Alpha's Howl + Evasion/Life based Summoner! OP auras!
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So I haven't seen a build exactly like the latest one I'm playing so I decided to make a thread.
Basically, this build has one very important item: and one important keystone: Elemental Equilibrium, coupled with Arc or other lightning spell. Concept: Usually, when people think of summoner, they think of summon boosting items like Midnight Bargain. Or maybe the magic finder character who is not gear dependent. Those are valid approaches, but I'm more interested in boosting the damage of my zombies through auras. In my experience, with two damage auras, zombies clear maps much faster. Faster clear times = more loot = more efficient use of playtime. This build is designed to clear quickly and efficiently. But what about Elemental Equilibrium? Surely minions don't interact with that node? No, they don't, what happens is that you spam Arc which gives enemies -%50 fire and cold resist, and you exploit that with your two cold and fire damage auras on your minions, which don't flip the equilibrium back. It's similar to the Elemental Weakness curse, but doesn't count as a curse, never drops off of the enemy, and can have things like Culling Strike attached to it. So the core of the build is Anger + Hatred + Generosity + Reduced Mana in an Alpha's Howl, supported by Arc + Elemental Equilibrium, which you spam more-or-less continuously. Now, if you follow the rest of my build, you will end up with 5 auras: Anger, Hatred, Grace, Purity of Elements, and Clarity. But, that part of the build is very gear-dependent. The most important part is the Alpha's Howl + Elemental Equilibrium. More specifics:
Build
Level 80 Build Projected Level 90 Build My goal with this build was to be able to run 5 auras (with Prism Guardian + Alpha's Howl), to boost those auras, and to take all minion nodes (except aegis). Additionally, since Alpha's Howl has nice evasion, and we are running Grace, it makes sense to pick up some of the evasion boosting nodes to help our own survivability. With this build, your life will be lower than other builds, especially if you run Prism Guardian as I chose to do. At level 80, I have 3500 max life, 3100 after life reserved for Purity + Clarity. This is not a huge problem for summoner, as you won't get hit often, but I would still take all life nodes once you establish the aura and minion nodes (around level 75). Note that I did not take any curse nodes. With this build, they are not needed. Packs will die before enfeeble expires. Most bosses will too. There are some situations, for very difficult bosses like Torture Chamber boss, or Jungle Valley, where a second curse might come in handy, but it is not worth the points in my opinion.
Mechanics + Play style
Auras
Anger + Hatred: Self-explanatory, they exploit the elemental weakness produced by spamming arc + elemental equilibrium.
Purity of Elements: Along with minion nodes, caps minion resistance. Also very useful for the player as it lets us budget less resistance on our gear. Clarity: Allows spamming Arc continuously. Grace: Additional minion survivability. This, coupled with Enfeeble and the life leech from the talent tree, will make your minions practically immune to melee packs and bosses. It will also help your own survivability considerably.
Utility Spells
Rejuvenation Totem: Counts as an aura, and is boosted by aura nodes. If you see minion life dropping (usually due to elemental damage), drop a rejuv totem and it should counteract the damage they are taking in most situations. This is much better than the Vitality aura as it does not reserve any mana and heals for about 5 times as much.
Flesh Offering: Boost clear speed by about %100. Usually not needed for normal packs. But if you encounter several packs at once, or for some bosses, can be very helpful. Desecrate: Supports Flesh Offering, allowing you to drop corpses to activate it. Also is useful for raising more zombies if some die, and for initially raising your army. Enfeeble: Our curse. Decreases damage done to your minions. Cast it when you engage packs.
Spectre
Evangelist. Generally regarded as the best all-around spectre, since it offers both good damage output and utility with it's proximity shield effect. It fits our build here too, since it deals physical and fire damage, both of which are either boosted by our auras or combo with equilibrium.
Play style tips
1. Cast Enfeeble when engaging packs.
2. For small packs, spam arc. For large packs, consider casting Flesh Offering, then spamming Arc. 3. If you see minion life dropping, drop a Rejuv totem. 4. For bosses, drop a desecrate and rejuvenation totem a few yards away from the boss. Then, cast enfeeble to engage the boss, and then a flesh offering.
Weaknesses of the build
Minions are weak against chaining or piercing projectiles, especially if combined with some kind of damage boosting effect. When rolling maps, try to avoid chaining and, to a lesser extent, multiple projectile mods.
Some map bosses are tough for summoner builds: Jungle Valley, and Torture Chamber for example. This is usually due to our weakness against projectiles.
Gems + Gearing
Current Gear (Torment League)
About Prism Guardian: You can either run Prism Guardian as I'm doing and run 5 Auras, or not run Prism Guardian and run 4 Auras. Without Prism Guardian I would remove Grace. About Belly of the Beast: A problem with this build, especially towards the end of merciless, is the lack of life nodes. Belly of the Beast does a lot to make up for this with it's large life bonus. It's also easy to roll BRRG which are our core zombie link colors.
Explanation of gems + links
Alpha's Howl: Generosity + Anger + Hatred + Reduced Mana. Core to the build.
Weapon: Arc + Culling Strike + Rarity. For better loot. Some use weapon switch for cull, but I prefer using it for leveling gems. Chest: Raise Zombie + Melee Splash + Multistrike + Faster Attacks + Rarity/Added Fire Damage + Rejuvenation Totem. Zombies are very fast and I can't always get a cull in, so I put rarity here. If you want to maximize damage instead, added fire damage is probably the best choice considering our use of elemental equilibrium. Shield: Reduced Mana + Clarity + Purity of Elements. L10 Clarity + Purity of Elements only reserves %11 of life, a fair trade I think. Gloves: Reduced Mana + Enfeeble + Grace + Flesh Offering. Flesh Offering + Enfeeble are our core utility spells, along with Rejuv Totem. Grace + Reduced Mana constitutes our 5th aura. Boots: Raise Spectre + Spell Echo + Increased Duration + Increased AoE. For Evangelists, our Spectre of choice. Ring: Desecrate. Utility.
How to gear (priority)
1. Try to get as much +life as possible in every slot where it's possible. 2. Then, get enough resistances to cap your resists after Purity aura. 3. You will need some +mana, since we don't have much from tree. 4. Try for %20 or more increased cast speed from items, since we have none from the tree. 5. You will need some + Strength and + Dexterity on items. The more, the better, since it will save you skill points.
Leveling as a summoner (tips!)
Skill tree progression (specific to this build):
1 2 3 4 5 General summoner leveling tips: 1. Until about mid-late cruel difficulty, you will need a damage dealing skill to support your minions. Something that can output good enough damage without being supported by the passive tree and only takes 3-4 links. I suggest: a. Spark + Chain + Faster Projectiles b. Incinerate + Added Chaos/Lightning Damage + Faster Projectiles c. I hear bear trap or searing bond can also be good (but have not personally tested) 2. Low-level uniques can provide a good boost. Crest of Perandus + Sidhebreath + Nomic's Storm + Perandus Blazon are some of my favorites. 3. Link Minion Life to Raise Zombie as soon as possible (first available at level 12). Ideally you want a 3 link with Minion Life + Added Damage (Fire Preferred). And after level 19, Raise Zombie + Minion Life + Melee Splash + Multistrike. 4. Run a damage aura starting as soon as possible (level 10 minimum). Preferably Hatred. 5. Level 19 is important because both Rejuvenation Totem and Curses become available. These will greatly help your summons. 6. Skelebrotem should use used during leveling. This is Spell Totem + Raise Skeleton + Increased Cast Speed/Added Fire Damage(or similar). Not available till level 31. Use this whenever your zombies are dying too fast.
FAQ
These are made up FAQ questions but things I'm anticipating people might ask:
Q: Why not 5 or 6 link Spectres and 4 link Zombies? A: This is totally valid but doesn't seem necessary to me. Q: Where is Atziri video or Dominus video? Is this a build for high level maps? A: I've never made it past level 74-75 maps. I get bored with map progression and roll a new character. I am not as hard-core as some I suppose (despite nearly 600 hrs playtime). Q: This build is similar to every other summoner. A: Well, yes, it is, but I didn't see one exactly like this so I made a thread. I have seen where some summoner builds used an Alpha's Howl, but none were really based around it like this build is. I have also not seen a build take advantage of Generosity aura, despite it seeming to be made for summoners. Any questions, attention, or criticism appreciated. |
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Why are there no comments on this build. It seems like it would be extremely viable if minions do enough damage.
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I have never before played a minion build, but I am thinking of getting into using minions.
I plan to do a slightly different setup than yours, and so I came up with this tree: tree what do you make of it? I got more life, less evasion, replaced starting nodes with Scion's resistances for easier gearing and changed some pathing to get more strength Finally, would this build work with Animate Weapon as my primary minion? I rather like that skill :P EDIT: Also, how is the situation on mana for summons? I reckon I would need to cast more frequently if using Animate Weapon... Last edited by Kalciphoz on Feb 28, 2015, 5:28:46 PM
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Using alpha's howl means that you cant use a +2 minion helm. Which you will need at high lvl maps as your zombies will be easily slaughtered without the life and armour. If you are thinking of using gears which help your auras, maybe you can consider dying breathe? But then u lose the shield.
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If you want OP aura for OP minions, going low life is a better choice
IGN TylordRampage
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Hello, can you post some pics on your stats as well as pic of you while running all auras? or atleast can you post some vids running 70 maps? i'm interested on this build. First time playing as summoner though. Hoping for fast reply! thanks
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