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

Haven't said thanks yet, but this thread has been a great resource for learning the game for the first time. Huge thanks to so many helpful people.

Thanks guys for your help! Now I know that I need to use staff in this build ;P Unfortunately, I spent 150 alchs trying to get +2 fire in this 2h sword xD Now I'm little smarter ;p

So, me and 2 others I know followed this build in Beyond and are level 85-90 each. Each of us has died once and remade. SRS is extremely painless against most map and monster affixes. I mainly take damage from poison clouds (-2% chaos res) and some map bosses.

I started leveling as an SRS at level 31 when I could run 4L with Spell Echo + Multistrike. This made Dominus and Piety a joke. I skipped out on Flesh Offering and Vaal Haste but once I started mapping I tried them out and they are definitely required--especially Vaal Haste.

I refuse to do the following bosses with this build: Courtyard, Torture Chamber, Crematorium, and Dominus. I've nearly ripped to the first 3. I think they're all very doable bosses with the build, but they're just not very safe. This might be the case for most builds, too. I've also soloed every beyond boss except Abaxoth.

Personal Modifications:

• I prefer pure life over your hybrid style. I realize my health pool is a little lower but at least I can heal it all with flasks after I'm hit. I'm sitting at 5k life with 1.5k ES from Discipline. I use Discipline over Hatred against bosses in harder maps unless somebody else is running it.
• I'm using Belly of the beast with Profane Chemistry (flask recovery). This greatly improves the life pool of the build and makes running Catalysed Eternal Flasks a strong choice.
• I don't think double curse is worth it. It takes too long to cast two curses in almost all cases, and I feel that Enfeeble is all I need. Arc supplies EE which is as good as a second curse.
• I'm skeptical about Alpha's being worth using. The only reason I'm using it is because I plan on running Purity of Lightning + Fire for free. I'll be running Charisma instead if I can manage it.

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Once you take profane chemistry and charisma and don't take double curse your build becomes closer to AlexUngur's pure life build over in the Scion section. (I also have a pure life tree posted in FAQ that has more %life than Alex's).

I think the pure life build is fine/slightly better (due to chaos damage and flasks, as you noted) for any content that isn't atziri or uber atziri. At atziri/uber having a larger health pool and the ability to use a 9sec vaal discipline is important.

The reason I don't take charisma is because it allows me to invest into Death Attunement and double curse. If I wanted to run an additional aura, I would have to take it, but no additional aura seems worth it for me. In other words the setup in this thread is the best balance between effective HP and DPS that I could think of.

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ffhighwind wrote:

I refuse to do the following bosses with this build: Courtyard, Torture Chamber, Crematorium, and Dominus. I've nearly ripped to the first 3. I think they're all very doable bosses with the build, but they're just not very safe. This might be the case for most builds, too. I've also soloed every beyond boss except Abaxoth.

Courtyard bosses are totally not in the same category as the other ones you mention for me. I have absolutely no problem killing them and the loot is usually great compared to other maps (shitload of stuff).

Just the opinion of a rampage player who used to die a lot. But after lots of attempts i still often die to dominus/crema boss, but never to courtyard trio.

Maybe you should try them again (with some early portal in case it goes messy).

Torture Chamber boss is really easy since I got Vaal Haste. If you are careful and watching to avoid her laser, it's not a problem to do this.

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Squirrel_of_doom wrote:

Courtyard bosses are totally not in the same category as the other ones you mention for me. I have absolutely no problem killing them and the loot is usually great compared to other maps (shitload of stuff).

Just the opinion of a rampage player who used to die a lot. But after lots of attempts i still often die to dominus/crema boss, but never to courtyard trio..

Draco's leap slam hit me for 5k which dropped me to near 1% life. I don't doubt he can rip me. Maybe it was a crit or I was shocked by the lightning boss. My guild mate said he's been hit for 7k by it.

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MatrixFactor wrote:

Thanks for sharing your experience.

Once you take profane chemistry and charisma and don't take double curse your build becomes closer to AlexUngur's pure life build over in the Scion section. (I also have a pure life tree posted in FAQ that has more %life than Alex's).

I think the pure life build is fine/slightly better (due to chaos damage and flasks, as you noted) for any content that isn't atziri or uber atziri. At atziri/uber having a larger health pool and the ability to use a 9sec vaal discipline is important.

I understand. I've looked at your life build and will probably convert my witch to something more like this:
https://www.poebuilder.com/character/AAAAAgMAVyv-s-kC34pr230YbRm9giyc7Ioc3A2NbAsi9PDVj_rsGMHFf8Z-WbQMkydqrFqRqH3T-4LHKPpXyQ186roQfwx9xp756FNSRZ2a4OvuHarhiEZxgwm18jWS2L3-Crc-QYekOdCBR-Ii4hUgKk0_J0rIbqrPMlltX5hVxoPbBAdMszpYpldN4_6P8kU64V8q6-RqQ8BUCPS86ocZbBb8SyftxPY8LcaukFXAGlnzrKoaOKeE-tJmnoCkJLCG0RcvVdZk5xZvJKo26eNqSVEqU2KVsnCKH3xLXp8vb9kTcLsD7h2-M4c=
I'll have to drop quite a bit of dps for this change, but I'll make it up with a +3 6L staff eventually. I don't like the idea of running EB. I'd prefer to keep the minor ES buffer even if it means losing a level or 2 of AA. I'm going to try and run Mental Fortitude with those 3 points instead. I think GhazzyTV did this in his summoner build, though I'm unsure if it effects AA cost. From here I can get more hybrid life/es, cost reduce, cast speed, or minion damage.

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4320681 wrote:

Torture Chamber boss is really easy since I got Vaal Haste. If you are careful and watching to avoid her laser, it's not a problem to do this.

I agree, but it's still not worth the risk imo. I got her to 30% fairly easily but the totems became a problem and the laser hits stupidly hard. My group is running 75-78s anyway, so it's not an issue.

Reduced mana cost of skills doesn't affect AA (wiki).

Sorry for the n00bish question but why Elemental Equlibrium? I thought SRS does only phys/fire damage? (Does it have to do something with Arc?)

I've also seen quotes of a leveling guide bits seems to be gone from the post, or did I just miss them?

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jlow wrote:

Sorry for the n00bish question but why Elemental Equlibrium? I thought SRS does only phys/fire damage? (Does it have to do something with Arc?)

I've also seen quotes of a leveling guide bits seems to be gone from the post, or did I just miss them?

You (via your spell totem) hit the mobs with Arc. This increases their Lightning Resistance, but dramatically lowers their Fire and Cold resistance. Your SRS now do much more Cold (via Hatred) and Fire damage.