{3.10} Speaker for the Dead | The Mass Minion Summoner | League Starter, Leveling Guide 💀

@ everyone:
Last night I ran Red Elder. His guardians took 50 seconds each to kill. They're so short I'm thinking I should put them all together into a compilation video. Elder spawned on Acid Lakes, so T14. His normal phase took 12 seconds. He got off one Ice Spear cast and then tried to Siphon me, dying before it completed. During the Captured Phase (triggered when he has 25% life) his portals died within seconds. His Unstable Phase got off one Ring of Death before he died. Total fight length was 1 minute and 50 seconds.

I had loaded up on defenses, taking Enfeeble instead of Projectile Weakness, Temporal Chains corruption w/ +1 curse amulet, and even trading out GMP for Fortify on Charged Dash. Turns out I didn't need any of that, Elder died too fast.

I just need to decide if I want to add music or not before I upload.

---

@ Slicester:

"

Slicester escribió:

I'm looking at your leveling plan in google docs.

I think I'm at Act 1 - 9, I just finished the prison.

Can you explain what the text means on lines 8/9? I don't understand Zombies - Minion Damange | Holy Relic - SPoK - Minion Damage etc.

I can raise Zombies and Skeletons now, but I'm not sure what/where Smite, Shield Charge, Flame Dash, Melee Splash, Holy Relic, and Spok are.

They are skill and support gems.

SPoK is an acronym for Summon Phantasms on Kill. When a gem is first introduced on the list, I have it colored based on its gem color and use its full name, but after that I shorten the name to an acronym to save space. As you can see later down the line it starts to get very crowded. So if it's an acronym in black text, that means it has already been introduced earlier and there's no change.

Some gems are not sold by Nessa ("Buy items", second tab) until you complete certain side quests. Holy Relic, for instance, requires you to complete Mercy Mission. Other gems are not available to the Witch from any vendor until Act 3's Siosa and Act 6's Lily. The only way to get these gems before then is to buy them from other players, or luck out in finding them (such as a Gemcutter's Strongbox). I will be explaining each gem's availability in the Leveling Guide more thoroughly soon. Sorry, that's why the guide is still only 70% complete! In the meantime, if you're having trouble finding any gem, look it up on the PoE Wiki. A search on Google for "poe holy relic", for example, will return the first result from the wiki.

---

@ Schnubbel_:

"

Schnubbel_ escribió:

Love the build :p died at shaper on a fun try but im still underleveled, gonna try again with some more lvls :)

Did you run out of portals? =o(

@ everyone:
New Betrayal League announced! Banners, Brands, and Winter Orb look potentially interesting for the build. My hope is on War Banner. We would have to drop CWDT+Spirit Offering to fit anything new in, unfortunately. Will have to wait on the numbers and skill effects to see whether any of these are worthwhile.

Solstice Vigil amulet looks great with its free Temporal Chains aura, but would require 2 sockets to set up.

All but Zana of the current Forsaken Masters are disappearing. Will they show up as Syndicate bosses? In any case, if you never listened to all the dialogue from the masters, this month will be your last chance to do so in-game!

---

@ Slicester:

"

Slicester escribió:

I know my minions are the primary source of my damage but does it matter much what my primary spell damage is in the beginning?

I have spells for Fire, Cold, Arc Lightening, and Contagion

I really prefer using Contagion because I put a DOT on a group of monsters and then kite around while my minions finish them off. I don't need to stop and target something to throw a fireball at it or whatever.

And I'm wondering too if it's ok to experiment with some of the currency that modifies your items now or wait until later when I get better gear? A kind traveler gifted me with some items when I was starting. You can see my current equipment here: http://poe-profile.info/profile/slicester/Dalofry

Thanks!

Feel free to experiment with any spells along the way. Minions got your back. In the end, as long as you're having fun, that's what matters. For many, leveling by going as fast and efficiently as possible is a challenge they enjoy tackling, and that's what most leveling guides will target as the goal. But you're under no obligation to stay on that blazed path. Just refer back to it if you ever get lost.

As for currency, yes, you can use it, but with a few exceptions. You don't want to ignorantly waste the rarest currency, like burning a winning lottery ticket. For example, in Standard League, a Mirror of Kalandra is worth 31,549 Chaos Orbs. An Exalted Orb is worth 116 Chaos Orbs. You can check currency values here: poe.ninja. These ultra-rare, high value currencies are not something you want to spend without knowing their worth. (FYI, these values are what they're worth to other players, based on rarity and usefulness, aka supply/demand, not what an NPC vendor will pay you)

While leveling, if you want to use a Transmutation Orb, Alteration Orb, Augmentation Orb, or Chance Orb, these are all very plentiful and cheap currencies. Go wild!

An Alchemy Orb is where value starts mattering, which at endgame are mostly used to enchant normal maps into rare maps. I'm actually running low on Alchemy Orbs right now, in fact. They are usually worth around half a Chaos Orb.

Chaos Orbs are the baseline currency all others are measured against. It is the main currency used in trades. You can think of it like a dollar bill, with lower currencies being cents. Most things cost one or more dollars, and no one likes being paid in pennies.

In short:

• Never use a Mirror of Kalandra or Exalted Orb unless you absolutely know what you're doing.
• Save Chaos Orbs and anything worth multiple Chaos Orbs, like Vaal Orbs, until you grasp their best uses.
• Spend Alchemy Orbs frugally while leveling. They're fairly plentiful, but you'll want them for maps later on.
• Spend Transmutation, Augmentation, Alteration, and Chance Orbs as needed. These are not only very plentiful, but also have few uses and so they quickly stockpile.

As for Jewelers, Fusings, and Chromatics, because you will often be replacing gear while leveling, limit your spending of these currencies. Early on, it is better to buy a normal fully linked item from a vendor and use an Alchemy Orb than it is to try using Jewelers and Fusings on a nice rare item.

You should also be aware that independent of an item's Required Level, it has a hidden Item Level. Holding down ALT will show it to you. This Item Level is usually the same as the level of the zone it dropped in, but there are cases where it can be higher, such as a +2 to Item Level Strongbox. Item Level restricts the highest tier of affixes the item can roll, and limits how many sockets the item can have. Vorici's crafting bench can circumvent this limitation, however. Read more here. The takeaway here is you do not want to keep throwing Jewelers on a piece of gear with a low item level, because it cannot have the normal max sockets for that gear slot.

Coloring sockets is weighted by the stat requirements of that item. It is easier to roll blue sockets on an Intelligence item, green sockets on a Dexterity item, and red sockets on a Strength item. The reverse is also true: it is much harder to roll off-color sockets. If you need 4 blue sockets on a Strength/Dexterity item, it will eat up an obscene amount of Chromatic Orbs. In the case of off-coloring like this, it is better to use the Vorici crafting bench trick, since you only roll the color of one socket at a time.

---

@ Yloss:

"

Yloss escribió:

Can't believe it ... as six socket got Blue (!) Red and again Blue (!)
Almost used 2k Jews and now broken .. just my luck lol

Edit: Bought 2200 more jews ... nothing, again Red and Blues lol

Are you saying for the 6th socket you have only rolled blue/red 12 times in a row? That is frighteningly abysmal luck! Were you by any chance recording it?

"

Hercanic escribió:

---

"

Yloss escribió:

Can't believe it ... as six socket got Blue (!) Red and again Blue (!)
Almost used 2k Jews and now broken .. just my luck lol

Edit: Bought 2200 more jews ... nothing, again Red and Blues lol

Are you saying for the 6th socket you have only rolled blue/red 12 times in a row? That is frighteningly abysmal luck! Were you by any chance recording it?

Unfortunately not recorded but i'm gonna record the next tries (gonna burn a couple more ex just for the sake of it .. luckily it's season end)
Streak was blue - red - blue - blue - red - red netting (350*6) 2100 + (70*6) 420 = 2520 jews just for the 6th socket.
Just my luck ... hopefully paid in advance for next league hehe :P

playing this in private league with hard mods and actually charging with shield charge into mobs isn't good for my health. Can this build played with "I stay behind" type of gameplay? Or how do I reroll? First time playing summoner.

Thanks in advance.

GUIDE UPDATE
New video! Red Elder, on a T14 Acid Lake. Fight starts at 0:27. The music synced up so nicely I didn't want to cut the beginning. Fight ends at 2:17. After that I just mouse-over all my gear.

12 seconds for Normal Phase (0:27 - 0:39)
79 seconds for Captured Phase (0:49 - 2:08)
9 seconds for Unstable Phase (2:08 - 2:17)


Art by R X

@ divinity:

"

divinity escribió:

playing this in private league with hard mods and actually charging with shield charge into mobs isn't good for my health. Can this build played with "I stay behind" type of gameplay? Or how do I reroll? First time playing summoner.

Thanks in advance.

Of course you can! I made note of playing defensively at the bottom of the "Concept Overview" section.

Blade Flurry can be subbed in if you find Charged Dash too risky. If you watch the new Red Elder video, though, you can see an advantage to Charged Dash: I was able to easily escape Elder's Siphon!

You can also use a channeled spell, like Blight for its strong Hinder, or even directly cast Ball Lightning. You won't be able to Bleed, so Bloodlust would need to be changed out, but this doesn't matter much if you're only leveling. Holy Relic also won't trigger unless you Shield Charge, so bear that in mind.


I used this when I first started Delving. Knockback, Spell Echo, and Slower Projectiles on self-cast Ball Lightning basically bulldozed everything into the wall and kept them there.


I used this one for some early mapping. Faster Projectiles lets you cover the screen very quickly with self-cast Ball Lightning.

Self-casting will run into a bit of mana trouble if you try to spam, which is why I first started to investigate Cast While Channeling for the build.

---

@ Yloss:

"

Yloss escribió:

Just my luck ... hopefully paid in advance for next league hehe :P

Equivalent exchange, right? =o)

I hope my Red Elder video gave you some ideas to help conquer it deathless! You can swap your curse to Enfeeble or Temporal Chains, and replace GMP with Fortify on a second set of gloves to up your tankiness.

"

Hercanic escribió:

---

"

Yloss escribió:

Just my luck ... hopefully paid in advance for next league hehe :P

Equivalent exchange, right? =o)

I hope my Red Elder video gave you some ideas to help conquer it deathless! You can swap your curse to Enfeeble or Temporal Chains, and replace GMP with Fortify on a second set of gloves to up your tankiness.

Ok i finally did it but i had 1 more blue before my sixth green lol ;)
Now on to six link it :P

Ultracool video! Very motivational :D

I'm getting absolutely destroyed by t3 bosses sadly. I know i don't use skeletons but.. My zombies also getting killed constantly

4L spectres can kill. Can i build the same build but that spectres can damage? I play private league so can't buy really anything.

Maybe i'm doing something wrong?

@ divinity:

"

divinity escribió:

I'm getting absolutely destroyed by t3 bosses sadly. I know i don't use skeletons but..

4L spectres can kill. Can i build the same build but that spectres can damage? I play private league so can't buy really anything.

Maybe i'm doing something wrong?

Your resists are too low. Monsters in your private league deal 30% of physical as extra Fire, Cold, and Lightning (nearly doubled damage!). You only have 55/35/60% fire/cold/lightning resistances.

You don't need to use a claw if you aren't using an attack. Any one-handed melee weapon with a high attack speed will do for now, especially if it has resistances on it!

Your Agony Crawler is level 8, compared to your level 18 Zombies. Level that up! Ball Lightning is not hooked up to Poison, so you're only getting 20% chance to poison from the Herald itself. Against packs this will be enough, but not against bosses.

You really want to use Skeletons and the Bone Sculptor ascendancy. They are your boss-killing skill, the main thing you're having trouble with. Their damage is simply far and above any other minion on a Necromancer.

Aim for another ~250 flat life across all your gear and jewels. You want to hit at least 2k flat life by level 90.

My recommendation:

Move Blight and Desecrate to your weapon swap. Move Hatred to the open slot in your boots where Desecrate used to be. Remove the Ball Lightning and Curse setup. Now your helmet is clear for Skeletons + Minion Damage + Melee Physical Damage + Vile Toxins (1R1G2B).

Move Raise Zombie and Herald of Agony to the claw (yeah it sucks on weapon swap outside of town, but you normally won't be needing to do that). Drop Maim. Drop Bones of Ullr for a pair of rare boots with good movement speed (25-30%), resistances, and life --> in that order of priority. Color it 2R1G1B. Move Spirit Offering + CWDT from your gloves to these new boots. Add Hatred with Generosity to the boots as well. Drop Immortal Call and Stone Golem.

Recolor your gloves to 2G2B. Move Ball Lightning to them and add Cast While Channeling, Blade Flurry, and Poison.

Swap out Minion Damage on your Spectres (Skeletons can take care of it in the meantime) with Elemental Proliferation for your Frost Sentinels and Phantasms.

What does all this accomplish? It will cap your resistances (going from 50% to 75% doubles your effective life vs. that element, so it's hugely important to your survival), increase your movement speed so you can dodge better, protect you with proliferated freezes, increase your cast speed on Ball Lightning through Cast While Channeling so you are stationary for less time, give you single-target damage sorely missing with Skeletons and a fully-stacked Agony Crawler, give you Life on Hit from Blade Flurry and your claw (which is why we need Generosity so Hatred doesn't affect it, while also boosting Hatred from 36% to 51% more damage), and constantly trigger Holy Relic for regen for the whole family.

What about what we got rid of? You don't need Blight unless you want to pair it with Cast While Channeling, but Blade Flurry is better as it'll reliably trigger your Holy Relic. Desecrate is really only for raising up your Spectres, so keep it tucked away. Use corpses on the map to restore Zombies. Immortal Call is decent, but Spirit Offering is already fulfilling part of its role. Choose one or the other. You lose Enfeeble but gain Freezes for clear and DPS for bosses, which should be better overall. You lose one Spectre, but remember this isn't a Spectre build. They are utility clear, and you need boots that don't absolutely suck in all categories (7% movement speed is just painful to even look at).

Hope this helps!

thx!

Ball Lightning is not hooked up to Poison - but i'm using "chaos to spells gem" it isn't enough? What I read in build guide

For the res, maybe i just was changing gear, my res are capped ofc.

After changing what you said first 2 things.

I still get killed, now 6 times on T4 map.

If ele prof would freeze, but it's just barely slows enemies, temporal chains or enfeeble is much better. And without enfeeble too many one shots.

But i'll level all gems and give it another try. If not, just would go to tabula 6L spectres for killing. Idk, but vaal skeletons are slow also, and for the skeletons you need to summon them for 1, not for me.

I really put 10 hours to play t4 and t5 maps, now i have 50 chaos of currency but chaos spam didn't do anything good to me. I was leveling from 72 to 73 for 8 hours, cause dying sometimes all 6 times at t5 maps also delve is impossible beyound 65 lvl monsters. Dunno what to do.

My items: