[3.2] Spectral Tactician Necro Up To 223 SRS!

The SRS the tactician summons is regarded as his minions, not yours. This means that you can not support the SRS with any passives. The only way to directly boost the damage of the SRS is with auras, some support gems, and curses.

By investing in auras we can scale the SRS damage to acceptable levels. My build uses Victario's Influence with Wrath, Hatred, Anger, and Haste. Discipline and Clarity will give 3% attack speed each as well. Vaal haste is used for tougher situations. Furthermore we use Animate Guardian to provide Dying Breath, Leer Cast, and Victario's Flight.

Support gems are tricky as some will work and some wont. The obvious melee supports such as melee splash, melee phys, and elemental damage with attacks will not work. However, gems such as minon damage and minion resistances which provide more damage for minions will. This can be tested in PvP against an opponent with 0 armor and fire resistance.

I use dual curses, Poacher's Mark and Elemental Weakness, to make the SRS have more accuracy and to scale with the added elemental damage from the aura's further.

We can also indirectly increase our DPS by making the tacticians summon faster. Linking them with Faster Casting and Spell Echo will make them reach 25+ SRS extremely fast. Furthermore Increased Duration will make the SRS last longer.

Because none of the ascendancy bonuses other than Commander of Darkness apply to the SRS, Guardian would be another class that might be good for this build. I mainly chose Necro because of its defensive properties both to yourself and your minions. If you do choose Guardian you'd have to find another way to cap your Zombies' resistances without Commander of Darkness.

The tacticians are very tanky thanks to our passives and have excellent AI which will move them out of range for most enemies. They only die against high DPS enemies such as t15 bosses. The aggro range of tacticians is slightly longer than that of SRS so you will have to use convocation frequently.

Because we aren't able to link the SRS with melee splash the damage is quite bad for multiple enemies. I have extreme difficulty with large packs and encountering a high map tier Abyss or Breach is almost certainly a death sentence.

However, damage is quite decent against single targets. Most bosses melt under the damage of 100+ raging spirits. I have noticed against some of the smaller bosses that the spirits on the outer edge of the surround will not be able to hit because there are so many of them.

Note that the tactician's SRS will do 64% of their original value and use the pre-2.5 version of SRS which give them 30% less added damage. From what I can tell the level of SRS they cast is equivalent to the tactician's monster level. This means that a lv84 tactician will use a lv27 SRS gem.

The above information is incorrect. I've since done some proper testing to better understand how the SRS work and how to build around them. All tests were done with 0 Armor and 0 Fire Res. 0 Lightning/Cold Res and aura modifiers when applicable. Averages are done from a sample of 15 or more hits.

Determining Base SRS Damage and Levels

Test 1
Grand Promenade (Monster Lv56)
SRS Avg Dmg: 162.5

Test 2
Grand Promenade (Monster Lv56)
75% Fire Res
SRS Avg Dmg: 99

Because SRS have 50% Phys to Fire they will do 25% of half their Dmg.

Test 3
PvP Arena
Lv12 Desecrate (Corpse Lv56)
Lv11 Raise Spectre (0% More)
SRS Avg Dmg: 173

The damage of Spectres are close enough to that of the monster's to determine that the damage in PvP is not changed.

Test 4
PvP Arena
Lv1 Desecrate (Corpse Lv20)
Lv11 Raise Spectre (0% More)
SRS Avg Dmg: 18.5

Test 5
Western Forest
Lv20 Desecrate (Corpse Lv100)
Lv20 Raise Spectre (10% More, Monster Lv83)
SRS Avg Dmg: 622

Done using PvP during Bandit Quest. Because the Spectre Gem gives a 10% more modifier we divide the Avg Dmg by 1.1. This brings the true value of the SRS base damage at Lv83 to 565.

Conclusion

It appears that PoEDB entries for both the Tacticians and SRS are correct. The SRS damage is multiplied by 0.64 of the gem's. The values for the Lv83 Spectre do not fall in line with the other two. I could do more testing to find out exactly what's going on but there wouldn't be much point as the SRS damage wouldn't change anyway. Just know that higher monster level = better damage.

Monster Lv20 Spectre uses a Lv4 SRS gem.
Monster Lv56 Spectre uses a Lv14 SRS gem.
Monster Lv83 Spectre uses a Lv22-23? SRS gem.

I could also just be wrong in my assumption that the Tactician's SRS is based on the gem. When testing how much HP the SRS has at Lv56 it had around 3.5-4k, far larger than the gem's.


Determining Aura Damage

Test 1
PvP Arena
Lv12 Desecrate (Corpse Lv56)
Lv11 Raise Spectre (0% More)
Lv20 Hatred (36% Extra Cold)
SRS Avg Dmg: 223

By taking our previous value of 173 and multiplying it by 1.36 from the gem it becomes 235 which is close enough to our tested values.

Test 2
PvP Arena
Lv12 Desecrate (Corpse Lv56)
Lv11 Raise Spectre (0% More)
Lv19 Anger (+103 Avg Fire)
SRS Avg Dng: 271

Like before our previous value of 173+103 from Anger becomes 274 which is very close to the tested values.

Test 3
Western Forest
Lv20 Desecrate (Corpse Lv100)
Lv20 Raise Spectre (10% More, Monster Lv83)
Lv20 Wrath (+132 Avg Lightning)
SRS Avg Dmg: 742

Our previous value of 622+(132*1.1) = 767. The multiplication is from the Spectre gem. Although the value is a bit higher than the estimate the damage range of Wrath is extremely large.

Conclusion

The Tactician's SRS, unlike the gem, does not suffer from 15% less added damage. The .64 Tactician multiplier only applies to the base damage and not added damage. Hatred will give the largest damage boost, followed by Wrath, and lastly Anger. However because of the Phys to Fire damage conversion, Lightning will be the element that does the least damage so that's why we use it for Elemental Equilibrium.


Calculating the Overall Damage

Here are the formulae to calculate each damage type. These use Lv21 Auras (20 + 1 from Victario), Lv20 Spectre and Minion Damage Gems, and Lv83 Spectres.

(Commander of Darkness + Dying Breath + Leer Cast + 1)((Spectre Gem + 1)(Minion Damage Gem + 1)) = Multiplier

(Base Damage / 2)(Multiplier) = Physical
(Base Damage / 2)(Multiplier) = Fire

54% Aura Effect from Tree + 15% from Vicatrio's Influence +49% from Lv30 Generosity = Aura Effectiveness

(Base Damage)(Hatred * Aura Effectiveness + 1)(Multiplier) = Cold
(Wrath Avg)(Aura Effectiveness + 1)(Multiplier) = Lightning
(Anger Avg)(Aura Effectiveness + 1)(Multiplier) = Added Fire

(.30 + .18 + .15 + 1)(.10 + 1)(.49 + 1) = 2.67 Multiplier

(585 / 2)(2.67) = 781 Physical
(585 / 2)(2.67) = 781 Fire

(585)(.36 * 1.18 + 1)(2.67) = 1226 Cold
(142)(1.18 + 1)(2.67) = 826 Lightning
(118)(1.18 + 1)(2.67) = 687 Fire

781 Physical
1468 Fire
1226 Cold
826 Lightning

4301 Total Hit Damage

Keep in mind that the SRS will most certainly hit more than this value because it doesn't account for curses or Frenzy Charges (if you get a Chieftain Spectre).

To calculate DPS you'd need to know the base attack speed for the SRS and increase it based on the attack speed.

(SRS APS)[(1 + ((Haste + Vaal Haste)(Aura Effectiveness + 1)) + Frenzy + Commander of Darkness)] = Attacks Per Second

(2.63)[(1 + ((.17 + .31)(1.18 + 1)) + .45 + .18)] = 7 APS

Final DPS (4301)(4) = 17228 DPS
Final DPS w/ Frenzy (4301*1.12)(5.2) = 25049 DPS
Final DPS w/ Frenzy and Vaal Haste (4301*1.12)(7) = 33719 DPS

The actual DPS should be lower because of resistances and evasion. I'm not sure how implementing curses will affect these numbers as there are a lot of other factors.

Some stuff may be wrong as I am no maths major.

There are none.

Take Arakaali and Shakari. Chaos damage is our greatest fear because we don't use Shav's. Currently I have 52% chaos res and it gives me more than enough time to use a life flask against chaos damage.

The tree is a mess. Prioritize getting jewel sockets first. If you plan on taking it past 91 you can get more ES nodes.

I sacrificed around 700 ES getting Herd of the Flock, Minion Regeneration, and Puppet Master. If you feel like you need more ES you can grab the nodes instead of going to that cluster.

Animate Guardian should have Dying Breath, Victario's Flight, and Leer Cast to give auras to your SRS. I use Ambu's Charge and Southbound for the other slots.

Because we are a hybrid build with a small life pool you want to get at least 50% chaos resistance (75% with Arakaali vs DoT). For rare gear get as much ES and chaos res as you can.



Summon Raging Spirit | Spell Echo | Melee Splash | Minion Damage

I chose the Vertex because of the chaos res, ES, +1 gems, and reduced mana cost. It works perfectly for SRS and our low mana. A rare helmet is also a good choice. Animate Weapon may be a better option but we lack the duration nodes.

I'm not sure about needing this 4L altogether. I may replace this with zombies.



Raise Zombie | Animate Guardian | Fortify | Minion Life

Rare gloves with resistances and stats for requirements.



Bladefall | Curse on Hit | Elemental Weakness | Poacher's Mark

Bones of Ullr for the +1 Spectres and Zombies. Use Ball Lightning or Arc if you don't have a lightning damage jewel for EE.



Haste | Hatred | Anger | Wrath | Vaal Haste | Increased Duration

Victario's Influence. You can use a second Vaal Haste if you have the hotkey for it.



Summon Stone Golem | Clarity | Blood Magic

High ES shield with chaos and ele resistances. Blood Magic is needed to have enough mana to cast spells.

I use Stone Golem for extra regen. Lightning Golem would be good for the Storm Nimbus aura it gives but the AoE is tiny, it adds 4-33 at lv20, and it's a 12s CD with 4s duration. Chaos Golem might be good but I think Stone Golem is better for all around situations.



Desecrate | Convocation | Spirit Offering

If you can get cull on the wand that'd be great. They aren't that expensive to buy either.



Discipline

Preferably in a +3 Unset Ring with ES and resistances.



Raise Spectre | Minion Damage | Spell Echo | Increased Duration | Faster Casting

If using a 4L take out faster casting. You can use an Elder Helmet with Minion Damage mod or Shaped Gloves with Faster Casting to create a 5L instead. You will lose an extra 4L but gain a ring slot. The Hungry Loop isn't required and perhaps isn't preferable when resummoning spectres.



Rare amulet with ES, res, and stats. A Presence of Chayula would probably be better if you can handle the stats on the other gear. The huge boost to chaos res, stun immunity, and extra ES are perfect for the build.



Rare Stygian Vise. Darkness Enthroned would be better if you get really good jewels.


This build uses 10 abyss jewels. I'd add chaos resistance to the list but they are extremely expensive and getting your elemental resistances is difficult as it is. Getting as much minion regen as you can will help greatly with the survivability of your other minions but it's hard finding jewels with the right mods. Priorities from greatest to least are:

-Attribute Requirements
-Overcapping (109%) Resistances
-Energy Shield
-Minion % Regeneration

In addition you will need:

-Lightning Damage with Spells (for EE unless you want to use Arc/Ball lightning instead of Bladefall)

If you want to live dangerously you can use Spirit Offering as a crutch and only partially overcap (79%). You'll have to keep it up all the time in ele weakness maps without a warding flask though.

With a little more investment and a little less SRS you can use Animate Weapon and a Carnage Chieftain. I recommend using this build over the pure SRS one as it offers much better map clearing. This is the build I currently use.



Animate Weapon | Melee Splash | Spell Totem | Minion Damage

An enchanted Vertex with either Hatred, Haste, Anger, or Wrath. This will allow us enough mana to cast an Animate Weapon Totem. It will have the default 37.5s duration but we aren't relying solely on them so it's okay. Alternatively you can 5 link your auras with a lv4 Enlighten if you don't want an enchant. You will still need the Vertex to make the mana cost manageable though.



Blood Magic | Summon Spectre | Clarity

We will use this to summon one Carnage Chieftain. It will give frenzy charges to both our SRS and other Minions. Blood Magic is linked because the mana cost of his frenzy spell is apparently pretty high. We will lose a tactician but I feel the frenzy charges are worth it. Spell echo works visually but it will still only give 1 charge.

Thanks to CoolColJ for the ideas.

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