Moro's immolating dead- a cheap, newbie friendly detonate dead/summoner hybrid

Keep in mind that this build is a work in progress


This build is a cheap, effective way to clear maps in both softcore and hardcore. It uses zombies and spectres for extra damage and support, and still retains the ability to do massive damage yourself. At the same time, there are a lot of things you can do with this, and it is easy for you to explore summoning at endgame without worrying that your DPS will be trash.

I created this build while theorycrafting a minion instability build for a friend. that build ended up not being viable, but this one resulted from it. I initially started as a templar, which you will see in the videos, but I later discovered that shadow or scion would be a better choice (they both get about 40% more life than my templar did with the same number of points, and more damage as well).Feel free to give me any feedback or ideas on how to best optimise, improve the build or guide, I am always open to suggestions

while I link and talk about many uniques in this guide, none of them are actually required. However, they will improve your game.

Pros/cons

Pros:
-cheap
-beginner friendly
-good clear speeds
-makes use of both minions and self-casting
-can clear maps even if minions all die
-can clear maps exclusively with minions
-can do all map mods, including -max double reflect
-many options for tweaking to your liking
-hardcore viable
-easy to get set up at endgame
-does not require a 6-link

cons:
-very socket-heavy
-a little squishy against phys without lightning coil or cloak of defiance


How the build works
The passive tree largely scales fire damage, which works very will with minions that deal fire damage, as well as detonate dead. Detonate dead scales its damage largely from the corpses of enemies, and will have roughly the same clear speed as you progress to higher level maps, but suffers in the early game.

Detonate dead is the main source of damage. You cast Desecrate on the ground, which summons corpses up the the maxiumum level of the area, then cast detonate dead, which ignites all the enemies on the screen. if you curse these enemies with ele weakness and flammability, they die very fast, sometimes instantly, and even bosses will die in short order.

The minions are capable of doing a great deal of damage themselves, and the zombies serve as a distraction and tank for damage. by right clicking you can order them into a room of devourers or beyond demons, and follow things up with a nice explosion. They can also deal with pesky ele reflect that often kills detonate dead users. When your char is in the 80's your spectres and zombies should be capable of wiping out an entire map without you touching a single mob, though thigns iwll go much faster if you do.

combined, these make a powerful combination.


Skill tree
https://poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgYARXzlGbQ4-_WXl1VLjDZh4iaVpLHljp1jXfIOSOOENj1sjJ2qYqwRln_GJ6l-WcHzoqOCHtsLlSAtH0yzl5VSUz1fbRmX9Aj0wFRqQ7zqBAeD2zpYVcasmPFsNPchsJeFLpQ22CqNSRvsVffXj0aboacIGmydrhZvuJPr7ij6gsf56Lc-QYckqjbp42r-Cti9EmkYZXF5FxzZCyqY-oBr28y8hWCqxE25RATT-xNsBklqrKasiECQM9rdNZIHHprgRZ1TUpUu8NX-j6ZXTeM64UlR6-RfKg==

you could also opt to start as a scion, witch, or templar if you desire, but I found shadow to be the most efficient.
Bendits

Normal- Help Oak

Cruel- Kill All

Merciless- Kill All

additional passive options
Depending on preference, you could grab a couple aura nodes, inner force, or more max mana/mana regen. I found that I didn't need very many, and clarity was able to easily solve any mana issues I had. You may need to take more dex or str nodes (such as coordination) from the tree if your gear does not have enough on it. You can also head down to iron reflexes if you prefer, though it will likely cost some minion and damage nodes. In addition, you can grab "whispers of doom" for the additional curse to double or triple curse.


Gem and spectre Setup


Detonate dead:
5l: Detonate dead - fire penetration - elemental proliferation - increased AOE - concentrated effect

Spectres: depends on the spectre. feel free to play around a bit.
Undying incinerator 5l: raise spectre - minion damage - concentrated effect - minion life - greater multiple projectiles

Auras: use what you feel you need at the time. I find purities or clarity to be the best option.
Reduced mana - purity of elements - vitality
is my current setup, but feel free to use clarity, other purities, or whatever you have/need.

Zombies:
Raise zombie - Added fire - minion damage - melee splash or minion life.
I chose added fire over multistrike because this build mainly scales fire damage, but I am unsure of the best zombie links for this at this time.

Desecrate:
this is used to generate corpses for detonating and summoning zombies/spectres. If your desecrate is too low of level, use it in a +1 gems item with empower, such as a supreme truth.
I currently use Desecrate - Spell echo, as with spell echo you get a "free" cast that does not use one of your charges.

Curses:
I use Flammability and Ele weakness. they are not linked to any support gems due to lack of space.

Cast When Damage Taken:
this is a must-have for defense.
CWDT - enduring cry - immortal call - increased duration.

Other useful gems
Convocation is great for keeping your minions where you need them to be, and grants them health regeneration.You could use Flesh offering or Bone offering to buff your minions if you desire, but I feel that they aren't needed in this build due to the high damage output.


Spectres
the spectre of choice for this build is the Undying Incineratior, found in the crematorium. He throws fire bombs and fire traps that scale extremely well with this build. The crematorium is a little low of a level, so the incinerators you find there will be a little squishy in 72+ maps, but you can often find more very easily in the Arsenal map. Just cast desecrate on the ground in those ares until the corpses appear, no need to do much running around.

Another very good spectre is the Flame sentinel, which can be found by casting desecrate a few times int he Eternal laboratory or in the solaris temple.

Whenever you find a good spectre in a higher map, make sure you raise it as a spectre there. the higher the level of area you create it, the more damage and health it will have.



Defensive options


I don't currently have a lightning coil to link, but I believe that the coil is the best option out of these. I prefer carcass jack for softcore due to the massive AOE increase for my prolif, but for hardcore or serious mapping you may want a tankier option. Cloak of defiance users will need more mana and regen from the tree for it to be effective, and most likely a good ES shield as well. a rare chest will work perfectly fine, but you will need to be careful (not that you ever shouldn't)


Gearing

Rings/amulets:

One ring should be a Mokou's Embrace to get that ignite chance. with a perfect mokous and the tree, our detonate dead will have 30% ignite chance, removing the need for a chance to ignite gem. the other should have life, resists, mana regen, and possibly dexterity if you need it. Same goes for the amulet. I opted for an unset ring for the extra socket.


Helmet:
this is a matter of preference. I like Rime Gaze due to the extra ES for EB and built in conc effect, but you could also go for a +2 minion helm, skullhead, or any other helm that you like.

Gloves:
Life, resists, dexterity

Boots:

Windscream or bones of ullr, if you can manage an amulet with +1 curses, then bones or life/res/movement boots are best.

chest:
matter of preference. The best defensive option is lightning coil, but you can use pretty much anything you want. as a Rime Gaze helmet provides all the links we need for detonate dead, this doesn't even need to be a 5l chest, but the more sockets the better, you will end up using every one of them.

Belt:
either a belt with high life and resists or a Doryani's Invitation (fire)

Weapons/Offhand:
These are a matter of preference as well. I like using a Doryanis catalyst and a Mon'treguls Grasp, but you could easily opt for any combination of weapon and shields. You could use a basic fire damage scepter + shield, or a midnight bargan+shield for example.

Flasks:
Use whatever you need to. I use quicksilvers for travel, flasks that heal minions, resistance flasks, remove bleed flasks, granite flasks. it all depends on the situation an your playstyle.

bare minimum
if you are on a fresh character or just don't have much, just make sure you grab key gems as soon as you are able to find them. Use gear with as much life as possible while keeping your resists capped, and try to get hold of a 5l chest. use either two fire damage scepters or a fire damage scepter + shield. if your catarina is high enough level you can craft additional zombies on your chest or fire damage leeched as life on your scepters. You really don't need much to get the build going.


My Gear


My detonate dead is still somewhat low leveled, but works perfectly fine. The zombies are also a bit low. if I were to re-do my gear I would choose to put my detonate dead in the rime gaze, and the spectres in a 6l chest.


How to Level
Start out with your choice of fire trap, flameblast, or Searing bond. any combination of these makes it very easy to level to endgame. You will not be using detonate dead until much later, after you level up desecrate and get a 5-linked piece of gear, and minions will not be used muchuntil endgame either, though you could opt for raise zombie as a nice distraction.

however, you should always keep your minion gems, detonate dead, desecrate, and any other gems you will need in your swap-slot or spare gear slots to level up.

good links for leveling:
flameblast - chance do ignite - fire penetration - faster casting/spell echo

fire trap - increased burn damage - increased AOE - concentrated effect

searing bond - increased burning damage - (optional)remote mine/trap

a Searing touch or +level of fire gem wand/scepter will greatly speed your leveling.

Bendits

Normal- Help Oak

Cruel- Kill All

Merciless- Kill All


passives every 10 points

Keep in mind this is a general guide, you don't need to follow it precisely.













past this you should be able to to figure out what you need.




Useful Uniques



Rime gaze is a 1 chaos item. it acts as a 5 link and more mana for eldrich battery. I highly recommend this item as it frees up space for spectres in your chest.


This provides ignite chance starting at the very early game. It is the closest to being required for the build and is also a 1 chaos item.



This provides all the links you could ever need. its great for playing around with spectres.



This provides the additional curse that is very helpful for getting more burn damage.


these provide a good source of elemental damage and provide ele leech to both you and your minions.


this makes your zombies very tanky

Midnight Bargain: this reserves your life, but gives you more spectres and zombies.


these are all a great choice of offhand for leveling or endgame, if you don't want to go with dual scepters.

The Supreme truth: this unique is a mini version of Doryani's Catalyst, and provides +1 gems which is great for leveling and for putting Desecrate in.


This will propel you through your levels very easily. it is not needed at endgame.


Lifesprig is pretty much one of the best items for leveling next to Searing Touch. you can get it for a chaos easily.


Goldrim will help keep your resists up all the way to endgame.


Additional minions


more minion survivability

I will add more uniques as I remember about them.


Videos
Will have more soon. Keep in mind that in these I am a templar instead of a shadow and my tree is inefficient compared to my new one, so I am missing around 40% increased life from the tree.


74map -max double reflect
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qrGxhQ1QZbU
used minions only in this, would likely one-shot myself otherwise.
Last edited by mardukthewolf on Sep 21, 2014, 6:16:41 PM
Thanks man, this is an interesting build. Do you still play it?
Fire damage from the tree does not effect minions. The only nodes that effect them are specific nodes that say minions.

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