How does the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build work in Path of Exile 3.19. What are the key mechanics and gameplay elements of this build. Why is this build effective for both clearing and boss fights.
Overview of the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite Build
The Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build is a powerful and budget-friendly option for Path of Exile 3.19. This build leverages the iconic Firestorm skill to rain down fiery destruction on enemies, utilizing Ignite mechanics for devastating damage over time effects. Here are the key aspects of this build:
- Primary skill: Firestorm
- Ascendancy: Elementalist
- Main damage type: Fire damage over time (Ignite)
- Defensive layers: Life-based, high armor
- Budget-friendly with room for high-end scaling
- Effective for both clear speed and boss fights
Core Mechanics and Skills of the Firestorm Ignite Build
The Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build revolves around several key mechanics and skills that work together synergistically:
Firestorm Skill
Firestorm is the main damage-dealing skill of this build. It summons a large meteor followed by smaller fireballs raining down over a duration. The initial meteor hit is crucial for applying a powerful Ignite effect.
Ignite Mechanics
Ignite is a fire-based damage over time effect. This build focuses on scaling Ignite damage to create devastating burning effects on enemies. The Elementalist ascendancy provides bonuses to Ignite, allowing every hit to apply this effect.
Ignite Proliferation
Through specific items and passives, this build can spread Ignite effects to nearby enemies. This mechanic greatly enhances clear speed and area coverage.
Supplementary Skills
The build utilizes several additional skills to enhance its effectiveness:
- Arcanist Brand with Flammability curse and Flame Surge for single-target damage boost
- Flame Dash for mobility and applying Combustion debuff
- Stone Golem for life regeneration
Advantages of the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite Build
This build offers several advantages that make it appealing for both new and experienced players:
- High damage over time potential
- Budget-friendly starter with room for scaling
- Efficient screen-wide clearing
- Decent tankiness for a caster build
- Straightforward playstyle
Is the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build suitable for solo play. This build excels in solo play due to its self-sufficient nature and ability to clear large areas quickly. The combination of area damage and damage over time effects allows for efficient mapping and boss killing without relying on party support.
Leveling and Early Game Progression
Leveling the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build is relatively straightforward. Here’s a brief guide to early game progression:
Early Leveling Skills
Start with Flame Wall and Fire Trap for the first few acts. These skills scale well with fire and damage over time passives, making them ideal for early progression.
Transitioning to Firestorm
After completing the first Labyrinth and gaining the Ignite-focused Elementalist ascendancy, switch to Firestorm as your main skill. This will carry you through the rest of the campaign and into early mapping.
Leveling Gem Setups
Utilize the following gem setups while leveling:
- Flame Wall + Combustion + Arcane Surge + Controlled Destruction
- Fire Trap + Combustion + Arcane Surge + Trap and Mine Damage
- Auras: Anger (for flat fire damage) and Determination (for armor)
How should players prioritize passive skill points while leveling. Focus on fire damage, elemental damage, and damage over time nodes early on. Grab life nodes as needed to maintain survivability. Pick up key ignite-related passives as you progress through the skill tree.
Endgame Gearing and Optimization
As you reach the endgame, optimizing your gear becomes crucial for maximizing the build’s potential:
Key Items
- Weapon: Look for high fire damage and “socketed gems are supported by” mods
- Body Armor: Focus on high life and elemental resistances
- Helmet: Prioritize “+X to level of socketed Fire gems” mods
- Gloves and Boots: Balance between defensive stats and damage-boosting mods
- Jewelry: Seek fire damage, life, and resistances
Cluster Jewels
Utilize cluster jewels to further enhance your damage output. Look for notables that boost fire damage, damage over time, and ignite effectiveness.
Unique Items
Consider incorporating unique items that synergize well with the build, such as:
- Blackflame (for chaos damage conversion)
- Berek’s Respite (for improved ignite proliferation)
- Dyadian Dawn (for increased burning damage)
How can players balance offense and defense when gearing for endgame content. Prioritize life and resistances on gear to maintain a solid defensive base. Look for items that offer both offensive and defensive benefits, such as fire damage / life hybrid mods. Use crafting techniques to add defensive layers to otherwise offensive-focused gear pieces.
Mapping and Endgame Strategies
The Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build shines in mapping and various endgame activities:
Map Clearing
Utilize the build’s strong area clearing capabilities to efficiently run maps. Focus on casting Firestorm into dense packs of monsters and letting ignite proliferation spread the damage.
Boss Fighting
For tougher enemies and bosses:
- Use Arcanist Brand to apply curses and additional damage
- Maintain maximum uptime on Firestorm
- Utilize Flame Dash to avoid dangerous mechanics while applying Combustion
Endgame Activities
This build is capable of tackling various endgame activities, including:
- Delve
- Blight encounters
- Incursion temples
- Syndicate safehouses
What strategies can players employ to maximize clear speed in maps. Prioritize movement speed on boots and utilize Quicksilver Flasks. Learn to efficiently position Firestorm casts to cover the largest possible area. Use Flame Dash liberally to quickly move between packs of monsters.
Build Variations and Customization
While the core of the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build remains consistent, there are several ways to customize and adapt the build to suit different playstyles or content focuses:
Defensive Variations
- Block-focused: Incorporate shield and block nodes for additional defensive layers
- Evasion hybrid: Mix in some evasion gear and passives for a more well-rounded defense
- Mind over Matter: Allocate mana nodes and use MoM keystone for an additional defensive mechanic
Offensive Variations
- Crit-based: Transition to a critical strike version for potentially higher damage peaks
- Elemental Equilibrium: Incorporate other elemental damage types to leverage this keystone
- Chaos conversion: Utilize Blackflame and chaos damage scaling for a unique twist
Alternative Skills
While Firestorm is the primary skill, players can experiment with other fire-based skills that work well with ignite mechanics:
- Fireball
- Flameblast
- Armageddon Brand
How can players adapt the build for different league mechanics or specific endgame goals. Adjust the balance between clear speed and single-target damage based on the content you’re focusing on. For example, prioritize area damage for league mechanics with many monsters, or boost single-target capabilities for boss-heavy content.
Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them
Even experienced players can make mistakes when building and playing the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build. Here are some common pitfalls and how to avoid them:
Overinvesting in Hit Damage
Remember that this build focuses on ignite damage over time, not the initial hit damage. Avoid investing too heavily in stats that only affect hit damage, such as critical strike multiplier.
Neglecting Defenses
While the build has good clear speed, it’s important not to neglect defensive layers. Ensure you have enough life, resistances, and armor to survive in high-tier maps and against tough bosses.
Improper Curse Usage
Flammability is crucial for reducing enemy fire resistance. Make sure you’re consistently applying this curse to tough enemies and bosses for maximum damage output.
Underutilizing Movement Skills
Flame Dash is not just for mobility; it also applies the Combustion debuff. Practice using it offensively to weaken enemies while repositioning.
Ignoring Mana Management
Firestorm can be mana-intensive. Ensure you have enough mana regeneration or consider using a mana flask if needed.
How can players effectively practice and improve their gameplay with this build. Start in lower-tier maps to get a feel for the playstyle. Gradually increase the difficulty as you become more comfortable. Pay attention to your positioning and timing of skills. Record and review your gameplay, especially during boss fights, to identify areas for improvement.
By avoiding these common mistakes and continuously refining your approach, you’ll be able to fully harness the power of the Firestorm Elementalist Ignite build in Path of Exile 3.19.
[3.19]Firestorm Elementalist Ignite Build – Odealo’s Crafty Guide
Burn enemies as fire falls from the sky! Cheap and tanky Firestorm Elementalist perfect for the upcoming League
Updated for Patch 3.19
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Guide notes |
August 15, 2022 -Build created |
Build overview | |||
Tags: [CASTER] [IGNITE] [ELEMENTAL] [LIFE] | |||
Budget:
Defenses:
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Boss DPS:
AoE:
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Firestorm is one of the most old-school skills in Path of Exile. A huge meteor falling from the sky is a very iconic skill design in all RPG games. In Path of Exile, in particular, it is one big hit followed up by many other, smaller hits. Because there can be only one Ignite on the enemy at once, it is best to scale it with a big, singular hit, which is where Firestorm shines the most. Those smaller hits coming from fires raining down for a duration after the first meteor are not to be neglected. They help us to wipe out the remaining strugglers who happened to miss the big party.
Thanks to Ignite Spread and Ignite Proliferation provided by specified items, we can clear mobs outside our initial range, often killing monsters before they could even see us. Boss damage is not our defining manner, but it is fairly manageable, especially with higher investments. Damage Over Time builds usually can start with empty pockets, but require some items to truly shine. We also have a plethora of useful tools to help our single target such as Curses, Exposure or Shock granted by Elementalist Ascendancy Node.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds right over here Odealo’s Crafty Guides – Full List
1. Gameplay
The gameplay revolves around casting our Firestorms at enemies and using Arcanist Brand at particularly tough opponents, such as Map Bosses or Guardians. It will curse them with Flammability, reducing their Fire Resistances to amplify our damage even more, and smack them with Flame Surge, which will create Fire Ground Degen that deals a quarter of our Ignite Damage per second, as long the enemy stands inside its range. Thanks to Flame Dash we remain mobile, moving from pack to pack faster, are able to dodge incoming attacks and apply Combustion debuff if we Dash through an opponent. Since we don’t have access to Life Leech, we must rely on Summoning Stone Golem and Life Flask to fill our Life.
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2. Build’s PROS & CONS
PROS |
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CONS |
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3. Leveling tips
Flame Wall and Fire Trap will carry you through the first Acts with no problem. After the first Lab, which will make you Ignite with every hit, you can switch to Firestorm and cruise through the rest of the campaign. Flame Wall scales its damage from the same passives as Ignite, so you can keep using it until maps, where its damage becomes obsolete. Look for items that help reach your Elemental Resistances limit and have some Life or Fire Elemental Damage.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Flame Wall setup | |
Flame Wall – place Flame Wall on top of enemies or make them run through it to apply its Fire DoT on them. | |
Combustion Support – it will cause more fire Damage over Time from Flame Wall | |
Arcane Surge Support – Grants more Damage and some mana regeneration. Keep at Gem level 7 to trigger on every cast | |
Controlled Destruction Support – gives a lot of Damage at the cost of Critical Strike Chance, which doesn’t affect us at all |
Fire Trap setup | |
Fire Trap – deals high impact damage, causes Ignite and leaves additional fire Ground DoT effect to supplement Flame Wall | |
Combustion Support – it will cause more fire Damage over Time and lowers Fire Resistances if we Ignite | |
Arcane Surge Support – Grants more Damage and some mana regeneration. Keep at Gem level 7 to trigger on every cast | |
Trap and Mine Damage Support – perfect Support Gem for any Trap skill, gives most Damage out of all early game Support Gems |
Auras setup | |
Anger – gives a big amount of flat Fire Damage to your Spells which tremendously helps with progressing the early acts | |
Determination – Grants a lot of flat base Armour Rating so you don’t have to worry about monsters with high Physical Damage during leveling | |
Clarity – helps with mana sustain during early levels, allowing for smoother gameplay especially if using 6 Link Setup |
Curse and Flame Dash setup | |
Flame Dash – this Skill is used to move faster and skip some pathways or rocks | |
Faster Casting Support – makes your Flame Dash and Flammability faster to use | |
Flammability – causes enemies to take more Fire Damage, and makes them easier to ignite |
Bandits:
Kill all three bandits and be rewarded with two additional Skill Points
Leveling Skill Trees:
33 Points Passive Tree
We recommend this order: 1) Fire Walker, 2)Heart and Soul, 3)Quick recovery, 4)Acrimony, 5) Elemental Overload, 6)Breath of Flames 7) Cruel Preparations
64 Points Passive Tree
Allocate 1) Holy Fire, 2)Purity of Flesh, 3)Sovereignty, 4)Divine Judgement, 5) Constitution 6)Ash, Frost and Storm
Recommended leveling items:
Le Heup of All – generic increased Damage, all Elemental Resistances and Attributes make this Ring one of the best ones to use during leveling | |
Adds 1 to 4 Physical Damage to Attacks +(10-30) to all Attributes (10-30)% increased Damage (10-30)% increased Rarity of Items found +(10-30)% to all Elemental Resistances |
Goldrim – this famous Helmet can be worn straight from level 1, providing a massive bonus to all Elemental Resistances | |
+(30-50) to Evasion Rating 10% increased Rarity of Items found +(30-40)% to all Elemental Resistances Reflects 4 Physical Damage to Melee Attackers Level Requirement reduced by 100 (Hidden) |
Tabula Rasa – has Six Linked Sockets, all colored white, so you can put any gem combinations without needing to spend Chromatic Orbs | |
Item has no level requirement and Energy Shield (Hidden) Item has 6 White Sockets and is fully linked (Hidden) | |
Perandus Blazon – an early game Belt that helps with Attribute Requirements and prolongs our Quicksilver Flasks | |
(15-25)% increased Stun and Block Recovery +(20-30) to all Attributes (6-8)% increased Quantity of Items found +20% to Fire Resistance 20% increased Flask Effect Duration -2 Physical Damage taken from Attack Hits | |
Rare Wand or Sceptre– look for one with the modifier “+1 to Level of all Fire Spell Skill Gems”. It will grant a boost to both Fire Trap and Flame Wall, and it is fairly easy to obtain even on early levels. Make sure to not mistake with similar “level of socketed skill gems” modifier | |
+1 to Level of all Fire Spell Skill Gems
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Berek’s Respite – adds high flat Fire Damage to Spells and gives unique way of spreading our Damage on enemies | |
+(12-16)% to Fire and Lightning Resistances Adds (20-25) to (30-50) Fire Damage to Spells and Attacks (25-30)% increased Lightning Damage +(30-40) to maximum Mana When you Kill a Shocked Enemy, inflict an equivalent Shock on each nearby Enemy When you Kill an Ignited Enemy, inflict an equivalent Ignite on each nearby Enemy | |
Wanderlust – decent bonus Movement speed and immunity to be Frozen. which is especially dangerous without proper Flask setup | |
+5 to Dexterity +(10-20) to maximum Energy Shield (20-40)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate 20% increased Movement Speed Cannot be Frozen |
4. Final Skill Tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon
Final Skill Tree:
95 Points Final Passive Tree (doesn’t include Cluster or Unique Jewels)
116 Points Path of Building (PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order:
- Shaper of Flames
- Mastermind of Discord
- Heart of Destruction
- Shaper of Storms
Pantheon:
Major God: Brine King: You cannot be Stunned if you’ve been Stunned in the past 2 seconds, Cannot be Frozen, 50% reduced Effect of Chill on you
Minor God: Soul of Shakari: You cannot be Poisoned while there are at least 3 Poisons on you; 50% less Duration of Poisons on You
5. Final Gems links
[DPS] Firestorm setup | |
Firestorm – Huge meteor falls from the sky dealing damage on impact, followed by smaller meteors. You can have up to 3 smaller storms at once | |
Deadly Ailments Support – increases Damage Over Time but reduces Hit Damage | |
Burning Damage Support – boost our Ignite Damage significantly | |
Unbound Ailments Support – increases Duration and Damage of our Ignite, as well as increases Effect of Shock | |
Cruelty Support – hitting with Spells grants Cruelty Buff, which increases Damage over Time effects | |
Swift Affliction Support – Ignite lasts shorter, but deals More Damage during that time |
[UTILITY] Auras | |
Anger – gives flat Fire Damage to spells to increase our Base Ignite Damage | |
Malevolence – an aura that boosts our Damage over Time Multiplier | |
Determination – Grants a lot of flat base Armour Rating and on top of that it provides a More Armour multiplier for easier scaling |
[UTILITY] Arcanist Brand setup | |
Arcanist Brand – a Brand that will cast utility Spells for you and apply a Curse linked to it | |
Flammability – a Curse that lowers enemy Fire Resistances | |
Flame Surge – creates Ground DoT dealing 25% of Ignite Damage applied to the hit enemy per second, and can’t Ignite by itself |
[UTILITY] Stone Golem setup | |
Summon Stone Golem – a Minion Spell that grants Health Regen as long as it’s summoned. You need to summon it manually. It will also apply Fire Exposure to enemies on hit | |
Meat Shield Support – gives Golem a chance to Taunt enemies on hit, making them deal Less Damage to You | |
Elemental Army Support – grants your Golem a chance to apply Exposure and massively increases golem Elemental Resistances | |
Minion Life Support – gives Golem more life making him more durable |
[MOBILITY] Flame Dash setup | |
Flame Dash – a Movement Skill used to move faster and skip some pathways or rocks and apply the Combustion debuff on Hits in this setup | |
Combustion Support – occasionally lower Enemy Fire Resistances if they happen to stand in your way | |
Faster Casting – speeds up cast time of Flame Dash |
[UTILITY] Molten Shell | |
Molten Shell – a Guard Spell that protects your Life Pool based on your Armour stat and explodes at the end, providing an additional source of Damage | |
Cast when Damage Taken – this will ensure you have your Guard skill always ready when in need. |
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6. Gear Setup
Our weapon of choice is The Martyr of Innocence Staff, providing a massive boost to our Fire Damage, and grating us Battlemage, which adds this weapon’s massive flat Fire Damage to our Spell Base Damage. It also provides us extra Block Chance, making us tankier. Another very important items are our gloves. Try to find ones with a specific Temple mod that gives extra Fire Damage against Burning enemies and apply the newest Flaming Exarch and Eater of Worlds influences to get crucial modifiers. Devouring Diadem Unique Helmet allows us to use 3 auras and cast spells using Energy Shield instead of Mana, which is very helpful but not required, the build works just fine without it. Berek’s Respite Unique Ring enables very unique mechanic of Spreading Ignite and Shock from dead enemies, making our map clear incredibly fast. Other than that, most of our items are Rare, focused mostly on getting high Life, Resistances, and meeting Attribute Requirements.
Our recommended items will:
- Cap your resistances at 75%
- Provide you with enough DPS and Life to start mapping
Stat priorities on items:
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(Helmet) Rare Helmet – before you acquire the Devouring Diadem, a Rare Helmet with high Maximum Life, Attributes and Elemental Resistances is more than enough | |
Min. requirements: +60% to Elemental Resistances +70 to Maximum Life +20 to Attributes Optional affixes: Nearby Enemies have -9% to Fire Resistance Armour | |
(Helmet) Devouring Diadem– this helmet paired with a Veiled mod ” 95% increased Duration of Ailments you inflict while Focused” is ideal for late game setup | |
+1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems have 25% increased Reservation Efficiency Trigger Level 15 Feast of Flesh every 5 seconds (180-220)% increased Energy Shield 10% chance for Energy Shield Recharge to start when you use a Skill Eldritch Battery Veiled Suffix 95% increased Duration of Ailments you inflict while Focused | |
Helmet enchantments: 40% increased Firestorm Damage | |
(Weapon) Martyr of Innocence – this weapon gives so much damage only the best Rare item could outperform it, at the cost of not giving a 30% Chance to Block Attack Damage this staff provides. Look for the highest Fire Damage roll since it’s going to be added to our Firestorm Damage | |
+18% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff Grants Level 15 Vengeance Skill +(12-16)% Chance to Block Attack Damage while wielding a Staff 100% increased Fire Damage Adds (350-400) to (500-600) Fire Damage Battlemage Damage Penetrates 15% of Fire Resistance if you have Blocked Recently Immune to Freeze and Chill while Ignited | |
(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour – a Body Armour with a lot of Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances and Attributes is enough for most content | |
Min. requirements: +120 to maximum Life +70% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: You can apply an additional Curse | |
(Boots) Rare Boots – try to get at least 25% Movement Speed paired with good defensive options | |
Min. requirements: +70 to maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed +60% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: (8–12)% chance to gain Onslaught for 4 seconds on Kill (6–9)% increased Movement Speed if you haven’t been Hit Recently Cannot be Chilled | |
(Gloves) Rare Gloves – You can start with very basic ones but try to look for a special Temple modifier that grants additional Fire Damage against Burning enemies, and use Eldritch influences to gain very convenient modifiers | |
Min. requirements: +60 to maximum Life +40% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: 50 to 80 added Fire Damage against Burning Enemies Inflict Fire Exposure on Hit, applying -11% to Fire Resistance (Searing Exarch) Ignites you inflict spread to other Enemies within a Radius of 12 (Eater of Worlds) | |
(Belt) Rare Belt – Preferably a Stygian Vise base, but any good rolled will do. Aim for high Maximum Life, Elemental Resistances, and Attributes | |
Min. requirements: +100 to Maximum Life +80% to Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: % Increased Maximum Life Attributes | |
(Amulet) Rare Amulet – on Rare Amulets, we can get very beneficial modifiers for our damage, although as usual Maximum Life and Resistances take priority | |
Min. requirements: +70% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: +1 to Level of all Skill Gems +1 to Level of all Fire Skill Gems +(15–26)% to Damage over Time Multiplier +(16–20)% to Fire Damage over Time Multiplier | |
Recommended Anointments: Dirty Techniques Searing Heat Discipline and Training Snowforged | |
Berek’s Respite – adds Flat Fire Damage to our spells and provides Ignite Spread upon killing Ignited Enemy | |
+(12-16)% to Fire and Lightning Resistances Adds (20-25) to (30-50) Fire Damage to Spells and Attacks (25-30)% increased Lightning Damage +(30-40) to maximum Mana When you Kill a Shocked Enemy, inflict an equivalent Shock on each nearby Enemy When you Kill an Ignited Enemy, inflict an equivalent Ignite on each nearby Enemy | |
(Ring) Rare Ring – At first the other Ring can be just a Rare Ring that helps with capping your Elemental Resistances and boosting maximum Life | |
Min. requirements: +80% to Elemental Resistances +60 to Maximum Life Optional affixes: Curse Enemies with Flammability on Hit Attributes | |
Polaric Devastation – this very unique Ring allows us to Cover Enemies in Ash for 5 seconds, increasing their Damage Taken and slowing them down | |
(15-25)% increased Elemental Damage (15-25)% increased Global Critical Strike Chance +(20-40)% to Fire Resistance +(20-40)% to Cold Resistance (10-20)% increased Duration of Ailments on Enemies Left Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Ash for 5 seconds when you Ignite them Right Ring slot: Cover Enemies in Frost for 5 seconds when you Freeze them | |
(Jewel) Rare Jewels – increase your Maximum Life, Burning Damage, and Fire Damage over Time | |
Recommended affixes:
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(Jewel) Forbidden Flame and Flesh – a very potent combination, but can be hard to acquire. Bastion of Elements is our recommendation since it provides Elemental Reflect Immunity | |
Allocates <<Random Ascendancy Notable>> if you have the matching modifiers on Forbidden Flame/Flesh Good Notables: Bastion of Elements Malediction Profane Bloom | |
(Jewel) Watcher’s Eye – any build can make use of those. In this build, Anger and Malevolence are the most potent ones, with increased Fire Damage while affected by Anger offers the highest DPS boost | |
(4-6)% increased maximum Energy Shield (4-6)% increased maximum Life (4-6)% increased maximum Mana <Two or Three random aura modifiers> Recommended Aura mods: Increased Fire Damage while affected by Anger Damage over Time multiplied while affected by Malevolence | |
(Jewel) Large Cluster Jewels – you can find some of the most powerful Notables on a Large Cluster Jewel, consider taking two if you can find decent ones. Best Jewels have 3 Notable Passives and a maximum of 8 Added Passive Skills | |
Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Sadist 1 Added Passive Skill is Disorienting Display 1 Added Passive Skill is Prismatic Heart 1 Added Passive Skill is Smoking Remains 1 Added Passive Skill is Cremator | |
(Jewel) Medium Cluster Jewels – together with Large Cluster Jewels, Medium ones have pretty interesting modifiers. Look for at least 2 Notable Passives, with a maximum of 5 Added Passive Skills | |
Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Smoking Remains 1 Added Passive Skill is Cremator 1 Added Passive Skill is Blowback 1 Added Passive Skill is Fan the Flames (if you don’t have gloves implicit) 1 Added Passive Skill is Cooked Alive 1 Added Passive Skill is Brush with Death | |
(Jewel) Small Cluster Jewels – those are very flexible as they can provide big damage or Life boosts, depending on your preferences. Fettle is the best maximum Life source achievable in Jewels | |
Recommended affixes: 1 Added Passive Skill is Fettle 1 Added Passive Skill is Brush with Death 1 Added Passive Skill is Evil Eye 1 Added Passive Skill Lord of Drought | |
(Flask) Cinderswallow Urn – gives us extra speed in form of Onslaught and a big damage boost if we Ignite during Flask Effect | |
+90 to Maximum Charges Recharges 5 Charges when you Consume an Ignited corpse (175-200)% increased Charges per use Enemies Ignited by you during Flask Effect take (7-10)% increased Damage Veiled Suffix <One of the three modifiers> | |
Suggested Flasks:
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If you have any other build requests please leave that in the comments below. We are always open to suggestions and constructive feedback.
Pictures used in this article are the intellectual property of Grinding Gear Games.
[3.10]Zombies/Skeletons Necromancer Summoner Build – Odealo’s Crafty Guide
One of the most powerful and budget-friendly Summoner builds in Path of Exile
Updated for Patch 3.10
The Best Crafty Guides by Odealo
Estimated budget: medium
Guide notes |
March 24, 2020 -Updated for Patch 3.10 |
Patch 3.8 introduces major changes to Minion-related Skill Gems, Necromancer’s Ascendancy class, and the entire Summoner build archetype gets a major rework. The major flaw of all Zombie/Skeleton builds lied in the Minions clunky behavior and how inconsistent their DPS is, lowering your clear speed and Boss farming potential. Removing those downsides were one of the main parts of Patch 3.8, putting this build in the highest Tier of builds. At the same time, this build requires no specific Uniques, making it a perfect pick for a Starter build as well.
You can also check our other Path of Exile builds in this article: Best PoE Builds by Odealo
1. Gameplay
This is a typical Summoner type of build that relies on your Minions to deal insane amounts of damage and protect you from threats. Summon Skeleton Spell is used to summon Skeleton Warriors which deal massive Melee Damage, and by using Feeding Frenzy Support Gem, we make them more aggressive, which increased the radius at which they detect enemies and your overall clear speed. On the other hand, Zombies are used as Meat Shields, which linked to a Support Gem that shares the same name, makes their behavior Defensive and causes them to prioritize enemies near you, with a chance to Taun them on Hit. To further increase our defenses we rely on high Life pool, Mind over Matter Passive, and Plaguebringer Passive. This build also offers quite high Physical Damage mitigation for a Witch character
This video was recorded on a level 92 Necromancer on Standard Softcore in Patch 3.9
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2. Build’s PROS & CONS
PROS |
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CONS |
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3. Leveling tips
The entire leveling as a Summoner is a piece of cake. This build relies on Skill Gems and Passives for the damage, so you shouldn’t have any problems progressing through the campaign regardless of your equipment. Initially, this build may feel slow, so we suggest using Summon Raging Spirit initially, and switch to Summon Skeletons when you start mapping. Below you will find the recommended Gem setups for the leveling phase, and low-level Unique Items that are cheap and extremely useful on lower levels.
Suggested leveling Gem setups:
Raise Zombie | |
Raise Zombie – you will get this Gem right after you finish the first Quest and enter Lioneye’s Watch. Zombies are used to tank monsters right from the start and deal a moderate amount of damage | |
Minion Life Support – core Support Gem for Zombie Minions | |
Fortify Support – increases your Zombie’s defenses, as well as grants them a powerful defensive buff |
Summon Raging Spirit setup | |
Summon Raging Spirit – your primary DPS during the leveling phase. They seem to do better at lower levels in terms of clear speed when compared to Summon Skeletons | |
Melee Splash Support – a mandatory Gem for leveling fast when using Raging Spirits | |
Minion Damage Support – grants more Minion Damage to your Raging Spirits |
Bandits:
We recommend killing all the Bandits for two additional Passive Points
Leveling Skill Trees:
37 Points Skill Tree
Priorities: 1) Lord of the Dead 2) Enduring Bond 3) Quick Recovery 4) Spiritual Command 5) Death Attunement
61 Points Passive Tree
Priorities: 1) Redemption – Spiritual Aid – Righteous Army 2) Gravepact 3) Purity of Flesh
Recommended leveling items:
Sidhebreath – the single best leveling Item for this Summoner build. It grants very high Minion Damage and Movement Speed bonuses and helps you greatly with Mana Management on lower levels | |
(20-30)% increased Mana Regeneration Rate +25% to Cold Resistance 0.2% of Physical Attack Damage Leeched as Mana Minions have (10-15)% increased maximum Life Minions have (10-15)% increased Movement Speed (15-10)% reduced Mana Cost of Minion Skills Minions deal (10-15)% increased Damage |
Praxis – if you are having problems with your Mana when spamming SRS you should consider getting this Ring. It greatly reduces Mana Cost of Spells and increases your Mana and Mana Regeneration Rate | |
+(20-25) to maximum Mana +(30-60) to maximum Mana (3-6) Mana Regenerated per second -(8-4) to Mana Cost of Skills 8% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit |
Reverberation Rod – a very decent low-level pick for the weapon slot. It gives your SRS setup a level 1 Spell Echo which causes more Spirits to be summoned with each cast | |
(15-19)% increased Spell Damage +1 to Level of Socketed Gems Socketed Gems are Supported by level 1 Spell Echo +(10-30) to Intelligence |
Victario’s Flight – grants very high Movement Speed bonus both to you and your Minions | |
+15 to Dexterity +15 to Intelligence (100-150)% increased Evasion Rating 5% increased Movement Speed (5-10)% of Damage taken gained as Mana over 4 seconds when Hit 10% increased Movement Speed 10% increased Movement Speed for you and nearby Allies |
4. Final Skill tree, Ascendancy Points, and Pantheon
Final Skill Tree:
116 Points Final Skill Tree
116 Points Path of Building(PoB) link
Ascendancy points:
Preferably in that order:
- Mindless Aggression
- Unnatural Strength
- Plaguebringer
- Bone Barrier
Pantheon:
Major God: Soul of the Brine King You cannot be Stunned if you’ve been Stunned or Blocked a Stunning Hit in the past 2 seconds
Minor God: Soul of Gruthkul 1% additional Physical Damage Reduction for each Hit you’ve taken Recently up to a maximum of 5%
5. Final Gems links
[DPS] Vaal Summon Skeletons | |
Vaal Summon Skeletons – allows you to summon Skeletal Warriors for a duration which are your primary source of DPS. The Vaal part of the skill should be used for extra burst against Bosses | |
Minion Damage Support – increases your Minions DPS greatly | |
Feeding Frenzy Support – increases your Minions DPS and makes them more aggressive which increases your clear speed even further | |
Fortify Support – grants a high DPS bonus to your Skeletons. In our setup, this Gem appeared to give the best results, though you may do better with Maim or Awakened Multistrike | |
Melee Splash Support – grants a splash effect to your Skeleton’s Melee Attacks | |
Melee Physical Damage Support – increases your Skeleton’s Melee DPS |
[UTILITY] Raise Zombie | |
Raise Zombie – used as Meat Shields to soak up damage and taunt enemies that get close to you | |
Minion Life Support – increases your Zombie’s Life | |
Fortify Support – increases your Zombie’s damage and grants them a powerful defensive buff | |
Meat Shield Support – makes your Zombies defensive and reduces their damage taken | |
Optional Gems: | |
Feeding Frenzy Support – you can replace Meat Shield if you have over 1,000 Strength so that your Zombies are more “active” in fights and Leech more Life for your character |
[UTILITY] Flesh Offering and Flame Dash | |
Flesh Offering – increases your Minions Attack, Movement, and Cast Speed | |
Flame Dash – recommended Movement Spell which increases your mobility | |
Faster Casting Support |
[UTILITY] Convocation and Desecrate | |
Convocation – recommended Mobility Spell used in this build. Each cast will also trigger Arcane Surge | |
Desecrate – creates a pile of Corpses which you can use for Flesh Offering and to summon Zombies | |
Faster Casting Support |
[CURSE] Punishment | |
Cast when Damage Taken – used to automatically cast the linked Curse whenever you take a certain amount of damage. Use a level 10 CwDT Gem | |
Punishment – the recommended Curse for this build which grants your Minions greatly increased Physical Melee Damage and Attack Speed |
[UTILTY] Immortal Call/Carrion Golem | |
Cast when Damage Taken Support – will cast supported Spells when a certain amount of damage is taken by your character | |
Immortal Call – reduces your Physical and Elemental Damage taken for a short duration | |
Increased Duration Support | |
Summon Carrion Golem – grants your Minions added flat Physical Damage making it the best Golem for a Summoner character |
[UTILITY] Hatred | |
Hatred – the recommended Aura for this build which grants additional Cold Damage to all your Minions. You should Support it with Generosity for increased effect | |
Generosity Support – increases the effect of supported Auras, but makes it apply only to your Allies/Minions and not your character |
[UTILITY] Aspect of the Avian | |
Aspect of the Avian – grants very high Movement Speed and DPS bonuses to your Minions. You need to have it beastcrafted on one part of your rare equipment and it requires you to wear the Saqawal’s Nest Unique Body Armour |
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5. Gear Setup
Below you will find the recommended gear for this Zombie/Skeleton Summon build. As mentioned earlier, it can be played with any rare gear, so you can replace any Unique item listed with pretty much anything you want.
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Our recommended items will:
- Cap your resistances
- Give you enough DPS/Life/Mana to start mapping successfully
Stat priorities on items:
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(Helmet) The Baron – mandatory Helmet for this setup. This build will work without it, though our Skill Tree is heavily oriented on using Baron to maximize your Minions’ DPS and grant us extra Leech from Zombies | |
+2 to Level of Socketed Minion Gems +(20-40) to Strength Minions have 20% increased maximum Life Half of your Strength is added to your Minions +1 to maximum number of Raised Zombies per 300 Strength With at least 1000 Strength, 2% of Damage dealt by your Raised Zombies is Leeched to you as Life | |
Helmet enchantments: Flesh Offering grants an additional 21% increased Attack Speed Skeletons deal 40% increased Damage | |
(Body Armour) Saqawal’s Nest – works great with the Baron as it grants the highest possible Strenght on the Body Armour slot. It also allows us to use Aspect of the Avian for various bonuses to our Minions | |
+(25-75) to all Attributes +(30-40)% to Lightning Resistance (10-6)% reduced Mana Reserved 100% increased Aspect of the Avian Buff Effect Aspect of the Avian also grants Avian’s Might and Avian’s Flight to nearby Allies +(120-150) to Evasion Rating and Energy Shield | |
(Body Armour) Rare Body Armour – preferably an Elder base with level #1 Maim Support and increase to the level of Support Gems. This can be the BiS item for your Summon Skeletons, but at the same time, it can cost quite a bit | |
Min. requirements: 85 maximum Life 40 Strength Optional affixes: Elemental Resistances +1 to Level of Socketed Support Gems | |
(Weapon) Convoking Wand – the new Wand type introduced in the Blight League which can have new Minion-related modifiers. Should be dual-wielded for the best performance | |
Min. requirements: Cast Speed +1 to Level of All Minion Skill Gems Minions deal increased damage Optional affixes: Minions have #% increased Movement Speed Strength | |
(Boots) Alberon’s Warpath – grants the highest possible Strenght bonus, making it much easier to reach 1000 Strength for extra Leech (and 1200 for the extra Zombie) | |
Adds 1 to 80 Chaos Damage to Attacks +(180-220) to Armour +(9-12)% to Chaos Resistance 20% increased Movement Speed +1 to maximum number of Skeletons (15-18)% increased Strength | |
(Boots) Rare Boots – preferably Elder base with the extra Fortify Support for your Raise Zombie setup | |
Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 25% increased Movement Speed 35 Strength 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Socketed Gems are supported by level # Fortify | |
Boot enchantment: Regenerate 2% of Life and Mana per second if you were Hit Recently 18% reduced Mana Cost of Skills if you’ve been Hit Recently | |
(Belt) Rare Belt – preferably Stygian Vise for the extra Abyssal Socket. You can also use Studded Belt for maximum Strenght bonus | |
Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 70% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Strength Armour Rating Chaos Resistance | |
(Amulet) Rare Amulet – with the highest possible Strenght bonus | |
Min. requirements: 70 maximum Life 60 Strength Allocates Ravenous Horde/Death Attunement Optional affixes: Attributes Elemental Resistances Mana/Mana Regeneration Rate | |
(Rings) Rare Rings – with high Life, Strength, and Elemental Resistances bonus. | |
Min. requirements: 65 maximum Life 45 Strength 85% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Grants Level 20 Aspect of the Avian Skill | |
(Gloves) Rare Gloves – mainly for defensive stats | |
Min. requirements: 80 maximum Life 40 Strength 80% Total Elemental Resistances Optional affixes: Grants Level 20 Aspect of the Avian Skill | |
Glove enchantment: Commandment of Frost | |
Efficient Training – socketed right above Witch’s Starting point, it will grant over 110 Strength bonus | |
+(16-24) to Strength Intelligence from Passives in Radius is Transformed to Strength | |
(Jewels) Rare Abyss Jewels – since Skeletons gain 50% more added Damage, I would recommend getting Abyssal Jewels over the regular ones | |
Recommended affixes: maximum Life Minions deal additional Physical Damage Optional affixes: increased Minion Damage if you have used a Minion Skill recently | |
(Flask) Rumi’s Concoction – grants bonus Armour Rating and Block/Spell Block chance, giving you extra defenses and Mana Regeneration Rate thanks to the Mystic Bulwark Passive | |
+3000 to Armour +(14-20)% Chance to Block Attack Damage during Flask effect +(6-10)% Chance to Block Spell Damage during Flask effect | |
Suggested Flasks:
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