[3.5] Righteous Commander of the Legion of Purity - Melee/Summoner, high life & regeneration

The Righteous Commander of the Legion of Purity

"
I do not fear an army of lions led by a sheep. I fear an army of sheep led by a lion.
- Alexander



Tank/Summoner with a LOT of extras. This build destroys Delve, the Temple of Atzoatl, Einhar's hunts and is more than capable of farming the Uber Lab. He has taken the Shaper and Uber Atziri as well. Just a heads-up, this build is not really cheap. That said I almost never max out the potential of a build so it could have been a lot more expensive. I really enjoyed this one though, and have not seen another like it, so I thought I would share. Maybe someone out there can refine this guy, or maybe I will some day, who knows?

The idea was to make a non-witch summoner using some of the newer content from Delve League. The build uses 3 Stone Golems, 2 Holy Relics (via Geofri's Legacy), 1 Animated Guardian, 5 Sentinels from Herald of Purity and up to 13 Sentinels from Dominating Blow. Not only a respectable army but it's just the beginning. Movement with Consecrated Path makes short work of most maps. Life at 6.5k with 1.5 life regeneration (even more with Time of Need ascendancy buff) coupled with 78% cold and lightning resistance and 86% fire resistance makes him pretty tanky. This guy runs really well with righteous fire, but it isn't required.

This is my first build submission. I hope you like it. And before you ask, no, I am unlikely to post any videos. Thanks for asking though.

Pros:
Spoiler
Decent life with high regen
Uncapped elemental resistances
Constant Onslaught
Can run 4 auras and Righteous Fire
large number of extra bodies to take hits for you
Fast map clear speeds
Can run on very low mana


Cons:
Spoiler
Not the cheapest
Needs mana reservation assists from passives and Enlighten


Build Tree (level 90):
Spoiler
https://www.pathofexile.com/fullscreen-passive-skill-tree/AAAABAUDAAQHBLMI9AxfEFERLRGOFCAWbxcvGFYaOBpsHKcc3CSqJSEnLyqYLJwxnjLRNZI26TpYOsY64TwtQWlBh0PIRUdFnUqfTLNMuU3jTwRQR1NSU6VVxlXWWfNboF8qXz9g-GTnZlRmnmdxZ5toZWh0aPJqQ2vbcg9yqXasd-V8DnyDfNl99X5sgKSA4IKbg1-DzIPbiECJvI8akDOQVZRvmE2a4JswnEqg5qIAplemrKcIp1Wqqayqrj63PrzqwGbE9sauz37QH9dq2L3aYtrd42rkUeRV6hjr5Ovu7IrvDu_r8B_yRfPd9zL46_no-tL-Cv6P?accountName=SamualBlackstaff&characterName=Raymond_of_St_Gilles

Explanation & Key Passives:
Spoiler
This build is not very high in dexterity. As such something had to give or he would never hit anything. I chose Resolute Technique (all the way to the west between Inquisitor and Marauder) to make up for it. I could have used Lycosidae and kept the option for critical hits, but it sacrifices all the benefits of Ahn's Heritage. Read on for the recommended items.

Spiritual Aid and Spiritual Command are the best thing GGG has done for summoners in like... ever... Seriously. Even non summoner builds can easily take advantage of the massive damage and attack speed bonuses this allows. It really made this build possible.

It is absolutely required that 6 empty passives are taken to allocate the needed jewels for this to work. I suppose you could make due with only 1 stone golem and slot jewels for life and regen. It would add some additional survivability I suppose.

The rest is mainly life and regeneration. If I were to run this build to 100th level I would go for Master of the Arena and Golem's Blood south of the Duelist starting area by removing two of the 5% life passives near Constitution. Path of Building tells me that would have given me 7.2k life and 1.8k regen. Not too shabby.


Ascendancy:
Spoiler


Guardian
1st - Time of Need
2nd - Radiant Crusade
3rd - Unwavering Crusade
4th - Bastion of Hope

The first three ascendance are really primary to this build. Honestly the last is not. Could have just as easily gone with Harmony of Purpose.


Bandits:
Spoiler

I killed them all for the +2 passive skill point. I could see helping Oak though for the +1% life regen.


Pantheon:
Spoiler

Minor - Tukohama for sure, with the Soul of Tahsin, Warmaker for the extra regen.

Major - Lunaris for mapping, Solaris for stronger bosses.


Gems/Links:
Spoiler

Dominating Blow, Multistrike Support, Maim Support, Melee Physical Damage Support, Ancestral Call Support

This combo works nice for clearing and building an army fast. If you are not going to run Righteous Fire, Damage on Full Life is a good thing to add here. I only had a 5L chest on this build. With a 6th link I would have used Elemental Damage with Attacks Support, which is a good substitute for Ancestral Call in Boss fights. Sentinel DPS is around 13k with their standard attack, which is no joke when there is a mass of them.

After running the numbers on Dominating Blow in this configuration, taking all other damage assets and buffs, the DPS is over 70k. That does not include what the minions (other than Holy Relics) are inflicting. There are higher DPS builds, but this guy does alright.

Herald of Purity, Anger, Enlighten Support

Gives us more minions, and makes them do more damage. These sentinels only do about 8.5k DPS with their standard attack, but have twice the life of the Dominating Blow Sentinels. No that life matters for disposable minions like these. A level 3 Enlighten is very helpful here. Without it we can't run all of our auras.

Summon Holy Relic, Vaal Righteous Fire, Elemental Focus Support

Useful, even if you don't run the non-Vaal version of Righteous Fire. We gain two Holy Relics from Geofri's Legacy, the fated version of Geofri's Crest. The Holy Relics can be made stronger with other spell support gems instead of using Righteous Fire. Personally I enjoy the constant damage aura. In this configuration the relics add about 12k DPS to Dominating Blow but in an area, which is nice.

Summon Stone Golem

This is a lone gem in a socketed ring. I was using the Redblade Band for a while, but I needed resistances. The extra 3 levels from the Redblade Band just don't matter. These guys only do about 6.5k DPS, but as it stands they have 20k life. It is pretty rare that I see them go down and if it happens it is only one of them. They regen pretty fast, faster if the Holy Relic buff is active. I never have to worry about them. I keep 3 active at all times with an Anima Stone and 3 Primordial Jewels socketed into the passive tree.

Animate Guardian, Fortify Support, Minion and Totem Elemental Resistance Support, Minion Life Support

This guy provides additional buffs for you and your army. The set-up is to optimize his survival. I general run nothing but unique weapons and armor on this guy. Once this guy is up in the levels he is nearly invincible. If I am worried I just "unsummon" him buy removing the helmet. Take a look at the item section to see what I use, and some optional items. I keep this socketed in my helmet, which gives +1 level to socketed gems. He has around 35k life, 2k regen and maxed resistances I have never seen him go down in a fight. Still, it is inconvenient to have him up and die on you so a bit of caution around the Ubers and in the Lab. We all know how rough the traps can be...

Shield Charge, Consecrated Path, Fortify, Faster Attacks Support

Your main means of locomotion. Consecrated path is amazing. Adds a significant amount to your life regen and does reasonable damage with a good area. It does about 22k DPS in this build. Regular use in a fight keeps Fortify on constantly. Does not help with strategic retreat though... That's what Shield Charge is for. Leap Slam is a fine substitute though.

Convocation, Cast When Damage Taken

For this build, there is no better option. Charge in and watch your army appear around you. It is really an awesome sight. Since this build is made for charging into the fray there is no time for all that self cast nonsense. This has saved my life more times than Immortal Call ever did.

Flammability, Blasphemy

Free with the Fire version of Impresence. Very useful in conjunction with Righteous Fire and Anger.

Purity of Fire

This is not a socketed Gem. I run the 25th level version from Doryani's Delusion. This is what helps pump my fire resistance to 86%. It also lets me run Righteous fire and still be able to regen life.


Items:
Spoiler
So yeah, this is a unique heavy build. Most of them are not that expensive. Some of them are.

Required Items:

Weapon:

This build does a reasonable amount of elemental, mainly fire, damage. This is definitely BiS for additional damage and leech. A good secondary consideration is Brightbeak. In fact Brightbeak is what I used for leveling this build.

Shield:

A key item to this build. Constant Onslaught and +3% to maximum elemental resistances with Fragility jewels is just awesome. The fact it has life too is just a bonus. Look for life and resistances while leveling.

Body:

As far as life armor is concerned I don't know of anything better that Belly of the Beast. Look for high life and armor while leveling. This is where your highest number of links are for Dominating Blow.

Boots:

Purity of Fire is one of the auras this build runs. This is what gives 86% fire resistance. Life, fire damage and 30% movement... what's not to love? If you can, get the Regen life and mana when hit enchant from the Lab. A good, and cheaper, substitute would be Redblade Tramplers. They are decent to level with as well once you reach the right level.

Helmet:

Another key item. Good resistences are a must. There could be better options with a good rare bone helmet, but the additional holy relic is actually pretty effective. Per Path of Building they add about 12k damage when I attack, and boost regen to my army and myself. A lot of people don't seen to like Holy Relic. I think it is a great addition to this build. If you can get the +1 Sentinal of Purity enchant from the Lab it is a very nice option.

Amulet:

Yeah. This is amazing for a lot of reasons. The Aura is a fantastic, and added life and regen. Seriously. This one is expensive though. A cheaper option is the physical version of Impresence, but the fire version is really BiS.

Jewels:

This is what gives me 3 Golems. I stated previously this is not a requirement, but it is an effective little group that helps ward damage off of you.

These are required for the Ahn's Heritage buffs to function at all times. I can't stress how useful a constant Onslaught is for a melee build. These are relatively inexpensive compared to the Primordial Jewels.

Current Items:
Spoiler



The remaining items, rings belt and gloves, are best used for resistances, life and regen if possible. Secondarily I look for physical and elemental (fire mainly) damage. I tend not to rely on potions, but they do come in handy. I just threw them in here in case anyone had any questions about what I was using.


Animated Guardian Items:
Spoiler

I think most Guardians are similar to this, with one exception. I use Gruthkul's Pelt (body), Southbound (gloves), Victario's Flight (boots), Dying Breath (weapon). All pretty much standard and designed to make the animated guardian survivable and provide some nice auras to you and your army. The last item I added was the Crown of the Tyrant (helmet). I might be a bit crazy for putting that on a guardian, but he has 35k life and regens 2k so... meh. I can say he has never died. If you want a less expensive (risky) option go for Leer Cast. The aura is not nearly as powerful as the Crown of the Tyrant, but if he dies you wont want to cry...

I Have been know to use Kingmaker instead of Dying Breath. The aura adds improved rarity on item drop and adds Culling Strike to all attacks. This is pretty powerful in combination with any summoner, more so with this build since every minion is melee and they tend to group up. This can be an expensive option, but not if you make it yourself...



If you have any questions or comments please post them here and I will try to get to them as I can. Thanks for taking a look at my first build guide. Stay sane exile.
Last edited by SamualBlackstaff on Jan 21, 2019, 4:58:45 AM
Last bumped on Jan 25, 2019, 9:50:20 PM
This is a really nice guide, but I still have a few questions.
1)Around how much did this build cost for you?
2)Could you explain how you leveled this build, in terms of items, skills, and passive tree progression?
3)How good is the mapping experience?
4)How hard are the Guardians/Shaper fights?
This looks really cool. Minions and RF. Can't get any better than that. Great job!
https://www.ForeverExiled.com/: Forever Exiled, A Path of Exile Podcast

Annnnnd

Wrecker of Days' One-Stop-Shop: Stress-Free Builds (& Filters): 1-Button, HC SSF, Item Freedom: https://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/3467875
"
This is a really nice guide, but I still have a few questions.
1)Around how much did this build cost for you?
2)Could you explain how you leveled this build, in terms of items, skills, and passive tree progression?
3)How good is the mapping experience?
4)How hard are the Guardians/Shaper fights?


Thanks. I'll try to answer these.

1) I only spent around 3 exault, maybe a bit more. Like I said, I never really push a build to its limit. I'm sure a 6L belly of the beast would have added a lot more.The most expensive pieces were the fire based Impresence and the anima stone. Percent based life regen items seem to be expensive. The Helmet was one I made from a Geofri's Crest and the Bishop's Legacy prophecy. That made it a bit less expensive.

2) I leveled the build with molten strike and zombies until 28th level, then switched to dominating blow. I used Brightbeak for a very long time. Works really well for this build. Went to Spiritual Command, then Spiritual Aid on the tree. Then I went to Resolute Technique and focused on the open slots for jewels. Life and life regen came after that.

3) This guy maps fast. Consecrated Path is at about 3 per second with this build. Even faster with Brightbeak. This gets you into the middle of a group and you can just unleash with dominating blow and watch an army form around you. I was running T15 maps with very little issue. He can't do no regen maps at all but can do elemental reflect maps, though not well with RF active.

4) Guardians were not too bad, when they got swarmed it was kind of fun to watch. Shaper was a bit slow though. I didn't use my animated guardian for any of them so my damage was lower as a result. I did lose my elementals in the shaper fight. But there was plenty of time to resummon them. The time limit on the sentinels is a problem, but if you keep hitting them you will keep getting more.

Hope this helps.

Last edited by SamualBlackstaff on Jan 25, 2019, 10:51:05 PM
"
This looks really cool. Minions and RF. Can't get any better than that. Great job!


Thank you very much! This guy was a lot of fun to build and to play.

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