The Summoner Compendium

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Qong wrote:

I don't know if it's so much Chaos damage that is rough on the minions of if it's simply AOE damage. I just died on my level 57 Hardcore summoner to Cruel Piety, I simply could not keep any minions alive against her and she also easily killed my Skeleton Totem.

Do minions have resistances at all? I think they really need a survivability boost. Necromantic Aegis I suppose by I don't see how I can drop my shield, I'm already weak enough as it is due to spending all my points on minions.

Basically anything that did AOE Chaos or Elemental damage rocked my minions. From the little sea witches that blow up in Act 1, the suicidal guys in the Western Forest in Act 2, to the fireball beetles, snakes, alchemists, and Piety in act 3. All of them destroyed my minions and the AOE damage meant that they destroyed all of my minions.

When I died to Piety at level 57 my Zombies had 3601 Life yet they would be dead before I could get them away from the lightning and even the cold arrows.



How did you guys kill Cruel Piety?

solo killed Piety on Softcore Cruel. didn't die to her but had many close calls.

used Purity aura to boost resists. not sure if I also had Discipline aura because Purity + Discipline might have reserved too much mana to cast Spell Totem + Summon Skeletons

pretty sure I had high fire and cold resist and low to medium lightning resist with Purity

I just tried to off screen Piety and cast Skeleton Totem in an area where I thought the totem would start summoning Skeletons on Piety.

damage was extremely slow because she can regen ES, but I eventually killed her after using lots of TPs to fill up flasks

also used Enfeeble to decrease her damage potential and I have the the keystone that makes curses last forever.

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potis wrote:

2)Zombies and specters are really badly programmed since they are programmed to stay a certain range from the Summoner instead of fighting.

The moment you move half of them if not all move also and your damage goes down insanely.

That really needs to get addressed, i have mobs all around me and the Zombies are running around me like retards because i moved to avoid some melee hit.

if you target something specifically with let's say your wand attack or a direct damage skill (you don't have to be hitting with it), the zombie/spectre AI will tend to also help focus down whatever you are targeting even if the target is out of range of their typical attack range

Hey all, Just wanted to start off by saying thanks so much for this post I have found it very helpful so far!

I'm steadily progressing thru act 2 nearing the end in merciless, and have filled out the 'core' of the build as posted in the health variant of the witch. I wasn't sure where to go after this so I grabbed the chaos resist (Those aura mobs, ouch), and have been pondering where to head next. So far I have been using fireball+firestorm+chance to ignite for personal damage, zombies+life+dmg, skels+dmg+spell totem, flamability+radius, and dicipline/wrath/clarity for auras.

I basically am trying to choose whether to go for the perma curse/2nd curse route next, or to head down into the templar start. Most people going down into templar seem to go leftish and snag the body & soul + the fitness health node to the left, but it seems more attractive to me taking the right side towards the Discipline & Training health nodes along Prestidigitation (wow thats a mouthful). I have mostly played solo or duo with a friend of mine, so I haven't taken conduit (do I passively generate charges for people or do I have to use a skill for it to be of value?), and I haven't been sure of whether leadership is worth it to get better aura coverage on my minions.

My personal damage seems very lackluster, so I'm not sure if I should consisder it a lost cause and avoid those passives.... anyhow what do you guys think? where to head from here.

Does spell dmg affect your Zombies dmg since they are a spell? :D

a Witch with all points spend at:

Zealot's Oath + Necromantic Aegis + Chaos Inoculation

the rest is a combination of hp-reg converted to EnergyShield-reg and increased max EnergyShield + Elemental res.

http://www.pathofexile.com/passive-skill-tree/AAAAAgMAB2MOSBB7EJcRDxEvEVARlhpsHNwdFB3ZKPopTyqYKwosvzgbOtg74UNUQ2NEBEZxTdhPv1crWPVakWNDZp5odGqsa9ttGXFNc1N4un0Yf8aBb4LHguSFYIhAiGuKr4t6jHaPRpARkDORz5MnlKCVIJmams-boZ2uncSePJ97oqOmrKcIpyuofarEsHe0DLTFtQS297cxuJO71r46v5fAVMEAwcXB88Lsw23JPcuYzLzQ0NP71SzZC9pi2xri9-OE5BHkIuaB62Pr7uwY7DjsivIe8uH1S_fB99f6gPrS

are there any better onfigurations or thoughts?

add that necromantic aegis is extremely awesome, as it prolongs the life of the minions beyond the point, where you gort enough mana to resummon. i'm running a summoner Witch with 2 auras and 2 curses off of this page and it works great.

Add a list for supportgems and maybe a section for what works with Necromantic aegis and what does not (the passive skills that increase the Energy shield on my shield? My minions have my shield, but did the shield got its stats upped before i gave it to them or are the points plain waste?)

the rest i can say is: You, sir, have blown my mind. get a sticky for this thread.

I dont understand why people play Necromantic Aegis.


The best summoner weapon is a 2hand which makes Necromantic Aegis a completely useless talent.

Queen's Decree is the weapon.

And any spec without Dual Curses just seems fail to me, more fun for sure than just summoning and cursing, but i doubt its as viable as a full summoner build with 2k hp/2k mana.

Queen's Decree 2h
15% Increased Maximum Life of Minions
Minions Deal 15% Increased Damage
+1 to Maximum Number of Zombies
+1 to Maximum Number of Spectres
+2 to Maximum Number of Skeletons
182% Increased Skeleton Duration
25% Increased Strength Requirement

vs

Midnight Bargain 1h
+10-20 to Intelligence
15-20% Increased Movement Speed of Minions
Minions Deal 15% Increased Damage
+1 to Maximum Number of Zombies
+1 to Maximum Number of Spectres
+2 to Maximum Number of Skeletons
Reserves 30% of Life
Cannot be used with Chaos Innoculation

for the weapons available to a summoner, it seems debatable.. if you are using a totem for skellies I dont really see much value in the skellie duration, though 15% life could def be more valuable than movespeed, esp with the life reserve drawback. I would imagine you could beat the 15% minion hp with necromatic aegis for sure in terms of effective health because it would assumedly be additive with the other minion hp nodes etc.

What would you suggest for curses to run if dual curse? I had just been using flammability for personal damage/MI.

@ Docatvice
Im not running curses atm but id say the one that increases damage and the one that decreases damage done.

though for a party setup others might be better.


This is my current build at level 38.

Currently at act 1 cruel normal at submerged passage.

Im split between going for dual curses first or if i should spend ~7 points to get +68% maximum hp.

I know ill need those hp and a few es nodes later though.

I just killed Vaal and entered act3 normal, and my summons die almost instantly..and my fireball has crap damage as well and i'm pretty much stuck. Im currently lvl 27, zombies with 418hp, skelletons 109hp.

Here are my passives:


Any help would be appreciated.