FLESH ZOMBIES 3.25 | Wrecker's Stress-Free Build(s) & Filters | 1-Button, HC SSF, Pure Item Freedom

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Emailbox911 wrote:

Spoiler

I'm just finishing the campaign and wanted to ask the same thing regarding the "flesh zombie" build:

1) Why use level 20 clarity with arrogance?
I see you picked the reservation mastery cluster passive which grant +1% max rez when reserving both life and mana; why not keep Clarity level 1? Is there a reason why we need more mana regen? Is it for spectres skill spam?
If there is something I missed, why not also pick the "you count as low life when at 55% hp or below" from the life mastery cluster; this makes the build a bit safer by letting your hp regen higher.


2) Why the leech mastery cluster nodes? I can't figure out we benefit from it with this build.

3) I'm not used to playing a minion build without convocation, since it helps greatly with positioning; I see you are using enduring cry as your main hit button; could you clarify why you picked this over convocation? The reason why I ask is because you "aggro" enemies, can't regen above "low life" because of petrified blood, and it doesn't seem to grant minions endurance charges either. Another reason why I is using a warcry causes you to "stagger" for a brief moment.

Thanks for reading!

Hey Emailbox911! Good questions!


1) (I'll copy and paste the answer I gave to the post above you, as it's the same question.)

"Clarity is so that we have enough "ready" mana for our trigger skills. That's all. If you turn it off and find that your gear gives you enough regen in intense battles, then you don't need it.

But, as you mentioned, because of the mastery where we want something to reserve life for that extra +1 to max resists, a level 10 Precision should do the trick. It'd reserve less life than Clarity and it'd give the zombies 100% accuracy (instead of 96%)."

The Triggered spells use A LOT of mana.


2) (I'll copy and paste this answer as well as I just answered it a few questions ago. I'll find it quick.)

"2/4 of those nodes [in Lust for Carnage] are wasted on us. Bone Barrier (ascendancy) gives us leech (from minions). We take that cluster for the Mastery that gives us "10% of life leech is Instant". Our recovery is crazy at that point. It's so strong that it is worth 3 dud nodes to get the mastery. However, the second node, because it doesn't specifically say "attack leech" and is generic with its "life leech" also applies to our non-instant leech.

Does that make sense?"


3) Convocation isn't that appealing to me. I have no reason to call my minions to my side, especially with Meat Shield. You're welcome to add it to an Unset Ring if you like it. Every time our minions are called to our side, they aren't dealing damage or taunting. The 2% life regen the skill gives is pretty useless with the Instant Leech we get.

I chose Enduring Cry for us, not for the minions. It's only to give us Endurance Charges. Enemies can only be taunted every so often. Since the zombies taunt, it'll be quite rare for us to have Enduring Cry go off while an enemy isn't taunted. I also HATE HATE HATE that we have to stop to cast Enduring Cry as well. I may remove it from the build if I can find a decent replacement for the Endurance Charges.


I think that's everything. If I missed a question, let me know!

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AkumaNoTsubasa wrote:

Spoiler

Hello,

I like the tankiness of the build but I fail to see where the damage comes from.
As soon as a Yellow with a tad bit of regen + chaos res walks in my way I can go make a coffee, with beans from brazil, that I pluck myself, after I planted them myself... You know? Because it's so low.

Don't have quality yet on my gems but I think that shouldn't matter until red maps? (at least normally builds don't care).

While you say "Item freedom" you should at least give some mods that would benefit this build that we could look for. I am in t4 maps and I can literally go away from screen and do something else until anything tanky (or even soul eater mobs) die. It's not fun.

Also if you play Blight with this build, do you switch from Meat Shield to something else? Because if anything runs through the slow/stun I am absolutely unable to damage them because zombies almost only attack when stuff hits the player first and are very passive to anything else.

thanks a lot!

Hey, AkumaNoTsubasa!

I see someone's been on trade! You have some nice mods on the build.

As a reminder, this is designed as a hardcore build so the base investment to damage is secondary. Obviously, we want to kill things as quickly as possible, but the tankiness is a priority. That being said, I think you'll start seeing more of the damage come to life as your gems finish levelling. Also, Punishment and Flesh Offering are huge helps. The more difficult the content, the more often they are applied to the enemy.

Soul Eater is a dumb enemy mod no matter the build. They aren't fun no matter the build I'm playing.

If Meat Shield doesn't suit your style or content (I agree that minions have some dumb clueless moments), try swapping the support for Predator Support. That's a HUGE help in Blight.

I honestly think you'll find the build really start to come to life as you progress (tougher enemies and fully levelled (ignoring quality) gems. That being said, if it's still too slow for you, don't waste your time with it. Play something you like with your personal time. Enjoy the game. I hate TV shows that "really pick up in season 3". I need to enjoy the process. So if you don't think the process is fun, don't feel like you have to keep it going. Go have fun.

Did that help at all?

(If you're not stuck on the one-button bit, you could replace CwDT with Arcanist Brand. Then you can apply the bonus damage whenever you want.

"

Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

I also HATE HATE HATE that we have to stop to cast Enduring Cry as well. I may remove it from the build if I can find a decent replacement for the Endurance Charges.

I wouldn't use a cry without autoexertion either. Isn't it worth building it in?

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DES_Corleone wrote:

Spoiler

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Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

I also HATE HATE HATE that we have to stop to cast Enduring Cry as well. I may remove it from the build if I can find a decent replacement for the Endurance Charges.

I wouldn't use a cry without autoexertion either. Isn't it worth building it in?

Hey, Corleone!

It feels really nice to use the warcry automatically, but linking the two makes it so that the warcry doesn't grant any charges. That, and I don't know if it'd be worth it to use an extra gem socket AND 15% mana reservation (personal preference). Good idea, though!

Early progress report!

I finished with the campaign, and ran my first few maps.

I bought a basic 6L armor for the zombies, the rest of my gear is campaign trash (got a nice wand though). My resists are 30-50%.

While leveling I was followed the passive tree but I was using 4L zombies and 4L SRS. For maps I switched to the proper build. I have the full skill setup, and my passive tree still needs a few life nodes and the max resists. Still need to get Bone Barrier.

So far, the build seems solid! In white maps it works, enemies die, it is quite tanky with completely crap gear, unleveled gems, and unfinished passive tree. It feels like a very solid base that does give you a lot of freedom while building it, and of course when it comes to gear.

I admit that I am curious as to what the damage output will be like from now on. For a 6L, it sure feels less than what I am used to. But still, everything dies. AoE is not great, single target damage is not great (again my gems are still leveling), but the entire thing feels very constant and safe, which I think is what this build is about. With a more complete defensive setup, I believe I will be better able to stay in the action and let my zombies do more damage, stress-free.

I am used to playing minion builds with aggressive minions, pretty much the opposite of this: SRS, Arakaali's, carrion golems back in the day. I also haven't played Petrified Blood in a while. All in all this is a different style for me, and I want to see how it works out as I progress through the Atlas. My impression of this build so far is that it is little slower in both map clearing and setting up the build (it's a HC SSF build after all), but it is about making constant progress, no walls to hit or breakpoints to reach, always moving forward.


tl;dr: I like it and I want to see what's next!

"

Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

Spoiler

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AkumaNoTsubasa wrote:

Spoiler

Hello,

I like the tankiness of the build but I fail to see where the damage comes from.
As soon as a Yellow with a tad bit of regen + chaos res walks in my way I can go make a coffee, with beans from brazil, that I pluck myself, after I planted them myself... You know? Because it's so low.

Don't have quality yet on my gems but I think that shouldn't matter until red maps? (at least normally builds don't care).

While you say "Item freedom" you should at least give some mods that would benefit this build that we could look for. I am in t4 maps and I can literally go away from screen and do something else until anything tanky (or even soul eater mobs) die. It's not fun.

Also if you play Blight with this build, do you switch from Meat Shield to something else? Because if anything runs through the slow/stun I am absolutely unable to damage them because zombies almost only attack when stuff hits the player first and are very passive to anything else.

thanks a lot!

Hey, AkumaNoTsubasa!

I see someone's been on trade! You have some nice mods on the build.

As a reminder, this is designed as a hardcore build so the base investment to damage is secondary. Obviously, we want to kill things as quickly as possible, but the tankiness is a priority. That being said, I think you'll start seeing more of the damage come to life as your gems finish levelling. Also, Punishment and Flesh Offering are huge helps. The more difficult the content, the more often they are applied to the enemy.

Soul Eater is a dumb enemy mod no matter the build. They aren't fun no matter the build I'm playing.

If Meat Shield doesn't suit your style or content (I agree that minions have some dumb clueless moments), try swapping the support for Predator Support. That's a HUGE help in Blight.

I honestly think you'll find the build really start to come to life as you progress (tougher enemies and fully levelled (ignoring quality) gems. That being said, if it's still too slow for you, don't waste your time with it. Play something you like with your personal time. Enjoy the game. I hate TV shows that "really pick up in season 3". I need to enjoy the process. So if you don't think the process is fun, don't feel like you have to keep it going. Go have fun.

Did that help at all?

(If you're not stuck on the one-button bit, you could replace CwDT with Arcanist Brand. Then you can apply the bonus damage whenever you want.

gonna try the pred on blight.

my zombie gem is already 21/20 rest of the Gems are already 18 and I am running in around t8 and some stuff really takes ages. Will see if the last 2 levels really do a difference but being in t8 and taking like 30 seconds on a map boss with no def map mods is kinda sad.

"

AkumaNoTsubasa wrote:

Spoiler

"

Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

Spoiler

"

AkumaNoTsubasa wrote:

Spoiler

Hello,

I like the tankiness of the build but I fail to see where the damage comes from.
As soon as a Yellow with a tad bit of regen + chaos res walks in my way I can go make a coffee, with beans from brazil, that I pluck myself, after I planted them myself... You know? Because it's so low.

Don't have quality yet on my gems but I think that shouldn't matter until red maps? (at least normally builds don't care).

While you say "Item freedom" you should at least give some mods that would benefit this build that we could look for. I am in t4 maps and I can literally go away from screen and do something else until anything tanky (or even soul eater mobs) die. It's not fun.

Also if you play Blight with this build, do you switch from Meat Shield to something else? Because if anything runs through the slow/stun I am absolutely unable to damage them because zombies almost only attack when stuff hits the player first and are very passive to anything else.

thanks a lot!

Hey, AkumaNoTsubasa!

I see someone's been on trade! You have some nice mods on the build.

As a reminder, this is designed as a hardcore build so the base investment to damage is secondary. Obviously, we want to kill things as quickly as possible, but the tankiness is a priority. That being said, I think you'll start seeing more of the damage come to life as your gems finish levelling. Also, Punishment and Flesh Offering are huge helps. The more difficult the content, the more often they are applied to the enemy.

Soul Eater is a dumb enemy mod no matter the build. They aren't fun no matter the build I'm playing.

If Meat Shield doesn't suit your style or content (I agree that minions have some dumb clueless moments), try swapping the support for Predator Support. That's a HUGE help in Blight.

I honestly think you'll find the build really start to come to life as you progress (tougher enemies and fully levelled (ignoring quality) gems. That being said, if it's still too slow for you, don't waste your time with it. Play something you like with your personal time. Enjoy the game. I hate TV shows that "really pick up in season 3". I need to enjoy the process. So if you don't think the process is fun, don't feel like you have to keep it going. Go have fun.

Did that help at all?

(If you're not stuck on the one-button bit, you could replace CwDT with Arcanist Brand. Then you can apply the bonus damage whenever you want.

gonna try the pred on blight.

my zombie gem is already 21/20 rest of the Gems are already 18 and I am running in around t8 and some stuff really takes ages. Will see if the last 2 levels really do a difference but being in t8 and taking like 30 seconds on a map boss with no def map mods is kinda sad.

Cool. Let me know how it goes.

30 second boss battles are going to be normal with defense-first builds until great gear comes.

You could also throw out the one-button & HC mentality. If the build is still too slow for you but you don't want to give up on the time that you've already invested, try the following:

- put Flesh & Stone in the "red" stance.
- remove Culling Strike and add Guardian's Blessing with Pride to the Golem. (Keep an eye on the survivability of the Golum.)
- remove Enduring Cry
- remove Meat Shield and Chance to Poison on the Zombie link. Replace them with Predator Support and Brutality.
- replaced CwDT with Arcanist Brand.
- switch Unnatural Strength to either Essence Gluten (for the manor regen you'll need) or Mistress of Sacrifice. (This whole process is switching the build from chaos damage to physical damage.)


That should give you way more damage at the cost of having much more to manage and less defense.

Thoughts?

The build is working much better now. Finished the final lab and that made a huge difference along with some other changes. Had to use a flame dash for the lab though. Into red maps now and cruising through nearly all content now. Still plenty of upside as the gems finish leveling and I get full quality on them. Thanks for the reply!

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Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

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AkumaNoTsubasa wrote:

"

Wrecker_of_Days wrote:

Spoiler

Hey, AkumaNoTsubasa!

I see someone's been on trade! You have some nice mods on the build.

As a reminder, this is designed as a hardcore build so the base investment to damage is secondary. Obviously, we want to kill things as quickly as possible, but the tankiness is a priority. That being said, I think you'll start seeing more of the damage come to life as your gems finish levelling. Also, Punishment and Flesh Offering are huge helps. The more difficult the content, the more often they are applied to the enemy.

Soul Eater is a dumb enemy mod no matter the build. They aren't fun no matter the build I'm playing.

If Meat Shield doesn't suit your style or content (I agree that minions have some dumb clueless moments), try swapping the support for Predator Support. That's a HUGE help in Blight.

I honestly think you'll find the build really start to come to life as you progress (tougher enemies and fully levelled (ignoring quality) gems. That being said, if it's still too slow for you, don't waste your time with it. Play something you like with your personal time. Enjoy the game. I hate TV shows that "really pick up in season 3". I need to enjoy the process. So if you don't think the process is fun, don't feel like you have to keep it going. Go have fun.

Did that help at all?

(If you're not stuck on the one-button bit, you could replace CwDT with Arcanist Brand. Then you can apply the bonus damage whenever you want.

gonna try the pred on blight.

my zombie gem is already 21/20 rest of the Gems are already 18 and I am running in around t8 and some stuff really takes ages. Will see if the last 2 levels really do a difference but being in t8 and taking like 30 seconds on a map boss with no def map mods is kinda sad.

Cool. Let me know how it goes.

30 second boss battles are going to be normal with defense-first builds until great gear comes.

You could also throw out the one-button & HC mentality. If the build is still too slow for you but you don't want to give up on the time that you've already invested, try the following:

- put Flesh & Stone in the "red" stance.
- remove Culling Strike and add Guardian's Blessing with Pride to the Golem. (Keep an eye on the survivability of the Golum.)
- remove Enduring Cry
- remove Meat Shield and Chance to Poison on the Zombie link. Replace them with Predator Support and Brutality.
- replaced CwDT with Arcanist Brand.
- switch Unnatural Strength to either Essence Gluten (for the manor regen you'll need) or Mistress of Sacrifice. (This whole process is switching the build from chaos damage to physical damage.)


That should give you way more damage at the cost of having much more to manage and less defense.

Thoughts?

Currently trying the setup.
Damage seems better but still below what is needed to properly advance.
Will try to keep leveling the old and new gems to see if 20/20 makes a difference but at the moment t9 is the last tier that is doable. I have no real idea why though. The def numbers are really well but when you have 3 normal rares on yout butt its just game over because you need way too much time to kill things because they start to kill you over time.
Dunno if I am doing something severely wrong but normally just having 5k life and 80%+ res should be easy stuff for t16 but also the damage is still at just 200k (no idea about phantasms because pob doesn't show them) but even when setting all main gems to 20/20 POB sticks to 215k and for nowadays poe this is way too low. Sadly I barely have any currency to play around much more but atm I can't go above t9 without getting ganked hard (in both versions of the build)

Just on a side note: i really like the core build, please don'T think I am trying to talk anything down. I am just trying to find out if I am doing anything wrong or to see where I can do things better.