Stress-Free PoE w/ BONE ZOMBIES! Relax & SSF League Start-End w/ “Any” Items & 1-Button | 3.17

Hello, Wrecker_of_Days! I am very tempted by this build, I am now playing skelemages but I think I like physical damage zombies mauling my enemies to death much more!

I started playing PoE this league and I know there are some caveats and 'hidden mechanics' that I need to look out for.

I was wondering if any of those items could be useful for your bone zombie build?

You can use most of your gear, this build is very forgiving. I got to level 94 with tabula rasa.

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cadosinio wrote:

Spoiler

Hello, Wrecker_of_Days! I am very tempted by this build, I am now playing skelemages but I think I like physical damage zombies mauling my enemies to death much more!

I started playing PoE this league and I know there are some caveats and 'hidden mechanics' that I need to look out for.

I was wondering if any of those items could be useful for your bone zombie build?

Hey, cadosinio!

Skeleton mages is so fun! Nice! If you're still thinking of playing this build, @GravBeam is pretty accurate. There are very few gear/mods that can screw up this build. Your wand would change the playstyle a bit but it works for sure!

As mentioned, the build is REALLY flexible. I'm using Zombies with Phantasms instead of Skeletons this league (for fun).

Let us know how things go if you give the build a shot.

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GravBeam wrote:

Spoiler

You can use most of your gear, this build is very forgiving. I got to level 94 with tabula rasa.

ha! That's awesome, GravBeam!

I've never hit 94. But I seriously changed my mind so often, regarding trying out different zombie supports, that I should just run around with a Tabula as well.

Thanks for the note!

It's my first time hitting 94! It's due to the better Atlas progression and now it is easier to sustain high tier maps that provide more XP.

Regarding Tabula Rasa, it was possible to take it that far because of defiance + new armor calculation that made physical damage mitigation easier. I also forgo meat shield+pride+clarity and use predator+vaal skeletons+convocation as the build can deal with regular content and I don't feel very confident about staying too close to bosses due pride's small AOE. I just mark prey the boss, unleash the skeletons and run around like a headless chicken trying to avoid the attacks :-)!

Convocation helps in QOL and in delve where you have to run between the nodes and usually the minions lag behind. I also noticed that convocation helps increase damage if I pull the minions away from a boss briefly, I am not sure why. I use a host chieftain, a carnage chieftain and two primal crush claws as spectres. The extra damage might happen because the zombie change their attacks, or the primal crushclaws do a slam attack, or because there are to many minions around the boss and they are blocking each other :-)!

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GravBeam wrote:

Spoiler

It's my first time hitting 94! It's due to the better Atlas progression and now it is easier to sustain high tier maps that provide more XP.

Regarding Tabula Rasa, it was possible to take it that far because of defiance + new armor calculation that made physical damage mitigation easier. I also forgo meat shield+pride+clarity and use predator+vaal skeletons+convocation as the build can deal with regular content and I don't feel very confident about staying too close to bosses due pride's small AOE. I just mark prey the boss, unleash the skeletons and run around like a headless chicken trying to avoid the attacks :-)!

Convocation helps in QOL and in delve where you have to run between the nodes and usually the minions lag behind. I also noticed that convocation helps increase damage if I pull the minions away from a boss briefly, I am not sure why. I use a host chieftain, a carnage chieftain and two primal crush claws as spectres. The extra damage might happen because the zombie change their attacks, or the primal crushclaws do a slam attack, or because there are to many minions around the boss and they are blocking each other :-)!

Ha! Headless Chicken. Love it, GravBeam! I like using the same analogy.

I appreciate the detailed feedback. I like hearing how others play and the changes they make. It's valuable to me going forward..also interesting.

I too wonder about the "unwritten" details of the game. How much space is there for melee around an enemy? Is there a limit? Can more melee enemies hit a boss that looks bigger than another? Does interrupting an animation sequence (like you can with Convocation) reset/change cooldowns or certain actions?

Nice work with your build. I like it a lot!

My witch is now 83. With 2356 unreserved life. All resis 76, but chaos still -15.
Maps around 12. The damage is still great. But defense could be better. At events I run around the bosses all the time. This is the safest variant. If I stop for two or three seconds, I'm usually dead.
But that's also a bit due to my reaction time. With my old laptop I play the events under 5 fps in time lapse :) Need a new one, but prices are too high.
I have found 2 normal convoking wand. A few days ago I read somewhere in which order you should upgrade the best, but I can no longer find it. Is that maybe somewhere in this thread?

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DES_Corleone wrote:

Spoiler

My witch is now 83. With 2356 unreserved life. All resis 76, but chaos still -15.
Maps around 12. The damage is still great. But defense could be better. At events I run around the bosses all the time. This is the safest variant. If I stop for two or three seconds, I'm usually dead.
But that's also a bit due to my reaction time. With my old laptop I play the events under 5 fps in time lapse :) Need a new one, but prices are too high.
I have found 2 normal convoking wand. A few days ago I read somewhere in which order you should upgrade the best, but I can no longer find it. Is that maybe somewhere in this thread?

Hey, DES_Corleone!

I hear ya. 2500 life is tough to map with. As you start finding gear with better life rolls, you'll find a big improvement to your comfort level while mapping. You'll eventually want close to double your current life pool. Poor frame rates are a pain with this game for sure. I used to play on the original Xbox One...and the game is not made for those specs. It's difficult to see what's going on sometimes when your game is performing fine, let alone when it isn't.

In terms of Convoking Wands, there are lots of ways to go about it. Convoking wands have a lot of mods that can roll on them; all the normal wand mods along with the minion ones. So it's hard to pinpoint something nice. The most targeted approach would be to use fossils that encourage minion rolls or harvest crafts. But that still requires some decent farming and time to get those resources. I'd just use an Alchemy on every Convoking Wand you find until you get a few of the resources mentioned to try your luck. But make sure to do your crafts on a Convoking Wand that's item level 84 or higher so you have the chance at getting most T1 rolls of mods.

Make sense?

Yes, thanks.
Now that you mention it it comes to me again, in the guide was also listed a 4l resonator.
That is then not really worth it for me. Play mostly ssf
The two had only a level of 7x. I still gave it a try, but nothing useful came out.
May I ask a beginner question offtopic: Is somewhere displayed how much e.g. dexterity a character has without items. I only know the method to put off all items. Which is not always an option for a summoner with spectres.

awesome guide so well written ! gonna give this a go for fun wanted to thank you for making it and taking all the time and hard work . well done all involved !