[1.3] [Bloodlines] HeaT's Hybrid SZX Vis Mortis Witch Summoner (5 Spectres 9 Zombies X Weapons)

General flow/gameplay of the build and how it functions.

Level 75 Plateau
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nXVEPLBUbUQ


Level 77 Shrine *Post Rip
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cktJ2qRZkdQ

It clears 78s just as fast minus bosses.

RIP Video (Level 88)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rrHZMTdPCPs

Video Build Guide
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcW0eXHk2zc

General note on gear:
Because this is a hybrid life build most of your pieces should strive to have an ES base and high ES, however exceptions can be made through hybrid gear like AR/ES to lessen the difficulties of rolling off colors (ie, animate weapon requiring GRRR)

I suggest having at least 2 “animation” flasks which heal your minions. One being instant and one being overtime.


Used provide instant health to minions and yourself.


Used to instant heal yourself and for dealing with bleed status.


Used to deal with bleed status and helps with movement speed because Bones of Ullr does not provide a lot of MS. *Note: This flask is not rolled properly at all. Should have rolled curse immunity and quality on it. Not too sure why I overlooked this flask. Additionally, this flask could be replaced with another “animation” flask.


Used to heal minions overtime.


Used for physical mitigation purposes and removing bleed status. The build has virtually no armor outside of this flask, it can be trivial but it has saved me from RIPing in 2 separate instances.

Enfeeble (non-linked):
Used to direct/guide minions *(see General thoughts section for more info). I RIPed on three builds previously (2 were lag and 1 was misplayed) and was tired of RIPing so I choose Enfeeble. For better clear speed use Vulnerability.

Raise Spectre:
Raise Spectre – Spell Echo – Increased Duration – Concentrated Effect – Increase AOE – Added Fire (6L)
Increased Duration is used so that invulernability bubbles have increased uptime. Concentrated Effect made the bubbles and attack area too small for my linking so I used Increased AOE to compensate. I experimented with remote mine and minion damage as well. I feel the set-up is preference oriented so experiment with gems to see what you like.

Animate Weapon:
Animate Weapon – Melee Physical Damage – Melee Splash – Increased Duration
Increased Duration is required to accumulate high quantity of weapons resulting in higher DPS. Melee splash is used to generate an AOE effect. If this build used Anger/Wrath to add to minion damage I would suggest using Weapon Elemental Damage instead of Melee Physical Damage. As it stands, this build only uses Hatred so I opted for Melee Physical Damage (also has synergy with Unholy Might). *Note* I high recommend having the passives Potency of Will and Exceptional Performance before using Animate Weapon as a minion.

Reduced Mana – Generosity - Hatred
Strictly for your minions.

Reduced Mana – Discipline – Convocation
Discipline is important in contributing to your secondary life source, Energy Shield. Sockets are scarce on this build so I placed Convocation where it “fit”. I gave more importance to other gems being linked because in this build Convocation is used more for utility and the benefits it would gain from support gems is nominal.

Raise Zombie – Minion Damage – Melee Physical Damage – Multistrike
If you want your Zombies to have AOE damage substitute Minion Damage or Melee Physical with Melee Splash. I didn’t use melee splash because the build already uses 2 sets of minions who use AOE damage and I thought a 3rd was overkill.

Vaal Discipline – Vaal Haste – Flesh Offering – Increased Duration
Vaal Discipline is used to deal with high incoming damage, works for you and your minions, so if you think your minions need extra defense to deal with something like Herald of Obelisk, Vaal Discipline is definitely an option. Vaal Haste and Flesh Offering are using to boots DPS considerably. Increased Duration extends the buff of these skills. The increased skill effect duration passives from the tree boosts this set up tremendously.

Level 87
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMBA-4EBwSzBkkI9A18DlwQlxFQE2wWbxcvGyUdFB2-JKoo-iqYLJwy0TOHNZI1uTbpOlg64TwtQYdEBEVHRX5FnUmxS65Ms025U1JVxlXWVytXyVltXGtfKl-YZOdo8mpDaqxq-mvbbRluqn0YgKSCx4PbhEiFYIhAj0aQM5MnmuCboaIAplemrKcIpyuqxKyYtAy18rc-uJO86r2CwFTAZsNtxq7MvM8y0_vXz9i92QvZW9-K42rpAuq66-Tr7uyK74jwH_JF99f5N_no-oD60v4K_rM=

Level 80 – Incorporate Animate Weapon into build because at this point you should have you should have Potency of Will and Exceptional Performance notables.
http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAA-4EBwSzBkkI9A18DlwQlxNsFm8XLxo4GyUdFB2-JKoo-iqYLJwy0TOHNZI26TpYPC1Bh0QERUdFfkWdS65Ms025U1JVxlXWVytXyVltXGtfKl-YZOdmnmjyakNqrGr6a9ttGW6qfRiApILHg9uESIVgiECMdo9GkDOQVZrgm6GiAKaspwiqxKyYtfK3Mbc-uJO86r2CwBrAVMBmw23Grsy8zzLT-9i92QvZW9-K42rpAuvk6-7sivAf99f56PqA-tL-Cv6z

You can transition into actual summoner late 60s or early 70s based on preference.

I consider this build complete at level 87. After level 87, you have several options:

More life (immediate)
More energy shield (immediate)
Grave Intentions (4 points lvl 91)
Aura Effect
Inner Force

My preference is life.

Note* Faith and Steel and Devotion is questionable in this build. If you were to respec these 6 points, Arcane Focus for 3 points and life passives for the remaining 3 points it would probably better. With my current gear Arcane Focus provides an additional 200 ES/faster recharge and life is about the same.

I leveled with life based Arc and Geoffri’s Crest. Links used for Arc were:
Arc – Spell Echo – Faster Casting – Lightning Penetration

I prioritized life and resistances on leveling gear.

BANDITS:
Normal: Oak
Cruel: Kill
Merciless: Kill

On guiding minions:
Many summoners guide or direct minions through a skill like Arc, Freezing pulse, or Firestorm and this can be beneficial especially if you are using Elemental Equilibrium, however, this build does not use Elemental Equilibrium and the cast speed is inherently low. Using a skill like Arc (unlinked) and having low cast speed locks the character in place longer than I prefer.

From my observation, you can control minions successfully through other means like casting curses so I settled on using a curse.

Auras:
Discipline is extremely important in this build for defensive purposes. The build already takes a 30% hit on life from using Midnight Bargain so Discipline acts as a compensation mechanism. If you want to be more DPS oriented you can opt to drop it and use an offensive aura like Wrath or Anger for your minions but I wouldn’t suggest this if you are playing hardcore.

Not using an aura like Purity of Elements will make your minions more squishy than normal.

Mana Regeneration:
No Clarity or the Eldritch Battery will mean that you may have mana regeneration problems. Currently, I can only cast 3-4 back to back animate weapon summons before my mana pool depletes. That being said, there is room for improved mana regeneration via my jewelry which could alleviate this problem. This becomes less of a problem in groups.

5 Spectres?:
Do you need 5 Spectres? Probably not. Could it be just as good with four or even 3? Probably, but…5 is…cool MAN!

Bloodlines league and summoners:
The Bloodline league is rough on summoners, especially with mods like Obelisk, Bearers, Link, or Abaxoth which will DESTROY your minions, in some cases wiping them all out within a second. Luckily your Spectre Evangelists can avoid most of this damage which will allow you to reset by recasting Zombies. More traditional non-srs summoner builds will have difficulties with certain mods so be aware.

Hybrid Builds:
When the skill tree for 1.3 was released I hypothesized that hybrid builds would be extremely powerful more so than they have been in the past and they are. Defensively, they are a powerhouse, the added ES defensive “blanket” provides an insane level of survivability, and even more so with Vaal Discipline. It also allows you to react immediately if damage reaches your life pool because of the warning effect that occurs when you see your energy shield deplete. I had only 1 close call to a pack of magic cult rhoas with powerful crits that left me with 300 life. The only thing that is likely to kill you is getting one shot by a ridiculous source of damage.

How good is the build?:
Taking into account, defense, offense, clear speed, ability to clear content, utility, skill tree efficiency, and party vs solo play, on a scale from 1 to 10 I would give this build a 7 and a player bias score of 8. Scored down for ability to clear content (cannot do Atziri, struggles with Map level 78 bosses) and not having a permanent layer of physical mitigation.

That being said, the build is very rewarding, having a slew of minions and commanding a large army is satisfying. It’s also rewarding to experience the transition this build undergoes. For instance, the build plays differently from level 70 to 80 than it does from level 80 onward (when animate weapon is introduced) so there is a level of diversity that keeps it entertaining and fun. I also feel like it’s always awesome and rewarding to play a fairly successful unique build.