5 Aura Raging Spirits / Animate Weapon 1.1.5 Build

ALL THE +1LEVEL +2FIRE STAFF BUILDS WITH EMPOWER ARE STRONGER WITH SPIRIT OF COURSE. YOU WILL HAVE A LEVEL 26 SPIRIT. I WOULD RUN THAT IF I HAD IT TOO. SO IF YOU HAPPEN TO BE RICH AND CAN OBTAIN THAT KIND OF STAFF RUN IT FOR STRONGER MIN/MAX SPIRITS. THIS BUILD IS MADE FOR THE MORE CASUAL PLAYER WHO ISN'T SUPER RICH.

I've been interested in making a Spirit build for a while and I made this char pre-patch. It was runnable before but after the Spirit buff it made a difference I think so I wanted to share it. This build is a really tricky build to play but fun. The main idea of this build revolves around Alpha's Howl, 70% Effect, and Chober-Chaber.

Playstyle
The playstyle of this build is odd. Spirit doesn't really shine until later so I mainly used Ele Buzzsaw to level. But once getting Spirits high enough level and getting my gear the idea is simple really. Cast Auras (Wrath, Anger, Haste(Hatred), Clarity, and Discipline (Pur of Ele for Ele Weakness maps). Run in and kill a few pack with spirits and flesh offering/ele weakness popped. Summon some weapons. Pop flesh offering everytime it has run out and while it is up spam spirits. Summon weapons off mobs. Rinse Repeat. Cast Convocation when your weapons get lost.

Pros
-Easy to play
-Not too expensive spent maybe 8ex total
-With weapons up you have huge dmg output and won't get targeted often
-Good Party play with 70% Buffs and 5 Auras
-Decent life and High Mana
-Spirits targeting range is long you can use them to kite easy

Cons
-AA for survival with +%to Armor Granite Flask. Very Squishy.
-Spirits Can't be targeted. Some Exiles/bosses are hard with no weapons.
-Certain Maps mods are undoable/hard (Blood Magic/regen/2 dmg stacks)

My Tree(Edited Forgot Some Cast Speed and 1 Dex node used to Run Alpha's)

The idea here is mainly to get all aura effect nodes some cast speed to help boost Spirits/Weapons/Flesh Offerings cast time. The rest is life and Regen to run AA and EB for auras.

My Gear

Chober - I think it shines with Weapon. you get +1 for all the skill you need except duration. Then you get Mana/Regen for EB. Then longer Duration Weapons. Then another 30% life for them. What's not to like(Animate Weapon - Multistrike - Duration - Melee Splash - Weapon Ele Dmg) Elemental Weakness

Body - (Summon Spirit - Duration - Melee Splash - Multistrike - Spell Echo - Minion Damage)

Boots - (AA - Empower) (Increased Duration + Flesh Offering)

Gloves - (Reduced Mana - Clarity - Discipline (Pur of Ele)) Convocation

Helmet - (Reduced Mana - Wrath - Anger - Haste(Hatred))

Rings/Ammy/Belt - Life and Res + Regen Mainly.

As far as maps go I can easily run any 77/78 map with no dmg and have ran shrines/courtyards with dmg mods. You just have to be safe and play a little more careful on those and use the spirits range to your advantage. If you have an ideas on how to improve this build let me know. As for Atziri.....I don't think so atm.

How about dropping the spectre wheel + 2 other nodes to get the duration nodes? 45% duration seems fairly critical for a build that relies on skulls or animate weapon alone, let alone both.

Is this the Build of the Week one?

Yes, it is. As for duration you don't need it with Duration gems, especially quality. I can get 20+ skulls up with echo. With good drop you can sustain 20+ weapons too.

so you don't have a single target ability, you're squishy and you need two skills to clear maps fast, while running 5 auras in an aphas howl!

that does not sound like a good build.

classical summoner with zombies + spectres seems way more effective. you don't need aphas howl and you can still cast your raging spirits or animate weapons just for fun, while your minions protect you and do the killing.
skeleton + spelltotem with the minion instability passive would also offer more protection than animate weapon (needs weapons) or raging spirit (cant be targeted).

so what do you do against bosses and exiles?

... I am totally missing the point of your build :(

i used to do some research on the possibilities pushing the minion damage, i asked on reddit earlier. the answer was, that minion damage passives as well as the gem also push the damage gained from the elemental auras, while melee physical damage only pushes the physical part. of course it is beeing converted afterwards with RS, but maybe that choice would be more beneficial for the RS, not for the animated weapons though.
oh and seriously, i had the idea with chober chaber as well, but i additionally thought about frost wall beeing actively used, to keep of projectiles/mobs ;)
edit: reddit entry



edit 2: if interested how my build looks like

"

PopeJo wrote:

... that does not sound like a good build.
...

The build handles very well in 78 maps, better than it may appear to from looking at.

It was one of those builds that comes together well, and we kept finding clever elements as we looked at it.

Your complaints about it not having single target, running more than one skill, and having five auras seem strange, as these are elements of the build. (And the raging spirits melee does a fine job of taking down most targets).

"

PopeJo wrote:

so you don't have a single target ability, you're squishy and you need two skills to clear maps fast, while running 5 auras in an aphas howl!

that does not sound like a good build.

classical summoner with zombies + spectres seems way more effective. you don't need aphas howl and you can still cast your raging spirits or animate weapons just for fun, while your minions protect you and do the killing.
skeleton + spelltotem with the minion instability passive would also offer more protection than animate weapon (needs weapons) or raging spirit (cant be targeted).

so what do you do against bosses and exiles?

... I am totally missing the point of your build :(

Raging Spirits chew through bosses and exiles like they're paper especially if they're alone, not to mention their minions in the face of a horde of biting skulls. 20 spirits biting at one target is hilarious. Also, they're shields against projectiles, so the playstyle would be putting range between you and monsters always, while Raging Spirits home in on their chewing toys from a distance.

I'd imagine the point is to have a sea of minions between you and the monsters. Raging Spirits work well enough on their own now. The animated weapons just make the enemies give up and lie down.

thx for explaining. :)

"

Qarl wrote:

Your complaints about it not having single target, running more than one skill, and having five auras seem strange, as these are elements of the build. (And the raging spirits melee does a fine job of taking down most targets).

that seems (a bit) like a strange answer. i don't know what kind or argument "these are elements of the build" is. sry.
I was comparing the build with a "standard" summoner build, to see what benefits the raging spirit build has over it.

it seem to have more dmg, while sacrificing a bit of survivability and being more expensive. casting raging spirit and spell echo or animating weapons forces you to stand still and makes you an easier target.

with spectres and zombies, you don't have to cast much, as those don't die often. instead you are very mobile --> safer. and they offer protection (evangelists).
you are free to cast curses or even, when being bored, cast some raging spirits to help your minions.

so the way I see it (no offense and I am sure you can see it form another perspective): you can choose more dmg and a more active playstyle versus a passive, cheaper and more secure (but also a bit boring) summoner.
thx for your answers.

TheNugernaut might have started the same way I did: "Hey, I wonder if you could make a cool build using Raging Spirits as my main skill?". I ended up with almost the exact same build (started as a witch rather than scion, and aiming for the duration nodes instead of the ones near the shadow start area). I'm not as far along as Nugernaut (2 more levels till Alpha's Howl).

Yeah, its sort of squishy, but its fun. It feels like playing a caster, except because Raging Spirits are minions, they interact with other skills in fun and interesting ways. You can boost them with Multistrike and Melee Splash. They benefit from auras. They're a "fire and forget" skill like Arc. If the spirits have line of site, they'll home in on the target, so you can use corners to your advantage. The spirits will keep attacking, even when you're running away. They're good against both packs and single targets.

Apart from Animate Weapon (which I'm still trying to level high enough to be usable), Vaal Summon Skeletons would also synergize well with this build.