[2.0 Tempest] Low Budget Safe Spectre Summoner

Preface

Hello and welcome to my Summoner guide!

I'm currently playing with this build in Tempest and got to level 85 quite fast with 2 days 10 hours total playtime and without much struggle, so I guess I'm doing quite good even though I'm relatively new to this game, so bear with me. Constructive criticism is always welcome.

This guide is aimed towards casual players who don't own much currency and somewhat towards players that prefer playing with mostly self found gear.

As for spectres we're going to use the Revenants(spiders) which were introduced in 2.0.

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Videos

Corrupted Torture Chamber
I was bored so I just used a Vaal Orb on a map and got so I played rather safe because I didn't want to RIP yet ;__;. Skip to 7:52 for Boss and you'll see how safe this build actually is.

-More to come: probably Jungle Valley and Orchard ;__;

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Pros and Cons
Pros:
-Super cheap
-Very safe: Zombies will tank for you while you can stand in the back without any danger
-Very strong: Since zombies will be rather tanky, we rely on our spectres doing most of our damage. In the current state of the game, the Revenants are beyond broken as spectres. They have insane base damage, a lot of AoE coverage and decent AI.
-Can run most, if not every map mod. I have yet to encounter a mod that isn't doable.
-For easy maps, you can even go ham, equip 5 quicksilvers and run through without actively doing anything
-Very flexible. Can use multiple combination of curses and auras depending on your playstyle.

Cons:
-You have to resummon Spectres :c Frustrating if you lose your map spectres by logging out!
-To efficiently use Elemental Equilibrium I'm using Firestorm, which has a slow cast animation -> vulnerable to things like charging Rhoas. Ice Nova would be viable too, but I prefer to stay ranged.
-Revenants make annoying sounds.
-Sometimes not cool in party play due to Elemental Equilibrium

Other:
-For mindless mapping without any active involvement you can replace Firestorm + Curse on Hit + double curse with Cast when damage taken + Enfeeble + Temporal Chains + Increased AoE

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Minion + Curse Setup


Yes, I know it was supposed to be a low budget build, but I've been running around with a 4L for quite a long time. If you only have a 4L, links should be Raise Spectre - Spell Echo - Minion Damage - Chain/Slower Projectiles(for bosses)


This is supposed to be the curse setup. Since we're going for double curse, there are 2 slots open.
I've opted for Ele Weakness and Conductivity to further increase the damage of my Revenants, but that's because I've gotten hold of decent life gear. I recommend using Enfeeble/Temporal Chains for starters.
Extra note: You may also use Vulnerability if you opt to use Zombies offensively.


+2 minion helm is not necessary but helps quite a lot. Fortify and Multistrike are a must have on them while the 4th link is interchangable. For low maps I'm using Minion damage. For higher maps I prefer Minion Ele Resistance, especially when I'm running Item Rarity on my Spectres.

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Uniques

As for uniques that you should have there are some that are useful.
Try to get your hands on at least one of these. They're quite cheap and boost your dps by quite a margin since spectres are your main damage source:



If you're wondering why I have Increased Duration linked to Lightning Warp, that's for opening Strongboxes. Quicksilver Flasks are my only real defensive mechanism since I'm pretty safe 90% of the time anyways.

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Gearing up

In general just try to get the uniques mentioned above and stack life and resists for every other piece of gear.

Gear + flasks I'm currently using aside from the ones linked above:


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Auras

Due to using Tabula Rasa I'm missing much needed resists so right now I'm running Discipline + Purity of Elements.
Due to stacking mana reservation I would switch to either
Wrath + Discipline + any single resist purity or
Discipline + 2 purities
Both setups would be 99% mana reservation for me currently which would leave me at 8 mana while my Firestorm costs 9 mana.... So I'm saving up for either slightly more mana.
Right now if I had max resists without purity I would probably run just Wrath + Discipline though

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Passive Tree

Note that I only put points into practical application because I needed the str and dex due to my gear being bad ;__;

As for bandits:
Normal - Help Oak - 40 HP
Cruel - Kill All - Passive point
Merciless - Kill All - Passive point

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Leveling
Use the ever fun Dual Flame totem build! You'll only need 16 regret points to respec into summoner, which is easily obtainable through quests. As for when to start respeccing into summoner, I did it upon entering Merciless difficulty since Normal difficulty revenants are super weak while Cruel difficulty revenants will carry you through all of Merciless and even low level maps.

Dual Flametotem:


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Defensive Stats @85 with ok gear

Thanks for sharing this build. I am slowing growing into a variant of this.


Do you still play with this char? Any tweaks or suggestions since this post?



I appreciate you sharing!!

great build! however im using CI + incandescent heart. . .along with around 70% resistances for all elements (merciless obviously)
i have 3k ES, i was hoping i could run Atziri at some point solo
another thing i am using the summoned skeletons. . .i know i know they suck but i use them for extra damage because i dont use elemental equalibrium or casting any spells.
currently im using discipline and hatred. . .with those spider spectres. i have to recast skeletons but thats not an issue. . .
how do you feel about CI as a whole?

"

PleaseMasterMakeMeScream wrote:

great build! however im using CI + incandescent heart. . .along with around 70% resistances for all elements (merciless obviously)
i have 3k ES, i was hoping i could run Atziri at some point solo
another thing i am using the summoned skeletons. . .i know i know they suck but i use them for extra damage because i dont use elemental equalibrium or casting any spells.
currently im using discipline and hatred. . .with those spider spectres. i have to recast skeletons but thats not an issue. . .
how do you feel about CI as a whole?

no matter how safe a build is, you have to low es to have a CI character, focus on getting more es, if you managed to get to atziri she would 1 shot you if you are cought on a fully charged flameblast (even with 100% fire resist)