[3.21] Animate Weapon FIRE Guardian - Minion Starter - Low Budget, High DPS [outdated]
" Faster than Absolution, faster than Skelly Mages (don't have to resummon weapons all the time, like you do with mages - those are basically like totems that don't move). About the same as SRS. Having fast minions that fly around obstacles is pretty huge for clearing! " Why guardian? #1: Access to lots of movement speed for minions. The most important stat for QOL, and the difference between "a floating cloud of death that flows ahead and smashes mobs" and "dragging your weapons behind you, relying on Convocation at every pack". Minion speed is HUGE to make the build feel good. #2: Time of Need life recovery is nice, as the build otherwise has little sustain. Bastion of Hope is pretty good for block, and substitutes for Bone Offering that a necro would run - allowing Flesh Offering, and yet more move speed. Necro lost +2 minion gem levels in a previous patch, so the main advantage of that ascendancy now is (1) more minion HP (which can be solved with gear) and (2) extra duration (but the difference between AW that last 65 seconds with guardian vs. 85 seconds with necro just isn't that big of a deal). The build is totally viable with a witch too, and the leveling is a little easier, but I think guardian gets better at the end. " Yes, Xoph's Loyal are a solid choice instead of the Power Charge monkeys. I partially wanted to keep it simple in the guide rather than answer questions about how to get these, especially with access to xoph's breach (maybe) getting pushed further back into game progression :) You could also use the Arena Master which spawns from Drox's portals and grants another buff - if you can stand how annoying they are to listen to! " - Sufficient gem levels on Animate Weapon (level 21+ so you have 15 weapons) - get minions to capped elemental resistances so they don't die all the time - cluster jewel, an abyss jewel with "minions taunt", some other flat damage With all that, and if you have your own defensive bases covered with resists and decent armor, should be fine. Last edited by ThanatoZGaming on Apr 7, 2023, 6:55:32 AM
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What's the best anointment for this build?
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Another question if you mind. Is this purely melee weapons we are animating or does this apply to wands? Also, (probably a dumb question) does the item base directly affect damage output?
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" Good question. Depending on whether you feel that you're more at risk of dying, or the minions are, I suggest either - more minion defenses: Decay Ward (minion block, cheap anoint and very good for their survival) - your own defenses: Soul of Steel, Prismatic Skin (increase max res, expensive) or Arcane Guarding (helps max out spell block, cheap). " By default it is only melee weapons. There is a jewel you can acquire, Spirit Guards which will allow you to animate ranged weapons but in my opinion that is not worth the effort. Weapon base does matter a little bit, though in practice we don't pay much attention to that: either animating Lingering Blades (from Bladefall or Ethereal Knives) or just whatever melee weapons happen to drop on the ground. For more detail, check the "Animate Weapon: the Basics" section of the guide. Last edited by ThanatoZGaming on Apr 7, 2023, 2:47:44 PM
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Can this build clear all the content?
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" So far ive manged two voidstones with it. The dps on bosses is good though, so it should be ok for the non uber bosses. Good solid league start. Ive filled out the atlas (sans uniques) and working on making some money now. the summoning of AW's at the start of each map is annoying, but i knew going in that would be the case. | |
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Hello,
Which shield should I use? What stats should I look up in a shield? Cheers, thank you for the build! |
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Would you recommend Harmony of Purpose for playing with friends? Instead of what? Thank you for the build guide!
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Yo im the dude that suggested xophs specters,im playing your build in ssf and it kicks ass at t16,still have ways to go,anyways i did the math and a lvl 20 flamability on trigger wand is stronger that animate guardian setup if you dont wanna mess with the guardian in this rippy league i had a half charged mechanic kill my 55k life 83 max resist specters like nothing just because it randomly procked soul eater.
anyways its very ssf friendly,triad gripped already dropped twice like 3 days in the league and you can just go pure phys damage until then and vaal animate weapon is fucken sick,for these 30 seconds you litteraly do double damage its crazy,i will 100% add soul ripper to the build for a second vaal use especialy doing endgame bosses,its just 2 strong,thanks for the buil | |
" Lovely to hear this. Glad that the build is performing for you! Flammability (or other curse, like Assassin's Mark, if you eventually go crit) is a fine thing to do. My experience has been that too often the curse will miss the boss you care about when it's triggered, and then there's an 8 second cooldown. So the active time on it is too low. You could potentially self-cast the curse, if you're okay with using an extra button. " You can get minion stats, +1 physical spell skill gems, and your own life/resists on a shield. Nothing too specific. Some extra spell block is nice, to cap that stat out. " No - it's not worth it. (a) Harmony of Purpose doesn't apply to minions and (b) you're not hitting stuff often enough to benefit from it. |
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