Cheap, Tanky, DPSy: Summon Raging Spirit [not updated for 1.3+]

Im following aphro's build

http://www.pathofexile.com/forum/view-thread/1012651/page/3

but i feel that my damage is lacking and that im incredibly squishy

I'm lv 63 with a 5L staff Echo-SRS-Multistrike-miniondamage - and either MPD or melee splash

Im running clarity and hatred ( no haste yet)

and CWDT-IC-EC, etc

and for zombies - zombie - life - minion resist.

All my gems are levle 15 except for the STR ones, so it shouldnt matter that much right?

i have 2.8 casts per second on my SRS

Im farming at City of Sarn but its INCREDIBLY slow compared to my other characters with minimum gear (incinerate witch) tho inc witches are pretty strong.

Am I doing something wrong? Or do I just need higher level of gems and better armor?

I have 2.5k hp and 500 ES, havent gone EB yet. Max res

Can anyone help me out?

Are you running flesh offering and vaal haste? They ups the dps by a large amount.

You can make ur zombies do more then tank

zombies - mstrike - faster - life leach/mphy

Instead of Alpha's Howl,
Can running Geofri's crest with reduced mana + haste + disipline + empower/hatred be valid?

I really enjoy the chaos resist and easier to cap resists + es.

"

pipser wrote:

Instead of Alpha's Howl,
Can running Geofri's crest with reduced mana + haste + disipline + empower/hatred be valid?

I really enjoy the chaos resist and easier to cap resists + es.

if u have charisma on passive three is viable for maps and mid game.

"

yangcliu2 wrote:

Im following aphro's build
...
Can anyone help me out?

Read my leveling guide (use searing bond to help SRS until SRS is doing good damage), use my DPS calculator to see what your damage should be, and what effect leveling str gems will have. Other than that if you're following someone else's build it's better to ask in their thread.

"

sunspear wrote:

Thanks for the DPS calculator. Why does Wrath aura have no effect on the DPS though?
Could the formula in C135 be wrong?

Yes it was wrong, should have been max instead of min. Fixed, thanks.

"

pipser wrote:

Instead of Alpha's Howl,
Can running Geofri's crest with reduced mana + haste + disipline + empower/hatred be valid?

I really enjoy the chaos resist and easier to cap resists + es.

As siclop said, Alpha's is used mainly for the -8% mana reservation. If you can replace -8% mana reservation or you are not running all of the four recommended auras you can get away with an other helm.

Okay so im 66 now and ive just bought lv 17 SRS for a massive damage boost

running clarity and haste - cant run AA and Hatred yet (Do i need to get the top left aura nodes in order to do so? - will THAT even be enough?)

Im choosing between MPD and Melee splash, either of those definitively better than the other? Or does it depend?

Lastly - What are the most important gems to level besides SRS? And the ones that require the most quality? Going try to prioritize a few since i cant do all

"

yangcliu2 wrote:

Okay so im 66 now and ive just bought lv 17 SRS for a massive damage boost

running clarity and haste - cant run AA and Hatred yet (Do i need to get the top left aura nodes in order to do so? - will THAT even be enough?)

Im choosing between MPD and Melee splash, either of those definitively better than the other? Or does it depend?

Lastly - What are the most important gems to level besides SRS? And the ones that require the most quality? Going try to prioritize a few since i cant do all

Yes u need mana reservation nodes to run atleat clarity,haste, discipline.

Melee splash is bis aoe gem is priority use it, mpd is to boost dps but is not aoe gem.

" order priority quality "

Srs - melee splash - mpd - mult - md - spell echo

all gems is important level, more level more dps just that

I currently have no room for Vaal Haste (probably becuase of CWDT Immortal call) and I was thinking of swapping out the Immortal Call setup for it. Is this a good idea? from the Atziri videos you seemed to have done just fine without any CWDT setup

My Current Gear & setup:

Can a Cast when stunned be used instead of damage taken?
When we are so low on hp, every hit should be a stun, no?

"

dfolucinda wrote:

I currently have no room for Vaal Haste (probably becuase of CWDT Immortal call) and I was thinking of swapping out the Immortal Call setup for it. Is this a good idea? from the Atziri videos you seemed to have done just fine without any CWDT setup

My Current Gear & setup:

Spoiler

If you notice cwdt-ec-ic-dur isn't part of the end-game hybrid gem setup, it's just part of the leveling setup. Yes you absolutely should be using vaal haste, it doubles your DPS for its duration of 16sec.

I would also not use desecrate in main switch, or take it out for VH. Also I think curse immunity should go on your quicksilver flask, and you probably need one shock removal. I would sell that 5L armor and buy a 4L-2L with higher ES. :)

"

pipser wrote:

Can a Cast when stunned be used instead of damage taken?
When we are so low on hp, every hit should be a stun, no?

4K HP isn't what I would call "so low on HP". I don't think cast when stunned would be better than a mid-level cwdt in terms of how often it procs. I prefer a low level cwdt one since we already get 3-5sec of immortal call even with L5ec L3ic L20dur gems, and it's very consistent. Cast when stunned is for low life or CI, not for hybrids.