play without Flame Dash and Convocation :) And I don't have any good unset rings. I was also using the Determination-Defiance banner combo earlier, my phys reduction was 90% and my Vaal Molten Shell provided me with something like 8000 hp shield! But I feel like the phys damage reduction is not that important for a zombie summoner, I think the most deadly things that damage and potentially kill me the most are enemies' spells. So I end up taking extra +max resistances nodes and taking something else instead of Determination+Defiance banner and I feel a bit safer now. But maybe I am mistaken. Maybe I'll switch back when my zombies start dying without this additional armour. Anyway this is what my character and passives look like rn https://www.pathofexile.com/account/view-profile/Nasitrap/characters?characterName=Pozma I'd like to ask a couple of questions if you don't mind. I know you addressed this but why exactly do Multistrike and Ruthless are bad together? Wiki says "When supported by Multistrike Support, Ruthless blows work differently, instead of occurring every third hit, it occurs every third multistrike". That sounds amazing though, with all these +attack speed nodes these three strikes are almost instant and all three strikes now deal 98% more damage. Whatever it is it actually sounds like a great damage upgrade. Or do they interact with each other in some completely different way that makes them worse together? I still don't understand why Ruthless-Multistrike combo is bad, maybe I'm dumb :) Sorry if this has been asked too often. Another question that interests me for a long time is why do you need Clarity in your build? The skills we use don't cost a lot of mana and the default mana regeneration is enough to regenerate mana between skill uses, not to mention Clarity eats the much needed hp. If Clarity is for spectres' mana then isn't it much better to socket Lifetap to spectres or use Ruins Hellion for his great buff which also adds mana regen. I never used Clarity and have no problem using skills or seen spectres using their skills less often. Again sorry for this wall of text, I hope it was somewhat useful. Please let me know if some of my thoughts are incorrect. Thank you! |
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Hey Wrecker - hope things are going okay.
I think I'll be giving the Zombies a whirl in HC SSF this league. Running heists fully zoomed in... because
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On 3.16 this was my build. In 3.17, this one still will be my build to go, thanks!
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Thanks the nice build and guide! I have being using it since the last league and had a great time. As I've learned more about the game I started to try my own tweaks on the build, and the explanations you put for each decision really help in that regard, so thanks for that as well.
One thing that I have been wondering for the 3.17 iteration is how we are supposed to run Pride, Determination, and Defiance Banner together. Won't it add up to 110% mana reservation? Am I missing something? |
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