[3.4] "The Wicked Warband" | Viper Strike + Both New Heralds = Chaos Melee Summoner

Awesome Idea, inspired me to be trying it as a templar.

The idea is to use this skill tree

Going Guardian Ascendency with the minion passives + charges on hit.

Instead of viper strike I will be using a bow though, since I've recently fallen in love with Toxic Rain. It's just too damn fun of a skill.

For later in the game I'll probably grab the Block Quiver and once I can afford it, I'll convert the Staff nodes for a bit more extra black. The 2 Uber Lab points can also go into the Guardian Passive for even more block chance.

This'll give the build a second line of defense.

I might lack a bit in the damage department but the minions should make up for that quite nicely.

Not sure yet if quillrain is the best choice for later in the game yet but my first test char did amazing with it.
Might grab a slower bow with more physical damage, since I'll be relying a bit more on poison on hit by then.

The same skilltree could probably also be run as a Duelist without any major changes, not sure which is better yet.

Both versions should be working just fine, IMO

Let me know how it goes! I'm actually making a Guardian variant for the build. If I can work out all the kinks, I'll probably post the same guide in the Templar forums (of course, catered to the Guardian).

Can you explain the math behind the coming calamity ? You only save 5% of your mana since you only have To herald ? Or am i wrong ?

With "The Coming Calamity" equipped, one Herald will always reserve 45% of your mana. This means most methods for reducing mana reservation (i.e. reduced mana reservation nodes, items with reduced mana reservation, or the Enlighten gem) will have no effect - the only exceptions are items that completely negate mana reservation costs [like Essence Worm].

Likewise, support gems linked to Heralds will not increase or decrease the mana reservation cost (it will remain 45%). This is why Herald of Agony and Herald of Purity are 6-Links, yet still each reserve only 45% of your mana. Since this build has two Heralds, a total of 90% of your mana is reserved.

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ragbasti wrote:

Awesome Idea, inspired me to be trying it as a templar.

The idea is to use this skill tree

Been tinkering with your idea and this is what I have so far @ lvl 78:
https://pastebin.com/3xHiwhM6

It works pretty well, still feel somewhat squishy.

I supplement my minions with zombies and animate guardian to tank.

I'm going to get a lioneye fall and test block chance (it only gives 12% BAD/BSD) by staff nodes, but that brings it up from 26% BAD to 38% BAD (+10% when you block and bastion of hope procs another 50% every 5 seconds). That's 48% most of the time and capped out at 75% every 2 of 5 seconds.

The other option for block jewels is The Red Nightmare and use the Marader nodes below it, but those are much more expensive.

I might also try a ES version of this build with Soul Strike quiver and then go Radiant Faith in ascendacy.

I don't think going Harmony of Purpose is worth it for only a 10% chance to get a charge (your minions don't share these either), when you can get more tanky via Time of Need and spending the points you put into charges elsewhere.

I'm using Caustic Arrow to poison then move on, although if I get a 6-link Quill Rain I'll give Toxic Rain a shot.

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Empressive wrote:

I don't think going Harmony of Purpose is worth it for only a 10% chance to get a charge (your minions don't share these either), when you can get more tanky via Time of Need and spending the points you put into charges elsewhere.

I took the charges because they are an easy way to increase both tankiness and damage.

You get the damage reduction from endurance + the more damage from frenzy charges.
The Time of Need passive was my initial idea but since blood of the karui is a thing, I don't feel it is worth the points either.

I haven't had much time to play yet, so I am way behind you in terms of leveling but so far Quillrain seems BIS for scaling the aoe DoT.


I got myself some +2 to AoE corrupted gloves and have been running Toxic rain in there, really good damage boost which I intend to keep for later.

The goal now is to get myself a pair of Wyrmsigns with a +2 Duration gems corruption, the Rampage will also buff minions quite significantly.

Toxic Rain, Swift Affliction and Efficacy are all Duration Gems, so that's a nice +2 buff to 3/4 of your linked gems.
I was initially aiming for +2 Projectile gems, but uration seems a little better. It is also he most likely stat to be sold very cheaply since it's not desirable for most people.

The other option would be Duskblight but that wouldn't buff the DoT.

It'll be a nice buff for mapping I feel and I'd rather spend my 5/6L on the heralds since they're the core of this build.


Another option would be Geofri's Legacy for 2 Holy Relics, again increasing our survivability via the regeneration. You could also socket them with knockback to keep melee creeps at bay :D

Again, thanks for taking an interest into the build! How are the Sentinels from HoP working out? What support gems are you using? I just wanted to know to compare notes with my bow-summoner theorycraft.

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kaype wrote:

Again, thanks for taking an interest into the build! How are the Sentinels from HoP working out? What support gems are you using? I just wanted to know to compare notes with my bow-summoner theorycraft.

This is my current link setup, working really well but I am only level 54 so far. Sentinels are my main damage source at the moment, easily out-damaging even my toxic rain.

Ultimately, I feel like a shaper helmet with conc effect + minion damage supports will be the best you can do here. Just like your guide recommends.

One major advantage for the guardian is certainly the AOE he gains. It's a massive buff to Toxic rain to ahve it overlap and with the templar AOE cluster + 10% AOE per Sentinel, there is a lot of overlap.

Drillneck might be replacable by a +3 bow and still not lose out on any damage. You will have a lot fewer spores out but they will overlap much more. And the DoT per level bonus is quite massive.
Currently looking into sources to make up for the lost attack speed and projectile speed.

Very nice - I'll have to keep those in mind. Also, I'm tinkering with the arrangement of the skill gems in my build. Right now, I'm testing to see is putting both Heralds in "The Coming Calamity" will pan out (thus freeing up an additional gem setup). I'll keep the guide updated accordingly.

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kaype wrote:

Very nice - I'll have to keep those in mind. Also, I'm tinkering with the arrangement of the skill gems in my build. Right now, I'm testing to see is putting both Heralds in "The Coming Calamity" will pan out (thus freeing up an additional gem setup). I'll keep the guide updated accordingly.

I would advise against that. Both heralds need vastly different gems to do their thing:

You would miss out on the extra on Herald of Agony which also applies to the summoned phantasms.

And while I don't consider melee splash mandatory for Herald of Purity, melee physical damage is still a huge damage boost and would do nothing for HoAgony.



One Thing to consider could be an Essence worm. This would give you the option of running an extra aura at no reservation. The extra stats from that Ring slot will of course have to come from elsewhere, maybe 1 or 2 items with abyss sockets to get those stats back.



The biggest challenge right now for me is to find another source for projectile speed, since I am looking into replacing my quillrain with a +2/3 bow.
The attack speed loss is fine and doesn't bother me too much, but toxic rain needs faster projectiles to not feel sluggish.

Also, since the price on Chaos Impresence is just plain silly, I'll be testing summon Holy relic with Inc AoE + Curse on Hit + Despair. Should give me a similar coverage to running a curse aura.

I also found another source for block chance:

Not perfect, but it'll help